Beer of the Bass

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1422787142' post='2676669'] There are plenty of products (e.g. AER Amp One) that are 'aspirational' on Basschat, with people saying 'I would love one of those if I had the money, but for now I will make do with X.' How does anyone know that the B Social won't become one of those? [/quote] That's true, I don't remember seeing the "What, a grand for a 200w 1x10" combo?!!!" thread about those. I guess the difference is that AER are considered high end while many people associate Ashdown with the cheap n'cheerful (or affordable and useful, depending on your viewpoint) EB and MAG gear seen in rehearsal rooms and pub gigs across the land. It's a bit hard on Ashdown, since they cater for several different levels of the market.

Baffling! It's got to be shill bidding or some other dodgy practice, as the chances of more than one person being willing to bid this much seem slim. You can find some of the lower end Gibson models new for not much more. It's not even a glued-in neck, check out the gap between the neck and binding on the bass side.

I'll be following this thread. I have a Kalamazoo KG21 which were a sister brand to these, though with a smaller body size. I think mine is from 1936, going by the factory order number stamped inside. It's interesting that yours has a truss rod rout - I'm fairly sure that mine has no rod but the neck is a large V profile and has stayed straight even with 13-56 strings. They're nice guitars these, and much more attainable for most of us than Gibson branded acoustics from the same factory.

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1421690376' post='2664019'] I had one of those AXL Teles a few years back. Went to a music show, just happened to pick it up & strum it and realised it felt and sounded really good. £40 OTD. The fret wire was really soft and began to wear quickly, but never the less it was fully giggable. I sold it to make room (Gibson flying V was coming) and regretted it - it sounded & played better than the V. [/quote] Yes, the AXLs are surprisingly good. I had one of the tele shaped ones with the weird distressed finish and even the stock pickups were fine. I tried some Seymour Duncan alnico II pickups in there, and while they were different they weren't objectively better. I noticed the soft fretwire on mine too though - the strings had left dents just from being carried around in a gigbag.

Looks good. Are you going to kit it out with the Vox grille cloth to match your old one? I like that stuff. If you find a reasonably priced source for the cloth, please post a link here!

It's a good sound, maybe not one you could use in every sort of music but it'll certainly stick out in a mix. I like it when people post bits of their playing on here, to my mind hearing somebody play tells you more about where they're coming from than reading a list of gear ever could. This is why I have band links in my sig line rather than a gear list! The line reminds me a bit of Badge by Cream, but these sort of coincidences happen! [media]http://youtu.be/gSpW6MePb10[/media]

It's my birthday, so I've unboxed my deko bass and had a fiddle with it. I tapped down the high fret to check it was seated fully, then gave it a couple of swipes with a file as it was still a little proud. I should probably give it a full fret dress some time, but it plays fine for the moment. I've taken down the nut slots a little and the bass is playing quite well now. I think I may actually stick with the bronze strings as the brightness of them helps the bass to sound a little fuller. With the high fret fettled it's quite fun to play. The only other thing I can spot which might be considered a flaw are what look like sanding marks under the finish on the top, as in this picture. It's visible from an angle but less so straight on. The preamp is different to the one pictured on the non-deko model. I haven't tried it yet as I don't have a spare battery in the house. Sorry about the blurry photo: Overall it seems excellent for the £32 I paid for it. It's not a world class instrument, but I'll certainly get some use out of it.

I've got some of these. They sound fine and they're a little more comfortable for me than ER20s but they're more fiddly to put in and take out due to the shorter stems.

It's bizarre that they haven't brought back the 4005, as there does seem to be some demand. They could make a small run and price it like the 12 string linked earlier and they'd probably still sell.

It's common for small ported cabs to have a bump in the midbass area, which could be the source of your boom. You could experiment with plugging the ports, which should get you a leaner but less bumpy bass response. It might work for you or it might not, but there's nothing to lose by trying it.

Apologies for the irrelevant image, but it seems to be working for me. I use the picture button in the post editor, then copy the URL into the dialogue box.

They'll work to some extent but the output will be lower than standard bass strings, as the core is still steel but the bronze wrap is non-magnetic. The string-to-string balance may be off too, but it's hard to say without trying them.

French and German are very different to play. I went with German just because that was what was offered when I had a few lessons starting out, and I feel like I can barely play if someone hands me a French bow!

I think the black dots look better against maple on the walnut version than the white triangle inlays did. Five string versions would be nice though! Although I couldn't afford one if they did, so my opinion may not be terribly relevant...

I reckon this gig needs a Peavey T40!

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1421849808' post='2665729'] Also ancient history. That's the same time frame when I was using eight twelves in 200 seat rooms, only driven by a 50w Bassman head, because the drivers were such sh*te that it took that many to run a clean low E. Today I only need a 1x12 to do that. Listen to Jack Bruce on '[i]Wheels of Fire'[/i]. I doubt it sounded as dirty as it did because he preferred that sound, it was because it was the best he could do with the gear available then. He didn't have that same crap sound on the TV broadcast I saw of his last reunion gig with Eric and Ginger. [/quote] I think Bruce must have liked that dirty sound to some extent, as in the 70's when gear started getting cleaner he had clipping diodes installed in his bass to get some dirt back!

[quote name='notable9' timestamp='1421668322' post='2663700'] The idea that you can set up a bass to play "easy" like a guitar is wrong. Bass guitars are almost mini double basses which are not easy at all, at least not to start with. Hence the best tone is achieved like a double bass with a high action which allows the strings to really get moving [/quote] The same discussions go on in double bass forums, as aside from ease of playing, we're trying to strike a balance between the cleaner sound and stronger projection of a higher setup and the increased growl and sustain of a lower setup. Many modern (late 20th century onwards) jazz styles and tones are barely possible with a higher string height.

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1421667086' post='2663688'] I wonder if the 'Fretless' label inside can be explained by they started out fretless but were later fretted (with some QA issues) ? [/quote] I don't think they can have started out fretless, as with a bound neck the fret slots would have to be cut before binding. I reckon they just don't have anyone who reads English on the factory floor, so errors in the labels don't get noticed. They were selling a guitar model where the headstock read "Delxue" instead of "Deluxe" for months before they got changed!

My B35-NT five string acoustic has arrived. It is slightly different to the pictures, with a pin bridge and 5-band EQ with no phase switch. I've just given it a quick look over (as it's a birthday present for next week and will be going in the cupboard until then) and there are no massive flaws. There are a couple of slight milky coloured patches on the top which are only visible from certain angles and one high fret which makes a couple of notes from the 15th-17th fret on the G string fret out or buzz. I can sort the high fret without too much trouble. The nut is a little high and it arrived with the truss rod completely slack - it had never been tightened but seems to work fine. Other than that it seems like it will be fine for my purposes.

I like Ed Friedland's demos. He doesn't play the same stuff each time, he seems good at figuring out what sort of approach suits each instrument. The potential downside of that is that he makes everything sound good! Garth Fielding's demos for D'Addario and Ampeg are pretty good too - he's not showing off, just demonstrating a selection of sounds that can be got. I've found that Youtube demos of EUBs are the worst, as only a tiny proportion of them are by people with any double bass technique...

[quote name='planer' timestamp='1421582345' post='2662839'] I'd like to try some flats on it if I can find some for reasonable money. Recommendations anyone? [/quote] I'd be tempted to try some black nylon tapewounds, as they're fairy flatwound-ish in sound and they'd look good on a black bass. D'Addario and Status both do them in sensible gauges.

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1421528470' post='2662403'] I think perhaps what Ubit was really getting at is, ultimately, they are still low end/value instruments and the amount being saved in these deals is great relatively speaking, but perhaps not so great in the bass market as a whole? If we were looking at, say a 75% discount for these "unplayable" instruments, my tail would be wagging if £400 basses were being sold for £100 as deko, as opposed to £100 basses being sold for £25. Have there been any more premium instruments sold in a similar way? [/quote] I'd think that the QC rejects of more expensive instruments never find their way to retailers like Thomann, as they either pass through distributors in between the factory and retailer or never leave the factory in the first place. Thomann are presumably getting container loads of these direct from the factory, so have to do their own QC.

I think they're not D'Addario Chromes, as those have coloured ball ends and blue silk at both ends. They're not Ernie Balls either, as those have silk at both ends too. So that's two things that they're not, but I'm afraid I've no idea what they are...

I picked up mine with the intention of using it in situations where I'd worry about a more expensive instrument. It'll be the party/camping/pub session bass. I've jammed on a friend's cheap laminated acoustic a few times, so I have an idea of what standard of instrument to expect.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1421442688' post='2661421'] 'Custom Series' Acoustic 4-string bass. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_clb_10sce_ns_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...sce_ns_deko.htm[/url] The non-deko version claims to have a much shorter scale length????? [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_clb_10sce_ns.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...lb_10sce_ns.htm[/url] One review claims that the bridge pins limit the gauge of string that can be used. I'm not sure about that. But, I don't really see what the advantage of this bass is over the B-30 models that some of us have. Unless someone really likes abalone shell. [/quote] I think the solid spruce top is the major advantage over the B30 models, which have a laminated top. As much as we bicker over tonewoods in solidbodies on here, it's a big deal with acoustics. If I didn't already have the B35 on the way, I would have been tempted by this one.