andruca

I set up height by feel/buzz, but I've measured my setups many times. I usually go 2.5mm @ low B to 2mm for the G. It's sorta' low for the low B, but (A) if I'm picking I don't mind some buzz, and (B) when playing fingerstyle I (mostly unconsciously) pluck the low B more towards the bridge for extra articulation, so it's less buzzy by nature. I've just measured the setup I just did in my (4 string) Yamaha SuperBass, and I'm also 2.5 to 2mm high, so that looks like my "universal" string height range (all I know is I know nothing) 🤣 Also I file nuts as low as they can be (shouldn't be higher than a fret). Inproves both feel and intonation 👍

It's been a long time since I NEEDED a bass and was thus looking for something specific. All my latest acquisitions have been more like "I'd like a P bass, let's see what I can find...", or "wow!, that bass I had never heard of sounds spectacular, I want one", or "what is this bargain in the classifieds?" 🤣 Lately I can live with anything but the generic/dead "modern" lousy tone. I mostly stay away from bass humbuckers other than Leo's designs (P, MM). In that regard I have DARKtolinis and DEADlanos specifically blacklisted (after much dough stupidly dumped on them). I also stay away from the nasality of pickups positioned too close together (when there's more than 1). I find it a horrible design choice, sounds too bland and generic to me, every time, no matter how much the djent bass trend tries to make us believe that's how "virile" should sound. Those are the things I'm lately picky about. I can adapt to other circumstances if sound is fine. For instance, I was a skinny neck nazi some years back, now I can live with a thicker neck if I like a bass and its tone enough.

Is the question really "active or passive?" or should it be "why no active?"? Is there anyone "shunning" every passive bass? After 36 years of playing bass I've owned and own many of both. I still can't give a conclusive answer. What I'm sure is I don't like basses that sound generic. And I happen to find more active basses that sound so than passive. That said, out of the 12 basses I own nowadays 4 are active: 2 Stingray5s, a MarkBass GV5 (as gnarly a Jazz Bass in active mode as passive) and an Ibanez EHB-1005MS (with alnico Wilkinson pickups replacing the stock Bart BH2s, 1st time I've dealt with the generic sounding issue without selling a bass, I like it that much). I don't think it's a question of active vs. passive but of the higher chance there is of messing up the tone the "longer" the circuitry and overall options/variables involved. There will be active circuitry (and not just the cheapest) that will kill the tone/feel/responsiveness a bass can give, there's noisy circuitry, there's wrong EQ frequency point/curve choices for the particular instrument and/or pickups, there's "curious" voicings, etc. I'm just guessing more combinations could equate to more chances to screw up, thus probably a higher % of negative experiences with active bass guitars, resulting in the notion in some players' minds "blacklisting" active instruments.

Thanks so much 👍 Not as killer as Mike's. Not sure how sounds on a variety of devices, was trying to make it both thick, crunchy and clear enough. I was lucky enough to watch the man himself (with his Yamaha TRB) play the whole intro mashed up with Duke's end a few meters in front of me (2 hours of -teary on my part- eye contact with him, Daryl Stuermer and Phil Collins). Was the intro to their farewell tour show at the Chicago Bulls' stadium in 2021. This is the first Genesis song ever played at my home (my dad brought Duke home the moment it was available in Argentina). Me and my 3 siblings (38 to 47 y/o back then, living in different parts of the world) were all there. Unforgettable ❤️

TOUGH song 😓

There was also the Ibanez Paul Grey (Slipknot) signature ATK. Basically an ATK-300 with widened nut slots.

I've done it so far with many of my 4 strings: Jazz, my Yamahas (SBV-500, SB500S). I even punked the crap out of a (30.5" scale) Epiphone Viola strung BEAD for years, it just worked. 100% pick,with plenty of crunch and compression. Just pick a 4 string you like and start with that. As others point out, experiment with string gauges for a low B with authority. Just consider a bridge pickup always helps with low B articulation.

Congrats 👏👏👏 Looks nice, well taken care of. Thumbs are not my thing, but a good reunion story definitely is, so THUMBS UP 👍👍 Rock it even harder this time 🤘

I haven't off of eBay, but I've bought the cheapest 20 fret neck and (basswod) JB body I could find on AliExpress for 51€ BOTH delivered home in 2019. So mine is probably bottom of the bottom quality. Neck (23€ IIRC) is decent, if a little on the thick side for a JB. It already came with a Fender headstock shape. It adjusts perfectly, just had minimal sharp fret ends I easily filed. No issues whatsoever in 5 years. Since then the offer has blossomed and prices haven't gone too far up. You can get really nice necks for 50-100€. And judging by what can be read around, quality has gone up. My rat rod JB (with all other parts from a donor wreckage I got for 38€ more) came out great. I even recorded a couple of my band's tunes with it.

I've never owned a 6 string and have only played a few. I don't know what I'd do with one. And still it IS tempting for the Jazz Bass lover in me. I think it sounds way better in the video from Empire Music (clearer and more detailed high end) then in Lobster's (harsher highs). Despite what Anthony (EM) claims, I really like how the neck pickup sounds soloed, at least the way he plays it 👍

I wonder how the neck profile on those feels (graphite reinforced slim C, as per specs).

So, this is how my EHB1005MS ended. You might find this radical. I couldn't stand the new EXPENSIVE Bartolinis either, no matter how I coil tapped them (dead sounding, exactly as the factory BH2s and every other Bartolini I've ever owned/played). Not dumping any more dough on them, they're going to the black list, to make DEADlano company, sorry to all fanboys, SPECIALLY FRUSTRATED (and out a lot of money) with both brands. Got a set of alnico Wilkinsons (WBJ5 model) for 54€ delivered home (P452Js, my 4th Bartolini set, were little under 500€ new from the US after delivery and customs). Simply put my EHB has never sounded better, difference is abysmal. Now, let me describe DEAD as in no damm punch, no articulation, no responsiveness to touch, no mids/hi-mids at all, resulting in the annihilation of the zone where tone personality lives. Bartolinis have systematically made any bass I've ever played/owned with them into bland and generic sound. And no, it's not bass humbuckers I have a problem with. My main basses are Musicman and I own and play P basses a lot. Guess when we talk bass humbuckers Leo got that right first time too (twice, 50 and 70 years ago). Not only that, his designs have been copied to exhaustion, with all kinds of diverging or plain cheap specs, without them sounding dead, so no excuse really for dead sounding bass humbuckers, no matter how many "pros" and "boutique" basses equip Bartolinis, that's argumentun ad verecundiam, so not an argument at all. I've had them precariously installed for a couple weeks, testing different positions, and yesterday it was time to 3D print some covers for them. My brother did 99% of it really (CAD work, also owns the printer). My 1% contribution was just fitting. First tried with the Wilkinson covers on. But I wanted the pickups as further from the bridge as possible, so I ended up using the bare pickups under the new covers. Pickups are held with pieces of EVA here and there to keep them centered and pushed towards the neck inside the covers. Didn't want to go all in with a hot glue gun, so I'm able to disassemble them if I wanna make any change. They perfectly keep the ramp in place too (which the P452Js, same size according to Bartolini, didn't, thanx to "crappy tolerances, by Bartolini"). Most important, I have owned and own many Jazz Bass pickups, these Wilkinson WBJ5s (some 20€ more expensive than the usually seen/used ceramic ones) sound GREAT, real open, punchy, articulated, balanced across the whole spectrum, lively and responsive. I'll definitely use them again in the future, I see no need to spend more on Jazz pickups. I only have photos of the first fitting, with Wilkinsons' covers (just a few tiny rolls of double sided EVA tape stategically holding them in place and centered lengthwise). Fitting without the Wilkinson covers looks a little more ghetto (more EVA basically) but is as effective and secure. More foam at the bottom of cavities pushes pickups up. A clip of them, before 3D printed covers (just had some foam "frames" to keep stuff/dirt from getting in the cavities).

Bart pickups = hardest pass for me. As somebody else already said, better to look for Nordstrand equipped models.

A couple songs from iconic Argentinean bands, with my new Yammie SuperBass ❤️

SO easy to get there. Low setup helps. And this one has a substantial neck, the SBV sounds like this (just a tad less basss heavy, but as punchy and barking) and does indeed have a Geddy sig style skinny neck too. It's "easy Geddy 101" the moment I put any of these 2 Yammies on my lap. They just ask for it. Still, too cautious/insecure to attempt Rush covers 😅

And one more song, this time full open Jazz tone...

Quick song, on neck pickup...

Hi everyone 😘 Several weeks ago I've been dealing with a very frustrating guy some 500km away from me, who wouldn't sell me the only Yamaha SB500S I've ever seen offered here in Spain (highly cromagnon dude who wouldn't accept any platforms or mail options -all very protective of the selling party-). Left it for impossible. Then some weeks later a very cheap one from Japan showed up on Reverb and I pulled the trigger early last week. All in all little over 500€, shipping and import taxes included. The bass I got is a black body one in great condition. Not only superb for a 43 y/o bass, just superb overall. I was fearful of the neck profile (some reviews said too thick) but it wasn't. After minimal setup (needed to lose some relief, also lowered the bridge saddles) it plays fast and comfortable. And THAN TONE 🤑 I already own an SBV-500 (flying samurai) and I consider this its "sonic brother". Sounds very similar (utterly punchy and aggressive Jazz Bass style) but, unlike the flying samurai, the neck pickup soloed sounds more Precision than Jazz neck. I don't know what it is about these pickups that sounds so awesome, I'd like to have these pickups on all my basses, that's how much I like them. The SuperBass being precursor to the BroadBass (BB) series, I'm indeed disapointed (after owning several Yammie BBs) that they've gone more generic sounding with each new series. Just don't get it. At least they've used standard shape/size pickups, which you can change, for their last genereation. Without further ado, here's some pics... And here's my two loud barking Yamaha "Jazzes"... Doing some sound samples ASAP, will keep you posted. Cheers! 🍺

IME a BDI21 is redundant if you already own an MS-60B. I own a SansAmp RBI and don't use it anymore except for the studio. The MS-60B emulates it OK, and that's what I use for any home recording and live needs. Compression and a dirty "preamp" is 99% of what I do with my Zooms.

The Stingray5 was originally a Sterling really. AFAIK it was born with the same sharp C neck profile (and narrow nut), and also had a ceramic 3 coil pickup (except for the first couple years, when it was still switchable, but alnico, I have only read this, have never seen one of those). EBMM made up their mind for coherence around 2008 and changed the pickup in Stingray5s to alnico (as 4 string Rays, 2 coil), while retaining the coil tap switch, and started offering the Sterling5 (ceramic 3 coil as the 4 string Sterling always was). That was also the time they started offering HHs and HSs of everything. The Stingray5 retained the thin neck profile tho'. Still, there's Stingray5s with a thicker, more Stingray neck profile, and those are the Classic Stingray5 editions. They are easily recognizable because they have the traditional (not weirded out) pickguard, same as the 4 string, and don't have a coil tap switch (AFAIK it's only offered as a single H configuration, hardwired in parallel, same as the 4 string). Also this (thicker profiled) neck in the Classic has a glossy finish, while other Stingray5s are "unfinished".

I like the looks and the tone of the pickups individually, just not together, can't stand the nasality of pickups too close together.

I have put self adhesive rubber cornering (the one I use in strategic furniture parts at home for kids not to get killed) as an "armrest" in my Star Bass. Not terrible looking IMO, not terrible to remove, and it makes a world of difference to my plucking forearm when playing seated. The Star Bass is de facto a solid body really (all center is solid maple, sounds like a fat JB), so it doesn't affect sound. Might not be your case, the GB5 being an ABG with a piezo pickup, a way more acoustic animal. NICE bass BTW 👍

Ive played all 3, own 2 Stingray5s and have owned a Sire V3 5er (same neck profile as the V5/V7 5ers). The neck in the Sandberg is the thickest of them 3, and I particularly hate big pole Dead-lano pickups so for me the Sandberg is the worst option. The Stingray5 neck is a super comfortable slim C (20mm@fret 1). The Sires' profile is fine but not as thin and the nut is a little wider. Now, if you're planning on going 5 string Jazz, the best one I've owned (and still own) is the MarkBass Gloxy Val GV5. Blows any Jazz 5er I've ever played out of the water. Neck is a SKINNY sharp C (thinner than Sires) and the sound is AWESOME, way more barking/growly than any Sire or Sandberg, those MarkBass pickups are amazing and the preamp, even tho' its mids are not semiparametic (as in Sires), is way superior. I've got my GV5 for 450€ used in like nwe condition, totally unbeatable. Only bad thing I can say about it is knobs are PLACED WRONG if you want to play with a pick (which I often do), they're too close to the strings. I've taken care of that in mine (invasively). Other than that it's the best 5 string Jazz I've owned and/or played. Gives so many (i.e. "expensive" Metro Expresses), a run for their money.

I used to own a Rockbag dual bag. It was cumbersome and FRAGILE, as in seams breaking. Good padding tho'. Only recently I've relapsed, got a Gear4Music house brand dual bag. Marginally less cumbersome, more solid all around, as good a padding (yet stiffer/more structurally fit) and 80 something € + shipping. This was 3 years ago. For around the same dough there's a light Gator bag (4G series, cheapest dual they offer for bass) which is what I'd get now (might get it and sell mine). Still, I have yet to see a dual bass gig bag that's "comfortable" to backpack around for more than 15min. No surprise, you're carrying 2 bass guitars. Dual bags are only practical if you have decent cargo space when gigging. I even have sort of a fixation about carrying as few pieces of luggage as possible. But in cramped/small vans it's better to separate basses in 2 regular bags, for Tetris' flexibility. Lately I'm taking an Ibanez EHB to gigs as my multi purpose backup bass, takes up less space than guitars, so it's a no brainer, and the dual bag stays home.

I own a (half rack space) Boss TU-50. Coolest one by far, blinding LEDs that work as a VUmeter when disengaged 🤘, visible from a mile away.