Horrorhiker

Just now, CameronJ said:

Ha - good luck! In the meantime, check out their website and think of it as “bass foreplay”

Sounds like something I would usually skip. 

1 minute ago, CameronJ said:

Even if you walk away having bought nothing, Bass Direct is a religious experience. So many amazing instruments hanging off every surface. Do it.

Brill sounds good. I think im going that way beginning of April so will try and hang on to my compulsions until then!

3 minutes ago, pete.young said:

Dunno how to break this to you Dad but the Bass Centre is no longer a shop - Brune St closed, what, 6 or 7 years ago?

Bass Direct is also do-able from here, but is a moderate PITA since there are no trains and it takes about 2.5 hours to drive to Coventry.

Peach Guitars in Colchester might be worth a look - the stock of basses is pretty lamentable but it's an amazing place worth seeing once in a lifetime.

I went to Peach Guitars last weekend funny enough. It is an impressive place but I came away with a couple of typical music shop anecdotes unfortunately. Plus yes, sorry but the bass selection is awful for that size of place. 

I didnt think about Bass Direct. My brother lives in Northamptonshire and a mate in Lutterworth and I visit them every now and again. That is getting towards coventry way, so probably worth a look. Cheers for that! 

Just now, dannybuoy said:

I would make the trip... otherwise you end up buying a load of used basses you don't like until you can't move without tripping over them, as I have done!

Yeah I probably will I reckon. The Sire is tempting to have a crack at but I suppose any price bass will be the same amount of hassle to return. 

Just now, Dad3353 said:

I can understand the aversion, but that's where the wide choice of basses to try is. Not even worth a one-off, in-out trip..? 

Yes this is what I'll do eventually in all seriousness. It's quite easy on the train from here to be fair. More likely to Brighton to look in GAK as they have most of my list in there I believe, and I much prefer Brighton. I mentioned doing that to the missus the other day and she gave me the 'no way' eyes. I know them well. Will stand more chance when it's a bit warmer. I hate going shopping like that on my own, don't know why. Sometimes it's good to have a human shield between you and the salesperson. 

13 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Suffolk..? Is that so far from London that you can't visit the Bass Centre..? 

It's not the distance. It's that it's London. 

16 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

Ha ha! You go first then and tell me what you think

The Yamaha is a good bass for sure... but not really my thing visually. I have to like it, as well as feel nice and sound good. Does it come in maple fingerboard?

The Sire P7 is probably nice too. Does it come in maple fingerboard? 

I don't mind not having a passive option, although it did save me once because I thought I had replaced the battery that year and I hadn't (on my Stingray, which has a MMSR preamp with a bypass switch)... generally I'm good at keeping tabs: I write the date on batteries, and even have a spreadsheet with that information for my basses. But it's not fool-proof, as it was shown to me during a gig last year

The look is very attractive to me. I have a thing for natural ash/maple/black. It looks 'warm', it makes me want to take it and play it... hard to describe.... and it seems to make the right kind of sounds. What puts me off is... I could try it, and immediately know "this is not for me". I can check neck profile, dimensions, weight... but I need to actually have it in my hands before I know. Yes, I am sure I would be able to play it just fine... but I don't *need* a new bass, so I only want it if it "speaks" to me. It would not be the first time I'm attracted to a bass, on paper, then I try a few examples and decide that I don't really like them.

Right now I'm playing a lot this Squier Mike Dirnt Precision. I ended up finding a nice lacquered maple fingerboard neck that fitted so I put it on it... it's a very comfy and light bass and I replaced the pickup... I love it. And I was just thinking about adding a preamp,, and possibly a second pickup, when the Schecter showed up. 

Hmmm...

Lets go together ha ha! 

I think no on the Yamaha maple but yes on the Sire. The Sire is actually quite close on my wish list. The natural Swamp Ash Maple neck P7 sounds like it could tick some of your boxes? It has white block inlays rather than black which would make it look that much better though. 

I am after a new main bass and it will be one of the ones on my list but I can only get near the Yamaha which felt amazing but quite on a 'i'll get my wallet out right now' level. Very nearly though. If I'm looking to order blind, it feels safer to do it on a £500 bass than a £700 one. Returning stuff does my head in. 

If Andertons are reading this...put the thing in a sale. Please. 

7 minutes ago, CameronJ said:

I agree with all of the above. It just looks so good! I’m a real fan of the early 50’s slab body P bass look so this ticks many many boxes. I only wish it had a passive tone control but I’m sure I’d be able to get that added later on at @thebassgallery. I’ve already had a similar mod done to my previously active-only Sandberg Electra VS4 so I know it’s doable...

It's amazing that there isn't much choice when looking for a 50s style P bass. It's basically between very cheap or expensive as far as I can see.  A bit of customisation and they look incredible as we can see with this. Its funny though as at first glance this looked a little garish to me but it has infiltrated my brain after a while to quickly become the best looking thing I'm considering. 

...oh and a little look online shows that the American prices of these puts them more in line with cheaper basses over here. That's psychological to some extent but considering this over here is the same price as a used US Fender Jazz or P, and it really should be more the price of a new Mexican one gives me slight pause. 

If it was £100 less I would have bought it a few weeks ago for definate. The price they're asking just nudges it into very stiff competition and anything over £600 is not puntable, for me. 

16 hours ago, mcnach said:

I'm besotted by this thing. 

I don't need it... but I waaaant it. Really cool looking P/J, the right... everything. 

I hope I don't get to try one because if I like it I won't resist it. What a sexy beast...

 

 

Have mentioned this on another couple of threads but I'm extremely close to almost sort of thinking about taking steps towards considering getting one of these. 

Holding me back is the fact that you can get the Yamaha bb734a for the same price, a Sire P7 for two thirds the price, this is active only, and it can't be tried out. The look of it has got me hooked almost to the point of not caring about all that. The geezer in the above video isn't helping matters either as he's making it look and sound even better.

Schecters have a great rep and I suspect it'd be a nice bass, just a case of whether it feels right. 

On 2/27/2018 at 12:13, FarFromTheTrees said:

What would you guys say is the best bass (5 string) in the £700 range? I'm soon to be in the market for something to replace my old Cort c5z.

The Sire M7 Swamp ash has caught my eye at around £680. I've noticed the price has also dropped on the Ibanez SRFF805 which I have seen priced at around £750 (which is about the upper limit of what I would be able to afford at this moment in time). I've been checking out the classifieds here on a daily basis but nothing used at that price has jumped out at me as yet.

I play in a alt metal band (tuned A# C# G# C# F# so would like to try a 35" scale for string tension) but also like to play a ton of reggae at home.  I use a Little Mark III for amplification.

Cheers!

Don't want to hijack your thread at all, I wanted to just jump in on this action quickly as we are in a similar place I think. I'm looking for a 4 string with a similar budget and use, and I think the 5 strings are as popular on the models I've been looking at. I'm a metal player too, depending on the band, though you're looking to have a more 'technical' sound than me by the look of it. (I'd like something  as versatile as possible as am thinking of broadening my horizons a bit).

I've spent a few weeks looking now and have decided/undecided on various basses, and have mentioned a couple of various posts on here. I research the hell out of everything and it's now doing my head in. 

Anyway my short list is currently: 

Schecter Model T Session (£720)

Yamaha BB734a  (£730)

Sire Marcus Miller P7  (Swamp ash natural looks to me the nicest) (£520)

Used American Standard P (£750 and up?)

..or a used Sandberg or Lakland when something close to me pops up to try. 

Don't know if you've considered all of these, but obviously the Sire is cheaper and the 5 string V7 seems mega popular on Youtube. I'm not sure whether people would go for the Sire or think its worth spending a little over budget for any of the others? 

I did try the Yamaha and it is a thing sent by the gods. Haven't tried anything else though. Wish I lived closer ro GAK or Andertons basically. 

Good luck with the search anyway. I'd be interested to hear what you eventually go for.

2 hours ago, lloyd1979_uk said:

My new BB734A was delivered today 

I'd love to know how the set up is. The one I tried in the shop was perfect as far as I could see. Be interesting to see if that's a consistent thing. Congrats though, I'm 'well jel' after 20 minutes with one. 

Hello! Bit of an old chestnut with many different answers depending on a lot of things. What genre of music it is, how loud your drummer is etc. 

I've personally found a 500 watt head with a combination of cabinets covers many basses (no pun intended). At the moment I use a 500 watt head with a 2x10 cabinet for rehearsals and small gigs and add a 2nd cabinet for louder/bigger gigs. (I do play in a loud and heavy band most of the time). In truth this is a bit much for smaller things and for the quieter stuff I could use a 250-300 head, but I cant afford to have multiple heads and its better to have too much than too little.  

Oh and also my head has a headphone jack so I also use it for home practice. 1 stop shop. 

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Thanks for your post - I've taking the liberty of replying on this thread so as not to overly side track the one on BB 435s, hope that's ok.

Couple of thoughts on what you've written above - firstly @lloyd1979_uk will be delighted with you confirming his inclination to get a 734A  

Reading what you've said above, I'm kinda inclined to suggest you see if you can get your hands on a BB1024 to try out - there may be a BCer near you with one? Given that you're only after a passive BB but with higher end finish, this may be just what you're looking for? But you'll be in a queue behind mrtcat amongst others!

Schecters are almost impossible to try out!  I contacted the store in Tottenham Court Road and as the bass I wanted to try out (the Schecter Stiletto Studio 8) was not available in the UK they wanted a 20% non refundable deposit. The other option was to go for a 30 day return from Gear4Music. (In the end I settled for a Digitech Mosaic pedal with a retuned E to E Ibby 6 string, which seems to have scratched my 8 string itch, for now!) 

 

No worries at all. I will investigate the BB1024..there is the option of the new BBP34 but I'm fairly sure these will be well out of my budget. 

I've almost talked myself into the 734 though. I think we've talked about the Schecter Model T before, and that is passive only, and the same price, so I can't be any worse off with the 734.At least I know it plays like a dream. 

I asked Peach guitars in Colchester today about getting in some Schecter basses to try and they were talking about deposits too. It's tough at the moment for bassists. I think they economy has forced music shops to concentrate big time on what sells the most, i.e cheap and beginner (six string) guitars, and bass seems to have gone out the window. I understand totally but it forces us online to some extent which isn't that great for buyers or sellers. 

Yes there's a good chance I might have to cool off maybe get something else to play with for a while. It's not good to go food shopping when you're hungry! 

On 2/23/2018 at 10:00, TRBboy said:

 Cool, let us know how you get on! I really wish they did the 435 with a maple board like the 434m....

Hello! I tried the 434 and 734 today. It wasn't a fair comparison really as the 734 seemed to be set up almost perfectly and the 434 had a very low action with a ton of fret buzz which coloured my opinion a bit. (both direct from the factories so not the shops fault). It sounded good though. I specifically asked to try the basses through a cheaper, bog standard amp with flat levels, and fret buzz aside, the sounds coming from the 434 were very respectable for a sub £500 bass. Piano like clarity and consistent levels all around the neck. It would be easy to dial in a workable sound for most uses. Very fast and comfortable to play. 

Both basses felt quite light to me. I also tried a couple of Mexican Ps and the Yamaha's were noticeably lighter and sleeker to hold and play, as you might expect. (They also both sounded far better than the Fenders by a long shot in my humble opinion). 

The bit you may curse me for saying though is that what I didn't expect, was how much better quality the 734 would feel. To me it was a wide gulf. The neck on the 734 is one of the best I've ever played, and the fit and finish are absolutely top notch. This one felt like a premium bass, and made the 434 seem functional yet forgettable when played side to side. Soundwise the pickups sounded much beefier and fuller too. I didn't hear it active as it had no battery in it, but I'm really after a passive bass anyway now since I heard that its complicated using fuzz with active basses.  

I would say on both basses, despite what I said on my previous post, I would try the maple before buying one if poss. They didn't have any maple necked ones but the ones I played today were both quite bright as they were. I tried the blue 434, cant remember the colour name, but it didn't do too much for me. (In other words I thought it looked grim). The 3 tone burst looked much better in the flesh, though this is a matter of personal taste obviously. 

It's given me a bit of a headache now, as I would never use the active function of the 734, and I'm trying to work out if the £200 is justifiable for what is essentially a luxury feel. Some of the extra money is to pay for active electronics I would never use.  I'd say that the 434 is definitely worth the money, but personally after playing the 734, I forgot all about it. I would be more inclined to pick up a used 434, but would be happier getting a 734 new, as It's more likely to be a real lifetime keeper. 

Funny enough the sales guy said I was the 3rd customer that day to come in and compare two BBs, but the others were comparing the 234 and 434. They both left with the same dilemma apparently. They were really hoping they would like the cheaper one more ha ha. 

That probably hasn't helped you much, but in summary, you wouldn't be disappointed with the 400 series I'd say, and obviously for £200 more you'd expect the model up to feel better..that's why its 200 quid more. Put it this way..I'd easily have the 434 over a Mexican fender, or good Sterling Ray which are the main direct competitors imo. You'd be better off trying them out if you can I guess. 

My options now are the 734, or a Schecter CV-4. There is nowhere I can try a Schecter round here so its a tough one. £100 less, and more like what I need, but can't try it and now that 734 is singing to me telepathically.... "buy..meee..buy..meeeee".

I both really love and really hate buying basses. 

18 minutes ago, TRBboy said:

 Cool, let us know how you get on! I really wish they did the 435 with a maple board like the 434m....

Yes, I am most interested in the maple actually. There is a chance they will do it in the future I guess as the maple version of the 434 came out later than the rest (over here anyway). I did read somewhere that the pickups are bright for a passive bass anyway, and that the maple didn't make as much difference as they were expecting. IMO it always looks better regardless.  

I'm looking to change my bass in the next month or two. The 434 is a strong possibility for me, as well as the 734a. The little feedback you can find is exclusively positive as far as I can see. Along with these on my current short list are the Schecter Model T session, and CV-4. You might like to have a look at the 5 string versions of these as a wild card? I'll be getting one of these basses in the coming weeks, but I'd say the 434 is front runner at the moment. In fact I will be trying the Yamahas tomorrow so will try and remember to feed back here. The 734a is more unlikely unless I try it and totally fall in love. The extra £300 wouldn't be worth it for me, based on the differences, on paper at least. 

On 2/20/2018 at 18:56, ahpook said:

Here's something I pondered upon one day whilst thinking about impedance problems when driving certain sorts of fuzzes.

How about putting something with a less-than-ideal output impedance in front of the fuzz ? Something like an EHX LPB-1 ? The output impedance EHX quote is 10k...in the same ball park as a pickup.

So off I went and tried it - I added an LPB-1 circuit to a Woolly Mammoth clone I'd built and, well....gone was the thinness (also an extra gain stage....cool !). I've done the same trick with a Fuzz-Face a friend gave me....stick an LPB-1 in front at unity gain, it fattens it up nicely.

 

 

 

I'm not very technical but I think I get what you're saying. I was wondering if putting my Wah in front of my fuzz in the chain would help as its buffered bypass, which should help a bit? I have no real way of experimenting at the moment. Though I really do like fuzz to be before wah, so would probably end up needing something else anyway. 

3 hours ago, ProjeKtWEREWOLF said:

I play an active 5 string through an EHX Deluxe Big Muff pi  with zero issues. There is a switch for active /passive selection.

Yes Ive seen these. I think this will be my most likely route. Though I recently picked up one of those cheapo Donner fuzz pedals as a back up, and I have occasionally been using that instead of my EHX BBM. 

2 hours ago, skidder652003 said:

want!

 

Yep. This is the reason I could do with getting over the issue. I plan to play mine instead of tickling it though

9 minutes ago, rmorris said:

The basic issue here isn't that the signal level may be too high - though that is a possible issue it's usually relatively easily dealt with .

The specific issue with active basses and some effects is related to output impedance of the bass.

Some pedals - basically "Fuzz Face" type circuits (Zvex Wooly etc...) rely for their characteristics on the signal plugged into it having a high impedance.

Basically the output impedance of the bass is in series with the ...err...base of a BJT transistor and that influences the circuit operation.

And an 'ordinary' passive pickup(s) have quite a high output impedance so that's okay.

An 'active' pickup/preamp system has a much lower output impedance and the resulting sound from a "Fuzz" type circuit is generally thought to be undesireable.

It also follows from that that a "Fuzz" needs to be first thing in any chain so that it sees the pickup impedance.

To get around the problem you can try putting resistance (and optionally inductance) in series with the signal.

I think Zvex do this with a seperate pot on one of their Fuzz pedals ( I won't name it from memory in case I get it wrong but it'll be on the website I guess).

 

Thanks for that. I know that EHX do this with the Bass Big Muff deluxe (have an extra pot). I think I'm on the side again of getting the bass and working around the issue (if there is one). I don't get too precious about tone etc, especially as is the nature of using fuzz etc, so as long as I can deal with any more technical problems, I might as well try it (or else I'll always wonder). 

Thanks again, these answers have helped a lot. I was gutted to think that bass was going to pass me by. 

Superb guys, thanks for that. Thats definately given me food for thought. I guess at the end of the day, its better to have to change/buy another pedal than have a bass you always know isn't 'the one'. 

I shall keep you posted on the bass Cameron, if I get it. Possibly might be worth a trip to Brighton to try one. 

Cheers for that. 

Sorry if this has been featured on here before, but Ive scoured what I can and get such conflicting information across loads of sites. 

Ive got my eye on a Schecter Model T session. I'm in love with the look of it, and although I would never usually buy a bass without trying it, the amount I like it, plus reviews and anecdotal comments make me think its worth the risk (with the option of a return). 

Anyway, the problem is that I almost exclusively use a Big Muff Bass at the moment. I like the sound of fuzz bass, my bands are happy with the sound, so I don't really want to mess about with the formula too much. 

The Model T is active only, and I didnt realise there was a problem with active/fuzz pedals until I stumbles upon the issue on line. I havent had an active bass since I started playing so wasnt something I even considered. 

What are peoples experiences here? I don't mind so much about tone changes etc, but I worry more about level drop off and feedback etc.

One option is getting a deluxe big muff that has an extra feature for dealing with active but it seems a lot to go through, hassle and expense wise, to try a bass I have no guarantee of liking at the end of the day. 

It might be mute as next weekend I'm going to try out a few 2nd choice alternatives including the Yamaha BB range, but I'd like to know if dismissing the Model T just purely down to it being active is an error really. 

GAS TROUBLE!

Cheers in advance! 

I have hit a bit of a snag. I was geared up for the Model-T session, but after a bit of research, was dissapointed to find that active basses don't work ideally with fuzz pedals. I haven't owned an active bass for about 20 years and had no idea this was the case. I have the option of trying the bass out, and changing pedal to perhaps a bass big muff deluxe, which facilitates a higher signal, but that's a lot of potential messing about for something I can't try first. I almost exclusively use a Big Muff for both my bands so it's a big consideration I have to make. Totally gutted as am literally in love with the Model T, to look at at least. 

Hello. Check out 'Scotts Bass Lessons' on Youtube. He has a paid for academy, but there are plenty of free lessons also from complete beginner to quite advanced.

When I started, I had a year on my own working out my favorite songs on bass, then started lessons after that. On one hand I picked up bad habits, but on the other, working out stuff by ear early on can help you loads later on imo. Depends if you're concerned about having 'correct' technique or not I guess.

I personally watched loads of Steve Harris, Lemmy John Deacon footage at the age of 13 onwards, followed by Cliff Burton later,  which helped me get into bass big time, so I would definitely recommend watching and learning from your bass heroes and getting inspired that way. 

Good luck!! Keep us posted.