itu

I have been considering this dying to maple necks that have sounded good. Dark is the colour for me. Good ideas here. 

Sabre would offer more possibilities. Why was is it so short lived, I don't know. 

MM. No doubt. I might cut highs just a bit, but other than that MM sounds better to my ears. 

I like the detailed test setup, and nice playing (even through YT). Well done. 

We could... 

FLTP 1000 km is a real life test for electric cars. It is something completely different from what car manufacturers are telling us. 

Any bass meeting could make tests of the amps and cabs and publish results to some webpage like BC. Requirements and tests are pretty straightforward if someone has a 1 m stick, a noise source, and a decent audio analyzer. 

@MostLow: usually it is feasible to fill the preamp side, and adjust the volume to the desired loudness. This way the noise level is low and the preamp works in its best performance level. 

57 minutes ago, DG5 said:

Even high quality brands can suffer from it.

Even high quality brands have to deal with physics. 

My modest understanding comes from Sony broadcast cameras. When the power supply broke, there were no reusable parts available in the PSU. This was very evident when the PSU blew around its metal case. Not every time, but every now and then. 

If any part would break, it most likely will take a few along. Fixing such a unit to its original specs would be a chore. 

Lovely! 

Oh yes, download some scanning SW (app) to scan notes from books. A very useful extra. 

If you want a very good SW to read music from different formats, I suggest you to buy the Mobile Sheets Pro. There's no monthly fee, just pay once. Very functional. 

If you need (I do) a page turner, check Pageflip Dragonfly. It is small, very quiet (studio use), simple to use, and batteries last really long time. There's a 4 button version available, too, but I found no use to those two extra buttons. 

I use these with my Android tablet. I have +3000 scores there. Setlists are easy to do, and you can import a few formats to the SW. If you have books in PDF format, you can make sidecars to index big books to individual notes. 

No more papers! 

The guy who did the solderings... I wouldn't call him Ironman. 

@godathunder, I think you are asking right questions. First of all, class D amps are measured in a different way than old A, AB, or B class amps. Then the distortion figures may differ a lot from manufacturer to another which offers a big variety to publish watts. 

Watts are funny, because everybody understands one figure - that is only faintly related to loudness. Where are discussions about sensitivity (dB @ 1 W/m), loudness (dB), frequency response (50 - 4000 Hz ±6 dB) and so on? 

The only reasonable way to measure loudness sure requires a system (amp + cab). Sometimes it would be very eye opening to arrange an open air test session where anybody could bring a system to the place and then someone with decent equipment and noise source would make measurements. 

Phenolic resin? 

Is this a factory fretless? 

Has to be a short scale, because of the Bendwell. 

23 minutes ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

...assuming all the other T/S specs are the same, which they seldom are.

 

...if all the other specs are the same, which they seldom are. 

 

...voltage sensitivity comes at the cost of drawing twice the current, which some amps don't deal with very well. 

I might read the above like:

Two speakers from the same manufacturer that look the same but have different impedances are two different speakers. 

Depending on the amp it is hard to say which speaker is really louder. Lower impedance may be harder load for the amp and therefore higher impedance cab can be even louder. 

13 hours ago, Hellzero said:

This is pure audiophile talking meaning absolutely nothing and wrapped in pseudo science.

Exactly. While the theory about dead spots is true (nearly every particle and shape resonates) the snake oil thing is usually too easy to add to the texts. Bigger is bigger, and more is more. That product page had lots of text, even though the basic theory is about resonance, a stick attached from one end. If you change any parametres of it (length, weight...) the system changes. 

One way to tune the system is to change the tuners. One by one, or all at once. 

@Bilbo: Does the amp still howl? 

From KMA: 

Queequeg2 

Moai Maea 

https://kmamachines.com/machines/ 

Good looking, but a pricey unit. 

To keep the string in tune at both ends, it is wise to re-string the bass as shown here: 

https://scottsbasslessons.com/blog/how-to-string-a-bass-guitar 

The only thing I think in a different way is in step 6. I push the string to the bottom of the peg hole, and then bend it. Scott makes only a small bend to the string. 

3 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I got out my trusty travel iron and sat it on the heel end for around 10 minutes...

And eventually, it's off...and still in one piece.

So this whole process takes something like an hour? 

My uneducated guess is some connection desperately needing Deoxit. I would put cables to both FX loops, and if there are any other similar connections in the back (pre/power), put a cable there, too. 

If this doesn't help, the next place could be input jack solderings to the PCBA. 

After that the next steps would be all connections between boards, pots and so on. Deeper and deeper. 

For me the difference has been the need to adjust the bridge height, while swapping from a set to another (GHS and D'Addario). Soundwise I cannot say anything reasonable: when changing an old set to a new one, the sounds are so different. But how about trying two new sets? 

3 hours ago, Misdee said:

Considering the esoteric designs using woven graphite and the overall quality, Status basses were very reasonably priced in comparison to a lot of other brands. 

I have only owned two necks (and two Status bass copies), and I do agree. Quality stuff for a reasonable price. After all, compared to the old music instruments the prices are ridiculously low: I have been searching for a decent double bass for jazz gigs. A basic student bass costs the same amount of ££££ as a quality Status. Some £20000 is needed to a pro instrument. I don't have that many gigs. 

5 hours ago, Sean said:

...the BBNE2 then. Flagship Yamaha bass. 

I do not follow Fender or Yamaha or many other brands as they just do not fit me. That's why I didn't remember that it is a neck through. 

But my main point was that as it is a fine instrument, I would keep it as it is. Self made modification may be fine, but there are other possibilities, too. A skilled luthier can make a good fretless version of it. Same dimensions and everything, the playability between those two could be very interesting. And a good luthier may suggest some tiny modifications that support the fretless sound, too.