itu

Maybe my Ibanez Affirma (maple) and Misa Tri-Bass are closest to rare, if the latter is also considered as a bass. https://misa-digital.myshopify.com/products/tri-bass No, I do not own these, but some I would love to have: Mouradian CS-74 fretless Ampeg (1966) Vox Stinger IV (1967) Overwater C (1985) 5-string Parker Fly (1992?) Atlansia, any model Zemaitis, any bass any doubleneck: everybody remembers Rics, Wals and Pedullas but how about a Gretsch Bikini (1961)? Lane Poor minima (late 1980's and 1990's) Neuser Claudia / Clawhammer (1990's)

Well, I have seen and felt similar problems with certain pedals. A fuzz or an od needs just few mA, while some DSP based units may need nearly 500 mA. In a pedal format, yes. Some distortion/od/fuzzes like this "battery dead" type of use but not anything that is far more complicated and/or digital. The situation could be compared to a Ferrari with a Trabant motor. Cool looks, sad sound and terrible performance. A powerful transformer can be a low cost unit after all, so please consider carefully if you really are unable to invest few coins to one. I have three of those cheapo onespots for three boards.

If the splitting does not feel too good, you might try a x-over. Iron Ether Divaricator, KMA Tyler or similar. You can divide the sound from adjustable frequency (my choice is around 400 Hz) and put effects to those two different bands. I have fuzz and flange up high.

My leather straps are around pi" wide. Inside is cotton (kente from Ghana) that keeps the bass in place. There is some felt in between which absorbs sweat and keeps the strap always warm.

Yes, I know, if I choose from those two. Could you please tell me, where can I find a system that has all three parameters and the price is reasonably flat, too? For those interested, my stereo system has a pair of Gradient Helsinki 1.5. They should be reasonably flat, I think. Except the price. http://www.gradient.fi/en/

Yes, that should fix the issue.

It is also good to understand that flat response and full range mean that the system is everything but efficient. Ordinary PA system has an efficiency that can reach 2 % while hifi systems can be as low as 0.01 %. This difference can be seen so that FRFR could be 200 times less efficient than an ordinary bass system. So you need LOTS of POWER to drive a FRFR, if it really has the features marketed. Two drivers do not automatically equal flat response, but maybe a slightly widened response. Few simple equations: Hifi system has 2 x 100 W / 8 ohm power output. Efficiency is 0.01 %. Maximum sound (not power!) output in watts is 2 x 0.01 W = 0.02 W. Active bass speaker has 200 W / 8 ohm power output. Efficiency is 2 %. Maximum sound (not power!) output in watts is 4 W. FRFR system with 4 W sound output with pretty good efficiency of 0.2 %. Needed amplifier: 2000 W / 8 ohm.

P: SB body + black plate J: dark fretboard + black plate MM: SB body + dark fretboard + black plate

Understood. But if you hate the sound "as is", would it be any better live?

This is only partially true, because the impedance is not constant. You can put nearly any speaker to the output as long as you drive it with relatively low power. Keep the volume at 9 or 10 o'clock max and try every speaker one at a time and then in pairs. Remember to turn off the amp before changing the speaker. Level volume and try every possible configuration. Keep the impedance selector at 4. If the amp starts to become too hot, turn down the volume and let it cool down.

Mr. Starr elegantly points out pretty much the same facts as I have but not as theoretically as I did. Marketing is one area (this goes to 25 Hz!) and technical facts another (@ -23.5 dB). There are standardized ways of telling efficiency, frequency response, power rating (at 8 ohms!) etc. but not everybody is using those numbers. And this is probably the biggest reason, why people think that a 4 ohm speaker equals far louder system than 8 ohms, when it is far from that. Try to put a one ohm system after your amplifier and turn it up. What happens? Do you get so much more power? I remember reading a brochure maybe some 20 years ago about a 7.1 home hifi receiver. This big company claimed that the unit can provide 7 x 100 W speaker output. OK, fine, but the input power was 325 W! This would mean that the system could create an additional 375 watts to speaker outputs neglecting the fact that other parts of the receiver need some energy, too. Actually the amplifier section could push 100 watts to ONE SINGLE speaker output at a time. So this is a 7 x 100 W system, isn't it. My 2 x 110 W / 8 ohms amp takes 650 W to push my two speakers. There are cold, comparable facts and there is marketing hype. My suggestion is also that you go and test the stuff and find the winner by using your own ears.

So sorry, sir. Let's play it again: I gave you but too many ideas. Some studio guys have these switch based P-basses with two switches: on/off, tone on/off. That is probably the simplest configuration that exists. It also provides straight line from pickup to board without any pots or tones in between if needed. Stellartone's solution is close to the all on solution but has more sound options, too. I am pretty confident that you would be happy with it. If you are not after the very trebly sound, this studio type on/off -thing is probably not yours. Anthony Jackson's Fodera has just the pickup and an output jack. He will have some high end rack effects and a studio mixer after the bass and cable. That's why he doesn't need any cheapo adjustments in his bass.

Life saver: http://alexplorer.net/guitar/mods/shock.html

If you have this switch, do you need anything else? You could do studio version, i.e. no pots, only switches. Three position mic switch, tone switch & vol switch (which is also On/Off). Can be done with a multiple position rotary switch, like: Off - quiet & tone On - loud & tone On - loud & tone Off - quiet & tone Off - Off (6 positions) OR loud & tone On - quiet & tone On - Off - quiet & tone Off - loud & tone Off (5 positions) Or just one switch for tone and a step attenuator. I have maths for a step attenuator if you want to do quite a few solderings...

...that can be treated with ozone.

I do have a single (very nice) and a double pack (heavy and a bit thick with two basses!). They are somewhat pricey, but the similar competitors had similar prices. Have to say, that they are well thought. There are pockets and compartments to notes, tools, cables etc. But I will not give that to any airport executive... prefer hard case for flights.

VFE pedals?

Every Limelight I have had chance to try has been really good for the price. The details like neck surface finish has been superior to any Fender I have tested, but this is purely subjective. I just happen to like their working concept and the broke-in feel. A relic CS P or Nash may have something similar in them but their prices are astronomical. Test drive before buy.

Something is not connected properly. Crackles and pops tend to do with DC or ground issues. Nothing hinders you to replace the whole preamp with another. Noll, Glockenklang, East, bartolini, Darkglass... they all work with those pickups.

With two ports it is easier to put them to a smaller front panel along with the driver. A bigger one needs more space. Simple as that. If people think that some design principle is better than another, I suggest them to do some blind tests. If the listener sees the equipment, they give funny comments on system's performance. One of the best tests was a speaker test that had just one pair of speakers. This pair was dressed with three different coloured fabrics, one at a time: white, brown and black. With brown cloth the sound of the pair was told to be somewhat muddy (no wonder), with white the speakers had a bit too clean, nearly metallic sound, and with black the sound was articulated. Same music, same pair, different colour. And you were thinking that music is not visual? There is no such thing as The Superior Design. Otherwise everybody would use that and that only. Ever seen such a design? Me neither. Another thing is that PA (i.e. bass) amplification is everything but linear/flat. The frequency response is not that important and that is why there are very different sounds coming from different systems.

If you take an example from hifi, you know that you can go really low with good design of the box, the cross over and the elements. But there are three things that go hand in hand. Let us start with basics. A speaker may be efficient. A speaker may go really low. A speaker may be small. After these three, the speaker may also have a flat frequency response. First of all, a very efficient speaker has very limited frequency response. PA (read: bass) systems tend not to be very flat. But they are efficient! If a speaker needs to go down low, there are these two other parameters that affect the overall performance: the volume of the box and the efficiency. So you can go really low with the same box (volume kept as is) if you just sacrifice efficiency. And vice versa, you can get good lows at high SPL but you need to make the box far bigger. This is plain physics. Hifi guys know, that flat response equals lots of equalizing (through cross over) of the system, which means that the efficiency is sacrificed. And because of size (or design or...) issues, hifi speakers tend to be pretty small and the efficiency is even worse. PA speaker may have the efficiency at a level of 1 - 2 % whereas a hifi speaker at around 0.01 - 0.1 %, which is 10 - 200 times less. One side note: If you think about this modern FRFR jargon, I have to be a bit sceptical. Full frequency AND flat response equals hifi and that is not efficient at all. It requires quite some more power than ordinary PA systems. If a basic modern bass amp has 500 W, who sells these amps with huge power reserve (kilowatts!) and who has those real FRFR speaker systems? How much would they cost and are they really needed - a magnetic pick-up bass has a limited frequency response, too.

Although the power is split to two cabs 33/66 %, the amount of sound (SPL) is not so simple. If you know the sensitivity of the cabs, you can have a more accurate guess of the volume you get from each other. Very, very often this SPL (the actual dBs) is put aside and people look only at power (W). Wattage may give you an idea of loudness but is not exactly telling you anything about perceived loudness.

If someone is interested in tilt eq (like in Quad hifi equipment) or their other pedals, I would suggest to make your move now. They have DIY stuff, too. http://vfepedals.com/

Looks interesting. And messes my plans, because of TWO posssible choices instead of just one: Has anyone tried this Meridian Funk-u-lator? http://www.meridianguitars.com/effects/