zigmondo

I'd think the MXR would do a grand job and you'd have bucketloads of out-and-out distortion if you needed it in reserve. I do like the compressed "Ampeg in overdrive" vibe of the Sansamp but it could be said that, after all, its main function is "just" a bass DI, with the tonal extra/gravel of something approaching an outboard "valve pedal" if needed. Mind you, there are first-generation Sansamp BDDIs around which are far less costly than the later digital version. Given that cost is a factor, I'd actually reckon that Behringer might be worth a look; I gather a Behringer might be hissy and might have quality-control issues but certainly would keep cost down. (Also, apologies Will, I'd also forgotten that size is a factor too.)

Arf! A moot point, as Will hasn't picked it up, but I assure you that in my experience a SansAmp in no way subtracts bottom end with a solid state amp; should you find it so, the Sansamp has a powerfully twiddlable Bass control

WotchaWill! Can't comment on the Nano Muff, but I testify to great results in that exact area with a SansAmp, using it almost as an "overdriven valve-sim" instead of a DI, ie; like a regular(and indestructible) stomp box. It became like having a "3rd pickup", in fact, though I could always use it to push the front end signal(and as a DI for a change!). I always feel it works [u]with[/u] one's bass, enhancing its natural tone but adding gravel..yet completely reshaping a tone if needed.

Really good point about consistency of QC in CIJ/MIJ...and that this is thrown into sharp relief by the seeming inconsistency of many a US model. Similarly, I cannot remember playing any Fender Japan anything that has been less than exemplary. Prices of strats certainly have seemed to become inflated as their almost "mythic" nature is recounted and repeated over the past few years....yet remain a sound reflection of their worth when, say, compared to many a US Standard(and certainly with the latest "Special", an example of which I've played that is quite terrible). That said, I've personally found that though build and assembly are indeed very good, the electric innards side can tell a different tale, with pots in particular often needing an aftermarket overhaul. I also have to say that my 68RI CIJ ash strat, like many models, becomes so well-favoured that the frets visibly wear with frightening speed. I really do have the hots for that 62RI fretless jazz..

[quote name='Fat Rich' post='1067703' date='Dec 23 2010, 12:39 PM']Everyone knows if you tilt your bass up to make it more comfortable to play it doesn't sound so good because the wood grain is no longer parallel to the ground. This design fixes that problem and is also useful for people with one leg longer than the other.[/quote] Nonsense Rich: ...in fact, all the good tone runs down the neck under gravity to the pickups, ergo, one sounds better.

Some excellent responses, with which I do concur. Citymariner, I notice you are a guitarist, and as such you are well-used to being able to change the texture of a note by glissando, say, or vibrato. As primarily a guitarist myself, I can safely say that I find fretless bass to be liberating and creative, whilst needing much more engagement and care than with a fretted bass. In gigging terms, my experience is that good foldback or monitoring is of the essence, as so many small adjustments are needed on the fly. This necessary attentiveness translates itself to having to develop more nimbly aware fingers, that can slide or disengage or apply the subtle pressures needed to get the most from the bass. Within a few weeks of getting a fretless, I have fallen in love with it, counting it really as a new and different instrument rather than just a bass without frets. Sadly, I quite understand fatback's observation above: a fretted bass could feel a little unresponsive as one gets back into the saddle...and yet this is just when one can learn to oversome this by developing different right hand attacks. I was very blessed in that I bought my first fretless from one of our fellow Basschatters for £150. It is the "Jaco-alike" from Vintage. Though I've subsequently upgraded mine with Wizard 64 p/ups and 250k log pots(the stock models have 500k linear), the stock model is excellent, and I'd certainly and unreservedly recommend it as a huge amount of fretless bass for the money. It's the VJ96MRJP, if I've got that right, and even at full whack price it's a belter. Every best success my man!

Thanks chaps, most useful(ta for the link, Geoff); yes, I'd guessed that several settings might be a bit thinner, also that there are different flavours around. The notch filter sounds workable. I should have really specified the control plate on a jazz bass(duh) but I guess the same applies. Methinks I'll stick with the "normal" thang of relying on the right pots, caps, pickups and good old right-hand attack..plenty of "varitone" enough given a single-coil jazzer, right folks!

I realise several of you have had these fitted, either short-term or more permanently. I don't have one but have been toying with the idea. I'm aware of its switching/capacitor options, but my question is: Have any of you experienced any added noise with these things? Any shielding/earthing hums and buzzes introduced that weren't there in your original control plate config? My understanding is that the standard "tone roll off" is replaced by the Varitone's engagement of the caps. In your experience, do its usable features far outweigh its less useful ones?

Also Eltham Jones from that neck of the woods; was working for Soundhouse in Bristol. Takes his time, but top chap.

Thank you Umph, I may well do...! Meanwhile, strangeness abounds in the pot department...not a worry, merely odd: Both my volume pots are 500k: labelled B which of course I understand as linear...and yet they are pleasingly smooth in swell and aural graduation. Oddness being of course that not only are they linear, they actually sound like A/audio/log. My tone pot is labelled as A(audio/log)and of course apart from the surprise at seeing it here instead of a linear B, it does behave as I'd expect as a tone pot with all the tone roll-off pushed into a small space around 1. The value is obscured by solder, but there is a normal enough darker roll-off with the .047 cap across the tone pot. So: B pots where there "should" be A's...but sounding like A's; A pots instead of Bs for the tone; and the oddly high value of 500k for at least both vol pots. In a sense, this is not problematical...but is a mystery as to why the unexpected values have been used. And I have no idea how or why a pair of 500k linear B's ahould either be there on volume, let alone how on earth they are behaving like A/logs are supposed to aurally. Yep: if it broke, don't fix it...just curious. If anyone's got anything to throw in the mix here I'm all ears.

Eyup Will: that's very useful, thank you. There I was, making the assumption that the pots were 250k...hmm, I may well have to think again. I'd guess that given the p/ups are already sounding on the tastefully dark side, I've something like a .47 cap...but I'll PM you in a mo. Am I right, everyone, in thinking that "vintage jazz bass" spec is generally 250k pots with .47 cap? I'm at the outer extremities of my understanding and experience here.

Am rather in love with my recently-acquired Vintage "Jaco-esque" fretless jazz 4: this is my first single-coil bass and for me the tones are pure gold. Textures and tones are clearly defined, yet the neck p/up has a bit of a wooly and flabby bottom end..rather like one can sometimes get with the stock neck p/up of a Gibson Les Paul, is the best way I can describe it. Now, given that I've given the archives here several trawls and researched widely, could anyone recommend a neck p/pup that is in every way a "stock vintage" number but with a tighter and more defined(but still rich and low) bottom end, please? I've of course experimented with pickup height, and adjustments have not rectified matters. I realise that the "what pickups" enquiries have been very thoroughly dealt with here, so am not asking when I could merely be reading what has been written already! I love the vintage s/c-ness, have no wish to go active or down a stacked 'bucker route: just something a tad more defined in terms of low-end frequencies on the neck. My "gut-feeling" perhaps suggests Wizard 64s, DM Area Js or yer actual Fenders...yet I confess I have little knowledge of the various flavours of Fender jazz p/ups, along with no knowledge of how the neck p/ups in particular sound in the others I've mentioned. I'd be grateful for any of your experience or guesswork!

In the same position myself this week. I found the Schaller screws to be thinner than the ones already on the bass, so out came a couple of Swan Vestas: banged them in the holes, Stanleyed off the excess, screwed away with impunity. PTFE, even masking-tape, sound grand.

Assuming it's not a valve jobby? Valves would be the first thing to check if so(eg, any gone microphonic?).. Perhaps the popping might suggest capacitor as above? Power supply faulty? (given the constant sound you describe)