chyc

It's back on the market baby! Did someone weasel out? "Oh sorry, I've only just realized it's not the original drivers." https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115303921484?hash=item1ad8a6374c:g:6qAAAOSwDl1iG7HW

Whenever I'm playing at gigs, I'm always surrounded by fans screaming away so loud that I cannot hear myself at all. And then I wake up.

I won't say they are similar. Twelve or so years ago I went into PMT fully expecting me to walk away with a TM. To me the TM could do everything a TT could do, and then some. The reality was different: the TT had a sound that couldn't be emulated with a TM, even in single coil mode, and the TT with both pickups wide open was my favourite sound, so that was what I purchased. It was so long ago that I cannot give any more details than that, but I spent a while in the shop, and got the staff to play while I listened. Even they were surprised that they themselves prefered the TT over the TM in single coil mode. Of course that's a subjective opinion on which one was better, but I don't think it's controversial to say that they didn't sound similar at all.

( 130 + 69 + 18 ) * 120% for VAT + postage ( let's copy £18 excl that Real Electronics charges) = £282.0

I'm a bit gutted, as it genuinely was on my to-buy list. Just needed an owner living near enough to me for me to try before I bought.

Looks like DB Bass has gone. Sad times as I quite liked the look of their cabinets, the embee and elbee. https://www.db-bass.com/about-1 now is a holding page. Sometimes this is just an administrative mistake, but the cabinets are gone on Reverb too. There is a very complimentary review of them on Musicradar

One aspect I'd like to know, and probably won't for a number of years, is the reliability and repairability of this thing. It's a subject so close to my mind when purchasing that I started a thread on the subject. General consensus there is that you would struggle to find a brand better than Ashdown. I would hope this thing is rock solid, but easily repairable in the event for this price.

Banter! Just for the record, I bought these Rotos because I wanted to get something from the UK, and I'm not a fan of the usual suspects (Swing bass etc).

I don't think I'm there yet with my playing: I'm just scrambling around trying to hit the right notes in the right order, so if they sound the same whichever string I use that could only be a good thing for me.

I have some strings that I've grown to love (Rotosound UM45). One thing that was an absolute revelation is that to a large extent, the same note across different strings sounds similar in tone. All strings that I've played up 'til these sounded fine when in the same position on the fret, but with these, I can play an A on the G string, and it will sound similar enough to the A8ve on the A string. This means I can play at the dusty end of the fretboard, then switch to near the nut and not have that jarring tone switch that I'd almost grown used to. This thread is mostly academic as I think I've found my forever strings, but in case I get itchy fingers, what should I be looking for to get this feature in a set of strings? I've been asking the all knowing Google, but clearly haven't found the right keywords.

If you run a 16 Ohm 2x10 with an 8 Ohm 4 x 10, the total load will be 5.33 (repeating of course) Ohm, but most importantly I believe the load on all 6 cones will be spread evenly. May be desirable if you have identical speakers in the two cabinets. I may be in the minority, but I have an amp that cannot go down to 4 Ohms. That's another possibility.

Because it looks like a Barefaced cabinet, right down to the logo and peeling tolex?

My guess is the original speakers are blown. The BN10-300X are no slouch, so if it works with the cab, it's a tempting price currently at 99p

US prices exclude tax. £999 is £833 excl VAT so yes it is still cheaper on the left side of the pond, but it's not as bad as all that. What that 20% gets you is another matter, but to pin the price difference on a spider is a bit wide of the mark IMO.

It might be switchable like the Barefaced 2x10. That's pure conjecture mind you, I have no evidence for that.

I used to use Allianz. They are very reliable except (and this a biggie) they don't cover electrical failure. I've personally never made a claim, but I know people who have, and there was no receipts nonsense. It's been a while since I've been covered, but I seem to remember they cover newly bought instruments even before you've updated your cover, up to 30 days from purchase.

Welcome, to the flat side.

You'll get quite a few good answers, but a generic bit of advice I wished I'd known at the start is: take the room acoustics into account. A mic that sounds excellent in a soundproofed room may well be horrible in a room with your children screaming while playing computer games next door and you don't necessarily know the room acoustics of the people making the recommendations. You may ask me how I know this..... I've recorded some good stuff using a blend of two Aston Elements, one near the bridge, one near the fingerboard. Two would be stretching your budget, but it's what I have and they're good. Maybe two of the Samson microphones above would be similar? At that price I may even buy two myself to find out!

Yes I now realize that tapping isn't the correct term, although it's been used incorrectly enough that hopefully people would understand what I meant. I was talking about a selector switch to convert a pickup between series, parallel and single coil. Even then the terminology isn't correct: the single coil can be a true single coil in the HE/S, or can be split like the HE.

I got it the wrong way round. The HE is silent in single. The HE/S will have a buzz, but there are videos of HE/S that are silent to my ears. Here's a thread on the topic: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/delano-xtender-pickup-question.1329640/

Interesting question. Delano make two identical looking pickups, the XTender HE and the XTender HE/S. I think the S stands for split coil so should be silent in single coil operation. (UPDATE: This is the wrong way round.) Saying that, the video above is of an HE and I cannot hear any buzz at all. I do not know which one is installed on my bass. Sandberg never replied when I asked, which is a shame but I don't think it changes things much.

Thanks for all the replies to this. After some thought I decided that had there been just one pickup I probably would have gone for it, but two pickups already gives me a wide range of tones, and there's a three band EQ to finesse it further. Two switches would make the front of the bass a little cluttered for my taste, but one switch would do my head in at the lack of symmetry The switches themselves would have been cheap, but I wouldn't have the equipment, the confidence or the skills to install it myself, and that's where the cost would be. I must say I'm bloomin' impressed with the bass. It's making me pick it up every day for a practice. Maybe the odd shape of the XTender is a gimmick, maybe not, I don't know, but it sounds really good to my ears.

My wallet isn't thanking you In all seriousness thanks for the data point. Out of interest which setting would you say takes the lion's share of your playing?

I have a Sandberg Custom with 2 Delano XTender pickups. The pickups are both individually wired in series. Love the instrument, and love the sound. Problem is, this YT vid shows the pups with a switch for parallel/series/single and I love all the sounds on offer, and love the versatility that it brings. I'm taking the bass in for a service and am half thinking about changing from series to parallel, or even asking the tech to add a series/parallel(/single) switch for these pups. What do other people think, listening to the video? The Sandberg sounds like the series-wired samples in the vid. Do you prefer the parallel over the series? Would you add a switch to your own bass in this situation? Am I chasing a dragon?