dub

Thanks Alex I really appreciate the clips. That's above and beyond the call of duty! There's some kind of aliasing going on which I suspect is something to do with playback of WMA through quicktime on a mac but I can hear the tone of the bass through that. I'll have another listen on a PC.

Well that's even more praise for the streamline. Do you know of and good recordings of one played with finger style? I've come across a few slap recordings so far but that's it.

There's even more choice in wooden headless basses than I imagined. If the singlecut doesn't make a huge difference to tone I would imagine that most of the other designs would be lighter, which is a good thing for the back.

Look up the lakland website [url="http://www.lakland.com/ac_hollowbody-tapped.htm"]http://www.lakland.com/ac_hollowbody-tapped.htm[/url] Have a listen to that not bad eh?

I have a MMSR in my stingray and like it a lot. The best thing about John East Preamps is that they are very low noise with very good eq. I can turn up the top end without getting a huge amount of hiss. It works just fine on 9V. You might consider 18V if you play really hard with a pick or slap a lot. I would get one that will fit your bass without routing, still plenty of tonal variation.

It's interesting that "Headlessness has its own set of benefits" (sounds like something written by Elizabeth I to Mary Queen of Scots) I'd never considered that it might be a tonal advantage. I'll really have to try some of these headless basses out

Has anyone had much experience of headless singlecut basses? I know Sei make a model like this and I would imagine that the extra mass and rigidity would make up for the lack of mass that a headstock would bring, but I've never had a chance to try one.

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='920556' date='Aug 10 2010, 12:27 PM']Status Streamline V? I have a IV, and it's a [i]wicked[/i] little thing...[/quote] The streamline is a great design of bass but I reckon I would probably like something more woody in tone I've done a bit of a search and someone has built something that fits the bill (there is a sound clip) but he's not going into production. Ever seen anything similar? [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=545114&page=11"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.p...114&page=11[/url]

A good point, there is no guarantee about anything when it comes to flights these days. I'm also wondering about the hohner B2AV 5 or any other steinberger style 5 strings?

The steinberger is starting to look attractive after my musicman 5 got delayed when flying to a gig. Not a great prospect having to play a gig with a borrowed four string that got me through the sound check. Fortunately my bass arrived just in time. It made me realise a bass that will fit in overhead lockers would be very useful. I tried a graphite steinberger years ago, a great design but a very hard tone. I'm wondering what the synapse and spirit series sound like in comparison?

I owned a Wal in the 80's and loved it at the time. I sold it to buy a 70s musicman because I was playing funk and the musicman tone did it for me, that got traded for G+L then a 5 string Musicman. You can see a pattern developing... no regrets though, I didn't have the money to keep all of these instruments as I was surviving on gig money. Out of these basses the Wal was miles ahead in construction quality and design but I still prefer the tone of my musicman. It really depends what you are after. If you like the tone of the Wal above all others then that's the one to go for.

Another option for practice is to get a decent pair of headphones and something small with a headphone output. The pocket pod is quite good for this as it has a stereo input so you can practice to CDs or ipod. It's a useful thing to have with you as if you can practice anywhere without bugging anyone. It also means you can get started and take a while to check out some amps to see what works for you.

If use all the eq suggestions, boosting low, cutting mid and top, that's a good start. If you want to go further try a little bit of really short (smallest room, short decay) reverb with the top rolled off. Using a bass guitar with eq can be a very effective substitute for double bass. I use a boss graphic pedal whch I can take in and out for a dubby/ double bass tone it's not the same as a double bass but it is really useful alternative tone.

Fostex R8 tape machine, heads good, but needs repair. Free to a good home! While playing the machine varies drastically in speed. It may be possible to repair but at worst could be used as spares. I just need the postage paid which could be about £40 at worst I live in fife.

I just got a really well made wooden thumb rest from Guy at classic guitar boxes. Very good value for the excellent craftsmanship, the wood feels great, but he does some crazy coloured plastic ones too. [url="http://www.classicguitarboxes.com/thumb_rests.php"]http://www.classicguitarboxes.com/thumb_rests.php[/url]

No more alterations to anything. I'm just going to play

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='801565' date='Apr 10 2010, 09:43 AM']How does through body stringing add brightness?[/quote] A fair comment. It probably just adds sustain. Sometimes I just write the first thing I think of. The g+ls are bright though, especially if you spray them fluorescent yellow and orange.

[quote name='tombboy' post='801577' date='Apr 10 2010, 09:59 AM']I agree with Chris. I have owned both and there are too many other fundamentals which affect the sound on each bass (wood density, different strings, set ups etc) for you to make a decision. My 30th was strings-thru, but it also had a mahogany body, which altered the tone. What particular musicman are you talking about anyway? I assume it's the Stingray. If so, and you have one, it'll either be a pre- Ernie Ball model, or one of a batch made for the German market. They've only just gone back to strings-thru in the classic series.[/quote] My bass is a 1989 ernie ball stingray 5. I wasn't really serious about drilling holes in it. I did have one of the old ones with through body strings, but that was along time ago so I don't remember what it's tone was like, there was something I didn't really like about that particular bass. I sold it and bought a G+L, then sold that, bought the 5 string and used that for the past 20 years.