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Some of the squier jazz basses are very good and very cheap. Just buy a passive one and save up for a john east pre.

Could someone with a G&L 5 string measure the dimensions of their pickups for me? I'm wondering if they are the same as EB Musicman stingray 5 pickups.

Here's an example.. I've played lots of basses, out of all of them, I think the Wal was the most beautifully made bass I've ever owned, but in the end the sound just wasn't right for me. I use an EB musicman 5 now. I bought a used squier jazz for my daughter on ebay for £120 it sounded and played great, comparable with other great basses I've played. I was really surprised.. and lucky, (they don't all sound like that). So there are cheap mass produced basses that are great instruments, the only way to find them is to play them, or get lucky!

I hear what you are saying about the fashion thang, but the punters like choice and lots of it. I bought my SA450 4 years ago and it's actually grown on me a lot over time. To start off with I was quite underwhelmed. I certainly didn't buy it for the way it looked! and the fan noise was irritating when recording. I'm not a fan of the VPF and VLE filters and I think the eq layout is a bit daft. So why do I still have it? I guess the main thing is that it's light, reliable and the power amp is clear, and powerful. Because it was so clear it really showed up some failings in the preamp and pickup of my bass so I replaced them. I now mostly use the eq on the bass. It has made me realise that I need to try and get a sound from my amp that's something close to how the DI signal will sound through the PA. A lot of festival stages I play have an SVT rig which can be great if it's a good space but I often miss the clarity of the Markbass in situations where the stage sound isn't great.

The best idea is to do a search on ebay and gumtree for "collection only" Look for a Gallien Krueger MB150 which is actually portable. Failing that anything that's a small bass amp of about 150W will do the job. Get yourself a folding trolly. [quote name='JeSuisSkeleton' post='960079' date='Sep 18 2010, 01:00 AM']Hi there! I'm Phil, a music student living in London. I play most styles of music (not ventured into jazz just yet...), and I've just joined a synth-rockish band, which is a whole new thing for me. I also write ambient music with a guitar. The main gear I use is as follows: 2005 MusicMan Stingray 4 3EQ 2004 Ibanez BTB406QM Boss ME-50B Boss RC-50 I can't afford a proper bass rig at the moment or for the forseeable future so I'm playing through a practice guitar amp at home, and I'm looking to replace my ME-50B with stompboxes. Suggestions for cost effective effects and (relatively) cheap, ultra-portable/tube-friendly rigs are welcome! [/quote]

I have had it pointed out to me by a sound engineer that I used to hit the strings off the poles and make loud clicks when playing hard at loud gigs. My solution to this was to install a thumb rest just in front of the pickup and a little closer to the strings. I don't hit the pole pieces now and crossing strings is faster. I wouldn't mess with the polepieces, they are probably glued in place. The cheapest and easiest solution to the quiet G is to use a heavier string on the G (while keeping the others your usual gauge). You'll notice the change in tension to start with, but you'll soon get used to it.

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]