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[quote name='Beedster' post='801543' date='Apr 10 2010, 09:12 AM']I've owned both but to be honest, there are too many other variables in comparing bass to bass to make a reliable judgement (e.g., one instrument might have more sustain, but that could be the result of the body & neck working well with each other as opposed to the strings going through the body). I've owned about 10 basses with string through and don't think I've ever really noticed a difference (I've been able to confirm this on several, the bridges of which allowed both top loaded and through body stringing). If you're making a choice between basses, there are far more important things to worry about. I'm sure other will disagree! C[/quote] That's good to know. I wont start drilling holes through the SR5!

Has anyone had the chance to compare a musicman with through body strings to one without? In theory it should be brighter, but what's it like in practice?

A G+L with treble boost on, switched to the bridge pickup has a lot of top end. Stringing through the body adds brightness.

Hi there I was wondering if anyone could describe the tone of the NS upright magnetic pickups. I've installed a magnetic pickup on my own EUB which compared to the piezo has stronger mid frequencies which combine well with the piezo. I wondering how the NS EMGs might work as pickups for a bass guitar.

Cheers for the info. That's a good few basses to try out. The warwicks look promising. I had a look on their website and the streamer jazzman looks like it might do the job. The reason I am into the idea of a slanted pickup is that I think it would be great to have even bottom end across the strings so when the same note on a higher string is played, it will have a similar weight behind it. I'd be interested to hear if the warwick players are getting that kind of response from the bass? Of course I'll go and try one out myself when I get the chance.

Has anyone ever seen a bass with a diagonal pickup, angled to give the higher strings more low end?

I've got a metre of high quality carbon rod that I bough for an extra long endpin. I got the wrong diameter for me. It's 10mm. There is no spike on the end but it would be easy to epoxy one on. If anyone would like it or a bit of it please let me know, (It is easier to send a shorter bit).

I rewired the switch. Very pleased with the result: The neck side of the pickup has a really strong low end and a very clear top end in comparison to both sides in parallel which is what I was hoping for.

Thanks neepheid but that one is the way I've got it wired. It did lead me to the right one though. I realized it will be the same as the blade switch on a telecaster. Now where's the soldering iron....

Does anyone have a single/parallel/single wiring diagram for an EB Musicman blade switch? I don't use the humbucking setting, but use the other settings a lot.

If you really want to know what bass sounds you like the most, then use a portable recorder with a direct input and headphones to record the same bassline on lots of different hi end basses at the same level, (including one made by your luthier). Try flat eq and then with eq adjusted to what you like and keep notes on each one (eq settings pickup setting, playability etc.). Wait a few weeks, then get a friend to play back your recordings in random order so you don't know which is which, but they do. You may well be surprised at which one is your favourite.

[quote name='bubinga5' post='757624' date='Feb 25 2010, 09:49 PM']This all sounds like there are too many variables for us less experienced..(me)...would be nice to have a general guide on do's or donts, for those of us who arent in the know... A sticky (for dummies) on this would help many im sure.. come on 51m0n!!! [/quote] The distance between your ear and the speaker makes the greatest difference to your ability to hear it. If your cab is a few inches behind your head, you'll hear yourself clearly. If your cab is pointing at the back of your legs then it will seem quieter with less definition.

Good to hear it all worked out well.

[quote name='artisan' post='758401' date='Feb 26 2010, 05:10 PM']damn good idea that funkgod maybee i could have saved £100.00 but let's not worry,just don't tell my missus. the Nordy should be getting fitted tomorrow--as i have never soldered anything before & so am scared sh*t less to do it myself--so i'll give a sit' rep' as soon as i;ve tested it.[/quote] Remember you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying the pole piece adjustment first. If it works then you keep the bass in its original condition and retain it's value. You can always return the nordstand or flog it on ebay. If you haven't soldered before I would do a good bit of practice on some spare wires that aren't connected to anything. The thing to watch out for when soldering, is not to hold the soldering iron on to the wires for any length of time. You may have to trim the length of the pickup wires. Use a good wire stripper. Cut off any old solder and strip the ends of the wire. Get a soldering frame with clips to hold the wires. Twist the ends of the new wire and apply a tiny bit of fresh solder to each end before you join them. You just need to touch the soldering iron and solder to them for a moment. If too much heat is transferred to the coil when soldering you could damage the pickup. Put of bit of shrink sleeve (before soldering) to insulate the join once it is soldered. If you're really worried about it, get an experienced tech to do it.

Although it sounds like a hassle re-learning the songs in drop D, it's the best solution to the problem. You'll probably get a new take on some of the tunes, and once you've done it you'll be much more familiar with that tuning and feeling good.

Set up a bit further away from the drummer, put your amp at shoulder height and stand close to it. In a noisy room sometimes earplugs can help.

The J single coils will have more top end when compared to the P humbuckers, which will have more mid. The MM can be wired either as two parallel single coils (bright) or one humbucker (higher output, more low mid less top). The P and the MM are hum canceling which is recommended, as in most situations these days there is a lot of electromagnetic interference everywhere. If you go for two J pickups then get a hum canceling pair or get something like a hum cancelling single nordstrand J to combine with something else. The position of the pickups makes a big difference, near the bridge more attack, top and hi mid, near the neck softer attack and more low mid and bass. Check out the lakland site they have an excellent audio comparison of pickups [url="http://www.lakland.com/audio.htm"]http://www.lakland.com/audio.htm[/url]

Hi there I did replace my pickup with a nordstrand and I am pleased with the result but if you like the way the bass sounds on the other strings try getting a .55 G string or go a gauge down on the the lower strings. It's a lot easier and less expensive. [url="http://www.juststrings.com/flatwoundernieballbassguitarsinglestrings.html"]http://www.juststrings.com/flatwoundernieb...glestrings.html[/url]

I've owned a stingray 5 for about 15 years. I bought a G+L L2500 tribute recently and I was really impressed with the quality of the sound which is very close to the original G+Ls. One big difference to consider is the deeper neck in the G+L which I find easier to play, but it depends on what suits you. I started using the G+L for all my gigs, but now I've come back to using the stingray again. When comparing the tone of both basses I found that a big part of what I liked in the G+L was the heavy low mid (around 150hz), so I boosted that when using the musicman and it really gives a great thump to the tone. I would point out that there is a big difference between individual instruments, no matter how good quality control is in manufacturing, some are going to shine, so if you really liked that stingray you played, then buy it! Another bass will not sound exactly the same.

[quote name='Sue' post='728980' date='Jan 29 2010, 05:40 PM']Interesting... just to come back on a couple of comments, I am quite happy not to stand still - in fact it's hard for me not to wriggle about a bit! The thought of spending hours alone with our drummer fills me with dread - on a personal level, we are not a match made in heaven you might say...[/quote] I guess practicing for hours together isn't always possible. It's better if it is a two way street as far as listening to each other. Sometimes you just have to watch them. When it's a noisy room and hard to hear anything it's good to watch the hihat. A great thing to do is practice everything with a drum machine. Any cheap drum machine will do as long as you like the sounds. Find the tempo that you would normally play something in your set, then half it and practice it at that slow speed until you feel you are really on every note. Take a break have a cup of tea then try it at normal tempo and you should find that you are really locked into the groove. You can practice anything using this method and it will really improve your timing, you might not notice the results straight away but if you keep it up after a few days you will really start to lock in on the groove. If you really want to find out what is going on with your playing then record yourself with the drum machine and listen back and you can figure out if you are ahead or behind the beat and put the notes where you want them to be. You can break up the slow practice with a bit of improvising with the drum machine if you find that you are starting to lose concentration.

If you jam together a lot (hours at a time) with just the two of you you can start to predict what each other are doing. Just play what you feel like and listen to each other and don't stop. Take fills of 8 each then 4 then two then one. Lock into the groove go away from it come back, change key. You can also come up with some great grooves this way. If you don't know where to start just start with something you know and develop it into something else. If you want to, you can try some classic rhythm section stuff from bootsty and beyond but you don't have to try and replicate it exactly just have fun with it.

I've not actually tried the TIs that's why I was thinking of a swap. If anyone wants to buy the La bellas they can have he 5 string set for £15 But maybe I should check out the status half wounds I liked the la bellas for dubby and motown tones but not quite what I was after for other things.

I've got a heavy set of la bella flatwound strings that have been on a 5 string musicman anyone want to swap for a set of Thomastic Infield Flats even the four string set would do.

I've been listening to some soundclips of the warwick star II and lakeland hollowbody both of which have a good bit of acoustic character to them that I like. The Lakeland seems to have a bit less of the hollow tone as you would expect. Just wondering if anyone has had a chance to play or compare either of these basses and what you thought of the sound.

I must get a hold of the book. I like the fact that the tambourine player is a vibes player as well. "Hey how about some vibes on this track? oh you think it needs tambourine? AGAIN?" Amongst all the joy in the music there is a bit of sadness at those who have died too young and tragedy that motown records just abandoned many of it's most brilliant musicians to move to LA.