John Sl

This thread is so interesting, although some of the technical stuff is beyond me. Like others I use the AcBsPre in the B3 to cut the very low frequencies, to reduce the load on the speakers. Typically I use patches AcBsPre/Graphic eq/agamp for cleaner sounds and AcBsPre/Graphic eq/SVT for a bit of distortion. I set the low mids on the AcBsPre to 63 or 70 Hz and the amp sim mids to 70 or 80 Hz. I set the Depth to 6 or 7 then adjust frequencies as follows to push the curve up and get a steeper slope: 40 Hz AcBsPre Bass 50 Graphic eq 63 AcBsPre 70 amp sim or AcBsPre 80 amp sim I check the frequencies on an old version of Audacity. With a peak of about -15dB, 30 Hz is down at about -45, which is fine for my purposes. This gives me an articulate bottom end; or am I talking out of my a**e ?!

FDC484950 makes a good point about exhausting off the peg options first. Especially if bassmansam is “more into aesthetics and playability”. A few years ago I had a significant birthday approaching and thought about treating myself to a custom bass. I looked at the usual suspects. In the course of other searches I came across a used Ibanez SR500 with a poplar burl top. I bought it and, in order of what’s important to me: it sounds good, it’s comfortable to play/balances well, the workmanship is good, it looks great (satisfies “exotic” for me), it’s light. The itch had been scratched and the risk was small. It cost £400 and I don’t think spending another 2 or 3k would have given me more pleasure. Indeed, for me there’s enjoyment to be had from finding a gem in mass-produced basses. I gig with it every month. My bass wouldn’t suit the OP but you get the idea. Maybe a bass off the peg with a re-finish would do the trick.

I’m sure I’m a huge disappointment - 3. An Ibanez SR500 and a Yamaha BB614, both bought about 10 years ago. I gig with both, alternately, with the other as backup. The other is a Short scale Squier Jag. This has two neodymium magnets, 25x8 mm, on top of the bridge pickup. It’s an absolute hoot! The only gas I have is, er, the other sort.

My credit card mod was just thumbthing I wanted to share.

Apologies if this has already been said somewhere in this thread: A quick, cheap and reversible thing for pickups that are a bit low and don’t have mounting lugs. Cut a strip off an old credit card, say 20mm wide. Wedge it down between pickup and body. Bend top over 90 degrees to give say 6mm to rest thumb on. Trim off surplus and roughen card for grip. Works for my Yamaha and Ibanez and is gig-tested!