Johannes

Yes! Very sharp observation, Paul👍 Really, I didn’t think about it, they can take a bit more money by thinning 3 strings one nod!

Thanks for Your response! Ok, but I have noticed that it is problematic to mix different brands. Like the EB cobalt flats I mentioned have much higher volume output than for example rotosound monel jazz flats.

Reasons to use a 15” bass cab these days are rather rare. Possibly ok if You play in a pub with unmiked drums, couple of unmiked guitars and a vocals amplified trough couple of small speakers on a pole. Add decent small subs to this setup and a 15” isn`t necessary in a pub. In a club-sized venue there’s usually bigger P.A. (making Your 15” or even 8x10 unnecessary) and a pro sound engineer for FOH mixing and if You are lucky another for monitors. In most of the cases they make Your band sound better to the (paying) audience quieter Your stage volume is. If You get booked to some artist`s tour You must discuss these things with the artist and her/his soundcrew. To my experience You can manage most gigs with rather modest setup. Of course it must be decent quality gear. Best solution for great sound for the audience is in-ears for the whole band. I know all of us can’t get used to it (including me). So mostly I use my 12” MB wedge, even raised closer to my ears. Can`t complain, very ok for me.

To my experience mass of a bridge doesn’t matter much, actually a heavy slab of metal can make Your beloved vintage bass sound and feel strange. I think most important feature in bass bridge is its rigidity. Meaning that bridge saddles must hold their position in every axis, front-back for intonation, height for proper action. Sometimes there`s a problem with bad bridges when saddles are slightly sliding sideways. That’s where strings are loosing their vibrational energy.

I wonder why so many string manufacturers offer 45-65-85-105 sets for 4-stringers but only 45-65-80-100-130(or 125) for fivers? To my taste .80 A and .100 E feel little wimpy and sound too soft. In many cases I need to buy a 5-string set plus a 4-string set to get optimal set since single strings are not available. For example my favourite EB cobalt flats I must purchase like this. What do You think is the manufacturers idea, do they believe that bass necks will bow or is the reason to sell more strings?

I didn’t quite understand Your message exactly… perhaps because I’m not native englih speaker. Anyway I agree about half-rounds, to my experience, they are absolutely garbage.

If they sounds good to You they are good!

That is my estimation too.

I am not sure if Ed played that bass 3 hours/day 20 years. There’s couple of basses in my warehouse too I haven’t touched for 20 years.

I have not encountered increasing tuning stability problem with aging strings You mention. Anyway it should be logical as metal weakens under stress.Yes, loving Your strings is a bit of a problem if You break a string.😉

You’re exactly right😀

Over the half century I’ve been playing the bass my preference of strings have changed from rondwounds to flatwounds. Reason for it is not the subject about my post but I prefer more fundamental sound flatwonds offer. I have enjoyed Ernie Ball cobalt flats 45-130 set on my main instrument, Sadowsky Metro modern for little over 7 years now. I am always very strict to clean my hands before playing and fortunately my hands doesn’t sweat at all. I also clean my strings daily with microfiber cloth and about once in a month with isopropynol alcohol. However, last months I’ve noticed especially B, E, A - strings getting duller sounding. I know stories about Duck Dunn’s ancient strings but I wonder how long they last without breaking. My father tought me how to to break a nail by twisting it back and worth. I guess that same phenomenon is happening when a string is vibrating. Your toughts?

What is the problem? Simple and proven solution is a 5-string bass. If You want to stick with a 4-stringer, just play E flats an octave higher and try to imagine how much easier life could be with a 5-string bass. No pun intented, it’s just how I see it.

I can’t think of any disadvantage using a lined fretless bass until You’re blind, in that case You could possibly save few bucks by buying unlined… I have owned several fretlesses, always lined. I’ve played them hundreds of live, theatre and studio gigs so I pretty well know sometimes those lines can be real life savers. I`ve never ponytailed my hair but it was very long indeed something like 40 years ago and didn`t always wear a suit. Here is the fretless I use these days, lovely Sadowsky N.Y.C. modern 5 wich I ordered lined, of course. I wish very Happy New Year to all of You basschatters!

Yes, that is true. There isn`t an amp designed for live gigs that sounds ”true” to Your instrument like a pair of high quality studio speakers in a pro studio. A system like that wouldn`t be even practical for live gigs. I am just wondering why the eq of this warwick gnome is so much different to all the other amps, warwicks included, not just mb`s.