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Baloney Balderdash

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  1. Baloney Balderdash
    I am not interested in a .100 string, a gauge .095 low E string is what I normally use both on regular 34" scale basses, and for short 30" scale basses like this, and actually a thinner gauge string will give you a richer harmonic content and will sound more piano like than a thicker gauge string, thicker strings are stiffer, and especially so with the shorter vibrating length of a short scale bass, which prohibit the strings ability to vibrate freely, which again kills both harmonic content and sustain, so thicker gauge is the completely wrong direction to go if piano like tones is what you are after, thicker strings are for thumpy and thuddy tones. In any case I am not interested in tuning my Harley Benton GuitarBass in E standard tuning either, the F# standard tuning, 2 half steps above, it is in now fits perfectly for my specific application. And actually if I were to tuner it in E standard tuning I would personally even use a just gauge .090 string for the low E. The relatively lower string tension is only an issue if you apply too much force when picking and uses too thick picks, you shouldn't expect to play a different instrument, a short 30" scale bass in this case, exactly the same way, as you would a regular 34" scale bass in this case, without adjusting to the realities of that instrument, the shorter scale and lower string tension is really no issue at all, and has never been a real issue, the real issue is people's unwillingness to adjust their technique accordingly to the actual instrument they play. Also I do use a pick, and it is not the string spacing towards the bridge and the right picking hand that is a problem, it is fretting the strings with the left hand near if you don't want to mute the strings above or bellow the fretted note that is an issue, and trust me, a gauge .100 string would be an issue with the tight string spacing near the nut. I am actually perfectly fine with the string spacing for my picking hand, and really the tight string spacing as far as goes for fretting only causes issues close to the nut where the neck width is narrowest and therefor the string spacing tighter (and not really an issue for me personally after I have gotten used to it and with the just gauge .080 string I use for the low F#). Further more I think it is kind of missing the point with this kind of instrument to try to make it sound exactly like a regular bass, if you want a regular bass then get one instead of a Bass VI type instrument. Also the Harley Benton GuitarBass got a fixed TOM style bridge, not a tremolo system bridge like the Squier or Fender Bass VI, in fact really being closer to being a clone of the Shecter Hellcat than the Bass VI.
  2. Baloney Balderdash
    In my signature My SoundCloud profile is where most of my musical output get uploaded to, including both serious compositions for my musical project, just for the fun of it recordings and experiments, as well as various sound tests, my YouTube channel is more exclusively dedicated to more serious recordings, though also working as a cross project channel like my SoundCloud profile. Here are a couple of samples:
  3. Baloney Balderdash
    Forgot if I replied to this topic, but here we go: My #1 is my Harley Benton GuitarBass, which is a take on the Fender Bass VI concept. That is a 30" short scale 6 string bass, but usually tuned exactly like a guitar, just an octave lower (that is E1, like a 4 string bass, rather than E2, standard tuning), and with narrow guitar like string spacing as well. I got mine tuned to F#1 standard tuning though, that is 10 half steps bellow regular guitar E2 standard tuning, or 2 half steps above regular bass E1 standard tuning. Strung with a Newtone custom made set of roundwound nickle plate hex steel core guitar string gauge: .080 - .060 - .045 - .034 - .027 - .020. And I run it through an always on TC Electronic Sub'N'Up Mini as well, for blending in a polyphonic 1 octave up effect with the clean dry signal, using a custom Toneprint I made myself specifically for this purpose, giving an effect somewhat similar to that of a 12 string guitar/8 string bass, though I have the 1 octave up effect dialed in less obvious than it usually would on such a guitar/bass, blending in almost seamlessly with the dry bass signal, sort of most of all enrichening the harmonic content of the signal, filling out more sonic space, rather than sounding like an extra separate faux guitar or anything like that. Here it is, my beloved Harley Benton GuitarBass :
  4. Baloney Balderdash
    Lower output pickups, in particular single coils, will be more sensitive and react more naturally and directly to picking dynamics. Like being less compressed and having a wider dynamical range. And it is actually not just a matter of the output getting quieter when you apply less force and higher as you apply more force, beside the fact that lower output single coil pickups will react more sort of linearly this way, that is a more direct relationship between picking dynamics and the volume that is put out, additionally a tone change according to your picking dynamics is happening as well, so that gradually softer picking will also actually result in a gradually softer tone, and gradually harder picking will result in a gradually more aggressive tone, caused by the fact that more high end frequency content gradually is being picked up by the pickups the harder you pick, which doesn't happen to quite the same extend with higher output humbuckers, and finally single coil pickups will actually also react slightly faster to your picking as well, which adds further to the sense of a direct immediate relationship between your playing and the signal that is put out. I don't know if you could call that more musical, but definitely lower output single coil pickups will be more dynamic and expressive, having a more direct relationship, that feels more immediate and natural, between how you play and the tone the pickups reproduce, in comparison to higher output humbucker pickups. To me this feels more alive to play, but it does also kind of require of you to have a greater degree of control of picking dynamics for it to really be an advantage, otherwise it might even become a disadvantage, resulting in an inconsistent tone, rather than an expressive one. And if you happen to like a consistently big fat compressed tone all this won't matter much anyway, since in that case you would definitely be much better off with high output humbucker pickups.
  5. Baloney Balderdash
    Looks great, especially great for that finish in particular, not tacky at all!
  6. Baloney Balderdash
    "Sleeping Inside" from the album "Transmission of All the Goodbyes" by Lilium
  7. Baloney Balderdash
    Tortoise! This is one of my favorite YouTube concert videos: This one too, with Bela Fleck & the Flecktones :
  8. Baloney Balderdash
    Yes, these pickups were original made by a guy named Bumbledork, however he died in bar brawl fighting an evil evil man named Waldomard, that started because Waldomard tried to kill Bumbledork's apprentice Perry Nutter, after having spiked his drink with LSD, who now makes the pickups.
  9. Baloney Balderdash
    A Perfect Circle - "The Nurse Who Loved Me" (Failure cover) from "Thirteenth Step"
  10. Baloney Balderdash
    I wouldn't go thicker than gauge .095 for the low E on a Bass VI giving the tight string spacing, since it is going to effectively get tighter the thicker strings you use, then again I do prefer a gauge .095 low E string set of strings on regular 4 string short scale basses as well anyway, which the Bass VI happens to be, just with 2 more strings and much tighter string spacing. The Bass VI will sound like a regular short scale bass with single coil pickups, as that is what it is, the stock low E string is useless though, no idea what they were thinking when they thought up a gauge .084 string would be enough for a low E on a 30" scale instrument, but then again you should expect to change swap the strings on a new instrument as the first thing anyway.
  11. Baloney Balderdash
    As I explained a few posts up I recently chose to tune it down from the G standard tuning I previously had it tuned it in one more half step down to F# standard tuning. Also since I posted the OP I had a custom set of string wound from Newtone, being roundwaound nickle plated hex steel core guitar stings of the gauges .080 - .060 - .045 - .034 - .027 - .020, which I still use for the F# standard tuning (that si 10 steps bellow regular guitar E2 standard tuning, or 2 half steps above regular bass E1 standard tuning). No issues with the lower tension caused by this, in fact I like it even better, and I am pretty certain I will keep this instrument in F#1 standard tuning. Since I also replaced the original stock wires on the middle pickup for a shielded wire, while cutting the connection to the other pickups, and pulled out the stock pots as well, replaced for an EMG solderless system and pots, though only connecting the Volume pot, it's 250kOhm, matching up to the original stock 500kOhm Volume + 500kOhm Tone pot, as I didn't use the other pickups or the tone control anyway, using a pair of transparent and black lampshade knobs for the two pots. As well as I applied a Jack Skellington (character from Tim Burton's animated puppet movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas") skull sticker, as well as I applied a cut to shape piece of respectively red and green electrical tape (also known as insulating tape) on top of the two new pot knobs. Here is a picture I shot, reflecting all those changes (including more artistic PhotoShop shenanigans in the background):
  12. Baloney Balderdash
    Awesome! Congratulations. Wish i could afford one. I am though actually very happy with my Harley Benton GuitarBass, just wish it would have had a few mm wider nut (it's just exactly manageable, at least with the gauge .080 F#1 as the lowest thickest string, if one is mindful when fretting at the first few frets, but I think if I were to tune it to regular E1 standard tuning, needing a gauge .090 string for that to keep the same tension, it would start to get very problematic, luckily though for my specific application F# is better suited). Now by the way tuned from G standard tuning down to, as mentioned in above paragraph, F# standard tuning, and I think it'll stay there.
  13. Baloney Balderdash
    Natalie Prass - "Christy"
  14. Baloney Balderdash
    Yeah, that one is the Goth Moth! This is the Metal Moth!
  15. Baloney Balderdash
    Cheap budget basses have indeed in general come a huge long way, which I think predominantly is thanks to the fact that the exact same computer controlled machines being responsible for the largest part of the manufacturing process of just about all mass produced instruments, and some budget instruments will even be made on the same factory and by the exact same people as some higher end basses. So that is bound to have closed the gab considerably when it comes to production quality between cheap budget and higher end basses. What's left really is the quality of the materials used and then the consistency/extend of the quality control, the latter really effectively meaning consistency of production, or how high the risk is of getting a dud no good unit (which isn't really a real issue if you have the opportunity of trying before buying, or ordering from a web shop with a proper return policy, at most really just being an inconvenience), the former usually really mostly affecting hardware and electronics, which are both for most parts relatively cheap and relatively easy to perform updates, and if the given budget brand chose wisely of which cheap budget electronics and hardware they use for their instruments, not even that necessarily being a major issue. For example, while I personally found that the pickups on budget instrument in general exposing the biggest issue in terms of preventing a budget instrument from sounding great, most of the pickups Harley Benton uses, even on their cheapest models, seems to actually sound genuinely great, some even amazing. Though the rest of the hardware and electronics is generally still not exactly being the highest quality on the cheapest models, and usually there will also be a higher risk of the pickups not functioning quite as they are otherwise supposed to, referring to the part in the above paragraph about lacking quality control of cheap budget products. And I do think Harley Benton in particularly is unbelievably high quality for the money, also in comparison to most other budget brands, and likewise on the other side of the spectrum there are still some budget brands which are best avoided.
  16. Baloney Balderdash
    That bass looks awesome, I love the color in particular! Can't help you with your volume pot issue though, sorry.
  17. Baloney Balderdash
    Coil - "Who by Fire" (Leonard Cohen cover), from their second studio album "Horse Rotorvator" from 1986 :
  18. Baloney Balderdash
    I would have though that as good as impossible, what I would think possible though was the wax potting of the pickups potentially partially melting causing microphonic pickups. In either case it is probably a good precaution not to leave your instruments in direct sunlight, where the temperatures can get pretty crazy, and I'd say especially for the sake of the wood rather than the electronics.
  19. Baloney Balderdash
    To be honest I was stupid enough to sell probably the best bass I ever owned too, a Jerry Jones Longhorn Bass, which is kind of a high end boutique clone of the Danelectro Longhorn Bass, though the guy who owned that company since retired and closed down production, and they are kind of both really rare to find and really expensive used now. Played amazing, and I loved how the 2 lipsticktube pickups sounded when connected in series with each other, which was one of the stock modes on the 4 way rotary switch pickup selector. Astonishing tone, especially though my Ampeg B-15S, 60W tube amp from 1968, which I by the way also was stupid enough to sell at some point.
  20. Baloney Balderdash
    “The Dreamer is Still Asleep” from the album “Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 1” by Coil
  21. Baloney Balderdash
    So you basically kept buying, then selling, every time you got a great bass from them, until you by the power of statistics got one you wasn't satisfied with, and then decided to call that a day? Uhm... Curious strategy... Not sure I really get the reasoning behind it though. But I guess it worked since you eventually did end up with a bass you think is better than all the others. Unless you plan to continue the general pattern I pick up here that is. How is it the saying go: If you really love someone you need to set them free. Not sure this is exactly what it is really supposed to mean though.
  22. Baloney Balderdash
    On the other hand, to offer the opposite perspective, for the longest time, like several years, I pondered on acquiring a Bass VI like instrument, and frequently had periods where I would check YouTube videos featuring such instruments, and I did have a keen eye on the Harley Benton GuitarBass, which had a quite manageable price tag, and judging from reviews I read/watched supposedly being amazing value for the money, some people even being of the opinion that it was superior to the Squier Bass VI that costs slightly over double the money. I was really intrigued by this type of instrument, yet at the same time I wasn't sure I would actually also enjoy playing it, mainly because of the quite narrow, guitar like, string spacing, so I kept postponing the acquisition and used money on other music equipment instead, convincing myself that was money better spend. But then a couple of months back I found myself with a bit of extra unsuspected cash and finally at long last I decided to give the Harley Benton GuitarBass a shot, I could always send it back and get my money fully refunded if it turned out not to be for me. But as it turned out I quickly found myself immensely enjoying playing this instrument, and it has now become my preferred instrument of choice. Like as if this was just the absolute perfect instrument for me, as a bass player who original started out playing guitar, and had continued playing guitar on the sideline all along, and the sort of crossover/fusion guitar/bass, predominantly melodic riff based, playing style that I had developed (and which this instrument basically seems perfectly, as if made specifically, for) for a bass and drums duo I formed with a drummer friend of mine, using my 28,6" 4 string Ibanez Mikro Bass tuned to G standard tuning (which is also how I have the Harley Benton GuitarBass stringed up for and tuned as), as in 3 half steps above regular 4 string bass E standard tuning (or in the case of the GuitarBass 9 half steps bellow regular guitar tuning), that just had been waiting for me to discover it all along. Admittedly I did stumble over the strings with both my left and right hand fingers a lot to start with due to the tight spacing but relatively thick strings, and admittedly I still wouldn't mind the nut width just haven been a couple of mm wider, but I did quickly get used to the tight spacing, and while I still have to be mindful of how I fret the strings close to the nut if I need the string above or bellow to ring as well, not to mute them, but totally manageable with a bit of practice and consideration, and overall I have actually come to prefer the tighter guitar like string spacing (if only they would have made the nut a few mm wider, but I can totally live with that). Eventual read the post above this one by me where I sort of elaborate my love for this instrument.
  23. Baloney Balderdash
    6 string banjos meant to be tuned exactly like a guitar does exist you know, I know a guy who owns one.
  24. Baloney Balderdash
    Dropping a normal .105 string set down a full step to D equals tension wise pretty close to that of a .095 set in regular E standard tuning (or that is to be more precisely a gauge .095 - .075 - .055 - .040 set of strings tuned in regular E standard tuning matches the .107 balanced tension D'Addario EXL 170B set of strings, which is gauge .107 - .080 - .060 - .045, very closely when tuned one whole step down to D standard tuning). I would personally use a the EXL 170B, gauge .107 low E, balanced tension set for D standard tuning, but I happen to like the relatively thin gauge and low tension of a .095 set set of strings for regular E standard tuning. You can find out which strings would match tension wise to your current set and personal preferences in general by using this string tension calculator (this calculator uses D'Addario strings as the source (might vary a bit between different brands), and mind string gauge, "String Diameter", is typed in this way: For example .107 or .095 e.t.c, and the tuning, "Desired Note", with the octave number after the given note: For example low E string would be E1 and high G string would be G2 e.t.c) : https://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_guitar_tension_from_size.htm If you don't know you can see the octave numbers of different notes here : https://pages.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html
  25. Baloney Balderdash
    I would think it's the same as with the Joyo pedals of identical names. That is the Analog Chorus being a Boss CE-2 clone, and the Classic Chorus also being all analog, but an Ibanez CS-9 clone, which by the way is the same as the current production Ibanez Mini Chorus.
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