Baloney Balderdash

Well, all I own that SWR made is one bass cab, but what cab though! So here's my SWR Triad I bass cab, with a Peavey Solo Special 122 160W solid state guitar combo amp, that had it's build in 12" Scorpion guitar speaker disconected, with the Peavey instead hooked up to the SWR bass cab, which 4 Ohm impedance happens to match the speaker output of the Peavey amp, and believe me, while it might not be the most practical setup the Peavey Special guitar amp actually sounds amazing hooked up to a bass cab and used as a bass amp, in the front is my 28,6" scale 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro Bass, that is strung up with gauge .090 to .030 strings, and tuned 2 half steps above standard E tuning, as in F#1 to D3, and it's 2 stock J pickups wired in series. Truly love the way this 3 way bass cab sounds, with the output of the high frequency tweeter being adjustable:

It's out of production, though they do regular pop up on the used market, don't know if it will be anything that fits your needs and personal taste though, but here's a partially copy/paste from the recent topic I started in the "Gear Porn" sub forum about tube pedals, with some new additional notes added: Here's a picture of my beloved and very precious EHX Black Finger tube driven optical compressor, that has the ability to double as a tube preamp/tube overdrive pedal as well : And while the controls might appear as somewhat limiting, combined they actually offer a pretty wide variety of, actually substantial different and very useful, settings, the Pre Gain control, which essentially is adjusting the input gain, and which beside having the capability of being used for dialing in various degrees of tube coloration, as the input tube is gradually pressed harder and harder as the input gain is increased, or even overdriving the input tube, ranging from all to just a slight touch of subtle edge of breakup hair and grid, all the way up to a sort of an upper medium gain type of overdrive (though the latter only really being achievable with the Sqush/Norm selector switch set to normal mode), it also sort of works like a threshold control for the compression, somewhat interacting with the Compress control, which, as far as I understood it, sort of works as a combined threshold and compression rate control, and then finally the 4 possible combinations the 2 2 way switches, respectively being a Lamp/Led optical compression circuit source selector, and a Sqsh/Norm selector, offering control over various attack time and compression rate settings, depending on how they are combined, as well as those different combinations partially will effect the EQ of the compression, as in how much compression is applied to which frequencies, the Post Gain control really just adjusting the overall output volume, functioning as a fairly standard master volume/make up gain control, and how high you need to turn it up of course depending on the Pre Gain and other general compression settings, though it will be capable of boosting the pedals overall volume level well above unity gain (though again exactly how much will be determined by the other settings of the pedal's controls), but unlike the Input Gain, it will stay clean the whole way up to its maximum boost capacity, and never at any point reaching a breakup point, regardless of what other settings are used. Might be my number one single most favorite and important pedal that I own, so I seriously ponder on finding a used one to keep as a spare, in case something beyond repair should happen to my current one, as I consider it a quite essential part of both my guitar and bass rig, used as an always on pedal, placed as the very last pedal in my effects chain, right before the amp, where it usually sits on top of, and really having the function for me as much as my tube preamp stage as an actual compressor, I have actually previously even used it more exclusively as primarily a tube preamp, or even at one point as my tube overdrive in my guitar setup, in those cases having had the compression circuit more or less entirely dialed out of the equation, as this pedal, a bit roughly speaking, but basically and in principal really is a tube preamp with an optical compressor circuit build in, placed between the preamp's input stage and it's output stage. As a compressor it has a range of compression going from extremely mild and very subtle, barely detectable, up to pretty heavy, very noticeable, and prominent, and just about everything in between, but it will color your tone no matter what, though in my opinion only for the better, and to some extend you will still have a reasonable control over to what degree that is, though the fact that it is powered by 2 preamp tubes run at proper high 300V voltage definitely will set it's unmistakably imprint on everything you run though it, at least to some degree, no matter how you chose to dial in it's controls. Here's a professional bass player that uses the EHX Black Finger primarily as his always on tube preamp stage (he mentions it briefly and demonstrates it shortly around the 04:37 to 05:44 time stamp of the video):

To stick to the topic here comes my personal Top 3 electric bass GAS list, though I suppose it might seem pretty modest. In no particular order: - Yet another Ibanez Mikro Bass, but this time the GSRM20B model, with black hardware and in Weathered Black finish, as my second 4 string Mikro Bass (already got an older 4 string black one (2010 or 2011 production, as far as I recall), as well as a fairly new 5 string one (out of last year's production, 2019)). - A Harley Benton GuitarBass, strongly inspired by the Fender VI Bass, but without a tremolo system and instead a TOM style bridge, or perhaps, if I should get the patience and discipline required to save up a little, a 28" scale Eastwood Sidejack Baritone, the one with fixed TOM style bridge, in black with gold hardware, and then possibly ending up with stringing and tuning it like a Bass VI. - Either the 24 fret 28,5" scale ESP LTD B-4 JR that recently went into production again, after having been discontinued for several years, or the all new 28,6" scale, heavily inspired by the fairly short lived and somewhat rare Fender Precision Bass Jr, Mini P Bass from Squier, that just has been released, though it could also be a Danelectro Longhorn, which is also a bass that I really want to get at some point, I guess as a poor substitute for the amazing Jerry Jones Longhorn I once owned, but was stupid enough to sell at some point, which I still regret to this day (an out of production sort of high quality, higher end, I guess you might even could call it boutique, version of the original Danelectro one from a now retired fairly legendary guitar maker/company, that might be my single most favorite bass I ever owned of all times, especially set to the pickup selector's stock option that made the 2 lipstick tube pickups be wired in series). A qualified guess though, even if I said in no particular order, is that I will properly end up getting myself yet another 4 string Ibanez Mikro Bass first.

I don't actually own any 8 string basses, but I do love the concept, and as I also have a big love for short scale basses, I would like at some point getting me an 8 string short scale bass. The way I manage to get my current 4 string 28,6" scale Ibanez Mikro Bass, tuned in regular standard E tuning, and my 5 string Mikro Bass, tuned 2 half steps above standard E tuning, as in F#1 to D3, so they basically work as if they had pairs of bass and octave strings, just like an 8 strings bass, though do come with some advances, even if it might not sound exactly as the real thing, for one being easier to play with no double strings to fret, and secondly for making it possible to manipulate the octave up signal separately from the bass signal, and not even just in terms of volume balance if you run the octave signal in a parallel loop or signal chain. I have actually managed, by just using the standard stock polyphonic octave effect in my TC Electronic Sub'N'Up Mini octaver, and carefully adjusting the octave engine's input EQ, as well as the 1 octave up effect's output EQ, via the Toneprint editor, to get pretty close, at least making it sound about as close as you get a signal that artificially has been pitched up a whole octave to sound natural, without any strange digital artifacts left on the octave tone whatsoever. As far as goes for my 5 string tuned in F# standard it is actually an always on effect for me. The Sub'N'Up is really perfect for this purpose, it tracks as flawlessly well as the more expensive EHX POG pedals, and with as low, almost not audible detectable latency, but without the otave of the POG's slight organ or synth like quality (though I guess that will actual be a desired effect for some), the stock polyphonic octaver of the Sub'N'Up, already before edited to get even closer, sounding much more natural, relatively speaking at least for it being a digitally pitch shifted signal, and with the extra options for fine tuning your octave tone the Toneprint editor of the Sub'N'Up gives you, it is, as said, actually making it possible to get really close to the real thing. At least I am not aware of any other solutions, at least not any that is also reasonable affordable, that would be able to do a better job emulating an 8, or 10 for that matter (remember they do exist too, even if being even more rare), string bass. When that is said I feel I do have an obligation to point out that the octave down effect of the Sub'n'UP does a considerably worse job, for one, at least from what I experienced with my particular unit, having a longer latency, actually becoming quite noticeable, as well as my experiments on electric guitar with attempting to emulate a 12 string guitar reasonably realistically wasn't exactly a great success either, but I guess that is even more off topic than the rest of my post here for the subject of this thread. Just wanted to point out a great and quite affordable alternative to the real thing. That doesn't change the fact that I at some point still very much would like to get me a real short scale 8 string bass, it just means that I am still able to get something close to one in the meantime, and that getting one is not something I really feel is all that much of a pressing matter. Some day though I am quite certain I will actually get one. I do have a very keen eye on the Hagstrom H8II Bass, and it might very likely be what I eventually will end up getting when the day finally arrives that I decide to do something serious about my infatuation for short scale 8 string basses:

So I am pondering on getting either the Mooer Radar or the HoTone IR Cab cab simulator pedal for going direct. They both got a ton of features and both supports use of 3rd party IR's. The HoTone got more bass cabs to chose from from stock though, and while they are both using 24 bit digital audio resolution, the HoTone does use slightly higher sample rate 48 vs. 44.1KhZ for the Mooer. The Mooer got 11 mic types to chose from and 4 poweramp types, while the HoTone got 10 mic types and 8 poweramp types, and while the Mooer got a dedicated EQ function,that allows you to chose from either a guitar or a bass specific 5 band graphic EQ, or a a fully parametric 4 band one, both kinds including a HPF and LPF, , the HoTone doesn't have a dedicated EQ function. The HoTone has a maximum truncation time (IR sample length) of 20ms, the same number for the Mooer, with the newest firmware update, is 23,2ms. For some reason, even if I don't really have much to base that assumption on, to me the HoTone seems of slightly higher quality, despite actually being slightly cheaper (I might be completely wrong though, a dedicated EQ section would definitely be a nice addition, which the Mooer got, and I am probably going to load whichever pedal I end up buying with some third party IR of the exact cab I want anyway, so the HoTone having more stock options for bass cab simulations might not be all that much of a real advantage after all). So to sum up what seems to be in each pedals respectively favor over the other: HoTone IR Cab: - More stock IR bass cab simulations - Double as many poweramp models than the Mooer (8 vs 4) - It utilizes an ever so slightly higher sample rate (48kHz vs. 44,1kHz) - Allows to easily swap between different saved presets on the fly with your foot (though I personally will have absolutely no use for this) - (Not sure if the Mooer doesn't have this in some form as well, but it seems like the HoTone has a form of room ambience simulation too that can be applied in more or lesser degree) - (Also seems to allow for a bit more precise mic placement/disstance than the Mooer, but again not 100% sure if this is correct) Mooer: - Slightly higher maximum IR sample length (23,2ms vs 20ms) - Got 1 more mic model - Has a dedicated stand alone EQ function, both a bass and a guitar specific 5 band graphic EQ, or a fully parametric 4 band EQ, both kinds including a LPF and HPF. Both features 24bit digital audio quality, both allows for use of 3rd party IR's, both allows you to chose from several different microphone models and types, as well as the volume, position and distance of the mics, or choosing not to have the cab miked up all together, as well as both allows you to chose from different emulated poweramp sections, and tweakable input, output and presence controls for these, as well as you have the option for choosing between different tube types, or chose not to use a poweramp emulation at all. Anyone with more knowledge about these two pedals, or even first hand experience, who can advice me on which one I probably would be best off buying? Other suggestions at about the same price tag are welcome too.

Cool, congratulations. Not exactly a real Jazz Bass, but on my 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro Bass, which is also equipped with 2 J style pickups, the pickups have been permanently wired in series directly to the output jack socket, and now it sounds truly great, despite those cheap stock pickups making it sound right out sounding hideously before I did that mod when they were wired in standard parallel connection, no matter what combination, blend or adjustments I made. Series mode indeed sounds great, actually it is like if a third completely different humbucker pickup had been installed in your bass.

Looks interesting, curiously awaiting the promised update.

Congratulations. I am actually quite sure the fretboard is jatoba wood, just like the fretboard on my 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro Bass, it has that characteristic redish hue and dense smooth grain look, and I know it is a frequently used wood type by Ibanez. How it looks compared to rosewood I guess is a matter of personal taste alone, but jatoba is both a considerably harder and denser wood type than rosewood, and it has a considerably higher elastic modulus (stiffness) as well, which ought to contribute to make the neck more stable and sturdy. In fact it is harder and stiffer than even maple, and hardness and stiffness wise much more similar to ebony (only slightly softer and slightly stiffer), tone wise though, if you believe in such a thing as tonewood, it allegedly should sit somewhere between the brightness of maple and the warmness of rosewood.

So as the tittle says, post pictures of those of your pedals that utilizes tubes, and eventual write a bit about them too, like how they work and how/why you personally like and utilize them. At one point I owned whole 5 of the now unfortunately discontinued EHX series of big pedals equipped with 2 preamp tubes running at proper high 300V voltage, which included some truly great pedals, that went for really amazingly affordable prices compared to what you actually got for your money. Tube pedals that utilizes tubes run at proper high voltage and doesn't starve the tubes will usually cost a fair deal more than what was the case with this series of pedals. The 5 EHX tube pedals I owned was: the Black Finger optical compressor, the Tube Zipper envelope filter with build in fuzz, no less than 2 The Wiggler tremolo and vibrato, actual offering whole 4 different types of each of the 2 effects, and a LPB-2ube 2 channel/stereo tube preamp, on which you could bridge the two channels as well, and that way use it as a tube overdrive. However I sold 3 of those and now only own the Black Finger and the Tube Zipper, though the envelope filter circuit in the Tube Zipper is faulty, so only the build in fuzz works, though a great fuzz, at least for guitar, not really all that well suited for bass, and especially great if followed by an EQ pedal of some sort, as it doesn't offer any form of control over the EQ, even if it is actually possible to control the tone of the fuzz to some degree if you mess with the envelope filter controls, despite it not really working as an actual envelope filter anymore. The Tube Zipper honestly doesn't see much use though, even if, as said, the build in fuzz that still works actually sounds really great for guitar, but the Black Finger I am extremely happy I didn't sell and still own, since I use it for both my guitar setup and my bass setup as an always on pedal, last in the chain, just before my amp, and I have used it as a tube overdrive for my guitar as well previously, as it sort of doubles as both an actual compressor and/or a tube preamp and/or tube overdrive, since it is possible to basically dial the optical compression circuit completely out of the equation if wanted, and I guess the way I use it currently it actually have the function as much as my tube preamp stage as an actual compressor. The Black Finger is quite probably my number one single most favorite and important pedal that I own, adjusted right it just improves the tone of everything running through it amazingly great, and I actually consider it as a quite essential part of both my basic bass and guitar tone, and wouldn't know what other pedal could possibly replace it satisfactory for me, so I seriously ponder on finding a used second one to keep as a spare, in the case that, God forbid it, something should happen to my current one beyond repair. But at the moment my Black Finger does actually seem to work flawlessly with no momentarily acting up episodes or other apparent warning signs of potential troubles lurking around the corner of any kind in the near future, well, that is except for the 3 pots having developed some scratchiness, I strongly assume due to me having left the pedal sitting exposed on a quite dusty floor for quite a long period of time, and not because the pots in any possible way are actually worn out, and it doesn't even really expose any issue whatsoever as long as I am not actually in need of adjusting it's settings, and even then it is only a matter of wiggling the pots a bit back and forth to remove the scratch from the desired position of the pot when setting them, all in all actually making me quite confident that a couple of generous puffs of spray into the pots with a cleaning agent dedicated to cleaning electronic parts, followed up by, immediately afterwards, before the cleaning agent vaporizes, firmly wiggling the pots in full back and forth turns a couple of times will get rid of this minor annoyance of an issue entirely and completely, which I really ought to pull myself together to do sometime soon. Really regret selling the LPB-2ube, as it was a truly great tube preamp and with the two channels bridged a great tube overdrive as well, even if it is a fairly basic tube preamp, without any form of control over the EQ, only offering an input sensitivity selector switch shared for the two channels, that can be set to either high or low sensitivity, and then respectively an input gain and output volume control for each of the two channels, a limitation, if one should feel it being such, that though easily could be made up for if needed to by placing some sort of equalizer after and/or before the pedal.. And I kind of would wish I had kept one of the 2 The Wiggler pedals I had as well, since it was capable of some great sounding tremolo and vibrato effects. I wouldn't have mind getting my hands on the remaining 3 pedals of that series either, a tube version of the Hot Tubes pedal overdrive pedal, that featured an extended EQ control section compared to the original solid state version, the Eglish Muff''n, which is supposed to be a take of a Marshall-esque preamp/overdrive/distortion, and not least the Tube EQ, which is a fairly unique tube equalizer that also had the ability to double as a wah-esque frequency sweep filter by connecting an optional expression pedal. Anyway here's a picture of my beloved and very precious EHX Black Finger tube driven optical compressor, that has the ability to double as a tube preamp/tube overdrive pedal as well: And while the controls might appear as somewhat limiting, combined they actually offer a pretty wide variety of, actually substantial different and very useful, settings, the Pre Gain control, which essentially is adjusting the input gain, and which beside having the capability of being used for dialing in various degrees of tube coloration, as the input tube is gradually pressed harder and harder as the input gain is increased, or even overdriving the input tube, ranging from all to just a slight touch of subtle edge of breakup hair and grid, all the way up to a sort of an upper medium gain type of overdrive (though the latter only really being achievable with the Sqush/Norm selector switch set to normal mode), it also sort of works like a threshold control for the compression, somewhat interacting with the Compress control, which, as far as I understood it, sort of works as a combined threshold and compression rate control, and then finally the 4 possible combinations the 2 2 way switches, respectively being a Lamp/Led optical compression circuit source selector, and a Sqsh/Norm selector, offering control over various attack time and compression rate settings, depending on how they are combined, as well as those different combinations partially will effect the EQ of the compression, as in how much compression is applied to which frequencies, the Post Gain control really just adjusting the overall output volume, functioning as a fairly standard master volume/make up gain control, and how high you need to turn it up of course depending on the Pre Gain and other general compression settings, though it will be capable of boosting the pedals overall volume level well above unity gain (though again exactly how much will be determined by the other settings of the pedal's controls), but unlike the Input Gain, it will stay clean the whole way up to its maximum boost capacity, and never at any point reaching a breakup point, regardless of what other settings are used. And I guess since the tubes actually plays a fairly big role in how this pedal works I should really mention which tubes that I uses, which happens to be the exact same kind it came with from stock, namely 2 EHX 12AX7EH ones. Also here's a professional bass player that uses the EHX Black Finger primarily as his always on tube preamp stage (he mentions it briefly and demonstrates it shortly around the 04:37 to 05:44 time stamp of the video):

An amazing song! :

My 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro Bass, that I guess still qualifies as black, even if some grey and silver visual mods have been added, which is strung with the 5 thickest strings of an Ernie Ball Bass VI string set, gauge .090 to .030, and tuned in F# standard tuning, as in 2 half steps above regular standard E 4 string bass tuning, meaning F#1 to D3, and got it's 2 stock J pickups wired in series. Poplar body and a bolt on maple neck with a jatoba fretboard : And my 4 string Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, in regular standard E tuning, with a set of P/J EMG Geezer Butler pickups installed, though the Geezer P pickup is soon to be replaced for a DiMarzio Model P, even if I guess it could be argued that it isn't really all that black anymore, despite that actually being it's original stock finish. Mahogany body and a maple bolt on neck with a rosewood fretboard :

Not at all. To me it would be very much like asking if drawing a mustache with a marker on some famous rock star pictured on a fan poster would be a sacrilege. Most signature basses are massed produced products, not exactly works of art, or even just fine craftmanship, if you can make it one though I'd consider it an improvement, actually giving it a soul. Same goes for by far most vintage basses really, though I guess in special certain cases with really rare basses, unique prototypes as an example, that has a historical significance it could be seen as defiling a historical artifact. With boutique basses I guess we are approaching sort of a grey zone for what is acceptable, the luthier definitely does deserve a great deal of credit and respect for his extraordinary crafmanship, still it wouldn't exactly be truly unique, but just a copy of a model he, or, even more likely, his boss invented, and in the end it is still your bass, and I wouldn't consider it an actual piece of true art, just a testament to someone who did a great job. We are getting very close to sacrilegious proportions modding artfully handmade custom basses though, those should be considered actual works of true art in my opinion and not just fine craftmanship, and it would be showing the creator serious disrespect to mod it, if not even being a quite literal personal attack on them, after all he or she channeled some of their own soul into their creation, and as such has a spiritual link to it, unless of course the creator explicitly has expressed that they are fine with you modding it. Where I set the definite indisputable limit would be modifying a bass which belonged to an acclaimed artist before it got into your possession, at very least if it have had an actual significance to music history, that would be defiling a historical artifact, as well as showing disrespect to it's former owner, again they might actually have channeled some of their very own soul into this instrument.

So I recently returned to focusing on playing bass after a period on concentrating on the first instrument I ever learned how to play on, electric guitar, even if bass has been my main instrument of choice for several years, and I overall have spend much more time on playing bass than guitar. For some stupid reason I sold my amazing Trace Elliot GP7SM, 130 W 15" bass combo, some time ago, which I otherwise absolutely loved the tone of, after having quit a band that got nowhere, and eventually ended up buying an old Peavey XR-600B Mixer Amp, 200W @ 4 Ohm solid state amp with 6 preamp/mixer channels, cheap, which I planed to use for both bass and guitar, but as it unfortunately quickly developed some issues with the pots (afraid a proper cleaning will not be enough, and that a couple of pots needs replacement, though likely a relatively inexpensive and easy fix and definitely worth it too), but anyway, as I began concentrating more on playing guitar I got myself an amazing old Peavey Solo Special 112, 160 W solid state guitar combo amp, with the original stock 12" Scorpion speaker unit installed. The reason why I tell this is that since I returned to focus more on playing bass again, and as there were issues with the Peavey Mixer Amp, today I decided to hook the speaker output wires of my Peavey Solo Special Guitar amp up to a jack socket (and attached some wires to it's build in 12" speaker with a jack plug at the end, so I can always connect it back), and hooked it up to my SWR Triad I bass cab (which happens to match the impedance of my guitar amp's speaker output), that I also bought used a while back, originally intended to be used with my Peavey Mixer Amp as my bass rig. And guess what? The Peavey Solo Special guitar amp sounds truly amazing hooked up to a bass cab and used as a bass amp as well. Damn, it's good, so good I don't even really miss my beloved Trace Elliot combo, that I was stupid enough to sell. So here's my bass amp setup, my Peavey Solo Special 112, 160W solid state guitar combo amp, with it's build in 12" speaker unit disconnected, and instead hooked up to my SWR Triad I, 400W 4 Ohm bass cab, featuring a 15" speaker unit that receives the amp speaker output signal's full frequency range, a 10" unit that only receives the frequency content between 100Hz and up to 5kHz, and finally a high frequency tweeter, which then receives any frequency content that is above 5kHz, the output of the latter being adjustable with a tweakable attenuator build into the cab. In front of it is my 28,6" scale 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro Bass, with a poplar body and a bolt on maple neck with a jatoba fretboard, which has it's 2 stock J pickups wired in series, and is strung with the 5 lowest strings of an Ernie Ball Bass VI string set, gauge .090 to .030, tuned 2 half steps above regular 4 string bass, E standard, tuning, which means F# standard tuning, as in F#1 to D3, meant to be used for my solo, sort of progressive psychedelic stoner rock, project, which fundamental, primary, instrumentation is going to just consist of of bass, programmed and physically recorded drums and various percussion, as well as vocals, with the bass running though my TC Electronic Sub'N'Up Mini octaver, pitching the signal from my bass 1 octave up, which then is mixed with the unaffected bass signal, sort of giving the effect of a 10 string "octave" bass, with pairs of respectively bass and octave strings (and I actually managed to get a really good, and relatively natural sounding, octave up tone, only by using the standard stock polyphonic octaver and the EQ options the TonePrint editor offers for the input signal fed to the octave engine, as well as for the octave up output signal, with no obvious digital artifacts) (also by the way this 5 string Mikro came from factory with perfectly completely leveled fretwork, which means I could get the string action ridiculously low if I wanted to without any fret buzz whatsoever, an extreme rarity, for not only cheap budget instruments as this is, but for mass produced instruments at any price class really). The big pedal on the top of the amp is my always on, last in my pedal effects chain, pedal, right before the amp, an EHX Black Finger, which is a tube driven optical compressor, which 2 preamp tubes run at proper high 300V voltage, and, which adjusted right, just improves the tone of everything you run through it amazingly great : (Only downside, this rig is heavier than a full tube amp rig) The reason why my pedal board has not been included is because that, while I got the main tone shaping and the octave up, "10 string "octave" bass" effect, down as good as perfect, I still need to perfect my modulation effects and high gain distortion part of my pedal setup *( Edit! : In the meantime this has partially been solved, check the update below for more information on the subject ). I do also own both a 4 string Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass and a regular 34" scale Aria Pro II Laser Electric Classic that is tuned in regular E standard tuning, but the above is what has got my main focus right at the moment. Update!!! : Here's a link to another post of mine from another thread that contains a picture of my current pedal setup, including a complete signal chain description, as well as revealing what my future plans for updating it are, since my setup has changed some since this post, among other things I've gone back to mainly using my 4 string GSRM20 Mikro Bass :

Well, then here's 2 from one of my favorite bands, if not number one single most favorite band:

Here is the Ibanez GSRM25 5 string Mikro that I mentioned in the "Show off you short scales" thread, where I posted a picture of and talked about my main 4 string Ibanez Mikro Bass: It got a poplar body and a maple neck with a jatoba fretboard, and I also did some visual mods on it, among other added a silver lotus flower decal with an OM sign in the middle and painted the pickup covers grey, the 2 stock J pickups I wired in series directly to the output jack socket, bypassing the pots, which means that the knobs and the switch are just there for the sake of being decorative. To be honest, in my opinion, as the pickups were wired from stock they sounded like crap, no matter how I adjusted them, they sounded like a caricature of the famous Jazz Bass burp, a really over emphasized burp there was no way of getting rid of, on top of them just sounding somewhat underwhelming and anemic, except, as I found out by wiring the pickups in series, which not only got rid of the ludicrous bad sounding burping sound entirely, but actually also made them capable of a genuine great full sounding tone overall. Otherwise this bass was perfect from factory, and I mean absolutely perfect, just to mention one example I would be able to get ridiculously low action if I wanted to without any fret buzz whatsoever, the frets are just dead on perfectly leveled. On the particular picture above it was actually strung with the 5 lightest strings of a 6 string D'Addario set, gauge .100 to .032, but I later put on the Ernie Ball set meant for Bass VI type instruments, using the 5 lowest strings, gauge .090 to .030, and tuned it F# to D, as in F# standard tuning, 2 half steps above regular 4 string bass E standard tuning, threading the strings through the cut off ball ends of some old bass strings I had, to be able to fit it on the bass's bridge, since those Ernie Ball strings have guitar sized ball ends. I intend to use it as the main instrument for some songs in the making for a sort of progressive psychedelic stoner rock/metal solo project I am working on called "all I nil", which is supposed to have the fundamental, primary, instrumentation consist of just bass, programmed and physically recorded drums and various percussion, as well as vocals, though a much more sparingly use of additional instrumentation, like for instance programmed or physically recorded organ/synth, piano, electric or acoustic guitar, cello, flute, glockenspiel/bells, as well as eventual more ambience based effects, will be added for certain parts of the songs, restricted to fill out a, in no way dominating, fundamental or essential, more flavor oriented, secondary function. I am still working on my setup/rig for this thing, but one thing that is certain is that an octave up effect will be added to my bass signal, sometimes with separate effects used respectively for the octave up signal and the regular bass signal, sort of giving an effect similar to a 10 string octave bass with pairs of bass and octave strings, just with the advantage I get from doing it this way of being able to process the bass and octave up signal separately. For this I am using a TC Electronic Sub 'n' Up Mini, which seems to actually work really well for this, as good as flawless and super fast tracking, and in my opinion being capable of sounding more natural/realistic than for instance the EHX POG pedals, which tend to have a slight somewhat organ or synth like quality to the octave up signal. Pitching your signal up a whole octave is always going to sound somewhat artificial though, no matter how well it is processed, but it has actually still worked surprisingly well and sounded reasonable naturally in my preliminary test runs of this idea, and adds a lot of extra sonic space and flavor, exactly as will be needed for this project, where my bass is going to be the main, and most of the time only, instrument that carries the melodic content of the tracks (well beside the vocals of course). Other than that heavy thick distortion with fuzz like qualities mixed with a bit of clean signal, and secondarily chorus, flanger and phaser, will see a lot of use for this project. Just in the process of figuring out which kind of setup will give me the best results for what I have in mind currently, and so far only got fair deal of the basic bass parts down so far (I believe I more or less got the bass parts and final form for 4 to 5 tracks at the moment), then when I got my setup perfected the actual recordings can start, then the programming of the drum/percussion parts and eventual additional flavor instruments comes, and eventually writing the lyrics and getting the vocals laid down. All in all I think at least another 6 months, very likely even more, before I got an EP, or less likely a full length album, ready for release on Bandcamp and various online digital music streaming services and shops, perhaps even a self released physical version, but we'll see about that when it eventually that time comes. Here's a short sound sample of a preliminary distortion tone, using some riffs I have been working on for this project (notice that if you are not logged into Dropbox a box might pop up when you click the link, encouraging you to sign up, blocking for the audio player, in that case you just click somewhere outside that box and it will disappear, making the audio player accessible): https://www.dropbox.com/s/8m02vfjf7dv5ojx/all I nil - New Distortion Sample.mp3?dl=0 And here's a couple of older very rough takes of 2 songs in the making, respectively with the working titles "3rd Eye of Hypnos" and "In Orbit", playing both of them in a bit faster tempo than was is really intended ("3rd Eye of Hypnos" since this recording having had a much melodically expanded variation of the intro and outro riff added) : https://www.dropbox.com/s/3u06k5cct75coi9/all I nil - 3rd Eye of Hypnos.mp3?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/7f5wbstq5wh318w/all I nil - In Orbit (Take 2 F%23).mp3?dl=0 Please note that the above linked to recordings are fairly old, recorded directly and not with a miked up amp or any form of amp emulator added or other post production done to them, as well as this was a preliminary temporary setup, and as a result the tone/sound of these recordings are admittedly pretty crappy, and pretty seriously far from how it is actually eventually going to sound after I have managed to find just the right pedals for the effects I intend to utilize, just the right setup for these, recorded with a properly miked up amp, and having been edited, mixed and mastered properly, it is not even remotely close to how it eventually is going to sound live either, as it, already at this point, where I haven't actually found just the right setup that I am 100% satisfied with, sounds way way better than these recordings, but thought those crappy sound snips might still be able to give you at least some idea of what I am heading at with this project.

The headstock of my main bass, a lowly, but very much beloved, black Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, that has received several visual mods, a fair share of use and abuse, as well as a pickup upgrade:

My Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, which is actually my main, qualifies for this thread, though my pickup upgrades does bring it way over the price limit for this thread all together, so not sure if that disqualifies it, even if the stock bass definitely is under 180£ from new. Anyway here is is my black, 28,6" scale Ibanez Mikro Bass, with mahogany body and bolt on maple neck with a rosewood fretboard featuring 22 medium frets, and with a P/J set of EMG Geezer Butler pickups installed, though the P Geezer is soon to be replaced for a DiMarzio Model P pickup:

My lowly and by now quite battered Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, with it's just 28,6" scale length, that got a a mahogany body and maple neck with rosewood fretboard, and a P/J set of EMG Geezer Butler pickups installed currently, though the Geezer P pickup is very soon to get replaced for a DiMarzio Model P one. I also own a GSRM25 5 string Mikro Bass that I have strung up with the 5 lowest strings of a Fender Bass VI string set (gauge .090 to .030), and tuned F# to D, with it's 2 stock J pickups wired in series, but the 4 string is my main, even if I do own a supposedly higher end full 34" scale 4 string bass as well. But without further ado, here's a picture of my beloved 4 string Mikro: Edit!!!: I guess I might as well post a picture of my 5 string Ibanez Mikro Bass as well, now that I did mention it: You can read more about it in this post, where I also explain what I mainly plan to use it for, and why it is tuned as it is:

Nut width of the Squier Mini P is 40,6 mm (1,6"), don't know the width at the bridge for certain, but I strongly assume it would be the same as a standard vintage Fender bridge.

I assume this is a cheaper take on the relatively short lived Fender Precision Jr. Bass that has the same scale length, though that only has a volume and no tone knob. I am quite of tempted to get the black one, as I love my Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro bass that has the same scale length, though an additional J pickup added to the P, as well as 2 more frets. But I'd likely just stick to my beloved Mikro, which is actually my main bass that I upgraded the pickups on. Big fan of short scale basses, and especially these slightly shorter than the regular 30" scale standard for short scales, and I very much welcome more options on the market for those. The ESP LTD B-4 JR being another of those, that just recently went into production again, after having been discontinued several years back. That one kind of tempts me too, having 24 frets, but also just one single P pickup, like the Squier Mimi P Bass. But honestly if I get another bass of this kind of scale length I would likely end up with just another Ibanez Mikro, one in the Weathered Black finish to be more exact. And I guess, just for the sake of having all the options mentioned that I am aware of for this type of scale length basses, there's the Jackson Minion as well, a 22 fret P/J bass, like the Mikro. All of these being in the lower budget price category, though I would love to see a higher end take of this concept as well. even if I suppose that is unlikely to happen, unless having a custom one made. The original Fender Precision Jr. Bass was more of a lower mid priced instrument though.

You might want to add the brand new Squier Mini P Bass, hitting the market in just a week or so, which I suppose is a cheaper take of the relatively short lived Fender Precision Jr. Bass, and which is a 28,6" scale 20 fret P bass, as well as the ESP LTD B-4 JR, which recently went into production once again after having been discontinued for several years, and which is a 28,5" scale 24 fret bass, also just featuring one single P pickup, and in the lower budget instrument price category too.

Oi, oi there fellow bass players. I am new to this forum. Composer/songwriter/multi instrumentalist/singer from Denmark here, who has had bass as my main instrument of choice for several years. And believe it or not but this lowly, but very much beloved, monstrosity of an Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, currently with a P/J set of EMG Geezer Butler pickups installed, but very soon to have a DiMarzio Model P P pickup installed in place of the Geezer, is actually my main bass : And here's a jazzy instrumental track that I made, featuring improvised electric bass and guitar recorded on top of a programmed track consisting of drums, bells and synth, composed, programmed, played, recorded, mixed and mastered by myself, though quite far from the type of music I usually create :