SumOne

I like the look of the BTB 5 string series. They tick a lot of the things I'm looking for: 19mm spacing, 35" scale, 24 frets, and they have 3 band EQ with 3x mid-frequency selector. I had the SRMS805 that hasd the same pickups and preamp and it sounded great (the issue I had with it was tight 16.5mm string spacing). I am after something lightweight though and can't find anything online giving the weights - does anyone here know that? There is a big range in cost from £773 to £1,299 and that includes different body types as well as things like pickups so I assume they each have quite different weights. https://www.thomann.de/gb/ibanez_btb765_del.htm?ref=prod_variations_418299_2 ......I'll email Thomann to see if they give the weight information. (Edit: Thomann replied to say they can't give out the weights of Basses as it varies Bass to Bass - I has asked specifically about one B stock Bass though so I reckon they could if they felt inclined!)

For anyone with the same shopping list as me, the Ibanez BTB 845 (& 745 & 1835) seems to also fit the criteria of: 5 string, 19mm spacing, 35" (and 47mm nut), 24 fret, and they are reasonably priced. The numbering is a bit confusing but basically go from 'standard' BTB845 and BTB765 which I think are only really different as far as fingerboard and the top, or quite a big price hike to get the 'premium' versions like the BTB1835 for £1,350 with better spec & gig bag. Confusingly, the BTB 845V is quite different with 17mm string spacing and 33" scale. I'm not sure about their weight but the Ibanez SRMS805 I owned was light and sounded good and I think had the same Bartoloni BH2 pickups and preamp (the 3 way mid-frequency switch is great), main downside of that for me was the tight 16.5mm string spacing (again, it aparently it's adjustable - but I never found all strings could all be adjusted equally very much without slipping off the fretboard). .....I'm not sure if it'd actually be an improvedment over my Sandberg TM5 SL but it potentially has advantages for me of slightly wider string spacing, 24 frets vs 22, 3 band EQ with 3-way mid selection (vs 2 band). BTB845 (£843 at Thomann) BTB765 (£773 at Thomann)

I can't find a thread on Sivcak Basses and I don't own one but am keen to so my question is - are they as good as they look? https://www.sollerguitars.com/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=category&cid=28:seria-ndhs&lang=en

Thanks to Rich for sending me a Bass quickly and as described, and then good communications and very helpful responses after I received it.

I get the impression you are considering every comment to directly relate to you, I was just commenting generally on the discussion points. If someone really didn't care about having any audience to their art then I don't expect they would record and release music or perform it to an audience (perhaps they'd record it so they alone could listen to it). My point is that just about everyone that creates art does care a bit about what the audience thinks of it and it must inform their art to a certain extent.

I expect that even the most avant-garde and experimental artists consider how their art will be consumed and appreciated by an audience. ...at least the ones that have been heard by an audience. I suppose the ones that really don't care at all about an audience would never record or perform their art for an audience to ever know about it.

Yeah, I wouldn't say no to a Status! There's a streamline for sale on here that looks good, it's more than 10x the cost of the Steinberger Spirit I just bought though which would kind of defeat part of the purpose for me as backup/travel bass that can be chucked about a bit! Ideally I'd like to use Tapewound strings but I think that's a non-starter.

Yeah, perhaps not my cuppa. It's not going to stop me trying though!

I keep hearing similar comments and have never owned a P Bass so it's tempting to get one to see if it applies to me. Perhaps incorrectly, I assume that a P is ideal for soul/motown and most rock and punk stuff and perhaps for general pop stuff, it's dependable with good low-mid thump and you can't really get a bad tone out of it. However, they are rarely seen used for Reggae/dub, and aren't the 'go-to' Bass for slap, and they don't seem to be popular for down-tuned metal type stuff.....seeing as those are the three genres I tend to play the most I'm not sure a P Bass is for me, it seems to be one of those things Bass players probably should own at some point though so is an itch I'll need to scratch!

My day started with no intention of getting another Bass. I watched a few Reggae youtube videos and it dawned on me that Steinberger type basses have been used by a lot of good Reggae players (possibly just because they are easy to travel with rather than anything specifically special about the sound) and that it could be handy for me as a backup/travel Bass.....before lunch I've gone and bought a 2nd hand Steinberger! My limited research concluded that the original 80s ones are the best but cost >£3k, the Hohner ones seem to be considered better than the Steinberger Spirit but generally cost more and are rarer, the Steinberger Spirit cost £350 new or around about £200 2nd hand and people tend to basically say 'they're alright for the price'. So I'm not expecting to be amazed or it to replace my main 5 string Bass but I think it'll fill a niche (and it has a drop D tuner which is something I've been keen to spend time learning).

Nice one. I'm going to do some more research but I'm quite keen - they are appealing as cheap backup Bass/one I can easily travel with (the Steinberger Spirit seems to go for about £200 2nd hand), and seeing that yourself and plenty of other Reggae players use them is a good endorsement. I think the Bass player in Asian Dub Foundation sometimes uses one too.

Anyone here played a Steinberger? Quite an 80's looking thing but I've seen that Robbie Shakespeare, Donald Dennis, George Fullwood, Flabba Holt had all used them (or something looking very similar) at some point. I'm all about making life easy for myself and if I can (potentially!) get the sounds they got from them with a Bass that goes for about £200 and is light and easy to carry around then I'm all for it.

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It's a great pedal, the only potential problem is getting it to talk to your laptop (see posts above from different people, and similar on the Talkbass thread). That aspect works fine for plenty of people though so it's still probably well worth getting - you might need to be more patient or more tech savvy than me to not get frustrated with it though!

I've tried so many pedals in the last couple of years I think I'm finally at the point of not being fussed about trying new ones as I'm fairly sure they'll only be marginally different to what I've already got/used.....trouble is, now I'm eying up different Bass guitars - which is a whole other level of cost and hassle to buy and sell. In a few years I might have tried enough of them to learn they are only marginally different and there's not much point!

Have got a Reggae rhythm section formed with Drummer, Guitarist, Bass (me). We could now do with melody for our rhythm foundations to support so if anyone here knows of singers, keyboard players, horns, melodica, or anyone else that'd fit the bill please give me a shout. We practice in West London.

Ah, someone got there already. And they charge $359 (which I guess means + tax + customs+ postage), and is sold out. I'll undercut them by gluing two M-Audo pedals together and selling for £200.

That would be great, could do stuff like toe/heel as wah and left/right tilt for amount of reverb - like having two separate expression pedals that you can control individually at the same time with one foot. Setting one parameter Helix EXP 1 control and one as EXP 2 should work so I think the software is already there to handle it. It's a kickstarter opportunity for anyone with the know-how, could bodge a mock-up by sticking one expression pedal on top of another at 90 degrees!

You're all causing me some serious GAS. Thought I could hold-off on the Waza Air for a while, now I also want a backbeat! I think me options are to give in and buy them, or stay off this forum, or reach for the:

Nice one!

I'm finding that an expression pedal is a great Stomp addition. A £12 M-Audio one is doing the job fine but it might not be the best thing for all Stomp features (see below). The most obvious things are using it for stuff like wah and volume control but it can also simultaniously control multiple parameters across multiple blocks per preset e.g. increase delay feedback and mix while also increasing reverb mix and the distortion tone, then click to next preset to control just the volume or EQ etc. One thing I haven't worked out is how to increase one parameter while simultaniously reducing the value of another parameter e.g. increase EQ block mids while simultaniously reducing reverb mix. Getting both parameters to increase or decrease together and setting their ranges of movement is simple - getting them to move in opposite directions is not so obvious though, is there a simple way to reverse the direction of one parameter? Alternatively, I think it can be done by assigning EXP 1 & EXP 2 accordingly e.g. EQ block mids parameter assigned to EXP 1 with Heel = 0%, toe = 100%. Reverb block mix parameter assigned to EXP 2 with Heel = 100%, toe = 0%. That doesn't seem to work for me though, I think it's a limitation of the M-Audio pedal because it's not clear if it's a dual expression pedal but I expect that is what would be needed.

I haven't had that but still but a lot of second hand vinyl so will keep an eye out for the 'Tony' collection! These in today:

One of my favorite dub albums:

I'm asking myself the same question - basically to justify buying new stuff! I suppose it depends how different the genres are but for me it seems more to do with strings and setup rather than actual Bass. (I'm finding that high action with Tapewounds is great for Reggae, not so good for slap though, so ideally I'd have Basses set up for both - but they could both be identical J Basses). I've got a Helix with effects and amp sims, clean amp, and a cab with tweeter (that can be turned off) so that covers any genre okay.