SumOne

I never spend anything on Bass gear, it's all just diversifying my investment portfolio.

I'd go to Bass Direct and trade your 4 for a MTD. They have always given me good part exchange deals and I found the best way to get used to a 5 is to fully commit to it and ditch the 4, and it gives a good excuse for the new Bass - it's just a trade.

I had one for a while and thought it was decent: good EQ, drive, DI, fx loop, Aux in and headphone out, and very good value. If I was being picky then ideally I'd like the headphone output to have an individual volume control, and the dials look cool but are a bit hard to read, and I never found much use for the tilt eq (it'd be great if that was a HPF instead). Can't have everything though! Overall I thought it was good.

I'm learning 'can't stand losing you' by The Police right now and the speed it rushes through and out of the reggae type bassline bits is annoying me.... No funk or building a groove or giving it any breathing space.

That is annoying. I think they're trying to do the J Dilla 'drunk' drums thing but with the bassline - which doesn't really work.

That's about it, he also calls you a groove hacker and asks you to subscribe though.

I've had a motorbike accident and fallen down a cliff (not at the same time!) so have some back and shoulder issues. As already said - core strengthening and stretching/ mobility exercises help, and a light /ergonomic Bass. Also good technique:

I think the recordings are exactly the same, I guess there wasn't a contract and over time the Mixer, Engineer, and Producer have each claimed credit (it just leaves the Roots Radics to stake their claim!).

Scientist 'Vampires' arrived today. I've got a bit of a collection going on and all these are decent, 'pac-man' is next on the list. Licensing issues mean some are sold as 'Scientist' (mixed) while others are 'Junjo' (engineer Henry 'Junjo' Lawes) and some are 'Linval' (Producer Linval Thompson).

Something along the lines of these outfits, but a bit extra:

Nice. Am I right in saying the one without the toggle switches is a slightly older model of the made in Japan XJ-1T? I see there are also some 'XJ-Pro' versions which look the same without the toggle switches but I think they were a bit cheaper and made in Taiwan instead of Japan - I can't see how to tell between them and the XJ-1T version without toggle switches but I guess there's a 'made in Japan or Taiwan' on the headstock or something.

I think it depends on what you want from a preamp as it seems quite an interchangeable catch-all term: Some are like the one control crimson red which are simple and just add specific amp tones, or there are more fancy ones in that category like the Broughton ones. And some are basically an overdrive pedal. Or there are the combined DI/EQ/Preamp things like the Sansamp, or some that throw everything in like the Microbass 3. Or ones that don't really add any colour - just EQ/DI like the Q-Strip or MXR M81.

It does look interesting, I'm tempted regardless of what pedal catagory it gets put into! I suppose it fits more in the realms of high-end EQ pedals like the Empress Para EQ, WMD Para EQ, Sine Effects Mega Para, Source Audio EQ2, Boss EQ 200, none of which have DI features or would generally be called Preamps. It seems to me that adding the LFP and HPF makes it something I'd want to use at the end of my signal chain though (whereas I might want an EQ without those features to go in in other signal chain places - to do things like adding mids feeding an overdrive) so I'd like it to also have DI features and not just by adding an adapter as I'd want it to have a separate XRL out with ground lift and a pre/post switch (e.g. to select what's sent depending if it's going to FOH or FRFR speakers) as well as a separate output to the Amp. That must be what a lot of customers want as lots of combined EQ/Preamp pedals incorporate it, the trouble is that none of them seem quite as good on the EQ and HPF/LPF front as the Genzler though so it is currently sitting in my Thomann shopping basket - it's payday after all! ....I haven't clicked 'buy' yet though, the main competition for me is coming from the Fishman Platinum Pro. Edit: I've gone for the Fishman. It looks like it's got a decent EQ, and HPF, and LPF of sorts with the 'brilliance' control which is +/- 7db at 5kHz and it has the notch filter. If it was all about the EQ and HPF/LPF I might have gone for the Genzler, but the Fishman has loads of useful additional features too: DI (XLR with pre/post, ground lift), phase, FX loop, Tuner/mute footswitch, Compressor, Boost (with footswitch), takes batteries (that last 30hrs). I'm hoping it'll be a decent EQ pedal up there with the best of them but also a decent DI, and a useful tuner and compressor for times when I can just throw it in a bag to take to band practice to cover all the main things without even needing a power supply.

I've been trying to get a Diamond Bass Compressor Jr for quite a while now.....guess I might have to wait a lot longer.

Nice one, yeah the Bass Direct XJ 4.6kg weight puts me off a bit (and the £1,799 asking price). GuitarGuitar have second hand XJ and XP (each £1,699) so I think I'll ask if they can get both into one shop for me to try at some point....I do need to sell a Bass first to afford it though so probably shouldn't get ahead of myself. Their XJ is the lightweight version (well - relatively I assume! they don't say the actual weight) so is probably the front runner for me: https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/px211130377695006--xotic-xj-1t-5-lite-pre-owned

Xotic Basses - what are y'all saying?! I played an Xotic XP 5 a while ago (the one pictured below, at the Bass Gallery) and it's given me a dangerous case of GAS. Really nice tones that are consistent across all strings, comfortable to play, very low action with no fret buzz. I expect the XJ is just as good so will make an effort to try one of them too. Anyone here own/owned one and have anything positive/negative to say about them? Anything in particular to look out for with them second hand? As far as I can tell the disadvantages seem to be the price (not quite up there with very high-end Basses, but they are about £2,500 new and usually about £1,700 second hand) and they are quite heavy: this one looks a good deal at £1,449 but is 10lb 12oz / 4.8kg and even the 'lightweight' versions are a not particularaly lightweight 9lb 7oz/4.2kg (considering I had a Sandberg TM5 SL that was 3.3kg).

Yeah, I'd probably be better off selling the Bass and using that plus upgrade money on a new Bass. I do quite like the idea of slightly modifying it to have a small degree of customisation and to slightly better fit what I want from it though (even if it is just the equivilant of adding a bodywork kit and lowering a car - not really making it any better for anyone else and actually limitiing it's resale, interesting to do though and makes it feel more personal). Actually, thinking about it a bit more I reckon the ultralight tuners would be a waste of money as the Bass is well balanced and reasonably light and has the smaller Fender tuners anyway so the weight saving would small, the active preamp might be good but it's probably not doing much that a Preamp/EQ pedal wouldn't do without any fitting hassle. I think new pickups could potentially make a worthwhile difference - but how much difference (and if it's a difference I actually like) I'm not so sure.

I'm eying up a few upgrades for my US Standard Jazz Bass V: Pickups - DiMarzio ultra Jazz. Preamp - A John East J retro. Tuners - Hipshot ultralight. But it's about £400 of upgrades on £900 worth of Bass and probably doesn't increase its value by much so I'm not sure it's worthwhile in resale terms. Perhaps worth it for me keeping the Bass long term though. Or Preamp/EQ Pedals are an easy alternative.

My list would be: Accessibility/workflow: I wasn't keen on the hands-on (& foot-on) accessibility and getting used to the preset and snapshot programming mindset. Sounds: Mid-range individual pedals usually sound better (and have better hands-on editing and their individual footswitches) and I don't often use more than about 5 different pedal types so having them as individual pedals is a better option for me. Digital: A nagging issue for me is that Helix things startup like a Laptop or phone. That reminder of it being software with potential for bugs, needing to plug into a Laptop for firmware updates, planned obsolescence and a slight feeling of 'is it going to start up properly when I really need it to' meant I never really jelled with it (in the same way as being quite excited when getting a new Phone or Laptop, but the honeymoon period wears off fairly quickly and there's no attachment to them once they become outdated). I'm not against digital pedals in terms of sound - I like them when they are like the EBS dPhaser, adding a usb socket often adds a world of frustration though.

I'd like to try the Ibanez ergonomic headless multiscale Basses. My last few Basses have all been Jazz types so it might be an interesting diversion. And I think Source Audio might be releasing an updated version of the C4 synth pedal with more hardware controls. If that's not a ridiculous price then I'll be keen.

Donstrumental with 5x Robbie Shakespeare Basslines

Reasons I've owned multi-fx including Helix Stomp, Stomp XL, Effects, and various Zoom pedals: They seem cost-effective, sensible, convenient. Reasons I no longer own any multi-fx: Most of the best things in life don't tend to be cost-effective, sensible or convenient!

I am tempted to get a Fishman as a single 'all in one' (well, all the most important things) easily transported option for band practice - especially as it can be battery powered. I know things like Zoom multi fx also do that but having tried a few they never quite do it for me for sounds and accessibility (and don't have things like XLR out and fx loop). For various reasons Helix don't ever do it for me beyond the honeymoon period either (having owned the Stomp, Stomp XL, Effects) mostly due to workflow/accessability.

I find the whole argument of 'why get an expensive Bass' a bit like saying 'why get an expensive watch....my £30 Casio tells the time more accurately than a £10k 1960's Rolex' , or 'my £500 sofa does the same job as a £5k sofa' etc. Even if more expensive Basses aren't technically any better than cheaper ones (but generally they are) there is more to it than just 'getting the job done' for the cheapest amount - after all, we're not talking about if it's worth spending a lot on something purely practical like a shovel, a Bass is something that hangs on the wall in your house, that you're seen with on stage, that you play for 1000s of hours potentially for many years, and it holds it's value so even if there's only a marginal improvement (even just aesthetically) I'd consider it worthwhile to spend more (within what I can afford).

Possibly endoresment £ ?