Beedster

The BigHead is an very very very good piece of kit, completely changed how I practice on electric simply because all previous headphone units made me sound crap, this makes me sound rather good

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1443717006' post='2877147'] Of course - the main point of interest for me was how a chambered featherweight PJ can compare to a stock P. [/quote] That's actually a good point, weight was never a predictable characteristic of 70's Fenders!

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1441190622' post='2856735'] Time will tell Rob [/quote] Well it was worth the risk! Great seller, very helpful and up front, great comms and a fantastic bass for less than it would have cost me through a UK dealer for sure, even with overheads. I'll post better pics when I have time. although even in this rough pic it looks rather lovely next to my '85. [url="http://s80.photobucket.com/user/Beedster/media/IMG_5208_zpsyu2ywtid.jpg.html"][/url] I'm now selling everything I own to pay for it, and with perfect timing by DB has some potentially expensive issues also

Great playing and great tone (as ever) Michael, but at the risk of having stuff thrown at me, why should we be impressed that a bass built this year can sound as good as one built over 40 years ago? The reason the Fender has high market value is related to culture, it doesn't take anything away from it, but it's what it is, in many respects an antique. What I'd really like to hear is what the newer bass can do that the older one can't (and I'm not talking about the J-PUP)? OK, I take the point that owning the newbie means not having to take expensive instruments to gigs etc, and also that the newbie is perhaps a tad more reliable. But unlike the Squier Precisions, it's still far from a budget instrument? Not trying to be difficult, and I've been as susceptible as anyone else to the appeal of the retro and vintage, but we seem to go through waves of various Fender relics/copies on BC (Nash, Bravewood, Limelight, etc), everyone appears to get excited, then we move on to the next brand? It seems to be becoming almost a forum pathology?

[quote name='roceci' timestamp='1443709304' post='2877071'] Maybe I should have just made this a poll after all... [/quote] Ha ha, I wouldn't worry about it mate, you're amongst friends and perhaps it's good to air these things occasionally, it;s all swings and roundabouts with bass gear anyway Like I said above, no rights or wrongs, just different values, and like tastes, there's no accounting for them! Enjoy the bass C

[quote name='mentalextra' timestamp='1443706970' post='2877049'] +1 Surely you leave "the community" behind when you enter the For Sale section. Especially as sellers don't need to even be part of our community? I can't help being suspicious of ads from sellers with 0 posts? I understand that this may not be the case here , but just saying [/quote] Many members join simply to buy and sell, if it wasn't for the marketplace the membership would be a fraction of what it is, and yes, whilst there is a sense of community even in the marketplace, it's the foundation for sure, but it's not always to be seen and it is probably naive to expect it with all members. Examples of when it's been there in shovel loads for me are when I've been sent items on spec, when I've been sent items ahead of payment, or when sellers have dealt with problems professionally at their own expense and inconvenience. There are some great folks on here, Shaggy, Clarky, Legion, Mr Bassman, Silverfoxnik, I could go on for hours, all of whom have on one or more occasions been great to deal with. Examples of when it hasn't been have been items that arrived damaged or unusable and the seller simply disappeared, buyers who haven't read details fully and have kicked up a huge fuss about tiny things (even, and I'm not joking, "I want to return the bass because the action is too low for me....", a member who gave me the wrong address resulting in courier chaos and blamed me. But hey, it's all generally been extremely positive, and the key thing is that when things do go wrong here, there's always a strong sense of community in getting them resolved, and that's probably the key thing. Re ads from sellers with zero posts, I don't know, but through experience I'm equally wary of buyers with zero or low posts also!

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443627756' post='2876409'] OK, look what I've found now: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131615738395?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT"]http://www.ebay.co.u...K%3AMEBIDX%3AIT[/url] So yes, that really is all original. And 10.5lbs. Ulp. And it's a lot cheaper than the Japanese one I posted earlier, but will still come up to about £1000 by the time you factor in shipping, duty and VAT. [/quote] Jack, it's quite simple mate, a few weeks ago you woke up needing a pointy, today you wake up needing an 8er. The universe has decided, that is your bass, what's a few hundred quid on import duty between a man and his destiny?

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1443646531' post='2876652'] All a bit passive aggressive isn't it? You've put enough detail in so anyone reading your post can work out who you're on about but decided to moan here rather than have a word with the basschatter directly or leave feedback - poor show! [/quote] +1

[quote name='roceci' timestamp='1443647468' post='2876668'] What am I to do mate? Name the guy & get slagged for calling someone out publicly? I took a decision not to based on that. Bit of an assumption there buddy & the wrong one I'm afraid. [/quote] [quote name='roceci' timestamp='1443647658' post='2876669'] & if anyone's got the time & inclination to get all Columbo & put the pieces together...well I wish I had as much spare time on my hands. You his mate or something? [/quote] Not sure how relevant this is, but about 10 years ago I bought an Ovation USA acoustic bass from eBay for, IIRC around £450. It was a bargain and one of the reasons it sold cheap in the auction was that it was collection only in a bloody remote area. So, I booked a day off, paid my £100 or so train fare to collect it, and then forked out close to another £100 on a hard case. About 6 months later I realised that it hadn't lived up to expectation and listed it on the old BC site for what it owed me, that is around £600, which was still well under 50% retail at the time (in fact they were around £1500 if you could find one). Lo and behold, a member started PM'ing me telling me I was being unethical and was profiteering. Whilst I found it slightly unnerving that someone was paying so much attention to my buying and selling, I wasn't overly worried, until it became clear that he was bitching about me to other members, suggesting I was dodgy and was only buying stuff to make a profit at the expense of other members. And my point is.....? It's no-one's business but the person who own's it and who's selling it. None of us know all of the factors involved, and even if there are none, so what? You ask above whether you should name the guy? Of course not, because he's done nothing wrong. He's just upset you a little bit, and now you're just whining.

These things happen, and it's happened to me a few times. I used to moan about it, usually in a thread on here, and then I found that moaning about it just prolonged the frustration! Most of what's written above - and from both perspectives - is pretty much spot on. And that's the problem really, it's not right or wrong but simply differing values. You wouldn't do it, he would. Doesn't make you right and doesn't make him wrong. Had you got your bass only to find it not as described, that would have made him wrong. When stuff like this happened my Granddad always used to say 'Worse things happen at sea'. No idea what the hell he was on about to be honest, and as he was in the RAF it always struck as a little odd, but I think the sentiment was "forget it and get on with something else"

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443449245' post='2874752'] I'm surprised at how little actual amplification the BigHead offers. The sound is excellent, but it seems to have very little headroom. [/quote] You might want to check it's working properly Jack, I can't turn mine up very far before I start to feel my ears reacting? Plenty loud enough for me for sure, especially using the Aux in.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1443445944' post='2874715'] What you got to remember, is that the great recorded tone that you are hearing, especially in modern recordings, have been eq and post processed to feck in the studio. It may be worth experimenting with some outboard if you are struggling to get a great core sound... it may be that your brain is hankering for something more processed. I know that there will be people going on about "pure tone" but at the end of the day, the resulting sound is the result of the component parts... so maybe book a day at a studio with a competent engineer to help craft your tone so you can figure out what you are looking to do to your core tone maybe? [/quote] All true, but one of the characteristics that makes Wals so good is that the onboard filter pre does so much of that stuff for you

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1443437605' post='2874584'] I remember trying a Wal fretless many years ago and I'm wondering, is this the king of fretless basses for both live and studio work? [/quote] Yes, or at least a contender. Much like the Middle Ages, there's a lot of argument over who is actually The King by right, but as I found out recently having tried almost every other brand, there's a reason Wal have the reputation they have.

So, long story short, the sale fell through, and necessity being the mother of invention, the idea of Clarkson became reality yesterday afternoon. It's big, ugly, heavy and not yet set up (nut and bridge slots etc, but it's playable, has surprising sustain and actually balances quite well. I was half expecting the rather rude awakening in the night as the tension of the strings pulled the whole thing apart, but having survived 16 hours I think he's good to go! [url="http://s80.photobucket.com/user/Beedster/media/IMG_5419_zps8ksbxc82.jpg.html"][/url]

OK, two gigs this weekend, one on a relatively large outdoor stage (large for us anyway). Main problem for me with the slapping stuff - which by the way has become a critical part of the overall bad sound - is too much sustain and still the occasional need to mute the E string (although I've got a lot better at doing this over recent weeks). Any tricks I can use to drop the sustain a little - on electric bass of course I'd just chuck a lump of foam under the strings! I think strings are part of the problem at present, but I don't want to start messing about with strings ahead of gigs! Can't believe that after 10 years of trying to develop a technique to improve sustain I'm now trying to reduce it! On a related issue, I would love the opportunity to play a DB set up and optimised for slap just to compare notes really. So if any of you good folks are gigging in the south east, have such a beast, and would be happy to let me noodle on it for 10 or so mins ahead of your gig, it would be hugely appreciated. Cheers C