jim_bass

Hi John,

I have a Squier classic vibe jazz bass which i upgraded with a Fender S1 control plate that I picked up on eBay. I want to replace it because the S1 switch is not working correctly. I was asked in another thread about the Obsidian solderless wiring kits and someone suggested I asked you.

Firstly, can you do a wiring kit with an S1 control in it?

If not then I might just go back to the regular wiring, but it means I'm short of a volume knob as this one has the push button in the center. Can you supply a loom with the knobs or recommend which ones to get?

Cheers,

Jim

I’m thinking of upgrading my Squier Classic Vibe jazz bass with an obsidian solderless wiring upgrade.

It has a treble bleed mod in the circuit - is this a noticeable upgrade or will it change the tone? I like the jazz tone and I’m worried it will lose some of the classic jazz tone. Any advice appreciated.

For reference the wiring upgrade is more for quality/reliability that wanting it to sound any different!

On 04/01/2020 at 10:07, Skybone said:

So @jim_bass, what was the outcome of your experimentation?

I bought the bass pack for my Pod HD and finally tried it out this week. Loaded the SVT normal amp with the Big ampeg cabinet - default settings. Stuck a studio comp in front (again - default settings) and a drive (can’t remember which one! But I had to lower the output to get a nice drive boost when switched on without sounding too gritty). So drive -> comp -> SVT -> D.I. into mixer.

It sounded awesome! so much better than the old setting I had and well worth the spend.

I’ve not had chance to try the HX Stomp our yet but for now I’ll stick with the very impressive sounding pod sounds.

Also, that was into a cheap 15” monitor for foldback - looking forward to trying it with my new dual driver IEM’s!

1 hour ago, Skybone said:

But the OP stated he already had a Line6 HD500X, all I'm saying is that they don't need to buy another multi-FX, just the HD Bass pack add on.

Well happy with mine.

Thanks for your comments. I’ve just been reading you old post from 2016ish when you got yours!

I think buying the bass pack for $30 is a no brainier before I fork out for a HX stomp.

Our guitarist has just ordered the stomp so I’ll see if I can A/B the Sansamp model with the Pod HD bass pack after Christmas when I get the chance!

I’m listening to mainly Christmas stuff, but I do like looking for something a little different. This is my fave Christmas album at the moment (don’t judge!)

https://youtu.be/XcGECupEX2c

Here are all the basses I’ve played since 1994ish!

1. Ibanez Roadstar II - it was far too heavy for me at 14 years old

2. Dean PJ (Edge?) - much lighter to play and I played it weekly for about 10 years. It was battered and bruised and covered in stickers and I kept the same set of strings on it for the first 8 years! Gave it away for someone to learn on.

3. Yamaha RBX270 - Borrow this one from my dad to try it out. Nice bass but uninspiring to play.

4. Yamaha RBX374 - wanted more punch so went active! Kept it for a couple of years but just felt ‘meh’. Got bored and sold it. Sick of swapping batteries!

5. Squire Classic Vibe Jazz - bought here on basschat. Fell in love with it. Swapped out the control plate for an S1. Glad I went back to passive! Not planning on changing it any time soon.

So there you have it. Nothing expensive. The CV was £200 used. Now amp and effects, well that’s a different story...

Hey @Frank Blank - that’s a nice offer to try yours out, but I’m a bit of a trek from you in Lincolnshire!

Thanks guys!

On 03/11/2019 at 13:04, borntohang said:

Big fan of the VTDI personally - I actually use pretty much the same rig as you with a CV Jazz into an ABM500. Ashdown do a version of the ABM preamp in a board format with the valve drive and compressor built in though and I think that'd be worth a look for you. 

Thanks - I’ll check it out! Just curious, as we have the same setup, what cab do you use? (I’ve got a neo 1x15)

On 28/10/2019 at 14:19, Skybone said:

I use a HD500X all the time for bass (rarely play guitar these days!), and I love it. The sound I was always after is right there, add in all the effects. Ideal.

It would depend on what amp model you use, and what sort of sound you're after of course, but for me, I found a great sound with minimal tweaking, then went from there (SVT Normal model & the 8x10 cab model).

I would suggest trying it again, and start from basics as you would a new amp. Set everything at 12 o'clock and work from there.

IMO, it is a great and very underrated unit for bass. It's a shame there are only a handful of amp & cab models available, but they're all usable.

Does that mean you have the bass expansion pack? I don’t have it so only had the flip top amp to play with! Maybe I should download that first!

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

Well the Sansamp is a fairly scooped sound so unless that’s the sound you dial in I’d look at maybe the Tech21 VTDI - much more capable of getting near the usual Ashdown sound. Or there’s the Ashdown Original pedal which is meant to be a very good representation of the Ashdown sound. 

That’s good to know, it was the scooped sound that put me off the M80.

I’ll take a look at the ashdown pedal too - never seen that one before.

I’ve been away from bass for a few years playing drums so though I’d re-post!

I play in a Praise & Worship band in Louth, Lincolnshire and tend to play whatever is needed as the band changes... so bass, drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar or sing! We now have a new drummer so I’m back to bass for a while!

I play a Squire Classic Vibe Jazz (first version) which I’ve modified with an American Jazz S1 control plate. Into an Ashdown Klystron 500 head with an Ashdown Neo 1x15” cab.

Hey guys first day posting since 2015 after a hiatus from bass (been playing drums for a while).

I’m now back to bass and considering selling my amp and downsizing to a smaller pedalboard. We now run in ears for the band so I’m thinking of ditching the amp going DI only. I normally play a SQUIER CV Jazz into Ashdown Klystron 500 with no other effects. I use the valve drive on the amp and the built in compressor (although I’d like a compressor with more control).

So basically I need a valve drive sound, a compressor and a decent amp sim.

I’m thinking either a Helix stomp or a mini board with a sansamp, drive pedal and maybe an MXR compressor? (I used to have a MXR M80 and hated the overdrive sound).

I already have a HD500X which I use for guitar but have never really been happy with the sound for bass. Possibly this is down to my IEM’s though ?!? I use SE215’s or MEE Audio M6 Pros so both single driver.

Any suggestions welcome!

On 26/06/2019 at 12:19, Geek99 said:

They are members on here 

What’s their user ID?

I though Wizard pickups were gone for good - interested in speaking to them about replacing the stock pickups in my CV Jazz.

Yamaha AC3R looks great, but I can't find one anywhere near my price range!

AC1 going on Ebay but seems to use same preamp as cpx500 - is it a much better guiitar?

I believe the naked series has a very thin lacquer rather than the glossy varnish you get on the higher models?

I'll take a look at the other yamahas aswell.

I play a CV jazz bass and was really impressed with it for the price compared to the Mexican fenders, so when I went to change my electric guitar I went to buy a CV tele. I was really disappointed with the feel of the CV and ended up with a fender Mexican tele. It was mainly the neck profile. The CV has a thinner neck whilst the Mexican has a rounder C shaped neck. I'd say if you stretch to the Mexican, get one instead.

Also it's generally easier to upgrade Mexican fenders with standard fender upgrades whereas CV parts don't always match exactly (such as the screw holes on scratch plates etc).

I'm looking to buy a new acoustic guitar and have narrowed it down to the following guitars.

Yamaha CPX-500III
Yamaha CPX-700II (on offer)
Faith Naked Venus

My requirements are as follows:

1. Must have decent pickup/preamp. 99% of the time this will be played on stage di'd directly into the PA system and monitored through in ears. (My current acoustic guitar has a nasty pickup in it and I have to use a lot of eq etc on my pod just to make is sound okay through the pa - I don't want to run this through the pod as I want to keep it simple.

2. Medium jumbo body - no dreadnoughts and no parlour guitars!

3. Nice warm tone - mostly strumming chords, occasionally a bit of picking but not much.

4. Built in tuner - so I can do away with needing pedals

I've played a cpx500 and really liked it, but I've not tried the other 2. I'm not going to be able to get to a shop that stocks any of them so ill be buying blind online.

Any opinions or suggestions? My concen with the naked Venus is the unfinished top - will it scratch too easily for playing live?

If the sale doesn't go through, I'll take it.

Jim

DD-20 Sold.

Pedal power 2 still available. All pms replied to.

Any takers?

Price for PPII added and marked on hold whilst I hear back from a few offers.

Had 3 people interested in the pedal power. I'll mark it as on hold.

Compressor and 2 short patch cables now sold.