BottomEndian

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='411884' date='Feb 17 2009, 12:31 PM']Also anyone remember that warwick bass which was tuned C#F#BE or something? If that doesn't have a long scale then i guess i'm some sort of austrailian donkey.[/quote] That'd be the Warwick Vampyre Dark Lord. Designed for F#BEA, but only 35". It achieved the F# by using a string set running .085 to .175.

[quote name='pete.young' post='411483' date='Feb 16 2009, 08:55 PM']Are there any 35" 4-string basses?[/quote] I was wondering exactly the same thing recently. I ended up with the following list of budget 35" 4-stringers: Peavey Cirrus BXP ESP LTD F Series Ibanez BTB range HK / Woodo (or whatever name's on the headstock) 4-stringers But like 6stringbassist says, a good 34" can have a beautiful B. Every bass is different, and some 34"s have that magic combination of factors that gives a clear, powerful B. In my (limited) experience, they tend to cost more.

[quote name='Zach' post='410645' date='Feb 16 2009, 12:00 AM']Just to throw a bit of crazy out there, why don't we tune in 5ths?[/quote] [quote name='Matty' post='410651' date='Feb 16 2009, 12:12 AM']Its tuned in fourths because on a double bass, the stretches would be near impossible for the music being produced at the time. I have a 4 string tuned to BEAD and a four string tuned CGDA and both are great fun to play and both have their uses.[/quote] Indeed, fifths make scales an absolute swine, and if you're playing anything you haven't written specifically for fifths tuning, chances are you'll be up and down the neck like an erotic massage. But to expand on what Matty said, it has its uses -- the range it opens up is awesome. Just as a little example, if you think about major chords, in standard tuning you've got, say, A major: G:--6-- (note = C#) D:--7-- (note = A) A:--7-- (note = E) E:--5-- (note = A) which is a reasonably open voicing, but the major third at the top can sound a bit dense if you're actually playing all the notes together. If you tune C-G-D-A, you've got a really open chord at your fingertips: A:--12-- (note = A) D:--11-- (note = C#) G:--9--- (note = E) C:--9--- (note = A) You're covering two octaves in a three-fret spread, which leaves plenty of space for the notes to "breathe". And if you're writing your own riffs, you end up naturally falling into intervals and patterns that sound unlike anyone else. In summary, brilliant for creativity, painful for walking lines. And fifths feel pretty natural if you've been playing a drop tuning for a while -- you just extend that feel across all the strings, rather than just the low two. (I know fifths have had their own thread, but this felt like a more appropriate place to throw this in at the moment.)

Here's some feedback from a seller's perspective: Dave PM's me on Thursday night to say he's interested in my Boss PS-3. Two PMs later, the money's in my Paypal account, and I'm a very happy bunny. I send it on Friday, and he lets me know when it turns up on his doorstep the next day. Superb! Great guy to deal with. Swift, pleasant, easy communications. A jewel in Basschat's crown. I'm this happy ---->

Please leave me some feedback in here if you've had any dealings with me. Or even just if you love me deeply and want to share that with the world. Thanks!

[quote name='alexclaber' post='407594' date='Feb 12 2009, 01:51 PM']I first read that as 'carnage'![/quote] Canage, carnage... when it's 1kW, it's the same thing. I doubt earplugs will cut the mustard. For the love of god, wear building-site-grade ear defenders and a hazmat suit.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='405877' date='Feb 10 2009, 11:23 PM']These do look like generic Korean neck-throughs to me, and it says as much on the website. Nice enough, if you like characterless, but nothing to get excited about at those prices.[/quote] Yeah, this seems to be the consensus that's building up. I'm just showing my inexperience when it comes to identifying and choosing basses. I just tend to play the ones I've got, rather than wondering about ones I haven't got. Until now. I need to get me some learnin'. As for the good reviews of the Woodos, I've seen the ones on Harmony Central. They're a bit too... gushing for my liking. There's virtually no criticism at all, and there's always going to be [i]something[/i] you don't like about a bass (at least at that price range). I love my basses, each in their own way, but I know their bad points: [b]Hondo P-copy[/b] (with Grover tuners and EMG pup -- aka "The Honkin' Hondo"): Plenty of wallop, and black & maple's always a good combo, but I don't like the thickness of the P neck and it can "honk" a bit in the midrange. [b]Music Man SUB[/b]: Lovely fast neck feel and punchy sound, but the combination of textured finish and diamondplate scratchplate is U.G.L.Y. [b]Wesley Guitars 5-string[/b]: um... it's got five strings in its favour, but it plays like a dog. A dog with frets that stick out of the sides of the neck. Ouch. And it's 34" and passive, so the B's just floppy and underpowered.

[quote name='josh3184' post='405298' date='Feb 10 2009, 01:01 PM']7 string is oddly tempting to me you know... however in the pics of the back the thru stringing ferrules aren't even in line which worries me about construction quality[/quote] I hadn't noticed that. Of course, I haven't really been looking at the 7-strings, and the 4s aren't thru-strung. But that is a little frightening. One of the 7s is way worse than the other. And the individual saddle/bridge pieces on the front aren't aligned either.

[quote name='Faithless' post='405271' date='Feb 10 2009, 12:39 PM']Some models look[i] very[/i] Ibanez'zy But, 7-string one weighs 5,5kg's. Is this normal? [/quote] 5 or 6 kg seems about standard for a 7-string (just having a look around Google results). You want extended range? You gotta pay for it somehow! As an update to my earlier post, I've found the HK website (and it took some finding...) at [url="http://www.guitar-bass-shop.de/"]http://www.guitar-bass-shop.de/[/url]. There, all the basses are listed as 35" scale, only adding to my enbafflement. I've actually sent an email to Arttu at Woodo, just flat-out asking what the differences are between his basses and the HK basses. If anything comes of it, I'll post it here.

OK, I've answered my own question by looking on [i]German[/i] eBay. It seems the usual culprits are called HK. [size=7]BUT[/size] (and that's a big but)... What initially attracted me to the Woodo basses was the 35" scale, even on the 4-strings. The HK 4-strings (and some of the 5-strings) seem to be 34", as far as I can ascertain from the eBay descriptions. So it looks like they're all made by the same factory, judging by the shape, woods and all that, but the Woodo range is made to Woodo's own scale-length spec. That explains why Woodo's range of woods is much more limited than the HK range. Does that seem like a reasonable assumption?

[quote name='thedontcarebear' post='404081' date='Feb 9 2009, 10:17 AM']They do just look like the ebay ones with a different name on the headstock.[/quote] Where are these ebay ones? I've had a look around there in the bass category, but nothing looks like the Woodos. What's the usual name on the headstock?

Does anybody have Woodo? [url="http://www.woodoguitars.se/"]http://www.woodoguitars.se/[/url] They [i]look[/i] beautiful for the price (the 4-strings would be less than £450 including delivery from Sweden, and the bubinga 7-string would be under £750!), but has anyone experienced one yet? There seems to be a fair bit of scepticism over on Talkbass (mainly because they seem to be rebadged Korean no-name basses with better electronics), but there always seems to be [i]someone[/i] on Talkbass who blindly hates anything without "Fender" on the headstock.

[quote name='hubrad' post='400950' date='Feb 5 2009, 12:56 PM']Another possibility is to get an unlined fretless (yes, I know, just lose the fear!) and shift the bridge.[/quote] I think the fear might be insurmountable at the moment. But I've found a budget 35" scale: the Peavey Cirrus BXP. The whole Cirrus line seems to be 35", and the BXP puts it in my price range. Any thoughts on the Cirrus from anyone?

[quote name='Machines' post='400888' date='Feb 5 2009, 12:12 PM']36" is custom territory.[/quote] Ah, bumcakes. I thought that might be the case. I suppose if I'm going to use custom tunings, I should expect to need custom basses... So I'm probably looking at a 35". Anyone got any cheaper ideas than the Warwicks? (And as a side note, why do manufacturers think that if you want to tune down, you're going to want a bass that looks "metal"? The Dark Lord's a nice idea, but it'd probably be way more popular if it looked less... pointy. Sure, I play heavy music, but it's not "metal", and I like my basses to look like basses, not Klingon weapons. Maybe I'm alone on this. )

Does anyone know of a 36" scale four-string of reasonable quality but not much expense? I'm thinking preferably under £300, but any sensible suggestions would be gratefully received. My problem at the moment is that I tune in fifths (C-G-D-A) on my Music Man SUB (34"), but to get sensible string tensions, I've had to put a 135 on the bottom. It's the thickest string that can pass through the bridge! The tuning's stable and the playing's OK, but I wouldn't mind seeing if a longer scale length would give me that level of down-tuning with a slightly less insanely thick bottom string. D'Addario's good old tension chart tells me that a 125 on a 36" scale would give roughly the same string tension as the 135 on 34", and something in my brain thinks it'd be less inclined to attack sharp and "fall" into tune like the 34" can do. Yes, I play hard with a pick. Maybe even a 35" scale would help, but I can't find any 35" or 36" four-strings. I know people will suggest getting a five-string and ignoring one of the strings, but I've already got a (cheap Wesley) five-string, and I find the extra neck-width uncomfortable. Thanks!

[quote name='alexclaber' post='397679' date='Feb 2 2009, 11:16 AM']Yes indeed, all except the Vintage do.[/quote] So what happens to the Vintage on its side? Does it start seeping a puddle of pure bass onto the floor, like a badly sealed milk carton? No, seriously, what happens? I ask (purely out of interest -- I don't want to put it on its side!) because I'm the first on the Vintage waiting list... Owain

Thanks guys. Will do.

Hi. I'm pretty new here at BC, so I'm not sure if it's considered bad form to post links to your OWN eBay items, but... Here's my [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-Akai-C2M-Hexacomp-multi-band-compressor-pedal_W0QQitemZ280307861195QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item280307861195&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]Akai Hexacomp[/url]. It's a lovely pedal. A weighty beast, but a lovely pedal, especially on bass. They come up so infrequently on eBay that I had no idea what to guess as a starting price. Any thoughts? I've also got a Boss PS-3 Pitch Shifter / Delay and a DOD FX747 Supersonic Stereo Flange that might be going up on eBay soon, but does anyone reckon people here on BC might be interested in those as well? If I can avoid eBay on those, that'd be nice!

[quote name='Merton' post='392512' date='Jan 27 2009, 10:48 AM']I'd say a third the width of the grille.[/quote] I like that idea. Trouble is, Alex has three cab models at the moment (with more on the way), and each one's got a different grille size. To cut costs, it might be an idea to fix on a logo size that can be applied to every grille equally effectively. It's a compromise, but if it helps to keep costs down, that could be a very good thing. I love the logo, but there's something that grates with me about the look of the "subtitle". Maybe something like this would work better: [attachment=19263:logo_edited.jpg] (Apologies to deksawyer for messing with your work!)