biro

A proper J is the one instrument I will have to buy at some point. Truth be told, I am remarkably happy with my Harley Benton, but I do want a proper J at some point. I guess I too gravitate a bit towards J basses, and I guess one proof is that my BTB1406, while by no means conceptually akin to a J bass, does borrow some important element from it - single coils in a proper J position. Then again, neck through body, 35", laminated neck... I've played just about any cheap knock off and I am very happy with the Harley Benton. Yet... someday I will get a proper Fender J. Instruments that improve on the original are cool, and I've liked some a lot, but I guess simplicity is really what I am after.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1442572076' post='2867861'] You're more than welcome, glad you're getting some use out of it. Was really nice to meet you over a beer and chat about basses, we must hook up again sometime and make night of it. [/quote] Likewise! And of course, I'd be happy to!

Ok, so, I've been lucky enough to wake up early in the morning on a glorious British day and be the first to message Rob, who was generously getting rid of some of his HB dekos. After a quick beer in Camden, the Jazz had traded hands / switched gigbags. Honestly, I think I've had just about any jazz bass short of the real thing, and I have played enough "real things" to know what's to like and not to like. I don't think I can fault this one. The pups sound great, the fret job is very, very well done and the finish is, in all seriousness, just great. My other Harley Benton Jazz, which was not a deko, was also sunburst originally, and was 1) in more than three pieces; 2) exceedingly heavy. The only complaint I could have was that the second fret was a bit high and caused a slight rattle when pressing the first fret (with the neck straight as an arrow). That could easily be fixed adjusting the relief, but since the fret was quite clearly not pressed down properly, I decided to give [url="http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/crazy-construction-worker-hammer-34479591.jpg"]ye olde hammer and cloth method a go[/url], which fixed the problem immediately. One other minor problem with these basses is that the pick up screw holes are not really that deep, which might be a problem if you want very low action (and avoid a neck heel). I am pleased to report that this was quite the exception: by pressing a bit harder with the screwdriver I managed to set the pick ups exactly where I liked them. There you have it, extremely low action on a beautiful, great sounding, maple-spanky bass. I am recording some stuff now, so hopefully I'll post some samples soon. Again, CamdenRob, I owe you more than one!

PM'd!

Lots of good suggestions. I too have the Superlux HD669 and I find them unbelievably good for the price.

It's not just pick up position, but the very voicing of the pick up. That is to say, you can get closer to that sound -- though, to my ears, just not close enough -- with some crazy EQ curves. Needless to say, this kind of control is only available within a DAW, and I don't see how you could pull that off live without a computer. Another option is modeling, if Peavey ever releases some ACT profile for revalver.

I raise you my Harley Benton JB something something, which is no longer sunburst, having been repainted with a view to achieving a completely different shade of gold (mission failed, though the result is more than welcome) and decorated on the scratchplate by my crafty GF. [url=http://imgur.com/Krghqxl][/url] [url=http://imgur.com/NSfH3Me][/url]

A short sample to demonstrate the incredible clarity of the low end on this bass, alongside with timing, which has become deplorable. https://soundcloud.com/ballpointmusic/ibanez-btb1406-premium

I put together this extremely short video, mostly to show the articulation this thing is capable of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5ch11DJjQE&feature=youtu.be

I am looking forward to having one of these! I don't really need a 7 or another 6, but I hope they will release a fretless five at some point.

Ok, I went home, that is, back to Italy for a few days and I happened to find a shop selling this beauty at a slightly discounted price. I wish I could say I put a lot of effort in controlling myself, but I am not sure I can. In fact, I pulled the trigger quite quickly! I had owned a BTB705DX ([url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6S8pmgfg38"]this one[/url], specifically) in the past, and I am still convinced it was an exceptional instrument. For my taste, however, it lacked a bit of sustain and had the unforgivable flaw of having five strings only. I had been thinking of going back to a sixer, and I did with an Ibanez SR506 that a BC member kindly delivered to my small London flat. Now, I would simply lie if I said that instrument, [s]currently for sale [/s]SOLD on the BC market, couldn't satisfy my needs. It was a wonderful warwick-y beast of a bass. However, not unlike a Blue Norwegian pining for the fjords, I missed the 35" scale and few other things, such as the BTB shape, which is -- for those of you who haven't tried it -- the single most comfortable shape I've laid my paws on. I ordered the bass and immediately started worrying: the idea of a six string bass with a single truss rod made me extremely uncomfortable, as some bad memories from the past still haunt my dreams; neck-through basses have rarely been my thing lately. But in the end, the delivery guy knocked. First of all, the truss rod worked a tad too well. In fact, if anything, I had to loosen it. It moves extremely easily and is extremely effective, with plenty of room for adjustment in either way. Also of immediate relevance, you get an extremely nice case and what I would like to christen the [url="http://static.bax-shop.nl/images/resized/167/1352903/450x450/Ibanez_RG921_BK_Premium_elektrische_gitaar_Black_case_tool.jpg"]Multitool of Destiny[/url]. (I am a sucker for these things, but the moment I saw it, i was completely sold.) Good: time to focus on the rest of the bass. Well, it is absolutely stunning: The bass is exceptionally comfortable, not at all heavy for a six string and has a reasonably thin neck. The bridge is easy to adjust and is airtight when locked: a screw allows to raise the saddle, a domed one presses the saddle down. I revel in the thought that this has some real world consequences, but I really have no idea. Fretwork is ace and it has Gotoh tuners. Playing it: straight in my soundcard and Logic, I find this BTB has quite a lot of attack, clarity and sustain to it. The stock strings are Elixir, which I like, although I am not particularly big on tapered B strings. (I know the theory, I just don't think they work well for me.) In three (actually four + commas) words, I would say it is loud, tight and articulate. The Nordstrands are the single biggest (no pun intended) surprise I had in recent years. They play very much like single coils, but with balls, which I personally think is a plus. The preamp -- mid frequency selector and all -- works well, but I am not big on onboard preamps. It follows that I absolutely love the second switch, which bypasses the EQ (not the preamp, AFAIK). I will endeavour to make a couple of samples in the next few days. For the time being, I would just say that I have tried more or less any 6 string bass in this price range and cannot, for the life of me, understand why this one does not cost twice as much.

Interesting! However, after years of tinkering, I believe the short answer to the question in your title is: you can go low, but you can't get rid of it altogether -- which doesn't necessarily need to be a problem.

I have owned two graphite-necked instruments, a Status S-1, which was green and gorgeous and I bought on BC, and a Peavey GV bass. Both were exceptional instruments, the Status perhaps more so, but in the end I parted with them with few regrets. On stability: yes, the Status wouldn't move. The Peavey, which was Modulus-necked, on the other hand, would move a fair bit. Nothing to be worried about, mind you, but it did, the only reason I can think of being the fact that it featured a beautiful pau ferro fingerboard, which was thick, dense and altogether perfectly capable of moving a graphite neck whenever it felt like it. Now, the Peavey was a wonderful instrument ([url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otQ046y39RY"]exhibit one[/url]), but wasn't exceptionally graphite-y, if you get what I mean. The Status, on the other hand, sounded less woody, and, in a way, better ([url="http://www.gospel.bo.it/albums/userpics/10192/Martina_%2B_Status_-_MSTR.mp3"]exhibit two[/url]). I am also going to be an apostate and say something weird: I am a strong believer in the fact that a synthetic fingerboard does a good deal of different. Phenolic stuff or ebonol do make a significant different in sound, very much in the direction of a synthetic neck.

Guys, I can only recommend (and quite strongly) the very nice SHB-1 by Ignite Amps: http://www.igniteamps.com/ You can use it in conjunction with Ignite Amps' NadIR to use various kinds of impulse responses. Here is a link to my Dropbox folder with some of the impulse responses I collected during the years. Some are kind of ancient, others should probably be credited to someone on some forum, but I can't remember which are which. All of it is, to the best of my knowledge, in the public domain: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t3t0lu0dnqmeb2s/AACyieEePTo41mFn2TWKhleAa?dl=0

I am going to open an NBD topic in due course, but for the time being suffice it to say that a truss rod is MORE than enough. In fact, if someone at the shop hadn't taken it upon himself to tighten this rod so much, I wouldn't have wasted so much time to loosen it.