BabyBlueSound

@Chownybass or any Retrovibe Evo owners - how contoured is the body? I am asking because on some photos, it looks a bit towards the slab side but not on others, and I really need my edges to be round.  

7 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

am looking around the £500 range and actually seems quite difficult to find a decent short scale with a contoured body

Have you checked out the Sterling by Musicman shortie? It's edges seem as smooth and round as they get, reviewers love it, it's usually around £600. I am eyeballing one for a while now, primarily would love to go with a Chowny Retrovibe Evo (as they will become medium & short scale once made in the UK soon) but the body seems a bit more towards the slab side on pictures which is discouraging me, so this Sterling is my next choice. I am all in for contoureds.

Look up tendon / forearm stretching excercises. It makes a huge difference for me to properly stretch for 1-2 minutes before and after every practice session. I used to have serious recurring pain in my wrists every now and then, but no more.

14 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

My "amp-less" setup in written form (only including always on effects) :

4 string 28,6" scale Ibanez GSRM20 neck + GSRM20B body Mikro Bass (equipped with an EMG Geezer Butler P pickup, wired directly to the output jack socket, and strung with gauge .080 - .060 - .045 - .034 D'Addario XL nickle plated roundwound hex steel core strings, tuned in G standard tuning, 3 half steps above regular 4 string bass E standard tuning) ->>

Do you have any recordings of the above setup with no effects? Sounds very interesting. I'm a sucker for tiny basses but .080 with standard G, how is the sound compared to a piccolo (one octave higher tuning) sound?

Typical, only found this topic and the site-wide code after posting my very first Donner order. But in the end £56 is still a pretty good deal for a loop pedal, so no complaints  

For me, on certain frets (like 5th on D) I get short, audible overtones even if I fully, quickly, forcefully mute with my right hand, be it palm or picking finger. I was told flats or at least balancer rounds should solve this... will try at some point. Not into flats, I have a set of tapes I will need to try this with...

It's been quiet here. How are things with the UK manufacturing @Chownybass? Hope I can get myself a short (or maybe medium) Retrovibe EVO next year  

Is Adam Clayton sponsored by GHS?

Because he sure sounds like BOOMERS!

DAYYYYYUMMMMM high IQ bass burn 🔥🔥🔥

5 minutes ago, pete.young said:

£27 quid? Last time I bought a 5 string set (normal strings plus an extra .125) it was £49 quid. That was at least 2 years ago.

Well I have good news for you, now you can get them for only £11.99, it MUST be the real deal! (reported this one)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403263812809

One thing is sure, once my fake ones went dead, I'll go the Stringsdirect way. They sound pretty good for now.

4 hours ago, gjones said:

So who was the seller we should be beware of on Ebay?

I don't want to expose him as he provided a refund after seeing my photos and will take it to his supplier who recently changed. I did not see him sell any more Elixir strings now.

I realised I have one of those crappy "microscopes" you can attach to your phone... still no coating.

The core seems fully visible to me, not a sign of coating:

3 hours ago, ped said:

Here’s what you should see at the peg where the string first bends at 90 degrees into the post

Thanks, it does not like this, I don't see a thing at all  I'll do a macro shot once I get home to make sure but I'm thinking it's more and more possible I bought some fake ones without the proper nanocoat...

My accuracy, tempo and dynamics are all a lot more consistent when playing with a pick, as that's how I originally learned to play, donkey's years ago.

Yet today 90% of the time I play fingerstyle and loving it...  Just feels like I'll never get muting and raking right, even though muting comes so naturally with the pick I don't even pay attention to it.

4 hours ago, FinnDave said:

It's a fashion thing. I quite like the sound of flats on some basses, but I hate the feel of them, too slippery and smooth. I like to feel the rough round wounds, gives me something to grip.

Funny how different we all are, I love the feel of flats, but just hate the sound of them.

These days I just keep switching between rounds and tapes and I just keep going back and forth. There is something I like about both, so can't just stick to one  I really need a 2nd bass I guess.

@BassAdder27 there are a lot of great string comparison videos on youtube, listen to a lot of them as there's a huge difference between the various tension/brand flats too, and maybe you'll hear something you really want to try.

Ok, they're on, and they sound amazing, so that's a good start. Although visibly I still can't identify anything that would suggest this has a nanoweb coating, not even around the windings, so I guess only time will tell if the sound becomes dead or not.

On 12/11/2021 at 12:55, Chownybass said:

 

YOUR WISH IS COMING TRUE! The Evo will be short and medium scale in future.  

I just forgot to ask one important thing @Chownybass ... WHEN CAN WE GET IT? 😁

15 hours ago, atsampson said:

 

So if you like the drive effect but want less notch, another option is to turn Presence up all the way, then turn Treble down a little to compensate for the treble boost...

 

Thanks for the visualised measurements, this is awesome, and for the tips. How do you measure the frequencies like this?  I am yet to try the pedal with rounds, so far I have only used it to funk up the black tape sound, and loving the results. I guess these frequencies would look a bit different with tapes, since the amp simulator works from a different original sound? I'd love to see.

On 19/11/2021 at 21:10, ead said:

Haha fixed.  I was actually my (quite old) laptop that cased the effect when it was switched on.  Weird.

I had an issue recently where my Wifi mesh always added a low buzz to my combo (of course it took me some time to realise it's the Wifi node), and it actually got louder after I installed passive EMGs. I moved the mesh node a few centimeters and the issue is gone. Interference can be serious

So I tried the following stuff:

VOX - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NAUKJTY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&th=1

Almost a solid choice, BUT. It's not nearly loud enough (at least for some passive basses I guess), and there is a terribly, terribly loud HISS. The hiss is not coming from the bass, because the microamp does it even when it's not plugged in to a bass. Sound quality is pretty decent, your bass sounds like a bass... a lot of compromises here.

Sonicake bass - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B079FGN89H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ugh, sounds like rattling a plastic can inside a tin can. Very artificial, dull sound, and the deeps even end up being distorted. Would not give a penny for this sound.

Valeton RH-100 Rushead Max - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07W3K92ZM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Like the Sonicake, terrible plastic-y sound without a real body or any deeps. Sounds like a toy.

EHX Headphone Amp - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003UIBQEI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Now this one was a quality build, the volume was great, and there was enough bass too. But it does not have an AUX-IN for practicing, and compared to the Vox, it has basically no treble at all. If you're in the game for a very deep sound, this can be a pretty good choice. But I like my zing, so this was a no.

NUX MP2 Might Plug - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084JB519R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My choice! Sound quality is not exactly as great as the Vox or the EHX, but almost! And there is no hiss, there is enough volume, and there is enough treble. It actually has bluetooth aux-in which makes practicing very comfortable, it's got drum machines, and a lot of different amp simulators and effects. These were not really a factor for me as I rarely use any effects, and these sometimes (with some settings) sound a bit toy-like once again, but there are enough options to find a sound that works for your taste.

Hope I helped some of you.  

1 minute ago, ped said:

 

I've been playing them for as long as I can remember and I've never 'seen' the coating - maybe some pictures show the older polyweb coating which IIRC was thicker. £27 sounds like a decent price rather than a total scam bargain, but I suppose time might tell if they last a advertised...

Just now, ped said:

I'll take a pic of mine later - they came direct from Elixir so it'll be interesting to compare.

 

They changed the packaging to include the chrome sticker 'seal' to put off counterfeiters at some stage, and I thin fakes are more likely to be found in the old packaging:

 

 

Thanks for all this, glad to hear you can't see it either on yours either - and curious if your ball-end windings look a bit off too. I heard they improve the coating tech every few years, so yeah the extra layer might be just a lot less visible now. And I'll be looking out for the coating stretching at the peg when I'm re-stringing, good idea too!

I had an un-opened seal on the back of the box, but that's not very secure, I could still easily open the packaging on the top or the bottom without really damaging it, leaving the seal intact.

Just now, Mudpup said:

How much were they? If it looks too good to be true applies here…..

It was £27, some eBayer had like a single set, was not a "vendor" per se nor one of the suspiciously cheap ones, where some Chinese vendors are selling them for like £10 - I can't imagine those being real.

1 minute ago, ped said:

They look legit to me. How do they sound? I think they feel very slightly 'slicker' than uncoated rounds. I love them. How much of a bargain were they?

Thanks, good to see they seem legit. I don't know how do they sound yet, as I still got my black tapes on. But will definitely give it a go in the next few days when I'll have the time to properly re-string.

I only thought I should be seeing something with the naked eye as I've seen a few photos online like this, but I definitely can't see such a film neither with my naked eye nor with the crappy macro camera: 

Thanks Guys, here are some additional pics

I personally like a somewhat scooped sound. Does playing with the BLEND knob help? If you turn it down, it's supposed to soften the "effect" and bring back more of the mids of your original sound.

Could someone post a macro of their Elixir nanoweb strings, do you think I have been scammed?

I bought a set of cheap ones on eBay and might have been scammed. I do not see nor feel the nanoweb coating at all, although I'm not sure how visible would it be to the naked eye. I should be able to see it at least a little in the gaps between the rounds, no? I have only seen Elixirs years ago when their coating technology was very different. First photo comparing it to some regular strings, rest is just macros where I'm trying to catch a glimpse of the coat from various macro angles but without success.