LITTLEWING

I don't know if I've been lucky but I've fitted a few ports to small bass combos and had absolutely fantastic results which has made them sound like something a few hundred pounds more. Notably a cheapy (£20) Gumtree 40watt Stagg combo with two 8" speakers in, I cut out holes and added two three inch bass ports close to the corners and the bottom of the box, left the length as they came and the bottom end is bleedin' enormous. 

I imagine as cabs and drivers get bigger there's an element of design to get it sounding right though.

I'm totally paranoid when my bass is on, always holding the neck ALL the time. Once in a blue moon I might clap above my head to get the crowd going but I'm ready. Must get some strap locks sometime. Or bottles of Grolsch.

Has anyone upgraded their 4 string OLP Stingray pickup?  I'd love a Nordstrand but I'm looking at a Wilkinson at £20 first to see how much difference there will be. However, looking at the dimensions of other MM pups it appears that they are a bit larger than the OLP jobby and I don't see them fitting the existing cutout in the pickguard. I'm wondering if I'll buy one and get a replacement MM type pickguard possibly made for a 'proper' pickup?

Total waste of valuable studio time and money. The album SHOULD be good but it just isn't. Shame. It's like putting Slash and Shirley Bassey into Abba and expecting the album of the century - all good artists but not in the same room.

Just a quickie - got my eye on one of these for a bit more oomph against drums, two pop/punk guitarists and a brilliant girl singer. This one's 8 ohms and 400 watts and will be using a Hartke 350 watt head maybe with an Ashdown 1 X 15 or 2 X 10. Opinions please? Cheers in advance.

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1508760095' post='3394178']
Might be worth experimenting with different pot values - if it has 250s (which I'd guess it probably does), maybe swap for 500s, which will tend to let a little bit more level through. Plenty of info out there if you google 250k vs 500k pots.
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Careful, 500k's will also add possibly unloved harsh middly tones which means a new lot of amp fiddling.

Definitely a thing. EB's on my MM OLP sounded clangy and didn't do it for me. Put on a set of Elixir Nano's and it was like having a perfect steak in a restaurant.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1508314091' post='3391217']
Squier Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz.

I was playing in a band whose music was calling out for some fretless bass and to that end I'd bought a cheap Acrylic Bodied Wesley that had already been de-fretted for £70 off eBay to get me started. I'd seen nothing but positive reviews for the Squier both on the bass forums and in the musical instrument magazines, where the overall tone was that the VMJ fretless was just about the best fretless bass you could buy for under £500. One Saturday I spotted a Squier in a local music shop, and after half an hours playing I paid my £209 and went home with my new bass.

Unfortunately playing in a music shop for half an hour is not really a decent real-world test for any instrument. The first thing I noticed when I got it home was that it didn't hang comfortably on the strap, and I had to pull the whole bass over in order to reach the G string machine head - something I never had to do with my 36" scale Overwater. Next I discovered that in comparison with all my other basses including the cheap Wesley, the Squier sounded thin and weedy, and in rehearsal with my band I really had to pump the volume up when I used in order to be heard.

So I embarked on a round of upgrades. First came the Badass Bridge which made a slight improvement, followed by a J-Retro pre-amp, that allowed me to overdrive the input to my amp in all sorts of new and "interesting" ways, but still didn't make the bass sound as full or fat as my other basses. Finally a set of Bartolini pickups which were supposed to be darker sounding than the standard J-style models started to get me into the right ball park as regards sound, but by that time I'd get fed up with all the other short-comings of the bass like the huge (in comparison to my other basses) body and the awkward neck joint that seemed to be constantly in the way when I was playing up the neck, and the fact that for me it just didn't hang comfortably on the strap, and so I went back to playing the Wesley until I go the opportunity to buy a second hand Pedulla Buzz at a very attractive price.

I'm sure that there's nothing actually wrong with the Squier, but 3 decades of playing basses that owed very little to Leo Fender's designs - Burns Sonic, Overwater Original and Gus G3 - meant that I wasn't ready to step into the past and put up with design issues that even the Burns, originally made in 1960, had improved upon.
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Have to agree. I had a Squier VM Jazz 5 string. I tried to love it but everything about was just horrid and wrong for me. Waste of wood and wire.

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1508365216' post='3391788']
I have buggered heads on the pickups of my Sterling. Most annoying, I have tried umpteen methods of getting them moving and none have worked. Short of shelling out for some kind of Dremel, I'm.....screwed....
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Can you press the pup right down into the cavity to allow the screw head to be proud and grab-able and get pliers or small mole grips on and turn it bit by bit till it's moving freely enough to tweak out?

[quote name='casapete' timestamp='1508248929' post='3390822']
I can't help thinking the easiest solution would be trying to get the level of the guitars and drums down.
Having to mic up for a [i]rehearsal [/i]does sound like hard work to me, and if it's that loud you're going to need
some ear protection too.
Sorry to sound negative, it's just I've been there with a big loud band and it's not conducive to rehearse that
loud, and it's certainly not a lot of fun either.
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I can't agree more!!! Who the heck rehearses at stupid volumes? (I've been there too!) You don't benefit in any way whatsoever. Whoever's singing is going to struggle and as just mentioned, there's the ears 100% to protect. Just say no, kids!

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1508088310' post='3389672']
Return them and get some from our own Obbm.

Top quality cables, so I've heard
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I have two from OBBM and after four years they're still perfect and have never let me down.

Get a quality jack to speakon from a guy under the name OBBM on here. The best will never let you down.

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1508089198' post='3389677']I tried the cabs out in seller's houses before buying but as usual you can't really turn up the volume or hear it within the full band scenario. Fortunately I managed to move them on or in the 8 X 10 instance actually swapped it for the said 1 X 15 which came in much more useful. I, like most people, have always gone for 'name' gear because we foolishly think they're the latest Holy Grail. Right now I've actually got my eyes on a Harley Benton 1 X 15 cab for £129. It looks fantastic and has some good reviews. If it sounds good to me then that's the main thing.


Ouch! Definitely a wise warning to "try before you buy" when it comes to cabs (or any major piece of bass gear, I guess?). Out of interest how many of these cabs did you buy without having had a chance to first try out? Were you able to return any of them and get a refund?
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I've tried quite a few amp heads in my time and I've found it's not always the head that can sound rough. I had a good old workhorse Peavey 4 X 10 that filled most venues with an Ashdown Mag 300 head powering it. Then I saw on here a Hartke 2 X 15 cab going for a good price. Bought it but wasn't exactly filled with butterflies and bullets. Bought an Ashdown 8 X 10. I won't even go into that, just say that I could have farted louder and bassier. Bought a Hartke 350 watt head. Very nice with an Ashdown 1 X 15 and 2 X 10 stack. Took the head to a rehearsal room recently where they had a Peavey 4 X 10. Right then, stand back....half hour of tweaking every knob and slider simply could not stop the cab from sounding like a metal dustbin hurtling down concrete steps in a block of flats. Plugged it into a no name badge 4 x 12 in the same room and THERE was the sound. Stood there with a semi for the rest of the evening. Happy hunting .

The odd little riff in a toon adds colour and emphasis if done tastefully, other than that it's a bloody annoying noise you wish would stop, a bit like bagpipes.

5 and 6 string basses will die out next. Waste of wood and strings.

Looking at making my old style 100watt 1 X 15" Ampeg BA-115 combo a smidge louder when required. It copes reasonably well at smallish venues but slightly larger gigs it runs out of breath when nearly max'd out. Would a volume hike at the front end (say an Ampeg Classic Analogue pedal) push the amp/speaker towards eventual doom or would things be fine long term? I have a Hartke 350 head and two cabs but the combo is just so handy!

Ronson lighter fluid. Cleans brilliantly and evaporates quickly so won't soak in, then fine wire wool. Lightly do the frets too with wire wool including the fret ends and the edge of the fretboard. Lemon oil when all clean.

It's surprising how string volume differs when they're in different aspects to the pole pieces. Bend a note and listen to the change as it moves around over the pickup. It's possible that your neck is out of line and the strings are misaligned with the pups. Lay the guitar down and look at the relationship of the strings with each side of the fretboard. A simple slight loosen of the neck screws and a sharp pull will sort things out. Might just get the A string picking up better.

I take the bass down to about a quarter then turn the volume up until it's level with the band, get a comfy sound that's not too harsh or glassy then bring the bass up until it fits in the mix. Last of all play a number with the whole band and adjust the final volume to suit the mix and the ambience of the room we're in.

Zeppelin, Lenny Kravitz, Meatloaf, Neil Young, Joe Bonnamassa, Gregory Porter, Michael Buble.

Rather see the dentist.

The only worrying part is the heavy transformer which would normally sit nicely due to good old gravity will now possibly be wanting to fall sideways as things get warmed up and go pliable.

Just a thought.

Sadly true. I grew up through Steely Dan. Must be some gig going on up there.

I picked up a neglected old style Westfied for £20, upgraded the pups, bridge and electrics and it's one of my main giggers. Not too fussed if it gets injured, adds to the mojo.

Just a quick tip with Entwistles P bass pups - they're VERY deep and you'll possibly find they ground the bottom of the cavity and won't adjust enough height-wise. I had some and (sorry Mr Entwistle) actually wasn't blown away by the way they didn't sound like a Precision should. I put in a set of Wilkinsons and thought I had a Fender in my hands. Just sayin'......