Kongo

[quote name='geoffbyrne' post='495981' date='May 23 2009, 12:28 PM']Just want to award 100% props to Kongo. I was looking for a pup to put in my rubbish beater parts bass and he donated - yes, donated - a MIM P pup. Amazing. Thanks Man. Geoff[/quote] Anything to help a Bass project...Especially a P-bass one.

[quote name='Huge Hands' post='494500' date='May 21 2009, 05:34 PM']I love the cricket bat sized neck (suits my big hands) and the look. I don't think a lot of people get on with the necks though - hence why they can be found cheap.[/quote] What is this I hear about Warwick necks being huge? Beofre I came here the ones I played, Corvette and Streamer, I never noticed the neck to be huge. Very playable...TBH I don't think I even think neck any more, it seems more of a modern obsession to think about neck size IMO. I'd love a Warwick but I never noticed the necks being chunky I just liked them...how odd!

Even for recording, consider the Squier. Most things are coloured in the studio anyways...If you can't see the Squier it could be anything. But I'd personally be proud to get a decent sound out of a Squier, which is easy these days.

[quote name='stevieb85' post='495929' date='May 23 2009, 11:35 AM']tbh the guys in the band know their stuff and know what i like better than i do lol[/quote] KNow thier stuff as in "This band uses a Stingray and we want that sound" but hopw do they know your fingers and flesh? You could buy a Stingray and it sound nothing like it should. Plus you might not even like it or be able to play it properly. I still say decide yourself. I know my guitars as much as basses but I'd never tell a guitarist to get this just because I said so.

These guys are where you go when you pass the ATM course...which is now dead as RockSchool took over and cocked it up, replacing experienced "been there done that" musicians with suits and ties. It's a great place and a great course but I learned more in college...the musicians were more seasoned. I would highly recommend it though.

[quote name='stevieb85' post='495794' date='May 23 2009, 08:51 AM']are they really as good as everyone says?? im currently in the market for an aerodyne but the guitarist and drummer in my band demand i get a stingray, and the nearest music shop to me where i can try one out is about a 5 hour drive away... so guys im looking to you for your opinion. im not sure what model to go for, i just know i wont end up goin for the lower range like the Subs[/quote] Dude that ain't right...no band should EVER demand you get a specific bass. What do they know about it that it's good for you / the band? Most guitarists are dumb when it comes to bass as they forget we don't cover our sound with distortion so I'd be interested in how he knows a Stingray is right. Get a bass you like. Plus, if you wana real 'Ray, prepare to pay over £1000 and that's for ONE pickup!

[quote name='phatmonkey' post='495702' date='May 23 2009, 01:05 AM']Changed it to 1 minute. Is PM spam actually a problem? I've never received any, and I'm member number 1![/quote] Not had any PM spam but that 1 minute is more reasonable, thanks.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='495700' date='May 23 2009, 01:01 AM']Agreed that the Indie copy is a half-arsed piece of crap, but the Aria (built by Matsumoku) neck-through copies are stunning - near indistinguishable from the real thing, and the reason that they are as rare as they are is because most of them have spent the last 30 years being passed off as genuine Rickenbackers. J.[/quote] Well put.

[quote name='Lew-Bass' post='495695' date='May 23 2009, 12:52 AM'] thanks for the advice mate; I was actually looking for 4 string J-basses! I have to say it does look great though, and with the contour below the neck for slap it looks like a much more expensive instrument IMO A little off target but I am really having trouble; are there any websites that are actually good for lefties and don't just stock one or two generic LH basses in? And are there, extremely unlikely, a luthier or parts site that would end up amounting to £500 for a bass? Thanks again[/quote] There's some here: [url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/lefties/bass"]http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/lefties/bass[/url] I use these guys alot of my strings and misc. Other than that Rockbass have left handed versions of the Corvette and Streamer. 6-string lefties are rarer though. If you want 6-string then go for it but if it wasn't what you wanted then look elsewhere as they ain't hard to play IMO, they are a completely different kettle of fish.

I'm really liking these Markbass heads! The cabs suck IMO but the heads I LOVE! I wanna try the other MB heads too to see what they are all like but for 4 months I've been using a Markbass SD800 and it KICKS ASS!!! Seemingly infinite headroom even above 60% is good to me and you can go from a flat sound to an ultimatly or little coloured sound when you turn the dials. I like the VPL and VLE dials too.

[quote name='pete.young' post='495598' date='May 22 2009, 10:10 PM']And to balance up the last piece of crap, a definite not-piece-of-crap. In it's day , this must have been a very desirable bass. Still is. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-PRO-II-RSB-Deluxe-5-string-fretless-Electric-bass_W0QQitemZ280348942409QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item4146196049&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A1|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A7|294%3A50"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aria-PRO-II-RSB-Delu...93%3A7|294%3A50[/url][/quote] Indeed. Have a bit of a following.

[quote name='Lew-Bass' post='495676' date='May 23 2009, 12:10 AM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Left-Hand-Shine-6-String-Active-Bass-Guitar-Honey-Natrl_W0QQitemZ390053747344QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item5ad103da90&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1688|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A2|294%3A50"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Left-Hand-Shine-6-St...93%3A2|294%3A50[/url] Looks gorgeous, active (although obviously electronics etc. won't be great), would it be worth buying with scope to upgrading the p'ups, bridge, pre-amp etc in the future or would it be better just paying more for a bass to begin with and avoid all the upgrading?[/quote] I've not tried Shine basses so I can't say. It's a decent price though, if it feels right for you why not mod it? As for other basses it depends on what you like. Seems only Ibanez and ESP LTD do decent entry level 6-ers and I cannot recommend an Ibanez BTB enough but they aint as cheap as this nor do they come in left handed. If you want to go for it, go for it. It's a leftie and I don't see many left handed 6-ers so...you can't loose!

The difference between Squier and MIM Fender now is almost none...Other than hardware. The build and feel are the same to me. I Love my Squier Jazz and don't feel the need for a Fender. I can change what I don't like and keep the Squier name on the headstock.

Got 3 deals going on, some selling and buying and this keeps tripping me up. Guess it's for spambots though.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='494877' date='May 22 2009, 08:51 AM']Yeah, i cant see me ever more than 500watts but it would be nice for the headroom. As i said there was a thread about this head (SD1200) a while ago and Alex C. more or less said it wasn't going to sound as loud as the specs indicate but i was thinking it would be nice for the extra headroom alone. Funny enough i was rehearsing last week and at first used an Ampeg combo and i hated it. It seemed like it was all low end. I must admit i didnt spend too long with tweaking it but after I switched to using my SA450 with the cab and it was much better. Guess i just like/used to the MB sound. From what ive read some of the bigger MB cabs work well but more in a gig environment rather soloed or in a rehearsal. They say the same about the Schroeder cabs and i ll agree with tht so maybe it is the same with the MB ones.[/quote] Alex is right. Wattage alone doesn't make for a big volume difference. A guy told me this on another bass forum, he also builds amps: [i]Dont forget this: Doubling your wattage only increases your sound level by 3 db. So, into an 85 spl speaker: 1 watt = 85 db 2 = 88 4 = 91 8 = 94 16 = 97 32 = 100 64 = 103 128 = 106 256 = 109 512 = 112 1024 watts = 115db[/i] So we see that Wattage doesn;t increase volume. It is for headroom. I'm still confused a bit about it but that's the way I read it. Man I HATE ampeg combo's! They are closed cabs with weedy wattage, I've had to use one a few times in rehearsal...just farts out about half way. When I put the SD800 with ANY cab the sound seems to be the same. Well any 4x10 anyways, obviously an 18" wouldn't sound the same. Through one cab it's 450 watts so for folks like me that can't fit another cab into their house / transport it gives alot of headroom with one cab alone. It says it's 800 watt but some specs say @ 4ohms it's 750watts...either way that's still some SERIOUS power! And from having 4 months experience with it...it's flawless in headroom! Also, I dunno if this is just my ears but it can keep up with me too. Every note of a really fast lick comes out better than others...It seems faster, if heads can be fast? I'd say it's myself but if I use any other head, including my current Laney which I use at home for now, it's not so fast at replicating notes. I too don't see a reason for the SD1200 personally but for guys playing in big outdoor gigs who like thier amp to do alot of work on stage for monitoring might well like it. I've done some thinking and although I was gonna get a Trace head, I might save up for a MB SD800...I've used one for so long and got great tone, infinite headroom and absolutely NO tonal breakup...I'd be a fool to try doing the same with another head. I prefere TE for cabs anyways, I don't use the Pre-shape. Though I love the EQ on TE heads I already know my settings and sound with an SD800. That said, the MB SD800 has it's own Pre-Shaping wth the VPF setting...having a look it seems I do use it on this...guess that's cause I can choose what it does, Plus I can use the ears and put it in a case like at the studio and still have no weight to worry about. So no damage either, and room for my rack compressor too! It's not cheap though, £1200 avg. online but worth it...I'll only buy one...Ever! EDIT: Decided to go for it...I'll have to save a few months (if I still have my job) but when I get the dosh it's well worth it. Will look for secondhand too, if anyone ever sells these...You'd be pretty foolish to! It's the exact sound, note replication and headroom a bassist like me needs! Modern head with a Modern sounding cab...Yep, I'm certainly cutting through the mix! Can't wait to test it with my new TE 4x10 Cab next week. Then I'll defo know what it'll be like and if it works, which it will, I will get one 100%. Markbass SD800 = the hand of Midas for bass!

[quote name='johnnylager' post='495600' date='May 22 2009, 10:12 PM']Shirts, Platfoam - what next?[/quote] Collectable figurines! Well...cabs...

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='494492' date='May 21 2009, 05:27 PM']LOL, that pic was just my normal rig (with this band) with my LMII on top. i didn't have them both plugged in. I just wanted to compare them at a gig. The SD1200 is mono so yes, 1200watts in to 4ohms. Your SD800 is the same as my SA450 other than the power stage. I mainly keep the EQ flat other than a slight boost at 100hz (low mid, all the way to the left) and usually just play with the filters and this seems to work for me no matter what cab i use. I also dont really like the MB cabs. I had a 151P traveller and hated it. Ive tried a few of the bigger cabs in shops but felt they sounded flat. I love my Schroeder cabs. These cabs are loud and 4ohms so i really only need one to go with each head (one rig per band) and im good to go.[/quote] OMG! What the HELL can take that? It's gotta cost £2500 surely! Yeah I do like them filters too...note sure if what I did with them cancelled out or boosted things I may or may not have wanted but...an art not a science what I did let to the awesome tone I got from it! Had to use an Ampeg head today though...through a 8x10 and just got a wall of sub! Uh-oh... Glad I'm not the only one who thinks the cabs are crap...so it wasn;t me. I cut the bass when I uysed one cause they looked like they were about to launch out...The bass was flat until I cut it! Are they sure they are "Bass" cabs not guitar? [quote name='far0n' post='494503' date='May 21 2009, 05:37 PM']Got an SA450 myself and the only thing I'd swap it for is an SD800 or 1200. I know what you mean about the markbass cabs though, I thought mine were rubbish, no top end on them at all and if you like a bit of 'zing' forget it. Currently using a couple of Eden D210XLTs and it's never sounded better.[/quote] The SD800 is kick ass once you get used to it and dial in the perfect tone...As I said, seems to have INFINITE headroom! But even with one cab it's pumping 450watts out...that's more than enough! I didn't get as great a tone when plugged into the cabs though. The 4x10 or the 4x10 with the 1x15...Well I did get a nice enough sound with 2 cabs and a nice amount of volume but...Hmmm they look better then they sound. I sometimes wonder what running one of these though a Trace Elliot cab would be like but I cannot afford to buy the SD800...I'm lucky I (almost) always get dibs on it cause the guys know how much I like it. I was the first to try it at the studio and after giving a rave review I guess they give it me to keep me quiet LOL! Still...a Trace head does completely different things than the Markbass, no pre-shape for example. I may look into getting one for myself one day though...maybe a second hand one will come up! EDIT: OMG!!! That SD1200 puts out 750watts @ 8 ohms! BLOODY HELL!!! Still...recently I have really felt what "headroom" really is...The SD800 is so clear loud as it is quiet...This must be even CLEARER!!!

[quote name='geoffbyrne' post='494773' date='May 21 2009, 11:22 PM']Joe Barden DiMarzio Model J DiMarzio Ultrajazz G.[/quote] These are passive pups. Great ones though. It depends on what tone you want. Personally I'd steer for the EMG's maybe...they are a little overused...but then they must be great! At the same time I avoid Bartolini...Just IMO but they are too polite for me...But again what's the aplication? For the overall pick of the lot I think Nordstrand are to go for! I've been looking for an aplication to get me some but MAN! Nordy's sound sweet!

I love D'addario for the tention, life and tonal consistancy. I play Pro Steels and Nickel Plated and have a .55 G. The trick is to getting your fingers stronger. You can bend a full tone easily after a while, just let your other fingers help...these ain;t no gauge .9's y'know.