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RichT

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  1. RichT started following ON HOLD PENDING MM Short Scale Stingray with East 3-band pre - *SOLD* , CIJ Fender Mustang plus case £845 , Wich of the currently available Hofner violin basses has the thinnest, narrowest neck? Ignition? Contemporary? and 1 other
  2. RichT
    Ooh that's special! 😍 Do you know the weight on it? Thanks
  3. RichT
    Just for clarification, I thought the Icon series and Ignition series are the same thing, Ignition just being the newer name for the Icon. Having had both an Ignition Club and a contemporary HCT Club, unless you specifically need it to be fully hollow then everything about the HCT is better - better quality finish, better pickups, better tuners & hardware, even a better quality pickguard. The HCT is simply a class above the Ignition build-wise. On paper the HCT neck spec is thicker, but in the hand my perception is that the carve feels much more refined, and despite the numbers it somehow feels slimmer and more tapered. I was actually really surprised to discover that the HCT had the thicker neck, it certainly didn't feel like it. Obviously one of those things where numbers aren't the whole story and you have to try it for yourself.
  4. RichT
    Just a heads up if anyone's interested - I was mulling over whether I should try some flats on my (ever so lovely) EBMM short scale Stingray just to see how it would sound, when I discovered that Ernie Ball will soon be launching short scale Cobalt flats, and Amazon currently have them on pre-order for about £33. Looks to be a very decent price - at least when compared to what long scale Cobalts usually go for (and the inevitable short-scale premium that will no doubt get added on top). There are two sets of gauges, 45-105 and 50-110, both about the same price. They sound great on this much-too-short demo:
  5. RichT
    Visited Mike yesterday to buy an EBMM short scale Stingray bass. Wonderful experience all round, great communication, and wouldn't hesitate to have further dealings again in future. Mr & Mrs Scrumpy couldn't have been more generous with their hospitality (and cake!) and talked me into attending the South-West Bass Bash later this year, so will be seeing them again soon.
  6. RichT
    Thanks! Definitely would like to take this gorgeous bass off your hands, have sent a follow up DM.
  7. RichT
    DM incoming...
  8. RichT
    So I thought I ought to report back after a week of ownership... and wow, what an instrument! The Vox A1H beats any bass I've owned in terms of build quality, it feels solid and made with precision and attention to detail. I think mine may be one of the heavier examples at about 6lb 14oz, but anything under 7lb is fine by me. Ergonomics of the surrounds are great and well thought through so while you're playing it, either sitting or standing, you're completely unaware there's anything unusual about the design. Neck & frets are beautifully finished, and the sound... oh the sound is exactly what I was after. I've never played an American Stingray, but the Vox has the ability to convincingly emulate all those Ray-featuring classic records I love, so I'm happy. What I'm most impressed by is just how easy it is to play. Whereas I've found I sometimes need to coax my EHB1505 into what I want it to do and have to play carefully to achieve the desired results, this thing just wants to make all the right sounds without me even really trying. I think there's something special about the Aguilar pickup and pre-amp in the Vox, it seems to respond to right hand positioning and how hard I play completely intuitively. The Starstream comes across as less odd and more functional in real life than in photos. The matt finish on the surrounds makes them feel like wood and it kind of has the impression of a natural evolution of something like my Hohner stick bass. And for something featuring so much physical space it really sounds very solid-body, much more so than the chambered EHB does. scrumpymike was entirely correct, at the price these are available they're an absolute steal, can't recommend them enough.
  9. RichT
    Ok that's convinced me. I like the red/ebony A1H version that Dan's playing in the video, and upon investigating, it turned out there was literally one red A1H left - a refurbished unit for £718. Can't dither in those circumstances. Slept on it and then put the order in first thing this morning. Vox have a 30 day free returns policy so nothing to lose.
  10. RichT
    That's all fantastically useful information thank you. I do like different, my only bass for an awful long time was my Hohner B2A stick (well after/before they were cool 😉), and after being fascinated by the oddness of Ibanez EHB's since they launched I finally but the bullet and bought at 1505 a few months ago. It's the first 5 string I've ever bonded with and felt comfortable playing, now I wonder what took me so long. I've currently got the same fascination with the strangeness of the Starstream, and knowing it ticks all the boxes of being an affordable lightweight short scale that offers the 'Ray-esque sound, I may succumb sooner rather than later.
  11. RichT
    That is exactly what it feels like. At the price point I was expecting a step up from the SUB level, but seems that's essentially what they are. Yeah this was in PMT Bristol, being the only place I'd been for months with one in stock. They'd probably have price matched if I'd asked as they're £699 most places online. I'd happily pay it if the quality was there but sadly it was way off the mark on this one. I went in expecting to love it to bits and was really quite surprised at what I found.
  12. RichT
    In light of my experience with the Sterling SS described in my previous post, I've been looking at the Vox Starstream 1H again, with the Artist version being available for a similar price to the Sterling. How exactly does the non-Artist version differ? I guess it doesn't have the Aguilar and Gotoh hardware, but what's the setup with it? Is it all passive with just a straightforward volume & tone? How are the ergonomics and how have you found it compares sound wise (I guess I'm asking with regard to 'Rays more than anything else)? Do you feel like you'd prefer the option of it being active? Part of wanting the SS Sterling was the appeal of a passive Stingray. I'm in love with Paul Denman's dark mellow 'Ray tone on the early Sade records, I'd love a lightweight SS bass that can sound like that!
  13. RichT
    I finally got to try a SS Sterling Ray last weekend, one of the new black/maple ones. After all the glowing reviews and demos online, I was pretty shocked at the lacklustre build quality. Sure it played and sounded pretty good, but it felt... cheap. The knobs in particular were shockingly flimsy, loose and wobbling everywhere. The pickup selector felt kind of 'spongy' with a huge amount of mushy play between the clicks, felt like it was about to break in my hands. The neck too was no more than functional. It reminded me most of the neck on my son's Squier Affinity Jazzmaster HH - completely unfinished and not in a good way, like some kind of cheap uncompleted neck blank with no finesse about it and a hard corner on to the fretboard. I'm biased against maple boards anyway so I'll let that bit go, but compared to this the neck profile on my Gretsch G2220 is a work of art. Despite that, it sounded good and actually felt fine and easy to play with a comfortable body, and the weight felt less than I'd feared, but there is no way on earth I'd part with £749 for the specimen I tested. I noted afterwards that these are a lot less in the US, currently $599, equivalent to £520. I think they launched more equivalent to around the £450 mark. We're being completely gouged on these over here. I honestly don't think they'd have been initially reviewed half so well if the Americans were getting them at our current equivalent of $800-$860, they're just not worth it. I think I'll be keeping my eye out for a well priced 2nd hand rosewood one.
  14. RichT
    After thinking very hard about what you wrote above, spending literally days listening to demos to the point of distraction, briefly going back and forth over my other GAS distractions of SS 'Rays & Mustangs before remembering my ultimate goal of low weight... the ultimate deciding factor came down to the fact that I just couldn't get past the green finish on the EHB1005SMS. Yeah I know Call me shallow but I like my basses and guitars to look like they're made of wood, and as much as I'd probably prefer short scale to play, the solid metallic emerald green just wasn't doing it for me. So tonight I've made a decision and ordered the EHB1505 Dragon Eye burst with the Nords. PMT currently have it on sale for under £1000, and at only £65 more than the shorty it seemed way too good an opportunity to pass up. Thank you everyone who has offered advice and input to my recent questions, it's been very much appreciated even if I didn't ultimately end up buying SS this time. But it's an EHB so will no doubt be light, and as it's the parallel fret 34" version it'll still be easier to get around than the 35.5" SRMS805 was. And I love bursts. Delivery on Thursday. Fingers crossed...
  15. RichT
    See, now look what you've gone and done! Today all I can think about is Mustangs. I'd love a sunburst American Performer Mustang... (un)luckily they seem to be pretty much impossible to find at the moment.
  16. RichT
    By contrast I'm not a traditional Fender man, never owned a Fender bass or FSO. My main bass right up until about 2019 was my beloved headless Hohner B2A. Only when the electronics got too unreliable did I start buying new basses for the first time this century (and begin making up for lost time!) at which point I started with some Ibanez models, so in my case Ibanez + headless is an attraction for me I've seen several people complain about those luminous side fretmarkers. I don't need them to be luminous, but I do need the markers to be visible under normal lighting. I've seen some people say they don't even do that too well - is this because they camouflage into the bird's eye maple neck? Is this maybe less of an issue on the plain darker necks of the 1505 series? The front fretboard dots don't bother me, I never look at them, but side markers are essential. I've also seen a few people comment unfavourably on the locking jack, but also that there seems to be a particular technique to it. Hopefully that would just be persevering to get the hang of it. Thank you, excellent feedback.
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