thodrik

I have a B3K and a Billy Sheehan (original). I think that the best thing to do in the circumstances is to forget the marketing blurb, glowing reviews and Youtube videos and instead just try and get an opportunity to try the pedals. I must say that I don't really rate the EBS pedal that highly. Yes it the looping system is great but as said above the overdrive and clean is out of phase and you have to create a bit of a spaghetti junction pedal board situation to put it right. It might work for Billy Sheehan but it didn't really work for me. I currently use a the B3K alone with an old Sansamp bass driver to act as an EQ if I am using a passive Precision.It sounds fine on lower gain settings and the Darkglass blend options are some of the best I have used. If I think that the sound is a bit scooped I can add mids back in at my amp. If I am using an active bass, I don't feel that I need an additional EQ on top of the instrument EQ and amp EQ, I have seen loads of Darkglass videos with traditional Jazz basses or Precision basses. Yes the B*K stuff seems to be marketed towards the metal crowd, but it can do other sounds as well. I have the Duality pedal as well and absolutely love it. It is a completely over the top fuzz.

I have an Excess II in a finish I think was called 'urban grey'. I've had it since 2004. The pick ups are ridiculously powerful. Terrific bass and great for rock music and slap. I think the treble EQ point is set a bit too high for my tastes though as I think it is a bit glassy when boosted. I also have an Arpege IV five string and I think that there a couple of pics of it earlier in this thread. If I am being honest I don't really rate the phenowood neck as highly as the big slab of maple on the Excess. That is just personal preference though. The three band EQ for each pick up is pretty mad but a cool feature. My brother has an Excalibur guitar which is a very nice super strat type guitar. He describes it as almost too perfect and if pushed he prefers the quicks of his seventies Tele Custom.

I am generally in agreement with The Simpson when they make fun of the Grammys and don't even consider it an award. In terms of how Adele could win an award for best album for an album released in November 2015, I believe the deadline for releases each year is 30 September. This means that Lady Gaga can win it next year or her album released late last year.

That is a funky looking bridge! I'm interested to know what all the various knobs and switches do as well. Great buy! [quote name='ped' timestamp='1486929431' post='3235675'] This is winging its way to me from Spain. A member here was going to buy it so I helped them out with some info. They decided against it so I took over. It's a series 1, fretless five string. I've never seen one before. Hopefully Patrice V will be able to tell me when it was made as it pre-dates the serial number database. [url="https://ibb.co/nEQS8v"][/url] [/quote]

By The Way by RHCP for me. I just thought it was a sappy overproduced mess with a couple of good tunes (This is the Place and Don't Forget Me). Also, St Anger got a lot of favourable reviews from the rock and metal press as some kind of 'raw return to form'. I just thought it was rubbish from the outset.

I have tried a GP7 4x10 a few times and I think an GP12 SMX, but I can't remember. Both sounded fine but I really think with a 4x10 you are better off with a separate head and cab. You can buy a decent old school Trace Elliot head and 4x10 for pretty much the same price as a 4x10 combo.

I love Ozzy era Black Sabbath. For me any version of Black Sabbath that doesn't feature Ozzy, Iommi, Geezer and Bill Ward just isn't Black Sabbath. I'm glad though that the Ozzy, Geezer and Iommi were all well enough to have a final tour to say goodbye.

40-100 just now for standard tuning but usually 45-105. 50-120 for anything from D standard down to C standard on a four string. For five strings, generally 45-135. Not really fussy about going a gauge heavier or lighter though.

The Elf and 2x8 cab looks like a fun home practice set up. Not sure I would use that kind of set up at a gig. Too many 'absence of heft' fears. I hope that it does well and is a starting point for a relaunch of the bigger amp and cab configurations to follow.

It would be welcome news. I can't believe that it is nearly 11 years since the initial Peavey relaunch. I bought a couple of the cabs. Sold one but kept the big 1x15. Optimistic prediction: launch of micro amp to rival the top class D stuff on the market, relaunch of the V8 amp, Pessimistic prediction: relaunch of Trace Acoustic line and few Peavey practice combos and products that have just been given a new badge on the front. Worst of all, none of the products will be green.

Love my Trace Elliot V6, but wish it operated at 8 ohms rather than just 2 or 4 ohms.

Drop D is easy. Most folks will just use standard strings and drop the low E. A 105-45 set worked fine for me. I did try the Billy Sheehan Rotosound set which is 110-43. They were fine as well. You could buy a thicker E string but I never thought that it was worth the extra hassle or expense.

6 basses, 5 amps. Mesa M6, Mesa Walkabout 1x15 combo, Trace Elliot V6, EBS Fafner and Trace Elliot GP7 SM300 1x15 combo. Been trying to sell the Trace Elliot combo locally for a while now. V6 isn't being used because I currently only own a 1x15 8 ohm cab and it only works on 2-4 ohm loads. I will use it again once I get a new cab though. Rarely use the EBS as I think that the Mesa amps are far more suited to my personal preferences. I would probably sell the Fafner if I got a decent offer. I had a clear out of gear recently so I'm slowly weeding out the stuff I really don't use.

Accidentally posted twice through technical ineptitude.

I would think that a big 'smiley face' EQ setting on a classic Gibson era Trace Elliot amp through mismatched 2x12 and 1x15 cabs from different manufacturers would be Basschat laws to be broken. Adding a bit of dirt from a Boss DS1 with no blend option would also be a great way to further diversify and enhance the sound.

I have used 55-110 for standard tuning. It felt pretty unbalanced though, the E and A strings were fine but there was far too much tension on the 75 for the D and 55 for the G for my tastes. I think that you could use the D'addario balanced tension set of 120 -50 for standard tuning but you would really have to give your bass a proper set up and adjust the truss rod in order to do so. I think that a standard 105-45 set is absolutely fine for getting 'heft' at standard tuning. Light gauge strings are fine as well. Once you add in amps. EQ and set up preferences the gauge of strings are just a small part of the equation.

I'm guessing the price is down to the following: 1. it is a Fodera; 2. It is a signature model for Victor Wooten, much like Fender's take on the Jaco bass. The price is in line with other custom Foderas so I don't think that the relic job or the 1983 vintage has caused that much of an upcharge. I don't like it that much though to be honest!

My Hi-Fi speakers are Wharfdale. 15 years of use and no issues whatsoever. I didn't know that they made bass amps but I think that the Albion connection said above makes sense.

Pretty rubbish news but I always wondered if there was really any need for separate rock/prog and metal magazines by the same company. I always found there was so much crossover of stuff that separate magazines were not really necessary when a single prog/rock/metal magazine would have done well enough. Since there has been long term financial problems, I'm wondering why they didn't try to restructure things already. Hopefully administrators find someone willing to bail them out and restructure everything. Really crap time of year for it to happen as well.

[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1482249340' post='3198865'] Sounds just the job [/quote] I would agree. Though I have had a Metro for about seven years now and have only started using the 'vintage tone control' knob this week!

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1482056094' post='3197182'] Anyone else notice "Made in the USA" has been replaced with "Corona, CA"? I think the little USA flag sticker is also gone. It's a fairly big sign of the times I think, not just with California increasingly seeing itself as a separate entity from the rest of the USA, but also global attitudes towards the USA. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. [/quote] I dunno, maybe Fender are trying to market their stuff as being more boutique. As in 'should I buy a Sadowsky NYC or Fender CA?. I like the headstock though, very uncluttered looking As an aside I quite like the new series. I think that they are overpriced though, as in I would probably just go the extra and get the American Elite which I think are among the nicest looking new Fenders I have seen. Everything is getting more expensive now though, so I guess that £1500 for an American made, passive Fender bass is about the going rate. I would have liked a nice red finish as option though.

I went to see them at Hampden, in full consciousness of their nickname for their live performances being 'The Red Hot or Cold Chili Peppers'. That night they were cold, probably in more ways than one!

Stick a Rusty Box pedal or other big overdrive pedal in your chain and keep your existing set up as it should cover big growling rock tones. Or sell it all and buy a Matamp.

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1481974284' post='3196672'] I think for me the issue is purely down to the visual aesthetics. Longer scale, bigger body. I've got a JAXT4 which has a Thunderbird shaped body, albeit 20% bigger...you could easily(!) steal two or three inches at the bridge end, just by setting the bridge further back, which would only mean adding four to six inches to neck length. It's an interesting concept...sadly it would probably cost an arm and a leg. [/quote] With it being Mike Lull, absolutely! I wonder if Cort or Ibanez can build a cheap prototype...

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1481975251' post='3196683'] Interesting mark there. I wonder what the story is behind that? It looks like the path of a creature burying it's way through the wood. If makes me laugh when you get people making a fuss about the bass being, for example, 30 years old. They're totally blind to the fact that the tree nay have take 300 years to get to the point of being cut down. They then moan about a small mark they don't understand. Then you get others who only like it if it's covered in "sea foam green". What is sea foam anyway? Chemical pollution perhaps? Nice! [/quote] I have no idea. It does look like something had burrowed through the wood at some point. Someone at the Sadowsky Tokyo shop probably thought 'it might be ugly, but somebody will think it looks cool and buy it anyway.' I'm glad that they did! My personal favourite is when people pay extra to get an instrument 'reliced' to look like it has been marked to reflect years of use but suffers additional cosmetic damage from actually being used.