Sibob

I have one of these and they really are excellent!

Si

Great colour!

GLWTS.

Si

2 hours ago, Jakester said:

 

So, played them for a good few hours at rehearsal yesterday, and I'm warming to them. The slight stickiness went pretty quickly and once I was actually up and playing with others, they felt fine - as @Sibob says, like a well-played in roundwound. The sound was great, though - from sounding really toppy and bright at home, they fit really well into an ensemble context, with a really strong fundamental tone. 

 

I'll be sticking with them for now (not least because of the price!) but I'd say they managed to improve on rather mixed first impressions. 

 

 

That stickiness, according to IMA, is apparently some residue from the windings that has made its way onto  the strings, having been coiled in a pack. As you say, mine also lost the tackiness after a bit of playing in. Wasn’t present at all for my gig and I had a great time.

No bother at all.

Si

I have some on my Lakland 44-PJ. I mirror the experience of them really not being what I was expecting, as others have mentioned, way more 'roundwound' in feel than they're perhaps  marketed as. That said, for me, the texture wasn't really a make or break.....I mean as long as they don't shred your fingers right?! I would put them on par with a Nickel string, roundwound, but easy to play. My undertstanding is that IMA requested a little more left on the string than their Super Polished....so that makes sense.

Tension wise, I experience them more in the realms of the La Bella RX Nickels than their RX Steels, with the latter being a little too stiff for my liking. I wonder whether the polishing process takes a little stiffness out of the string, which is perfect for my preferences.

Sound wise I didn't experience them as zingy at all, I thought they were like nice played-in rounds, kinda like a slightly aged nickel (IME steels don't age as well as nickels).
So I gigged them and they were great, really enjoyable to play.

My main criteria was longevity, so we'll see where get to on that, IMA reckons he got a solid year out of one set, and he gigs WAY more than me....so I'm hopeful.

Watch this space.

Si 

30 minutes ago, MarkBuffaloStokes said:

Location may help!

Good spot, added.

Thanks

As-new Shergold Telstar shortscale bass in Champagne Gold finish.
 

Wonderful bass, plays and sounds fantastic, but with a couple of bills to pay, and a number of other excellent instruments, I need to downsize a little, last in, first out unfortunately.

Roasted maple neck on these too, which is a nice feature!

Comes with a very simple gig-bag/cover. It’s not suitable for shipping in, so collection or meet-up in/near High Wycombe, Bucks on this one.

£285

Trade wise, I’m after a Sire P5R 5 string, preferably in white. Probably with a few quid your way. 
Also looking for a Guild Starfire II in 'Natural' (the dark wood finish), with money your way of course.

Cheers

Si

10 hours ago, SimonK said:

...so what happened today???

Really great clinic IMO, they’re kinda the bass duo that I didn’t know I needed, polar opposites in some respects and that plays off against one another very well. They’re also very similar in many respects, so it was interesting to see that come out. 
 

I’m glad that it didn’t just turn into a HX Stomp ‘how to’, it was essentially one big Q&A from the start, and there were some great conversation and playing as a result. 

It was a little over 2 hours, but could quite easily have been longer….but a big band needed the room to sound check haha. 
 

10/10 would watch again!

Si

On 26/05/2025 at 15:33, kwmlondon said:

Sorry. I’m rubbish with names. I actually saw Martin Cathy play at the tribute concert to Bert Jansch. It was just one of those stories I heard mentioned once and I’m really glad that it wasn’t that Paul Simon who stole credit for someone else’s work. Thanks for sharing 

Carthy!

🤣

Sounds like this might go down a similar path to Tecamp/Eich (which has seemingly worked out well for Thomas).

I’ve only ever had one interaction with Phil, at NAMM a few years ago, and he was lovely. Hope he finds a positive way forward!

Si

Threads merged.

Si

3 minutes ago, Killerfridge said:

But we aren't taking about a capture here, but a traditional model such as you would get on an HXStomp or plugin i.e. it has all the expected controls of an SVT (bass, mid, mid selection, treble, ultra low switch, ultra high switch) except gain, and apparently has infinite headroom (within digital limits). It just seems like a bit of a weird design choice not being able to make the amps break up in any way beside digital clipping

Oh sorry, I misunderstood then. Yeah I’d expect a dynamic amp effect to break-up in the standard way. If it doesn’t, that is somewhat odd.

Si

On 20/05/2025 at 16:59, bassmayhem said:

The use of an overdrive in front of the amp block is what make it break up. I don't drive that too hard, just to get some hair on the tone. It sounds very good; not at all that harsh or "crackled" than many other modelers sound when raising the gain on the amp block. It makes it for me, anyhow. I sold the Quad Cortex, I sold the Helix, I sold the HX Stomp XL. This one sounds so much better to my ears. Not at all as competent as QC, but I prefer tone and simplicity.

 

I’m not sure I quite understand your first sentence?! In that case, you’re not making the amp break-up, you’re just introducing a drive circuit before it, which is then being amplified. 
The test would be putting a significant clean boost in front of the amp capture, and seeing if that drives it.

With no horse in the race, I too would not expect an amp capture to break-up, as it doesn’t have the information to do that in the same way a dynamic, controllable effect does, it’s just a snapshot of a single sound. I’d probably expect digital clipping (bad) before you achieved anything useable. But happy to be proven wrong of course.

Si

Yup, ex-Bass Worlder here, but no recollection as to how long that was for. Joined BC on 30th May 2007 it seems! 
 

Si

I’ve PM’d you @AJC08

Si

20 minutes ago, Obra said:

 

This is a pedalboard...some pedals connected one to another. 

I'm going crazy from digital processos being called pedalboards.

They’re called pedals because you operate them with your foot. All of the setups you have replied to are footswitch operated by the guitarist/bassist in order to achieve different tones. Colloquially, they are all pedals on boards, hence pedalboards.

Move on.

Si

I’ve used my Markbass LM2’s with a Barefaced Super Compact (plus a G2 Midget sometimes) for years now, my fave amp combo ever, and I’ve experimented with a whole bunch.

So if you have the budget, one of their Super Minis would definitely do the job (and then some).

https://barefacedaudio.com/products/super-midget

Si

I’ll stick with La Bella 760FL’s at half the price!

Si

I suspect there will be losses for some customers as their operating costs would have been partly funded by ticket sales….so will have been partly spent I expect.

This is what I mean, they’re not coming back from this, next year won’t happen, either because they won’t bother, or even less people will engage with it and it will be cancelled again. 
 

Which is a shame.

Si

50 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

 

The thick plottens!!

I’m in the ‘hair covering the headstock’ camp I’m afraid.

🤣

Si

I’m in the ‘jacket covering the headstock’ camp I’m afraid 🙂.

Si

In an alternative universe, I’d be having this…stunning!

Si

5 hours ago, Byo said:

Janek just posted the below on his YouTube channel.

 

They have managed to secure a venue in North London, in Dalston, on the 1st of June.

 

Tickets on sale, I bought mine just now and with the exchange from US to GBP it comes to around £35.

 

 

 

 

 

See you all there!

Si

41 minutes ago, dub_junkie said:

I have a Skyline hollowbody but with Bartolinis. It's a 2005 Korean build 

 

Very cool!

Si

4 hours ago, Terry M. said:

How would you define tonal aggressiveness? I ask because I used to have an L2000 and it was the most aggressive sounding bass I ever owned to date. I hear the Lakland LH3 system as anything but aggressive funnily enough. 

I mean, it’s just a combination of loudness, EQ and setup no? Boosted mids and highs, a healthy ‘clank’ to your setup and attack/play style, then just let your amp do the loudness if you need more.

The LH-3 is much less polite than the previous Bartolini setup they used. I actually prefer the Barts, but for ‘aggressive’, the LH-3 stuff is great. 

In any case, either bass will be awesome, I’m just saying don’t sleep on the 55-02, extremely versatile, quad-coil bridge pickup etc.

Si

@AJC08
Sometimes I think that people mistake loudness for tonal aggressiveness. MFD pickups are indeed loud! But the Lakland LH3 pickup/pre system is equal to them tonally I’d say. So with that said, perhaps you’re looking at the wrong Lakland?!

You‘re seemingly not bothered about having a FSO (Fender Shaped Object) bass, because of your G&L suggestion, so why not look at a Lakland 55-02 instead?! More expensive than the Tributes, but more versatile I think.

Si