crazycloud

My original reply was about there being no SRC6 in the tags list, being all drama queen about it in fun, then realising my mistake and deleting.

WRT logos, I'm the same. I hate products with the brand all over it like I'm a free billboard, unless I think that product is particularly awesome, which is very rare.

Looking forward to a few weeks from now when I get some time post move to set up mine again with the Kaliums I want (means drilling the bridge slightly) and fitting the EMGs, probably a J/DC set. I mainly fingerpick on it like a guitar and they're just such lovely little instruments and fun to play. There's a guitar teacher literally a few houses from my new place and I'm getting lessons to improve my playing on this; apart from some campfire strumming I haven't really improved my guitar skills since I was a teen and a decent player.

I have an SRC6 and use it to noodle on and to play with some friends who are basically acoustic. I think it complements better than more traditional basses.

PS: I bollocks up with my earlier comment. Reading on my phone means I miss things sometimes.

On 15/04/2022 at 02:43, Doctor J said:

active Alembic

Which Alembic pickups are active?

On 25/05/2022 at 18:28, lee650 said:

I'm sure I read many moons ago, that Mo Foster, had an ebony fingerboard from an old Double bass, grafted onto his Fender, gave it a much thicker board.

Then it would have had to have been shaved thinner and the radius adjusted to fit. Fenders have a standard neck pocket depth so adding to the total thickness of the neck would have meant something needed to be adjusted or the geometry of the bass would be off.

You really can't go wrong with any of the Ibanez SR series or the Yamaha RBXs, they're both good basses. Which one felt better in your hands? That's the important question. Either are gigable, both are well made and they will last a long time. Take Ed's advice and get new strings on either and learn how to set it up how you prefer. Plenty of good YT videos on this subject and it's good knowledge to have.

On 25/05/2022 at 02:36, JoeMischief said:

I had listened to the Hohner Jack Custom and the Ibanez RB850 played on YouTube and to me they both sound great.

I've had the Hohner and several other headless, and technically still own an RB850 as I lent it to a family member and they're great basses. Sounds like the person at the store you rang was a twit, or a similar word with a different vowel. 'Buy a Fender' is the lazy low IQ way of looking at the purchase question. Depending on her physical stature she might find them physically cumbersome, same with an Ibanez BTB, but the Ibanez SRs are the most comfortable full bodies basses I've ever played. SRs are far more consistent in the neck shape and body than many other brands, so if she likes one of these, a 10yo S/H one will feel more or less the same and you can get a higher model for the same $. I'm also a fan of the newer 3 and 4 series as I like the Powerspan pickups; I have a 4 and a 5 with them.

Just ensure the basses work fine, ie trussrod is OK etc if buying secondhand.

On 21/05/2022 at 23:30, BassAdder27 said:

I like it a lot but often wonder if the current American PBass which are at least twice the price would gain anything in sound ? 

No.

4 hours ago, Dood said:

It's this one.

Hi Dood,

What bass is that?

4 hours ago, lownote said:

So... I just bought an older Cort A6!

Congrats, I hope you like it.

4 hours ago, lownote said:

Bridge looks a bit awkward but we'll see how we go.

Is it the 2 piece bridge and tailpiece a la Warwick?

Any of the Soundgear 6s. They vary a lot in spec over the years and model tiers, but they all feel about the same.

The Cort A6s are nice but the electronics are a bit meh. Not horrible just nothing special. The older ones I've tried are fine.

On 19/05/2022 at 03:12, Baloney Balderdash said:

Still with 6 years actually in production it must still have generated some worthwhile sales statistics,

I wouldn't count on it. It was a Workshop line instrument and as such were made in limited runs, not continuous production according to the distributor here. From guys on the various forums, I only know of a few others apart from mine, and it won't be going anywhere soon. The probability is that it won't be reintroduced anytime soon, so you might have to start saving for a S/H one, or get a custom made.

Changing the PUs to proper EMG DCs makes a nice improvement.

On 20/05/2022 at 08:20, Random Guitarist said:

This may be a really dumb question but why don't more basses have thumb rests on them?

Why do any basses have them? I've never needed or wanted one.

Ditto for learning correct floating thumb.

Headless 6 string neckthrough Ibanez SR, with QTuners and my preamp. Not sure what woods, but they'd be pretty and understated and chosen for appearance as I think the whole tonewood thing is a crock.

That's my thinking today anyway.

If you knew what you were looking at, dropping the neck off and looking at the (usually) unfinished wood in the pocket would let you identify it. At this price point, it's not Mac Ebony. Go price some and you'll know why.

1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

I was reading the information, sent out by ICEPower recently, about their new 2000W modules and these points jumped out at me. To meet EMC/RFI requirements for even a medium sized MI company would be prohibitive.

If you look at the AVRs out there for HT, most are not designed by the company with the name on the front (until you get to the Trinnov end of things) for this reason in part. The other is the myriad licenses involved so small specialist companies design them then tweak for the specific manufacturer's specs.

1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

The  cost a new ICEPOwer module does not come close costs close to  a set of  atV alves/Tubes in a big Ampeg* head. Yet no one seems to worry about replacing valves regularly.

I agree. Same with a PC. Does anyone try to fix the average sub board in one, or just replace it out? Unless it's really special, no. This saddens me in some ways as I've designed and repaired a lot of gear and I hate it going into the recycle bin.

My HB 800B is going to be my small/medium rig amp for the foreseeable future, and I have a Warwick Gnome for the small coffee house rig, but as it's so small and light it's worth throwing it into the car as an emergency spare, something not practical or cost efficient with a lot of old SS heads, and certainly not tube ones.

If it was properly Wal like, you'd not be getting it for 3 more years...

Came out beautiful. Have lots of fun with it.

PS: I'd probably ditch the gold bridges too, but it's not like I couldn't live with it as is.

17 minutes ago, Joe Nation said:

How are baritones and Bass VIs tuned compared to ~25" guitars - an octave lower, two octaves?

Bass VI types are generally the same as a guitar EADGBE, an octave lower.

Baritones vary a bit more but the two most common I've encountered have been BEADF#B, or ADGCEA depending on scale, string gauge and what you're playing. But there are others.

On 18/03/2022 at 02:03, NoirBass said:

I really do think Fender are damned of they do and damned if they don't.

I agree and I don't think it will last long. So buy one on run out, put it in the closet and reap the huge rewards in 10y when people start wishing they were available again. I mean, look what happened to T40 prices, right?

25 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Ideally I would want a humbucker pickup in a Strat single coil format, either a true humbucker double bladed one, or just one with stacked coils that'll kill the hum, but that sounds as close as possible to the stock one.

 

I just have absolutely no idea how I am supposed to get one that does, unless in the unlikely case that someone else owning this Harley Benton went through that same process and succeeded to find such a pickup dial in with the right answer.

Guitar pickups work fine in basses, just avoid the really hot overwound types. Musiclily and Wilkinson have some twin blades wound around 8-10k that sound fine and are not expensive at all. Both on amazon and epay and Musiclily sell both direct.

Another not expensive but name brand would be a Wilde (Bill Lawrence) L45S.

I like the resin loaded burl tops. Looks great here.

Hope it's as awesome for you once you're playing it.

1 hour ago, Obrienp said:

I have had these thoughts myself. The same with tone/sound of the bass (and the same applies to guitars). We like the look and feel of the “classic” instruments because that is what we have grown up with: the sound of blues, Jazz, rock and roll, etc. The trailblazers played what they could get hold of/was available at the time and that has become the “classic” accepted tone and by extension, the instruments (amps, etc) that produced it. 

Agreed for the most part, but although I knew a lot of the history when I started, the instruments and players I looked to were using Spectors, Steinbergers, Ibanez Musicians and Alembics. Though I respect and admire say Jamerson, if he were starting in the 80s when I did, would he use the gear he did? I don't know, but maybe not.

Basses are different to me aesthetically compared to cars. Whilst I think a 68 Mustang looks cool (because Bullitt, and more because McQueen could actually drive) a 2020 Camry has better performance, braking and handling. The 68 would be a great weekender to pose around in, but the Camry would be taking me hundreds of thousands of km.

Because Leo made the first popular electric basses in the 50's doesn't mean we need to play them today or idolise them. I've never been told in 40y I need to pay a Fender or similar and especially live, tone is overrated. I have a day job so I don't depend on income from playing, so if a BL is going to be an asshat about it when I bring an SR370, they can find someone else as it's a modest looking bass. If the FOH guy wants me to use a P, then he should learn how to do his job better, not expect me to play a bass I find uncomfortable because he can't be bothered to dial it in.

PS: I have a family friend who's a well known bassist and played with some huge acts based out of LA and Nashville. He's always used his custom 4 that looks far more like an F Bass than a Fender.

30 minutes ago, mcnach said:

I have just got the JP-55OP, and I'm liking it more than the JJ.

Snipped for brevity only.

Excellent review and has given me quite a bit to think about. Thanks.

50 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

But without the P (body) and J (neck) it wouldn't be here...

Leo did some basic engineering and then some clever marketing. It's not like he invented life from inorganic compounds. There are only so many shapes you can make a bass that it's comfortable and playable, he just developed that off Tutmarc before him. The rest is nothing special, it was just the first to be popular. Somebody else would have come along and done similar sooner or later.

51 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

I also likes the Classics, and Classics with a twist, hence my Bitsas... Form n Function... Beetle & Trabant... Triumph Tiger Cub... Vespa...

Pass on all of them thanks, unless the Beetle, original not the hideous recent one, has been substantially modified. Cheap Japanese scooters are way better rides than Vespas.

I have a bunch of Ibanez basses, but most are packed for the move so no pics - the old ones are on the server which is in a crate.

I have an SR256, SR806, SR370 (to be sold as I don't play 4s much now), SRC6 and a BTB845v. I had a Blazer up until recently but sold it and have owned a whole lot of others including Musicians and several old Roadstars of the mid/late 80s. There's another likely incoming too but I'll post when I get it.

The SRs are by far my go to brand/model of bass and don't honestly understand the love for the classic Fender and other early bass designs which I find ergonomically unsatisfying and about as attractive as a Soviet era Trabant.

A MS in the form of an SRMS805/6 or an EHB might be in the future but I haven't tried one so it's an idea in my head, yet to be proven in my hands.

If an early BTB1826 with the 9pce neck fell into my hands at the right price, I wouldn't say no, though I don't need it.

12 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

Looks AMAZING!!!!

Hard pass thanks.