Muzz

I've never encountered anything with any neck instability that I've considered a product of the basic design: I think it would be down to build quality, mostly. My Dingwall 4's got a neck like a giraffe, in that it's a mile long and not overly bulky (and it's a bolt-on, too), but it's probably the most stable one I've ever encountered. Thunderbirds look like they should have necks like anglepoise lamps stability-wise, but I've rarely heard of stability issues. Snapping off at the headstock, yeah, but stability, no. As an aesthetic, they're an acquired taste, and one that is never gonna work for me, but it'd be a dreadful place if we all liked the same thing. You know, like the Ernie Ball Forum...

So, you can run the Shuttle into the Compact and BB2, the LMIII into the 2 x 1126s, and the Streamliner into the 2 x 112s: triple splitter, you've got three stacks and erm, triereo sound... :0) Aw, go on: it's Christmas...

Very interested in this one...

The S112s were my choice from the TKS lineup: it didn't work out that way for non-musical reasons (I ended up with a pair of Berg AE112s instead), but I'd gone through exactly your reasoning.

Yup, that was my understanding - it's absolutely no criticism of the BF cabs, I just think the Streamliner needs a 'voiced' cab. Well, for my tone goals, anyway...

I had exactly the Streamliner/Compact/BB2 setup, and I thought the cabs and the amp didn't sit very nicely together, which is probably more a Streamliner issue than anything else - it's a lovely warm tubey amp, but can get flubby unless tamed. The F1 I had played much nicer with all sorts of different cabs. FWIW, the best match I think I've heard (though I've been through so many it's getting hard to remember ) for the Streamliner was a Schroeder. If you're getting sounds you like from both setups, though, it's definitely a good problem to have.

[quote name='acidbass' timestamp='1449499928' post='2924082'] Love Jaco with Joni but can take or leave his solo stuff/Weather Report etc [/quote] Yep, this. Except I can actually leave it rather than take it...

Definitely, definitely play one (or more) first, not just for the ergonomics, but for the quality control: I bought a brand new one last year which went back the next day because it was frankly a bit rubbish. I'd never buy one blind without a cast-iron returns clause. As has been said, they're very Marmite basses. I love the look of them, but I just cannot get on with them, despite having owned a couple. Other folk love them, and yeah, if you find one you like, it's all good.

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1449243840' post='2921928'] I quite like the idea of running a combined cable for your guitar and and then plugging ear buds in. One question though, if you are only doing this just to hear some vocals would a pair of just cheap in ear headphones like you get with a mobile not suffice? [/quote] Depends what you mean by 'suffice', what sort of clarity and what the normal sound levels onstage are. You could always try them out by listening to an ipod through them during a rehearsal - it'd be confusing, but I suppose you'd get an idea of what isolation/clarity you could get...

Hey fella, well, I use a cheap-but-effective method: Behringer 1U headphone amp in rack, I take a feed from the desk into that and a feed from the amp (I can then combine these and mix myself higher or lower into the general mix), and after some unsuccessful wireless shenanigans I had OBBM make me a lead which combined the normal lead with a 3.5mm socket/jack, so I plug my in-ears into the socket at my end of the lead. You can obviously spend an awful lot more than the £100 or so I spent on this setup (secondhand headphone amp), but for me it works fine. I use ACS Pro custom moulds.

We're playing Barrow in Furness. Sweet Baby Jeebers and the Orphans... It might be fun, tho if it is, I suspect that'll be a first for Barrow...

In the main band I play with, we can go out as an acoustic-y three piece, an electric three-piece, or a four piece in which the frontman plays keys or guitar or neither, and we do an awful lot of the same songs in each format. It doesn't make much of a difference to what I play or how I sound, tho the band can sound very different. As long as you know the songs, just do what you do and it'll all fall into place.

Were they £460 in the States st the time?

I ranted about this at the time, but the Foo Fighters at Lancs Cricket Ground this year was dreadful: easily the worst gig sound I've ever endured. Cold and grey, too, and an audience of leathered numpties...left after about 45 minutes...

I'm a huge fan - I've had several secondhand, and have two now, and possibly another in the pipeline. For my 50th last year, I decided to get a custom bass built, and I talked to a lot of luthiers, but there was only one choice for me. Superb luthiery from, as Kiwi says above, a master craftsman. He's a great bloke to deal with, too. He also works out of the least industrial industrial estate I've ever seen in the High Peak...

Ouch. On the other hand, it's saved me from some serious GAS...

They're very idiosyncratic: the necks don't have truss rods, so they're very chunky, and they ship in a kind of half-finished way - not in a playing/setup sense, but the finishes are kinda rough, and they have an artisan feel to them. Having said that, the one I had was the most organic, responsive fretless I've played: it positively sang. They're nothing like a factory product, but then (other than this one) they're not in that cost ballpark. I'd still have mine if I wasn't such a hamfisted fretless player, and if I ever really wanted to go down the fretless route again, I'd look for another.

Yep, Andy sent me a set of LEDs recently - they (the originals) were all blown, and there was a dry joint in a related resistor: he sent me a circuit diagram which helped diagnose this, too. Top chap.

The Elixirs I put on 30 or so gigs ago are still nice and bright, and the coating's still good after battering with a pick (Dunlop Nylon 88) all that time. Just bought some XLong ones for the Dingwall... Dramatically better than any previous coated strings I've used. Not a lot of use for the thudders amongst us, but for the rest...excellent.

I have two sets - one I use with the attenuators for gigs (mine and others), the others I have monitors in, which I use for gigs where I use in-ear monitoring, and for home rehearsing, listening to music, etc. I can wear them for hours without discomfort, they're invaluable. I also use them in work when I'm in the data centres, they're fantastic for this, too. Oh, and under my helmet when I'm on a bike....

I've had very similar to these, and they were very good. Eventually I got some custom fit ACS Pros, and they're even better - I wear them to concerts and pub gigs, too. Proper attenuation, rather than just muffled reduction in SPL (which is what the foam ones do).

We had a dep who turned up to a wedding gig an hour and a half away without a kick pedal... Now THAT'S a bad drummer...