Muzz

Tried one a while ago at PMT, just a gorgeous valve tone, would love one, but waaaay too rich for my wallet. The EQ section is, IIRC, the same as in the 550 Spyder, which is a bit more practical from a form-factor and price point.

I had one recently (not the maple-necked one but I'm sure it's close) and it was very light (maybe 8lbs tops?) and ergonomically one of the best-designed and therefore comfortable basses I've ever picked up. The Barts and 3-band give it a real spread of sounds, and IIRC, they come strung with Elixirs, too. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Have to say I didn't get on with the PF500 much either, and I sooooo wanted to like it, for lots of reasons. I'm smack in the old school/vintage/Ampeg/valvey demographic, too. Well, maybe not so much I didn't get on with it, more that it made me go "Meh". Tried it with a couple of basses and different cabs, too, just to be sure. Best with a P, but even then... I'd still recommend it as something to be tried in competition with the other smaller heads, though: as has been said, horses, courses, and all that...

I replaced the pups in my Fortress with a Wizard P/J set, but that was because I was after a particular sound (older-school than the MECs), and I got it.

So you've never covered a Queen song then? Just because a gay bloke had a hit singing it doesn't make it bad. Listen to the Gloria Jones original, grit your teeth and get on with it...

OK, I've read a few responses to threads recently where people were saying along the lines of "The rest of the band prefer me to play my Fender/MM/whatever", or "My bandmates prefer the sound of my ...". Now it might just be my lot in the originals band, but I can't recall any point in the last four years where anyone's expressed a preference, and I must have practiced and gigged with at least a dozen different basses. The nearest I got was in the studio, where the singer insisted on the Ray rather than the PJ for a couple of tracks, which was encouraging, but then he ruined it later by not being able to tell which was which on playback ("I like the Ray sound on this one" "That's the P/J" "Oh, right.") The other bands I play with are dep-based covers/function bands, and there's a pretty large pool of players, so understandably folk don't remember. The only thing my bandmates prefer is the Schroeder, because it's easy to lift. Is it just me?

Loved this last night, great, great voice, and a really good band, especially the drummer. Will be checking them out more extensively when I get a mo.

As far as tone goes... maple looks nicer to me. Birdseye or some flame, even better.

Yep, they're monsters for passive - I love a series switch (I've had them wired in all my two-pickup bitsas) but the range available with those four settings is fantastic. The tone control seems to be so much more than just a passive cut, too. Not sure if Dood mentioned in the video, but they're super-light: mine (an ABZ4) weighs 7lbs 9oz on my digital scales, which makes a massive difference on a long gig/rehearsal. My bass GAS is pretty much done.

Wow +1 - I've never seen one of those either. Very interesting.

Was playing a 1024X in PMT Salford at the weekend, a very very nice bass, very simple and straightforward, but very well made. The 2024x is also very very nice indeed, but given that it's been more than a year since I played one of those, I couldn't give you a meaningful comparison. If they did a 1024x or 2024x with a maple board I'd be very interested, but I can't remember seeing any BB with a maple board, so I think that's unlikely.

Has anybody pointed out yet that it's not one speaker - the 10s produce the high notes and the 15s produce the low notes...

My Fenderbird, although it now has a Hipshot Supertone bridge, new wiring, pots and knobs, pull-serial switching and EMG pickups. Tell you what, I'll take a more recent photo, shall I? [sharedmedia=core:attachments:89623]

[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1334736806' post='1620325'] The tone is very versatile and very comfortable to play. I don't really care much about cosmetic design...I have owned a few Warwicks and they look like a stepped on piece of chewing gum! [/quote] Corvettes were ruined for me by a mate, who, when he first saw my Corvette, said of the top horn "That looks like a bit like a nob." A hard mental image to shake, and I never managed it. Sold the bass. I bought another couple over the years, because they're a great bass, but sold them, too. I think I'm mentally scarred. Love my 94 Fortress tho.

I put a set of 1/2" post Ultralights (and the Ultralight Xtender) on my Fenderbird, which had pretty bad (Thunderbird-standard) neck dive, and they fitted fine on the MM P-neck, which I believe is modern Fender standard. The difference is very apparent - the head of the bass feels lovely and light, the neck sits nicely in the hand, and the bass balances very well now, too. If I had the cash, I'd fit them to everything, they're just the way forward for tuners.

The Dingwall has such even string tension, plays so well, weighs nothing (7lbs 9oz), looks fantastic. The Warwick has the best neck of all, slim, fast fast fast wenge, the Wizard P/Js sound good. The B/B/M FrankenPJ with the Wizards sounds the business, looks fantastic. The Fenderbird is unique, it's just rock 'n roll.

Does your amp have a fan? Is it running? My initial thoughts are if it starts out OK and gets worse, it could be an overheating issue.

Wedding gig coming up, Maggie May requested, what a lark that bass line is. While I was faffing I picked up Suspicious Minds just for fun, then after another phone call from the singer it was straight into The Devil Went Down To Georgia. An odd Thursday night...probably an even odder wedding...

Wow, thanks for the heads-up, that's all gone straight on the recorder. Never seen the whole of that Skynyrd OGWT. Can't wait.

Yep, it's like a bassist's fantasy Trolley Dash location... Mark's a top man, knows how to listen to a customer and his suggestions are insightful. Not many places offer that.

I had a good long play of one in PMT recently (in fact, I've been back since and played it again, just to check), and I was pretty disappointed by it [i]for the money[/i]. It's as ergonomically ideal as the rest of the SRs (yep, that angled jack is a great idea), and that neck profile and feel is still one of the best I've ever played, but it's just not that much more than the SR500 I used to have, certainly not twice the instrument. The woods are nice, but I didn't think they were as nice in the flesh as they looked in the pics, and the build quality isn't noticably better than the cheaper SRs. The Nordys are very nice, but again, I didn't think they brought all that much more to the table than the Barts on the £500 SR500. I don't like gold hardware much, so that doesn't get any credit from me. Without knowing how much it was, I'd have said it was it was definitely an upgrade on the SR500, but maybe £200 more, not twice the price. What a miserable bugger I am. Actually, my reaction was really one of disappointment, as I really, really wanted to love these, and I was even considering buying one new. I'd have one secondhand (for about the same price as a new SR), but I wouldn't part with almost a grand for one.