Muzz

Well, it's all relative, but I'm a big fan of the Wizard Big P/J set - tons of output, so they might be a compromise between active and passive. Just a thought.

Sooooo, my 93 Fortress is still the go-to bass (even more now with the Wizards) (cheers Soulboy!), primarily for the neck. I'm looking round for a new squeeze but I'd really like the same neck/profile. It's 93 Fortress with the thin wenge neck, no volute. Which other past or current Warwicks used this neck/profile? Cheers, Muzz

^ Win. /thread.

I got a Mighty Mite from a US EBayer for about £70 a month or so ago...

[quote name='MikeBass' post='1337579' date='Aug 12 2011, 01:14 PM']hi Ed, it's a band. check out: [url="http://www.myspace.com/theworrybeadsmusic"]http://www.myspace.com/theworrybeadsmusic[/url] cheers, mike[/quote] Hi Mike, it's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it. Not even in undercoat. Love that P. Wonder where it went... The Worry Beads no longer - there's an established American outfit of the same name. We are now This Uneven Sky. Album coming out next month...I may mention it once or twice on here Edit: edited my sig now.

Moondance!

OK, so I've sold my Ray, and the Jazz is on the way out, and I've even got a small windfall coming shortly, so normally I'd be rubbing hands and trying to decide which of my top three wants I shoudl go for, but...I'm lacking any real enthusiasm for a replacement. I'm after a P/J-sounding quality instrument with a maple board and a Jazz-width neck, but I'm just not seeing anything I fancy. Been through the Bass Direct/Gallery stuff, and nowt's speaking to me. I'm enjoying the Fortress and the FrankenPs I have, but they're all compromised in one way or another, so it's not like I'm completely sorted. Very strange position to be in. Anyone else have a disturbing lack of GAS?

Can I bagsie this for my lad (he's six)? He's just finished his Super Mario, and he's only got one other game, so that'd be terrific...

I use the RH450 with a 1515L, and it's a very good match - the cab's more about low mid sensitivity than tons of deep bass - well, it would be, being the size and shape (and weight) it is. You can dial in quite a lot of bass, tho, and it works a treat for what I use it for - pick/Precision(ish) rock stuff. It's very very loud - more than enough for our drummer, who can hit 'em when he wants to. And that, IMHO, is all the power you need - once the drums start going through the PA, so do I. Mind you, with all this talk of 2.7 ohm loads, another 8ohm cab (the 1515L is 4ohm) is suddenly sounding very very tempting - anyone got any suggestions for filling out the bottom end? Would a Compact do this?

My RH450 and 1515L is everything I was after for some time, and it's been with me for more than a year now, which is a record. No rig GAS for me, despite trying quite a lot of stuff in the meantime (including the PF500 and a Drophead) tho I will admit to wondering what a Barefaced Super Twelve would sound like...

I had a LMIII for quite some time, but it wasn't valvey/gritty enough for me (I had a Sansamp which I was using all the time), so in the search for a simpler solution I tried the Tube and the Rocker - several times, until I was sure of what I was hearing. The Tube was very subtle - too subtle for me, and I felt it didn't warrant the cost to change, whereas the Rocker I thought was too fizzy, and didn't seem to have much variation of grit - it was pretty much off from 1-3, then full on from 3-10. IMHO and YMMV, etc, etc, but just my perceptions over a few A-B sessions. I guess it all depends on what you're after, at the end of the day. FWIW, I ended up with a RH450 (with plenty of TubeTone), and I'm keeping it, so that might give you an idea of where I was coming from, and what I was looking for.

Oh no! What will happen to everyone's tone?...

[quote name='nottswarwick' post='1327064' date='Aug 4 2011, 02:49 PM']FS section sees a fairly regular set of amps cropping up ( shuttles, streamliner, tc heads etc) but not quite as many markbass, ashdown Abm and others. Maybe this should tell me something.[/quote] Interestingly (and this is just a from a quick search), but as a single example, since the beginning of June there have been the same number of LM heads in the For Sale section as TC heads. I think it may be a perception thing rather than a reality thing.

If you like the LMIII and want a 4x10, I'd second the MB 410 - I had a rear-ported one, and it was a one-man carry - bulkier than it was heavy. I'd probably still have it, but our rehearsal studio was burgled, and the thieves clearly considered it light enough to nick. They left my Roland 115 behind, tho...

Yeah, I'd give him £4k on the stength of that photo. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FENDER-PRECISION-BASS-L-series-1963-/150640447396?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2312decfa4"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FENDER-PRECISION...=item2312decfa4[/url]

[quote name='dc2009' post='1325385' date='Aug 3 2011, 10:57 AM']I can only assume the upper horn is the silly length it is for weight balance and playability issues (probably about the exact location you want the strap button). I've heard the same comment before about my upper horn , so it's ok.[/quote] Know what you mean about the aesthetics - I love my Fortress, but that's [i]despite[/i] the looks, not because of them. Without wanting to descend into Carry On territory any more than we absolutely have to, if you think the Corvette's got a silly length upper horn, you should see my Fortress's. Fnaar.

Tried a couple, and I like the sounds but I didn't like the basses themselves. The build quality and general feel didn't seem to be on the same level as the electronics, which meant I've had some long-term low-level GAS to get hold of one, rip the innards out, and put them into a nicer-playing, nicer-looking bass. But not at the prices they go for at the mo...

They can certainly look nice... See my other posts about my very very similar sounding ash/maple/maple/corian P and my maple/wenge/wenge/brass Fortress...I can't be arsed typing it all out again...

None taken - I'll have a 34 and two 77s, please. Wow, what's the odds of those woods cancelling each other out? Ash/maple/maple/corian = wenge/maple/brass? Graphite's not really a test about wood, though, is it? It's analgous to saying "If you think Merlot and Shiraz taste similar, try Tizer, that's completely different." I think a completely different substance makes a difference, yes, as I'm sure a steel bass would (if you could pick it up), and yep, tonewoods will make a difference. Just not as much as most people would have you believe. I think a Status being an active bass with a particular EQ path has a massive effect, too: if anyone would care to nail a set of Wizards in a Status and rip the EQ out to prove a point, that'd be just keeno... The Warwick still looks like a Warwick Fortress (apart from the pickup poles), still plays like a Warwick Fortress, still feels like a Warwick Fortress. It no longer sounds like one.

That is just gorgeous.

I've just put the same pickups (a Wizard P/J set) in to two basses which really couldn't be more different in woods and construction - a P Bass with Ash body, maple neck, maple board, Corian nut and Schaller bridge, and a Warwick with a maple body, wenge neck and board, brass nut and two piece bridge. The huge similarity in tone between them has popped the bubble of whatever delusions I might have been entertaining about 'tonewoods'. Which is great news - in future, I'll be able to pick woods for their aesthetic values, without having to worry a jot about 'tone'.

Aaaand I'm back in the room. Well, I'd had a play with the PF, and then straight away moved onto the Drophead. PF vol/gain was on 3/4 (or 9/10pm if we're talking in those terms), but to get to a similar volume I had the Drophead vol/gain about halfway (midday) which surprised me. Maybe the cab's not very sensitive, maybe the gain has more of an effect on volume on the Drophead, I dunno. It did sound fantastic, tho. I'd love one.

OK, so I picked up a Fortress on here a while back, and after some initial hand-wringing about aesthetics, it's become the first thing I pick up to play, certainly at home. Had a shock at the first gig, tho, when I put down my Wizarded P-Bass bitsa, picked up the Fortress, and wondered where the volume went... A bit of pondering later, and I decided to put another set of Wizard P/J Big (Thumper and 84) pups in the Fortress. Win - best decision I've made in a while. It sounds just what I was after, very like the P. Which made me think: OK, there are some tonal differences between the two basses, but I'd say 10-15% at most, and certainly in a live environment this would decrease. One is a big Ash-bodied, maple necked, maple boarded bass, with a corian nut and Schaller bridge, and the other is a much smaller, maple-bodied, wenge-necked bass with a brass nut and a two-piece bridge. The only similarities are the pickups are the same, as is their position (near as dammit) in relation to the bridge. Even the pots are different - 3 on the PJ, 4 on the Warwick. Just goes to show what the biggest tonal influence on a bass is. I certainly won't sweat changing 'tonewoods' ever again...