ikay

+1 for TRB Mk 1. Had my TRB5 for over 10 years now, lovely bass, a regular gigging companion and one I keep returning to. I bought it used and had the chance to play it back to back with a Mk II which just felt nowhere near as good to me. Don't know what it is but there's something about the early TRBs that's a bit special. [attachment=107839:P1020722.jpg]

Looks like a Yamaha SB5A "Samurai" bass. One popped up on ebay last month http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-1968-Yamaha-SB5A-Samurai-Bass-Guitar-60s-surf-tone-fender-jazz-/320878730004

[quote name='Mr Bassman' timestamp='1336723958' post='1649900'] Looks [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-4-electric-double-bass-noblest-great-Black-/270751438184?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0a0b1568#ht_7677wt_1180"]Chinese[/url] to me [/quote] My goodness Mr Bassman, I think you've hit the jackpot!

Hi Clarky, I wondered whether it was an Aria but the chap seems convinced it's a Yamaha. Also the headstock and machines are very different to the Aria, the gears look more like a traditional URB. All very mysterious

Now posted on the Upright/EUB forum - apologies for duplicating

Can anyone tell me what this is? Listed on Gumtree as a Yamaha but no model name or other details. All the seller can tell me is that it's a solid body with a pickup under the bridge and a 3mm jack socket (bit odd) and vol/tone on the back. Scale length is 40.75 inches. [attachment=107586:Yamaha upright 2.jpg] [attachment=107587:Yamaha upright 3.jpg]

Some John East preamps have concentric pots with a split upper shaft. May be worth having a chat with John to see if he can point you in the direction of a supplier. (http://www.east-uk.com/)

Lam necks are the equivalent of go faster stripes IMO. Having said that, I do love my ACG

how about this one for sale on BC - http://basschat.co.uk/topic/175644-soundcraft-spirit-folio-notepad-mixer/

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1336634503' post='1648548'] Look at the small Behringer units. Their range runs from 4 x inputs (incl. 1 XLR) upwards, appears to be largely reverse-engineered Alesis kit, and at this price-point is near unbeatable. [/quote] +1 I've got this one which does the job - http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/behringer-xenyx-802-premium-mixer--31557

Just bought a Fishman Pro Plat EQ from Jake. Nice chap to do business with. Easy transaction, very quick delivery and item very well packed. Cheers! Ian

[quote name='1976fenderhead' timestamp='1336029413' post='1639592'] What do you mean by strange sounds? [/quote] If you set the pickups too high the magentic pull will disturb the free vibration of the strings. When this happens notes don't sound pure and will start to waver a bit. You'll know when it happens, iIt just doesn't sound quite right! As long as you keep the pickup height below this threshold you can play around and find the settings that sound best to you. Further away - more open and mellow; closer - more tight and focused. G side usually set slightly closer than E side to get even string balance. Bridge pup generally set slightlly higher than neck to balance output. Not always the case as some bridge pups are wound hotter to compensate. Have a play, any changes you make can easily be reversed!

...and here's one of the string anchor at the headless end [attachment=105911:ns_design2.jpg]

this is the only complete pic I can find [attachment=105910:ns_design.jpg]

I'm not a Godin expert but this blurb from the Godin website may be of some help: "[font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]We are a Canadian company with our head office located in Montreal and we build our guitars in several different locations, five in Quebec and one in New Hampshire. For those of you keeping score, that adds up to six factories spread out over about 1000 kilometers. So why not just have one giant guitar factory? Although there are some obvious inconveniences associated with spreading ourselves out this much, the up-side is that these smaller operations promote a more intimate working environment which gets everybody more involved and this is reflected in the instruments themselves.[/font] [font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Godin guitars are assembled in our Richmond, Quebec and Berlin, New Hampshire factories. The necks and bodies are all made in our original location in La Patrie, Quebec.[/font]" I don't think 'assembled in USA' means it's in any way inferior to a 'manufactured in Canada' Godin. The bass on ebay isn't an Ultra as you rightly point out but I think it is a current A4 model (it has the individual RMC saddles rather than the earlier single saddle Baggs transducer).

Some useful 'how to' tips here - http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/wax-potting-microphonic-pickup-g-l-pic-heavy-859675/

[quote name='blackmn90' timestamp='1334830232' post='1621889'] ... maybe my bridge pickup was wound to be weak on purpose. [/quote] As Doctor J says. it's more usual for the bridge pickup to be wound hotter than the neck, not weaker. Maybe your Tokai doesn't have a properly matched pair of pups.

General wisdom is to put a compressor as the first thing in the effects signal chain. If it accepts an instrument level input then this can be before the amp (and before any other effects). If it needs a line level input then run it from the effects loop as you're already doing. I run a DBX160A from the series effects loop of my amp. That's a general guideline anyway, as with most things there are no hard and fast rules. You can probably do the exact reverse and still get a decent result!

The neck pup gets stronger vibrations from the strings than the bridge and will therefore generate a stronger output. Balancing the output of neck and bridge pups is down to seting the pickup height. I have my bridge pup set a little closer to the strings than the neck but it's a matter of personal taste. If you're not happy with the balance on your jazz try lowering the neck pup or raising the bridge pup and seeing how that sounds.

Doesn't the Dean Stylist have a tunomatic bridge with a couple of screws to adjust the height?