Jazzjames

I was staying at the Lowry in Manchester the same nights as they were in Manchester. They were staying there too. Sadly I didn't get to meet Flea but I helped Josh Klignhoffer get a cab!

[quote name='riscado' timestamp='1481638375' post='3193918'] The scale length, my hands are not small. But still I struggle quite a bit, especially if I play standing. It's quite a stretch, which sometimes ends with pain on the inside of my wrist joint, near the thumb. [/quote] *Possible simple solution* How long is your strap? If the bass is significantly lower standing than when you are sitting, your strap's too long. It's fine on guitar if you play with your thumb over the top of the neck but on a bass, not so much. Also, how much do you practise? If you never play bass except on gigs, it's gonna be somewhat of a struggle...

What a rubbish name!

I use a Mike Lull PJ5 (passive) and I love it. It sounds great. The fit and finish is flawless, as it should be for the price. I would buy another one if I lost it for whatever reason. The Laklands are also nice for sure. If you have a Sandberg 4, why not try a 5? I had one for about 4 years and it was a lovely bass, and good value for money. My general advice would be try before you buy. I've played very expensive basses with flappy B strings, and 300 quid yamahas with great B strings. You don't want to blow a shed load of cash on a bass only for it to be a disappointment.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1481224835' post='3190817'] What's that then? A boat engine? [/quote] I believe it's an engine from a Volvo XC90 SUV. Because that's what you want in your super car. I'm sure the Noble is great. I'm sure the Darkglass D900 is great, having seen that Anderton's video, I'm not bothered about owning either.

I'll pay more attention then! I think I've mainly tried new ones, so post 2006 was the first time I went to a good music shop in London. I like fat necks- i play a 58 precision reissue, but it was the shape and the big brass frets that felt quite tall on the edge of the board.

It may just be the bass. Some basses just dont have a good B. And that could be a Sadowsky or a Fodera or any other bass. John Patitucci uses a regular round wound B on his 5 string Yamaha jazz bass (Yes, 5, not 6) with flats on the other 4 strings. Maybe give that a whirl? I had good results with this.

Listen to jimmy johnson on the new Gadd records- punchy and tight bass. Bolt on,right? He uses a neck through bass. I think it's more important how the bass works as a whole, and above that, how the player plays. For sure there will be a little difference on the same bass eg a stingray bolt on vs a stingray through neck but they will both predominantly sound like stingrays!

Good for you! A guy that I sent to college with used one of those. He sounded fantastic, and really liked the bass. I however, can't get on with Warwick necks, and find them uncomfortable to play.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've played a few gigs with this setup now, it doesn't get above warm, so I'm gonna leave it as it is. Perhaps in the summer I'll get a fan to get the air moving, but right now it gets up to a warm temperature and then stays there. And it sounds mega. So much strength to the sound.

Thanks guys. I'm going to monitor it on this weekend's gigs and if it gets more than warm at any stage, I'm going to drill some holes in the top of the case above the vents to let the air straight out. There's room all around the preamp but it's relatively tight.

Bareknuckle 58 p. It's awesome. Those guys know what they're doing. Keep the bass passive. With a good pickup, you don't need active electronics in a P.

Hi everyone, How warm shound an all tube preamp get during the course of a gig? I finished a gig this evening and I noticed my new setup was a little warm. Not hot, but for sure warm around the front where the control face is, and on the sides, where I can touch it through the big holes in the side of the case. The power amp was also very slightly warm but not like the ampeg. I've been using class D heads for a long time and my Aguilar doesn't get warm like this, so I just want to check I'm not cooking the gear! James

I wouldn't say it lacks it, it has plenty of punchy and chewy round sound at low to mid volume, and I love it for that. And it can maintain it even up to quite high volumes. Then it can go a fair bit louder still, but, while still audible, it doesn't support like it does at the lower volumes. Whereas my new toy hits like a sledgehammer if that's what you want!

And i'm not looking for a disagreement either, i've just never seen this first hand in such extremes.

This is well trodden ground, but I can confirm that watts mean next to nothing. We already knew this of course, if you need more volume, get more air moving with more speakers. However.... The 500w from the Hellborg absolutely crushes the Tonehammer (also 500w) for depth and presence. You can actually set it quieter than the tonehammer because the notes are so persuasive. I've used SVTs plenty of times and know how muscular they sound, but I always put a lot of that down to the 810. With the 2 DB112 cabs this setup really sounds fantastic and it really is a big improvement on the already great sound of my tonehammer 500. The moral of the story: watts and other ratings don't tell the whole story, try before you buy!

I don't like the Markbass heads for double bass. I find that the adjustable EQ on the Tonehammer is super for controlling frequencies that can provoke feedback. But every double bass, every pickup, every cab etc. is different. I really enjoy the sound of it with electric too. I haven't tried the GK. I own the Tonehammer and I can say that it has proven to be entirely reliable and easy to use. If it were stolen, I would buy another one, no question. The best thing you can do is try them all and see which one suits you.

Hello basschatters, I recently acquired a lovely SVP CL preamp. The DI post/pre switch is somewhat dodgy and I want to have a look inside and give it some contact cleaner/check for dry solder joints. Is there any death dealing voltage waiting to bite me inside? When it's disconnected obviously... Thanks, James

I use the DB112 cabs and I'm very happy with them, but unless you're going to go up to a 410 or something it's probably not worth it. The DB210 had to my ear a very different sound to the DB112, and I made my choice. I'd check out the DB210 and DB115 pairing yourself before pouring all that money into the new rig, it may sound better to have two identical cabs, whether that's the DB210 or the DB115 I don't know.

What gear do you like the most in your car? I'm just glad we have a choice! They all have their place. Time signatures, that is.

If you want more midrange punch get the DB. If you like scooped mids and extended bass get the GS. Both are great cabs. I went with the DB series because it works better with my P bass, but it depends on your tonal goals. Both are big and heavy, but sound big.

Sorry, typo. DB659. I've actually spontaneously gone for an SVP CL that I saw on ebay. Different from what I was thinking but the price was right and I can for sure work with the ampeg sound. I'll let you all know how it soubds when I put them together.

[quote name='ryancowell25' timestamp='1478030375' post='3166229'] Have you not considered the Hellborg Pre-amp?....... I have one and they are stunning..... always wanted to try it with the poweramp [/quote] Finding one at the right price is the tricky bit, but if one came up second hand, sure.

I've already got a Tonehammer DI and the head, I'm after something significantly higher quality. Those type of preamps work great for a lot of gigs but I've already got that covered. As I said, an Aguilar DB759 would be great, but I can't locate one.

What would you pair with this for a preamp? I'm only after preamps that fit in a 1u rack space. I'd dearly love to get my hands on an Aguilar DB659 but I can't find one anywhere.... At the moment I'm using my tonehammer as the preamp. For those who are curious, this thing is a total beast. It weighs about 21kg(!) but when it's up and running the sound is just glorious. In a rack case it's not so bad to move about. It no more difficult to move around than my DB112s. Apparently, the Tonehammer and the Hellborg are both rated at 500w, but they are on different planets in real terms. I still love my Tonehammer though! James