krispn

I sold it on to get a JO5. Cracking bass both of them but I think the original DJ with Aero pick ups has been my favourite Lakland.

Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio and others have useful Bass Middle Treble charts showing the characteristics of their various models so it’s at least a ball park idea of what to expect but there is always a ‘risk’ until you’ve actually installed and heard for yourself. The BC market place is as a good a place as any to try something out and shift them on if they’re not to taste. If everything else about a bass works except the electronics then it’s a pretty good idea to experiment with pick ups. Often just putting in a solid passive set can be the answer.

It was me Al Krow is referencing. A few facts to clear up his spurious claims as I believe I'm the best person to tell my experiences of yamaha or any other brand of bass Firstly I'm not Scottish, I'm Irish! I never 'avoided Yamaha for decades' I'm far to perspicacious to take such a blinkered view and my electric guitar is a Yamaha 611 model! I grew up in a very small town where two folks I knew had Yamaha bases -I just didn't really care that much for the aesthetic - that extended bridge saddle on the 5'ers was just wrong looking even if I understood the principle of it. Nor did I have the chatter of the internet and bass forums to assuage my decision making. I, under my own volition and of sound mind, chose to go to check out a used BB734A at a local guitar shop. I was not ambushed by it and had a very clear goal of going and playing it with a view to buying it. I wasn't happy with the price but found one much cheaper elsewhere and bought it on my way to collect another item of gear. When the TRBx series were released (in 2012/2013?) I checked them out and I was really impressed with the build quality and would have had no hesitation in recommending them to a new player and was tempted to get one myself - clean modern looks and good range of tones available enhanced with a clever little eq switch to influence the EQ curve (on some models). A fellow Edinburgh bass player raved about his higher end TRB but I never got a chance to try it. I've played the 1024/2024x and found the pick ups too overpowering and the single coil hum was a bit much. Now there's a pick up the could do with being changed out for a hum canceller! I gravitate to more traditional, passive bass shapes and styles as that's what I prefer but I've played many basses both, active and passive, and owned a few odd-balls too. I played an active Ibanez years back and around that time had the opportunity to do a recording where the producer suggested I play with an old passive Gibson and from listening back and asking questions on that 'session' I went out and managed to trade that Ibanez for a late 70's P - I just prefer the sound of a passive bass! The rationale of "You don't own one therefore you must not rate it" is a tad basic and often not reflective of ones 'bass journey'. As Al Krow will know I've had an external eq on my pedal board for years and I just prefer the added control my units provide with semi-parametric mids over the fixed points offered on many active basses, Sandberg included. I've owned Sandberg basses and while I'm not a 'fanboi' I do respect Holger the person, his attitude and ethos. He doesn't strike me as "No!" type of person. I'd hardly base his entire business outlook on the stock preamps and pick-up's he uses. Actually maybe we should... I guess he could out source his pre-amps to John East or his pick ups to DiMarzio but he appears to be using the German made gear of his neighbours which all forms part of the greater economy/ecoolgy of the local bass building community. As @mcnash has demonstrated if one were serious about getting a more personal spec a call or email to the factory or via a local dealer could have a pretty definitive answer in all of about 10 minutes.

So which is your preference over the BB735 and the BBP35 after the initial play test.

Log in and download the software. It’s the best way to edit the stomp and you can do everything on the pc. It’s a great feature!

EHX Battalion?

The Grand Dark features black labels and a three band eq (Darkglass) but unsurprisingly you pay a bit more for these upgraded features. I believe it’s a 35” scale too but comes in over the £1000. Its a tricky one as a ‘standard’ model will feature standard parts. If one wanted an Ibanez SR with the ‘upgraded’ Nordstrand pick ups one is potentially looking at double the price to get those features (and that’s maybe a bit unfair as the ‘quality’ and features may appear to be upgraded across all areas of the bass on the higher priced model) over a more standard offering of the non premium models. Since Ibanez have switched to the Bart BH2 in the mid/upper price range are they an improvement over the cheaper Mk1’s in the lower priced models or more of the same? As the price rises the top of the line Ibanez offer Aguilar pick ups so again this points to a price/parts correlation. It’s true there are cracking value basses to be had in the mid price ranges of many brands and some folk may avoid a ‘lesser known’ brand and that’s where BC can be helpful but by the same mark when a company like Bartolini offers so many variations of pick ups (as does Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio etc.) it’s hard to justify a blanket ban based on one specific experience with a factory fitted, lower grade pick which has possibly been wound to the spec of the company who have it installed in their model. I say this having used Bart p pick ups and loved them for the warmth and depth they added to a p bass. I’d happily use them again. I’ve heard clips of @Al Krow playing his sandberg and I’d agree the tone was was too hi-fi/sterile/midi like and I understand why he’s moved on from that sound as I wouldn’t gravitate to it either but within the debate on pick ups it’s important to know there’s are as many pick ups out there’s as opinions on them.

Many builders offer a choice of pick ups and charges apply according. Marusczyck do and you pay for the different pick ups as per the price it costs them. Having a ‘standard’ spec is pretty normal for a bass builder and if one decides that they want different pick ups it’s not up to the builder absorb the cost same way shuker will charge you for what they don’t normally carry as their ‘normal’ options. Lets remember the likes of Nordstrand pick ups in an Ibanez it’s very possible Ibanez wind those pick ups in-house to Nordstrand spec? It’s not quite the same as Sandberg or any builder offering pick ups from various manufacturers who have their own operational costs, individual overheads and bottom line to make. If one were to buy a Fender what pick up choice do you have other than what comes as standard on that model? Even with the latest up grade to custom shop pick ups. It’s one choice per range.

Tell Hölger you heard he was rumoured to introduce a colour called ‘September Sunset’

I think the jmj is a killer wee bass and although more expensive is a fine shorty. I think as mentioned above the supro is the only other short scale I’d be into. Glad I have the jmj at my disposal and it’s gonna be my main gigging bass for the foreseeable.

Bit of a preamble The JMJ or the ‘Justang’ (they’ve missed a trick naming this bass!) has a thicker headstock which may add something to the tone but that’s beyond my hearing, different nut width and I believe the neck feels chunkier, more precision like than jazz like than the MIJ but I’ve literally only played a MIJ briefly. The JMJ does feel great to play and the sound is bang on for what I’d expect of this type of bass. I do generally favour a P bass. The sound ... If you were really wanting to try before you buy fitting a Seymour Duncan mustang pick up would likely answer the question. The SD pick up is what’s fitted in the Justang and it can do punk right through to deep dub and the tone pot on mine is very effective across the whole of its taper which is a massive plus. Not a massive help but I’m sure but with any bass all these little things like the thicker headstock do have an impact but ultimately it’s the pick up which might just edge it in terms of tones. I think Fender have just sent a new stock of JMJ’s into the wild so they should be popping up in shops about now. I nabbed mine locally via gumtree (it’s a first run model form 2017) and it’s a cracking wee bass and the pick up sounds good. A mate had an issue with his MIJ sounding too flubby in the lows but I’ve not had gigging experience with a MIJ, the JMJ hasn’t suffered these issues on my recent gigs.

@CameronJ I must be confusing the slightly larger pole pieces with another pick up

If I recall correctly the black labels have bigger pole pieces!

Couple of button presses and you have you sound set up for that room. You're effectively tweaking an eq knob just not on the bass - exact same principle just a different interface. You may find one more intuitive than the other but its the same thing at the end of the day. One could easily program that on a Stomp.... if one knew how All in all I shall concede it's a moot point as you have very clear goals abot your gigging set up - however as someone who gigs frequently, has used the same gear (active Yamaha bass and a Stomp), tweaking on the fly with the band in a live setting I feel qualified to offer the above opinions and it's not really that complicated. If you can use an eq then you're laughing. It's just giving yourself tie to get used to the interface which is easy! Line 6 pride themselves on a good clear manuals too. Also let's not pretend active pre-amps in a bass are 'new tech' Recall the joyous transition from passive to active - think how wonderful the transition from active to full control of your eq and not bound by the old technology of fixed eq points and having to change batteries! Yuk!

One of the best decisions you'll make for a tone tweak is that tonestyler! Congratulations!

Your epitaph would be more fitting if it read "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it program a Stomp!"

Yambassador Krow I’ve maybe mentioned this before with access to the parametric eq on the Stomp you could ‘recreate’ the on-board preamps of all the major after market manufacturers if you know the set points of their preamps. Then a patch could be made with eq only and saved as per each unit i.e. ‘East Uni-Pre’ etc. Or alternatively in snapshot mode you could save the same basic eq but have the mid set point differently so you have access to perhaps a 250Hz or 440Hz or 700Hz bump with a few dB’s boost already applied and have these names to a particular bass so on a gig you have instant access to the boosted eq. Snapshot mode is very clever! Based on what you already like and use it should be a pretty straightforward exercise to set up a boost at 700Hz on a eq patch - a quick a/b test should let you hear how close the two sound and off you go! So for example if you Yamaha PJ benefited from some bass cut or mid boost or you Ibanez sounds better with some high mids tamed just a/b until it’s there and Bingo! The more elegant solution is of course to buy a new bass, buy a new preamp, pay to (have the cavity potential dug out) fit said pre and use it at the occasional wedding gig. Banter aside I found the Stomp eq and basic tube preamp to be really useful in getting a great time right off the bat. Snapshot mode enables slight tweaks to suit a different room, different bass etc. if one is happy with the core sound.

I'm about to run out the door but there is a you tube ivdeo where they show the various power draws of the HX range - worth a search on YT

Yeah there are some shocking examples out there but with you tube there's a really great community to pick u the basics and get going!

Once any of us understands the interface be that on a bit of hardware or software it will be less of a barrier and while having knobs etc to tweak might seem more intuitive it's not always obvious if there are multi function on the same buttons etc. There's a learning curve with any new kit is gonna be a few hours at least beyond the most basic three knob pedal but given an hour or two messing about tweaking/pushing buttons/trying some thing out and basic trial and error anything which isn't glaringly obvious can quickly be found via a you tube tutorial or a manual. It's like the Alesis SR drum machine - if you've reached the limitation of what it can do or just want an more authentic sound then maybe it is time to upgrade but if you feel like there is still some learning to be done on that unit it feels quite intuitive once you get your head around the quantize and the basic recording function - it's basically the same step to record each sound be that the kick or snare etc but obviously one would need to understand the basic's of how that hardware is set up to work and some rhythm knowledge/terminology too! I'm by no means a master of the software stuff I use but I've used it enough to figure things out on my own or in conjunction with you tube/manual. EZ Drummer is super easy (hence the name right!) and if you want actual, recorded drums (as well as individual samples) plus the ability to make your own beats it's as a good a starting point as any. It opens as a stand alone program and it can also be used in a DAW i.e. you can mess about on you pc without a DAW. I was looking at it when I first got it thinking how do I get the drum samples into my DAW? It was a simple 'Drag and Drop' but it never occurred to me to simply pull the drum loop across D'oh! Some might say it was pretty 'intuitive' - it's so bloody obvious now as to be farcical but there you go! I suppose the debate over drum machines may vary from user to user and what's it's needed for - basic demo's or for live use with a band - but be prepared to put in some time learning the unit. Just because something requires a few solid hours of use (I'd say a good 10-12 hours taken in 2 hour blocks can feel like time well spent on a lot of this stuff) doesn't make it clunky or un-intuitive and in fact most of this type of gear really reveals their potential when the user has taken the time to get to understand what it can really do. As an aside Logic Pro for Dummies has been ordered off Amazon as I know there is so much more available to me in that program which I'm not really making use of!

It may work on other devices too but your phone isn’t listed in your signature 😀

*think the app works as the full editor

I think the app on iPhone works too now since the update. That was certainly what a lot of users were punching for. It’s a lot of fun to muck about with and you can always just reset to ‘factory’ if things get too ‘involved’