EMG456

So we've done a couple more... Not playing bass on these but as a bonus you get to meet Ailsa the dog on one and are treated to my mellifluous singing on the other! 😂

This is the basschat content I love!

You've mistaken price for quality there. And also possibly missed the real measure of quality - fitness for purpose. Me, I like a long, even sustain and have never, ever placed a piece of foam under the strings of any of my basses. The dull thump sound is not one which has ever held any attraction for me.

Now that's dedication!

Like I say, I don't know the detail, just what Pete told me on one of my visits when I was buying the bass. It could well be as you say but I have to say that the actual bridge pickup sounds pretty much as you would expect a Wal bridge pickup to sound and it does that whilst simultaneously in use for the midi side of things. I've never looked in detail at the electronics (just works) but I'll have a wee look about next time I change the battery and see what I can see without disturbing anything lol.

Not my myth- the late, great Pete Stevens told me that they were able to dispense with the separate hex pickup because the Wal pickups used individual coils for each string. The pole pieces nearest to the bridge on the bridge pickup are raised up. This may well be a different arrangement to the standard Wal pickup- I don’t know- but I can assure you that the Wal Midi Bass certainly knows which string you are playing even on open strings which do not use the fret sensing circuit at all. By the way, I don’t believe I made any claim that Wal basses are “magical or mysterious” and I’m perfectly awake thank you, albeit going to bed shortly. 😉

Yes, the circuit made between the string and the fret segments determines the midi note sent out so no delay whilst the system tries to work out the pitch. The hex pickup senses how hard the string is played for midi velocity information. Mmmm.

Are you sure about this? My Wal 5 is a midi bass version which normally would have required an additional pickup (a la Roland hex) so as to provide a separate output from each string but the Wal pickups were deemed to be appropriate so the bridge pickup ( with one set of raised pole pieces) also doubles as the hex pickup.

Ah Leak 2020's! I had a pair of 2030's which were great but the tweeters went at some point and the wifeley one wanted them replaced with something smaller. Still have the Rotel amp which powered them though - currently running the wee monitors in my recording setup! The smaller setup agreed with my wife was an early Bose Lifestyle system with two small direct/ reflect speakers and one big sub. I won't get into whether Bose qualifies as HiFi or not here - suffice to say that after more than 20 years it is still providing sterling service.

Remembering that classic EMGs are active *pickups* quite often wired to a passive tone circuit.

Never been on my radar but that's very nice looking indeed.

Would't want to put you off if your heart is set on it but you're losing a bit of the joy of headless by not having straight pull tuners. Bit like the Warwick Nobby Meidl (sp?) bass.

I don't normally do this sort of thing but... I could afford one... but I don't want one. And yep, I've never even tried one! Not going to happen. Yours Mr 1 per cent of bass players. 😀

According to the off screen comment at the end, "It's awesome"!

My favourite (and there are many contenders) Zevon song, the great "Desperados Under the Eaves".

Late to this as usual but older style passive Sticks really need a buffered preamp to run in mono. It’s not that it won’t work by either flicking the switch or doing the old jack plug in halfway method but a lot of the clarity is lost due to technical reasons that I’m not fully up to speed with- impedance loading? A low cost solution is a Boss LS-2 pedal which is really useful for many other things too which is why I’ve ended up with two of them!

I must have a low pain threshold...

The very last run of Steinberger wooden bodied/ bolt on graphite necks used Moses Graphite necks with the actual blend modified in collaboration with NS. Moses are not doing musical instrument parts any more so there was a push by somebody (not necessarily Gibson connected- can’t remember!) to persuade Rob Green to start offering Steinberger compatible guitar and bass necks some prototypes were made but the project was halted, again from memory, by Rob for whatever reason. Thing is, my Steinbergers and for that matter my Status already sound full and warm. Could it be that the full frequency hi fi aspect of these instruments just doesn’t suit the sonic goals of a lot of players? And if so, would they not be just as happy with an old Precision with flat wounds and a reduced frequency capability amp setup?

Oh no. Want!

I'll give you the Frog Chorus and much of his output after Wings but Silly Love Songs is a masterclass in pop song writing/arranging/production.

Some pretty sweeping statements there. I’ll agree that the science of carbon fibre construction was less advanced than it is today but there was still a good bit of experience there and NS drew upon external expertise when designing his instrument. What has happened in the interim is that technologies like carbon fibre have become much more commodified with many able to buy off the peg materials for their projects but they’re still working with carbon fibres and resins. Also, I would put it to you that a guitar neck made from a bought in carbon weave mat will be a very different thing from one made of a carefully designed lay up which utilises specific fibres and their placement and orientation in the mould. Which “modern companies” are actually doing this better and cheaper? What are the neck issues that “many” original Steinbergers suffer from? I have heard anecdotally of a few failures but any example I have seen has stood the test of time very well. It’s fine saying that the Spirits and Hohners are decent instruments- they are- but they are also not in the same league as a graphite Steinberger in terms of sound or stability- remember they were introduced as an affordable entry level instrument for folks who would have liked a “real” Steinberger but couldn’t afford one. And as far as it being “fundamentally flawed”, it’s an internationally recognised icon of world class design so I don’t understand where you are getting that notion from.

Remember if thinking about an Ex-Factor that it is a 32 inch scale length except for the last two partial frets for the drop D. Not saying that’s a bad thing- I have a couple of 32s and they’re both great- but just in case you weren’t aware.

Here you go then. Fretted and fretless L2s XL5W XL2TA Status Custom

Easy...

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