ead

Never tried the full OW experience, only the Tanglewaters and I think they were really good. I suspect the full custom basses are pretty special.

I'm with bluejay. Assuming a decent quality of workmanship I think the side dots would be weird, but maybe that's just me as my fretless basses are unlined.

I find them very addictive I must say. Not fully assimilated into the collective as I also quite like the bumps occasionally. Slight divergence if the OP doesn't object, but out of interest do people prefer passive or active on a fretless bass? Personally I'm in the active camp. My ACG has an all singing all dancing filter EQ and I've just popped an Audere pre into my Letts bass and to my ears it improves the tone.

Trailblazer? For sure. Can't beat a Fender? Very subjective...

Just fitted a set of the EXL220BTs (40 55 70 95) to the Spector to try them out as they are broadly similar in gauge to the TIs on my fretless basses. Initial impression is good, but I need more playing time as I haven't really used roundwound strings for a couple of years. I also have a set of the EXL170BTs going onto a fretted bass currently WIP at ACG.

+1 for the Fender 9050CLs. The TIs would be quick a radical shift after the Steve H set.

Just a quick report on the recent installation of one of the Classic range (no Z mode switching) in my Letts fretless. [url="http://www.audereaudio.com/Classic2.htm"]http://www.audereaudio.com/Classic2.htm[/url] [attachment=137544:body front.jpg] I went for the custom configured option with two stacked knobs, treble/bass EQ and volume/tone. I have to say that I am very happy with the results. The preamp is actually quite subtle which is exactly what I was after. I have landed on boosting the bass by c. 50%, the treble by a bit less (say 25%) and then rolling off the tone just a nadge to keep the overall warmth. The low end is now much better defined to my ears and the overall sound of the bass hasn't been changed a great deal, just evened out, so very happy with the results. Not the cheapest option I have to say, but in terms of the easy of installation and sound a good buy (imho of course). I had seriously considered the East BTB but having an active tone on my ACG bass, I really like this feature within the preamp.

Tickets booked for Manchester (Anderson or not). Personally I'd rather listen to a sub who will hopefully be on form to JA croaking his was through some tough vocal numbers. Close to the Edge was the first LP I ever bought, so hopefully it will be a special evening,

Big fan of the Tascam bass trainer, I have the MP3 version.

[quote name='Stan_da_man' timestamp='1371817821' post='2118465'] Just get strings that don't have a girly tension? [/quote] Oh dear, I think the set of D'Addario EXL220BT super light balanced tension strings I'm trying out (40/55/70/95) are firmly in the 'girly' range - still I'm obviously in touch with my feminine side. Now where did I put that moisturiser?

They are superb, although I would say that wouldn't I as I am lucky to have the full custom version of that bass. I know what you mean about black basses though, not a fan personally. You could always order your own version, which in Graft spec would be about £830ish for a passive one...

Here's another one to ponder. Hand built unlined fretless J Type ACG, yours for a little over £800 (I think). [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/acg_admin/wordpress/portfolio/g019-j-type-fretless-4/"]http://www.acguitars.co.uk/acg_admin/wordpress/portfolio/g019-j-type-fretless-4/[/url]

Nice looking bass. I see we share a liking for the Midget/Compact stack

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1371378718' post='2113053'] There are more than 12 frets? [/quote] Basses have frets

Just acquired some good quality stands from Nick. Top comms, good value, quick delivery. As mentioned above frequently! Cheers

Just acquired an Xotic compressor from Dan. Pain free, ultra communicative, all good. Tread safely in predator country.

I think I remeber seeing an SR1000 on here for sale, looked very lovely and not expensive either.

[quote name='Jonnyboy Rotten' timestamp='1371229274' post='2111519'] It is to do with the time/distance it takes to let the sound waves 'settle' into a regular form. Closer than a metre and the dB(A) gets artificially inflated because of the 'excitement' of the sound wave close to the source. [/quote] I thought that in nature entropy (disorder) always increases in a system.

I originally joined basstalk, uncertain as to the specific reason. But, it BC really any good for metal? I think we should be told.

Yes I thought it was a good insight. Anybody got the CD as I'm curious? I have the 'My Colouring Book' one which I must dig out again.

[quote name='Ziphoblat' timestamp='1371108301' post='2109786'] Well I can't see Musicman making a claim to that based on my experience. [/quote] On a serious note (and apologies for the thread mini hijack) but in the current climate you think companies would be doing there utmost to support customers - not that they shouldn't do this all the time. I forget the stats, but I think we typically tell 7 times more people of bad experiences compared to good ones. Is that 'cause we're British and love a good moan?

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1371047000' post='2109060'] The thing to remember with custom builds is that you pay a hefty premium for the "custom" bit. A large part of the fee you pay goes into making something specific to your requirements, not necessarily on improving the "quality" of the finished piece. Yes, you expect it to be good quality, but not all of the price difference between an off-the-shelf model and a custom model is spent on "quality", if you see what I mean. [/quote] I'm not sure that I entirely agree with that. Yes I'm certain that the exclusivity (or whatever you choose to call it) forms part of the price, but I also think that the cost is related to the time and effort spent on the fit and finish of the bass. Luthiers will not be buying the quantity of parts that the mass manufactures do and will be buying higher quality raw materials too both of which will be reflected in the costs. Many of the hardware manufacturers have price points that lower dramatically at certain order values/quantities and these will never come into play for the small builders. There will also be the issue of financing the stock of woods that allows them to be thoroughly dry before use, and even allowing weeks for items like the neck to stabilise after the timber has been cut. None of the big manufacturers could cope with the quantity and cost of work in progress if the manufacturing time was measured in months not hours. At this point I will declare an interest as an ACG owned and fan, but I would urge you to compare one of Alan's Graft basses costing c. £800 with an MIA Fender probably costing the same if not more... All IMHO of course

Very interesting thread, really enjoying reading all the views. I've been fortunate to have owned a number of basses ranging in price from £60 up to my ACG custom fretless that was a little over £1,500. My experience has been that whilst all the fretted basses I have owned have been solidly under £500, my fretless basses have ranged from my first, a £70 RBX270F, upto the ACG. With the fretless basses it seems to me that the sound (tone) is more closely related to the qulity of the construction and materials. After the RBX I've had a MIJ Fender J (the most disappointing), a VIntage V1004, and a Jon Letts bass bought for a very reasonable sum. Each has had good and bad points, but as the construction 'quality' of the instruments, in particular the 'board and the stiffness and fit of the neck, improved the basses have sounded better to my ears at any rate. I appreciate quality is hugely subjective and the 'fit for purpose' label is as good as any, but for me the attention to detail moving away from mass manufactured instruments does make a difference. I suppose the other point in this is are we all comparing apples with apples? Is an older bass that may have been more expensive at birth and that has been sold on a few times until it qualifies as a 'cheap' bass, a fair comparison with a new more costly instrument. Should we benchmark all comparisons based on RRP when new adjusted for inflation? By way of an example my very first bass was a Squier P bought new for around £270. Seemed OK at the time and served to learn on. I later acquired a second hand (as in nearly new for the same money) Spector Legend which completely shifted my perspective on playablility and sound. When I was trying out the 5 string thing I bought an old Yamaha BBN5 for just north of £100 and that seemed like an excellent bass, but I have decided to stick with 4 strings. Just my thoughts really. Still loving my £110 Antoria Jazz though. It sits on the stand and gets noodled pretty much every day!

[quote name='Ziphoblat' timestamp='1371052905' post='2109206'] Have you dealt with them all? [/quote] I've never had the occasion to speak to anything Musicman related as I've never had one of their basses. Other than that...