Prime_BASS

That's the danger of the bay. My jag is brought new and anything vie changed has been for the worse so I just changed it all back to standard, action is amazingly low. If I had the money to go spare I'd buy a new ray, but I'm gassing for pre-eb ray with a maple board. Anyway back on topic. 2EQ is better IMO, the lows feel much fatter and the treble cuts better.

He briefly mentions them in his interview with BGM, and it just says in there that they are 42 jazz deluxes with kings specs, flat fret board, sim led markers and a neck plate with his name on - I see where the £2k provide tag came from -_- Also that era IMO MIA fenders arnt to good with consistent quality. Good job I'm not a Mark King fan.

[quote name='Teddy_Hitch' post='915750' date='Aug 5 2010, 11:19 AM']I forgot to mention I will be getting a 4x10 to go with this new amp when the money allows it! The current Trace Elliot I have is a GP7SM 130[/quote] Talk to alex over at Barefaced bass, he I a kind chap and replies to emails pretty quick. Personally, if you like your trace tone, then upgrading your cab to a larger one at 4ohms or buying another 8ohm will make it go quiet the bit louder

[quote name='nash' post='916721' date='Aug 6 2010, 09:42 AM']I don't have one (yet) but I was wondering if there were any common swap outs mainly for the pre.[/quote] How would you know that it would sound better then?

[quote name='ianSB' post='916323' date='Aug 5 2010, 07:39 PM']been browsing the internet and came across the orange im seriously interested in this and i wanted to get a different array of opinions from people to come up with a conclusion and if it would be a good decision to go from my ampeg svt450 to this bass head i will be using it with a 610hlf i decide to buy it thanks IanSB[/quote] It certainly is easier than carring around the massive head you currently have. Sounds great too, does clean and dirty very well, although the EQ is a little sutble, which for me isn't a bad thing as I can do EQ on my bass and set the amp flat.

I think you have a point there on pre-EBs they retain they're price pretty consistently where as even good SR4s are going for less than half te price new, but I think Gareth here is the kind to buy new..... I might get saving for a Pre-EB now.

Ampeg and orange are always a safe bet but cab wise depends a lot on what you want, small, big, light weight. Personally Orange AD200b On top of an ampeg or orange 8x10 That's if I had no limits. What I have and I'm trying to gain is 2x Orange Terror Bass 4x Barefaced 1x12 Massive sound!!!

It would be awesome if they had a mid bypass feature so we could have te best of both worlds.

Doesnt the sterling have a smaller body compared to a ray aswell. Although I find the sound a bit thinner, which can be solved with a quick pickup change to something with Alnico magnets. Or just jam in some musicman replacement electronics into the ibby.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='914702' date='Aug 4 2010, 10:57 AM']Ive always been a 3 band player, but I listened to a demo of a 2 band yesterday (normal Ray) and I loved it. Im thinking one 2 band Ray, one 3 band Ray, and one 5 String Ray. Two of them are coming anyway....just need to think if its Fender Jazz or 2EQ Ray....hmm. I can see your point on the Big Al, etc, but Ive found that im stubborn with tone. I love the whole Big Al style, but Im still not 100% sold on the tone UNTIL I test one....that might sway me. I asked about your Orange rig and atm hes also selling an amp so has no spare cash. But this might change. Cheers![/quote] There is a comparison thread somewhere, however I enjoy two band. Just have bass on full then treble as needs be, but only enough to bring articulation and cut to the higher register notes. I'm trying to get a hold of John East MMSR which apparently mimics the 70's rays, bass at 50hz and treble at 10khz. I do t know the parameters of the modern rays, but I'm thinking bass is around 40hz and treble at 4 or 3 kHz, I would hope that the classic rays would have the 70s repo pre-amp too. The big al and reflex just help broaden the range EbMM offer now. IMO there was just one sound they offered that varied slightly.

I can +1 to the Orange, it's a true beast. But you should think about upgrading your Cab aswell, that ashdown cab doesn't go that loud, and as it's 300w at 8 ohm you'll reach it's usable limit pretty quick. I dunno about the specs of your trace, but 130w seems strange. Do you know what it's outputs are at the relevant ohmage? Edit: scratch that. If it's the head I think it is it does 260w at 4ohm. So I would either suggest you buy another 8ohm cab rated similar to the abm1x15 or sell you current cab and look for a much better one rated 4ohm.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='912036' date='Aug 1 2010, 05:19 PM']I am trapped in Precision/Jazz/Ray territory, but I dont mind whatsoever. They are the key tones Ive always liked.[/quote] They are the only tones.

I'm not that experienced, but have played with few and my SUB is 2-EQ. Personally I prefer 2-EQ. It feels to me much more meaty, around the lows and the treble seems a bit clearer. Also I like just turning the knobs till I get a sound I like instead of worrying about it being flat, which I believe the 3-EQs have centre idents. Surely it is more battery economic? Anyway if I had the kind of budget to buy a classic, I'd think about alternatives, big al4 SSS, try and get a really good condition Pre-EB ray Or a sabre? The thing about the big al and the sabre is the exclusivity, and a different querk on the "ray" tone. Although, you have 2 Ps and 2 rays, it may make sense to go ahead and grab a new American deluxe Jazz. But then again I find the ray sound can fit in a lot more mixes and be played with fingers or a pick and still sound great. (btw did you ask you guitarist about te orange?)

Erm not that fast or good at slapping however, when ever I do it's for a "musical" sense not going nuts or showing off. I think I understand where you are coming from, I was playing calm like a bomb by rage against th machine, and just to be heard, I slapped the chorus, it suited the song as the chorus is very aggressive and hard hitting, so it just seemed a lot better than trying to finger pick the strings hard.

[quote name='Doddy' post='911631' date='Aug 1 2010, 03:37 AM']It doesn't matter what the instrument is,it's how and what you play. It makes no difference if you have a P,J,Musicman,Ric or whatever. Find the bass that you like to play,and like the sound of and use that.[/quote] Alot of styles don't have "said" guitar for "said" sound. Majority of it s technique. Personally I use both a fender jaguar bass (jazz dressed up) and a EB SUB Bass (cheap stingray) they sound awesome for any style. If I was playing punk I'd either be ramming 16ths root notes with pick or fingers(depending how much more noise there is.) if I'm playing jazz I play slowish and soft walking lines closer to the neck. My personal style of funk is a lot of use of octaves, notes of the chords and scales, listening to beat, and I'd generally play fingers just a nudge closer to the bridge from the middle. You can't go wrong with a Jazz or a stingray, through or a big al SSS that is probably best of both worlds.

[quote name='Bassnut62' post='911138' date='Jul 31 2010, 12:28 PM']In terms of touched by the man, some of the Asats were actually signed by Leo under the varnish, including mine! Not bad for £500 from a dusty music shop in Notts run by a dodgy pirate.[/quote] This made me laugh, stupid pirates. What shop was it btw ? I know Leo Fender is quoted to be saying "best intruments I have ever made" but to me he never really made/anything different. I know they do telecaster shaped body basses (ASAT), and basically teles with split coil pickups now, but there isn't much to my eyes that's different.

I agree there is something slightly romantic about the intruments while he was with said companies. But it will always be weather it's good or not, no matter if he was there or not. There is a fair share of horror stories about vintage fenders, and pre-EB musicman basses arnt totally problem free.

So I researched the crap out of fender parts diagrams for it's more wierd basses and the jaguar/jazzmaster type guitars. Well anyway, I know I can upgrade easily the volume and tone pots, the usual CTS pots orange drop capacitor. The issue is with the active pre-amp. The stock is pretty naff, the bass isn't articulate at all and just makes stuff muddy and the treble just makes the top sound brittle. So I kinda want something like the stingray pre-amp replacements like Seymour duncans. But I'm confused at how to achieve this. One thing is, is that I'm not sure if having abnormal passive tone would impact the active sound, and another is how to mount and wire the new pre in. The stock one, is 2 pots mounted side ways on a plate with roller knobs on, and on/off switch, the circuit is actually mounted in a separate cavity under the strings. The other thing is wiring inthe on off switch, so when it's off I get the typical passive jazz tone, and when its on, a difinate active sound. One thing I thought of is the fender no-load tone pot, so when it's all the way on, there is no load, pickup to volume to jack basically. The only reason for this is that it's the load on the tone knob I think that gonna destroy the active sound. As it is with stock the pre-amp is just a bass and treble boost, and it still has the typical passive jazz tone but with the naff sound as described above. Any help would be appreciated.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='909010' date='Jul 29 2010, 11:06 AM']I THINK you can only get the Classic Ray or Classic Sterling.[/quote] Aye you are right. The thing is it's only gonna drive prices up of pre-EBs. Also I'm more interested more in how it sounds compared to; modern stingray 2 and 3eq, a pre-EB ray and maybe one or 2 others. If it's not significant or "better" I don't see the point. I'd rather have a reflex or big al, for the same money. Holding out for a used big al 4 fingers crossed.