Leaderboard

I'm lucky enough to own a 1978 Pro ii, built out of Matsomoku factory. Its a dream to play. loads of mojo. Pups upgraded years ago to Dimazio pickups. Loads of punch and tone. Not sure of its value? but a keeper none the less.

Picked up one of these babies today and it's absolutely sweet !

I bought one about a week ago. A 2009 Musicman Stingray. 3 band EQ, single pickup. Candy red, rosewood fretboard I've only really had Fenders before, so I can only describe it relative to those... Build quality is great. Components seem excellent quality, and the fit and finish is great. If you've played fenders before, you'll find the neck is very much like a Precision. It's quite heavy, but not too heavy. Nice and solid. Sounds nice acoustically. The G string was a bit quieter than the others. I'm convinced it's because the pickup polepiece doesn't line up properly with the G string. This is apparently a common issue with Stingrays. I fixed it by raising the pickup at the treble side, and managed to get the string volumes balanced enough to where it isn't an issue. You'd think in an otherwise very well designed bass they would have fixed this years ago. But no. Apparently the new ones DO have the polepieces in the right place... but 2 grand's a lot to pay imo for that My takeaway from the G string polepiece issue is that it's pretty sensitive to how you have your pickup height set - so be aware of that Re the sound and having a single pickup. The most noticable thing is that the kinds of warm, vocal mids you might get from a precision are totally absent. And the second thing is that the low end is deep and tight. I heard the preamp has a high pass filter, and it sounds like it. There's loads of thick, punchy bass, but it somehow has a tightness to it. As if it rolls off quickly below 40hz. My main bass is/was a precision, and I use an SVT. So my go-to sound is that classic grindy rock tone (with a plectrum) with the SVT deep switch in, and a bit of mid scoop. Loads of low end, but it's more of a fat and woolly low end, and those precisiony, expressive mids. You can't get anything close to that with the Stingray. With a plectrum, you get LOADS of zingy top end, and that tight bass, with no real Fendery mids no matter what you do. It's very scooped, even when you goose the mids on the EQ For a punk or rock gig I would leave the Stingray at home and take the Precision, unless it was something modern like RATM or RHCP etc For a pop/funk/disco type gigs, the Stingray would be perfect. It seems to have been primarily intended for fingerstyle players. The frequencies that the pickup and preamp accentuate are ideal for a nice tight, modern fingerstyle sound. Lovely for fingerstyle The 3 band EQ is interesting. I tend to leave everything centered. Sounds best to me that way. The treble and bass tend to either let you take far too much off, or add far too much on. The middle isn't really a traditional mid frequency knob like on a fender amp, it's more like a knob that lets you make the sound go from fairly scooped to very scooped... whatever you do, there isn't much mids I heard someone say (and I agree) that a fender jazz (both pickups on) is more scooped than a precision, with deeper lows and higher mids. And that the Stingray is even more scooped - deeper lows and has even higher frequency mids. I think that's a good way of putting it. If there's a path from P to J, then the Stingray is the next step along I think no matter what you do it'll sound like a Stingray. But I think it has enough to make it a fantastic bass in the right context. It's certainly not a swiss army knife, and almost certainly the wrong bass for certain things I really do like mine. Got it off eBay for £900, and I'm glad I got it. Not sure I'd buy a new one for the prices they're asking now

My SB1000. Iconic, in my opinion. Nothing comes close

Any excuse to pop a picture of this 1981 SBR-150

I've had a small windfall - about the size of a new tip-top-notch bass as it happens - and I'm having serious GAS for a Stingray Classic 4 string. I buy a new bass about once a decade so it's a BIG decision for me and I need to know how many of you guys (possibly the greatest bass playing experts on the interweb so I trust you) rate this bass? How's the quality of build and is having a single humbucker a limitation? Has anyone bought one recently and are you pleased with it? Obviously I'm looking for encouragement but if there are any serious worries I'd probably rather know!

Hi my name is Alex and I have Dirt Pedal Adddiction Syndrome. I also have a great affection for envelope filters. I can't afford to buy new ones so mainly build DIY. So many pedals! I've been questing for the ultimate fuzz plus envelope filter tone. Bass - US G&L L-2000 made in 2000AD! In the UK, London, playing in a 90's rave band.

Funnily enough I’ve had basses built by both Martin at Sei and Jon at Shuker and both were fantastic experiences. If I had to choose though, Jon was the more approachable and much more open to working with me on my design and build. Both very high quality builders though & all fantastic basses. Proof of the pudding is I now own 2 Shuker Jazz basses (both shown on the Shuker web page you’ve linked to) and no Sei Jazz basses.

Hi guys, just wanted everyone who has replied to my original post to know; the transaction with Alex went absolutely seamlessly, despite my reservations. It was just such a different way of doing things. And a way in which I am totally unfamiliar, being from the UK lol!! It seems that this way of doing things is so normal in some EU countries other than UK, and I had no bed to worry. Thanks Alex, so glad you are so pleased with your purchase, wish you all the best. Timmynumbers 👍

OR... for £1169 you could buy very nearly thirteen used Trace Elliot combos and keep one at each venue. Saves carrying 'em.

Pure class, this. Lovely bass

I had a TH350 and it never wanted for more beans. Where will it all end? 'Markbass announce 2kW RMS @ 4ohms amp the size of a credit card - earplugs included'.

i ve asked my wife and she said defo fingering !

Started to knock the sharp corners off to match the vibe of the original carve. The light is starting to go but made a decent start with spokeshave and cabinet scrapers:

Which Mac?? Gary Mac!!

With regards to active/passive controls, a while ago I came to the realisation that what I'd really want is a passive tone control coupled to an active mids control with adjustable frequency centre, something like the John East module which covers 100Hz - 1000Hz (or 200Hz - 2000Hz, as it's got a switch for both ranges). I don't need a bass control, really. Treble? A passive control is sweeter, for my taste. What I want is to control what happens in the middle, and with a wide range like that, I can get punchy low mids, or hollow tones, or beautiful deep bass tones... For me the on-board EQ on active basses is merely to fine tune my sound and make some small adjustments for specific songs, but the basic sound comes from the amplifier's EQ. The small adjustments I want are all in the mid range or something that a passive treble cut is better suited for.

I can't help but to get a little giddy with excitement over Jon's headless basses! I think you are quite right to say you have your own template! I think your two have the most identifiable outline in the range surely!? (Don't change it for the next one, ok?)

and mine...

A picture of John in today's Daily Mail. Please leave the guy alone. I would kill for an hour with him to talk basses etc but he has no desire to delve into any aspect of his past and he deserves that privacy. Much less the fairly mocking tone of the opening lines.

Those of you who follow the ‘Ebay Weird & Wonderful’ thread in Marketplace may have seen a recent entry about this. I was lucky enough to be able to use the buy it now and my bandmate who was in Manchester yesterday picked it up. So for the princely sum of £20 and some cash for my bandmate’s dinner and petrol - this old amp arrived last night. I’ve included some pictures as I know very little about the amp or the brand - I do know it is around 40 years old and SAI recently began producing boutique valve combos again in the UK. I have owned a SAI amp before - that was a slave amp and I used a Trace Elliot preamp with it and a Trace cab. It sounded big and fat and very clean but it weighed a ton. This one is much lighter. I wouldn’t mind more info as there is little on the net about them. I also am looking for a local tech to service it. The good news is it works! Well partially, channel 1 is not working however 2 gives a lovely warm tone. I haven’t boosted the Master volume yet as all the pots are very scratchy and need a good clean. It’s also got the usual valve buzz, very clean inside with little corrosion to the chassis ( it was the ubiquitous loft find ) Overall I think I got a bargain - reminds me of the days when my Dad helped me fix up an old Selmer Zodiac and a Vox AC50. I definitely need a grill for the back. Any information gratefully received!

Hi folks 🙂 So recorded some clips of Boss OC2 and Valeton OC10. (The OC2 is the Japanese 'Octaver' model that requires the 12v input or needs to be daisy chained from LS2 or similar). Recording chain: Ibanez EDB600 active bass > TC Spectracomp > VOX Lil Looper > BOSS LS2 > Loop A: OC2 > Behringer UMC404HD > Cubase > Loop B: OC10 I looped a line with the LIL Looper and A/B'ed it with the LS2 Part One : Clean line once, then alternating between OC2 and OC10. Part Two: Shorter line alternating between OC2 and OC10. To my ears the OC10 has a higher low mid quality to it, and has peaks/distortions in that area, in certain parts of the line. This makes the OC2 slightly warmer and rounder sounding. Maybe the OC10 could be EQ'd to make it sound slightly warmer and less gain/passive bass might reduce the peaks, but for my set up the OC2 sounds better. How do these sounds compare to the OCTABVRE, @Quatschmacher? With headphones's I noticed some noise between my notes, and a little quiet glitching at the end of the alternating line in 'Part Two'. Is this usual or due to not enough damping of strings/Active bass? OC2 and OC10 part one.mp3 OC 2 and OC10 part two.mp3

This revelation kind of makes the whole Trace thing very easy. Plug in bass. Switch on amp. Make sure Pre-Shape is off. Make sure Graphic Circuit is off. Turn up Input volume to max. Turn up Master volume to '2'. Play. It took me more than forty years, but I got there in the end.

Update: Well here's a thing. I've been using the Trace Combo for every rehearsal and gig since I got it, and I love it and everything about it - so do the band. Last rehearsal went particularly well and I silently congratulated myself on a great choice of amp, then patted myself on the back for really getting to grips with the legendary Trace Graphic EQ. Only... when I got home I realised the graphic circuit had been switched out for the entire rehearsal. So Trace made their amps to sound best completely flat, played live in a band setting. Who knew? This would explain why the manual would have you make only very small changes to the graphic sliders, and not move too far away from 0db! Every day's a school day...

Yes, there's always a part of true historical sequence that doesn't work in a feature film. I think they changed and condenced how Mercury met and joined the band in order to focus more on the bands years as a group as oposed to the build up.I think Mercury went to school with the original singer from Smile and it was the original singer that introduced Mercury to the band. I also think Mercury was still wearing long hair when they performed We Will Rock You in 1977 at Madison Square Garden. It wasn't till later that he changed his look with the short hair and mustache. Blue

Hi-fi speakers however, are anything but flat - studio reference monitors should be - but a hi-fi speaker will have an inherent (often mid-scooped) sound

Older seems to take longer to dry properly I find - or even that it doesn’t quite dry as strongly or properly. That’s just my limited experience of it though!

Given the number of people who assemble an unbranded bitsa Precision or Jazz and then waterslide a "Fender" decal onto the head, there may be a surprising amount of truth to that for some people!

A good way to sort this out is to play plugged into a very accurate tuner, preferably with a large display I find. Then try each note on each string up and down the fretboard, and see where to position the relevant digit to get the accurate pitch. This really helps me to train my ear. My fingertips differ slightly in softness and width, so each requires a slightly different approach, in my experience.

Flavor Flav?

Good spot, very nice. Think Ash is a member on here.

I’d like to be able to adjust nut height without taking it to a luthier or buying a set of files.

Here's my reason for unreservedly recommending Jon's work.

Used my RM500 set up on Saturday night to play outdoors for the fireworks display to 3-4000 people. Amazing sound and clarity, easy load in and out. Sensible easy to use EQ, DI, I changed amps so much over the years but I don't think you can beat the Rootmaster range without spending a considerable amount more. They've nailed what a gigging bassist needs IMO.

What @Dood says. My P is probably one of Jon's plainest builds (exactly what I wanted) but I've never for a split second thought of parting with it. Also, I emailed Jon this week for an insurance valuation (he built the bass in 2011). Jon responded within hours. Pretty good service considering I last bought from him 7 years ago!

If active with a passive option, a SEPARATE passive tone knob. The best implementation of this I’ve seen is the MTD Kingston Saratoga Deluxe preamp. Only the 3 band EQ works in active mode and when you switch to passive the EQ is bypassed and only the tone knob works. So at the flick of a switch you can instantly go from bright HiFi modern tones to subby tone-down thump. This system works better IMO than what a lot of other brands do, which is have the treble knob become the tone knob when switched to passive, meaning you have to keep changing the position of that knob if you want a really bright active sound vs a really dark passive sound, or vice versa.

I know it’d be daft to do it, but it looks like there’s blank space in the outer wooden shell on either side - you could make the box narrower and it wouldn’t overhang as much on the cab!

LOL.. What would Farage have to say if, as part of the leaving the EU, we had to give all the words back that we stole!? Answer: nothing, he'd be speechless. (This makes Brexit quite attractive, come to think about it...)

Hah, of course I can't not post mine here:

Darkglass, if you're reading this, something with presets. Midi compatability preferably. Do this and you'll rule the world.

I've still got my old Aria Black & Gold I - in fact I played it at a gig recently The Aria was the first bass I bought with my own money way back in '83 when I was a mere 15 years old. IIRC it cost the princely sum of £230!