Leaderboard

Having started out on a 1985 E-Series Squier P-Bass back in 2003 I thought it was about time to play a P-Bass again after a near 20 year hiatus from owning one. Prompted by my starting up of a Motown band, I put a wanted ad out on these hallowed pages which turned up this beauty, a 2017 Mexican 50's Classic Series in Fiesta Red. Not much that can be said that hasn't already about P-Basses but some interesting observations considering I've very much been a 'modern' bass type player all these years, purposefully shunning P's just because they are so ubiquitous. The sheer authority and presence of the tone just doesn't fail to bring a smile to my face, it's the first time I've grinned from ear to ear playing a bass in quite some time. In comparison to every other bass I've owned, it's so much more 'there' all the way up the neck and on each string. The strength and clarity of the midrange just makes it absolutely sing. The tone control also has the widest range of usable differences I think I've ever used on a bass. The neck, allegedly has a reputation as a baseball bat but I find it supremely comfortable to play and have no issues with getting around it quickly Fit and finish are superb. I know Mexico have been on the up for many years,, but this is great even by the improved standards. The body is super resonant and you can feel it purring away while you play! Colour me very, very impressed.

Well, i've just done the same to him. Bought a 150 quid item, and marked it payment made, but didnt pay him. Lets see what the w@anker makes of that

What I really think wouldn't get pass the word censors. 🙄

What, you mean like the handful of self appointed arbiters of other people's right to free speech on here just waiting to tear apart anyone who doesn't meet their own criteria for legitimate opinion?

Hi There's a lot of good sense mixed in with a decent amount of confusion in this thread! Let me try to crystallise the bits that are right and the bits that matter: With a bass, pretty much everything affects everything. So, more specifically to your particular issue, the tension of the strings affects the bend of the neck which affects the action height which affects the intonation. And so there is an important sequence when you are starting with an unknown quantity - that is, a bass whose set up is unknown 1. Fit the strings that you plan to use 2. Tune up to pitch 3. Check the neck relief (simplest way that is 'near enough' is: Hold down the G at the 1st fret; Hold down at the 17th fret; tap the string in the middle (8th fret); there should be just perceptible movement. Repeat for the bottom E string. Choose whichever has the least gap. Then: a gap up to the thickness of a business card is close enough - more than that, the truss rod needs tightening; a tiny gap is fine but if the string is hard against the fret at the 8th, the truss rod needs loosening - there has to be at least a perceptible gap) 4.Now you can check your action height 5. Adjust the action height at the saddles. Don't worry about them being high on their grubscrews - once they are up on the grub screws, it makes NO audible difference how high they are as long as you haven't run out of thread 6. If you have, indeed, run out of adjustment, then you may need to add a thin shim to slightly change the angle of the neck. Let us know the results of steps 1 - 5 before doing this 7. Once you have set your action height, you can set your intonation. I can explain why it has to be in this order, but this is the order it has to be (which is what most folks above are saying too). Hope this clarifies.

I've not listened to it, nor will I, but this thread highlights what I perceive to be an increasing thing recently. Seems to me that there are a handful of self-appointed arbiters of taste on here just waiting to tear apart anything that doesn't meet their own personal criteria for 'a good thing'. Get some perspective, guys.

I want to say AHA's Take on Me because at the time the drawing animation was so unique..., a few others are so great.... But no as always I go with the funk. Its early 90's Prince. Not for young ears please. When I first watched this vid I was in my late 20's and it properly blew me away as someone who thinks about music. Ive always been aware of Prince's vocal range, .apparently he could sing through 6 octaves, He brings it low down on this cracker. Anyways enough of my babbling. Whats yours.?

Just come across this band. Really like their renditions, especially Sweet Child of Mine and Run to the Hills. *Dirty trumpet player 😁

Honestly, you're overthinking it. People are sharing their opinions of a thing - it's no more complicated than that.

On the plus side, you've at least found one tool!! 🙂

Resolved 🙂...Fender have looked into the serial number issue it's only took them since August but it works out that the Pro models built in 2016 didn't come with a certificate it was added later (I've attatched Fender's email). Mind you it doesn't answer how i ended up with a certificate for a 2017 black Jazz !. As a goodwill gesture PMT have offered me a £230 gift voucher which i'm happy to accept.

So after I built a 30” for my eldest son, now my 6 year old is asking for a bass. As it is well possible, even likely, that they will not pick up playing long-term I need to build something I could use as well. So why not build a mini Looking at the scraps I have left over it will be a swamp ash/dark ash/walnut laminate body (8mm strips and plenty wood glue), neck thru maple/wenge/maple 25” scale (maybe 24”), with a single soapbar pickup. He wants a blue & red bass .... ehm okay. This will be a slow build.

I have certainly slagged bands off before, undoubtedly. But if I go and see a band I might turn to a friend and say ‘what do you think of this lot, I don’t rate them’ or I might give an honest opinion if they ask me what I think of the performance. What I don’t do is walk around the venue tapping people on the shoulder saying ‘this lot are stinky poo’! it just seems unduly negative, even if that was not your intention. As far as the individual collaborators go, I’m not sure that they have the same expectations they would have if they had worked on a project in a more normal situation. These things either work or they don’t. And if they don’t, I would imagine that most people would just shrug their shoulders and think ‘well at least I had the chance to do something and work with some other musicians, even if it didn't turn out that great’. I don't think that our expectations of these types of collaborations are that high in the first place for, but at least we can appreciate that they are trying...

Well I'm out on the road and my car's brand new Least it was when I bought it in '72 From a guy who'd had it since '54 And he thought it was new but he couldn't be sure But it looks new From a distance

Well ... (1) it's an auction, so being at £300 doesn't excite me, and (2) 'Reserve Not Met' means that we have no clue whether or not this will ever be bargain.

Not siblings but have done a few functions and a couple of pub gigs with my son. Never had any issues and can't help but feel proud when looking across the stage.

I heartily support the OP's right to a negative opinion and the freedom to express it. This is a discussion forum, all opinions are valid. Some perspective required, indeed.

I would have responded to that quote with "I'll have everything, please, except the EZ490."

Indeed we have

I have just done this, as we now are doing a lot if video editing for church and my 11 year old PC died. Custom build from Scan. £1300 was the compromise between cost and performance for me. I can link to the specs if you want. Some observations, based on 5 people times 30 weeks regular production of mainly talking heads but also multicam bands. DaVinci is fabulous, but it needs decent hardware to run without crashing. That means a proper GPU, optimised throughput for disk, memory, cpu etc. The multicam auto sync does not work for band music unless all the cameras have really good sound. Which they won't have. Shotcut is well liked by our team and runs much better on average hardware. Lightworks will do almost anything and I like it, but it doesn't hold your hand and the free version only exports 720p. As I have the hardware I moved to DaVinci as it is quicker to use. You must prepare for a band video in advance. A clear, loud, visible, clapper board or stick count is essential. Lining up manually is by far the best way. If you can set the frame rate of the cameras at the start do so, if not then don't worry, but fix the project rate and let the software adjust the incoming. Lightworks is crap at this unless you tell it mixed frame rate at the start. Get a rough audio mix and any cutting done first, using whatever you want, then add the video to that. You can remix the audio, but if the length changes you have to juggle the video which is a pain. Whatever software you choose, watch the company's training videos. Then watch them again and do the practice or training examples! Enjoy yourself 😁

Hi Jack, you have it right, more or less. the 6dB gain is made up of two parts, there's a 3dB gain due to the halving of the impedance and the amplifier providing double the power (if it can, more later) The other 3dB is due to the increase in efficiency of converting the cone movement into air movement by doubling the cone area. Which is available simply by adding the extra cab. The complexity is in the amp. The amp provides a voltage across the speakers which determines the maximum power but providing tht power continuously depends upon the power supply built into the amp. If you move from 16ohms to 8 then the power will almost always double. For most commercial bass amps if you then halve again to 4ohms then the power supply won't be able to provide enough current and the amp won't quite be able to double the power. Typically most current amps will do something like 300W into 8ohms and 500 into 4 so the increase in power by doubling will be more like 2dB than 3dB and the increase in sound nearer 5dB than the theoretical 6dB. A few designed for 2ohm operation will still double at this point but will then run out of the ability to double the current going from 4ohms to 2. Power is voltage x current and the power from an amp can be voltage or current limited. The Barefaced is interesting as it has a crossover inside so the switch from 4ohms to 12 is achieved by changing both the crossover and the wiring of the speakers. Quite slick really. Impedance in any case changes across the frequency spectrum and the ohms quoted are for any speaker are an average. So to answer @alexa3020 's question. doubling up the BF 210's will give you extra volume. How much will depend upon the exact design of the amp you are using. You'll gain 3db from the extra speakers but how much power you will lose depends upon whether the amp is current limited or voltage limited at 6ohms. My guess is that it will be voltage limited and will provide roughly the same power into 6ohms as it will into 4. Overall you'll be 2-3dB louder, but it isn't as simple as this. By adding the extra cab you are going to lift the top speaker to ear level and changing the radiation pattern for the audience. You are also reducing the current and power to each of the 10's and this reduces the amount they heat up and power compression at high levels as well as distortion. There will also be changes in the coupling of the speakers with the floor as this is dependent upon the distance of each driver from the floor. The important thing is how this sounds. Adding the 2-3dB isn't huge but will be noticeable but I think you will experience a cleaner sounding and more authoritative sound and you'll be able to hear yourself more clearly above the band. Two speakers stacked vertically is a lovely experience for a bassist and if you can afford it then it will probably become your go to setup even at smaller gigs.

Without a doubt,.my favorite straps are from a reverb store I found called "Well-Hung Straps". By far they are the most comfortable straps I have ever slung over my shoulder. And with a torn rotator cuff, comfort is a must. On top of that, they look fantastic as compared to other comfort straps. I currently have two from Well-Hung, but I know it won't stop there. Here are some pictures of what I have. And the reverb link: https://reverb.com/shop/well-hung-guitar-accessories Note: while I am fonder of the coral corduroy paisley, the puppers is definitely digging the black velvet paisley!

I have no idea if it is awful or not as I haven't bothered to listen to it. But if the OP does think it is that bad, then why bother to start a thread about it?? Very negative and not very cool. As you say, a lot of musos are stuff like this to make up for not being able to play together normally. If you don't like one of these collaborations, then move on and find one that you do - there's plenty to choose from at the moment...

I picked up a Novation Super Bass Station on the weekend, so I'm looking forward to having a play with it. It's got lots of knobs on the front and a MIDI port on the back, so hopefully it'll make some good sounds.

I am a Jazz musician. I never play the same thing once. Seriously, I have played tunes significantly wrong for decades. Nobody died.

I did wonder if anyone would recognise it ...

Heads only, in no particular order (because you can't compare them to each other), Bergantino B|Amp, EBS 802, Ampeg SVT 2, EA iAmp Classic, Marshall DBS 7400. The Berg' is my absolute number 1 though, it is a superb sounding piece of kit. I've decided to add some worthy contenders: Reidmar 750 is excellent, as is Genzler's Magellan 800. Also the GR Bass Dual 800, that is a beast of an amp.

Where are you based? I have the CRM version and if you are local (I'm in the NE) you're welcome to borrow it... sadly it's getting no use by me.

It deserved to be a short thread. I couldn't ever see it reaching any great heights. Btw - please use the term colour-ly challenged in relation to our humour, going forward.

Very nice, love the gold scratch plate. There is something about a P and everyone should own one. I was quite anti them for a while and had a couple that I never really gelled with, thought they were a boring choice. Then I picked one up for a blues band, fell in love with it and saw what I was missing!! Have fun with it 😃

Hogwash. Stamped frames aren't unique to Ampeg, and the frames don't move. As to the OP question, it's mainly the amp. Ampeg uses Eminence drivers in simple cabinet designs. That's not exactly unique to Ampeg. The drivers aren't unique either. As is the case with the vast majority of OEM drivers they're quite close to off the shelf retail drivers.

Cheese Song - The Mighty Boosh

.....and another pointless Status update, I've just bought a Status Bass.

One advantage to having more power than the speakers can handle is clean headroom. Another good reason is because amp manufacturers tend to be, shall we say, optimistic in how much continuous power their amps can actually deliver. As for speaker power ratings, all speakers should have two sets of numbers, thermal and mechanical. Those companies that do provide mechanical power ratings are, unfortunately, very rare exceptions. Never forget that truth in advertising is an oxymoron, and always has been. The phrase 'caveat emptor', after all, was coined when Latin was still a living language.

Just in case you're a semi-obsolete dinosaur with no real understanding of video technology, who has been tempted to experiment with video editing software (such as Reaper) by this thread, do make sure before you start that you are running a 64-bit version of Windows AND you have downloaded the latest 64-bit version of VLC (go to www.videolan.org ). Shouting & swearing at a blank screen that isn't doing any of the stuff they show it doing in the tutorial videos is not good for the soul. Don't ask me how I know.

Agreed, it feels like the BBC Perfect Day thing from about 20 years ago, only without any redeeming musical qualities. Or any redeeming qualities of any sort. I watched it for about 40 seconds yesterday and had a nightmare that I was part of it last night. My therapist is seeing me at 9.15.

I'm a big fan of the The Cure videos that they did with Tim Pope Over lockdown my band has been making videos and we have definitely been influenced by that style (budget £27!)