Leaderboard

I pulled the trigger on this on Friday and it arrived today. Have to say, I had no previous experience of Promenade Music, and had they not been the cheapest online sellers of the Mapleglo version, I might still not know them, but they have been superb. Hours after placing the order Gary from Promenade, their bass specialist, rang me to discuss the set up, we swapped a few stories, and he threw in an allen key because he couldn't see that Rickenbacker had provided any (in fact the have, buried in the case candy). This is how it arrived: And this is how it looks now: 50% more gorgeous, I trust you'll agree Black scratchplate thanks to Rickysounds (it arrived about an hour after the bass) Half way there to recreating the BT (black trim) option that I have on my 1975 4001 I contacted Rosetti about organising a swap of the nameplate for a genuine Rickenbacker black one, and they told me that this is not something that Rickenbacker will agree to. So having tried to source a genuine replacement, I'm now awaiting a knock off from our friends in the East. If that isn't a good fit then I did see that somebody on another forum has done something similar by sanding the paint off the plate to take it back to white, then painting the rest of the of it black. I'm reluctant to do that as it would lose the "Made in USA" but I'll keep it in mind. I've also stuck on Dunlop straplocks - the very first change I made to any bass when I got the 4001 over 30 years ago. And I had to do the same thing this time, put some rawlplug into the screw holes. First impressions: The maple is much lighter than my 4001, possibly/probably due to ageing of the varnish (?). The maple isn't highly figured, but it is what it is. The finish feels quite thick and plastic-y. I'd have preferred a satin finish, but it's a minor point. For tradition's sake I'd also have loved to have a skunk stripe, again, as per my 4001, although I do like the dark brown headstock wings which aren't on my old bass. But it would have made the thru neck more obvious - easily seen if you are close up, but lost in the bright maple a few feet away. Strings feel lighter than my usual choice, but I'll keep them for now until the new zinginess runs out. As a consequence it feels a bit floppier that I like, but not by too much Still has the Rickenbacker clank - responds well to aggressive playing, but cleans up nicely when I want it to The neck feels very different to the 4001, which has a narrow U feel to it. Wider (not just because of the extra string, the spacing feels wider) and shallower. Oddly feels a little clubbier below the 5th fret and slimmer as you get up the neck, but still a real pleasure to play over the whole length. Very fast, great access to the dusty end, but noticeably a few frets short compared to my other 5 strings which both have 24 frets. Still, I don't get that far up the neck very often I'm missing the 4001's bridge pickup surround, which is where I anchor my thumb. the top of the bridge pickup doesn't feel to be in quite the right position Also slightly missing the non-S features - bound body, neck inlays. But I'm happy to concede that these are even more cosmetic than the BT stuff, and that actually the rounded body makes it easier to play than the bound version. But still...and I can't help missing the 4001/3 bridge that they managed to put on the last attempt at a five string 4003, although there's nothing wrong with the bridge it has from a functional point of view So Day 1, about an hour of playing and half an hour of tinkering, with a full set up to be done when I change the strings, it's definitely a keeper. For all my (minor, mostly cosmetic) niggles, it's a great bass. And it'll be 25% greater once I get the black nameplate...

Body rounded, as it is is 2.45kg. And the wood I will take out for the control cavity, belly and arm cut, tuners and neck should be roughly the same as the weigh of the hardware, so that is where I am thinking we will end up. With the headless neck absolutely on track to stay below 4 kg, Quick mockup attached as well, just for fun

No problem at all. Some times I wish I had never gone down the filter route it has made my life more difficult in that I spend a great deal of time explaining how it works. As I said some people it just clicks with I was one of them. The first time I picked up a Wal I fell in love with the pre-amp could not understand why everyone was not using filter pre-amps. But I very quickly realised I was in a minority but I still to this day think it is a great system for bass. Hence spending a lot of money to develop the system with John but some times at shows when I hear myself saying the same thing all day just some times I think passive is the way to go.

Like most bassists I’ve always wanted the holy grail of bass amps, the Ampeg B15. But being too financially embarrassed and sensible enough not to buy one, I’ve hankered after the poor mans substitute the Ampeg B100r or B200r instead. I’ve looked around for quite a while now. After about 6 months I’ve been super lucky to pick up an American made B200r in near mint condition. Got it for a relative steal. Found it on FB marketplace. Super happy boy today!!

I don't think I have replied to this yet. I am in the odd position of finding myself being strangely attracted to the skill of slapping but of having almost completely failed to find any application of the technique that does anything for me. It is like having a fantastically sophisticated power tool that you don't know what it is used for. I cannot even post any 'this is what I call great slapping' because, whilst there is some great juggling out there, I just don't like the music it is used in. Any of it.

📢 BROMANCE ALERT BROMANCE ALERT 📢

More fantastic plastic joins the family.. EDB605 Newly acquired EDA900 (courtesy of @PaulThePlug) Recently acquired EDC715 (courtesy of @Alcytes)

There is no flat as such with a filter preamp the filters are engaged all the time. (Unless you have the ACG DFM which has an active/passive option) This is a common misunderstanding made by people who don't really understand how they work. There is however a close to flat as you can get setting. Stack 1 is the volume/blend. Stack 2 Upper ring fully of. Lower ring full on. This is the filter fully open so the full range allowable by the filter is allowed through. Stack 3 as stack 1 Stack 4. Upper ring fully of. This is a gain so with it fully off the highness filter does nothing so the lower rings position does not matter. Both pickups are now useable with the blend and both filters are open the highpass disengaged. The way I would go from there is to move the blend on to the bridge pickup. Then adjust the lower ring of stack 3 until you get something you like. I generally close the filter to a degree to cut the top end so I have a more mid heavy sound. Now move the blend to the neck pickup and do the same. I would normally generate the bottom end from there which again means closing the filter to remove the top end and some of the mids. So you have reduced the preamp to a Volume/Blend/Tone/Tone and that is basically all it is. Now use the blend to go between the two pickups to change the overall sound. The upper ring on stack 2 and 3 just boost the effect of the filter cut off so you get more filter effect if you turn them up. I like them in the centre detent. The preamp only appears complicated if you try to adjust every thing at the same time if you take it one thing at a time it is not that complicated but it does not work the way a 3 band does and most people approach it that way and generally can't get what they want. This is a common problem and it is why filter pre-amps are not that common people as a rule don't really get them. For those that get their head round it you will get sounds you will struggle to get with any other on board pre-amp. But there is a learning curve and some people just don't get on with them which is why I have always offered an alternative to the filter preamps. If you don't get on with the pre-amp and like the bass just replace the pre-amp would be my advice. Sell an 01 will not be difficult and the East Uni-Pre will fit the cavity it is what I use for builds that don't need the filters.

I’ve tried slap reggae, it really doesn’t work, trust me 😁

Not a song but for a nice jazz bass sound I like this video from, vintage guitar Oldenburg, he demos lots of the basses they have , great sound from the 62

Thanks to @PaulThePlug, my latest addition; An Ibanez EDA900. Weird and wonderful, but lightweight and well-balanced. The ergonomics really are very good. Controls are bonkers; Magnetic Vol, Piezo Volume, Magnetic Bass& Treble (twinned, not stacked!) Piezo treble. 'Round the back... 4 Piezo saddle level matching pots, 1 Piezo level trim pot and set & forget piezo bass level control. The magnetic pickup seems to be the same as the ones used in the EDB and EDC700/705, but the piezo is the real power house in this instrument. If it's not kept under control, it can dominate the tone. Mixed in conservatively, it works well with modulation effects, and solo'ed it does a passable impersonation of a plugged-in electro acoustic. It got very close to the bass tone on "Alice in Chains Unplugged" and Sevendust's "Southside Double-wide Acoustic Live" In summary, an idiosyncratic oddity, but quite versatile. The EDB605 is more jazz-like and the 3band eq can deliver a decent selection of tones. The EDC915 is a bit of a one-trick-pony, but like a 2EQ Ray, it's quite a trick.

I don’t get it..... slap would be the ideal way to fill up all that silly space in the reggae bass lines 😉

Pickguard arrived today! Very happy. Well done @kodiakblair and well done to your guy. Fantastic job.

An hour and 20 mins of Dub...

Let's not forget the magnificent stylings of Tommy Seebach. A man whose desperation for musical immortality via the Eurovision Song Contest was only just eclipsed by his desperate and premature demise at the age of 53.

Gloss coat applied. Probably ready for buffing. SolarEZ is some crazy stuff!

I’ve always found Roto B strings to be awful. Daddario steels and Dunlop flats are my choice for B strings.

Thanks as always guys!! @Simon., ill have to see if theres a "Bowyerchat" somewhere in the bowells of the internet so this week ive started attacking it with a router... scary times. first off i routed the recess for the bridge. the neck is very flat and very straight, and the graphite saddles are fairly tall, so this should give me the adjustability needed to get a nice low action on day 1: and then i started routing the pickup cavities. this is a tough job, the pickups are pretty tall compared to most normal pickups, but thankfully because of the internal height adjustment per string, i dont need to leave a whole lot of room underneath them for springs or foam. here you can see how high the pickup sits at its lowest point, with the "window" that shows the current mode just sitting proud of the body: with both pickups in it gives you an idea of how this is going to end up looking, and just how much space these pickups take up: and, with a little bit of gold enamel paint and a steady hand: nice gold logos! i like these a lot more with the gold logos, it'll really help them stand out. and the gold mounting screws round the edge give just the look i was going for. just enough gold to not be over the top! time for a gratuitous mockup with artsy lighting: this is a pretty good representation of the control layout. the knobs are some aluminium shadowsky style knobs, 4 smaller ones for the filter controls, and 2 larger ones for the volume and blend. there will also be 2 switches for the premap modes on there as well. quite busy, but hopefully not too "mission control" the next step is routing out the control cavitites: the main control cavity is pretty huge, but it will have to be to accomodate the preamps. thankfully the batteries will be on the other side of the body so i dont need to worry about them. the volume control meanwhile will be up on the lower horn, so i simply drilled a hole for that with a large forstner bit and then drilled an acces hole between them the hole for the battery board on the other side is a whopper as well. this is going to be a snug fit. thankfully it all lines up with the lower pickup cavity, which will let me run the power wires through with no problems. last job at this stage is the two holes for the jack sockets. these are slightly recessed, and will accomodate a single mono 1/4" jack, just like a normal bass, that will operate the two preamps blended normally and running on 12v battery power, and the other will accomodate the 4 pin Mini XLR socket that will carry power, ground and the two pickup signals seperately. the plan then is to have an outboard pedal that provides the power, but also has a switchable mono/stereo jack so that i can run to either a stereo preamp / power amp setup, or to a normal bass amp if needed. the body shaping is getting close to being finsihed at this point, and so is the back of the neck. it feels super comfy to hold, and the weight with the pickups, batteries and all of the hardware is sitting aroundabout 9Lbs 10oz. not exactly a featherweight, but not too bad for an artsy fartsy bass like this

@lowlandtrees the ACG preamps are very sensitive indeed, i agree. the EQ01, EQ02 and EQ03 are all a very wide frequency sweep. as @BassBunny says, there isn't really a "flat" response, because the idea is that the preamp is mimicking different frequency responses as you manipulate the pots. all pickups have a natural frequency response of broadly the same shape, here is a plot that shows a bunch of different guitar pickups plotted next to one another: you can see that they are all broadly flat until 2000(ish) hz, and then they have a peak and then the frequency drops away. when we say a preamp is giving a "flat" response, we really just mean it is letting the pickup's natural sound through unobstructed. with a traditional boost/cut preamp, you're then applying boost or cut of different amounts at different frequencies. lots of different preamp makers allow for different levels of cut/boost, and at different frequencies, and this is generally what sets these preamps apart from one another. with filter control preamps like ACG, Wal or Alembic, its better to think of them as mimicking the sounds of a lot of different passive setups in one instrument. in a passive bass tone control, you have a pot that slowly pulls down that resonant peak, and then starts to roll off more and more high frequencies. here is a (exagerrated) plot of a normal tone control from the tone at 10, down to the tone at 0: (with the tone at 0 you get a low mid "hump" which is the blue line, ignore that for now ) you can see more and more of the high frequencies being wicked away as the tone control is turned. and different cap values change where the resonant peak and dropoff are: what the filter preamps do is allow you to mimick these different tone controls with a smooth sweep. on the EQ02, the frequency knob sweeps from high frequency to low, and the resonance knob changes the height of the resonant peak. here is a sweep from 500hz (red line) up to 5000hz (blue line) and here is a resonant sweep from 0 (green line) up to 13db ( blue line) the reason the ACG pre feels so sensitive, is that the frequency sweep on the bass filter stack is sweeping over a VERY wide range. all the way up to 6.3KHz, and down to below 100Hz i believe. Alan then also has a treble stack, that allows the treble frequencies to be attenuated sperately. I have an ACG EQ02 in one of my basses as well, and i know exactly what you mean. with the resosnance control all the way up (10db peak), even the tiniest movement of the frequency knob can make an enourmous difference to the sound. in reality with a resonant peak like that the frequency knob is acting like a wah wah pedal. my advice on getting the best out of it would be this: try sweeping the low stack frequency up and down a few times with the resonance knob in different positions. when you can sweep it without the change feeling extremely unnatural leave the resonance control there. then treat the frequency knob as a "set and forget" control as well, find a spot where it gives you the right balance of low end and midrange growl. then use the treble stack as you would a normal tone control. the lower knob chooses the actual sound of the high frequencies, and the upper knob decides how loud you want them to be. it really does take some getting used to, and i admit its certainly not for everyone, but you can get some really great sounds out of it if you give it a little time. i hope all that hasn't just made it more confusing. if you want to learn more about low pass filtering the first page of my latest build log has some details about the different examples out there (wal, alembic, ACG etc) (also, if you want to persevere with filter preamps but find the ACG too sensitive / complicated, im working on some at the moment that are based around Wal's current control setup, but that will let you choose how wide you want the sweep to be.) id also second the general advice that you shouldnt give up on a great bass because of the preamp. swapping out electronics is a great way to change the sounds you get out of a bass without major surgery

If anyone is interested, I've decided to build a recording studio in my back garden. I'm getting fed up with travelling over 150miles in a round trip to the wilds of Essex every time we want to record so am taking the plunge in building my own. So far over the past few weekends there's been some good progress:

How sweet is the bass on this tune. Bassist is David Barard who is a tone hero of mine. I first heard him playing with Dr. John and was blown away by his 70s Jazz Bass sound, to me it exemplifies everything I like about that sound with its open treble and clanky bottom end. I've finally got around to learning this tune and thought I'd share it because it's such a nice groove. @bubinga5 I think you'll like this album! Barard plays a Sadowsky and sounds pretty much straight to desk with light strings or at least a fairly heavy touch and low action. I love the fret rattle and the way the notes sound slapped when he digs in. I am able to get this bang on with my Celinder but my playing is nowhere near as tight! I think he's on Facebook actually so I might try to contact him, seems like a cool guy.

In the Summer of 2018 @Silvia Bluejay and I were lucky enough to interview Marcus Miller for BGM, and we asked him about this. https://www.musicradar.com/news/marcus-miller-ive-always-hated-bass-solos-thats-the-one-point-when-the-music-isnt-grooving-any-more

My band has got 33 gigs booked in for 2021, starting early July, with more to hopefully be added. Also 17 confirmed for 2022 so far. Most of our gigs are in theatres, so good to know that they are confident in committing to book dates. Let’s just hope people don’t abuse the gradual relaxation of lockdown rules and prevent it all from being able to happen. 🙂

Another thing I like about David’s playing (I call him Dave, we’re mates) is that he plays a 4 string tuned to drop D, which I always do too - it makes his lines easier for me to play but mostly only cool people play in D

A doctor writes: - No, this is a very rare, abnormal condition for which you'll need to see a specialist. In the meantime I'll prescribe you a week's supply of Graham Central Station

Not fitted yet, I'm reshaping the headstock but I can show you a mock up on my other bass

The naughty filter must be flipped! *no it’s still working.

Used to listen to Linton Kwesi Johnson while playing Lemmings on My ATARI !!! LOL 🤣

I think sound is very high on the agenda for most bassists and I certainly am always looking for ways to improve it. It was one of my lockdown goals in fact, to move my sound forward. That’s the reason I went for this particular bass/pre combination. I first saw it on the Maruszczyk range. When you see the demo of someone who knows how to use the pre it’s very impressive and looks intuitive! I will persist and get to know it better...as I said, it’s a hidden art in itself. Thanks for all the feedback....now back to the bedroom noodling and tweaking.

Another +1 for Rockboards here. Got mine for my birthday Dec 2020. Really really really well made, and very good value for money too. Not my final layout, waiting on one more special pedal, and I'm going to sell my Bass Big Muff and replace with with a Green Muff Reissue. Also, I think I need a smaller tuner. Cheers, Eude

Permission from the neighbours? Umm ... nope. Don't think I need permission from the neighbours. 🤔

Thanks for all of your responses. To clarify - there is still an issue when playing unplugged - which is what I do a lot of the time. So not an amp/EQ matter I would say. I am only finding this issue on my MM Sterling, which is strung with Rotosounds. I recently bought a second 5'er (Fender Jazz) - same scale as the Sterling - and there is no such issue with the Fender strings. I have ordered some more Fender strings for the Sterling, which I hope will resolve the issue - particularly as it's a much easier bass to play.

Love me a bit of good old Richard Cheese now and then... I find this version rather good and avoiding the parody element:

The new 'simplified' ACG prototype...

Sandberg! Best bang for buck on the secondhand market for sure.

Ok, an update. Here’s how it looks now: First thing to say, after experimenting more with bridge pickups, the Seymour Duncan SPB3 (Quarter Pounder) is a great match for the SPB1 at the neck. The thread about dual P pickup basses on Talkbass has this as a common combination, and with good reason. It sounds good. After a lot of work, I think what I have found is that the bridge pickup position best suits a pickup with big bass and big treble. Too much mid in this position just gets a bit too nasally for my taste. The DiMarzio Model P, for instance, works less well here IMO, because it is basically a ‘more of everything’ pickup frequency wise. It sounds fab at the front position though! I used car paint and clear car lacquer on the rear pickup cover to get the colour closer to the body. I now know quite closely the term ‘overspray’ and I can tell you if there are mistakes to be made whilst spray painting, I probably made them. The job is ok but could probably do with me sanding it all back and redoing it completely, but I’m not going to do that, lol. But it looks decent. Once I finished doing the pickup testing, I put a white pickguard back on. Slightly ‘mint’ shade. The chrome electronics cover was convenient for ease of access to electronics, but I think I do like the pickguard aesthetic, and once I finished the testing, I didn’t need easy access anymore, so... I very nearly tried reversing the neck pickup orientation. I think it probably would let the pickups blend better, from reports I read on Talkbass. However, the two ways of doing this (either keeping position same and reversing the orientation of each half, or moving the DG coil closer to the neck by moving it to the other side of the EA coil) both change the ‘Precision’ nature of the sound of the neck pickup considerably, at least IMO. I can’t bring myself to do it, a Precision’s fundamental sound is just too cool. As it is, it sounds like a gnarlier PJ bass. I think of it as being a Precision (so front pickup mostly being run at 100% and blending in different amounts of rear pickup) as opposed to being like a Jazz, where both pickups together is probably my favourite sound. Both pickups fully on together here sounds good, but I’m not sure if it was really worth the effort over many PJ setups. (Assuming the J pickup is a humbucker in those setups, never understood why people introduced single coil hum in that setup). The rear pickup on its own is like a beefier, angrier Jazz pickup. You can definitely 'Jaco out' there now and it is not nasally or clavinet-ish now. It’s fun. If I had my time again, I’d move the rear pickup DG coil right up against the back of the Precision pickguard, and of course start with it being reversed. It just works better. I think I will shell out for a maple Jazz neck on this. I prefer the nut width and the high end spank of maple. But it’s a personal project, very much my bass now, lol. On the whole, for economic effectiveness, I think I would simply say to most people they should just buy a PJ bass, and get most of the same sound without the effort. A split coil Jazz pickup at the rear will get much of the sound without the hassle. Or a Nordstrand Big Split, I bet.

Clinton Fearon is doing some great tracks at the moment with Kubix, here’s one from a few days ago, great Bassline, I may have to steal this one and probably one of my favourite Clinton tunes which he normally plays on acoustic, this is great

I've finally got around to looking at this. Lining up the Performer P/J config Mustang with a Vintera, one pickup one, reveals that the bridge p/up would need to go hard up against the bigger bridge plate of the normal Mustang. This is also born out if you resize a 34" P/J Precision to 30' scale and line it up at the nut, 12th fret and bridge (although the Mustang's pickup does sit a little north of the Precision position). Using a '50s reissue as a source image for the pickup gives us this... Because of the string spacing, there is a wee gap in the mockup, but you get the idea. I've added an extra knob rather than get into cloning a 3 way toggle on. I don't think it looks too bad from an aesthetic standpoint.

... and I have a job. Pending written confirmation, at least.

Does this mean Strike will have to move his office and flat?

Not really interested in the opinion of some self-appointed judge, on the matter.