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So, I actually managed to win one of these in an Instagram competition very recently and it’s just arrived with me. Overall I’m actually really impressed, I need to weigh it, as it feels heavier than the advertised 8lbs, but weight can be deceptive. I love the finish (but then I’m a sucker for gold basses). It’s finished perfectly all over I’d say, with the only minor exception being the open truss rod access, which is a little rough inside (par for the course?!). Love the roasted neck, and the rolled fingerboard edges make all the difference. Bridge is actually solid, almost a Badass vibe to it. Tuners are fine, work perfectly well, but they kinda *look* cheap….IMO they’d come across better if they had some Shergold branding on the gear enclosure…but that’s just me with my Marketing hat on haha, very minor point. It actually came very well setup, no case or gigbag though, fairly usual at this price point though. Extremely playable out of the box. The pickup locations are pretty new to me, so I’m gonna have fun seeing what I can make work on gigs, but just playing about at home, through my HX Stomp (Regal preamp naturally), the bridge soloed sounds cool, roll the tone back a bit for a slightly more plumby (because shortscale) Jaco bark. Neck pickup with the tone all the way off is dub city, which I love, but both pickups together with the tone up full or just slightly rolled off sounds great and will be very useable I think. More to come, nice to own a shortscale again after I sold my Serek. Cheers Si

Pedal car 🤦 My excellent B-Tron III is in the loop of the Dual Phase, so effectively after phaser one and before phaser two. I can achieve the same effect with a single, much smaller pedal (my Pigtronix envelope phaser) but where's the fun in that?

VERY happy with this Sandberg Electra. I have owned German made ones in the distant past and I've fancied another for a while now. But to scratch the itch for the time being I recently got this Electra and I really can't fault it. I gigged it last Saturday with the intention to try it out on a couple of songs in the first set but used it throughout the whole gig.

The balance has been restored to my bass universe. (And this is definitely better than the Behringer clone.)

Rehearsal in the local church (amazing they let us, none of us attend!) with funky blues band last night... After our chat with guitarman two weeks ago about not playing ceaselessly and without end, and perhaps putting some space in, and perhaps listening to the rest of us (it's only bass and drums ffs!), and maybe playing stuff that actually fitted with what we were doing it appears that the penny may have dropped a bit! He's actually listened to the Meters and Slave and Mother's Finest and Sly Stone stuff I sent him and throttled it right back with the aimless pentatonic noodling. Now we're sounding far more coherent as a band, and may have recruited a sax player (we can't find a vocalist!)...

Hey everyone, Just wanted to share that we've had a couple of incidents recently involving 'middle man' scams. This is where someone has joined the site and registered a username that is almost identical to the name of an existing member, apart from changing characters in the name for ones that look similar but are different. For example, they might replace small L with a capital i, they might replace O with 0 or they might add a full stop at the end of the name. Changes insignificant enough to allow the scammer to take a punt on a buyer not noticing when they make contact via PM and eventually get them to send money. In our situation we believe that the scams are from one individual who has registered two accounts that emulate the names of existing members. We have already taken steps to ensure their accounts are frozen and we have accrued enough information to help us identify if that individual if they try to register more accounts in the future...they won't be able to hide behind a VPN either. We are also going to raise how to prevent spoofed usernames with our forum software provider as a future development suggestion. So...if you are PM'd separately by someone about an item they claim is for sale in the marketplace, check their user name carefully and if you have any doubts based on I or 0 or . in their username, maybe reply to them initially from their post in your thread rather than direct to their PM. That way you can check if your message adds to their message or starts a new one. Also if members spot anyone masquerading as someone else, feel free to use the report function to flag it with the mod team and we will take a closer look. It's probably also worth reminding everyone to avoid using bank transfer or Paypal F&F to a seller. These payment methods don't offer refund options in the event of there being an error. (Although if you are quick enough, sometimes your bank might be able to reverse the transaction but it depends on your bank and whether you can prove deception as opposed to a lack of vigilance.) Thanks in advance for your help in making life difficult for these scumbag parasites.

Just took delivery yesterday. A new, 2024, MTD 534-17. New strings and a setup. It's F'n amazing!!

Garbage cell pics. I'll take more later.

Perhaps B-Ringer only made like five hundred units, and are just passing them round via DPD 🤪

Yeeeeeeeees, it does make it tough to do detailed high quality video reviews for public consumption when you have to chase down technical details, lol. I’ve been lucky with most companies. One brand’s technical design team let me in to some inside information once and the marketing team may not have been so happy with that. But, I agree with you, this information helps musicians be informed and in that case I liked the product even more because I could trust the specifications. I’d like to see brands adopting at least a standard for measuring, say, true output, power handling and, I chuckle when I think about ole car magazines advertising ICE in thousands of what’s PMPO 😁

Clearly the Tonehammer 500 was too convenient: plenty of power and a nice tone in a package that fits comfortably in a small rucksack. So, it's new amp day, and along has come a Fender Bassman 800. Looking forward to trying it out on anger at the weekend rehearsal. In the meantime, if you want a Tonehammer 500 or EBS Reidmar 250, there are some nice ones in the classifieds

BB1024x is here and I love it, head off on holiday tomorrow night so barely get any time to get stuck in but from the few noodles it seems like a keeper👌 I was worried about the neck profile but its nice, noticeably more chunky than my other basses but super comfy.

Its for sale at a shop. its a refin btw.

Last night was a run through the song list to sort a setlist for the upcoming Beer & Cider festival gig in May. Rehearsing in the comfort of a holiday cottage for £20 and evening, with kitchen, working toilet and heating! Got the setlist sorted, ran through the 'dustier' songs and had an availability update for everyone with the diary. The Martin shortscale acoustic bass was playing up with feedback for the first time last night - been onto G4M website and got a feedback buster coming for the weekend.....🤞

Pickups = magnets, wire and bobbins. Talk to any UK winder and say "can I have something like this please".

Still going. I practice about an hour a day following a proper structure and am currently playing at grade 4 level. Still lacking dynamics and expression, but that will come with more practice. Lessons every two weeks is about right and a lot of fun. Some weeks you make no progress and on some days you climb a mountain.

Sandberg might be worth looking at.

I've been looking to get a 5 for a wee while then I saw a local band a few weeks ago and the bassist was playing one of these. It looked and sounded great and in fact I thought it was something a bit exotic. After a bit of googling I realised it was a cort and a very reasonable price for what you get. Got it today. First impressions is it sounds great. The string spacing feels close so will take a bit to get used to but don't think it will take long as it feels pretty comfortable. Love the look of it though. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea and it definitely wouldn't have been my cup of tea even 10 years ago, but amazing how tastes change!

Sandberg make very nice basses. Compared to my Fender P the Sandberg is nicer in every aspect other than how it sounds! It’s lighter, better made, better in terms of ergonomics, the finish is better, it’s nicer to play … but when I plug the Fender in I just prefer it.

It's NOT gain that's the issue, it's the maximum output level which is an entirely different parameter.

Rashers to Rashers - David Bowie

What about this? None more black! (At least the black bits are) Loving my ACG ...

Third time lucky with the JF Capo. 2nd Cream Pie I got across the weekend.

No, you did not prompt this (I don't think having it on a wishlist counts), it is an unsolicited gift, you weren't involved in any way, so I think you're good. Nice family, lovely gift, enjoy!

Yesterday I discovered that my family have clubbed together to get me a Line 6 HX Stomp for my birthday, which is in a few weeks. I have wanted one for some time. It wasn't solicited, but they did know I want one. It's been in my Amazon wishlist for about 3 years! Is that a fail?

I'm out, but at least I made it far past January this year! I swapped my Jet P bass for a CV Mustang bass. I'm happy and at least I didn't spend any money! Loving my new tubby little funk stick 👌

Personally, I’d avoid it. I know double bass strings are expensive but you don’t want it to break on you. Why not stick a wanted add here? Strings would attract no import duty in the EU and postage won’t be much…

Definitely try if possible. I was in Bass Direct two days ago and tried it. It sounded really nice.

I'll post some later today. Headed to the shop to get the 534 a little adjustment.

Thank you AlKrow and MichaelDean, I always forget to use the amps as distortion units! I should experiment with those again. Thanks for the reminder! 😍

Because there hasn't been any 'new' pop music for nearly 30 years. What I mean by that is, in the 50's there was pop music you wouldn't have heard in the 40's. in the 60's there was pop music you wouldn't have heard in the 50's. in the 70's there was pop music you wouldn't have heard in the 60's. in the 80's there was pop music you wouldn't have heard in the 70's. in the 90's there was pop music you wouldn't have heard in the 80's. Then something happened (or didn't happen?) because after the 90's, not the case at all.

Yes, I imagine it won't affect UK prices of Euros, but that Euros will be 25% more expensive in the US. Noone can afford the US custom shop ones anyway so no biggie over here...

Ziggy Stardust — Bauhaus

I asked a Machine Learning Algorithm (Commonly, but incorrectly, called AI) to suggest a patch to emulate JJB's sound on Rattus Norwegicus and this is what it came up with... I have no idea if it sounds any good, I'll find out this evening. Example Patch Effect 1: SVT Amp Model Gain: 70 Bass: 45 Mid: 65 Treble: 50 Effect 2: BassDrive Distortion Drive: 75 Level: 50 Blend: 60 Effect 3: Compressor Threshold: -25 Ratio: 4 Gain: 6 Knee: Hard

I reckon that will have some serious neck dive...

The Green Green Growler of Home

Tonerider Jazz 'Duke' https://tonerider.com/products/the-duke-jazz For less than the tax!

BTW, NBE in CZ also made the Grendel for MTD.

Busy day. Had some issues with the KB. Fretting out on G and D 5th fret. Took it to my wizard who diagnosed an issue that would require a fret dressing. Under warranty so an issue it wasn't. But after thinking it over for 6 hours I called to inform the shop I would be returning the bass. They abided. The Classic V is rock solid so it will remain with me. I then proceeded to purchase a new MTD 534 17. Just got back home with it. Crazy piece of kit. Fresh setup and strings. She needs some time to breath, but sexy in all the right places. Don't see a lot of 534 17s out there. Price was nuts. But I'm worth it. Amazingly solid fit and finish. Crazy Birdseye maple fretboard. Looks like roasted maple neck. I gotta read the sheet and give Michael a call. Get the real scoop on this baby inside and out. I'll post some pictures later. Time to chill.

But the Euros are made by NBE in the Czech Republic, in this place in Hořovice to be precise:

Spector Euro Series instruments are made in Czech Republic to very high standards. Such high standards, in fact, that Spector describe them as "production versions" of the custom shop basses. US brand, Euro manufacture. There's more than a few members here that will stand by the quality of Euro Spectors.

And this is WHY a full set of specs is so helpful. There are very few products in the bass/guitar world that provide this necessary information, which requires an unhealthy amount of guessing to arrive at a solution. Then again, it's also necessary to understand the specs.

A used Spector Euro 4 LX. Thank you very much for your message. We have now closed your ticket after resolving the issue beyond reproach. Next!

For those interested. I just used Plasticote 2 in 1 paint and primer from Hobbycraft and a satin clear coat. Not the greatest job in the world but it was cheap 😅

Why is Japan always getting these cool special runs? Look at this beauty. That's how the CST is supposed to look like (just compare that with the amateurish bursts and washed out burls that we get to buy here, see page 3 in this thread for some examples in case you missed them):