stingrayPete1977

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1413303890' post='2576947'] Magnets don't pick up wooden vibrations do they? [/quote] We were discussing this at the double bass bash as I have a magnetic pickup on my upright, general consensus on the net was that it will just sound like a fretless p bass, actual opinions on the day were nothing like, out certainly didn't stick out compared to basses with piezos either. My best way to describe it is to think of a big hollow bodied electric guitar Gibson 50s compared to a solid body electric guitar like a Les Paul, not the same at all even with hum Bucker pickups are they? The body and sound post etc of my upright must be affecting the string vibrations this in turn the overall sound, that is a massive hollow box compared to a solid electric bass though, not a walnut vs a maple top a few mm thick on a bass with an 18 volt preamp.

I know!

[quote name='DogHammer' timestamp='1413277593' post='2576522'] Fortunately no one asks me this question as I'm a lefty. But when they do, I go.... Sure! knock yourself out. Then they realise its the wrong way round. [/quote] Your not 100% safe though, what if Andy McCluskey from orchestral manoeuvres in the dark was next on and his Jack socket failed? He plays left handed basses right handed and upside down!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1413234814' post='2576285'] Your problem is that for £150 you'll have difficulty finding something that weighs less than 20kg that is good enough to do gigs. [/quote] beat me to it, im a slow typer

I use a Trace Elliot commando combo sometimes it sounds great, if you see one grab it, any good old peavey tnt would be good but heavy, portability but within budget is going to be your main issue here imo rather than volume or a good sound, I sold a proper uk built Ashdown evo300 combo for £125 on ebay as it had a minor fault, that was a £750 combo new for example but again heavy!

Damn, I have T bird gas again but it needs five strings

Thats what I was saying backed up by EBS Freak though, Bernie Goodfellow and Martin at Sei basses both said they dont know until its strung up and plugged in even if the parts came from the same block of lumber, I've seen a lot of their basses and trust them so who knows?

[quote name='subrob' timestamp='1413220788' post='2576014'] Alright so the button is pushed. Without wishing to thread-jack, what should I expect? There's not a lot of info online about that B550 model. Looks ok though [/quote] Am I reading this right? There is a white 5 string version!? Christmas is coming too....

No worries I do appreciate the luthiery skills and enjoy looking at fancy basses in awe, they always play and sound great ime too, I've tried Alleva, Roscoe, GB, Sadowsky, Marleux, old Warwicks, Nordys, Cellinder, Sei etc over the years they were all great and very pretty. Im not disputing that the parts come together for a great bass but no one really knows if a Sei bass with a maple top would sound better or worse, brighter or deeper etc until its built, as wood is organic two basses made of the same woods can and do sound different to each other, different, not better

Left or right? Did I miss the sarcasm?

Telecaster headstock, there BRX loves Fenders after all

If the fancy top added a smidge of treble which I think we are all conceding is possible TheSiberian do you not think in reality it's going to be an insignificant amount compared to say +/-18db of boost or cut on a Glockenklang preamp? Serious question im not trying to cause an arguement

[quote name='TheSiberian' timestamp='1413226894' post='2576132'] However, if we have to be well mannered up to the end we should inform people like Ken Smith, Vinny Fodera, Mike Tobias, Steven Sukop or Ken Lawrence that they are deadly wrong with their 30+ years old batch of tone woods, exibition figured and rare exotic top and core woods. How is it possible to ask thousans of our hard earned dollars for things that don't matter? This smells like scandal. My God, what a chance for me to look at this thread, just spared a lot of cash. I will cancel my next Fodera order...a 50$ chinese bass will do it as well if not better. Thank you. Best [/quote] Can you point us towards any recordings of music where the exhibition figuring or exotic top altered the tone? The core wood and tone woods might make a noticeable difference but the look of the top and its rarity, really? They are just trinkets and a demonstration of the luthiers skills or aesthetic design acumen. I'd happily put a weeks wages on not one person knowing two near identicle basses apart tonally if one had a walnut top and the other a bookmatched flame maple one in a blind test. If you had heard them both first you might tell which is which after as one might be deeper/brighter regardless of the top. Im filing tonewoods with duracell batteries sounding better than asda own brand

If you really want the Ampeg then a used one plus the courier fee should still be withing budget and you get the cab you really want, if you buy something new that you decide isnt right in a years time you are stuck with a cab worth half what you pay for it maybe less with such a limited market for collection only? Sounds like you know what you want, all you need is a bass chatter going to Jersey to collect something and a bit of luck?

And even if the chassis does have some flex as long as it has been factored in thats ok too.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1413222251' post='2576038'] Well, this is a remarkably calm and well-behaved thread. Usually when this subject is breached it all goes horribly tits-up fairly quickly. Well done, everyone! [/quote] All in good time

Even if we did know one mans "killer top end" is the next guys "I cant cut the treble, tried eveything what can I do?" Thread. Possibly, just possibly a passive bass could be more noticeable but bang a MM pickup and preamp on a lump of pine and it would sound fairly stingrayish even if you needed to cut or boost a bit.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1413197758' post='2575646'] In the case of an electric bass with a preamp... you could string a table up and put the electronics and pickups in it and it would sound pretty much the same as the bass the components came from. Would be a bit of a bastard to play though. [/quote] Was it Bernie Goodfellow that said the woods do make a difference but no two are the same even from the same type of wood so you can't 'spec' a type of wood for a type of tone making the whole argument basically a non starter? He said he doesn't know what it will sound like until he plugs it in didn't he? And the best sounding bass he made was made from pieces of scrap wood glued together for shits and giggles!

I always took a spare bass to every gig for years partly for multiple tunings, five strings removed that issue but I still took a spare but now I have the DB on most gigs it's too much to carry an extra electric bass really,I have strings for DB and normal bass, batteries, tools etc in my bag though. The funny thing now is with class D heads taking a spare amp has become easier than taking a spare bass!

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1413193851' post='2575579'] Absolutely not. I've done it in the past and regretted it. People don't give a stuff if they damage your gear, they treat it the same way we treat driving range golf clubs, weights at the gym or supermarket trolleys. I would have offered to have a go at fixing it though as I usually have a soldering iron and a few basic components and tools in my gig bag. And saying that, if it was whoever ridiculed me in the past for having such a comprehensive gig bag and said it was over the top, I would call a c-bomb and tell them to go f-bomb themselves. Same goes for amps, cabs, microphones (that's like wearing someone else's dentures), mic stands, pedals, DI boxes or anything I have to wait around until the end to get back. This applies to strangers and people I have no track record with, there are a select few that I'd be happy to lend stuff to but not my main basses. One the plus side, I will and do help out loads if folk are decent and in a pickle, for example: I will try to fix your leads, sockets, pots etc. I won't touch your amps though. I'll help you lift and carry as I always have a trolley. I'll make tea. Oh, yes, I excel at this. I'll give you a lift if it's it not too far out of the way. I'll take your mate to hospital after he fell and gashed his head. You can borrow my tuner for your initial tune up but after that it's back in my gig bag. I will even make you an impromptu strap out of cardboard, nylon string and gaffer tape because you're not borrowing mine. (Actually done this twice and they're pretty good). I will also give you unlimited free advice on how to be a proper, responsible band member who doesn't have to go scubbing stuff cos your ill-prepared. We live in an age where good gigging gear is cheap and the know-how for fixing and maintaining gear is freely available so there's little excuse for the vast majority of imposition upon strangers that I see out there. [/quote] I do all of this too but you know the first time you leave home without a spare bass the Jack socket is going to go mid song, lets hope you don't meet yourself coming the other way.

I don't think it's fair to demand that a young player in an originals band takes a spare bass to every gig, I only had one bass when I was starting out and I know lots of people here still take one bass on a gig. If he had turned up empty handed I'd have laughed in his face but a faulty Jack socket mid gig could happen to any of us, I'd have lent him a bass this time although the five string still gets me out of being asked as does the upright when these things occur.

That's quite a string after length! Same ergonomics as a ricky

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1413124300' post='2575089'] Nice chatty girls...... and attractive though... [/quote] [quote name='wGraham' timestamp='1413124461' post='2575090'] Wasn't an Irish bar was it? [/quote] It may or may not have been the White Horse near Kings Cross Station, lol

The guys playing/singing along to backing tracks in my local village pub sometimes have a tips jar, we turned up late one week as he was winding down so we threw in a few quid each and he played for another half hour, he was good and appeared to enjoy playing to people who were actually watching him compared to when we arrived.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1413020618' post='2574181'] I've been in bars where a pint glass goes round and everyone puts a pound in, but there wasn't any live music as far as I can recall! [/quote] I've been to one of those pubs, I waited all night for the band to come on and just kept putting another pound in the pint glass, we even went back the week after and stayed in there all night just to double check