Lozz196

Sounded more like a turbo charged Flea to me. Shame, I reckon backing off of the gain a fair bit and playing a Ricky that might just get a fairly decent Lemmy sound.

Slightly different for me, I was going to treat myself to a Fender 51 Reissue Precision on my 51st, but for some reason never got round to it.

Played there a good few times myself back then, what band were you in?

I`ve flitted between using both, but found that for gigging on the originals circuit it`s easier to have amp-head & cab, as gear-shares mean carrying an amp head to gigs with a provided cab is easier than carrying a combo to a gig with a provided cab, which I can`t use anyway.

Yep, love Tech21 products as well, congrats on the new amp.

This is interesting, I`ve always cut my strings to 10cm to allow for two windings around the tuning peg, however a couple of weekends ago put a set of Warwick Red Labels on my Mex Precision and a rattle/buzzing was coming from the E string, although only when played open. I took a look over on Talkbass as there seemed to be more threads on similar issues and the common theme was especially on Fenders cut to allow 3 windings on the E & A string if there wasn`t a string retainer to guide the string as far down as possible. So I put a new string on, cut to 15cm/3 windings and rozam-kobar, sorted. Must say however, I`ve had many other types of strings on that Mex Precision but have only experienced this on the Warwicks. But now I know, not an issue, I have a string retainer on all other strings so will just remember, 10cm for A/D/G, 15cm for E.

Not played one but heard a bassist using one a fe weeks back, teamed with a Precision and a bit of grind it sounded really good.

I think there`s also the question to be posed, how many who just use bass/amp are those that use a different array of amps/cabs/combos as provided gear on a regular basis, where they don`t know what gear will be provided until they actually get there? Do you still rely on this gear to get the sound you want?

Well both Duff and Steve Harris use Seymour Duncan pickups, Duff has a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack Jazz bridge pickup, so it may be worth looking at the neck version of this pickup for your bass. They`re much fuller in the sound than a regular Jazz pickup, and hum-cancelling too which is always a bonus with Jazz pickups. Sort a KiOgon wiring loom off of here and do the install yourself - John makes excellent products which are easy to fit, I`m testament to this, as if I can fit one pretty much anyone can. I think that may be as near as you can get, as with all of those mentioned, they do have a split Precision pickup, which putting one of those in would possibly require extra routing by a luthier.

If I were to use a generic Precision sound then I would, however as the sound I use is pretty specific and not obtainable from many amps (I can get it from my own amp) I have a preamp/DI pedal in the chain to get it. As such it`s easier to always have the preamp in the chain and get the sound from that, even if using my own amp, just makes setting up more standardised.

Re this, the ones I`ve had have never worked on the low E at gigs, too much background noise have affected the performance, so over to the TC, is it good for all strings in gigging conditions?

I`d say the correct way to play is the way that is easiest for the individual to obtain the sound/lines/feeling they require. I`m sure my very ham-fisted technique is very wrong in the theory book, but it gets what I need for my band, so to me it`s the correct way for mine and my bands needs.

The US Standards of 2012 - 16 had a surprising handful of a neck for a Jazz. Still the same width but a definate chunk in the hand, much deeper than any other Jazz I`ve tried. I`m similar, I like a decent sized neck and these were the only Jazzes I`ve felt comforable on.

Thanks for the update @geoham, I`ve been looking for some pickups to get near the sound of my US Fenders - the actual pickups that come in them are £120+, and I`ve had two dodgy ones where I`ve had to return them for replacements, so my faith in the aftermarket ones is pretty much zero. Like you I`ve found that the stock MIMs are harsher on the top end compared to the US pickups, seems like these Toneriders will fit the bill quite nicely.

If you don`t need really sharp highs then those 7250Ms should work fine, they give a real good Precision sound. I love them but they`re just not sharp enough for what I do in my band, but for the traditional Precision sound, well you can see why Fender ship their basses with them on, great sounding strings.

Not used those, tried Fat Beams and wasn`t overkeen to be honest, there was just something in the sound that I couldn`t identify, but just didn`t like.

I`ve found the ABM410s to be a bit "boomy" and lack definition, so have had the port on mine blocked off, and put speaker-wadding in the cab. It now performs exactly like I want it to - their 610s & 810s, both of which I understand are sealed cabs. Now I have a tight, focused sound, and can add in the low end I want.

I think one of the things with KISS is that due to their flamboyance many think they can`t cut it musically. Fair enough, but on some of the tracks I`ve heard - am not a particular fan - when Gene Simmons` basslines have been pointed out, well I think he`s better than given credit for.

Ashdown RM-500 EVO - does the Ashdown sound to a T (well is should really, shouldn`t it), has the Shape button so you`ll get the sound you`re after, and you`ll probably find it to be much louder than the ABM500. I`ve had a couple, used as backups/for rehearsals. In regular pub sized venues I really couldn`t tell much difference at all between it and my current main amp, the ABM600.And in my opinion the RM-500 EVO is more flexible than the ABM500 as well. Only thing is, it`s not that small, won`t fit in a bass case, but get a laptop bag or rucksack and sling that over your shoulder with your RM/leads/pedals in, sorted.

On a similar vein I remember reading an interview with Cliff Williams of AC/DC who said that in the studio he used flats to record with, but live he used rounds for that extra bit of definition.

Yep, found that out a good few years back, had a great on-stage sound, right amount of lows/highs, went out front to check levels, boomy sludge fest.

Pretty much my experience of both, nothing too much bother, happy to chat not just about the products but music in general.

As it says, pretty good deal methinks https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-P-Bass-51-Reissue-With-Case/323202163561?hash=item4b4059a369:g:YG4AAOSwaDZazSNk

Well I reduced from a 1.14mm to a 1.0mm and it has made the difference I wanted. Plus with OCD and all that, they`re blue so they match my Ashdown gear. Which is nice.

Not knowing the CMD102 combo that well I`m assuming from the above that you can disconnect the speakers on it. If so then disconnecting these and plugging in the 410 will essentially "double" your current sound, again with an assumption that the 410 you get will be the same speakers as what are in the CMD, and that the cab is voiced similarly. So that will work. You`d also have the option of plugging in the 410 as well - if it`s an 8ohm cab - so then you`d have the 210 of the combo and the 410 of the cab. The speakers in the combo will effectively be getting twice the power of those in the cab but then they are meant to handle the power of the combo-head anyway, and being that much higher you`ll be able to hear yourself a lot better. The only possible problem I can think of is something called - I think - out of phase coupling, something like that, where the two sets of speakers aren`t working properly together. In all honesty if you like your sound from the CMD, I`d look at getting the matching 210 - you`re doubling up on the same sound, and doing that really makes a difference. I did the same on my old CMD121P, I added the NY121 cab and the silly grin it put on my face was, well, rather silly. It makes a hell of a difference adding in the same cab again.