mcnach

In a passive cab (so, anything we're talking about here), if there are multiple sockets, they are wired in parallel. There ARE exceptions... but they are very rare. Always worth checking but I really don't know of any modern cab that's not wired in parallel. If an amplifier has multiple speaker outputs, the same story. So you can treat all the sockets the same. Connect your amp to one cab, then use the spare socket in that cab (or a spare socket in the amp if you had one) and connect that to a second cab. Everything is in parallel.

It's not depth, mostly... it's the *angle*, and we're talking minute angles.

I fixed that for you

Yes, I am saying exactly that. Just check the figures, or even use a crude dynamometer to check it yourself before dismissing it as rubbish The strings (typically) don't have the same tension, the treble end tends to be at higher tension than the lower end. Going BEAD (typically) makes this more even, if anything! A neck constructed from properly dried wood, using the right cut (fibre orientation) is a pretty solid thing that resists pretty well against imbalanced string tension, fortunately, as we've observed for decades on steel stringed instruments. But wood is variable and sometimes stinky poo happens... However, tuning BEAD (say using 125-65 gauges) is actually less stressful for a neck than tuning EADG (105-45), for most strings.

I don't know about that. Mass produced bolt-on instruments often have shims in place during initial set-up at the factory. If you were handcrafting each instrument making sure it matched its neck, no, you wouldn't expect a shim in the end. But those instruments would not sell for the price they currently sell if they required the extra attention. A shim, that you cannot even tell is there unless you remove the neck and look, is not exactly a sign of a poor instrument, to me. But... I have a feeling of deja-vu

There's quite a bit of variation, 'though. The Rotosound Tru Bass were the most "double bassy" ones I've tried. The D'Addario ones not so much, and the Labella whites even less. I had the Tru Bass ones on a fretless Precision and they were very 'woody' indeed. The Labella whites on a Jazz are more like duller rounds with a little extra 'thud' on tap.

They do feel different to other strings and it's a matter of personal taste whether you like that or not, but with regards to punch/sustain/thud... I think it must depend on the actual strings or the bass or both. Right now I have my Jazz with Labella white nylon tapewounds... and it's a monster. It's not as bright as roundwounds, but there's plenty of top end if you want it, and it sounds great slapped. Very meaty, fat but well defined, beatiful low mids... The plastic feel is a bit odd at first, but I got used to it quickly and the sound/feel makes up for it. My girlfriend has been playing bass for a couple of years and we were on a quest to find the right strings for her. She decided the Labellas were the best and that's what she wants. Of course... she'd choose the most expensive strings I have. She could have chosen any of the multiple sets I've got by Fender, D'Addario, Rotosound, Warwick... nah, not even DRs, she went straight to those that cost nearly £50 a set. She'd better not change her mind, for I gave her my last set!

If you want dirt cheap... on AliExpress they have some for $5-$10 (yes, that little)... I tried one and it definitely does the job. edit: I can't vouch for their longevity 'though mine worked when I sold the bass...

The discussions I was referring to all implied changing gauges. It was indeed checking the D'Addario PDF that states the tension for all their strings that I first realised the tension would actually be a bit lower (for my chosen string gauges) and if anything I'd have to loosen up the truss rod a bit.

I haven't had the chance to try a Harley Benton but I have also heard good things. I owned a J&D in surf green that looked identical to the bottom picture you posted (many people have compared hB with J&D suggesting they may be the same instruments, rebadged by either Thomann in Germany (HB) or someone else in the UK for J&D... Either way, the J&D was £119 and was the sweetest Jazz I've had... once I set it up. That was the downside: poorly cut nut (A slot was also too low and the string rattled, so it needed a new nut), sharp frets and a couple tall frets at the treble end... once I dealt with that, which didn't take long, it was fantastic. The pickups were slightly microphonic on mine, which surprised me (I thought microphonic pickups were a thing of the past now) but they sounded so nice that I just put up with it. I gigged with it no problem. If it weren't because I had to downsize and I'm more of a Precision/Stingray player, that bass would still be with me. I sometimes consider buying another!

Thank you! You hear so many wrong advice like "oh, watch that neck with the extra tension if you tune BEAD rather than EADG" etc... when you typically get quite noticeable lower tension. That, despite so many threads complaining about flabby B strings. You'd think people put 1+1 together

I wouldn't say that a shim may be required to make it 'playable'... but it can be something that improves playability noticeably.

Ah, I hadn't read this before I posted my previous reply. Exactly: adding a shim is a perfectly normal thing to do.

No need to remove neck? What if you decide to alter the neck angle with a shim? That's not exactly an unusual procedure on bolt-on guitars... I think it would be obvious that the repair to the neck pocket is not recent. They should (hopefully) be ok with it...

True. But when they came out people were raving at how loud they were! Remember? I had an RH450 for a couple of years or so. I didn't love it but it wasn't because it wasn't loud. That goes to show how little an extra 100 or even 200W matter, compared to other factors, and how "wasteful" the very low low end is.

That's beautiful! I bought the cream one but it took me a while to decide... black/maple is so...

I'm a fan of the Multidrive. Very cool thick overdrive tones can be obtained with that one. The Joyo Ultimate Overdrive was a pleasant surprise. It is quite versatile and covers quite a lot of ground. I didn't notice any low end loss. The one thing that puts me off is that on mine *sometimes* there's a little pop when engaging or disengaging. It could be just my pedal doing that...

Thank you Yeah, it's got to be fun, we don't make enough money to put up with the whole thing if it weren't

To me the semiparametric mids on the D800+ is a nice touch but I didn't need it. I found the D800 nice, but a little 'dark'. The D800+ has a 'bright' switch which stays on permanently in mine and gives it a character that I like a lot, before I touch the EQ. Turning up treble on the D800 just wasn't doing it. Now, the D800+ has a built-in adjustable High Pass Filter, which is its secret weapon, to me. The thing I love the most about the D800+ is that I can get fat, well defined lows without being boomy/overpowering. Playing a little with the voicing and HPF controls, and adjusting the bass EQ gets me a really nice sound easily. I cannot describe it better than that... The D800 was ok for me but didn't give me GAS. I am very happy with the D800+, however.

I once played a 'festival' gig out in a forest "amps will be provided". When I arrived, they pointed me towards a tiny tiny tiny 30W Gorilla practice amp in the corner. The sound onstage was... well, very difficult. I put the thing on a chair on top of a box so that it could point more towards my ears and I still could barely hear the thing. However, it did have a line-out which they used to send a signal to the desk, and out there in the field the bass was mighty. Yes, it can be done, but if you rely on it for stage monitoring it can be difficult. Not that this is an issue for the OP, of course.

Will you use them with the D800? Really curious to hear what you think about the result I hope the thunder tower doesn't topple over easily!

Really??? That's a shame if true. I still have two of those... I guess I will hold on to them as I'm sure I'll find some use for them in the future. I tend to replace the covers 'though, as I'm not a fan of labels on pickup covers:

Well, it made sense to me! Yes, I have a day job (for now! :D) and the cash was there, I also gig frequently (57 times in 2017, as I found out the other day), so it's worth my using something that feels better to be and gig fees quickly absorbe the extra costs... but if I had to use an LM3 for the rest of my days I would not cry either.

I used Nordstrand MM4.2 and Seymour Duncan SMB4A pickups on my OLPs and I don't remember any issues. edit: hmm, but I also tended to use replacement MusicMan pickguards. Although on one of the basses I kept the original pickguard, and worked fine with the Seymour Duncan. I think whatever you go for should fit or maybe require very minor sanding of the pickguard route to make any pickup fit.

Oh yes, that probably helped a lot. I can't remember what gauge I have on my Stingray, but it's either a 100 or 105 for the E, I suspect it's a 100 (I had various sets of each, and I can only find one set now, and several of 105)