mcnach

whoa, that's a beast! (in a very good way)

I've had the little purple envelope filter for a few years and it's pretty good on both bass and guitar

I used one for a while. As a stage monitor it was fantastic, but I found I needed a second cab for small bar gigs with no PA (6-7 piece with horns). For what you describe you'll probably be ok. I'd consider the 15" CMD version or the Jeff Berlin combo if the size were still suitable. They're only a big bigger but the output of those is remarkable. The Jeff Berlin model in particular sounds much bigger than its size would suggest.

Not the MB-4, but I got an MB-5 and the PB-20. Anything in particular you're wondering?

It occurred to me looooooong after I had needed a solution like that. It seems obvious once you think of it, but it took a while for it to be obvious to me I had my H2 at work as a colleague was thinking of getting a small recorder, and I had my headphones plugged in, set it to record mode... and I could hear people talking down the corridor very clearly (it can be a nice spying device 😛 ) and a few weeks later I finally made the connection to using it onstage. First I took it to practice and the clarity was better than using my usual ACS earplugs even if my buds were not great at isolating. I bought a bunch of tips on eBay, different materials and sizes, and found a comply tip that felt comfortable and provided very good isolation. I think this is very important: unless you have a good seal you will not get very good results. In fact, you might be tempted to turn up the volume so that you can hear better... which is what I was trying to avoid in the first place! Your solution sounds good, you can keep adding small levels of sophistication The 2 mic idea is cool. I bought a pair of Behringer C2 (little condenser mics, they can be a bit noisy compared to proper good quality studio mics, but for this purpose they'd work well... I must try that, thank you for the tip!) Yes, I am in Edinburgh (Little France way), been here since November 1999. It was supposed to be only 3 years... but this city grabs you and doesn't let you go. The weather reeks but the people are too nice and it's too much fun here edit: I have also considered using a compressor/limiter to give me a little extra peace of mind, but I didn't research this part well. Just another thing to consider.

Ah, nice!!! As much as I am also not a fan of pearloid, the blue JJ looks very good. Tort looks fine to me on the sunburst, and the white even... but I agree, on the blue it just looks odd.

One thing that I used sometimes and worked surprisingly well (although obviously it won't compete in sound quality with a proper system) was a Zoom H2 recorder onstage plus a minimixer and the Behringer P1 above. I used the H2 in record mode without pressing record: that allowed me to use the H2 as a microphone (and it sounds quite good!) to get the 'stage sound' through it into the mini mixer set on my amp. Then I had a feed from my bass (pedalboard) into the mixer as well, and the output of the mixer into my P1. With a pair of good fitting earbuds that provided sufficient isolation, I get to control the overall volume and balance the stage sound with my bass from teh pedalboard. It's not very sophisticated but it sounded quite decent and while not very loud in my ears I still got the 'thump' from the drums and my amp onstage, so it was quite fun. It's a relatively cheap option independent of anybody else or any additional equipment, so you can use it anywhere. I believe @Dood used a similar approach in the past, maybe he has additional comments on this as I think he used it more than I have.

Yup. It will not look cool, but I frankly would not give a flying flip if they're blasting my ears.

No, I don't think you're overthinking it, your ears (your health) is far more important than any gig. I would need to be able to control at least the overall volume going into my ears. Getting your own mix would be ideal, but at the very least I'd want control over the volume in my in-ears. And make sure the buds you use seal properly and isolate you as much as possible. Customs are a good way to achieve that, but until you get those I'd try a range of tips to identify a set that works for you. The 'comply' memory foam ones tend to be pretty decent, just get the correct size for your ear canal. I've got one of these Behringer P1 units, they're pretty cheap. You can put whatever mix you get given through it and control the volume yourself. At the very least use something like that. https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0AZM

Beast. I liked the JJ, but I like the JP even better. Nicer pickups and the passive electronics are simple but they do just what I need it to do. Filed the nut slots a tiny bit as they were a bit too tall to allow a nice even lowish action, adjusted the truss rod (nice and smooth, and that little rod is handy) and saddles a tiny bit... and away you go. Not exactly a classic Precision sound (pickup is 2cm closer to the neck than standard), but it would still be recognised as Precisionesque for sure. Nice growl to it. It's also a pretty light bass for 5 strings (8.5 lbs) as I mentoned earlier. It just needs some shielding which is absent in any meaningful way. What I thought was conductive paint is just some kind of primer I guess, not conductive. But that's easy enough to fix. That pickguard needs to go 'though. I don't get why it's so popular I'll get a single ply black instead.

This is not going to be a great demo, exactly, but it's the only recording I've got so far. This is the JJ, with a foam mute. It's still very much a work in progress using a click track, ignore the horns, they're little more than placeholders right now. It'll be done better. The bassline is extremely simple with just this one sound which is dark and devoid of a lot of nuance, so not much of a demo , so more of a "it looks like a £180 bass can be ok straight out the box". Hopefully I'll get better examples in the near future. https://www.dropbox.com/s/y0vg9ghf0pitrf7/220506 - Summer wind so far.mp3?dl=0 MP3

I was looking at the Nordstrand Big Split 5 (EMG40 size) which look like a nice option too. Some route expansion needed, but with a couple of sharp chisels and taking it very slow it should not be too hard. It's another option I'm considering, since I'm the same: I don't need it to be very Jazz-like. I have just got the JP-55OP, and I'm liking it more than the JJ. Ok, part of it is the weight, it's only 8.5 lbs, which to me is as light as I could ever hope a 5 string like this to be, and it adds to the comfortable feeling. But the pickups are different too and I'm really liking the Precision pickup. I always see PJ basses essentially as a Precision with the option of bringing in some of the neck pickup sometimes. I never use the bridge alone, so I just adjust its height to the point it sounds best to me when blended equally, and it's important that the P sound is good, so from that point of view I'm very pleased and have no urge to replace anything. The P pickup is 2cm closer to the neck than it would be on a typical Precision. It still has that Precision 'bark'', when you hear it you know it is some kind of Precision, but it's a bit darker/smoother. I wish it were at the standard position, but it's a good sound. Pickups look alnico of some sort looking at the polepieces, while the JJ's are ceramic. Comparing the bridge alone on both basses, the JP one has a bit more grunt and it's a sound I could find a use for with a little added low end, while I'd never use the bridge alone on the JJ (much like I do on any Jazz, really, I find the bridge too thin), but the two J pickups together have that classic Jazz sound, so that's cool. Everything build-wise is much like the JJ, I can't fault it. The JP is passive, and the simple electronics suit the bass well. Maybe one day I'll put a Tonestyler on it, I really like those, but honestly the passive tone control does what I want it to do. Like on the JJ, shielding is just not a thing, apparently. Easy to fix, 'though. Just like on every Harley Benton bass I've had my hands on new, the nut is cut slightly tall. I am thinking that's by design now. I'm always a bit wary when I get a bass that out of the box seems to be prepared to play with highish action (the stock strings are very compliant, so it doesn't feel hard even at high action), as it can hide a multitude of fretwork sins... but when you adjust it for lower action it responds well and no fretbuzz to speak of. I only filed down the nut slots a tiny bit, so it's not quite there but the action is now fine for me. I like a medium action with enough relief so that when I did hard I don't get excessive fret noise, but not too high that it compromises my slap (which is not amazing on a good day... I learnt enough to play in a RHCP tribute band for 5-6 years, but while I can copy others it's not a technique I feel I can use very well using my own ideas, and I'm worse on a 5 string). Not a fan of tortoiseshell effects or pearloid, so I need to do something about those ugly pickguards (going for black single ply on the JP, or just vinyl wrap)... but overall I think they're pretty nice looking, the feel/balance is very good (if this is Aria's original design... well done, Aria, it's not a small body but it's shaped in such way that it feels small), the build is very good and only the electronics are a bit 'meh' in the case of the JJ. I have no complaints whatsoever about the JP. I like that they come with this nice little rod to turn the truss rod wheel. I've been using a small screwdriver for years on my Stingray, and it's fine, but this rod fits better which is a nice touch. This is the JP-55OP:

By the way, the JP55OP arrived today. Nice and light (8.5 lbs!). Different pickups to the JJ (JJ look ceramic judging by the polepieces, JP look alnico of some sort) and passive... and I prefer it to the JJ. Once again the nut is cut a little tall so you can't get the lowest action until that's done, and hopefully the frets are reasonably levelled. Just like the JJ, everything seems well built, smooth fret ends, plays well out of the box, and tonally it's a nice PJ. The P pickup is 2cm closer to the neck than on a regular Precision, but the sound from that pickup is unmistakeably that of some kind of Precision, with a nice growl. I'm done buying basses for a while now but Harley Benton is now definitely on my radar as a brand to definitely consider next time I want some other kind of bass.

@crazycloud I double-checked and the dimensions of the Delano 'AS' sized pickups match those in the JJ55OP. It's not just the overall width, but also the distance between the mounting screws: edit: the original is of decent resolution, but once embedded here it may be hard to read. You can download the image and open separately, or just zoom in within your browser (typically pressing Ctrl and + until the desired zoom level is reached). You can also view the PDF here (page 2): https://www.delano.de/downloads/jc_jcas_neck_bridge.pdf

Only listened to the first track "Armee der Tristen" and I really like it. It does have a vibe of being written according to a formula, but it's a formula I quite like! As for entry points, @ead, I second what @Barking Spiders said: Sehnsucht and Mutter would be my choices. Probably starting with Mutter, since "Feuer Frei!" is one of my favourites from all albums.

5 string JP received. It weighs 8.5 lbs!

My 5 string JJ is 9.8 lbs. Not exactly superlight but not crazy for a 5-string. I expect the 4 string ones to be a bit lighter. The balance/feel is very good, it's a really nice design and with a nice padded strap I find it more comfortable than many other lighter basses I've got... but the weight is still 9.8 lbs. I'm waiting for another 5 string, a JP. I'll report back when I get it (hopefully tomorrow, if not early next week). edit: arriving tomorrow, just got an email from DHL

What's the meaning of that verb, 'need'? I'll send the measurements tomorrow, I won't be near the bass today.

Earthing the magnets usually solves this. When they're not accessible, as in your case, it becomes more a matter of avoiding touching the polepieces. I have used clear nail varnish to put a thin coat on the offending poles and that works (and it won't be visible).

Too easy sometimes. But look, after these I really don't feel the need to get any more 5 string basses, so it's actually SAVING me money as I won't be saving for more expensive ones (don't say anything, let me believe)

That one looks more like the Comfort strap. I nearly bought that one because of the extra width, as 3" was narrower than any of the others I was considering, but I thought I already have a Comfort strap so I'd try the other one (and I like it better than the Comfort one, but both are good). They also make another kind, thinner but still wide with a layer of neoprene 'studs'. It looks nearly identical to an Ibanez brand strap I also have, and it is light and wide but it offers very little grip (my 'stage clothes' are often too smooth and 'silky'). They're all good, but I feel -for me and my circumstances- the one in the OP is my preferred choice. Any of these are a nice improvement over the usual 2" nylon types. Please share your thoughts when you receive yours

There may be something internally. It would make sense as I don't think any kind of foam on its own would be resilient enough, you just can't see or feel it so I guess it must be inside. Construction details aside, it's solid and there's nothing digging on your shoulder, just 3" of dense foam-like material covered in some kind of fabric.

I'm sure there's an app for that but I didn't try it yet

Yes, it's pretty dense, not like the stuff on pillows etc. I wouldn't call it memory foam myself (if you squeeze it, it returns straight away) but I'm not a foam expert I justcompared it to my neoprene comfort strap which has a nylon strap for support and this (Lekato) is denser, using a very scientific method: pinch between thumb and index finger My oldest Lekato strap is about 14 months now, used nearly every day and still as good as new.

I have both the dark reddish one and the black one. The middle bit is just decoration on the front. The foam covers the full 3".