mcnach

[quote name='clashcityrocker' timestamp='1390582971' post='2347270'] So if the,I assume fender,pick guards fit around the neck snug it looks hopeful the neck pocket will be similar, fancy a blue one to stick my CV jazz rosewood neck on you see. Mmmmm [/quote] Yes, it does look like a Fender sized neck would fit. I actually like the neck on the J&D except for the slightly sharp fret ends. I wish it had no binding... but what can you do? One thing I like about maple fingerboards is having black fret markers on the side on a pale background. When you have black binding, I lose that.

[quote name='Lee Carter' timestamp='1390577460' post='2347147'] Which would you say is the closest to the actual colour? [/quote] Probably the one with the white pickguard, but it's still not quite correct. It's somewhere between the white and the tortoiseshell, but closer to the white.

a few pictures, without pickguard, and with various ones overlayed... I think I actually like it without, despite the wider routing on the neck pickup. the auto colour correction is a bit annoying, but...

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1303138872' post='1203737'] Well, it arrived and was installed: I posted about my first impressions here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=132430"]John East P-Retro on Squier CV series Precision bass[/url] [/quote] I can't believe I sold that bass, what was I thinking?

well, I received mine today. Beautiful. The green is a bit more "yellow" than I wished, I would have liked it more if it were a more faded tone... I guess I'll have to keep it by the window and wait a few decades But it is pretty. One cosmetic thing that annoys me: if you're going to make a copy, can't you measure the original a little better? This one is like the Westfield Jazz in that the control plate (and the end of the pickguard) is farther from the edge than it should, which -to me- looks a bit disturbing (ocd?)... as it looks right, but something is not quite right and it's hard to pinpoint. UNtil you find what it is. Then you see it all the time. Considering I bought this for esthetics mostly, it's a bit disappointing. But only a bit. My first impression upon unboxing it is that it seemed very well made. The finish is good, it feels solid... It felt a better instrument than the Squier VM Jazz I used to have... except for the fret ends and the scratchy pots. And the nut. But those are pretty minor details really considering this costs about £160 or so less than the VM Jazz. The fret ends are a little sharp. It's not terrible, I will not cut myself with it, but it's not nice either. I'll have to get a file and spend some time on them, carefully. The nut just looks a little rough, but it's well cut on my bass. The A string has not been wound well so it barely angles at the nut, so it rattles a bit there. I'll rewind it as I think there's enough room to wind it down and create enough of a break angle to remove the rattle. I actually like the strings it came with! So if I can wind the A properly, the strings are staying. I plugged it in... slightly scratchy pots, all of them. It doesn't seem bad... I think contact cleaner will fix it. The action was high on mine as I took it from the box, but I played it a bit as it was, after tuning it (it was almost in tune, but one semitone down). Punchy. These pickups are not weedy at all. Both pickups on sounds unmistakeably Jazz, with enough of a scoop but not so much that loses definition. The pickups were very well balanced on this bass. I decided to adjust the relief, as there was too much. I turned the truss rod about 1/2 - 3/4 of a turn. The result was immediate, nice action without fret buzz all over the fretboard as far as I could tell... Nice. The saddles turned out to be adjusted just right and the intonation was good as far as I could measure with my basic tuner, so I guess this bass had been set up like this, and then the truss rod loosened as I don't think the wood would have changed so much by climate alone. It now plays very nicely. I could bring the action a bit lower perhaps, so that it "clacks" when I dig in hard, but it feels goos as is. I'm not in love with the neck pickup sound... but the bridge one is really good! It's meaty, fat, and rolling the tone control a bit irons out the edges beautifully. I'm pretty surprised at this. I had a set of Fender pickups in my drawer that I though I might use here, if I liked the bass... but no need. Nice slap tone as well. The tone control has a nice range, all positions are useful, bit it does not get too dark. Perhaps a different cap would be nice if you want deeper tones (thing reggae), but as it is it's a great funk machine. Like all the other "70s inspired" Jazz basses that have come out lately, the bridge pickup it's at the "60s" position... But that's cool by me, as I am not sure I like the 70s position much, as I feel the pickup is a bit too close to the bridge and the tone a bit too thin. I wonder who makes these basses. The headstock and finish is very reminiscing of SX. I am not sure they had the control plate farther from the edge than normal... but Westfield basses had, and I was also surprised at the pickups on the Westfield Jazz I used to have (I still sort of have it, it's with my brother). For £119, pretty good! In fact, if someone had spent a little time with a file sorting out the edges before selling it, I would think it clearly deserves a price tag of around £300-350. I think it's a bargain, even if you don't do anything about the fret ends. I removed the pickguard to have a look, as it had been reported that the routing of the neck pickup was neat. Well, it isn't. I was a bit disappointed there as I was considering using it without a pickguard. The routing does have the pickup shape, with the ears and all... but it's oversized. A little oversize is ok. This is *quite* oversized. Still, it looks a lot better than the usual rectangular routing. I think I will get rid off the black pickguard. White looks good. Tortoiseshell is not bad at all either. Or... maybe a strange anodised cyan pickguard I bought a while ago but never used... going with the "sea foam" marine theme I'll post pictures later. I don't need this bass, at all. But it looks awesome and I have pedals that I barely use that cost a lot more... When I was a kid, a budget instrument meant you had an instrument that was decidedly inferior. Now I buy a budget instrument and I'm just being picky about fret ends and pots being a little scratchy, all stuff that can be fixed easily. Lucky kids today, eh? edit: scratchy pots are gone. All I did was turn them up and down fast for a few seconds, and it went away. How long it'll stay scratch-free? who knows? But whatever the dirt was must have been little and not really stuck. I brought the action a bit lower, and it's smoother and still buzz free I still like these strings!

[quote name='tom1946' timestamp='1390508169' post='2346276'] I just used a fine file, VERY carefully then shielded the board and wire woolled the fret tops. works for me, they are better than they were. [/quote] what kind of file? (coarseness) I don't have one, and I think I should get one.

[quote name='Immo' timestamp='1390510841' post='2346320'] No direct distribution, I'd need to order it from the site linked in the OP, however it's a bit risky and, of course, we have ridiculous tax policy recently, those freakin' bloodsuckers would take a last penny from a woman dying of hunger and trying to save her baby from gangrene. Maybe later [/quote] tax? I thought there was no import tax between EU countries...

... delivered! more later...

[quote name='Toasted' timestamp='1390409742' post='2345143'] Careful, heretic. [/quote] well, it *is* black (don't start, please )

attempted delivery... missed it. tic tac...

[quote name='Salt on your Bass?' timestamp='1390402046' post='2344996'] Yeah, plus 1 to the midget. It adds a great level of 'growl' to a compact and I think it would be exactly what you're looking for if you consider the Compact to be dark. Righteous rig that, loved mine when I was running it. [/quote] The midget gets lots of love I see. Hey, happy to see that, it's cheaper and lighter too I thought of it but figured the BB2 would be a bit more "oomphy". Hmm.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1390398890' post='2344930'] I'd also ask Alex. [/quote] well, I have a feeling he may be a little biased (and he may be right, but...)

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1390400833' post='2344981'] Does your neighbour play bass? I had a vision of her bringing your bass over and her saying 'It played fine, but I filed the nut and took a bit of relief out of the neck and now it's awesome'. [/quote] maybe I should teach her

I want to get a second cab to complement my Barefaced Compact (2nd gen). It will have to be 8ohm. When using both cabs, I'll most likely be using a Markbass LMIII. The Compact is nice, but a little on the dark side. I'm looking for something that has enough "oomph" and is a bit more "clear" and prominent on the midrange. Oh, and I want to keep it reasonably small (up to BF compact size or so) and *light*. Yes, I care about it being light. Bite me. I'm looking at 3 posibilities, but I'm open to others... I wonder what the collective wisdom and experience here says. The three options I have here are all in the same price range, roughly. 1) Barefaced Big Baby 2 1x12" 56 x 45 x 37cm H,W,D (stacks nicely on the Compact) 13Kg (light!) not the nicest handles, but at 13Kg not an issue. 97db 30Hz - 20KHz timescale: 3-months wait or so? returns: 30-day trial, easy. 2) Schroeder 1210 1x12" + 1x10" 60 x 48 x 41cm (stacks perfectly on the compact) 17Kg (reasonable) handles are not very comfortable 102db 40Hz - 18KHz timescale: 2-weeks + shipping from USA (air freight) returns: not practical, too expensive (USA) 3) Vanderkley 210MNT 2x10" 50 x 50 x 41 (stacks nicely, just 2cm wider than the Compact) 17Kg (reasonable) great comfy handles 100db 45Hz - 16KHz timescale: in stock, UK (Bass Direct) returns: at least 7 days, I have not checked further. I have not tried any of them and I'm not likely to be able to try before I buy... I like my mids... think "fingerstyle funk" with a Stingray or Jazz on bridge pickup alone (in the latter case, with a J-Retro preamp fattening up the bottom end a bit). The lazy guy in me wants to go BF, but what I hear about the Schroeder and VdK cabs makes me think they're probably a very good option... and 4 more Kg won't kill me, especially with a nice handle. The grip on the VdK has a cylindrical cross-section and I find those nice when carrying weight. The ones on the Schroeder these days look a lot like the ones on the TCE RS210, flattened, and they dig in my hand after a bit (I have soft hands, ok? ) decisions, decisions...

Mine will be delivered today, the tracking says "out for delivery" but it looks like I will not be in on time... Sometimes my neighbour picks parcels for me, if she's in... here's hoping. If not I'll just ask them to leave it at the depot for me to collect, which will mean Friday. tom1946 will beat me then

My green J&D will be delivered tomorrow...

I know these guys: [url="http://www.musicforscotland.co.uk/artistDetail.aspx?artistID=133"]http://www.musicforscotland.co.uk/artistDetail.aspx?artistID=133[/url] the guitarist, drummer and singer play with me in the Richt Hoat Chillis. This is their wedding band, with another bass player, and they are very good and entertaining... I may be a little biased because I know them... but I can't really think of a better "wedding band", not just because of their musicianship, but because of their personalities. Great fun, but they know how to behave.

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1390290242' post='2343527'] I also know the venue you are referring to. I hate that cab, all I ever get is rumble and clack from the tweeter. I could never get it loud enough to hear myself without over powering everything else on stage I just bring my 15" cab and amp and sit them on top of their cab so that mine is at ear level. In fact we'll be there on Thursday for the 9.30 slot. [/quote] The problem with that cab is that because of the depth of the stage (or lack thereof) you end up with the speaker right by your arse, which can emit sounds but is pretty crap at hearing. That's why I now love putting my 12" combo on top as well. Lower sound onstage and everything is clearer.

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1390035203' post='2340654'] Despite what is evidently a lot of variation in the efficiency of amps and cabs, I think a bit of common sense has to be used with wattage ratings. Whilst in [i]some [/i]situations and [i]some [/i]styles of music 30w might be enough, you only have to look at what most players are using in most situations to know that it [i]probably[/i] won't be. I'm not for one second suggesting that the folks who have gigged with 30w are not getting great tone and volume for their needs, and I'm sure that they, their bands and their punters are very happy with that tone and volume, simply that the folks who can gig successfully with 30w are in the minority in terms of the types of music and venues they're playing. [/quote] I once played an outdoor gig with a 30W Gorilla bass amp. I was DI'd, of course, and I could not really hear myself on stage It was an interesting gig... which turned annoying when the police arrived and the "organisers" asked [b]me[/b] to turn down my amp because I was too loud True story!!!

I just hope they don't come out with one in shell pink too

[quote name='tom1946' timestamp='1390203288' post='2342466'] I ordered one on saturday after reading about them, can't go wrong for that money. [/quote] ah, we're sooo bad! mine has already been shipped

[quote name='thebassman' timestamp='1390241544' post='2343061'] Yeah, sorry to go OT. [/quote] Hey! get your own thread!!! (nah, it's ok really). It's interesting how many more people own the 112MNT or 112EXT and 212MNT compared to the 210MNT! It turns out I may be getting a Schroeder 1210L after all... hmmm. Decisions decisions.

[quote name='funky8884' timestamp='1390226164' post='2342777'] Hi Mcnach, regarding the Shroeder Cab you can contact Jorg directly via email and he will reply ultra promptly ! My Schroeder arrived today and I can't wait to give it a go. [/quote] Thanks! I already emailed him