mcnach

I play all sorts. Most of my gigs involve ska, reggae and funk. But there's some rockier stuff too, not just the RATM band. I find that when I switch to passive, there's a 'clarity' that I really like. I want a passive tone control because I like being able to remove the top end that way, it doesn't mean that's how I always use it. I find the active treble control pretty useless.

March was marking the beginning of what looked like a busy season for me, having only played three gigs since January. But of course, we've had all cancelled with the earliest ones being in May, and those are not safe either. I imagine a lot of the May ones will also be cancelled. We've managed to reschedule many of them starting in September, which should be ok, but anything until June or so is going to be uncertain...

Keep the faith I never had issues with, it was in fact one of the first basslines I ever learnt (after many years as a guitarist, so I was not exactly a newbie). Indeed, using that open D is what makes it sound right without much effort. RHCP's Parallel Universe I struggled sometimes live. Not complicated, but to keep it going thoughout the song... I was doing it fingerstyle and I sometimes just used a pick (like Flea does, I think) to make it easier. One that often trips me up live is the intro to RATM's "Calm like a bomb". It's, again, pretty simple... but I used to forget it when we first started to play it and that left a mark. I can play it with my eyes closed half asleep... but because of its history, I'll often get the guitarist giving me a funny look or the singer might even announce it as my favourite song, putting me on the spot... and then I'll either forget or miss a note or something. Unless you're a RATM fan you might not notice as I just play "a solo bass intro", but not THE solo bass intro I think I'm more likely to fail at the easiest ones. The hard ones I practice. The easy ones I don't, and then I go "hmmm, is this one in Bb or A?" just before we start 😛

I can't speak for others. For me, it's a combination of two things. I didn't love the EQ that this preamp provides. I don't have anything against 2-bands, some work very well for me (Stingray, for example), but this one... the treble control in particular wasn't doing it for me. I like to be able to remove a fair amount from the top, and I really like passive tone controls for that... so between not loving the EQ plus missing a passive control... I will just remove the preamp and make it work passively instead. The way it is set up, it DOES have a passive tone control when in passive mode (the treble control is wired that way) but it's rather subtle. I have been a big fan of *some* preamps, in particular the John East J-Retro/U-Retro and teh MMSR (Stingray, the 3-band with semiparametric mids). But I find the stock on in my Sandberg not suitable for my needs. If it were a 'meh' bass, I'd live with it. But it's a GREAT bass... so I'll just make a great bass even greater (for me).

That sounds really good indeed... Ufff... I need a band in which I can play this kind of stuff :D

You can also drastically change the effect you get with both pickups on by changing the pickup heights. Not just relatively to each other, but if you bring both down or up, keeping them balanced, the mids will be affected differently. It's been a couple of times the difference between me going "ugh" and "oh yes"... Experiment! Nice looking bass.

I play my VM4 in passive form exclusively and I'm about to remove the preamp because I much prefer it that way. I have the stock Sandberg pickup, whatever that is... and if you're looking for classic Precision, this is not it. It's lovely, but it's not the classic P sound. How much that is due to the pickup and how much to the reverse configuration, I am not entirely sure. It definitely has a Precisiony kind of sound, but it's quite different. I also have a reverse P Maruszczyk which is also Precisiony but not quite (although in that case the pickup is a tiny bit closer to the bridge, a Delano of some sort with big polepieces). I think it would complement very well your delicious collection of classic sounding Precisions

Damn, that's good!

Can you post a clip to see what you mean? With/without the effect.

If the singer is right... good riddance. I'm not against helping people who have problems. One of the guitarists in my main band was struggling years ago and I had a chat with him about his absences... it turned out his excuses were just that, excuses, the reality is he was in a tough financial place and he could not afford it. It took me some convincing but he finally agreed and I covered his costs for a while until he recovered. No problem. However, some other people are in permanent bad situations... you know the type: they cannot afford rehearsals, but they always have cash for smokes, drink etc... I would not subsidise those.

Barefaced's specs indicate it's a crossover? https://barefacedbass.com/product-range/Big-Baby-2.htm

That is most definitely not true. The preamp, when flattish, has pretty much the same volume as the pickup wired passively. But it's true that when the battery is dead, there's no usable sound coming off (edit: only ever owned 2-band ones). Unless you bypass the preamp (Iike I have done on mine).

I'm not sure how to take that but I'll assume you meant well 😋 I find it quite interesting, but the bureaucracy and general admin load, coupled to a lack of job-security, takes away some of the 'fun'. Still, I seem to manage. This thread is indeed enlightening. We seem to have quite a wide range of occupations here. I'm positively envious at what many others do.

bioinformatics: all kinds of (biological) data analysis, but mostly genomic and gene expression etc. Pretty looking graphs and stuff like that Our lab focuses on the proteins that are embedded in the membrane that surround the nucleus of cells. Many of them seem to have a strong tissue-specificity and play roles in all sorts of things from mechanical integrity to signalling. There are a number of human diseases associated with problems with some of them and we're trying to understand the pathology. That's, in very broad terms, what pays for my guitars and other toys

I'm a molecular biologist & bioinformatician working at the University of Edinburgh. Mostly enjoyable, but it's getting tiresome to constantly be hustling for funds for research.

will keep my eyes open around here and share... I hope you get it back!

litres per *100* kilometres, unless you drive a tank

I found that vague questions tend to be ignored, but when I had specifics he was very helpful. It pays to do your homework and have a good idea of what you want, then he can assist in making it happen. When I wanted a replacement pickguard for one of my basses he helped me very quickly too. I did try to write my emails as short and concise as I could, after hearing how some others had trouble communicating.

"I want to be rich, that's why I will become a musician" said nobody ever

with a VERY strong factor being that in order to remain in the EU, staying in the UK was the best choice. That was also very well documented and the 62% vote pro-remain illustrates that. While this is pure anecdote and without statistical value, I've come across many people who voted no to independence who now feel otherwise, and not a single one the other way. The way that Scotland is portrayed down South does not help matters either. You want democracy? Me too. It's not a democracy when lies are used to achieve political goals, and when those lies are uncovered nobody gets punished for that.

you really need to stop reading only The Telegraph, and look at the figures elsewhere too...

I had its Asian counterpart, a 55-02. Best five string I've tried. Nice one!

Yeah, I get a bit tired of Jah and Babylon etc... so instrumental reggae, or in a language I do not understand works well for me Nice tune!

+1 Unfortunately, as Bassfinger says, it's just a waste of time. Best to move on and forget it. I know it stings a little but feedback on eBay no longer means anything and you can't win.

I also tried it at 9V and it seemed to work just fine.