mcnach

What you are playing seems just fine to me. More than fine. Perhaps you will find that a 100W combo ends up being short... but in most cases you're only likely to need a stage monitor, which it could probably do just fine. I'd save the £600, keep them safe, and... play, practice, and find a band, find two bands (you can be in more than one band, it's allowed ) and then if/when you find there's a particular bit of gear you need, you already have some money stashed away for it. Maybe get a few lessons to open up new avenues for you and help you improve... Really, I would but nothing at this point.

I don't think there's any generic vs matching bass characteristics. If you look around, there's all kinds of designs both in amp EQ points and preamps designed for specific basses. I think it's more a personal preference. Some have very high treble points and are only really useful to remove finger noise on the strings etc... others bring it down from 10KHz to 6KHz which is more useful to 'sculpt' your tone... Same with bass controls. My personal preference is a passive tone control (treble cut), and an active mids control with selectable centre frequency (something like the John East one, covering 100-1000 or 200-2000 Hz.

I put a John East MMSR preamp in my 2-band Stingray. Essentially a classic 2-band with an additional mids module with a control for the centre frequency in a concentric pot.

Good call. The ATK again does not sound quite like a Stingray but at least it is very close and can be made to sound closer, as the pickup is at the right spot. However, the ones I've tried are big heavy monsters. I had a beautiful natural/maple ATK300 and I had to reluctantly let it go because it was just too heavy so I always ended up choosing to play other basses. But it's a good sounding bass.

Yes.

Hi, here's a mostly Stingray player with Precision as second favourite, who owned an L2000 for many years. Natural ash and maple Stingray is exactly what I've got. You sir, have got taste It is my number one bass, the bass to rule all basses, the bass I'd go back into a burning building to save, etc... so if you detect a preference for a Stingray in my comments, there's that. It has the nicest most comfortable neck of any bass I've ever played, for my taste. The HH Stingray never appealed to me, but there's no denying it is a versatile machine. You get the same you get from a single H, and more, so if versatility is your thing, it's not a bad call. Personally, I find the single H versatile enough thanks to its preamp and the second humbucker gets in the way a bit. But that's my personal preference. I don't think it gets you a Jazz-type of sound, but it is a great sound. The L2000 is *nothing* like a Stingray HH. It is a great instrument, whether USA or Tribute models. The electronics are the same, but the USA comes in two different neck profiles. I loved the L2000, and if anything I'd compare it to a Jazz than to a Stingray. A Jazz that went to the gym and took a few illegal substances and returned with huge biceps. The L2000 has passive EQ, and the preamp is purely to change the impedance (and it has a bright switch as well). The bridge pickup is too close to the bridge to get you the Stingray sound. Yes, the pickup *looks* a bit like a Stingray one... but that's all. The pickup is very different, in a different position, and it sounds like a very fat Jazz. With the series/parallel switch and various pickup combinations, you get a really wide range of sounds. The neck alone has a bit of a Precision vibe, just like a Jazz neck has... but it's distinct enough and *not* a Precision. To me the L2000 is its own thing. Based more on the Jazz design, and you can get sounds that resemble a Jazz, but a really fat Jazz. It's just... not a Jazz either. Versatility? A two pickup bass is a good call. Both Stingray or L2000 would be cool. I personally would go for the Stingray because... I personally prefer the Stingray... but I gigged the L2000 for some time and I was very happy with it too. If you really want a Jazz style sound... get a Jazz. If you want a versatile bass... both of your choices sound good to me. But try them first... one might just call you a lot more than the other.

I find the MB Octave to be much cleaner, lacking that dirty synthy vibe the OC2 has. The OC-10 does have that kind of sound, although I've not been able to compare it to an OC-2, since I haven't owned an OC-2 in years.

My favourite one too.

Is there a reason you specifically want a guitar wah to mod? There's a few dedicated bass wahs (and some with dual modes) out here to choose from.

For the Microsynth it really is a shame. You can get a handful of completely different kinds of sounds but you need to stick to one for live use... or become really good at tweaking sliders in between songs, but again that doesn't allow you to have two sounds in a single song. Still, what it does, it does really well, in my opinion, so I love it. Presets and an assignable expression pedal, and I'd have to buy it. Hear me, EHX?

Oh! That 8-string Stiletto is sexy! I've always been interested in an 8-string but I also know I would rarely use it... however, they do make a fine noise those things! The Stiletto shape is very attractive, however they seem to only make it with thinned necks, so I used that to convince myself that I should move on. Black BF grill on BF cabs... It took me a little bit to get used to their peculiar design, well the Two10 in particular, with those two semicircles... and the label sideways... But once I played with them a couple of times I stopped caring. My quest for cabs stopped when I found the Two10. The WD800 looks VERY interesting, doesn't it? But the truth is I can't fault the D800+. So I made a point of never trying a WD800, just in case. I'm experiencing a rare period of bliss where I am not looking at new cabs or amplifiers... and I'm enjoying this situation. Long may it last!

I used to have a Microsynth... loved it, but ended up not using it much and sold it... 10 years ago. Back in 2015 I bought a Future Impact. Impressive range of sounds. As a 'synth', it is superior, no question. But as something that goes with bass rather than substitute it, I prefer the Microsynth. That's why the Future Impact was sold after just a few months and... I've just bought one of the newer EHX Bass Microsynth pedals that run at 9V. I just wish it could store presets. Seriously funky pedal. To me, obviously Now, to the point... best 2018 purchase? It's got to be the Schecter Model T bass... The worst... the little Eno TC-61 envelope filter. Just... terrible on bass.

I think up to Somewhere In Time they were ok... and then they just used a machine to make songs, which were all very similar indeed.

To the *originals*, that's quite a medley he's played there!

To get close to the Stingray sound you *need* the pickup at the right spot. Preamp and all that is not really key. Position is. You can't get one of the coils at the exact right spot for the Jazz type of sound, although you can get very close. If you put the MM at the correct spot for a Stingray, the polepieces of the bottom coil are *almost* where the polepieces of a Jazz bridge pickup would be, just slightly off by 5mm or less. The problem in your case is that you already have a rout for the J pickup, with the big ears... so in order to cover that up you'll have to shift the position further and you're not going to get the Stingray vibe (it's surprising what 1-1.5cm up or down can do). You could use a frame to place the pickup exactly where you want it... Either way, try to get that bottom coil as far from the bridge as possible. Whatever you do, be aware that it may not sound like your Jazz again, or get the Stingray sound... but if you don't need to nail your existing sound or the 'Ray, it will probably sound pretty good regardless. I always feel the bridge Jazz pickup is very nice, but a bit weak, and a humbucker in its place is nicer. For my taste. Alternatively, I've generally used a J-Retro preamp to bring the fat to the bridge pickup in Jazz basses. But no, you don't get a Stingray sound that way.

I have been intrigued by the 105Q mini as well, as I was putting together a mini pedalboard... I heard elsewhere that it is a bit better than the original. You find it different, in what way? If space/weight is not an issue... The G-Labs can't be touched, in my opinion.

Brilliant!

I owned a couple of basses with a MM at the bridge and J neck, where the MM was coil-splittable and at the right place so that with the coil split you ended with the active coil at the Jazz position (Cort and Lakland). It worked well enough. How well, it will depend to some extent to the actual pickup you use, I guess. As you are going to route your bass, you have the chance to fit it at the right position, so it will work well if you add a switch to split the coils.

That looks really good. Thank you!

I used a 105Q for a while but found it was damaging my signal too much (quite a few other pedals in the chain, but the 105Q was by far the worst), so I started looking for alternatives. I tried a few ones that didn't quite hit the spot... and I had the Stanley Clarke one in my sight but I didn't get to try it. That's because I came across the G-Labs Wowee Wah. I love it. It's chunky, and heavy, and it sounds great. Definitely one to look for too. I use it mostly in a RATM tribute band, with a Stingray and a John East MMSR preamp (I noticed you use that too). I often use it with various overdrives, and it's a beast of a wah. http://www.glab.com.pl/index.php/en/products/effects/bass-wowee-wah-bww-1

Indeed. I had one and didn't find it lacking in volume. I sold it because I preferred the sound of another amp, not because the TC felt underpowered. In fact, people used to comment how loud that little amp sounded when I first bought it...

Yeah, I found the same (having owned both a Compact and a pair of BB2)... and have ended up with a couple of Two10 that really suit me. They are not 'transparent' like the others, as I found that transparent really wasn't what I needed: the right 'colour' suits me best, and their 10" series are really cool in that respect.

I own a couple of S112, although I never tried them with a Genzler. I have tried them with a variety of other amps, including Genz Benz Shuttle and Streamliner (and MarkBass, and Mesa and...). They're not the deepest sounding cabs, as you probably know, but I don't find them lacking. You can turn the bass up a bit if you need more, and they respond very well. They sound great, in my opinion. I have moved to a couple of 210 cabs (BF Two10) because I was often (edit: at the time!) requiring a bit more volume (quite a few gigs without PA support playing larger rooms and outdoors... the TKS always sounded good but I was afraid of pushing them harder than they could take - perhaps unreasonably of me... but I wanted to be safe)... The truth is I still have the two S112 and I have no intention of selling them. That should tell you something. I prefer two S112 as it made loading my little hatchback (A3) easier... but to be honest, a S212 is still a very manageable cab in size and weight. They're super light, great sounding, and in truth, I could play >90% of my gigs with them, at least. @wateroftyne has been using a S212 for some time and I think he's very happy with it.