Kev

Alpher Mako 🙂

Picked this up last week, having fun with it! Multicale 35” to 32.76” tuned BEAD, much more sensible range than some others in my option, string balance feels great. Perfect cross between a Warwick and a Dingwall for me based on my experiences, both tone and feel. Quite weighty and could do with an active preamp, but I like, and its probably the brightest and most articulate passive bass I've ever heard with the tone fully open. And I know the colour and headstock polarises opinion, but I think it looks great!

Every gig I do at the moment uses the house PA primarily, and I have about 3 options to get to that from bass, DI box, various preamps etc, so I am as backed up as I need to be and if the PA fails, well that's not my issue to resolve. Spare car? I think you're being silly! Clearly there would be other options to travel to a gig, otherwise i shouldn't be in a band at all. Again, it depends how seriously you take yourself, I would say a bass is the most likely thing to be showstopper and equally the easiest and most convenient thing to have a backup of. Why wouldn't you want a backup? And then it gets to cost when it comes to gear complexity. If a whole band is running off £xxxx processors, midi triggers etc, no you can't really afford to have a backup of that. I have seen BIG bands call off gigs because of that, and its unavoidable. But also, entirely incomparable to bringing a backup bass.

I think it depends how seriously you take it, and more importantly how seriously the person who booked you does too. If you've been paid £500 for a set, but your bass malfunctions in the first song and you have no contingency, would you expect the promoter to still pay the full amount? Always have a backup. It can be anything, and doesn't always have to be a bass. A £50 piece of rubbish off bass off eBay isn't ideal, but something that means you can carry on. If you absolutely cannot carry a 2nd bass for any reason, then at the very least have a few packs of strings in the bag or backing tracks in place to kick off instead of you, should the bass be unplayable. Turning up to gig without any of the above is just unprofessional in my opinion (sorry!), but like I said, its down to how seriously you take it. I'd be beyond mortified if I had to stop mid gig, and its awful to watch from the punters point of view.

Doesn't really matter how long the nut is though, the strings are still spaced out over 45mm at the nut, so it will have the same spacing as a 45mm nut.

Such a common comment . Multiscale is not just for the low B, there are benefits across the whole neck, and not just string tension. Move your hand up and down a neck and look at the angle your hand moves at and how your wrist rotates. It moves in the direction of a fan, so you'll find yourself having to stretch less in places to get to the next fret. I picked up a new multiscale 4 string this week and played a track I have been playing on a regular 4 and noticed that there was a fret position I couldn't manage very cleanly on the regular bass that I could with this one, and looking at it it was due to the fret position as a result of the fan. Implore anyone to try one out, they really do work well. I do, however, think it is a bit gimmicky if the fan is small, as a string being 0.25 longer or shorter than the one next to it or similar really isn't going to make much difference, you need a good 0.75inch or so different from string to string. I think these new Ibby's have a wider fan than the previous models?

Nice pair, why does he want a selling price though, and is there something wrong with the Wal that warrants a check-up?

Ah okay, probably not the same one then! Silly bnt causing confusion.....😉

Interesting if there is more than one with headstock chips! Did you return yours, @Machines?

Ah, it was a steels set that I was interested in buying, but still a dead G doesn't sound good 😕

Which set was it you got?

Ahh, gutted to have missed this offer! Was in the market for D'addario alternatives. Ah well, look forward to reading the reviews.

Unless Ibanez have changed the spec of their licensed Bart pickup, it won’t simply be a matter of upgrading to Nordstrands as they aren’t the same shape/size. The blue bass is cool but I would much prefer the neck of the cheaper model! Roasted maple is lovely and seems like the higher end neck wood choice of the two? Interesting decision by Ibanez.

In normal times, I have cancelled two orders from DV247 due to delays in dispatching, both coming from Europe. I think it was about 2 weeks I waited for an in-stock dispatch before I lost patience. I think the Romford stock is fine but seems to go downhill if not.

Is the pound really doing worse than the Euro at the moment??

I’m not sure why I keep getting countered 😂 Clearly it’s fine for some, but they are certainly struggling in places. As it happens, I live in close proximity to a bass direct and have the same sorting office, which could explain things.

I can only speak for 3 areas, primarily the midlands and the North West. The latter its post I have been affected by, birthday card posted 10 working days in advance didn't make it. Our office is only getting post every other day due to the number of staff isolating. Not intended as a sweeping statement, but undoubtedly they are struggling, as many businesses are.