fretmeister

I've not played one, but the bridge placement put me off. Seems too far forward and the upper horn is quite short. Screams "awful balance" to me. It seems to want to be a cross between a Streamer (or NS) and a Thumb. If it was dirt cheap I might give one a try, but it would have to be really really cheap.

Far better clarity for me with the DCB. I thought the stock ones were quite dull and ill-defined. The two circuit plug mods definitely help. Basically - have a look at the board. There's 2 plugs in sockets, and 2 empty sockets. Just unplug and plug in again in the next one along. You'll need a small screwdriver to lever open the plug grabbers. Only takes about 5 minutes to do. One of them changes the flat EQ position. Gentle scoop in the wooly bit and a sweeter presence / treble. The other gives a 6db boost when the eq circuit is on. The first one is worth doing all the time. The second, if you don't mind the active signal strength being quite a bit hotter than passive mode. I did both after I already had the DCBs and it added another improvement to my ears. But try the plug swap before spending money. You may like it enough that way. You can always put it back again.

A precision.

I used to. I had a pair of Status basses. These days I'm not gigging nearly as much so no.

I've sent Tim a message on facebook to tell him there might be issues with his site. He said there was a bit of a hack some time ago but it's been sorted - so clear any browser cache and it should be fine.

It's triggering my Malwarebytes. I;ve ordered stuff from them before Their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/watch/giginked/

I love using a ton of it. Really squashed, massive sustain similar to using overdrive on a guitar amp. It's not a sound suitable for everything, but I do like it!

Isn’t there a different thread for ABM?

Well, I've had mine for 3 or 4 rehearsals worth now and each time I am more pleased with it. It's very powerful, very punchy and it really lets the sound of the different basses come through. The compressor is still a bit crap but it will do for when I can't be bothered to take a pedal and I don't need to swap between fingers / slap / pick. The drive at low levels is great - just to add a bit more harmonic information. I leave that on most of the time now. Very happy with it.

Mine's really quiet too.

Aguilar make some decade inspired ones. I had the 60s wind and it was ace. I don't like Quarter Pounders as a P pickup - they have too much bass and not enough mids. They are a great powerful pickup, but they don't sound like a P pickup. They have their own thing going on. If that suits - then that's great. But it's not a P sound.

Yup - you'll be fine. They are heavy compared to new class D amps but 10kg isn't a lot for a big iron amp. They are VERY clean sounding so if you want any type of grit or warmth you will need a pedal. In fact I'm not sure I've ever seen a pro rig using them that didn't have a pedal or 2 with it.

There's an amazingly upgraded Ibanez Mezzo medium scale in the classifieds.... 32 inch scale, nice slim neck, 8lb weight etc ahem.

Any EQ pedal.

Definitely this.

A set of Hipshot ultralites can be a half pound lighter than large plate tuners. Thats a big weight saving, and as all that weight is coming off at the end of the neck, the balance improvement is immense.

I love Ovnilab... Am I right...

I've had them both. Again, both very good. I think the Empress has a cleaner sound to it whereas to my ears the 76 added a bit of warmth. The Keeley Pro is up there too - lots of fine control. I'm tempted with another Empress now that the enclosure has been updated. The original one, being a wide box with side mounted jacks making it take up even more board room was quite annoying. If it hasn't had been very good I would have sent it straight back when I got it. The new slimline one has solved that.

I've changed machineheads on many basses, always to get the weight down. Swapping from large plate tuners to Hipshot ultralites can lower the weight by half a pound, and when that is right at the end of the neck the balance benefits are massive. I really don't understand why many makers keep using unnecessarily heavy tuners.

The drop in value of kit that I like doesn't bother me. If I've kept something for years then chances are I really enjoyed using it. The drop in value is just the cost of that enjoyment. And even when it drops or a new thing comes out - the item sounds the same today as it did before. I'd really like the try the QC - but I'm waiting until they do the firmware upgrade that will allow the Neural plugins to be run on it. Then I'll decide whether to spend the money.. which TBH is likely to clash with my kids being at university so I might not have any money anyway!

Class A/B power section. Mmmm.... hefty.... [/Getting my coat]