fretmeister

Sorry - but that's not what it says. It says "...designed to work with all OUR non-X series pickups that use a passive tone control..." I don't think you can safely imply anything from that. Considering the unit costs £80 it is well worth the OP asking EMG directly. Or of course if you are that certain you could offer to buy the unit from the OP at the price he paid if it doesn't work.

Most non-X Series pickups are still active but do come with a passive tone pot. The X Series come with an Active Tone pot and need the ABCX. So the ABC is not actually for passive pickups, it's for any non-X series that comes with a passive tone control, whether the pickups are active or passive doesn't appear to matter. So should be fine with the GZR set. UNLESS - the ABC control has been around far longer than the GZR set. It wouldn't be the first time that a company hasn't updated website copy properly. As the ABC is about £80 I think I'd email EMG for clarification before I spent the money.

I have an ABC and an ABCX with a set of EMG-J and PJ-X respectively. I think they are excellent. The only thing I don't know about is whether the GZR can use them as IIRC those pickups are passive.

you lot are rubbish. I was hoping you'd tell me not to bother. Should be here tomorrow. Damn you all!

I seem to be on a quest to collect drive pedals (again). Has anyone got a Double Thruster? Is it a clone of the B3K or a bit different? I've only had 1 Joyo before - the excellent Vintage Overdrive tubescreamer tribute.

You might get a used Boss BC-1X for that. That compressor is so good I no longer own a Cali76, Super Symmetry, Keeley Pro, Empress etc. It's just perfect. No tone colouration, no annoying dip and swell that a lot of Ross based compressors suffer with on bass. It just works with every bass.

I'd agree with that too. I've got a passive Lionel (shortie precision) and the stock pickup was brighter and more mid scooped than a trad P bass pickup. It was a very good modern sound - just not the sound I wanted for that bass. So I put an Aguilar AG4P in it for 1960s goodness. I'm the wrong person to ask about Jazz types though - I have a TT4 Superlight but as with every Jazz type I get everything gets ripped out and replaced with EMGs and an EMQ EQ. They are the sound in my head and nothing is right without them! There was nothing wrong with the Black Label stacked J's in it. They worked very well, but EMG Js are just my thing.

I bought his Paradriver di. Good comms, fast shipping and an annoying amount of good packaging. Had to get a knife out! Pedal as described. All good. Thank again.

Early-Mid 1990s. I was on guitar in a great band, playing a lot of places. Original metal with lots of twin harmony guitar stuff and we won some battle of the bands and got some local press. It was going very well. Then Grunge hit the UK in a big way and suddenly that was it.

Good point raised there - other instruments. A lot of working bassists also play piano or at least synth bass. Despite it's age, the Novation Bass Station 2 is still very popular for a simple reason - it sounds ace.

I don't get paid, but for 10 years I have been volunteering at an educational trust that supplies the music teachers to the county schools. I get parachuted into different ensembles quite a lot, along side my regular big band gig. 1: Reading opens the door to so many gigs. Quite often the MD will want the part played as written. 2: Be on time, every time. 3: Never be the problem, instead be the one who can help solve the problems 4: The job of a pro sideman is to support the artist / MD / show. It's their vision / product not yours. 5: Maintain your gear to a high standard. 6: Take spares. If you have something that if it failed you could not finish the session with, take two of them. Identical spares are best as the FOH / Engineer doesn't have to reset everything. 7: Be clean and presentable. Your client might look like a badly tattooed bundle of rags, but you turn up looking smart. If the client wants you to wear something specific they will tell you - and should pay for it, if it's unusual. 8: Until you get to know a client or you get asked specifically, do not give an opinion on the music / arrangement. See Point 4 above. 9: Assume everyone you meet at the session will talk to the client about you. Be nice to everyone. Especially the objectionable ones. 10: Never give a reason for them to not call you again when the next job comes up. 11: Get an accountant who understands the biz, not just the guy in the high street. 12: Do not get too worried about the reading thing. The bass parts for 99% of popular music barely scrapes Grade 3. If you do 10 mins a day properly you'll have that done in a year. Always ask for charts / transcriptions AND any recordings in advance. Sometimes they won't send recordings of new original stuff in case of leaks. 13: Never do anything for free / exposure.

Mr Wong did a great job staying solid there!

I think he knows exactly how it works - What he wants is a unit where increasing the gain automatically lowers the volume to keep a consistent overall output. Some compressors do this already, when the ratio is increased or the threshold is lowered the make up gain is dealt with automatically to keep the output consistent. It shouldn't be that hard to do on a drive pedal / preamp unit.

After 50+ years of pedal makers using it wrong... there's no point trying to fight this one.

Marley Blue! Lovely colour.

Learning to set up your bass is one of the best investments in your time you can make. Being out of tune at the top is almost always an intonation issue - basically the bridge saddles are either too far forward or too far back. Intonation is linked to string gauge so if you move to higher or lower gauges then you can expect to need to tweak the bridge saddle positions when you do that. When changing string gauge / tension like that it is also very common to need a truss rod adjustment too. It can be a scary idea as the web is full of people claiming they destroyed their instruments but on a well made instrument if you follow the rules then there is nothing to it BUT BUT BUT make sure you use the right tool. As for the original question - the amount of work you are thinking about will cost more money than buying a new bass. Fretboard swaps are possible if there is a separate 'board (some older instruments did not) but it's a lot of work to get right. Good paint jobs also cost quite a bit. Worst of all - if you don't like the work then you really have ruined the bass you love. So get something else as well, even if you have to save up for a while.

I had one. It was nice, but I like the sound of their 10 inch cones more.

I have hassled him before but I'd like Barefaced @alexclaber to do a vertical Three10T cab with kickback wheels, and a tweeter. Alex has kindly informed me that to get a sensible 4ohm impedance it would need custom ordered cones and that the demand probably wouldn't be there for the expense and R&D. So I'm counting on you lot to tell him that you'd all buy 3 cabs each! Narrow and tall, with wheels would be perfect for me. The Four10 doesn't have wheels and is short, the Six10 is just completely overdoing it and there are many venues I play I'd have trouble getting it through doors / stairs etc and with about 20 band members there isn't much room either. The Eight10 gives me funny feelings in my loins but it wouldn't fit in the car. My feeble attempts at saying "Well, Ashdown have made one..." didn't work in the slightest, but it was worth a shot. So I'm going to try "More people will want to have sex with you, Alex, if you make it"* * Those people are likely to just be Basschat members or maybe even me, but that's your risk!

I'd like @Tech21NYC to do a smaller version of the Steve Harris pedal. A Boss sized enclosure with a single channel, no tuner. That would be much better for pedal board use. I only sold mine because it's just inconvenient for a Pedaltrain type set up. It's such a great pedal, even if just used as an overdrive. (Ideally stick a compressor in the existing one too). And while you are at it - do a V3 of the Paradriver with the Presence control from the BDDI V2... and stick the jack sockets and power input on the top edge to help with 'board space a bit.

Aren't a huge amount of online places also bricks and mortar shops?

@LowB_FTW You can custom order that.

I’ve decided to go back to rounds on my Lionel. I like the flats I had but sometimes I need a little more bite. I’ve also gone up a gauge to 50-110 DR Hi Beams. I did the hand cream thing to dull them a little before fitting as they are very bright when new. With a bit more tension I’ve also been able to lower the action a bit too. I like a really low action and I play quite gently to avoid too much clank.

Boss BC-1X. It’s been a revelation. It just works perfectly. I no longer own a Cali76, Empress, DG SS, Keeley Pro because of it.

Lights flashing sounds like inadequate current. Have you calculated the current draw for the pedals and compared it with the outputs on the Caline? I still get it wrong sometimes, and use the wrong supply output for the wrong pedal and then it all goes wrong. I’ve got a bunch of high current pedals so as unsexy a purchase as it is, I bought a Cioks DC7 and now all is well.