TRBboy

Just now, dmccombe7 said:

Hopefully you'll get some replacements in that you also get along with. Don't just settle tho, try and get the right fit. Appreciate that's not an easy thing to find.

All the very best

Dave

Absolutely Dave, that is by far the hardest thing! I've been in plenty of bands over the years with people that didn't 'gel', and it's not fun. This band was so awesome because we're all good friends first and foremost, that all go back a very long way.

I'm searching as hard as I can, and using all the contacts I can think of, so hopefully something will materialise. Realising two things though; a) the local music scene is non-existent compared to 20 years ago, and b) I hardly know any local musos compared to 20 years ago 🤣

Fingers crossed it all works out though! 🤞

The most frustrating part is that we're getting loads of enquiries at the moment, but can't commit to anything! 🤦

1 hour ago, BassApprentice said:

Not the best picture, but I think the body shape of the SireRay isn't as jarring in real pictures. Not as convinced by the single cut.....

Looks better in the flesh by the look of it. Quite digging the black sparkle Z3.... 😍👌

Well, after me saying earlier in this thread that our band was kinda stalling, it's all gone to shit this week. It's difficult after 13 years of stability and good times, and also because we're all really good, old friends first and foremost.

There's no drama involved, but the rhythm guitarist has decided to pack it in with immediate effect because he's just too stretched, he has 5 kids and a busy job, and just can't commit right now. The drummer is in a similar situation, although not quite as bad. He's going to honour the handful of gigs we have booked in so far this year.

So the singer/lead guitarist and I are busy trying to find some other musicians! Seems to be challenging around these parts..... I have a guitarist interested, but a drummer is going to be really tricky I think.

1 hour ago, Bassassin said:

Callen? As in Ned?

 

Yes, I believe so! 😊

I also really like the look of the '56 😍

Awesome! A bass that I'd definitely love to get one day 👌

1 minute ago, NancyJohnson said:

I watched the Anderton video where they were on the Sire stand and to be honest the only thing I got a bit moist over was the matte black Larry Carlton L3, I've already enquired whether (if I bought one) they could get me a tortoiseshell scratchplate (which Sire do on the goldtop version.  £349.00.  It's perfect.

 

Sweet baby jesus and the orphans! That seems to have caused me some trouser problems 😍😍😍🔥🔥🔥

On 25/01/2024 at 19:53, uk_lefty said:

Me too. I really wanted to like these, my number 1 bass is a stingray, but I think there is something just not quite right. The Horn is too long, body too wide, pickguard too short and narrow, and that jazz pickup?!?!  Also, no lefties listed which is odd for Sire. The 24 fret jazz however is really drawing me in.

I think the horn is the same length, or maybe fractionally longer. It looks longer because the bottom horn is MUCH shorter 😵‍💫

I really kinda like them, but also feel they could've chosen much nicer colours! 😅

5 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

Oh balls. Sorry mate.

 

this is a right looker though!

 

I can’t play short scales…or at all in fact…

 

but. It’s lovely.

Very, very nice mate, thanks anyway! 🙏

6 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

@TRBboy this was it - sorry, revelation 

Thanks Andy, just spent ages looking for it 🤣 It's the other one, not the semi I like the look of

30 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

That Callen is available as another brand.

 

Hutchins?

Oh! Interesting

Just seen on FB, Vintage have announced two new bass models at NAMM, the Supreme (semi) and the Callen.

The Callen definitely has my attention.... 😏

23 minutes ago, Tokalo said:

I swapped out the pickup on my Sandberg Electra VS4. I found the original sounded like JJ in The Stranglers. Great, but not what I needed: I wanted a more vintage sound for gigs with a dad rock band and a soul band. 

I put in a (not expensive) Kent Armstrong pickup which just sounded more suitable.

I’m not sure I could have tamed the mids/highs enough using eq without losing a lot of the original note?

Great example! Those large pole-piece Sandberg pickups have quality of sound, power and clarity, but for my ears were always a bit soulless. That's why in my 10 year, 9 bass Sandberg quest, I ended up ordering a TT5 Passive, with their Alnico V single coils. They gave me exactly what I wanted, still great quality sound, but more toneful, more organic, and I guess an inherently 'fuller' tone (perhaps more traditional I guess). 

All of this is pretty subjective, but I'm pretty sure to please my ears I want an Alnico V MM humbucker in this bass. I guess it's just a question of whether I take a punt on a cheaper one or spend more on something I know will be great (still far less than the big brands though).

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

I'm (sort of) with @NancyJohnson on this. 

I'm not convinced that spending lots of money on new pickups gets you anything more than you could get by adjusting the settings on your amp.

"I want pickups with more punch in the mid range"...I'm pretty sure that this would be possible with a bit of fiddling. 

For the price of your replacement pickups I would be happy to come and fiddle with your amp settings. 

(This is NOT a euphemism).

With the greatest of respect, this ain't my first rodeo. Of course I've tried playing with amp settings etc, and whilst I can improve it somewhat, the fundamental sound/character of the pickup isn't to my liking. I have other cheap instruments that I'm perfectly happy with the sound of.

I'm not the sort of person that EVER upgrades anything for the sake of it (I'm a massive tight-arse for a start 😅), and I never believe that throwing money at something makes it 'good'. I'm also not a believer in buying name brands just because they cost most therefore must be better.

3 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

People!  (Deep breath)  We really need to move away from the thought that just because something looks similar to something else that it's going to deliver something similar to what it pertains to be.

 

Voice of reason here.  Again.  I'd argue 'til the cows come home that tone is subjective ('all basses sound more or less the same and nobody aside from you gives a rats as to what you sound like'), more to the point tone is about synergy; the interaction of all the component parts, from your fingers/pick, the strings, pickups, wiring loom and cap, lead, stomps, pre-amps, power amps, speakers and your ears. 

 

Apart from saying the stock pickup leaves you a bit flat, you're not really saying why.  What do you want a replacement to do for you that the original doesn't?  I'm genuinely interested (see elsewhere), having swapped out a fair few pickups in my time and finding that a non-badged pickup from an old Strat' copy sounds virtually the same as the Mike Lull hand-wounds on a £5K bass.  I'm very much of the view that it's not worth changing anything on a whim; you'll have a perceived opinion of how much better the pickup sounds (which will be a direct correlation to how much you paid).

I appreciate what you're trying to say, but I'm not asking generally 'what type of pickup should I buy to get this sound' etc, I started off asking about a specific pickup, and I guess now it's expanded to 'what budget Alnico V MM pickups do people recommend?'. 

I'm confident that an Alnico V MM humbucker is going to get me where I want.

FYI, the stock DX4 pickup (dual ceramic soapbar) sounds a little 'boxy' to me, seems to be quite prominent in the high mids and lacking low mid presence. Generally lacking a bit of guts too.

I'm looking for a fuller, bigger, rounder sound, whilst still being pretty organic sounding and not being overly aggressive or hi-fi sounding.

34 minutes ago, jezzaboy said:

Another option could be an EMG that comes with all the gubbins attached as below. A bit more expensive but I use it for gigging fitted in a Sterling Sub and it`s great.

 

https://www.thomann.de/gb/emg_mmcs.htm

They do look good, but I kinda want a rounder more classic tone, and passive. I was looking at the TBHZ before though, could be another option.

@Pea Turgh I'm glad you reminded me about Warman actually, they seem to have the cheapest Alnico MM pickups available. The thing I'm wrangling over now, is whether to go cheap or just spend out on something I know will sound killer...  I know it's a cheap bass, but it plays amazingly, so maybe worth the cost?

Current options:

Warman MM4.        £23.50

Retrovibe MM4.      £45.00

Catswhisker MM.    £78.00

Now, it's entirely possible the first two options will be the same, they will both be made in the far East, maybe even in the same factory. The Catswhisker will be hand wound here in the UK, and I KNOW will sound phenomenal based on the PJ5 Allan made for my build last year. 

DIfficult decisions...

9 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

I played a whole bass made by them with one of those in, but it was in a bass bash, so I couldn’t really hear it!  Nice bass though.

 

I also bought a Warman MM pickup, but didn’t complete the project it was destined for.

 

So that’s two useless pieces of information…

Thanks for the help 😅👍

Hey folks! 👋😊

Although I'm really loving my little bargain Ibanez GAXB150, the stock DX4 pickup is leaving me a bit flat...  So I'm looking at options, and at the moment I'm sorely tempted to put an Alnico V MM humbucker in it (minor woodwork required). Also, I want to spend as little as possible, obvs. 😅

There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of budget Alnico MM's around, but I did spot some for sale with Retrovibe. Just wondered if anyone has used these, and could tell me what they're like?

Thanks!

The specs appear to state that there's no 'mid frequency' selection, so it's a regular 3-band, bass/mid/treble, but you can't adjust the mid frequency like on the V7 for example.

Simple, no? 😅

10 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Glue is best used sparingly, and the staples would keep the cabinet shape while the glue dries. The big problem with Trace was their insistence on using MDF for many cabs. Now MDF is second only to Concrete as a cabinet material, but they have similar issues,,, MASS. As heavy as funk for a given thickness.

Yep, appreciate that (former carpenter here). However, there really was virtually nothing holding these corners together; when I cut the portion off that used to house the amp (it was a combo once upon a time), I let it drop on my shed floor, and both corners basically fell apart completely. It was essentially only the staples and corner protectors holding it together. I was just surprised how weak the joints were tbh. 😬

I highly recommend Catswhisker pickups, I used Allan on recommendation of someone from here for a PJ5 set for my build last year. Hand wound Alnico V set, and Allan was happy to make whatever my requirements were (within reason, obvs). Probably the best sounding set of pickups I've ever had, for much less then the big brands. 

They look pretty cool, although I can't help thinking some classic candy colours would really suit the Talman shape. Is everything else the same as the 100's on these, except the finish and blocks?

2 hours ago, asingardenof said:

Well, it turns out it wasn't any of the possible issues suggested, and turned out to be very easy to fix. Seems like the spring in my pick holder may not have been seated properly, because touching the casing made the buzz go away. I fenagled the picks within it a bit and then tried playing the open A again and problem solved!

 

Thanks everyone who chipped in. Atw least I have knowledge for in the future in case it's not a cheapo gadget causing me grief!

Glad you got it sorted, but feel a bit cheated 🤣