TRBboy

Well actually, here's the thing.... I've been playing active basses exclusively for about the last 10 years, but have had a bit of a revelation recently! I bought a fender player series jaguar on a whim, and BOOM! Tone heaven! It was perfect for my band! Really nice big, organic sound. I returned it because although I can cope on a 4, I found I did really miss the B string and feel more at home on a 5. So essentially, I'm kinda trying to replicate that experience with 5 strings.... Therefore the BB range is a strong contender! After my post earlier, I'm now looking at the 435 again 🤦‍♂️ indecisive as ever!

Still keep looking at 735's.... VERY tempted..... Wish there were used ones coming up for sale, but maybe that's testament to how good they are!

Thing is, he's really keen and offering much more than I'd get for it in the UK... Had a look at CITES last night, and this bass wouldn't be affected. Will think further....

This is sounding like a lot of hassle....

Thanks for the advice BRX, hadn't considered that! It has an alder body, maple neck and ebony fretboard, so I'll look up a CITES list from somewhere and see if any of those woods are subject to the regs (I don't think they are). I was under the impression that it was a USA only thing, but I have to confess I haven't looked into CITES in any detail.

Not heard of them, but I'll check them out, thanks Paul!

Thanks Graham, I'll keep looking. I did look at parcel force but couldn't see a decent service there. Will check again.

Meant to add to my experience last night that I found the drive channel to be excellent! I hooked a footswitch up and had it set nice and gritty but not too overdriven, and it sounded superb! Great for some of the pick played pop punk songs etc.

Now that WOULD be cool! I do find myself looking at the 735 quite a bit, it seems features wise to be the same as a Bbp35, just not made in Japan, and with the addition of a preamp! I guess I'm just not sure if it's worth nearly £300 more than the 435, and I'm still not 100% sure about the metally styling. It does look smart though.

If I do end up going for a 435, I suspect I'll probably end up changing the bridge.

It wouldn't especially, other than some Hi Mass bridges may be designed in such a way that they're deeper and better designed, with a slightly more friendly break angle and more intonation adjustment. Looking at my BBN5, this is certainly the case. When I made the previous comment, I was thinking more about BBOT vs Hipshot/equivalent style bridges I suppose.

Thanks for this @Al Krow, very useful and yes, it sounds great! Wish they did a white 435....

It doesn't extend the scale length, it's still 34", otherwise the frets would have to be staggered and it would look weird! 😂 The main reason for designing the bridge like that is to reduce the string break angle on the B string, which I could definitely see being a benefit on a BBOT style bridge. It may also be to allow adequate intonation adjustment room on the B, without making the break angle too tight.

Out of interest, why did you sell yours?

Okay, so, first gig with the Rumble done last night! I was very impressed tbh, I thought it was really going to struggle with my band, but it didn't, and still had more in the tank! Astonishing got a 2x10 combo really! The markbass 2x10 combo I had in the past couldn't keep up with my band without an extension cab, not enough bottom end presence. @Friskydingo it will definitely keep up with two loud guitarists in a pub setting, you can see one of their amps (100w valve half stack) in the one picture! It's definitely loud enough, but I did struggle to dial in the tone I wanted initially, but think I got somewhere near in the end. I had to keep telling myself that I wasn't going to make it sound like my Aguilar/Vanderkley rig: that rig sounds better than the Rumble, as you would expect! I found it difficult at first to get the bottom end I wanted without it sounding a bit muddy, but once I had boosted the high and low mids a bit it was much better. I realised later in the gig that I was getting some nasty scratchy, distorted overtones, so turned the tweeter off and boosted the highs, which seemed to work okay. The lower notes on the B string of my bass were okay, but lacked a bit of guts compared to the E string for example. But, it's a 2x10 combo! I found that it really seems to thrive on the harmonic content of the notes, rather than the fundamental: for example, 5th to 10th fret on the E and A strings sound huge and very bottom heavy, whereas other notes are a bit lost by comparison. This meant that its behaviour seemed a bit weird at times, with both lower and higher notes not coming through strongly enough, compared to the meaty middle range in the E, A, and D strings in that kinda 3rd-10th fret range. I do have suspicions that the in-built limiter might have a role to play in these characteristics, but despite adjusting the balance of the input gain and master volume, I was unable to effect it much. Overall I was impressed though, as were my band mates, and obviously there's a lot of variables affecting sound: we hadn't played at this pub for years, and never in this location within the pub. I was kinda setup in a corner, etc, etc. Was it as good as my Aguilar/Vanderkley rig? No, but that's no surprise, and I didn't expect it to be. Did it do the job? Yes! Would the punters in the pub know any difference? Absolutely not! I am generally very impressed, but think I need a couple more gigs with it before I can make a decision on whether I'm ready to sell my beloved rig. Hope this is informative to someone!

Hi folks, So, I might have need to ship a bass outside of the EU (Israel to be specific), but I don't know where to start with it really, never had to do outside of the UK before. I had a quick Google, but most of the services I could find don't offer high enough compensation to cover it. Has anyone here done this before? Any advice? Thanks for your help!

I keep looking at Sire, and I LOVE the new colour V7s, but there seem to be quite mixed reviews. The other thing is, I'm kinda on a classic vibe at the moment, and the Sire preamp looks unnecessarily complicated. Aside from the duff pickup, you got on well with the P7 though? What was the quality like compared to Yamaha?

Me too, I would've been ALL OVER that, love a maple fretboard! Unfortunately there's not much choice of 5 string PJ basses with a maple board, without going custom......

I think they should've just left the headstocks natural again, maybe with the exception of the 700 series. What they've definitely missed a trick with its not doing a 5er with a maple board! 😡

Yes so I see, but I don't think it looks too bad with any of the finishes. Doesn't 'match' the sunburst or teal, but looks alright I think. Some years ago, several of the 'boutique' brands were doing black headstocks on their basses, regardless of the body finish. In fact I think with Dingwall it was possibly a chargeable extra!

The other question is.... Teal blue or black? 😂

It really is an incredible strap, and I've had a LOT of good straps! That weight does sound good, but I'd imagine there's quite a bit of variation and that 9lb 3 would be one of the lightest ones.

Was struggling to find a weight for the 435 anywhere, but just saw one on Sweetwater that says it is 9lb 3oz, not bad at all!

It does look fantastic, and I guess the weight could be manageable, but maybe your suggestion to start with a 435 is a good one. Price the theory and then move on. I bought a Gruv Gear solo strap last year, and it's by far the best, most comfortable strap I've ever owned, highly recommend their stuff!