neepheid

If I was Fender, I'd be livid that this was even a discussion or that the question even needed to be asked.

Zoom H2n user here, and I'm very happy with the rehearsal recordings it picks up, including the bass. It accurately captures the PA and acoustic limitations of our rehearsal room Gain set to manual, gain wheel down to ZERO and it doesn't clip, but only just Placement in the room is probably important (like don't sit it next to the drums).

[quote name='AinsleyWalker' timestamp='1449743005' post='2926367'] Others have said this to me but a lot of guides give very varied advice. I'd assume all you need to adjust the neck and bridge would be an allen key and a screwdriver but most guides I've looked at say you need a load of tools.. I've also been warned that doing it wrong and messing up the truss rod can cost £££ to fix... Any truth to this? [/quote] I can only speak for myself. I learned how to do it myself, and I'm pretty sure I read it in a book, not got it from any youtube video. Loads of tools? Well sure if you want to set up many different basses but you have a Stingray, so you're right - you can do it with an allen key and an appropriately sized phillips/pozidriv screwdriver. You should double check (some Stingray expert please chip in here) but what I've read is the saddle height grub screws need a 1/16" allen key. The screwdriver is for adjusting the intonation (moving the bridge saddles back/forward). The truss rod on a Stingray has a wheel with holes in it that you can stick anything in (like the allen key or a suitably sized screwdriver) and turn it with that. So for your bass, 2-3 tools tops. A pair of snips for trimming excess string when restringing is useful if you're restringing as well. Regarding the truss rod - "messing up" is a pretty loose term. If you get it "wrong" (as in set incorrectly) then you will have too much or too little relief in the neck, causing buzzing. So set it correctly. Won't cost you a bean unless you actually break the truss rod and you really have to go some to do that and yes, it would be very expensive - like "might be cheaper to replace the neck entirely" expensive. I've never broken one. If it's giving you resistance, don't keep forcing it. Loosen a little first before tightening. Sometimes if they haven't moved in a while they will be sticky and move suddenly with a potentially alarming snap sound, but don't worry.

I'd say learn to do it yourself - you know what you like your bass to feel like better than anyone else and there are heaps of guides out there. Save time and money, get satisfaction from being all self-sufficient. A fortnight for a setup - ridiculous.

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1449532265' post='2924503'] ...but it is NOT the NE of anywhere! [/quote] Irrelevant, you can't take this moment away from me with your pedantry!

Yay, someone clarified which NE they're talking about in the title of a thread. Thank you, you've made my night

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1449509341' post='2924197'] The only downside is trying to find a case or gigbag to fit the thing. [/quote] Hard case woes I can understand, but I've had no problems gigbag-wise - I picked up the nearest bag I had to hand and it was fine. Maybe I was lucky. Did I mention it sits surprisingly upright no problems on a Hercules mini guitar stand? This bass continues to defy my expectations, in good ways.

Not even Jaco could please everyone.

[quote name='bigsmokebass' timestamp='1449498403' post='2924044'] Saw this a while back when bidding on one, via eBay nice basses though [/quote] Ah come on, half the time he's sloping his shoulders down as he does it which will exacerbate any issues he's having (which I'll bet are mostly strap related).

[quote name='cytania' timestamp='1449498796' post='2924053'] Gibson have never had a model that bass players have whole heartedly embraced. [/quote] Yes, the championing of the underdog thing is part of the appeal for me.

[quote name='Johnny1977' timestamp='1449497870' post='2924031'] Thanks you very much. It is very interesting short review. How about the Thunderbird? Has anybody tried to slap on it? [/quote] I think the video title is sarcastic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hge1FpFTx8M

[quote name='bigsmokebass' timestamp='1449491557' post='2923924'] Gotta love that neck dive though, lol. [/quote] My SBV-500 also has no neck dive*. Didn't even tug at the shoulder of my t-shirt. I didn't believe it either. *using a decent strap (Neotech Mega in this case - wide neoprene thing)

Another new bass suggestion - Ibanez Talman TMB-100 can be had new from Thomann for a smidge over £150. Only got the ivory finish left though. I have a mint green one and I think it's really good for the money and feels familiar but looks just that little bit different to what's out there. http://www.thomann.de/gb/ibanez_tmb100_iv_talman_bass.htm

I can't slap, so please forgive me if this is crap. It depends upon the Gibson bass - the SG for instance (and a few others like the pre-1972 EB, plus the Victory Custom/Artist, Midtown Standard/Signature) has its neck pickup jammed up against the neck heel and therefore could frustrate the popping part of slapping by limiting the amount of space available to get under the strings. Carved tops to a lesser extent could also cause issues in this respect (will have to check my Epi Les Paul about this). Apart from these simple mechanical compromises, there's nothing stopping you slapping on a Gibson bass.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1449179557' post='2921416'] Only on those that don't have a life outside of playing, like me. LOL Blue [/quote] Nothing wrong with a bit of focus

Do we have to look down on anyone?

Yup, Yamaha SB-5/7A. Been stripped and possibly stained - never seen one that colour before. Cool basses - I recently acquired the modern reissue - the SBV-500

It's my 40th birthday on Hogmanay so I'll be spending it with family. Playing a gig on the 2nd January instead as part of wider birthday celebrations

I had a three pickup version of the Hodad a while back. Super light and sounded pretty good too. Dunno why I got rid to be honest. I know the guy who has it, so it isn't far away

I don't operate in the same sector as you, Blue. We create the songs that, if we're very lucky, cover bands will play in years to come. Why do we do it? God only knows. It certainly isn't for the money We play whenever some venue thinks they're doing us a favour by getting us to play for 45-60 mins then paying the five of us £0-50 for the trouble. We just pool it all and when we've got enough we hit the recording studio/get CDs made up/get merch made up and do it all again. It is not a "boys night out", it's a penny scramble to scrape the money together to progress, to make our music and evolve it to a finalised state. Sure it's also about entertaining and making people dance - we love playing live and seeing people having a good time. But we've got our own thing to say and we do it when we can.

I'm super helpful, me

OK then - I have a spare set of black Grovers from my NR Thunderbird. I chromed mine up. Could be persuaded to part with 'em. Hardly used, I made the change to chrome pretty soon after I got the bass.

Time to switch to Schaller M4 Lights? No washers to worry about again [url="http://guitar-parts.biz/hp524876/Bass-Machine-Heads-M4-Light.htm"]http://guitar-parts....ds-M4-Light.htm[/url]

Dae it.