dc2009

You could probably try most of the brands at the london bass bash? Personally I recommend kitting out your Thumb with some standard Warwick MECs, Bartolini single coils are wayyyyy too soft sounding. The MECs will be way cheaper than any other new bass options, and will sound far more aggressive than any of the options you are considering IMO.

[quote name='StevieD_FenderP2009' post='1326325' date='Aug 3 2011, 11:58 PM']I'm picking up my new Alpine White T-Bird on saturday afternoon so on Sunday, I'll take the pick ups out, measure the routes and take pictures then put a post on here. Just so you know, I'm getting the chinese one with the chrome hardware and the guitar humbuckers. If I'm being totally honest, I'm not really too bothered about how good it sounds as I just wanted something different and when I tried it out the other day, my bands guitarist told me it really suited me so I've bought it. Plus, it felt nice to play (needs a set up but meh, I can do that easily).[/quote] Awesome, big help thanks man I've been in touch with my friends at dv247 who have put a request into Gibson about the matter, I will report back when I hear, though have been warned that Gibbo are useless and can often take up to 4 months to respond!

[quote name='flyfisher' post='1326466' date='Aug 4 2011, 08:30 AM']Sadly, I'm not awaiting delivery of a new bass, but I've also only ever played passives. May I add my own stupid questions? 1. Why an active bass at all? 2. What can an active do that can't be achieved with amp eq and/or pedals? 3. Is it worth all the battery hassles that are regularly posted here?[/quote] 1. Nice to have the tonal control at your fingertips, even when playing sat down in my bedroom I don't have my rig within arm's reach. Same story at band practice and obviously at any gig. You can even tweak the settings mid song if you know your way around your bass, this can be a real bonus when playing live, and is a lot more audience friendly than turning around and poring over your amp. 2. Active bass controls are obviously very limited, typically only 2 or sometimes 3 band, and if you're buying a high end beast you might get some variable mid control but who knows. These controls can of course be bettered by those on most amps, and an EQ pedal will be a whole lot more versatile too (or presets on something like a sansamp), but the most basic way to change your tone is just with the treble and bass controls and to alter your playing in conjunction with them. It can be done easily mid song, and provided you don't whack the control fully one way or the other, you'll never have volume issues when changing between sounds like you do with say a pedal preset, and of course it's you tweaking it based on the venue and layout and other instruments etc, which probably won't be the same as the practice room where you set up your sansamp/eq pedal/insert alternative here. 3. I own a Warwick, Dean and Epiphone active basses and have never once had a battery 'issue', always carry a spare and always have the tools to get into the battery compartment and you'll never have a problem. As for basses that run batteries flat really fast, this tends to be a wiring issue and usually means it's been poorly built, buying a decent bass will more than likely avoid poor build quality, but who wants to buy a poorly built bass anyway, passive or active or whatever? EDIT: I'm not saying passive basses are useless, I have a couple of passive instruments too and would gladly buy more, I think plenty of them are great, however I would not feel in suitable control of my live sound without an active bass.

Yeah I'm curious, what 5er is cheaper than a 4, and where can I get one? I know the Fender MM 5s are super expensive versus the 4s, as they're MIA and MIJ respectively (for no good reason IMO).

[quote name='uncle psychosis' post='1326482' date='Aug 4 2011, 08:48 AM']Sounds good. I'm not really into effects on bass (I have one or two, but I'd rather have none...) but it would be nice to sound a bit different on different songs...[/quote] Quite. Playing in a rock band, I always go for the tone that cuts through enough but also supports the guitar just right. When we slow it down for a few numbers it's nice just to roll off the treble a little bit and play with a little less attack, or on my warwick perhaps flick the pups to J setting. It's therefore sensible to play around the centre detent, as you can find where you were before when you want to revert back. The same principle is true of running at 10 or 0, but IMO this is a daft way to go as you can only go in one direction from there... IMO active basses aren't the be all and end all, but they sure are handy for tweaking, and I wouldn't fancy playing a passive bass live ever again (not done so for 6 years so fairly happy with that)

[quote name='Linus27' post='1326493' date='Aug 4 2011, 09:03 AM']Do you not think the Streamer is pretty? I think its one of the prettiest basses ever made and what drew me to it.[/quote] It's pretty, but not properly pretty, y'know, like the Infinity is. IMO some of the prettiest basses in existence are made by Herr Ritter, now that is a German with an eye for effortless design!

I set up my bass flat, then get the sound I want from the amp. I leave the pickup blend and EA sections well alone until I want a minor adjustment, which it is ideal for. It's also nice for live usage, such as the variation between songs, without significantly affecting the levels. I love active Eq as it gives you that extra bit of control that can help so much live

[quote name='dan2112' post='1325911' date='Aug 3 2011, 05:25 PM']All of their cabs are behind the riser (in between the drums). None of the guitarists (or Steve harris) use conventional heads....all rack mount gear! Janick's tech is using one of those really old hand held boss tuner's which is mounted onto the riser! His tech's a really young guy too...couldn't have been more than 25!!! He used to tech for Dragonforce too....must have a dad who is high up in the buisiness ey? Unlucky with the support...Airbourne were supporting in Cardiff who are a FANTASTIC band and completely mental live!![/quote] Airbourne are terrible, I've had the misfortune of seeing them before....

[quote name='uncle psychosis' post='1326050' date='Aug 3 2011, 07:49 PM']Blimey, how many do you need?? [/quote] I don't need any, but you try telling me that when I see one!

Dan, you lucky SOB! I was under the impression that ALL of maiden went through one monster of a 33kW PA, bass included? Also, is the tech using some crappy handheld tuner for it? I'm seeing them for the fourth time on saturday night at the o2, and I gave way to temptation and looked at a set list yesterday, and have to say it's average at best, not a fan of some of the songs either, I'm sure it'll be as amazing as ever though. Also, it wasn't announced until after the previous night's tickets had been sold out, and it was announced as an extra surprise - also, trivium will be supporting rather than dragonforce who will have been supporting on the previous night's london show and the show before that (in ireland IIRC). Having seen both of those bands about 5 times each including both on their debut album UK tours, I am glad I get trivium as the lesser of two evils, though i've seen them both far too many times for my liking! Getting really, really excited now,

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1325706' date='Aug 3 2011, 02:34 PM']My thinking is that, if you've offered for trade an item with a Guide Value of £50, you'd be barking mad to turn down an offer of cash at or near that amount. So yes, it's also a For Sale sort of place since you're trading it for cash ...[/quote] Ok cool, thinking about bringing my Dean along, it's a lovely, fantastically gorgeous looking thing but it gets played so rarely it doesn't even make my sig. Bartolini pups too, might see about splitting them.

I am concerned for my bank balance when I see the final product - this thing is already looking amazing!

I like this very much, can it also be a FS shop?

[quote name='Machines' post='1325662' date='Aug 3 2011, 01:57 PM']I am unaware of any ban, to be honest it's something for a buyer to worry about.[/quote] Apologies if I'm getting this completely wrong then, I'm sure Machines knows far more than I do. I think it was silddx who mentioned it, but again really not sure, though it has definitely come up on here at some point recently, I think when a few people were complaining in OT of getting scammed.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1325646' date='Aug 3 2011, 01:45 PM']I think a few folk had hassles after someone replied to wanted adds and "Sold" them things which were paid for with the gift function[/quote] Always be suspicious of someone replying in the wanted forum - that never happens!

[quote name='redstriper' post='1325599' date='Aug 3 2011, 01:05 PM']Oh yes, that's because paypal don't want to lose their fees - it's free if you pay with funds from your paypal account. I thought you meant it was banned by this forum where it's quite a common practise afaik.[/quote] I did mean it's banned on this forum, I read it somewhere last month or so (I've had a search but can't for the life of me remember where). Of course paypal don't want to lose your fees, but equally you don't want to lose your money when you've just agreed a deal on a forum, and BC aren't exactly rolling in it and able to reimburse you like eBay are. This is why it's banned on here, I'm aware that it goes on, but any buyer should be wary of a seller asking him to do this - I have done it (only as a buyer not as a seller) before I read the post about it on here, but will refuse to do so in future.

[quote name='redstriper' post='1325577' date='Aug 3 2011, 12:53 PM']I didn't know it was banned and I've used that method a few times - which direction do you mean?[/quote] It is banned for a seller to ask the buyer to pay him 'marked as a gift' on paypal

[quote name='Muzz' post='1325553' date='Aug 3 2011, 12:39 PM']Know what you mean about the aesthetics - I love my Fortress, but that's [i]despite[/i] the looks, not because of them. Without wanting to descend into Carry On territory any more than we absolutely have to, if you think the Corvette's got a silly length upper horn, you should see my Fortress's. Fnaar. [/quote] plus the end on the fortress is extra-bulbous, lovely! Warwick basses sound and play amazingly IMO, as a general rule, though they've never designed a properly pretty one with the exception of the birdseye maple bodied infinity 5, which is a fantastic looking thing.

[quote name='andydye' post='1325556' date='Aug 3 2011, 12:41 PM']I didn't know that! How is it supposed to happen please? (for future reference)[/quote] When you send a paypal payment it can be marked as goods, services or gift (IIRC). Marking it as a gift exempts the seller from fees (again IIRC) but obviously offers you no protection if you don't get an item (because you weren't paying for an item you were sending a gift). Just asking to send it as a gift is banned on BC and many other forums. I always mark it as goods, though I guess services isn't beyond the realms of possibility if it's a repair job or something.

Paypal payment as a gift for items sold on here is a banned activity, if someone asks for it, point them in the right direction, and if you're dubious of why they're asking for it, alert a mod.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' post='1325376' date='Aug 3 2011, 10:50 AM']Thanks for the info. Its not so much that I'm "after aesthetics", its just that there are so many nice-playing AND nice-looking basses out there that I don't see the point in settling for one that only meets one of those two criteria To be honest though, the only thing I don't like about the Corvette is that silly upper horn. Its too long and, to be blunt, looks like it belongs in an Ann Summers catalogue Shorten it and round it off (maybe make it more like an Ibanez) and the design would be amazing...[/quote] Agreed. If I had to pick one thing I don't like about my Warwick it'd be the body shape. I think the overall looks are fairly good, but they don't excite me in quite the same way as a sparkly orange bongo or a modulus or a sandberg etc etc. I can only assume the upper horn is the silly length it is for weight balance and playability issues (probably about the exact location you want the strap button). I've heard the same comment before about my upper horn , so it's ok. I'd get out there and try a german made model to learn the difference, if you can play the two side by side it'd be even better. If you think the new price difference is not worth it (I don't think it is anymore), then check out S/H german ones, as the prices are comparable to new RB models.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' post='1325198' date='Aug 3 2011, 08:28 AM']I tried a RockBass corvette $$ at the weekend, which was my first Warwick experience... Being honest, I don't really rate the body shape all that much but the finish (a lovely light natural wood) was beautiful. And the neck! Wow. The finish on the back of the neck was really smooth---was ace. Even my non-bass playing wife said "ooh, that feels nice" Does anyone know, do the current German Warwicks have the same necks as the Rockbass ones?[/quote] I think the profile/construction may be different though I'm not sure. The materials are certainly different, the rockbass uses a maple neck with ekanga veneer and a rosewood fingerboard, whereas the german $$ uses an ovangkol neck and a wenge fingerboard. You can get warwick wax to maintain the smoothness and playability of the neck and fretboard, I'd be surprised if a decent shop didn't routinely apply that stuff to their warwicks, rockbasses or not. As for the body shape, if it's aesthetics you're after, there are definitely prettier basses out there. Warwick do say the corvette shape is technically a 3/4 size body, and it is small next to many other basses. IME this helps reduce weight, and if you got the chance to play the thing standing up, I'd imagine you will have noticed how spot on the balance is.