brensabre79

Cheers! I'll tell you after tonight! Sounds great through the cube...

Here you go. At one time it took pride of place in the lounge, you can just see it on the right... [attachment=96563:DSC_0078.JPG] and here's the missus ably demonstrating it using pencils as drumsticks - It was a real 'hit' with the neighbours! [attachment=96564:DSC_0079.JPG] Sadly it has now been relegated to the loft to make way for a dining table that we sit at once a year

I used to be a drummer before I saw the light. I've got a couple of old Rogers kits in the loft - always tempted to have a bash at rehersals but have to say holding down a rhythm and a melody at the same time appeals more nowadays

Finished (and started) construction of my Bitsa Jazz Bass last night, behold! Looks great next to my Sabre don't you think... Now I must remember to pick up the right bass for my gig tonight! Wizard '74 pickups, EMG-BTC preamp (battery route under scratchplate), Varitone pickup switch (Series - Neck - Parallel - Bridge) CTS volume pot. Badass Bridge is in the post of course... [attachment=96562:basses1.JPG]

I have both a Badass and a Gotoh 201. Both made dramatic improvements to the sustain of the bass, can't say which is my favourite though. If I were to do a third I would probably go for a Gotoh simply because they are cheaper and easier to get! Also, I think the Gotoh design is just a quality improvement on the original Fender whereas the Badass is almost a complete rethink - plus you may have to shim your neck with the BA because they sit high up.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1325783038' post='1487639'] The S12T is a 4-Ohm cab and ridiculously loud with it ... not sure what you'd need a second Speakon socket for. I like having two, but that's just me. It's not like I actually [i][b]need [/b][/i]two. [/quote] +1 if you [i][b]need[/b][/i] two S12s you should probably book an appointment with a hearing specialist. You'll need one after you fire that rig up anyway

[quote name='Clarky72' timestamp='1325778928' post='1487547'] Alex recomended the Shuttle 6 to me too. In my head I already had that and the TC Classic 450 in mind and they seem to be the ones mostly recomended... I'm a bit put off the TC by the single speakon output though, anyone else had any experience of this? [/quote] Yeah thats roughly where I was before I went for the GB. One of their product designers is on the 'American bass players who like to talk to each other' forum (can I say it?) and seems a pretty cool and knowledgeable dude. Having spoken with various people who know more than me, I decided the GB was the one for me, plus it was seriously reduced at bassdirect. I have not been disappointed. From what I discovered about the TC stuff, the TC amps work best with the TC cabs (which in turn work best with the TC amps). I think it goes along the lines of, the amps are nowhere near as powerful as their counterparts, but they are compressed and their speakers are very sensitive so the end result is a loudness equivalent to a more powerful amp driving a less sensitive speaker or something like that. Maybe a TC owner can enlighten me on that one! but I guess that means if you put a TC amp into ANOther speaker it won't be so loud and if you put ANOther amp into a TC speaker you're likely to overload it...?

1971 Fender Precision with a [i]Maple[/i] neck?

1, 2, 3 for me and 4 - play some songs you hate for a bit of beer money ;-)

I'd say its a bass played hard and heavy. You know when you really 'dig-in' to the strings when plucking, or use a pick the the thickness of a 50p... When you get blisters after 10 minutes of playing and the strings rattle against the fretboard every note... you're playing aggressively. The strings resonate differently to playing lightly and no amount of letting the amp do the work will substitute this style of attack.

I got a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 for my Super12. Alex informed me this is what he uses to test them with and having tried it in anger I can say it is an excellent combination. You can drive the tube pre for Rock and back it off a bit for cleaner pop sounds. I play everything from Sade to Buzzcocks through mine and Its a really clear, transparent sound but with tube warmth and growl when you need it. I'm not sure if they have any left but bassdirect were doing these at about £400 for BC'ers. You will not need any more power than this with a Super12. Mine hurts past 9 o'clock on the volume! So you'd have £200 spare to spend on a decent tube driver if you need even more dirt

+1 for the Epiphone T-Bird Pro, it bears no resemblance to the standard Epi T-Bird which is a standard bolt on Fender copy in the T-Bird shape. The T-Bird Pro is Mahogany and Maple, 5-piece Thru-neck, active electronics, humbuckers and the bridge is waayyy better than even the Gibson one! I had one, I loved it, but not as much as I love my Fenders, so it had to go One thing to watch for, they are made in china and as such the QC is a bit dodgy, I had to do a wiring repair and replace some of the pickup screws on mine (the cheap screws break pretty easily going into hard woods) and to avoid neck dive put a strap button on the back right at the end of the neck. oh and buy straplocks! I don't think the Gibson T-birds I have played are worth the extra ££s having tried the Epiphone T-Bird Pro to be honest. just my 2p

Nice review, couldn't have put it better. I'm blown away with mine!

I think the only use for the descriptors Flyfisher is the price tag. As others say the Japanese ones are consistently OK, the American, Mexican, Squier etc. are more varied in quality but a Bad MIA is probably not as bad as a Bad MIM. The difference in set-up is that at the cheaper end they do have a pretty standard set-up procedure and thats it. They will also let the basses go out with minor faults, dodgy wiring etc. So buying one of those you're likely to have to resolder a joint or shim the neck slightly to get the best setup. If you buy a more expensive American one, the labour rate is considerably higher - hence the price is higher for that, also, they also usually pay a bit more attention to details, having any faults corrected, making sure the setup is good when it leaves the factory. The fit of the neck in the pocket is usually much tighter, same with scratchplate etc. The pickups used on the MIA are different to the MIM, the hardware is heavier, better quality and the wood chosen is the pick of the bunch. So for your money you get better components put together with a bit more care. but you will still get a friday night bass once in a while...

Why? Why would anyone want to do this? The reason for the Badass is the Fender standard bridge was poor, the reason for straplocks is the Fender standard strap button design was weak. The reason for Humbuckers is that single coil pickups err... hum. When Leo designed the MusicMan basses he sorted all of these things out so you wouldn't have to.

Our function band has 4 vocals, everyone has a SM58 except one of us who has a Beyer. He insists that - at twice the price of the SM58 - his is a better microphone... Guess which one of our vocalists can never hear themselves in the monitor, is always on the brink of feedback and sounds like he's singing through an old sock out front...? Yes SM58s have a 'sound' but mixing desks also have a 'eq section'. They work, they are not amazing, but they are easy to work with, robust and cheap (ish)

I have the John East J-Retro on my fretless. The sweepable treble and bass on there is great for for picking out frequencies for double bass effect or the Jaco growl, but I have to say in a gig situation the endless possibilities are often more of a hindrance to dialing in a good sound quickly. I find myself constantly tweaking mid song to get it right. On my fretted Jazz I ended up fitting a simple 2 band treb/bass stacked arrangement based on the original (preEB) MusicMan preamp (tweaked slightly for single coil PUs). I can get the sound I want pretty easily and the frequencies are fixed. I have thought about experimenting with the circuit so I can pick one of two or three fixed bass frequencies to cut/boost to for a sort of hybrid between the East and the MM arrangement but to be honest I haven't needed it on my fretted bass and the East circuit is too complicated (and expensive) for me to mess with!

+1 on the Squiers. It doesn't matter where its built to be honest you get some good and some bad. The main reason you tend to get more good ones if you buy older basses is that the good ones get kept whereas the bad ones tend to get chucked, broken up for parts etc. As with all basses from the cheapest korean brand to the custom built one-offs, try before you buy, the last thing you should be buying with is your eyes. The main difference (apart from materials) between MIA, MIM, MIJ, made in anywhere, is the level of human contact in setup and quality control. A good setup and occasional repair will generally get over most of these issues. I'm not sure if this is still the case, but at one time the MIA ones tended to get the best looking cuts of timber, the cuts not selected were then sent to Mexico where the labour is cheaper. The ones made in the far east generally use less expensive timber, but the Japan ones are generally the pick of these right out of the box - simply because the quality control is higher. FWIW, my Squier Jazz cost me £200 and Bernie Goodfellow and I reckon it plays better than my MIA American Deluxe Jazz. Sometimes its the luck of the draw.

[quote name='largo' timestamp='1325609604' post='1485130'] Real "Bass Players" don't put their cabs on chairs [/quote] No they bring their own stand instead. The Barefaced equivalent to your rig largo would be 2 midgets... But you're effectively just using one of the speakers as a stand for the other.

Yep, it is cheap stuff and its not as good as the top end stuff, but it is better than a lot of stuff that is a lot more expensive. I used to take out £3k worth of heavy weight mid-range gear and worry about pints falling near it etc. etc. Our function band PA is almost entirely Behringer now. I don't expect it to last 10 years, but it will cost less than £1k to replace the lot so I don't care. A 3000w Class D power amp for under £200 - whats not to like?

+1 the Midget for my 2p, but Alex will see you right (as he has done for many of us on here!). I think if you are using public transport/taxi to get to gigs the Midget will be a good option. The Super 12 is very small and light for a rig capable of handling 1200W, and it will outdo most 4x10s, but the wheels are designed to get you from the car to the stage, not to take your rig for a walk. I think you'll find it a bit unwieldy on the bus/train. I got a Super12T because I was used to an exceptionally loud 4x10, in retrospect, for what I'm doing its complete overkill, I can't get the volume on my amp past 9 o'clock without it hurting!! I believe the midget will easily handle everything the MiBass can throw at it and its really portable too!

IF you can get a pub landlord to sign a MU contract I will eat my hat (the one in the picture) Sadly its par for the course, we've been shafted in the past. Funnily enough we got a call from one such venue recently who desperately needed a band for a Christmas party because the one they booked pulled out. I was very tempted to say 'yeah no problem, see you then' and not turn up. I didn't, I just said we were busy that night - we're not going back there and I'm sure other bands will do the same. It may take a while but one day the landlord there might realise no bands want to play in his pub and start to ask himself why. Then again he probably will not

Thanks everyone! I'm really chuffed to bits with it (actually enjoying playing more!). Heartily recommend these cabs. I'll try and make it to the next bassbash in the SE so you can try it out Have a great Christmas and new year!!

I think you may regret it if you mess with your favourite bass. If you come across another passive fretless you should grab it. Making a passive bass active is far better than defretting IMHO. You could probably even get Wal to supply the guts to convert a passive one.

I do, with musicguard.co.uk - they seem OK. Also if you're in the PRS there are some good discounts from some companies, check out their website. Also, often overlooked with household policies is cover for public liability - if some drunken idiot trips over your lead or falls onto the stage and impails themselves on your mic stand or whatever you're covered for that too...