Bigwan

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1508837048' post='3394684'] Pretty much everything about the necks (and to a lesser extent the chunkiness of the bodies) which are all about low-skill, low-cost manufacturing with the technology that was easily and cheaply available in the 1940s. Leo Fender did a good job back then, but technology and manufacturing techniques have moved on and a lot of the compromises he had to make for the sake of hitting his price point with a workforce that were not luthiers is unnecessary these days. [/quote] And yet look at how many people still enjoy them! For me, there's nothing more pleasing than a good P-bass, so why would I want anything different? I've been round the houses. I've had all the active doo-hickies (still do!). I've owned graphite necked basses, hell I've owned an all graphite bass. But I've returned to the tried and trusted design because it works best for me. The sound works for me. It's ergonomically comfortable for me. Any change would just be for the sake of it. But each to their own!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1508832607' post='3394634'] It seems strange that the luthier has gone to all the trouble to "improve" the Thunderbird, when there still plenty of things on the Jazz and Precision bass that could also do with improvement, but his take on those seems to be identical to Mr Fender's. [/quote] Explain...

[quote name='No lust in Jazz' timestamp='1508785874' post='3394441'] Well I've ordered one. [/quote] Cool! I'm gathering up (more) things to sell to fund a Soulmate. I think what I have might pay for the extra frills so far

Da web say: Using higher value pots (500K) will give the guitar a brighter sound and lower value pots (250K) will give the guitar a slightly warmer sound. This is because higher value pots put less of a load on the pickups which prevents treble frequencies from "bleeding" to ground through the pot and being lost. I can neither confirm nor deny... But my thoughts are that this only comes into play if you turn your volume down from max, otherwise how could it make any difference as you're shorting out the pot's resistance with the volume all the way up? Perhaps it's why passive diehards say their basses sound better with the volume at 90%?

Try wiring straight to the jack with one pickup. That should rule out phase issues and the internal controls. If that's still weedy change pickups for something with a bit more oomph! Passive you could go to SD Quarter Pounders or Dimarzio Ultra Jazz, but the world's your oyster really!

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1508760341' post='3394181'] OK, get a coffee. For a decade plus, I worked for a very successful wristwatch company - if you search my posts you'll find out who they were easily enough and hey, you know I'm buying a Lull, so you you must have done your due diligence. Our product was pitched from the low end/catalogue business up to pieces with a retail price of c.£650/700. Largely because of one key piece of technology (that no one else had), so we romped home year after year through a combination of sales betterment and a strong marketing strategy. At one point were the 3rd biggest watch company in the country by sales (only behind Rolex and Omega) and top by volume by a country mile. Because we were doing so terrifically well, one bright spark in our managerial structure decided that we should start punching out of our weight and bring out a [i]Signature [/i]range of watches that were pitched at £2-£3K range. Pretty much everyone in the business was horrified and correctly so because in hindsight was a massive failure. Now this wasn't down to the product being rubbish, it was because no one wanted to pay that amount of money for something they could buy a Rolex or Omega for. It didn't matter that these pieces looked great (albeit a bit too blingy in my eyes), or that they were handmade by watchmakers in Japan, or that they synchronised with the atomic clock or had diamonds or had crystal glass etc. no one bought them because they were overpriced and it cost the company a whole lot more than just money and we got our ass handed to us on a plate. It affected our market share, our reputation and standing in the sector. All because of strategy and one man's folly. Now juxtaposition the Lowlander with the above and apply the same analogy. The Lowlander is representative of the Signature range we did, because passion, commitment, workmanship, innovation don't necessarily come into things when you're in business. Maybe he can sell a dozen a year and live comfortably off the profits. Granted, he may only make/sell five of these basses and then consign the design to the bin, but ultimately he's an unknown luthier asking potential customers to stump up nearly £3K for a bass that kind of looks like a Thunderbird, but really isn't. £3K will buy you a lot of bass elsewhere and would likely go some way towards a 70s Gibson Bicentennial Thunderbird or a '60s model if that's your thing. Looking at his other models, the same applies. Custom shop prices for guitars that ape Precision, Jazzes and Strats, but aren't Fenders. This ultimately is my point, but I make no apology for you not being able to read that into my post. I mean, credit to the guy for trying, but at the end of the day, he is pitching a £3K bass into a marketplace flooded with better(?) £3K basses; Spectors, Lulls (heh), Sadowsky, Warwick and so on. I think you can probably pick up an entry-level Fodera for that money too. And when you do actually pull that £3K bass out of it's case, the shock will be that you've paid £3K for something that people will squint at it and say, 'What the hell is that?' I'll look forward to seeing how you get on with one if you decide to buy one, but suspect there won't be an order winging its way to Ballymena any time soon, but please feel free to prove me wrong. [/quote] Sander De Gier didn't just crawl out of the woodwork yesterday! He's been building and selling basses successfully for years AT THIS PRICE POINT. Much of what you say could be leveled at any luthier. Where would that leave us? Stuck at the mercy of the mass manufacturers! You're right about one thing though - there won't be a Lowlander winging its way to Ballymena any time soon. Likely never. Much as I appreciate what has gone into the design, I'm not a fan of Thunderbirds at any price. I am giving SERIOUS consideration to one of his Soulmates though... My issue isn't that you balk at De Gier's pricing, or the Lowlander design. It's that as a member of this forum you would wish a bass maker out of business the way you did with your original comment: "[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Sorry, but man alive, [b]with a sales strategy like that, this company needs to go down the toilet[/b]." If you can't see what is wrong with that statement I personally don't see any point talking to you further.[/font][/color]

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1508754581' post='3394138'] Great video with nice range of likely uses! I love T-birds, and this one seems like a great version. Lots of attention to detail. The cutaways will be the main point of contention (beyond the fact it's a 'bird). I don't have a problem with them, although they do jar a little with my [i]expectations[/i] when looking at the bass. The pickguard seems a touch clumsy, surprisingly so on what seems such a meticulously designed bass, but I would be pretty chuffed to be rocking one of these! [/quote] If you look at the De Gier instagram account there's pics of the unfinished bass without the pickguard. I think it looks better without it! Having said that I can understand why dyed-in-the-wool t-bird fans wouldn't like the body shape...

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1508751889' post='3394108'] Let's address these snips. [list] [*]Yes, I watched both the videos, but hey, thanks for telling me that I didn't. [*]Hellzero, you hate Thunderbirds. Well, good for you. I like Thunderbirds. Hooray for me! [*]Hellzero, if your friend paid £2,500 for a 2015, then he's been done, hook, line and sinker. The internet is your friend's friend. Shop around. For £2,500 he could have bought a Lowlander. You should have worked on him. Perhaps there's a reason why he bought a Gibson. [*]Hellzero, neckdive, impossible to play and muddy sound. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Big yaaaawn. [*]Bigwan, because, oh yes, if it had Lull on the headstock I'd definitely buy three. Maybe four. (And remember, I didn't bring Lull into this thread, you did.) Put Spector on the headstock and perhaps Gary would buy a handful as well. [*]I liked the tone (but the You Tube video is drenched with EQ and reverb), I liked the volute, I thought the rear straplok location was interesting, but not something I'd consider. [/list] Thing that I don't seem to be able to grasp here is that if you got lucky you could by three used Thunderbirds for the price of that bass and with the Lowlander you're getting a copy of the aforementioned bass, but with the added bonus of having two big bites taken out of the body, which for me is a mahoosive turnoff. It's like those Schecter and Jackson basses that ape the Gibson design but there's something fundamentally wrong/flawed with the body shape. If the bass retained the original body shape, then I would probably been more positive/interested. On their other stuff, the Origin and Evolution basses look OK, but not really my bag in the slightest. The Soulmate, BeBop and Surfer are just Precision, Jazz and Strat reinterpretations. The Junior looks like a Novak Charlie Hunter. [/quote] And what part of all of that means Sander De Gier's business deserves to go down the tubes? You started the asshatery mate...

Holly Molly that is stunning! Gonna guess at a Krell E-type single cut 5 with 2 RFB humbuckers. The ash necks are sublime...

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1508659660' post='3393537'] They're copying everything else from a '60s Thunderbird, so why not just go the whole hog? [/quote] It's pretty clear you DIDN'T watch Sander's video. As he says himself it's his own version of a 60's T-bird, but it's pretty far from a copy. Wishing his company to go down the tubes because it's not enough of a copy for your liking is borderline idiotic. Perhaps if it said Lull on the headstock (and possibly cost a couple of thousand more) you might like it more?

[quote name='Cuzzie' timestamp='1508595568' post='3393190'] If you still have the Hartke run it before the Two Notes, I know i do and you can get further sound combinations which are a real treat [/quote] Still have it. It survived the recent cull!

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1508573146' post='3392978'] That's marvellous What else have you tried in terms of preamps and dirt and what is it immediately about the Two Notes that trumps them / has brought such a smile to your face? For me a combination of tight tracking octave down with 50% clean blend (in my case using a COG T16) into the Two Notes in Channel B is producing a gorgeously rich dirt sound that reminds me of Brian May's guitar (albeit a couple of octaves down!), which I'm just loving. [/quote] Oh let's see... Hartke VXL Behringer BDI21 Zoom B3 MXR M80 DI+ Tech 21 VT bass v1, v2 and deluxe Darkglass vmt, b3k, b7k, vintage deluxe and M900 Ashdown J-lo Hyperdrive (one of my favourite pedals. Looking forward to stacking this with the Le Bass) A load of DIY stuff: b3k and vmt clones, SFT clone, Runoffgroove Ginger, Ezekiel 25:17 clone, BJFE Blueberry clone (another favourite, but I fear it's now redundant), Xotic Bass RC booster clone, Musket fuzz clone, green russian clone, bazz fuss, probably more I've forgotten about. Really what I've been looking for recently is a pedal that sounds good straight to a mixer/headphones and gives that "amp on the edge of breakup" tone. The Two Notes is perfect for that and gives the option of a few levels of dirt at the same time. Nice eq points and doesn't have as strong a baked-in tone as the Darkglass or Tech21 stuff. I really like the cab sim. I know some find it too dark and if I'd the option I might shift the lpf frequency up a tiny little bit, but as standard it's not far away from ideal for me.

I'm liking this very, VERY much! Only tried it briefly but I think my preamp search is over. Only down side is the eBay seller has sent it with an 18v supply...

This would worry me: "[color=#000000][font=Arial][size=1]For the neck, there's very slight relief on the low string end when the top string end is straight."[/size][/font][/color]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1508428996' post='3392152'] They're beautiful. That headstock though... what a shame! [/quote] It's growing on me...

Isn't the seller a basschat familiar?

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1508416185' post='3392039'] Just had a look at their website, that JV bitsa is veerrrryyy nice indeed! [/quote] Nice player I have to say. Didn't plug it in - there was a young fella getting his John Mayer on for his obviously affluent parents... Having said that my attention has mostly been in this direction the last few days: http://www.degierguitars.com/soulmate-gallery/ Especially here: http://www.degierguitars.com/portfolio-items/soulmate-turquoise-relic/?portfolioCats=20

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1508338622' post='3391469'] Hideous and it's a snip too at nearly 3,000 euros. Sorry, but man alive, with a sales strategy like that, this company needs to go down the toilet. [/quote] Really? Like, really? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that. No arguing over the price, it's not cheap, but neither is a Lull ($4.3k wasn't it? Plus shipping and import duty no doubt...). What about the "sales strategy" don't you like? Maybe investigate Sanders products a bit more. Marcus Miller and Richard Bona using his basses.

[quote name='intime-nick' timestamp='1508324361' post='3391334'] i spend all day designing them (amongst other MI related stuff)....i know how you feel !! [/quote] So you "know stuff"... Interesting... There may be questions!

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1508324209' post='3391331'] Ha! this is true. At least you can convince yourself its some sort of worthwhile techy project to get your teeth into! [/quote] True! I keep telling her-indoors "If you build it, they will come"... Worst case scenario I won't have to buy a drum kit for the kids if/when the time comes!!!

Could be worse. You could be me, converting this drum kit for some mythical tame drummer I'm yet to recruit...

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/312024-acg-j-type-4-bass/page__p__3384976__hl__acg__fromsearch__1#entry3384976

I'll have to do some fiddling. I'm mostly using P-basses these days so I'll play with both together and see how it goes. Having said that there is a Dingwall incoming...