JPJ

Take a look at the TC Electronics BG250 208, its pretty small but can still hold its own in a rehearsal or quiet band situation. I've upgraded the 8" speakers in mine to give a total load of 4 ohms meaning I get the full 250W output without an extension cab. Personally, I prefer this combo to the PJB Briefcase it replaced. It 'breathes' a little easier and is warmer and more natural sounding to my old ears.

I’m using J-Tone Reds in the wing slots on my KK Baby Bass to blend in with the magnetic pickup. I found the mag pickup either too dark or too thin on its own, adding the J-Tone Reds and blending the two with a headway EDB-1 gives me a realistic DB sound. Happy to recommend the J-Tones

I’m what you might call an SWR fan. I’ve owned at various times: 1) Grand Prix pre amp 2) Black Beauty 1x15 combo, paired with Workingmans 2x10 3) 750X paired with Goliath III and Son of Bertha 4) 750X paired with Goliath II and Goliath III 5) Marcus Miller Pre paired with QSC poweramp and Goliath II and Goliath III 6) SM1500 paired with Goliath II and Goliath III 7) SM1500 paired with Goliath Snr 6x10 I still own the SM1500 plus the Goliath II albeit reconed with Eminence Deltalites. You’ll find all SWR kit is heavy beyond belief (I can just about lift the SM1500 on my own) but it’s worth it for the tone.

Thanks folks, valuable advice, looking forward to tomorrow’s rehearsal now 😎

The rehearsal rooms we’re using at the moment have Ashdown bass rigs, mainly ABM 500’s. I’m really struggling to get to grips with all the knobs and sliders to get a decent rounded even tone. I can either get a nice sounding D & G string with no weight to the E & A, or a big fat muddy mess. Can anybody give me a few pointers to: a) getting the thing as ‘flat’ as possible; or b ) getting a decent rock/ alt country tone? By way of reference I mainly use an Aguilar AG500 through an SWR Goliath 4x10, and normally run it with the EQ ‘flat’.

So i've been playing EUB for a while, for a few songs in our set. As I work away from home all week, I only get an hour or two to practice with the EUB at the weekends, and then not every weekend. As a result, I'm really struggling to keep my hand strength in my left hand. So my question is, do any of you folk use one of those hand exerciser things, and if so, are they any good?

So despite my Aguilar AG500 performing flawlessly, and the SM-1500 sitting quietly in reserve, I find myself gassing for either an OB1 or 4-Stroke 500's. Looks like the 4-Stroke might be more my thing but any users of both care to share some real world experience?

My KK Baby Bass is a five string, and I believe cost less than the Thoman when new? Granted its really an EUB but it does a very passible DB tone.

I play five string active basses and a KK Baby Bass. I added a Micro Thumpinator a few months back and it has been a revelation for both the BG's and the upright. In fact, I was paid a huge compliment by the professional sound crew at a large bike rally we played just last week. The FOH loved the sound of my bass DI so much he came up to the stage to see what I was using

So as a few of you will probably know, I have a five string KK Baby Bass and despite the issues I had due to Parcelforce, I'm now over the moon and loving playing her. One thing with these basses is that the stock magnetic pickup works best with two 'washers' inserted into the feet of the bridge. Positioning the bridge accurately on the two 'circles' of the pickup is also vital to getting a good tone. The 'washers' are about 8mm diameter, about 4mm thick and have one flat side and one countersunk side ready to take a screw head. I recently had the strings off to replace a broken tuner barrel (self-inflicted) and the washers dropped out, so I put them back with the flat side in contact with the pickup, thinking that the larger contact area would make for a better connection. Anyway, move forward to last week. The bass has a small metal frame over the bridge that is part of the pickup system. I've become used to using this like a handle when moving the bass in the confines of the man-cave (I know, I must stop) and yes, last week I picked the bass up with my fingers resting on the bridge which tipped the bridge over So I refitted the bridge, but this time I put the washers in the other way up (i.e. with the countersunk side in contact with the pickup) and wow, what an improvement in tone! The KK is naturally quite dark sounding with just the magnetic pickup, and I also use a piezo in the bridge to blend in a bit more high end and 'transparency'. However, with the washers inverted, I am getting a much better all round sound from just the built in magnetic pickup. So basically there is a happy ending to my misjudged handling of the bass. Silver linings and all that

My favourite Fendebird 😉 https://imgur.com/a/aRnSo

You sir have a patience of the proverbial saint. Looks a lovely result though, how does she play and sound?

I'm a huge fan of my custom ACS moulds. I started with 17db filters but found them too isolating, so I changed to 10db filters that work great, even with a loud rock band. They have the effect of cleaning the sound up with the result that I hear every note I play and really help when playing fretless or upright.

I'd start with wire wool, and only to sand paper if the roughness is really deep.

Personally, I'd go for the pickups and other cavities whilst the body blank is still flat and able to support the router. For rounding over the edges its more router work, but for forearm contour and belly cut, I use a belt sander to do all the heavy work.

A useful tip for neck pockets is take a lot of the material out with a forstner drill bit preferable in a pillar drill first. That way you have less chance of the router 'digging in' or 'kicking' messing up the neck pocket. For future reference, I normally cut the neck pocket first before the body profile as it gives you a bigger surface to support the template and router, and its easier to line everything up with nice square edges.

My KK Baby Bass has conventional bass guitar elephant ear tuners, but because they've been mounted without ferrules, I was able to snap one of mine when the string bound up on the side of the peg box.