Ba55me15ter

Yamaha DXR12 (mk1) here. Works great!

I recently went the IEM route with a pair of 64 Audio A4s. We run a Yamaha TF5 desk, so I'm mixing my own stereo aux feed to taste via an Android tablet. After the first couple of gigs I realised I was getting a post-EQ bass feed back through the aux feed (after the FOH guy had sucked out some of my mids - boo!) so I now take a feed direct from my pedalboard into my own small Behringer mixer and mix that direct with the aux feed for my IEMs. In general it's great and the stereo monitoring is fab, but I find I'm getting a touch of tinnitus after gigs which is not good. I've tried running the IEMs as low as possible and rolling some bottom end off, but I'm starting to think that directing bass directly into my ears for 2 hours just doesn't suit them. The IEMs are a good fit with the -20dB module fitted, but I am usually right next to the drummer. I get the same feeling / mild tinnitus after playing through headphones at home for extended periods at very reasonable levels. Prior to this I was wearing flat-response earplugs with a wedge monitor cab. I'm thinking I might have to go back to this. Any other ideas?

He did indeed mention doing that but I think it's pretty far down his list of priorities at the moment.

A phenomenal amp, unfortunately let-down on mine by a very noisy (when it kicks-in) fan. It's an early model, I don't know if it improved..?

Update to this, decided to take the plunge and replace the pickups with Bartolini M55CBC. Definitely worth it. Together with the Uni-Pre it's now an absolutely top class unit - dead quiet! The sound is a lot fuller and low / low-mid rich, with some lovely bark from the bridge pickup when solo'd. The pickups fit with around a 4mm gap at each end. I cut some 5mm-thick black EVA foam (a few quid on eBay) and stuffed it in the gap and it looks pretty smart. You will need a foam block behind the new pickups to push them out a bit and I've got some longer screws on order so I can raise them a bit further (stock screws are 30mm, ordered 35mm). Screws holes don't match up so you need to create new ones on fitting.

I thought I should weigh in here with my recent experience. I've just fitted a John East Uni Pre 5 to my Mark 1 (slap-cut) TRB5. Went in fine although you do have to enlarge two of the pot holes in the body which is a little scary! The stock pickups are single coil with a dummy coil for eliminating hum which relies on the circuitry in the stock preamp, so the default position is just to attach the signal wire from the pickup (red) and leave the dummy coil signal wire (white) disconnected. This is what I did and indeed it does work, BUT you will get hum when the pick-up pan is anything but central. I went and foil-shielded the pickup cavities but it was still a problem. Then...after reading a bit about dummy coils I started experimenting and discovered that if you connect the dummy coil signal from the opposite pickup to the pickup signal connection, voila! - hum cancellation! Unfortunately you do get an associated drop in signal level but it is definitely worth it (the pickups are pretty low-output to start with too). Sounds great though. Having discussed this with John East he's thinking about producing a little plug-in module that would buffer the dummy coil input to prevent that signal drop, with maybe a trimmer for adjusting the cancellation, basically emulating the original Yamaha circuit. I'll report back any progress on this, but if it happens I'll be more than happy to keep the stock pickups. In the meantime I also cut a scratchplate to fit over the "slap cut" as ironically I find it anything but helpful when slapping as my fingers like to knuckle-pivot off something when I'm popping like on every other bass I have. It works very well though could be even thicker. Pic attached. All this has done wonders for this bass as the build is absolutely top-notch (original preamp excepted!).

Bit of a sacred cow this one so I hope I've done it justice! (dons best rock face)

One of the best basslines on TV, it's Go Jetters!

There's no simple answer to that I'm afraid. I first played it in a band setting about 6 years ago. I've been noodling on it on and off ever since as I find it an excellent exercise especially for the right hand. I've been playing in total for around 37 years!

It's a BB1500A. Don't see many of them about!

Er, thanks!