MichaelDean

I had the same issue, it still happened with a new valve, do I sent it off to Ashdown, came back good as new. That's a bit harder for you based on your location! If a new valve doesn't sort it, I'd contact the shop you bought it from.

Yeah, the bridge is going to be better than a three point one. Looking at the comments on Instagram, they've said it's short scale and the pickup can be switched from plit coil to mudbucker with a push/pull on the tone control.

I had a SUB 5 for quite a few years. It played really nicely. The stock preamp was ok, but it sounded better once I put a Retrovibe Stinger in it. I think, had I kept it, I probably would have gotten curious eventually changed the pickup too. It held up well to gigging though and I utterly outdid (tonally) a real Stingray 5 once at a gig. The other bassist we were supporting looked a bit annoyed about that 🤣 I only moved it on when I got my Dingwall as I had some instructions from the other half!

Yeah, I've been trying out the main contenders at practice and we rehearse a bit silly loud (with hearing protection!). One of the guitarists even said he couldn't hear me as well with the one I thought would work well (which was a Gator Grip triangle).

Thanks to this thread, I went and bought loads of picks to try out as I'd been using the same ones for the last 10 years. The close runner up was the Nylon Big Stubby, but I kept dropping it. If they did a grippier one of those, it would be perfect for me. So, I ended up where I started - a Dunlop Nylon 1mm! It's amazing the difference a pick can make though. A/Bing them all was really interesting. Some were clearly not what I wanted and I could tell acoustically, others I needed to hear it amplified to really tell the difference. But once amplified, it was really obvious.

I briefly had a fretless bass. I don't care for mwah or any of the other words used to describe the sound! Mind you I'm not even a big fan of other people playing fretless, so maybe I should have seen it coming 😅

A bit of reverb can make you into a massive wall of noise too. Wah pedals are fun. I've been using my GX-100 in a doom band and it's been great trying out some other bits like an octave and chorus for some bits. A gate can be useful too. I've got one set up so I can be silent if needed with my base dirt and then it doesn't affect any of the bigger noisy stuff I'm doing.

It might be worth you trying out a PJ bass (if you haven't already). You can get a bit more high end from the J, but you've still got the P there that just fits in well.

I'd also prefer the block to be inside the thing. I guess they also probably have the same one for X number of products and it's easier for them to do it like that. I'm almost tempted to trim the long cable and put a new DC connector on it. Should probably wait for the warranty to run out first mind!

I'm glad you like it! If you get the bluetooth module and you're having issues with it, I recommend connecting to the audio signal before connecting to the MIDI one. It's the opposite of the booklet, but worked for me after a frustrating half an hour. You can't seemingly do anything with the footswitch colours/brightness. I was hoping to tweak the colours to my preference. No dice! If you don't need any other pedals, this cheaper case also seems better than nothing so far. I got an extra long figure 8 cable so the rest of the power block is velcroed down.

You can assign the expression pedal to multiple parameters at a time. That isn't an issue. I don't think you can change what the expression pedal is controlling in the same patch though. I think you'd need to use an external expression pedal for part two of your plan.

So, yes, only being able to play back other audio sources through the optional Bluetooth module is a pain in the backside. I capitulated on that add on pretty quickly. I don't use it for the Tone Studio app though. I find I can do any patch editing quickly enough on the pedal itself. Another oddity is that you can't create a blank patch/wipe one quickly. There are X number of presets (can't remember off the top of my head) and then X number of user definable presets with corresponding numbers but different prefixes. The user presets default to being the same as the main presets, which you can then either tweak or delete all of the blocks and start from scratch. Once you have one blank patch you can then copy that to other slots. If you choose the "initialize" option on a patch, it restores the original preset. Really odd choice I feel! The outputs aren't balanced unfortunately. And the headphone out mirrors the main outs. You can set a divider block up with just the one output with the amp/cab sim and one without, but you can only have one divider block per patch, so you can't necessarily do as much parallel processing as you might want. I've been OK with that compromise though. All of the guitar dirts have a clean blend and bass boost, the bass ones have a clean blend. But I'm finding myself using the guitar ones over the bass specific ones. The only bass specific effects I'm really using are the bass wah and bass amp. So, I've got one side set up with an amp and cab sim for front of house and the other without to go to my amp. Still really pleased with it. No regrets.

I almost sliced the tip of my left ring finger off the day before a gig a few years ago. I did surprisingly well with just a plaster. Thought it was going to be much worse than it was. Still got a scar on that finger.

I had some of an older version. They were worse than terrible. The cable was soooooo microphonic and the sound was bad. Bass response wasn't there and the highs were tinny. Unless you can try this version before buying, I'd avoid.

When I got mine, the cable upgrade was a "free gift". I didn't bother using the original one till the upgrade died a few years later. After a day or two of using the original one I ordered a new upgrade cable! I just couldn't deal with how the original one tangled as soon as you looked at it wrong!

I've also got a GX-100 and am loving it. The lack of line outs did concern me a little, but I went ahead anyway - as Al Krow says, just stick a DI on one output if it's a long cable run. It's a really great unit. No regrets at all. I've found that because there is an extra bass knob on all of the drives/distortions/fuzzes intended for guitar, they have been working out much better than the bass specific ones for my use case. The only downside would be any synth type stuff. There aren't any blocks for that with the GX-100. I guess you could layer other effects to make something synthy though.

The issue there is that the input gain also affects the valve drive. I'd much rather have smooth pots on the gain and volume.

Direct sunlight is really good at breaking down odours - not so handy at this time of year though! I had a smelly case. Left it out in the sun for a day and it smells no more!

I don't think they are a thing. As it mounts directly to the body, a ring isn't usually needed unless the route isn't shaped nicely, in which case it might be easier/look better to do a whole pickguard. I reckon someone would be able to knock one up for you though if you needed it. Try Brian: https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/earlpilanz

What did you get? (Pictures are always welcome!) Could you return it and opt for something else too?

I found it's something you just get used to as you get to know the instrument. I've had my Dingwall for nearly 4 years now - I don't even need to think about it anymore and it didn't take that whole time to get used to it. My fingers/plectrum just know where to go now. I'm also with Lozz on this. I've experienced it some standard scale basses too.

Ah, I didn't notice that!

The ABM 750 is much sleeker looking in my opinion. The light blue doesn't really do it for me either. I also didn't like older ABMs I tried, nor any of the rootmasters or cheaper combos, but the ABM 600 had me swayed. I'd recommend trying one out (if possible). I think the newer ones might surprise you.

I'm surprised I haven't seen an Ashdown ABM mentioned yet! The valve drive on my ABM 600 warms things up nicely. Really flexible EQ too. It should pair nicely with your Barefaced 610 too.

32 Ohm is easier to drive from most sources. I hear that cans with higher ohms have more detail but I'm not sure I've ever heard the same set with different Ohms to tell them apart! I've got a set of K92s. They're quite coloured, but once I got used to that, they're perfectly good headphones. Very comfortable too as a glasses wearer!