BigRedX

[quote name='rmorris' timestamp='1463053806' post='3048102'] What is the Behringer DI model ? And the EMO ? [/quote] It's a [url=http://www.music-group.com/Categories/Behringer/Signal-Processors/DI-Boxes/DI100/p/P0062]Behringer Ultra-DI 100[/url] and the EMO is the [url=http://www.emosystems.co.uk/Products/Passive_Direct_Injection_Boxes.html]E520[/url].

For some reason the Behringer DI box won't work with our Moog Etherwave Theremin. And it's not just an isolated instance. Every time the PA engineer can't get a signal from the Theremin it turns out he's using a Behringer DI. As soon as it's swapped out for the EMO one that we carry as a spare it's fine. Any ideas why this might be?

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1462774767' post='3045498'] Does a different scale length make a fundamental difference to the quality of the B? If it doesn't then why bother making long scale basses? [/quote] As I said in my first post, IME you need to significantly increase the scale length from 34" in order to make a noticeable difference without addressing the more expensive aspects of the bass such as how the neck is constructed and how it is joined to the body. So there are the Overwaters from the 80s with a 36" scale which works well although the D and G strings tend to be a little on the stiff side. Therefore the Dingwall fanned fret approach of 37" B and 34"? (I looked on the Dingwall site and couldn't find any mention of the actual lengths of the strings) for the G. Or if you want some seriously low notes you could just get a 39" scale Knuckle Quake. The problem I have with 35" scale is that a lot of the time it's a cheap cop-out by the manufacturers. After all a neck for a 35" scale instrument only needs about 3/4" of extra wood over one for a 34" scale. AFAICS it's an approach favoured by makers of instruments with bolt-on necks. However IME through neck construction or a good set-neck joint combined with an overall stiffer construction for the neck itself will give far better results.

Looks like a different scale length too? Check the bridge positions of the two basses.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1462735440' post='3045351'] Not ideal to play sitting down.... [/quote] No-one is going to buy that in order to play it sitting down.

Just customise a keytar steam-punk style: [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/13055149_10153922231088387_8843124477969231286_o_zpswnl7druw.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/13055882_10153922231078387_3703998150687279634_o_zpshmahvh7n.jpg[/IMG]

IMO it's all about the construction of the neck and how it is attached to the body rather than a 1" difference in scale length. The other important factor is finding the right B string for a particular bass. What works on one won't necessarily work on another. Bear in mind that going from 34" to 35" is not even a 3% increase in length so by all means go for 35" scale if you like the longer spacing between the frets, but don't expect a single inch to make any real difference in how the B string feels and sounds. Also IME 35" scale is used by a lot of cheaper basses to try and compensate for the fact that the construction of the bass isn't really up to the standard required for a 5-string. It doesn't work. Any manufacturer capable of making a 35" scale bass with a good sounding a feeling B string will be able to make one with a 34" scale length just as well. Scale length only makes a significant difference once you go to 36" scale or longer. Of all the 5-string basses I have owned, the best B-strings were on the 34" scale basses (Gus, Sei and Warwick). The next best were my 2 Overwater 36" scale basses. The two 35" scale basses I owned (Reverend and Traben) were, apart from a very cheap 34" scale bass, by far the worst when it came to the B string.

[quote name='Chownybass' timestamp='1462531328' post='3043790'] You know what mate? Let 'em try! It's SUCH a ballache that I think anybody who approaches it casually will drop out anyway. You also need deep pockets to get started (unless you are VERY lucky) My current model prototypes are doing my head in. I have the rage today. [/quote] In that case I can't wait for the blog. Bring it on! Any while we are here, a quick question regarding the long-scale model. I see from the current photos that it uses the same body as the short scale which means that the pickup positions are more biased towards the neck, how does that change the sound compared to the CH1?

[quote name='Chownybass' timestamp='1462092984' post='3040130'] I've often considered blogging about what it takes and took to get Chowny off the ground. But then I think I'd be the only one interested in reading it. [/quote] I think you are very much mistaken. Even if the audience was mostly limited to people on here and "the other place" I'm sure we would all find what you have to tell us fascinating. On the other hand you might not want to make it too easy for just anyone to start marketing their own bass deigns ;-)

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1462454596' post='3043137'] Are you sure? Have you seen Brooklyn prices recently?? The days of that area - or almost any other in and around nyc - being grimey and affordable are long gone. Brooklyn is probably the most gentrified neighborhood on earth. You need about 40k a year just to rent a reasonable sized office in the Dumbo area. [/quote] But Foders aren't in DUMBO. In fact they are about as far as you can get from DUMBO and still be in Brooklyn.

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1462396317' post='3042791'] Seriously tho what can you actually do with that? Two strings is pushing it but what can you do on one string? [/quote] The vast majority of songs I was playing during my time with a classic rock covers band could have been done on a 2-string bass (E and A). I even used the Altansia Solitaire for a couple of songs with them once. Stig Pedersen of DAD manages pretty well with just a 2-string:

[quote name='Kex' timestamp='1462384025' post='3042604'] Finally a bass that does not intimidate me ! [url="http://news.baileyguitars.co.uk/index.php/2011/04/bailey-custom-one-string-bass-77-assembly-and-set-up/"]http://news.baileygu...bly-and-set-up/[/url] [/quote] There's quite a lot of single string basses about. I used to own this Atlansia Solitaire: [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/DSC02853.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/DSC02870.jpg[/IMG] And there's at least one other Basschat member with a one string bass.

Never measure the scale length from the bridge. The best thing to do is to measure from the fingerboard side of the nut to the 12th fret and double it. [b]This is the scale length[/b]. Then place the bridge in position with one of the saddles wound as far forward as it will go and another wound fully back and measure from the nut to the front of each of these saddles. The shorter measurement should be slightly less than than the scale length calculated earlier. The longer should be at least 1/2 an inch more than the scale length. If the measurements are within the range then all is good with the existing bridge mounting holes. If not then you'll have to reposition.

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1462366878' post='3042414'] Plus shipping & tax. But in the context of living and working in NYC (or London for that matter), I understand the price. [/quote] Fodera are down by the docks in Brooklyn. It's not exactly downtown Manhattan.

Spear Of Destiny and Howlin' Bones at The Rescue Rooms in Nottingham. I wasn't a fan back in the day, and although I saw Theatre Of Hate live in 1981 I don't remember anything about their set, so I probably didn't like it much. However my girlfriend likes them a lot, and we caught the latest line-up of SoD at the WGW last year. I have to say I was mightily impressed, so when I saw that they were playing Nottingham and one of my favourite local bands Howling' Bones were supporting them I jumped at the chance. Yet another great gig. Howlin' Bones made a very impressive transition from their intimate pub gigs to the big(ish) stage and SoD turned in yet another brilliant performance with a lot more recent material than their WGW set. Pity there was no "Rainmaker" but I suppose they wanted to give a bit more prominence to the recent album rather than just play a set of songs from 30 years ago. Bass-related trivia: Their current bassist is Craig Adams from The Mission who was playing a Schecter 5-string.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1462353943' post='3042254'] Price aside, I can't help thinking it looks like an unfinished prototype. The headstock is a huge let down. I mean for that budget, why not look to having a system like Steinberger's excellent Drop Tune bridge system for headless instruments? That looks great and will shave more off the length of the bass if that's their main driver for this travel bass. Something you can get on a 300 quid Steinberger instrument. I'm sure it plays nicely but for innovation, I'm gonna have to go with Kiwi's Shuker, MacDaddy's Shuker.. Oh and my headless Shuker too! [/quote] Just what I was going to say regarding the Steinberger system. That headstock looks like a complete kludge. It reminds me of all those headless basses of the early to mid 80s that avoided having to have an expensive bridge/tuning system by fitting normal machine heads at the body end behind a standard BBT style bridge. They work, but it's not the most elegant solution, especially when a really good one already exists. I hardly think that on a $12,000 bass licensing the Steinberger system is going to make a massive difference to the final price. When you are paying serious money for a musical instrument it's the fine detail that makes the difference, something that seems to be lacking in more than one aspect of Fodera's designs. Everything about the playability and tone of this bass is going to be exceptional, so why compromise on a couple of the details? IMO Fodera should hire in someone who knows about product design, who could help them make that final step towards bass perfection.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1462281161' post='3041696'] I'm doing that in my 50s. I'm gigging way more than I ever have done in four decades of playing and loving it. Er, mostly. The only thing wearing thin is my hair. Boom-tish! [/quote] Me too. The last time I was in a band as busy as the Terrortones was back in the early 80s, although I probably would have been gigging more in the intervening years if I'd been in bands that were more popular...

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1462260896' post='3041448'] That's cool when you're 25 but starts to wear a bit thin when you're in your 30s and trying to balance a gigging band with a full time job and maybe a family. [/quote] Everyone has to make their own lifestyle choices. There's no rules to say that you have to have a career and a family once you are in your 30s. [quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1462268331' post='3041513'] ...the successful people in this industry aren't the ones who have had everything fall on their lap. [/quote] Very much this.

And photos or it didn't happen!

Plenty of "active tone" from your amp controls.

These two: I don't think I could pick between them. The black Gus was made for me to my specifications. It's my preferred bass for recording. However the red Gus looks better on stage and it's slightly more aggressive sound can be beneficial when the live mix is less than optimal.

AFAICS the current accepted definition of vintage is anything over 25 years old. That means anything made before 1991! That puts it into perspective... Also means that all my Gus guitars and basses will be considered vintage within the next 10 years!

One thing to remember is that the Epiphone version of the EB3 is 34" scale whereas the standard Gibson version was 30.5" scale. This means that the position of the neck pickup in relation to the string length is different on each. Of course you also have to take into account that the Gibson versions had several different positions for the pickups depend on the year the bass was made in. Also the Epiphone doesn't have the varitone circuit of the original. Like all Epiphone basses this doesn't really have much in common with the Gibson it was derived from other than the basic shape of the body.

[quote name='SICbass' timestamp='1461746666' post='3037238'] People have been dragged out onto the street and publicly flogged for doing less than that. [/quote] I don't see what the problem is. I suspect at the time if you needed a bass that would cover both Fender and Gibson tones this was the cheapest and most convenient way of doing it. Besides there was nothing special about the bass just another Fender.

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1460960393' post='3030057'] I tried the Pitchfactor with my Deep Impact - it was OK but the Pitchfactor tended to compress things a little making it sound slightly less analogue and rich. The arpeggiator was fun though but its a massive faff to get around the factory arpeggio presets so I sold it. Really wish someone out there would make a non MIDI programmable arp pedal...a couple like the Pitchfactor get so close but there's always something that detracts from useability with bass synth. [/quote] Do you really mean [b]NON[/b] MIDI programmable? These days I'd be very reluctant to buy anything but the simplest of devices (3 knobs or less) that didn't have programmability and MIDI control. Besides I think that you'll find anything that requires a micro-processor for it's main function usually has enough spare processing power for programmability and MIDI control to be trivial add ons.