dannybuoy

Picked it up from the post office after paying £16.80 to her majesty, been out all day but just returned and gave it a blast. A massive thumbs up from me! I was just playing around with the Vintage Deluxe, BB Preamp, SFT and this. It's closest to the SFT in character, but sounds much nicer when digging in hard, more tube amp like. I've had the Dark Driving before too (original one knob version) which is based on the BBBOD and this sounds miles better. If you're after an always-on drive (or booster), that's really warm but not too dark, that can be set to clean with just a hint of natural sounding drive when digging in without overly colouring your tone - give this a go. I recommend it over the SolidgoldFX Beta for sure.

I think it is a standard Tech21 sized enclosure already, it's smaller than it looks in the photos!

It's a great little bass, intonation isn't a problem as I got the fretless! It has been returned though as this one has a dodgy connection somewhere and crackled occasionally when plugged in. I love the ultra short scale fretless though, not quite sure whether to get a replacemen or go for a slightly smaller [url="http://omegamusic.co.uk/buy/korala-ukbb-310fe-fretless-bass-ukulele-with-built-in-tuner"]ukulele bass[/url]. There's also this [url="http://ortegaguitars.com/en/product-finder/acoustic-basses/acoustic-bass/show/Product/pm-shaman/pm-shaman/"]Ortega PM Shaman[/url] coming out soon, looks awesome but twice the price!

The B1on is less than half the price and has an added aux input for jamming along to tracks too. No DI output though, but it sounds like you want it for headphone practice and don't really need a DI?

A DPDT relay with some kind of microswitch built into the chassis somehow should do the trick. Something like this: http://www.maplin.co.uk/search?text=microswitch&x=0&y=0 And this: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/12v-dc-1a-dpdt-miniature-relay-n04aw Then you can either rig up the relay to do the job of the old footswitch; or you can permanently remove the old switch and wire it to be always on, then connect the jacks directly to the relay, converting the whole thing to true bypass. You'd probably need to spring-load it somehow as well so it had enough force to press the switch when returning it to the heel position. Sounds like an interesting challenge! Just thought of another way - use a reed switch just inside the casing underneath the heel, and put a magnet underneath the bottom of the treadle at the back. The magnet then serves two jobs - it will hold the pedal in place at the heel end, and it will also activate the reed switch which will be in turn connected to the relay!

I would keep it simple - put the tuner in line with the rest of the pedals, that then becomes your mute so you can do away with a separate mute switch. Then plug the lot straight into the main amp input - one cable going to the amp! Just because the amp has tuner out and mute sockets doesn't mean you have to use them all.

Damn that's ugly.

It's great IF you use pedals in the FX loop, which most people don't. The FX loop is very useful for guitar amps where the player wants some delay/modulation/etc to come after the amp's distortion. Bass amps are usually pretty clean however and most people with most effects just run them straight into the front end. Also the signal level in an FX loop is usually a lot louder, which better suits rack gear, some pedals are designed to only work with instrument level signals.

You need the G-Lab True Bypass Wah Pad: http://www.glab.com.pl/true_bypass_wah-pad_en It's pressure sensitive and activates a true bypass relay when you step on the wah. I have their bass wah which uses the same switching and it's easy to activate, instant, and silent. Only downside is it's not cheap at £90: http://www.thomann.de/gb/g_lab_tbwp_true_bypass_wah_pad.htm Converting a normal wah shell to one like the 105Q however will not be easy. As well as the spring mechanism, there is special circuitry to control the switching and time delay which would've been part of the main PCB, and you'd have to rig up the equivalent. Might be worth giving the Ibanez Weeping Demon, Dunlop 105Q, and G-Lab Wowee Bass a go, you never know you might like one of em more than the wah you have now!

I use Dunlop nickels, but my next set to go on is a set of Cleartone EMP coated strings which should last a lot longer. Give both a try!

He said he needs a bass with a lot of harmonic content, which would rule out the rubber stringed uke basses... But you can buy metal strings for those nowadays too. Ibanez do a Mikro bass in a 4 string PJ and 5 string J version: http://www.ibanez.co.jp/usa/products/jumpstart/eb_mikro.html There are a few more options out there like the one above too, there's a few threads on Talkbass about them.

Here are the first three options that popped into my head: - Peavey TL6 - Cheap 6 string with dual P pickups. Can be run in passive mode, which will give a darker sound and will play better with certain fuzzes. - Mike Lull does a 5-string Thunderbird. I'm sure he could be persuaded to build a 6! - DINGWALL! I wouldn't place a major importance on neck through for sustain. At doom volumes, feedback creates its own sustain!

You could put some bass strings on it though, there are metal 23" scale bass strings out there now due to the recent surge in popularity of the micro bass! You'd get a bit of a workout trying to fret those strings though!

The Aquila Short Bass One is supposed to be very loud acoustically: http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Short_bass_one.html Here it is unplugged standing up to 9 ukuleles-small-things-with-strings: http://youtu.be/xC2tEIFBS5U Even louder would be a Mexican guitarron, restrung to traditional bass tunings: http://www.thomann.de/gb/lucida_guitarron.htm

Is that definitely a bass? It has four strings but it's referred to as a slide guitar (probably hence the high action) and the word bass isn't mentioned anywhere in the title or description!

This Korala looks like another good value Kala alternative, £250 but fit and finish look much better than the HB or Tanglewood: http://omegamusic.co.uk/buy/korala-ukbb-310fe-fretless-bass-ukulele-with-built-in-tuner

You're just jealous you can't play bass like that.

I've been gassing for one of these for a while now, so just placed an order for the fretless. Got a good deal too I reckon, £273.49 delivered, this shop applies a 10% first order discount during checkout which they don't advertise at the beginning for some reason! [url="http://www.eaglemusicshop.com/electro-acoustic-bass-guitars/Gold-Tone-MicroBass.htm"]http://www.eaglemusi...e-MicroBass.htm[/url] I had a fretted Kala U-Bass before, I loved playing it but the intonation was way out past the 7th fret (so always wanted to try the fretless instead) and I felt it could do with being a couple of inches longer (fnar fnar). I was looking at the [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Short_bass_one.html"]Aquila Short Bass One[/url], but it's perhaps a bit too large and also more expensive at £400. The Goldtone looks to tick all the boxes, has a built in preamp and also a comfortable forearm contour and cutaway.

Initial reports over at TB sound promising so I've taken the plunge, always wanted to try one of these! $200 with free delivery, let's hope it sails through customs! http://www.bearfootfx.com/product/blueberry-bass-overdrive/

Check out the Wounded Paw range: http://woundedpaw.com/fx/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2