dannybuoy

The expression pedal is just an assignable knob for any of the FX in the B1Four. Those effects will of course affect the tone of any pedals prior to it in the chain, but that would happen with or without an expression pedal. If you were thinking that the expression pedal might be able to control a random parameter of another separate pedal via telepathy or quantum tunelling then I have to ask, what have you been smoking, and have you got any left?

News to me, I thought they were all active! In fact the first passive MusicMan bass I’ve seen is the new Joe Dart model.

Great comparison, thanks for taking the time to make that. First listen on my phone speaker, the 434 sounded like it had a lot more midrange presence and clarity, and I preferred it. Second listen in decent headphones, the 434 sounded like it had an overly boomy low end and the 1025X tighter and more balanced, and I ended up preferring the 1025X (which I have!). Will check it on good speakers next! Here's a another comparison, this time against the 735:

Even the old ones had slightly rolled edges compared to MIM Fenders I've seen that had such a sharp edge you could cut your finger on it! I've seen pictures of the Sire rolled edges and they look way over exaggerated to anything else I've seen, the way the frets curve around the edges. It also looks to my eye that all that extra curvature adds a few mm in width too, but I've yet to see one up close.

Another option is to keep the CV bridge and fit some threaded saddles.

We had a discussion on this a while back, but it seems not all CVS are the same then. I have a CV body and bridge (which I think you gave me!) and a genuine Fender vintage style bridge with threaded saddles, but the holes don’t line up!

If we’re going with a car analogy, the tyres would be the strings, and the engine the pickups. You’d be mad to not buy a car because you didn’t like the stock tyres, just as you would a bass and it’s strings. When it comes to the engine though, there are those that love buying and fitting various bits to make their car go faster. But most can’t be ar$ed with that and either leave it alone or get a different car instead. Same applies to pickups!

I had a Classic 50s P also and it was hands down the best sounding P I've ever laid hands on, it peed all over my Am Std and Roadworn. Just the neck was too wide with sharp edges, I wish I'd kept it and got a luthier to reshape it!

If you get the chance, get to a shop and try some. You'll never really know which one you might prefer until you get your hands on it. I sold my old white VM P to fund an American Standard, and ended up regretting it and preferring the sound of the Squier!

Tonal quality is subjective though isn't it - he's not fitting them with Glock pres and Delano pups because they are cheap and cheerful, he probably thinks they sound great. It seems to me that rather then say Yamaha, who have a few set finishes and specs, every time I look at the Sandbergs on Bass Direct they are different. Perhaps the dealer orders a big batch and specifies which colours and pickups etc they want in? It would certainly be worth asking Bass Direct what it would cost for a standard model with Black Label upgrades without going to the additional expense of a fully custom bass via the configurator. There's a 5 string superlight TT5 with Black Labels up there now btw!

I didn't know this, what about the other 500 manufacturers that copy Fender shapes?! New shapes have grown on me though, especially the P style. I prefer then now that they stand out a bit more, they look more modern without overstepping into ugly territory.

A P with flats and a J with rounds is a good starting point.

Ahem: https://www.instagram.com/p/BvphmXYA20t

Soloed J pickups never sound great in my hands, even though I've heard others make them sound great. P + J blended didn't quite do it for me either until I tried a Yamaha BB - the J pickup is so beefy it's louder than the P, which gives it a much growlier tone like a Jazz when using both pickups.

The extra pickup and pot does affect the loading of the P pickup and change the sound ever so slightly. In the same way that your bass will sound brighter with 500K pots vs 250K. Many purists prefer a solo P for this reason, others fit a toggle switch, others don't notice or don't care about the difference!

Many, many pedals. It does depend on what you want to spend though! A Darkglass Vintage or Alpha Omega Ultra would be a good bet, but they are not cheap. If it's just for recording though, you could do it all in software, try downloading a trial of the Darkglass plugins and also Line6 Helix Native.

I didn't know they'd been around that long, but it still applies to new shape Californias and Forty Eights. I do like them but they just seem a bit off to me!

It is a top job, but the relic concept doesn't fit with Sandbergs IMHO. It works on Fenders because there are old basses around that actually look like that, so a well reliced Fender could pass for a real vintage instrument. Dressing up a model that has only just been released as something from the 60s just looks out of place!

According to the extensive Talkbass thread, the new CVs aren't as good as the older Chinese ones. They are now built in the same factories as the VMs to a similar price point, just with different hardware and specs. If you look for a used one you could end up with a better bass for less dough.

Looks like a 505 with a fancy top as far as I can see! I tried a 505 and 305 in a shop and the cheaper 305 sounded much better to me. A bit like the difference between Ibanez SRs with the pokier Nordstrand pickups vs the more neutral / bland Barts.

I'm sure each manufacturer offer a range of cable types, but I've had a few Van Damme ones fail on me, whereas the thicker Klotz and Sommer ones I bought to replace them have lasted a long time.

11.5 lb / 5.2kg For bodybuilders only, more like! This is on par with the sunburst TT5 I briefly owned, also with Haussel pickups, which was a similar weight.