dannybuoy

This video confirms what I've been trying to tell people for ages - those flat patch cables from EBS and Rockboard are very prone to noise in certain environments (skip to 22:46). Not seen those mini Ibanez ones before, they look great!

The one I had felt like a dead plank though compared to the Classic 50s. Like all basses some of them sing and some don't!

The comes a point though where if you're talking about sourcing genuine Fender parts, you may as well just buy the Steve Harris Sig and be done with it!

I reckon that 'worn-in feeling' is mainly down to the satin finish instead of the hard plastic feeling poly finish. I'd say there's a good chance the Lacquer version has the same smooth feel as the RW just without the dirt and cigarette burn!

I just wished I'd waited and ordered that Silver Peg the following day when eBay had 20% off everything site wide!

Didn't the Classic 50s with the poly finish get replaced by the Classic 50s Lacquer with a nitro finish a few years ago? That would make the only difference between them being the relic job. The RW gets raved about, but I had a RW and Classic 50s in the house at the same time and the 50s walked all over it when it came to resonance and tone. Of course basses vary individually so it could just as equally have swayed the other way! That 50s was the best sounding P I'd ever tried except I did not get on with the combination of wide neck, curvy radius, and sharp fingerboard edges.

You can ask Alex to make it with the badge in whatever position you want with the cloth grille as far as I know. It's the steel grille where your options are limited because there is a special space for it in the design.

If you're open to bolt-ons, and don't mind the 'interesting' body shapes, Reverend basses are worth a look too. Some of them have a P pickup configuration within a larger Musicman style housing.

Stratosphere in the US stock all kind of random Fender necks, but they're not cheap to import: https://stratosphereparts.com/vintage-50s-ri-fender-p-bass-neck-precision-guitar-1957-tinted-maple-sale/ They've actually got 3 Steve Harris bodies in stock so might be worth emailing them to see if any of the necks are still lurking around! I'm not aware of any aftermarket necks with similar specs... Might be an idea to keep an eye out for a cheap used Classic 50s P and break it up for parts.

I found the Ultimate Drive quite lacking in bass for me... The American Sound has tons on tap though due to it's 3 band EQ that still has decent low end without having to boost the bass. It's pretty versatile too, just at home with a mellow Precision and flats or a more aggressive Jazz with rounds. I think I got mine for £15 used! I've yet to try the Orange Juice though but will probably get one to try soon - might order the out-of-stock one on sold by Amazon for £38 delivered (normally £50 everywhere else) as they would have to honour that price when it came back in stock!

Also Warwick and Spector surely have done a few neck-thru PJ 5ers?

Yamaha BB5000? I don't have one but it's the first that sprung to mind, and may be of interest since you have a modern bolt-on equivalent! Narrower string spacing than the current gen BBs though, as I understand.

I couldn't find much out there from bassists using the Double Drive apart from one comment where they said it lacked low end, so you'd probably be better off elsewhere. Bass overdrive is a total minefield though, biggest factors are budget and what kind of sound do you want, e.g. a soft clipping tube amp style overdrive, or a harsher high gain distortion, or a rich sustaining fuzz? You don't necessarily need something bass dedicated as there are plenty of bargains out there that are great on both guitar and bass, for example - TC MojoMojo, Joyo American Sound, Joyo Orange Juice.

Also this one is worth a look: https://www.cogeffects.co.uk/tarkin-fuzz.php

https://youtu.be/Ulqt_Im4Txw

You can fit a Cioks DC5 or Visual Sound CS6 underneath, but if you don't want to go to that expense I would just run a couple of standard 12V/9V adapters for such a small setup. There is also a chance your 9V pedals will run happily at 12V, meaning you could just run a single 12V daisy chain. It's risky, but I've had many a happy accident running 9V pedals at 18V by mistake only to find they sounded even better!

Only issue is that might blow up the DHA that's only expecting 12V, or blow up the adapter since it's only rated for 80mA when I would estimate that the DHA needs around 300-500mA. On the other hand, thanks for posting as that one has a 15V option that I've not seen before, and I have a 15V pedal incoming!

Thing is though, you could get a second cheap isolated supply for the same price as a couple of 12V / 18V adaptors: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adjustable-Switching-Stabilized-Anallobar-AC100-240V-DC8/dp/B015XZQWIU https://www.musicstore.de/en_GB/GBP/Fame-DC8/art-GIT0038973-000 A word of warning, these adapters have a max current rating and the DHA takes quite a lot of juice to power, so check your numbers carefully before buying anything!

My typical settings are bass and treble at 9 o'clock and mids up full. I know intuition prevents most bassists from wanting to turn down the bass control on their bass amp, but it really is the way forward with many passive tone stacks!

Flat setting on that amp according to measurement graphs over at BassGearMag is bass and treble all the way off, and mids all the way up. So start there and dial in a little bit of additional bass and treble if required. If you have all knobs at noon, then unlike the Markbass that is actually a very bass heavy setting with a mid scoop!

I've not experienced the REDDI, although I do have the Tonehammer. But I can offer the following! - There was a guy on Talkbass who did an in depth review of the Aguilar who also owned a REDDI. He claimed that with the AGS on, a touch of bass and low mid boost, and treble cut, and the gain set to just breaking up - it was very very close to the REDDI tone. - You say your want to switch because the Tonehammer is a pre-amp... Well, the REDDI could be considered as a pre-amp too, just with a baked-in voice and no tone controls. If you want the tubey Tonehammer tone but without the EQ, just leave the EQ flat and you basically have a poor man's REDDI! - Also, the REDDI only outputs it's affected tone through the XLR output, the thru jack that goes to your amp is unaffected. Just in case you were hoping to get some of that tone coming out through your actual amp, you won't be able to do so without modding it.

Lots of pedals come with batteries pre installed btw, including most EHX stuff.

These look superb. I was interested in the 2018 satin black Gibson EB5, but this has piqued my interest even more!

Ordered a used Eden Californiwah from eBay to try out... The Fwonkbeta is still ruling the roost over here though!

I just ordered one from Japan on eBay, I expect it'll take a while to arrive though!