hamfist

OK, impedance output. Interesting .... gets me thinking. The westone bass I did the initial test on has a particularly high output pickup, so therefore high impedance, I guess. Maybe, for passive basses, the higher the impedance output of the pickup, the more they lose signal, and tone, with longer cables ? It's a theory anyway . Anyone with decent electricals knowledge like to comment on that ?

Right, I've just done the same test with a load of cables, using a passive Yamaha PJ this time. Results ........ negligible difference between any of them, including the other 3m and 5m cables I used in the earlier test. I know what I heard previously though, with the other bass, which for the record is an 80's Westone Spectrum, which has the Matsumoku MBIII pickup in. COuld be something to do with the impedence of the MBIII pickup, I honestly don't know. But I can tell you I will repeat the test again once the bass is back together again. Puzzling.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1377186989' post='2184543'] Just tried it with 1m and 5m OBBM leads. Zero perceptible difference in signal quality. I would suggest that there's something wrong with the less good sounding lead that you have. [/quote] OK, that is certainly possible. Although I also tried a decent quality 3m cable during the test, and the short cable still made the bass sound waaaaay better. COuld still be two faulty cables I guess. I shall try to reproduce it with other cables. Although I'll have to use a different bass (which isn't the best comparison test) as I've just dismantled and prepared the one I used previously in readiness for spraying.

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1377183793' post='2184481'] And just to be clear, it sounded better with the short cable, right? [/quote] yes

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1377181535' post='2184434'] Were both your leads exactly the same type of cable and the jack plugs the same make - and something decent like Van Damme cable and Neutrik jacks? [/quote] Similar. If anything the longer cable was the higher quality one.

Just for something to do, I tried out a new passive bass I have just bought with a really short instrument cable (about 2 feet). And then compared it to my normal 5m one. I was expecting a tiny bit of high frequency roll-off. What I got was a night and day difference ! It went from being a good bass to an amazing sounding bass. Getting me one of those redeemer circuit thingys. I want that tone all the time ! If you're bored at any point, give the long/short cable check a go on your favourite passive bass. You might be surprised.

I considered buying that one, but was concerned about the seller's description of it's "medium" action, which of course actually probably means that it is criminally high, and needs to be to avoid fret buzz. It's also a Korean one, which IME is not as high build quality as the MIJ ones. I currently have a MIJ Westone SPectrum with the same pickup and layout, though, so I can certainly confirm the punch and tonefullness of it.

There is no better bass IMO within that price range than the new Yamaha TRBX504. Yes, it's active (sorry), but it's passive too ! Just flick a switch, and all is passive, and the you have all the active sounds at your disposal too. It's a unity gain active too, so no volume jump going to active. It's got a lovely slim neck, is light as a feather and plays sooooo easily. Amazing sounds too. Thoroughly recommended. Mine's going nowhere! I can't believe anyone would really prefer playing a Chinese or mexican Fender over one of these.

[quote name='PauBass' timestamp='1377099273' post='2183352'] Have you had a chance to try the Basstard properly? What do you think of the pedal? I'm about to buy one too! [/quote] Well I have to say I was a bit gutted. I have wanted one of these for so long, as I have loved every clip/video I have ever heard with one. Just didn't sound great with my rig at all, so I sent it back. Just to note that I use a very clean, PA-type speaker system for amplification and have found that some pedals simply do not sound good through that, however you control EQ along the way. I found the same with the Amptweaker bass tightfuzz, which sounds astoundingly good on clips, but sounded poor through my rig. You win some, you lose some. Thank goodness for distance selling regs returns. So, it didn't work for me, but it's still clearly a quality pedal. Unfortunately, the only decent answer is that you won't know until you try it with your rig.

I tend to tweak most of my basses. The biggest differences for me always tend to be adding a thumbrest and/or changing pickups. Oh, I also always tend to change 250K pots in Fenders and clones to 500K's for a bit more zing. All well worth doing for my tastes. YMMV etc etc.

There is a small chance that you have a faulty pre-amp valve in the streamliner. I say this, as the streamliner has the deepest , fullest bass response of any amp I have ever owned, or even played. From memory, it is roughly "flat" in EQ response with bass - 10 o'clock, mids (600Hz) at about 3 o'clock and treble straight up. Your neox cab should be able to reproduce gob-loads of bass. So, makes me think there is either a fault somewhere with your gear, or you are simply standing in a "dead spot" and if you stood out front you would here all the ridiculous amounts of bass that your rig is producing.

I live pretty close to the seller, and had a good look at that one. However, it's a Korean, not a Jap one. Also, once you'd fixed all the niggly bits that are wrong with it, you would have ended up spending less buying a sorted one. Definitely had a close look though !

Bit of excitement here at chez-Hamfist. After many, many months of lusting after one, I finally have an Okko Basstard arriving today. FInally got around to justifying the money for one !! Anyone else played one ?

Tonally, I have no idea of the differences, but if I was wanting to gig the amp at all, I'd go for the Orange. Gigging with only 100W (even tube watts) has a lot of potential to be quite limiting on clean headroom etc.

Nice one. used RBX270's are the best value basses on the planet at the moment IMO.

Cool. Very nice project. Having a daughter who is seriously into contemporary dance and also having owned the BEF and hot hand I can definitely appreciate what you have done. I have to say, even with your information priming I did not notice that the dancer had the ring on until about half way through the dance. Whether that is good or bad is a subject open for discussion I suppose. You are looking for critique and suggestions, so anyway ..... Maybe having the dancer choreograph some very obvious moves early in the dance to let the "audience" (whether live or video) appreciate the hot hand/dancer link. I think once you notice the link it adds to the watching/ listening experience. Also, I am sure you have thought about the dancer wearing more than one hot hand. I think the BEF pro can take separate instruction from 3 at a time, to control different parameters. One on a toe for example ? Or two dancers, each wearing a HH, controlling different parameters ?? Or one dancer controlling a filter on a bass, and the other controlling a filter on a guitar ? I'm also sure you experimented a lot with the settings on the BEF, as you will be aware that the effectiveness of hot hand control is all about the settings being appropriate to the movement you are giving it. Overall, I really liked it though ! Nice one !

What is it that many fuzzes are supposed to do wrong with active basses ? Just tried my active Yam TRBX504 through my Tarkin and it seems to work just fine.

No messing .... tried out a load of good headphones today. It amazes me how different they all sound. There is way, way more difference between different high quality headphones than between powered PA cabs for example. Anyway, the long and the short of it is that I went home with a pair of Grado SR125. These impressed me hugely sonically, and are very light and comfortable to wear. They are open backed so leak a fair bit of sound out, but that is no problem for me at all. For my first try-outs at home I am very happy so far. I don't find I actually need to EQ on my mixer at all with these. I love their flat sound. Plenty of bottom end , but not overly so. Great detail and nicely present yet not harsh treble. Very happy so far. I'm hoping it will stay that way !

Looks like I'll have to do some more research. Those Sennheiser HD280's get some pretty excellent reviews I must say. And I do see your point, Andy, about why spend all this money on basses and other kit and then listen through cheap headphones when , to be honest, the majority of my playing time is through headphones.