hamfist

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1376049482' post='2169003'] I have a pair of Sennheiser HD280 closed back headphones and they do sound pretty good, I really fancy a pair of the PJB headphones designed for bass though... I only ever use my sfx micro-h at home as it sounds great and can blend mp3 input into my bass sound for me to play along to [/quote] It would be good to try out those Sennheisers. They are above the price range I have ever used before. I guess it might be of some use simply to go into a hi-fi shop and do some listening tests with some quality phones with a track I know well. Andy I would be interested also in how much difference your little headphone amp makes. The only issue I can think of is the lack of EQ which I do use on my Behringer mixer (probably only needed as the behringer's pre-amps are so non-transparent).

2 pickup bass, both pickups blended 50:50, lowish action to get that certain type of attack and fret buzz (which is very much part of the sound and you won't get the sound without it), plus a gentle, gentle bit of compression & overdrive to thicken up slightly. EQ to taste, and you're close. Oh, forgot to add .... a pretty aggressive fingerstyle technique will also be required

Right, its come to the point where I am simply getting frustrated. I love playing through my amp/cabs at home, but feel that the time available to me to do so is so limited. I live in a semi-detached and my direct neighbours are understandably not wanting bass frequencies rolling through their house all the time. I know it's an area of contention between us and I do not want to aggravate anything with these people. They are friends and I would like to keep it that way so comments on the line of "turn it up" and "rock on" are not really relevant here. So .... playing with my amp/cabs is simply a "nicer" experience. The fullness of tone I get is unmatched by any silent system I have used so far. I really want to upgrade my whole silent practicing system to give me more of that "nicer" playing experience that I get from playing out loud. Currently my silent system is to play my bass through my pedalboard, then straight into a Behringer mixer and into my computer's soundcard. This gives me the ability to monitor myself directly through headphones (currently Sony MDR-V55) and also to play along to songs played from the computer. It's potentially a decent amp system for my pedalboard as, for out loud playing at home and rehearsals, I use a powered EV PA wedge, so in theory both my out loud and silent home systems are FRFR and my pedalboard is set up to sound great through any FRFR system. I'm pretty sure the main weak link in my chain is the headphones, although I have tried a number of half decent phones, Sony, Sennheiser and Audio-Technica, in the £50-£100 range and have never really found it a hugely pleasant experience, but simply a necessary one, to be able to practice silently. My current h'phones are new and cannot be criticised for a lack of bottom end, but I am still not finding them a pleasant experience to use. So my thoughts wander to in-ear-systems. In particular the Shure SE215's (as my budget is not immense). I have never tried in-ears and do worry slightly about the isolation from the ambient noises in my house, as I still want to be able to hear the doorbell/phone etc when I'm playing. I guess if it comes down to it, I could set up an ambient mic to amplify house noise into the in-ears to enable me to hear such things. Could anyone try and describe the difference in experience of using in-ears to headphones. Is there one ? Or conversely, is it just that I am being a bit of a miser on my budget and that I simply won't get what I'm looking for for under a £100. Will spending £2-300 on a pair of headphones really make all that much difference ? BTW, they would need to be circumaural as I don't tolerate pressure on my ears well. I am loathe to try out expensive phones at a shop as I know how deceptive it can be to try something in a shop and then try and translate that into the actual listening experience at home or at a gig, or whatever. Frequently it is not comparable at all. So I feel a bit stuck at the moment. BC, can you please help me out, just with your thoughts and ideas to hopefully motivate me and to decide upon a decent next step. Thanks.

It's a bit limited, but still quite fun, I daren't know how much it would cost to make my custom choice. Here it is ... [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/my-custom-sandberg.html][/url]

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1375959011' post='2167841'] Your secret weapons/strings are well and truly out now matey aren't they [/quote] it would seem so. Glad to be of service to the bass world at large ! Glad that they're working for you too Andy.

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1375918197' post='2167553'] The pedal is true bypass, so should not effect your bypass signal whatsoever. Have you tried going guitar > tuner > amp and guitar > amp, not involving any other pedals? Tried multiple cables? If the answers are yes, i would say there may be a fault with the unit. [/quote] +1. My pitchblack does not cause volume drop. Also make sure your cables are not really long. If you are using a 5m + length cable each side of the Korg then that 10m + of cable length before the amp will be a source of signal loss.

THey are great, and are all I use. There is no need to pay more IMO.

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1375879477' post='2166808'] there is however a rather nice picture of a translucent brown one which this one looks a lot like and a trans black one which is nowt like this one [/quote] I agree mine does look rather more like the trans brown one. Anyway, it came in an un-opened box from Yamaha, labelled as trans black, so I can't blame the dealer. I'm happy with this colour, so its' not a big deal for me.

OK, I've had 24 hours to get a first impression of this bass, and I know you're all eager beavers to know about it ! First of all, it's the usual excellent Yamaha build quality, fit and finish. All highly impressive and in a different league to MIM Fenders, which are very comparable price-wise. It's a lightish bass too. Haven't weighed it but I'd guess at under 8lbs. Neck is beautiful. slim & quick. Reminds me of my old G&L SB2. Nut width feels about 38mm. Really like it. OK, tones .... well these are nice pickups indeed. Alnico 5 humbuckers. 2 pole-pieces per string. Both pickups are tight and punchy. Attack on fretted and open strings is excellent (a typical Yamaha trait IME). THe neck pup is, as you'd expect, precision-ish. Rather less hollow though, and slightly less bass response. Great for fingerstyle and loves a pick ! Not better than a P, just different. In fact this bass contrasts beautifully with the PJ setup on my other main bass. Both pickups mixed 50:50 is punchy, and is my preferred fingerstyle setting. The mids drop out slightly, although this is to be expected with this setting. I don't slap so can't comment on that with this bass. Bridge pickup is tight and punchy. Not as burpy as a J bridge pickup. Quite similar to the bridge Bartolini Mk1 on my old Lakland 44-01 but very significantly less muddy. Again, I like it ! The passives tones on this bass are great. However, once you kick in the pre-amp, there is a much more modern vibe about it, with a slight boost in output and with punch and attack galore. The bass and treble controls seem well chosen and implemented, adjusting just the right frequencies for me to adjust depth and/or brightness to taste. However, and here we come to my only real criticism of the bass, the mids control is not adjusting a frequency that is useful to me. It's too low for what I'm wanting out of a mids control. I wait to be proved wrong in a band setting but in isolation, I'd want a control centred somewhere in the 500-800Hz range. The frequency on this Yamaha I'm sure is significantly lower. Anyway, that's what my ears tell me. I'd be interested to hear what the quoted spec on this is from Yamaha. Also, I've just realised that without pics, this bass don't exist, so .... back in a minute. There we go ....... [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/trbx504-body.html][/url] [url=http://www.ephotobay.com/share/trbx504-full.html][/url] It's supposedly the trans-black finish. Although there is definitely a very, very dark brown thing going on. Not unattractive at all. In fact, I think overall this bass may well become my number one.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1375863102' post='2166498'] I have a Monte Allums mod kit ready to go into a Boss ODB-3 also - if that makes it fall into the same ballpark I'll let you know! This soundclip is promising: [url="https://app.box.com/s/gr8kucdgncp4k2vvaay3"]https://app.box.com/s/gr8kucdgncp4k2vvaay3[/url] [/quote] Nice clip. I have to say the general tone (except for 1:00 to 1:12) is a very similar sound to that which I get from my Fuzzrocious demon king and blender pedal. Although I can certainly get a tighter higher gain tone than that clip has between 1:00 and 1:12. Impressive for a modded ODB-3 though !

That SX is a monster ! As good sonically as any of the others.

That is a very good price just for the bass. But it comes with a working Amp and cab too. Somebody near there should snap it up at a BIN of 250 !

I have owned both B7K and B3K. I actually thought the 7 was far more usable than the 3, which had it's owned baked in sound, which you could either like or lump (personally, I got rid). The 7's EQ makes it far, far more flexible. However, I do understand your comments about it's limitations in dirt, because it simply can't go as dirty as many folks would like. I also found the pedals actually almost intolerably noisy at the limits of their distortion settings. I am so sorry to make negative comments about these almost worshipped pedals but that was my experience of them. I think getting the right dirt pedal is hard, hard work and that there is no substitute for ...... 1/ trying out as many as you possibly can 2/ getting a blend pedal, to blend in clean for those pedals which do not have their own blend. My other observations are that I seem to almost always prefer two drive pedals stacked, running into each other, producing my heavier distortion (and fuzz) tones. Personally, I have a pedal providing low drive/warmth, which is always on (in my case this is a Barber Gain Changer). Then stomp on extra pedals on top of that for heavier levels of dirt. I can't emphasise how useful having a blend pedal with a big knob (pardon the expression) has been at tweaking my dirt tones. It may be that another lowish drive pedal stacked either before or after your Darkglass pedal may transform it's potential in turns of usable drive. You'll also find that people will fall over themselves recommending their own personal favourites, which may not work for you at all of course. I can say that I have also been impressed with the Fuzzrocious line, although have found their OCD-based range (the Demon and it's variants) to be much more usable (and modern in tone) than their Rat-based range (Rat Tail plus variants). Again, I have found a blend pedal essential. Just a few thoughts there to mull over. Good luck !

I had a Wesley Jaguar-style bass quite a while back. Not only did it look extremely cool but it had a lovely neck which played incredibly nicely. It had cheapo, cheapo pickups in though. Also, having 2 x MM pickups and being a passive bass, it had little twang or brightness available. If I knew then, what I know now I would have definitely put some money into a pre-amp and maybe tweaked it with new pickups etc, because the basis of the bass, nice body, cool looks, lovely neck were all there. One of the ones I regret selling. Definitely. Only got about £70 or something like that for it too, as they are worth virtually nothing secondhand.

Oooooooo ....... excellent. Will have a listen later !

[quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1375530222' post='2162552'] Cool. Do let us know what you think one you've had a play. It's just the body shape I didn't like, probably because I've been playing Bb's for years. [/quote] Yup, will do. I already know I like BB's and RBX's so I have high hopes. I didn't like the RBX shape for ages, but once I played an RBX270, I bought it as it played so beautifully, and the shape has grown on me since then. I've also always actually thought that the RBX's look better being played rather than on a stand.

Greg bought a rack case from me. Smooth, smooth deal. Great comms. Excellent guy to deal with.

[quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1375454281' post='2161663'] but the build quality is up to Yamaha's usual high standard. [/quote] That is good to know. I have just ordered a 504 unseen from Germany. Should arrive sometime next week. I do like Yamahas in general.