peteb

This is partly the reason that I pulled the trigger on my Handbox when I did. But, even for the bigger manufacturers, will the increased overhead and hassle be worth it for the margin they need to work on, especially when you factor in possible tariffs, etc?? Will the UK market be prepared (or able) to pay a higher price for their products? Of course, it will be even worse for small companies like HB. This will work both ways, which potentially could seriously affect some of my mates who sell services to mainland Europe. But back to the immediate problem, does anyone know where I can get a blue light for my Handbox R-400?

I have just tried to sell an acoustic guitar on Reverb. Fortunately it ended up being bought via a Facebook site instead, but I think that is the way I would have gone if it had sold on Reverb. Funnily enough, the guy who bought it seemed a bit surprised when I suggested cash on delivery - I think he was expecting me to ask for him to send me the money first...

Just to point out that it's not just Handbox - the same will apply to any imported amp (or pretty much any other item)...

A quick question - does anyone know where I can get another blue bulb for my HB R400? This is the bulb that backlights the logo when the amp is in playing mode. The red light that shows that the amp is still warming up is still working, so I just need a suitable blue bulb. Cheers, Pete

Only 10/15 on the guitar one

I got 14/15 - surprised at how many I actually knew rather than guessed. Funnily enough, the one I didn't get was Flea as I don't think that it was a Stingray in the picture (or was it one without a scratchplate) and I didn't think that he had enough tattoos...!

I did once have an East J Retro Deluxe preamp in an active jazz (with Bartolinis) and my experience was somewhat mixed. PROS: Yes, it did sound great The mid-sweep control is great and allows you to easily find the right mid frequency to cut through a mix in a difficult room CONS: There is so much boost and cut across so much frequency range, much of it unusable, which makes it is very easy to get a bad sound I once passed the bass to a very good American pro player who was sitting in with a band I was playing with. The first thing he did was to turn up the bass control, as he would on any other jazz bass and immediately nearly blew my speakers! A friend of mine, who is a well-known luthier, says that he doesn’t generally recommend or use them on his own builds unless specified by the customer, as it is too easy to get a bad sound out of them. He reckons that there are more ‘musical’ preamps around, which I have agree with (for example the EWS Tri-logic). TL;DR – they sound great but be careful out there…

Guy's back with a broken computer and the bass part to The Ballad of Jenny Ledge by Toy Matinee. A shorter video this time, due to his computer screwing up, so not as much chat as normal. Still great though...

I still had issues after I managed to actually install PTF (had to open in Administrator mode, couldn't import mp3s). I ended up uninstalling it and going with Ableton Live 10 Lite instead.

Markbass might not have the 'wow' factor when you listen to them on their own, but they always work well in a live mix and the old Italian built / non Class D amps have plenty of power for their RMS ratings.

As far as the Handbox goes, I've had the same issues with Class D amps as you. I had a Mesa D800 that sounded great in certain situations, but struggled onstage with the heavier stuff (especially when competing against keyboards IME). I eventually sold the D800 and got a Handbox R400, which is great. I did have issues getting used to the EQ section, but once you get your head around that then it is a really nice sounding amp that works well in any live situation that I've come across since getting it.

I'm always amazed at the number of people on Basschat who use flats. I can only think of one guy on the circuit around here who uses flats on one of his basses - everyone else uses rounds! Personally, I use 45-105 nickel hex core roundwounds - DR lo-rider or D'addario XLs (slightly cheaper option). I do sometimes use heavier gauge DR DDT sets for when I have to tune down for certain gigs (although my P bass always stays in concert).

Not sure that is correct. Walter retired his old Strat quite a few years ago, as it was getting too heavy for him and he was paranoid about taking it on the road in case it got nicked. He had a luthier friend build a lightweight replica body of his original strat, which he teamed with the neck from another one of his Fenders. DiMarzio then made him some custom pickups based on those on his original guitar.

Thanks for that - appreciated I did get a response from the Avid YouTube page with the same advice. I still had an issue and was then advised to open PTF in Administrator mode,which seems to have done the trick. All the instructions I got was that I needed iLok to get the licence for PTF. To be fair, that didn't seem to be the problem, more an issue with Windows.

I am trying to install Pro Tools First and have downloaded the programme and set up a licence on iLok, etc. However, when I click on the Pro Tools First icon on my desktop it comes up with the error message "Pro Tools First could not be loaded" / "Import DLL mfc120u.dll cannot be loaded". Any advice on what I should do or what have I missed / done wrong in the set-up? Many thanks...

Lucky Peterson

The additional issue to factor in is that as of January 2021, you may well be paying import duty as well. So, if you are thinking of getting one, it might well be worth taking the plunge before the end of the year!

I'm The One, Somebody Get Me A Doctor, Take Your Whiskey Home and many others - can't help but bring a smile just thinking about them...

Early Van Halen

Obviously, you have to take what some marketing campaigns say with a pinch of salt, but equally you don’t dismiss everything that they say out of hand. You have to evaluate what they claim in the light of your own practical knowledge and experience. Now I have been playing for a long time and a lot of my closest mates are professional musicians and sound engineers, as well as being friendly with a couple of well known luthiers. They will quite often talk about the pros and cons of various types of gear and I will listen and learn from what they have to say. As far as the Hipshot marketing goes; it is hardly outlandish and stands up to scrutiny (as explained very clearly by Luke in a post above). They provide a summary of why you might want to buy their product along side a summary of why you might not want to. It’s not exactly a hard sell is it? Now, I’ve owned a fair few Fenders over the past 40 years and I think that I have modded everyone that I’ve owned in one way or another. What Hipshot say about hi-mass bridges corresponds with my experience (also, their reasons why they might not be for you makes sense as well).

Actually, I think that's pretty cool to have Jack Bruce's rack ears...!

For me its EVH & SRV, both known by their initials and both astounding players who simply stunned everyone who ever saw them long before they were famous. But there have been so many, from Hendrix to Jeff Beck to Robben Ford to hundreds of great players you can see everytime you fire up YouTube (not even mentioning the three Kings and all the great Chicago blues guys). Particular favourites of mine include Steve Lukather, Kossof, Andy Timmons and… so many to choose from! I think that people forget the impact that Eddie Van Halen had when he first burst onto the scene. It seemed that for years after, every guitar player either copied his playing / sound or made a conscious effort not to! Since then there have been thousands of guitarists who have ripped him off to the bone. But for every 12 year old out there who can play Eruption note for note, there is hardly anyone who can hold a candle to his rhythm playing.

And we have a winner - that's exactly right and explained very well...! What it comes down to is what you want to hear and how you want to express yourself on the instrument. You like the classic attack and decay of an old P bass, whereas I prefer something with a bit more sustain. There is no right or wrong and both can sound great, it is just down to personal preference.

I'm coming to the opinion that it’s pointless contributing to these threads - too many 'armchair experts' who haven't got a clue. You would expect a debate on what is supposed to be a forum for musicians to be concerned with the advantages and disadvantages of a such a product, if the marginal gain you get is worth the inevitable trade-offs and then compare it to the pros and cons of other types of bridges. But that was never going to happen…

I'm quoting from Hipshot (via their page on the Bass Direct website).Presumably they have engineers who also understand basic physics. As I mentioned in the previous post you quoted, they publish a list of the pros and cons for both brass (hi-mass) and aluminium (lo-mass) bridges - see https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Hipshot_A_style_bridges.html if you are interested.