molan

I'm selling a Mark CMD121P and someone who is interested asked if the Tuner output can be used for headphones, does anyone know if this is possible? They also asked if the XLR input can be used to feed either a drum machine or iPod into the combo whilst still being able to play bass over the top using the regular bass input? I'm fairly certain the latter is possible and easy to set up but not so sure about using the tuner out for phones? Unfortunately I don't have the combo with me at home so can't try either of these options out. The head is the standard one used by Mark for their combo range if that's any help

SVTII Non Pro? Sorry - couldn't resist

I have to admit that I never really thought the whole 'valve' vintage tone thing was that inspiring - after all, I've pretty much always owned pretty modern basses & embraced headless & graphite necks very early on. And then I 'inherited' an SVTII (non-pro) in a deal that went slightly awry. I was totally convinced that I'd hate it & it would be a gnarly old beast with only one sound. Much to my astonishment it's much more flexible than I thought & love the pure clean sound! Having said that I'm also using a Genz Shuttle at the moment &, although I'm damned if I can really hear much difference with the valve pre option, I really like this as well. haven't had time to A/B them yet but may get a chance next weekend. My head is quietly hoping the baby Shuttle will win out but I ahve to say my heart is with the Ampeg

[quote name='joe_bass' post='318852' date='Oct 31 2008, 10:22 AM']Hmm a Sadowsky is almost double the cost of an American Fender, not including shipping & tax. From the research I've done & all your contributions it does seem a very nice piece of kit, but yeah I'm asking myself if it's that many leagues ahead of a Fender or similar.[/quote] What you are almost certainly going to discover is the good old 'diminishing returns effect"! If you take a US Standard as a base, just for sake of argument, then spending twice as much will not deliver an instrument that's twice as good. Loosely speaking the more you spend the less you'll get in return. However, what you do get is a a combination of great 'stuff' like looks, build quality, playability, subtle sound differences etc. All of which mean that, if you have the money, then the extra cost will pay back in personal playing pleasure (don'tcha just love a bit of alliteration now & then?).

I've come across this one a couple of times too - partly because I was checking out prices on Audere pre-amps & a search picked this up Looks nice in white I think.

[quote name='nick' post='319167' date='Oct 31 2008, 04:12 PM']Would love to hear that Funk Brothers album of yours, is it one of your own compilation or commercially available? Here's my favourite anyway - groove personified! [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GWsJdnDEzGI"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GWsJdnDEzGI[/url] Can listen to it endlessly [/quote] I found it online somwhere - probably not for sale though. I can have a go at burning to CD if you like? Zap me a Pm with some details & I'll see what i can do

Thinking about adding an active circuit to my DJ and a lot of US users recommend the Audere. Just wondered whether anyone had one fitted and/or had been able to test one against a J-Retro? The Audere retails at $149 in the US so quite a good price really.

[quote name='Josh' post='318524' date='Oct 30 2008, 05:10 PM']Joe just to clarify, are you hoping for that classic Jazz growl? Because if so you may be a bit dissapointed, I tried out Molans NYC Sadowsky a few months ago and I was really hoping it would blow me away with a lush growl but I was left a bit cold, although the quality is second to none and was very comfortable to play and it can do a perfect Miller slap tone imitation, still, I was constantly trying to find that classic bridge pick up growl and it wasn't there. As previously said, they are very modern jazzes so they sound very Hi-Fi as opposed to passive Fenders, so really you are better off trying one or do what Chris did and buy blind (Which isn't a bad thing really, I bought both my MTD's blindly and like Chris I'm glad I did), not knocking Sadowskys at all but I was a bit dissapointed.[/quote] I must admit that I really like my Saddo but haven't been completely blown away by it. To be really honest I prefer my Roscoe at the moment and it was a fair bit cheaper. This actually might reflect the fact that Sadowsky's do hold vale pretty well compared to something as relatively esoteric as a Roscoe - they would have been roughly the same price new. I think Henley is about as far away as London but you'd be welcome to try it out if you were ever this way

[url="http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/kikofreitasnossotriopartindo.html"]http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/kikofre...iopartindo.html[/url] Apologies for the link to a 'drummer world' page

Marcus & Stan get my tie break votes. Didn't Rocco get at least 2 votes as well? On the Mark King debate - personally Level 42 leave me colder than a very cold thing indeed, Unfortunately I find it ahrd to get past the material played if I'm thinking about a 'best' bassist. Obviously I'd never question hsi technical ability but if he plays songs I really don't like then I'm not going to rate him as any sort of 'influence'. Probably heresy but Geddy Lee absolutely falls into the same camp for me, I can't stand Rush! As it happens, it's the vocals from both L 42 & Rush that really get on my tits so I'm obviously being a bit harsh

MySpace friends with Same Difference eh? Have you met them in real life? Do they ever stop smiling

As someone who's more than double his 21st birthday and, assuming you genuinely want something you'll hang on to for a very long time, then I'd go for an American Standard. Pure classic lines and unlikely to go out of fashion - especially if you buy a simple traditional colour. If you decide to mod it then you could always make sure everything is retro-fittable. The fact that it has a lower start price means a) you'll feel less likely to trade it on a whim & it'll be easier to sell if you ever do have to move it on. However - if you just want the best bass you can afford in today's market and don't want something to keep for ages then shop around & consider all the great jazz style basses out there. I have a Sadowsky & Lakland & rate them very highly. Both relatively easy to trade onwards if needed.

[quote name='Monz' post='314621' date='Oct 25 2008, 04:58 PM'][attachment=15169:12710.jpg] I have the planet waves pedal tuner... got to be the easiest to use that I have tried. Sweep or Strobe mode. True bypass and big easy to read digits... not the cheapest out there at £60 ish... got mine from PMT/Sound Control[/quote] I have two of these - one for home & one for rehearsal / live work. Biggest selling point for me is the super clear readout, you can see through the heaviest fog of dry ice

I'm sure I've seen this before but a quick hunt round the usual suspects online & I can't find it anywhere?

For a short period I owned one of each but becuase they were stored at two different venues over 50 miles apart I never got to play them back to back. Spent more time with the JO and got a pretty good feel for the sound of it. Mine was fitted with Fralin pickups and a J-Retro active pre. My DJ has a set of Aero pickups and stock passive Lakland pre. Having now sold the JO & bought the DJ home I'm really surprised at quite how different they sound. Obviously there's more to it than the basses themselves as they different pickups & pre controls & active vs passive. I'm struggling a bit to get a sound I like out of the DJ whilst the JO sounded really nice right across the board. The DJ with bridge pickup only and tone on full is my favourite sound but I'm not at all sure about the neck pickup or blended sounds. To add a bit of additional perspective to this I generally tend to keep pickups pretty evenly balanced on my basses & have never really biased towards the bridge. I'm also usually an 'active' player rather than passive so maybe it's just been a long time since I've heard a full on passive neck pickup sound! Maybe I should think about installing something active? I wouldn't need something as flexible as the East though, maybe an Aguilar?

Jamerson will always be first for me - one of the few that I can listen purely to the bass without any other instrumentation at all. Rocco Prestia is my favourite live bass man - I could watch him all evening. Third place is tougher - gotta be somewhere between Stanley & Bootzilla, again, both can be great live (although Stan has lost his 'edge' these days i think)