uk_lefty

You make a good point, everything affects the effect: playing dynamics, pick or fingers, which part of the finger, strings, pickups, active EQ or passive, what's in the chain before the pedal, then what's in the chain after the pedal, and the amp... The only way to really know is to try yourself with your own gear. Then even if it sounds good does it sound good with your other pedals and with each different bass you may use??? I hated this pedal lottery so got a "one box" solution in a Helix Stomp. Problem is there's things that just doesn't do. So you end up buying complementary bits... I've just had to buy a bigger pedal board (yes a board, to host my "one box solution" multi effects pedal) a year after trading in three multi FX units to replace with "just one". In all seriousness it's good to have a number of different drive/ distortion types at the push of a button. I was never an effects guy, always preferring a clean tone, until I joined a band that played a wider variety of music and crucially had two guitarists that actually give me some room to be heard, it made varying my bass sound a lot more important. A good multi effects, or a very flexible single pedal, or a string of pedals to give you fuzz, drive, distortion, would be good to keep mixing up your sound.

Logic I can't comment on but my tactic would be to read reviews, watch the YouTube's with the caveat you've already mentioned, then buy at a price I know I can recover if I need to sell it on. Or go for the ones with the coolest names.

This is what I need.... I go through cycles of wanting the bare minimum amount of kit then a new shiny thing catches my eye and I end up with seven basses, two Amps, loads of cabs.... Just to go through it all over again.

It's one of the great things about being in a covers band and why I love playing songs off films. You're just triggering memories, so you don't need the horn section or the keyboard parts, or the intricate solo, as long as you're 80% there and having a good time.

Yes I'm ok ta mate. Covid before Xmas, kids sick since start of January. Home-schooling while working at the moment... Sign of the times, isn't it?

What I'd say about the Rootmaster range is it's a very easy plug n play with any type of bass, intuitive controls that don't have cryptic names... It's just easy to get a good sound with any bass. Compare that to a lot of other amps, for example I can't get a good sound out of Orange amps with my Stingray, but plug in a P bass and it sounds phenomenal. But the EQ is the wrong way round and there's daft pictures above the knobs instead of words wot tell u wot it does. I can't deal with that, I need something that sounds great for any bass with just a quick knob tweak and off you go. That's the Rootmaster, plug n play, maybe tweak a knob.

I looked up the website it's being sold through. Everything looks too good to be true. I don't trust it. Also, alongside guitars they're selling random men's clothes which looks like John Lewis stock photos to me. I hope I'm wrong but they're discounting Fender stuff heavier than the big boys like Thomann so I think it's fishy.

Fretless? Acoustic or semi acoustic (Hofner?) Short scale (Mustang?)

The pickup option is good and doesn't cost too much extra. I've used UPS for this. I've also sent a cab via Hermes dropping it off at the local pickup point. In terms of packing I've usually had the original box and packing, or the packing from its replacement to send it in. I do recommend using gorilla tape or something to seal it all up though, standard parcel tape doesn't fill me with confidence.

Good point. G is shortest.

Out of interest I just went and looked at two basses that I've not touched (in terms of adjustment) since they had a Luthier setup and they both have the G saddle as the furthest forward. So that's how he does my left handed basses. Maybe it is as you say, more than one correct point?

I used crimson guitars cherry red and their guitar seal to get a matt finish on an ash bass body. It's so easy even I could do a reasonably good job of it. Just follow their YouTube videos.

The Hartke VXL is a great preamp pedal, it is really intuitive to use once you find that "harmonics" means "drive". However, the secret is out and they don't appear regularly at £30-£50 like they used to. Have seen more around the £80 and upwards mark on eBay in the last few years.

To be honest I've never looked at the advice, I've just got out a screwdriver and a tuner and set to. I check with the open string, fret at the seventh, harmonic and fret at the twelfth and fretting around the fifteenth before settling. If it looks odd, it looks odd, doesn't bother me though.

Guess I'm too late then 😟

Yep.

Mate, not the first person who's said that... Someone on eBay asked the same question to me. I've checked and adjusted the intonation and it's as close as it can get to perfect. Not sure how anyone can tell just by looking. And, like the guy in eBay, if he were to buy it he can adjust it however he wants, takes a few minutes with a screwdriver. Not sure why it matters to anyone else....?

That fretless is a looker. What is it?

The real question everyone wants the answer to: have you sniffed or licked the roasted neck yet?

There's some absolute bargains in the second hand market at the moment. Ashdown is the new "Peavey" in my eyes ... What I mean by that is when my kids start bands they'll be going to damp dinghy rehearsal rooms that will have Ashdown gear from the early 2000s still going strong and sounding amazing thirty plus years later. I have used Ashdown for my revived gigging "career" in the last ten years. I like the sound of other amps, but you know where you are with an Ashdown. And as already mentioned, you can just call them and ask questions or get things sorted quickly.... Not that I've ever needed to.

I'm toying with whipping the neck off and either having a new unlined fretless neck fitted or having this one defretted. For some reason I think I need two fretless basses.... Fretless doesn't really work in the one band I'm in so.... GAS isn't it? I also saw a black BadAss bridge on the marketplace a while back and thats playing on my mind too...

Looks like the contemporary series to me. What makes you think it could be fake?

I'm the guy who measures out things twice, drills hole in the wall and STILL things don't line up. So I've only recently started to do neck adjustments myself. I'm happy doing intonation. But overall string height, neck relief and so on I just don't have the confidence or patience with.

Thanks all. I'll run it til it dies.