GrammeFriday

It's definitely a buyer's market on here at the moment.

Sorry to hear about your back troubles, Moos3h - I underwent lower back surgery a few years ago so you have my very genuine sympathies! Although I totally understand your desire to steer away from boat anchors henceforth, I would second what JTUK says above - don't think of 9.5 lbs as too heavy! in fact, I would go even further and say that balance is more important than weight. A really light bass may well mean serious neck dive, and having to use your fretting hand to keep the neck pointing upwards for long periods can be worse for your posture, and thus worse for your back, than gigging with a really well balanced 10lb+ bass. And I say this as an owner of a Stingray 5 and a Sandberg California, both of which are over 10lbs - both are beautifully balanced and neither gives me any back pain at all. But as always, YMMV, and it will certainly be interesting to get the views of other back sufferers on this point.

Birmingham! Centre of the known universe. Will be rocking it for charity at Bournville Working Men's Club fairly soon, followed by another funky night out in Coventry. Watch this space ...

Yeah, my guitar playing skills are not massively in demand, either. And of course supply always massively outstrips demand for guitar players anyway, so I'm more than happy to be known as a bassist first and foremost!

Coincidentally enough, just the other day I plugged my Les Paul Standard into my TC rig (RH750 + 1 x RS210 + 1 x RS212) just out of curiosity and was surprised at how good it sounded. Not as good as having a full fat Marshall stack, obviously, but good enough for me to consider leaving my guitar amp at home next time I'm callled on to do some 6-string stuff live, either in rehearsal or at a gig.

Worst ever played: probably the Basschat Relay Bass, of which I am currently custodian. So bad it's ... just really shockingly bad. Worst ever owned: MIM Fender Precision. Clunky, dull-sounding, unresponsive and very uninspiring.

PS I forgot to say that the Glockenklang pre is 2-band and has a push-pull active/passive bypass system. As with the coil splitter, I thought I would be using this a lot, but in practice I have tended to keep it in active mode all the time. But it is nice to know that there is a failsafe if the battery were to conk out in the middle of a set!

Hello sdb9053 and welcome to Basschat! I have a Sandberg fretless that has a Delano J + MM plus Glock pre combination, and it sounds fantastic. I'm afraid I can't tell you which of the numerous variant J coil pups it's got - to be honest, I had no idea that there were so many! What I can say is that Sandberg wire the MM pickup to a coil splitter switch, so you can flip it between humbucker and trad single coil Jazz bridge pickup sounds in an instant. Having said that, I almost always leave it in humbucker mode as it sounds just so nice - super fat and super funky. The only other thing that I can say about it is that - despite the name, and despite the looks - the Delano MM pickup doesn't sound remotely like a Stingray. It sounds more like the kind of 'modern superjazz' sound you'd get from soap bar pickups (e.g. Barts or Nordstrands) in bridge position - closer to a Roscoe or an MTD than it is to a Ray, if you want a comparison, but really it has a sound all of its own - clean and modern, but very fat at the same time. So ... if the idea is to emulate the Stingray sound with the Delano MM pup, then forget it; but if you are after a really juicy superjazz bridge pup sound that you can lay down a meaty groove with as well as solo with, then the combination you have in mind gets two thumbs up from me. PS Some pix here if you are interested: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/168961-sandberg-love/page__view__findpost__p__2257010

I wouldn't put Barts in any of your four basses. You love the sound of your Jazz, so leave it as it is. The Stingray already has a unique and unimprovable sound that you simply cannot mess with. You'd be better off putting wizard thumpers or SD quarter pounders in your Squier P if you want to upgrade that, and if your fretless is as bad as you say it is then there's no point in polishing a turd. If you really want the full fat Bart sound then better to save up and buy a bass that already has Barts (and a decent pre) installed as standard, or get a 2nd hand modern active bass (like your friend's Ibanez - often going for low prices on BC) and upgrade that instead.

Easiest way to spot the difference is to look at the headstock. US 6ers arrange tuners in a 3+3 config (like your Modulus); Kingstons are 4+2.

Easiest way to spot the difference is to look at the headstock. US 6ers arrange tuners in a 3+3 config (like your Modulus); Kingstons are 4+2.

Hawkwind - Live Seventy Nine. Opening track 'Shot Down In The Night' in particular gets me every time.

That guy IS Andrew Gouche! And he's playing the USA model, not the Kingston. Here's another guy - Bubby Lewis - playing the Kingston version. Interesting to a/b them! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTOGSYBFux8

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1400430516' post='2453749'] It always depresses me when the focus is upon the supposed unworthiness of high end when there is so much greater scope for joy at the improved quality and comparatively microscopic price of serviceable basses. 'Glass half-full' for the win. [/quote] Agree with this 100%, and with Dingus's post above. A case in point is my MTD Kingston AG5 - insanely great bass for 1/3 of the price of a US model. I couldn't give a toss that it is made in a factory in China rather than in Mr Tobias's log cabin in a forest in upstate New York - it plays and sounds brilliant.

Nah, put the black one with the peace sign back on! I love Ida's playing too, and bet this is a sweeeeeet bass. Proper jealous! Congrats and enjoy!

Ah, Basschat. Yesterday I knew nothing about these basses. Now I know almost everything (well, apart from how they feel to play). Thanks again, gents. Rather liking the band in the video, too. Sort of jazz, sort of post rock, pretty good.

6, no brainer eh, am I too late?

Many thanks, neepheid! Much more helpful than the Google search I did earlier - top hit was to a TalkBass page on this question, which contained insightful gems such as "One rips, one grabs."

[quote name='Prosebass' timestamp='1400269765' post='2452559'] Here is my short scale homage to the Grabber that I built a few years ago. [attachment=162840:Grabber05.JPG] [/quote] Wow! That is really, really nice. Does it have a slidey pup? Do you still own it?

[quote name='Prosebass' timestamp='1400269528' post='2452554'] What have I won? [/quote] Just the warm glow of victory, I'm afraid!

Ah yes, you're right - thanks!!! Game over.

I mean, between the Ripper and the Grabber?