Lfalex v1.1

[quote name='Musicman20' post='936488' date='Aug 25 2010, 09:59 PM']Spent too much, but nowhere near as much as my friends who are car fanatics.[/quote] Too true. If the value of my stack is less than or equal to the cost of my car, then I bought too expensive a car! Besides which, in the 12 years I've owned my stack, I'm on my sixth car. Collection? Oh dear! Quick maths makes it £9.5k!!! Basses only, at prices paid. But over 18-odd years, that ain't so bad. Doesn't include a broken s/h Ibanez. 2 s/h basses dismantled for spares. Last time I undertake that exercise!

[quote name='chris_b' post='938566' date='Aug 28 2010, 01:32 AM']Why don't people just play lighter?[/quote] Awww, c'mon! Don't tell me that you don't "dig in" a bit more when playing live? I would hardly have said Gary Willis' Technique sucked, and he uses one. His signature Ibanez (the expensive one, at least) comes with one. That uses double-sided tape to attach it, IIRC.

Knock one up out of MDF to begin with and make sure it does what you want/fits okay. Tape it on and you can then make adjustments to it and decide if you even like it on a given bass. If you do, then look into making a better one or having one made. Then invest in materials which may match; The body, Pick-up covers, Fretboard, etc. Just my 2p worth.

All the (older) Trace cabinets were about 3 inches shallower than their combo equivalents. To keep the weight down, I should imagine! My old 1110 was heavy enough as it was [u]without[/u] the extra cabinet weight! In any case, assuming the driver/s remain the same and the ports are retuned, you should get either more bottom end or better efficiency from a larger cab, neither of which are bad. I cut my H122SMX into a head and (shallow) cab. Initially so it'd fit into the poxy boot in my Fiat Punto, but then realised it gives me much more flexibility in terms of cabinet choice. If your extension cab is too much of a pain, put some castors on the side and then you can strap the combo to it and go walkabout.

My Streamline withstood a 900+ mile drive across France stuffed in the boot of my car. In its soft bag. In the height of summer. With no issues at all. In fact, it's not had any stability issues at all. Not that my Vigier's had any issues. It just won't fit in the boot of my car!

After a bit of research, it transpires that "Ernie" Ball's name wasn't even "Ernie" it was Sherwood. No relevance. Just one of those (mildly) educational titbits one uncovers from time to time.

Dammit, wombatboter beat me to it with Tea in the Sahara... Otherwise, So lonely, Message in a bottle (except you can hear he's out of tune on the recording), Man in a suitcase. Some of the solo stuff's okay, too. The shift from A Pentatonic to A Major into the middle 8 of "Soul cages" is quite nifty. Same key. Same tempo. Wholly different feel and nicely executed to boot.

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='934362' date='Aug 24 2010, 02:04 AM']That's very interesting that it would sound like graphite to someone (ignoring the 32" scale here) as the Kubicki has a lot in common with some graphite necks, as it's many 1/16" layers bonded together making it a composite neck. Using cellulose where the graphite necks use carbon. Funny how the old Moses necks are said to sound like graphite when the overwhelming majority of the neck is resin. If a "graphite composite" neck is the sound of graphite is a phenolic fingerboard the sound of paper?[/quote] ...Thinks... I reckon you might have got something there (and whoever mentioned Moses necks sounding like graphite in spite of being mainly resin) What do Kubicki necks, Carbon/Graphite Composite Necks and Phenolic fretboards all have in common? Large quantities of adhesive/binding/bonding agents or resins. Perhaps it's those we can hear? ([b]insert manufacturer[/b]). [i]The sound of glue[/i]

Whilst I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs of Vigier necks over the years, it is interesting that they've changed their approach several times; S1: "Widening" Neck through with the brass (?) layer beneath the fretboard. S2: Woven Graphite Neck-through. No truss rod. Phenolic fretboard. S3: Graphite/Maple (10/90) Neck through. No Truss rod. Phenolic fretboard. S4: Graphite/Maple (10/90) Bolt-on. No Truss rod. Phenolic fretboard. So, it would seem that the Passion and Arpege have been modified over the years. The build quality has been consistently high, although they did have bonding issues with the S1 fretboards IIRC. IMO Rodless basses have their own sound. They seem to sound "more" like the main neck material. It's only quite subtle, but some people might like it. I personally think that slap sound better on basses with truss rods, as they seem to have a more ringing tone - I prefer my Streamline to my S3 Passion V. I reckon the all-graphite Vigier S2 would be better in this respect.

[quote name='Fat Rich' post='931125' date='Aug 20 2010, 04:56 PM']Interesting reading, thanks for posting![/quote] +1. A good read!

A graveyard. Belonging to whatever church in Hitchin (Herts.) is down by the river by near the town centre. I'd worked nightshift on the Friday, so had been awake from 1900h on that day. When we hit the stage it was about 1630h and I hadn't slept. By the time I got home, I'd been awake about 24hours. And I played fretless. And drove the whole band. Interesting 24 hours. Crowd was big (Hitchin was closed off for the music festival) Still one of the biggest audiences I've played to. I guess around 800-1000 people...

No worries! The aliasing [i]might[/i] be a bit of noise from the LED meters on my mixer. The soundcard seems to pick them up... PC playback could help, though.

A day late, a dollar short, scrappy and recorded into my notebook whilst my wife and I are having a domestic with kids crying and me standing amidst the partly wallpapered dining room being attacked by the kitten... Sorry, I clipped the mic input a bit at one point. Only short WMA (so uncompressed) clips, recorded with no eq unless otherwise stated, and then onlt from the bass. No effects or compression were used. [attachment=57052:SSL_Both..._with_eq.wma] [attachment=57049:SSL_stan...ge_No_eq.wma] [attachment=57051:SSL_My_p..._with_eq.wma] [attachment=57048:SSL_stan...ps_No_eq.wma] [attachment=57050:SSL_stan...ck_No_eq.wma] Hope they help a bit. Alex.

Actually, no. I have budget basses, common basses, expensive basses, exotic basses and weird basses. And when it comes to amps, I've used the same old stuff for the last 12 years, and would only replace it if it broke.

Okay, think I've got it (kind of) sorted. A little bit of noise (from the mixer meter LEDs, I think) but it'll serve its purpose. Will post [i][something[/i] by the end of the day. Hope it'll help! Alex.

[quote name='dub' post='928621' date='Aug 18 2010, 01:37 PM']Well that's even more praise for the streamline. Do you know of and good recordings of one played with finger style? I've come across a few slap recordings so far but that's it.[/quote] If I had even the faintest idea how to get a laptop to record mine, I'd do something fingerstylee for you. Good might not be the most appropriate adjective, though! Gimme a clue and I'll have a try. Might take a while- Wife's in hospital, kids are off and I'm in the middle of decorating!

Maybe EBMM could make three clones; [b]Balls[/b] by Sterling [b]SUB[/b]-par Sterling [b]Officially Licensed[/b] Sterling Bulls**t All three of which were more reasonable than the original. And another query; Just who is this [b]Ray[/b]mond bloke?

[quote name='BigRedX' post='928883' date='Aug 18 2010, 06:15 PM']Modulus carbon fibre necks are a completely different construction type to Status (and just about everyone else).[/quote] Ah, but does that necessarily make them [i]better[/i] than Moses, Status, Gus, Vigier etc.?

Wanna hear a theory? I seem to remember reading somewhere that figuring in wood causes the figured areas to retain mositure more readily than the normal "grained" areas. Sorry. Can't remember the source. That's why you don't get heavily figured maple necks very much, as humidity variations cause all sorts of unwanted swellings I suppose my ideal wooden (all-maple, one piece) neck would have a ruler-straight grain from body-end to headstock. Maybe a little very light flame running perpendicular to the grain, but no Bird'sn Eye or Quilt. These sort of demanding requirements in a piece of maple command high prices. Now suppose that [i]someone[/i] comes up with a process that can wholly dry out all the (nice looking) irregularities and then seal it to stop further moisture ingress, thus overcoming the mis-shapen neck problem. It allows me to manufacture equally (or maybe more) stable necks with figured woods and a stain (or sealing agent) that looks attractive to prospective customers. It may also allow me to source [i]cheaper[/i] timber to offset the cost of processing. Call me cynical, but it's a possibility...

Last Sunday was my first audition/rehearsal in about 2 years. Also my first in a bass/gtr/vox/drums line-up. Every other band has had me dodging 2 guitars.. I took 2 basses- Yamaha Attitude and Status Streamline. Streamline was as superb on its first "noisy" outing, and you could really hear it if I dug in or moved my plucking hand position towards or away from the bridge. Sounded like it was going above the guitar a lot of the time due to its clarity and harmonic output. The Yamaha reminded me why I like it so much. Huge bottom end from the Neck HB, and the edgier, more brittle tone from the specially wound P pick-up can be used to add definition in a band context. I still can't quite get it to "sing" and it seems to lack the top end I'd like, but in a band context, it sounds very big. Neither was ultimately the better, but they were radically different. This week's rehearsal? Warwick Infinity & Squier VMJ....

[quote name='charic' post='927147' date='Aug 17 2010, 07:14 AM']I reckon someone should link this thread to that one so he can have a read [/quote] In one sense, a good idea; Sterling might read it and take some of the feedback to heart. In another, I'm not sure that an influx of aggrieved and aggressive new "members" fresh from the EBMM board would be quite as welcome...

If I were Sterling Ball, I'd only ever post something positive in a "News" section of the board. Stuff like; New product releases Endorsee news Charity work Factory news Employee (or sycophant) of the month I'd leave "brand defence" to my legion of fanboys, and have a tech-guru to answer those questions of a technical nature, and I'd emerge smelling of roses.

New bass AND amp day?! I'd never get that past the missus! I've always had a soft spot for Dingwalls/Fanned frets. Liking the other basses, even if it is all a bit MM-centric! I'd have 2 of the 3 (Bongo & Anniversary/Reflex, but not the Big Al!) As for the amp, I'd have to reserve judgement until I'd played it! Looks dinky, though. Aaaaaah!

[quote name='martthebass' post='925010' date='Aug 14 2010, 05:09 PM']EB have used ash, poplar and occasionally alder for rays over the years. Transparent finishes are almost exclusively ash. I've had a few solid colours and these have always been heavier than trans - maybe they were denser poplar.[/quote] A +1 to that. Alder and Poplar (and, for that matter Basswood (Bongo) and Sycamore (Original Burns Bison)) are not really very "pretty" to look at. They can be a bit dull and washed-out looking. Ash has a bolder, more attractive grain, and is typically used by many manufacturers as a solid body or veneer (cheaper instruments) under Trans, 2TS or 3TS finishes as well as for natural bodies. My 1990 Poplar Ray 5 is Black. My 2004 Ash MIA Jazz is Trans Sunset Orange. As for fit and finish, I've yet to see a poor MM bass. I'm sure they might have made a few, but not many!

[quote name='peteb' post='925570' date='Aug 15 2010, 01:47 PM']The other 'Ray issues to which I allude are mainly that even if you have it set up well with a nice low action, if I put it down and pick up my Warwick Stage 1, the difference in build quality is immediately apparent! BTW – the first thing I did was to lower the pick up on the stingray as much as possible as soon as I got it The ‘g’ string issue is annoying and leads to you trying to play harder on that string, which is less than ideal and is a design fault that should have been sorted out a long time ago! I can understand why lots of people like ‘Rays – they do have a distinctive sound, etc but there are obvious faults that just shouldn’t be there on a bass that is by no means cheap if you buy one new……[/quote] I thought MM build quality was pretty good. My Ray5 betters my StreamerLX and Infinity SN4 in terms of absolute build. That said, my 'Ray5 might have been dusted with pixie dust at San Luis Obispo. It did (allegedly) used to belong to Boz Burrell... (It's a fretless)