Lfalex v1.1

I'm in this category. My rehearsal/gig set-up (Shroeder 21012l and Markbass head) is fine for domestic practice. It's quite nice to be able to exploit the better Lf performance from a bigger/better cab, albeit at a low volume. At a slight tangent, I've found it's preferable to have a combo or cab that can comfortably out-perform any device that you might be playing along with. My old "Hifi" could obliterate my 80w 1x12 combo in every way, and it just felt like what I was playing wasn't contributing much. Conversely, the Schroeder/Markbass pairing can easily outpace the soundbar that I'm playing along to. Now, I'm adding in everything <100Hz, and that feels better.

He's been through plenty of brands. I presume the early stuff was Fender P, BC Rich (as above), plus Vigier and Lakland that I know of. I'm sure there's more! Edit-(Assuming Wikipedia to be loosely accurate) When it comes to Lakland, he's been through everyone else's signature models before he got his own! Joe Osborn, Bob Glaub and Duck Dunn's... "Metal" they ain't, and yet... This really isn't making a good case for having a variety of instruments if it really is "all in the fingers!"

Fixed the Infinity SN4. Now sporting 4 licensed Hipshot Ultralights and a brass JAN III. I can confirm that they're a drop in replacement. No extra drilling required. Tuning stability is better, too.

I thought it was "No Hope=No Fear"

I think it's an "image" thing to shift units. If you look at what metal bassists are playing, there's plenty of Ps, Js, Warwicks that aren't Vampyres, G&Ls, Gibsons (especially T birds), Ricks, regular Ibanez, Stingrays, etc. It's only a few that favour the pointy items. And they seem to use BC Rich and similar. That clanky tone (for me, at least) comes from nice, fresh strings, a moderately low action, appropriate EQ/ Drive and a slightly more aggressive playing technique. A pickup swap to something hotter/ brighter might help, but not as much as EQ, strings and technique.

I thought it was Kaman, then Gibson?

Currently; 1 amp- Markbass s450 1 cab- Schroeder 21012L 2 preamps- Ampeg SVP-Pro, Peavey BassMax 1 combo- 1x12 80w ProAmplifiers Demon Think that'll cover most eventualities. Edit- To be fair, if I suddenly had extra disposable funds, I'm much more likely to buy another bass than an Amp/Cab or effects.

Many of my favourite basses do not fit in "standard" sized cases. The Warwick Fortress won't fit in Hiscox cases as the upper horn is too long. The Ibanez EDA and EDC have convex curved bodies and need a deeper case. And as for the Epiphone Blackbird, that's going to need a special one all of its own. Also, the Blackbird is nearly 48" long from tip of headstock to rearmost point, and resolutely won't fit across the width of a lot of cars, even out of a case or bag.

Slap tone on my Epiphone Sixx Blackbird is pretty good. It was not, however, the first thing I tried..

I bought an Epiphone Blackbird as a half-joke/challenge because Cash Converters couldn't shift it and I got it cheap. This model has no volume or tone controls, just an on/off switch. Long story short, now it's restrung and fettled, it's just the thing for heavy rock, even with fingers rather than a plectrum. Downsides? Bloody capo won't fit the skinny neck (it's in D standard) Cases and bags are a pain I had to "engineer" a strap button solution to stop the neck dive Gibson 3-point bridges are wildly idiosyncratic. But can be made to work.

Total fail for me. 2 basses 1 cab 1 head 1 set of strings 1 wall hanger 4 tuners and a nut On the plus side, I found an old strap, so I don't need to buy another (I favour one specific strap per bass)

Not so, good sir. 3 of my basses are plastic!

I've an Ibanez with just the ATK triple coil in approximately the "Stingray" position. Mine has only 3 options, 2 of which would correspond to switch positions 2 and 4 in the diagram. The other option on mine is a variant on #2 with a passive filter that slightly cuts the lower treble region. The final option does a reasonable P bass approximation. I think that's what they were going for. The two coils in parallel gets close to the Ray sound. That ATK pickup is really rather good.

I don't think I can do it.

That's a tidy job. I like it.

Nice job. They look like Original Warwick fretwire. Where did you get it done?

Looks like it's either a Zephyr or a Grind BXP4. If there's even a difference between those models. Google gave me the same set of images for both searches...

I still can't find a drive/distortion that I like in a pedal. Everything pales next to the Ampeg SVP-PRO, but the footswitch controls only the mute and graphic EQ, not the drive. However, I may be tempted to buy a Boss LS2 and do it that way; Bypass (clean) Loop A (dirty, Ampeg pre) Or blend clean and dirty by just running a cable as loop B; A/B mix ---- Bypass

Headphones. In retrospect, using them for a while has taught me to deal with things like finger noise (on strings), muting, and playing consistently that aren't even that obvious through a head/cab.

Meanwhile, On Pistonheads... [/ Batman voiceover] "Why does everyone keep making comparisons between Cars and finely- tuned musical instruments?"

Wire it 180° out of phase? 🙃

Another vote for "Crime" from me, though "Crisis" and "Quietest Moments" are still very good. Check out also "Songs of the Century"; it's a compilation of Supertramp covers, performed by some interesting combinations of musicians. Crime of the Century is Rick Wakeman Tony Levin Billy Sherwood Scott Connor It's excessive (Wakeman!) but worthwhile, and there's no doubting the musicianship. Levin lands the first off-beat bass pulse (A) in the final ⅓ of the song in a far less ambiguous way than Dougie Thomson on the original...

£450 seems about right, depending upon exactly what you're asking them to do; If they're dismantling, keying the original finish, filling any imperfections, masking, spraying multiple coats, rubbing back, reapplying decals, lacquering, and reassembling/ setting up once dried.. That's a lot of labour. If you handed them a body bereft of hardware and a tuner-less neck with its truss rod slackened, I'd be tempted to negotiate a lower price. Similarly so if you're able to rebuild it post re-fin. Edit- Bongo is a great choice for "fancy" finishes. All those curves and bevels will catch the light nicely.

Thanks for that. Interesting read. I've still got 2 of those (Peavey and Ampeg) and had the Trace GP12 SMX as the front-end of a Trace head.

Even in spite of my recent iris malfunction in my left eye, no. I'm 20/20 in my right eye. And 20/15 in my left. Which is good, because I'm right- handed.