Lfalex v1.1

With reference to the soapbars, are you sure you're not confusing the srx500 with the [i]SR500[/i] Either model is plenty good enough, though the SR is arguably the better all-rounder than the srx.

(As a bit of background) I own a cut-up H122smx. I removed the head and made a sleeve, converting the remaining carcass into a cab resembling a 2103H. I routed the back panel, fitted a proper connector plate, the lot. Why? it was too tall for the boot of my car, and robbed me of the flexibility of using my other cabs (1048h,1153) separately. I say "resembling" a 2103h, as the Trace combos have shallower cabs with their (shorter) ports tuned to higher frequencies. The 2103h is about 30% bigger. The 2103h also has a better hf horn and the attenuator. If Trace had fitted a head to the standard-sized cabs, I doubt anyone could lift them! My advice... The 1048h is a good cab, but it's quite big and b*****d heavy! I can't vouch for a H122smx + 2103h vs. AH300 + 1048h. Never had chance to try it. Whilst many will mope about the driver mixing that a 2x10 and 1x15 represents, it sounds pretty ok. The H122smx + 1048h pairing works well, but the "combo half" has 2x10 @ 8ohms against the 4x10 @ 8ohms, and can sound stressed by comparison when you turn the wick up a bit. My best advice; Whatever cab is going on the bottom, get some good castors to go on it. If they're locking, put them on diagonally opposed corners, so you can't tip it over!! I just stack the whole lot up, secure with a ratchet strap and pull it to wherever I'm going!

With the squash ball fix, if you don't want to do it permanently, just put them on the floor "upside down" (dome upwards) under your cab's existing feet...

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='543259' date='Jul 17 2009, 02:49 PM']As for the original Streamline being "girly"... I love the one I have with the LED's - It's practically the last original shape one apart from Alex's....[/quote] Dawn did ask me if I wanted a re-vamped one when I ordered mine... but I tried a curvy one and got on fine with it, so went for that instead. Here it is (Again!); Liking it lots, and looking for an excuse to confound audiences by gigging it!

Good thread! only just found it! I don't wear belts or braces when playing. I wear T shirts (or whatever) long enough to cover the rivets in my jeans- or better yet wear something that doesn't have them. I never wear shirts with the buttons uncovered. I once had to play in a suit, and cut the buttons off of the jacket and replaced it with Velcro on the inside! Fanatical? Yes. Buckle rash? Nope. Not a bit.

Sorry, no pictures, but Josh Homme of QOTSA had an Ampeg 8x10 laying on its side with 2 4x12 Marshalls balanced on top of it. Signal from guitar was split by an octaver, and the resultant outputs fed to appropriate pre/power amps. That was his backline at The Garage (Highbury/Islington) The stage there is hardly BIG...

No matter what I wear, this always seems to clash [i]dreadfully[/i] with it...

[quote name='thedonutman' post='544835' date='Jul 19 2009, 06:21 PM']Does anybody here use a Status for straight up rock/metal? Everybody on Youtube with Status basses seem to be either covering Level 42 songs or playing similar things. Is it just a coincidence or is it simply not possible pick up a Status without playing slap? [/quote] When gigging again, I intend to do exactly that with the Streamline... It's ideal for it IMO! One thing no-one's yet mentioned is the resistance of graphite necks to changes in humidity & temperature. They are very stable, which is beneficial when travelling. BTW, Rob has a Trace 1110 (4x10 combo) in his workshop... I had one as my first proper "big" amp!

[quote name='4000' post='543951' date='Jul 18 2009, 01:18 PM']I will add that tonally I think my favourite graphite-necked basses are probably Vigiers. I'll also add that I have yet to play a 10/90 plugged in, so that may be entirely different. As I've said earlier, the day I find one that works for me, I'll buy it quite happily. BTW, I suspect you may be correct about the effect of different amplification.[/quote] Have you played an S2? They're ALL graphite. Not very much like the S3. The S2s are very tight, well balanced and articulate. The S3s are kind of half way between an all-wood neck and an all-graphite one. Oodles of smooth sustain, but a bit warmer and with less attack than the 100% graphite ones. If they took the phenolic fretboards off, it could be [i]very[/i] close to (my idea of) perfection. I may be getting close to a theory about the "clacky" sound from some amps; I experience this through my Trace on most fretted basses with phenolic 'boards, yet when recordings of it are played back, it sounds amazing. I reckon that it's the brittle/harsh-sounding nature of the tweeters or horns employed in some cabs that may be causing it. Either that, or there's a "De-Clack" button on the mixing desk!!

[quote name='OldGit' post='543413' date='Jul 17 2009, 05:12 PM']Headphones?[/quote] Works for me!

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='540920' date='Jul 15 2009, 05:59 AM']The problem I see is that there's noone out there who has refined the technology of graphite necks. Like Wil says, noone's really experimented with wooden fingerboards much, and I think there's a lot of potential there. I've tried some fantastic sounding graphite necked instruments but the necks been wonky, and the instruments that have straight necks are too brittle. Ped's Vigier, Nick's Pangborn and my Alembic are the only instruments I've tried where everything's perfect. So, it CAN be done.[/quote] I'm fortunate in that I own both a Vigier and a Status (S3 Passion V and Streamline respectively) I'd say both were pretty much perfect... Which speaks volumes for Patrice and Rob's QC controls... From previous topics, a know you and I concur about the use of fretboards other than phenolic on graphite necks... There IS a lot of potential for subtly adjusting the instrument's tone through careful material selection (and that includes frets, too, I guess) There is another factor which I feel contributes to the differences between graphite necks; Truss rods. I can't speak with certainty for Ped's S2 Passion (even though I've played it!) , but I believe them to be 'rodless (!) My S3 certainly is, and I think the S4s are, too. The Statii do have truss rods. Given that some manufacturers don't use graphite reinforcement (using metal instead) as they believe it [i]negatively[/i] influences tone, that might be a contributory factor. No matter what your preference, I think I've got most of them covered in my collection to date Wooden neck and fretboard (truss rod) Wooden neck (graphite reinforced) and fretboard (truss rod) Fender Jazz Wooden neck and Phenolic fretboard (truss rod) (Yamaha Attitude) Wood/Graphite neck and phenolic fretboard (no truss rod) (Vigier Passion S3) All graphite (with a truss rod) (Status Streamline) All I need now is a bolt-on graphite necked instrument with a (black stained) maple fretboard and a Vigier Arpege or Passion S2 with its phenolic board replaced with a (stained) Wenge or Ebony item.... GAS ahoy!

[quote name='martthebass' post='541751' date='Jul 15 2009, 10:35 PM']My Ray couldn't do woody if it was nailed to a tree. Amazingly my Streamline seems to be able to do mellow, albeit with a bit of knob twiddling.[/quote] I can get a near-upright electric tone from mine at a push (albeit fretted) Play right up at the base of the neck, Bridge p/u in series, neck in parallel. Roll off the top. Add some bottom. Play lightly, pan towards neck p/u. I had Rob fit custom pick-ups (Still Status) and series/parallel switching for both units. Worth the extra.

Or save up another £300 and buy a Status Streamline. Someone around here's got one with an MM pick-up in it. I'm sure Rob would oblige. Okay, they don't do a "woody" tone, but they do everything else! Maybe see if you can hunt down a s/h one- or a bolt on S2?

I have 2 shaped (as in the outside!) Hiscox cases. Both have survived 10 years gigging and rehearsal use. They have coped just fine. I wouldn't ship anything in them, but then again, I wouldn't ship anything anyway! They're fine for; Jazz, Precision, Warwicks (okay, not the Stryker, Buzzard and perhaps the Dolphin) Various MM, Vigiers, Yamaha Attitudes... On that basis the Jag ought to fit, although less snugly than a Jazz. Only the more unusual designs won't fit.

I'm sure "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (RIP) had a huge, bespoke unit. It was seriously heavy duty and sported about 16 switches for his various FX "patches" Had a quick google, but couldn't find anything.

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='539063' date='Jul 13 2009, 03:30 AM']I'm happy to say that I've reached that stage where I don't really care what what the shop assistant thinks of my playing. I think once you get to a certain age you either 1) look like you have money or 2) look like you can put it on a credit card and worry about it later! Therefore I get treated a lot better in shops than I did in my teens and early 20s. I used to hate the way shop assistants played slap for a couple of minutes and then hand it to you. I tend to play unamplified to check each & every note to see what fret buzz there is and then just play a few of the songs I play with the band. My priority is finding a bass that is right for me, not wowing (or not!) some shop assistant who won't be working there next time.[/quote] I'm more or less here, too! I check out the intonation (although that's a quick fix if wrong), Tune it to itself (usually for want of tuner!) ,then play across every fret and every string looking for dead-spots, quiet strings and dodgy action or relief. I then use a nice little chordal piece I knocked up on my Streamer LX VI ages ago... The last shop asistant I subjected to that was actually quite impressed (!) It was whilst trying out a Variax. Tried the "stingray" model, then grabbed a real one of the wall and demonstrated the difference in tone. Did the same with the "Jazz" model. And bought the MIA Jazz, which was [i]that[/i] good!

That '78 looks quite nice!

Which was what I thought when I saw the thread title, so a +1 for Audacity.

I have some fives and a six. 2 fives are "regular" BEADG 1 (The fretless) is EADGC as I think it works better with a Fretless than BEADG 1 is EAD, using every other saddle and nut slot! Works a treat for slap and most other stuff as long as you're ahppy to venture up the neck sometimes. The six is BEADGC. A good compromise for a 5 might also be DGCFBb covers the Low "D" and keeps your fretting positions intact. You might want to use heavier gauge strings to keep the tension up a bit...

My 2004 MIA S1 has one, too. Ash Bodied, and with an original, but less-than-popular Trans Sunset Orange Finish. I guessed it was some sort of jig-related hole. I'm sorely tempted to get a plug cut for it and glue it in. Something Exotic, like Ebony or Mpingo! It'd still be hidden under the scratchplate, though!

My Streamer LX VI is also quite quiet. It has the MEC 2-band also. I think mine's a bit hotter than average due to the SD soapbars. Oddly, My Infinity SN4 is significantly high in output, and it shares the Dolphin's pick-up arrangement (and presumably the eq)

[quote name='Spartacus' post='536170' date='Jul 9 2009, 07:17 AM']ACG Recurve? Wouldnt be the 1st time warwick have borrowed a design and not given it back [i]*cough*[/i] spector [i]*cough*[/i].[/quote] Didn't Status come up with the original Buzzard design with J.E.? Witness the original "beaky" headstock which has recently reverted to the usual paddle type.

[quote name='bobbass4k' post='534528' date='Jul 7 2009, 11:25 AM']I have actually looked into this before, I was gonna get some quarter pounders for my fretless, but I couldn't find them anywhere poleless, same with some other pups I looked at, could just have been looking in the wrong place, any specific UK sellers you know that have a good range of poleless pickups? I syill need some for my fretless[/quote] Had a quick whizz around the 'net, and found this.... [url="http://www.theguitarsherpa.com/categories/uk-effect-and-pickup-dealers.html"]http://www.theguitarsherpa.com/categories/...up-dealers.html[/url]

Read your post above and I'll try again! Second-hand Warwick Corvette $$. Has: Curvy Body 24 Frets Regular tuners There IS a through-neck, but for £1K, you're going to be VERY lucky to score one of those... It has a passive mode (pull up the Volume knob) It has Series/ Parallel/ Single coil switching for each Humbucker The other requirements can be addressed by Swapping the Just a Nut for the brass version (can't remember if it's a II or not!) Get a luthier to put an Ebony 'board on it Get it grain filled/ primed/ sprayed to a colour of your choice Change the pick-ups. Change the EQ if necessary. Only issues this doesn't solve? Neck profile may be too "round" for you. You might be able to get it reshaped, though. I don't understand the intonation issue. Once set correctly, the intonation should simply be "right" irrespective of the pitch to which the string is tuned... Can this be done for £1k? Probably. £500 for a good $$ £150 (?) for an Ebony board £100 for a spray job if you strip the bass of hardware yourself (and reassemble it) £150 for pick-ups The nuts can be had relatively cheaply, and may well be a DIY job, as they're adjustable.. That's about £900...

The exposed polepiece issue should be easy to circumvent. MEC, Bartolini and EMG (to name but three) all do [i]most[/i] pick-up styles without exposed poles J, JJ/TJ, P, MM, Soapbars etc. SD do soapbars without polepieces, too! This opens another avenue; Purchase a bass whose design you like and which meets your other criteria, then swap the pick-ups out. For example, Imagine a Bongo H/S 4 with pole-less barts! Mmm. Tasty. A nice, smooth, uninterupted look.