Lfalex v1.1

I thought the Garage Days EP cover bass was a Sadowsky minus the headstock decal... could be wrong though. Otherwise, I do believe Billy Sheehan plays factory Yamaha Attitude BS sig instruments. Having owned one, I can see why. The (MIJ) build quality is exemplary. Didn't get on with the tone, though. Maybe John Myung uses "factory" Bongos. His is pretty niche, though.

It is. Not that blue/gold abomination that they did!

Beat me to it. My first bass was a Raider 1. I still have it, though !

Ah.. they're about £1200 new. Sorry.

I think the MTD Super 5 would be worth a look.

GWB?

Finding it pretty good so far. Not too heavy at 9½lb, and the balance is fine with a suitably broad (and short) strap. I'm surprised that big old headstock and 6 full-sized tuners don't drag it down more. The instrument's balance pulls the nut back towards you, so the reach for the 1st fret isn't at all bad. The neck is great. Broad, flat smooth and quite fast for a 6. The only slight negative is that the fretboard radius is slightly smaller than I'd find ideal. It's not a deal-breaker, though. A Rosewood fretboard is a plus for me. The electronics package is good. Plenty of tones. No noise and almost too much control from the 4 band EQ. Tons of headroom from the 18v pre-amp. Definitely one to set flat and tweak with small adjustments. Came strung with what look like EB Slinkies. They ought to be 32-130, and it seems like that's the case here. Stainless steel frets are showing little sign of use even though its 10 years old. Overall tonality is fairly neutral if left flat, with decent variation available from the pan control, though it's not that great at the extremes without heavy eq. It can be a little bass- heavy, and favouring the bridge pickup doesn't do a lot to reduce this until it ends up being too nasal. Gently cutting the bass eq is the better option. All in all, pretty good, and I can see the playing experience improving as I become more accustomed to it.

For what it's worth, both the best and worst on-stage sounds I've had were using venue- supplied backline. One was Ashdown, one was Hartke and another one was Gallien Kruger/ Ampeg. Nothing to say you and the guitarist/s can't put some of your kit in front of the house gear in the signal chain. Unless you're using valve amps or something with a power stage that won't play nicely while running with no load.

For those struggling with being seen to like Progressive Rock, I find it best to insist that [insert band] do not, in fact, fit into the genre at all. 😝 Or just claim that you like "the later stuff". (See: Genesis, Supertramp etc.)

See also the Spalt Viper/Wiper. That looked clever, but I wonder how well it worked?

@LeftyJ in particular... I have a Hohner B2A 5er. Same as your 4 except it has a pair of Js in it. And does it not do a fine impersonation of a "super J" I also had a Status Streamline 4. Which sounded "thin" but "hot". I reckon the wood component absorbs some of the higher frequencies and leaves the fundamental seeming stronger as a result. I agree about the fast attack and sustain. (Vis a vis the Hohners) The sustain (I think) comes from the neck- through construction and lack of mass damping caused by the headstock. It is my belief that Double-ball-end strings bring something of their own to the party; they're all the same length, and apart from the consistency of feel that this imparts, it also eliminates any variable degree of elasticity in the string caused by the uneven length of string between nut and tuner on a traditional bass. This results in a more predictable transfer of energy from you to the string - less is lost and more of what you as a player put in remains. Don't get me wrong, I've had 2 headless basses out of more than 20. I'm no headless fan boy! I'm trying to rationalise why a Hohner that was relatively cheap can perform so well in some respects.

That depends upon why and how they chambered it, whether the design was prototyped and assessed properly and whether that then reliably translated to small-scale or mass-production. I have one chambered bass. It's a solid design, not acoustic nor electroacoustic; A Warwick Infinty SN4. The construction is quietly impressive. It's made from Zebrano. If it were solid, it'd simply be too heavy, so they've chambered it to cut the weight. I've no idea what the internal design is like. It seems like they've chambered a front blank and a back blank, each 50% of the body thickness and sandwiched them together. There's a small veneer between them. The joins are barely visible. It IS a very resonant instrument. If you strap it on too tight (!) it kills it a bit. I wouldn't rule out a chambered bass. I'd have to play it to see if I liked that particular one. That would only allow mass-produced or second-hand customs. Commissioning a custom-build would be a shot in the dark unless the builder has a good pedigree in such instruments. Making one yourself could be an interesting journey of trial and error to achieve what you're looking for. Anyone for a chambered headless? 🤪

As per the title Does anyone have any ideas as to how to (gently) deodorise a bass, specifically cigarette smoke? Not an issue I've ever had before! Is it as simple as a "new car" Magic tree in the case? Ideally I'd like something that absorbs the odour, like Neutradol or those plastic apples you put in your fridge.. Thanks in advance.

Fireball Speed King Black Knight

(thinks) The Fundamental of E0 is 20.5Hz, right? A decent pair of headphones should do that justice- assuming that it's present on the original recording. I can't comment on IEM bandwidth, but little buds are unlikely to reach that low.

(Nice fretless, is that a Delano in there?) In the case of coil switching, not all implementations are created equal, and much depends on the pickup. My favourites have always been triple-coil MM variants. The SR5 was useable in series or parallel, but the single coil was too thin- sounding without a lot of EQ. The Ibanez EDC 71x is really clever. Position 1: hum-cancelling SC with passive tone tweaks to mimic a P-bass. Position 2: hum-cancelling SC Position 3: both coils in parallel (naturally humbucking) I'd love that pickup (the older ATK one) in a fretless. If you made me choose a single mode, I'd have parallel. That would be true of all of the 4 basses I've owned which had coil switching options. (Personally) I find Series lacks depth and detail, even if the level boost is initially impressive.

(Just supposing, not a concrete answer) Rear coil centred where a jazz bass bridge pickup would be? Gives you that "bridge-soloed" sound if that's switched for single coil operation. Fatter in parallel and barks more in series if those options are available. If you do have coil- switching, please use resistors or trim-pots to pull the series & parallel output levels down to match the subject coil output. I've had two basses that didn't, and two that did (Stingray 5, Ibanez EDC715) I much preferred those that did. The volume jumps switching between settings are very annoying otherwise.

If the body design "pulls" to the player's right, it'll help the reach for F0, but nonetheless.. I guess string choice is problematic though. Edit- are those flats from an upright, perchance?

Ah, but which came first? The Bongo or the Pig? I think Musicman might just have a case for copyright infringement. Peppa Pig was first shown at NAMM 2003, whereas the Bongo first appeared on TV in 2004. Oh. No, wait ...

Maybe I'm not digging in enough? Two others in my collection sound thick and dirty by comparison. Both have monster pickups with big magnets. Perhaps that's a thing?

You're right, the EQ just keeps on giving (or taking; depends which way you turn the controls!) It's not that big. The Warwick that preceded it was quite a bit heavier. This was a "reasonably priced" punt. Normally, I'd have tried out various basses and selected one from the stock I'd played. Other options were; Ibanez EHB1506 or 1006 Dingwall Combustion 3/6 or an NG 3/6 G&L ASAT (I know, it's a 4) But this sat in the middle of the group, and I recall playing a Bongo 5HS and liking it, so decided to simply order it. Seems like I got it right this time.

On a piece of string tied to a bass cab handle. Works a treat mid-gig.

Musicman Bongo 6 HH in Candy Apple Red. A six to replace a Streamer LX6 that was sold to cover legal fees. Arrived 43 hours after I ordered it from Bass Direct, securely packed and delivered on time (DHL) Lovely neck. Weighs 9lb 6oz, so not too bad. I thought the 18mm string spacing might prove problematic, but it's not. It's very "polite" sounding, but in the context of the other instruments I own, that's not a problem. Issues? Fingerprints show up really badly! If you rest your forearm against the body, it damps a smidge of the resonance out of the sound. Everything else is either fine or not a issue for me, so it's all good so far.

Definitely DHL. Used the app to track it. Had the logo on the van.

Package arrived safe and sound, well packed and at the specified time. Well done BD and DHL.