Lfalex v1.1

Because: Rickenbacker, unfortunately.

I can relate to this, also. Given that I rarely purchase something without at least a quick plonk on it, a trip to a decent shop is almost mandatory. And how many decent shops are there left? The reason may be different, but the net effect is the same; I don't try things i shops very much, therefore no purchases are made.

Nope! There's been a bass I wish I'd bought (a Ken Smith 6- also in the Wapping Bass Centre, btw) but that would have supplemented my Vigier Series III not replaced it. Everything I've bought since the Vigier has been something different, sometimes wildly different. I've seen a few instruments that I'd like to try/acquire/buy, but they're quite obscure (Fender Roscoe Beck, BassLab L-bow etc.) But I can't see them making me regret the Vigier. I've had it for 26 years (!) now.

Use multi-coloured strips... 12 Different colours, one for each note, repeated all the way up and down the board 😀

DRs are around the £33-35 mark at Strings Direct at the moment. (For a 4 string, uncoated set- Lo Riders, Hi/Fat/Sun beams etc.) Nearly £40, but not quite.

Bit of some sort of petroleum-based Solvent ought to clean that off. Then it'll evaporate away.

At least I'm not the only one who thinks it looks like a tin-opener! They should do a steel insert for it so you can open bottles with it. Useful on stage, I'm sure...

I've played an ASAT many moons ago. I recently acquired an SB-2 Tribute. The ASAT had a glossier neck finish, but that's all I can remember. I can't fault the nut cutting, fret work and fit/finish on the SB-2. The bridge and pickups are the same as the American instruments. Not sure about the tuners, though.

[Sound of tape measure] I can confirm that my SB-2 Tribute is 38mm. Presumably they share a neck with the LB-100? Fretboard radius is 12.5" on the Tributes. I think the American versions are about 9/9.5"

I'm seeing a bit of Warwick Katana in there. Definitely not BC Rich, though.

Drop tuned to D standard now, and the 50-110 DR Lo-Riders are fretting much more swiftly and positively now. "Borrowed" a nice grippy leather strap from another bass as the one I was using was causing all sorts of problems sliding around. Bingo. Its amazing what difference a few tweaks (and a non-cr@p strap) can make to your playing experience.

I've found that my recently acquired G&L SB-2 Tribute came with such heavy strings (50-110) that they were impeding my ability to play really swift passages due to their being slow to fret. To reduce the tension, I've changed the tuning to D standard. Fixed. Apart from songs that now require large stretches to hit an E¹ that'd normally just be an open string. Solution? Capo on 2nd fret. But I don't own one. Any recommendations, good people of Basschat? Thanks in advance, Alex.

I did this, albeit with a heavier QSC PLX1202. Delivers a taste of the Ampeg sound with buckets of power (1200w into 4 Ohms Bridged Mono) Worked a treat, even with smaller cabs at smaller gigs- you just turn it down!

Ah. That's a bummer.

How about a white case for the neck pickup, and put a black (disconnected) pickup in the bridge hole? Not sure if it'd look good. More of a random idea.

Do these count?

Just cracked out the Allen keys to make a few slight adjustments for personal preference. I can confirm that the hardware on Tributes is definitely American. My metric Allen keys don't fit 🤣 I'll have to dig out the Imperial set from the shed.. only other bass I've had to use those on was my MIA Jazz.

#186 to go with your #187. Small world? Big Forum? Or just not many Vigiers?

Played some more this evening, and I'm really enjoying the SB-2. There's something about the immediacy of a high-output all-passive bass. I think it's related to the fewer number of components in the signal path before it undergoes some sort of amplification (I don't really use effects much)

Purchased yesterday from simon88wilson, thereby filling the gap for an appropriate passive instrument in an otherwise all-active bass collection since the sale of my Squier VMJ, MIA s1 Jazz and Yamaha Attitude. Satin maple neck and maple board. Sonic Blue (although it sometimes looks minty green) over Mahogany body. Feels solid and substantial but not heavy or clumsy. Biggest surprise is how well the two control layout works without a tone control. Just tweak the volume controls a bit and there's plenty of useable tones, certainly more than a 3 position switch would give. Hardware and pickups are really chunky. Tried it briefly last night, and it sits nicely in the mix. Until you push the volume control/s, and it comes out fighting. All in all, a simple, tough and well-thought out bass. Only minus point? They don't do a 5 string, so I might drop-tune it to DGCF to cover a bit more low-end territory.

Just bought a G&L SB-2 from Simon. Bass as depicted, in very good condition (and it's a cracker!) I Collected it from him in person, he's a top bloke. Buy and sell with confidence. I'd gladly do business with him again.

4 4x10s. 2 of each colour, arranged like a Battenburg... 🤣

All I can add, other than a bit of compression, would be to make sure your unused strings are well muted. Also try playing in a plucking hand position/ favouring a pickup (as above) that gives more fundamental and less harmonic content- right up by the neck, for example.

I wonder how he copes with a 12 string Chapman Stick... or is he tuning the Bass side in 4ths as well? 🤔 I, too can see how it'd work with an electric instrument. It should be alright on a regular cello, as you're condensing the range of the instrument; losing bottom end from the (new) E down to the (original) C and from the top (G as opposed to A) Can't comment on bows, I'm afraid. As for octave related fx, there's two issues at stake. Both related to the harmonic content of the cello's tone- how well will it sense the correct pitch, and what will it reproduce . The risk is that it'll just underpin the original sound with a dull monotone pitch an octave down, not a DB sound. How that would work with Arco, I have no idea, but I doubt it'd capture the bowing dynamics either.

I, however, resolved our oven issues (by removing it and replacing it with a cupboard) This means I have been able to get back to making strings suffer sooner.