Lfalex v1.1

Well done! You got one! How're you finding it?

That's either the best typo or auto-correct ever! I shall never call them Overwaters again! 🤣

I think the reason for people selling such customs on is that the disappointment factor is enormous. People become very invested (and not just financially) in instruments they specced themselves. When said instrument fails to live up to the hype, they simply can't face any more messing around. They just bite the bullet and move it on. I'd never buy another custom. They've been the most irritating experiences in my playing history, apart from band politics.

I've had two custom builds from highly regarded UK builders. One wasn't built for me, but was purchased after I tried it and liked it. Then I found it had some niggles that irked me, so sold it on at a big loss. The second I ordered. A custom variant on an established design. (Different electrics etc) On paper, it was great. In practice, it was just SO soulless and dull. Initially, it was good, but as time passed, the Sonic niggles came home to roost, plus my sweat ate the fretboard... Maybe I've been spoiled by having owned (and still owning) some lovely basses. That said, I was perfectly happy with a boggo US Fender jazz. It just sat right, felt right played well and sounded ok. I think the thing with custom items is that the builder builds their interpretation of what the customer specifies. As such, they do what they were contracted to do. Those of us with the skill might be better advised to build/assemble their own and then iron out any wrinkles as they go along.

No experience of either, but the Duff must surely have more tonal options. If versatility is what you're after, I guess the Duff is the way to go.

I'd wanted one for years. Then it came about by pure chance that one was available and I jumped at it.

Does this count? Just one big bit of Rosewood.

Thanks. I rather like the look of these. Has many features that I favour; Mid + frequency sweep, series/parallel/single coil switching. Even the aesthetics and construction don't seem too bad, especially at the price.

Does switching the pick-up coils alter the output level? The Stingray 5, for example, has the series and parallel positions buffered down to the level of the single coil output so you don't get volume jumps when switching. One of the best things about it. Used to drive me nuts on the Status Streamline I had. Thanks in advance!

Have you tried Stickist.com? It's basically like Basschat for Sticks. They have a "For Sale" section on there. I appreciate that the bulk of the members and traffic are US based, but there are UK/European members who might have something up for sale.

The Living Daylights is arguably the one I listen to most. Like few others, it doesn't entirely depend upon the cinematic content for lyrics, even if it does reference the title.

Too tough to call. It's a toss-up between Louis Armstrong's mellow tones, Carly Simon's candour, Chris Cornell's amazing voice and Tom Jones' commitment - especially that last note.

Thanks, Ricky4000. Strangely, my first, only and short-of-tenure bass "teacher" used to extol the virtues of "Forget-me-nots" whilst steadfastly refusing to teach me even the rudiments of slap whilst showing off. And as for feel.. I'm told by everyone that I missed my path when I didn't go into demolition as a career. My playing certainly isn't nuanced! Maybe that's the problem. Tuition induced PTSD coupled with a complete lack of "feel"!

My utter inability to slap saddens me. And I just don't know where to begin. Is it the bass, my preferred action, neck relief, EQ, the state of my strings, my choice of strings, the gauge of my strings, the fact that my sweaty mitts will dull a set of Rotos in 3 seconds... Is it the gain architecture I chose, do I need compression, is it the amp EQ... I can tolerate quite narrow string spacing for fingerstyle. I even had a 5 restrung E, A, D on the first, third and fifth saddles and nut slots and couldn't hit one clean note even on that. I find the whole thing physically awkward. Am I playing too hard or not hard enough? Am I trying to hard or not hard enough? What's my fretting hand supposed to be doing? I accept that it is virtually impossible to "teach" me anything. I have to have my own Eureka moments for the pieces to fit together into anything meaningful. I've had more satisfaction from my fumblings on the Stick after 5 minutes than my sporadic (but lengthy) attempts at learning slap..

I can't write for toffee! I just can't see enough of the whole picture in isolation. If someone else can do the outside edges of the jigsaw, I can fill in the middle... All my best stuff derives from other people's work. On the very rare occasion that I do produce anything, guitarists, drummers etc. all look at me blankly, as if to say "What do I do with that, then?"

English Settlement - Xtc Spilt milk - The Jellyfish Time- ELO Boys for Pele - Tori Amos Steeltown - Big Country Crime of the Century - Supertramp I'm the man - Joe Jackson Reign in blood - Slayer Dragline - PAW Nilsson Schmillson - Harry Nilsson Lonely at the top - Randy Newman Probably missed some, but that lot seen to pop up a lot!

I do, but it's the 5 string. Since I've moved house, I've been playing it and the Stick for the most part, so I'm afraid it's not for sale!

Just a left-field piece of rationalisation; Piezo bridges and saddles work ok with everything from unwound (G,B, high E) guitar strings up to EUBs. I reckon you're probably safe with contact core designs.

Have a look at what strings Warwick do/did for their Low-tuned models (Taranis? IIRC) I'm sure the heaviest string was around a 0.175 That'd go plenty low enough, but I guess you might have to file out your nut/bridge saddles to get a sensible action. Failing that, play using "A" an octave up and see if you can find an octave pedal that tracks really well. Some units do two octaves down.

Looks promising. Let us know what you decide to do and how you fare with the modifications.. Edit- wow! At those prices I might break mine for spares! 😂

Not an easy one.. I've a B2a 5string, and I'm assuming the bridge hardware is similar... The bridge saddles are big, square blocks. The factor governing the height of the lowest action is the thickness of those saddles. I reckon you could either file the slots deeper, but they're a particular shape with an edge for the strings to break over, so that's difficult to preserve. I'd be inclined to file down the bottom of the saddle blocks so they sit lower. If you were to do that, you'd have to clean out the grub screw threads AND try to refinish the underside of the saddle back to its original black. Hope this helps a bit..

I've finally overcome a major obstacle. And acquired a stand for the stick. Keeping it in the hardcase was a major bind. Just got a cheap Stagg item from Argos. It's not perfect, but the Stick stays put on it.Somewhat cheaper than the $130 that Stick Enterprises want for theirs (and that's before shipping & taxes)

I have an old Korg Pandora. Small, drives a proper pair of headphones. I run it from 4xAAA rechargeable batteries and they last a while. It has an ok integrated tuner, FX, and has a tap reverb, which is a lovely thing. Otherwise, I use a cheap 12 track mixing desk. Has phantom power and XLRs for some pedals, and it's better with a Chapman stick than the Pandora.

I heard John Hall has left the business to start a band. With a guy called Daryl Oates. I'll get me' coat...

Loving the Rollins Band & Skunk Anansie vids. 2 excellent bassists (Melvin Gibbs and Cass Lewis respectively) and good examples of the use of Dynamics; Loud-quiet-loud(er!)