Byo

Loving the amp, loving the cabs and loving the UMBO(s)! Always wanted to try the Umbo due to the control layout as the people who own one talk wonders about them.

I tried the AGBV200A fixed bridge 4 string the other day while on a trip in New York. The finish was meh... nice feel, but all the heavy dents and marks had been laquered on top and looked fake (they are! Lol). I was expecting these details to have a "manufactured" look and feel but on top of the original finish and not under it, just like any other roadworn style finish. I tried it through an Ampeg V4B and a 4x10 Classic Series cab and the sound was modern compared to the Fender Coronado bass that I tried before the Ibanez. Neck pup sounded good, vintage-y and the tone helped to get a nice finger style out of it. Both pups on sounded very modern, or at least that was my though in the shop and through the Ampeg (which is not my 1st preference when it comes to amplification). Nice finger style in this position, a lot of articulation and with the tone knob you could tame those highs a little to get it back into a more vintage vibe, but the Ibanez retained that modern scooped sound as far as I can remember (the scoop was less pronounced on the Fender Coronado when both pups on). Finally, the bridge pup had some nice bite to it and harmonics sounded lovely. Again, the tone control helped to tame the high end but maintained a nice punch. The neck felt smooth and was nice and fast and as far as I recall, between a J and a P feel but more towards a thinner profile. Not chunky at all. The hardware looks and feels really good. The knobs have a rubber/plastic ring that helps with finger traction compared to the Gibson style speed knobs that sometimes slip during a live setting. Weight was good, around 4kg I guess and way less than the Fender Coronado that was extremely body heavy and not balanced at all. I was expecting a thumpy, old school bass and got hit by a versatile instrument that could possibly fit in most musical enviroments easily. I unfortunately had no time to try the 5 string version and the shop was not stocking the full Hollowbody yet but I will certainly wait until they are stocked here in London.

And another vote for the Brown Dog too! Great sound and so simple to use.

Very interested in Le Bass, let us know how it goes!

Doesn't the Zvex have a control that allows Active basses to work with it? Can't remember the layout. Edit: My bad, I think it's the Mastotron.

Bought a Badass II bridge from Nige and it was an easy and straightforward operation. The bridge was better that he described on the ad as it looks absolutely brand new! Top bloke and will certainly deal with Nige in the future.

The guitar looks great but the bass... it's a Bass V with a Tele headstock and a P-Pickup. Just not right. The pup looks out of place. Why do Fender do amazing looking sig guitars but when it comes to bass they remain the same as stock ones or go f-uglier (like this one)?

I have a Fender P-Bass Junior which I bought at Wunjo's back in 2010 after seeing it hanging on their wall for a few weeks. I remembered it from an old Fender catalogue that I had and decided to give it a go thinking it would be a toy as it was shorter than a 30" bass (28 point something I believe...) but it turned out to be a super cool bass with loads of tone and way lighter than any other bass I own. If I ever find another one, I will buy it!

For me it was the Moog MiniFooger Drive that I bought from this parish in 2015. Amazing tone from boost to fuzz and all in between whilst sounding vintage-y and warm.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1453990993' post='2965051'] Why do you think you need a EQ pedal? What gear are you using and what's lacking from it tonewise? There's nothing wrong about having a EQ pedal, i can find a handfull of uses for one, but i think that more than often people tend to have them in the pedalboard without having any real need for it. Basses and amps already have tone control, is the investment in a EQ pedal really necessary? [/quote] +1 on that. I haven't seen EQ pedals on a board for a long time. Maybe just used as a boost or for slap tone.

With your budget, a 2nd hand Boss GEB-7 could be found. Nothing fancy but it certainly does the job very well.

A bit late... great iniciative!

Pedaltrain Volto is pretty thin

[quote name='lo-freq' timestamp='1453772995' post='2962674'] That is inconsequential overhang. This is overhang - [/quote] That Ampeg head looks gigantic in comparison! Crazy visual effect!

Having an amp on stage is always great but nowadays a small pedal board and a DI (if the venue has a good monitor system) will get you a great tone. Some FX boxes like the Zoom B3 have amp & cab simulator that work wonders on PA's. I tend to gig with my pedalboard + DI and if possible I bring my Markbass + Aguilar DB112 with me for on stage monitor purposes and have never needed anything else. But mainly I travel light and use whatever stage amp there is so DI is the only way for me to maintain a consistent tone from gig to gig. I agree with Maude too, with a DI you cannot really mess up with the FOH's sound (that is up to the Sound Tech unfortunately...) and you can control your levels independently without affecting the band mix. To DI or not DI is a tough question sometimes, especially if your "sound" comes mainly from your amp+cab configuration but there are some lovely high end ones (REDDI, AVALON, etc...) that have a killer tone. Some of the cats over at Talkbass have been using Low Pass filters (filter cut off) to roll the nasty high end past 5-10k area to achieve a more natural "speaker" sound and they seem very happy, I still have to get around that idea so cannot comment.