jonnythenotes

Thank you both for that.....it really does help. It's been bothering me for ages, and now BINGO.... Cheers, and I am sure quite a few folks will be interested in this.

After recently going back to using a passive bass again, there is one thing I am still not sure of... All posts I read about passive pickups and there relationship with the Tone control state that you can only ' take away' signal or frequency, where as with an active bass you can 'add' to the sound of the signal..mid, top, bass etc. My bass is the Yamaha BB 2024, and the controls are a pickup select switch, volume, and a tone knob. The tone knob is graduated from 1 to 10, with 1 being low tone and 10 being high frequency.... So the question is, at what number is the start point at which you 'take away' from the tone. Is 1 the start point, or 10, which would seem logical as you are removing, or 'taking away' the higher frequencies as you move towards 1. Sorry for my ignorance, but hopefully someone will understand what I am trying to ask... Cheers

How about a none bass bash then. This would involve taking along things that have nothing to do with basses. This instantly resolves a lot of the transport issues connected with hefty bass gear, as lots of things that have nothing to do with bass can be quite small.

I have just purchased a new power supply and a new sender to guitar lead....total cost....£21. Also sent a stinker of an e mail to stage clix saying there stuff and service is absolute crap..... Be warned folks, it might look and sound impressive, but it most serpently is not. The next time, I will rig up two plastic cups and a length of string to do the job...

I completely agree with you Discreet..... All I was trying to say in my post was that I personally lost sight of how good an un-enhanced bass sounds. It's like having 1000 tv channels... constantly flicking between channels, looking and hoping for something better.The more choice you have, the more dissatisfied you can become. All of my active basses have had the ability, either through a switch or a stacked knob to go passive or active. I found my main problem with this was always why switch an active bass, with all it's whistle and bells off, and go passive... I realise its a stupid thing to not be able to do, but that is just my own personal mind set. However, take a passive bass on stage, and this choice, or thought process no longer exists. In know way am I criticising active basses...on the contrary, I swear by them, but after years of playing one, and viewing passive instruments as inferior, I am really enjoying the pleasure of enforced restriction, and how It is helping me re think sound structure, with a very limited set of brackets to work within.

Thanks guys...really...thankyou..

Sometimes, the almost limitless pallet of sounds an active bass allows you to use works against you, in that you always feel there is a better sound somewhere else in there. It gives you a feeling of not being satisfied, or missing out on that elusive killer tone. With a passive, you are far more limited, and learn to make do, which forces you to create in a much more focused way. I have found after years of various active basses, I was relying on the bass to find me 'that sound', and sometimes I was lucky enough to drop on it...( this with ref to all venues need a different sound, and no setting suits all.) A few weeks ago I blew the cobwebs of a Yamaha BB 2024 after giving up on it as being inferior to my active Mike Lull. After a half hour or so, I began listening to the bass, instead of what was missing compared to the active sound, and I realised I was hearing a much more 'real' and open sound rather than that almost overworked and hyper sensitive sound I was used to from actives. Perhaps my perception has always been (without knowing it) that active basses had to be better because they had 'more' of everything. I have now deliberately painted myself into a corner, and have chosen to limit myself by using my passive again, and the difference is little short of amazing. I feel I am far more responsible for how it sounds, rather than a part owner of it. There is far more to active or passive than just the bass itself... It's far more about what's in your head than in the bass itself.

Nice one centurion....so glad for you....

It's always going to be about creating a need in people that wasn't there before you created that need, and then marketed it. Take washing up powder...they tell us that it's the best ever, and will get everything whiter than the previous 'newest' formula they came out with six months ago. Take this back 10 years and we must have been walking around in filthy rags as the powder then was so inferior to what it is now.... 99% of people will presume its a brilliant bass, that it's the best in the world, and will buy one if they discover an oil well in their back garden, yet this 99% of people will never see it other than in images, will never talk to someone who as seen one, let alone played one. All we have is the opinions of a privileged few who have played one, magazines that have had a couple of hours on it and have a vested interest in keeping manufacturers happy, and Foderas own reviews. Almost all other basses have had countless reviews, opinions, debates etc about them, and these by people who own them. They are real basses that all of us have seen and played, heard on radio etc. Just because a few hundred people on the planet have played this means nothing to me...gimme facts and real users opinions.

Amen to that brother.....for the sake of a few more quid spent on quality components and attention to detail in the production process, they would be investing in that priceless commodity to a company...recommendations, and return business, something they will never see from me again..

Well said Skank...... That review is vague and open ended bollocks, with no specific facts, just very arty and journalistic wafflings and personal opinions in an attempt to show off the authors word skills. All that is missing from that nonesense is the authors name..... that Irish chap.....F. O'Dera

Hi Bumnote, and thanks for the advice. Mine is the one where you have it on a strap, and the small lead plugs from that to the bass. I will get it fixed, but it is a reall cheezer when Stage Clix take the money off you for inferior kit, and then go missing when you need them. Thanks again....I will let you know how I get on

About a year ago I bought a Stage Clix radio system for £399, and It is so unreliable, I won't use it at gigs. The battery/sender unit had to be changed after the first month as it was not holding a charge. The 9 volt mains adaptor will just randomly die, cutting the power to the radio receiver unit which in turn means your bass dies mid song. The small lead between the battery/ sender unit and the bass crackles unbelievably every time you touch it, which is pretty often as it is attached to you. And finally, the storage case fell apart after a few weeks as it is made of the cheapest plastic ever. Trying to get in touch with Stage Clix is impossible as they never respond to calls or messages, so the warranty is completely pointless. It was great when it worked, but I have completely lost faith in it now. All of the above faults can be put right by me, and at my cost, but of the 7 parts that make the device up...including the case, 4 of them have failed. So.....be carefully if you are looking for a radio system, buy some UK made kit. At least if it goes wrong, they might take an interest in replacing or repairing it...

Sorry.....that last post of mine.... the song is called ' 99 problems with Buddy Holly'. .....

Three corkers from me.... 'Elecryfyin' by Spoiler..... A super chunky version of 'Your the one that I want,' from the film Grease. ' Sunshine of your love' by Spanky Wilson, and finally ' I got 99 problems but the bitch aint one'.....a Wheezer mash up of 'Just like Buddy Holly'. Check em out folks...

Well put Happy Jack... If some people want to use a sledgehammer to crack a walnut, let em get on with it. Their money, their choice...

Why thank you Skank......

I understand exactly what you are saying Uncle P, but to me, it is absolutely about being practical, and 'the sound' a bass creates. Unless I had a pretty tidy bank balance, I would always put function before design, and being fit for purpose in front of exclusivity. I still maintain a bass is at its best in with a 3 or 4 piece band, where it is responsible for most of the sound an audience is hearing and feeling. Of course the Fodera could do this brilliantly well, but is it worth an extra £10000 to do this, when more often than not, you would be the only one in the room who knows how exclusive your bass is. It's a case of diminishing returns, where at some point the extra loot is making minute differences to the sound and build quality of the instrument as it reaches saturation point.

All I am trying to say, is when you buy certain musical instruments, unless you play for your own pleasure, it usually means involving other instruments, amps PA's etc for it to do its job. An expensive watch, a vintage bottle of wine, a super car, an ocean going yatch or even a private aircraft are all stand alone, and can be used or enjoyed independently from other watches, cars, yatchs etc. With a lot of musical instruments, and particularly the bass, they have to rely on other instruments and players for them to sound their best. Once you introduce these other 'elements' to get the best out of your bass, can be where control is lost in how it sounds to an audience. Its like being the strongest link in an unpredictable chain. I am certain the Fodera sound wonderful, and streaks ahead of most £1000ish basses, if you were just testing bass against bass, but add a few more musicians to the mix, and wind it up to gig volume levels,and that margin would soon shrink, not because of the bass, but because of everything else going on round it.

. After you get your new wonder bass, do you then have to upgrade your amp and cab. No good putting aa £11000 bass through a Laney combo. Then are you going to find a new band, where all their gear is as good as yours....don't want to lose all that quality in a mess of lesser instruments. Then there is the PA.... That will have to be pretty good to show off the full potential of the bass. Also, make sure you have a top notch engineer... You cant mix something like that without a bit of expertise... you don't want it sounding like a run of the mill Fender. What about boomy stages, funny shaped rooms, and stuff that changes the sound you want that you have no control over. Then there is living in the fear of theft or damage. These mega basses sound great on there own, but once you introduce all the other countless things that make up a band, and the things that make a bands sound, your £11000 investment won't sound too different to instruments at a fraction of that cost. I use a Yamaha Bb2024....cost £1400 new... Not everyone's cup of tea, but It's a great bass that can take a few knocks, built like a tank, and out Fenders most new build Fenders in terms of sound. If you have the cash or desire...why not buy a super bass,, but don't forget that it won't sound like it did in the shop when you start gigging it. .

Oops that shouldn't have happened...

Pretty new bassist and my first gig as a bassist. Any advice for a new gigging bassist?