ped

I think Gary Willis also took a GK3B apart to get rid of the ends he didn't need https://garywillis.com/ask-willis-gk-3b-minimized/

I had someone personally inspect my replacement set and they were rusty too. I quite liked them but found as they aged they sounded a bit harsh, I liked them fresh though.

The Roland system isn't MIDI (thank god) and I think it's the best thing out there now. I've been using it for so long now that I've got perfect* additional sounds of a Jazz, P, MM, and a whole lot besides all on my main bass. In the mix, and even solid at home when practicing, I'm more than happy with them when A/Bing against the instruments themselves which I have since sold, most of them the best examples of their breeds. But then it does take a lot of know how and a steep learning curve, but once set it's purely plug and play. By the way you can even move virtual pickups around and 'design your own' bass, so anything is possible.

Ah ok. What two devices are you using? I’ve always been tempted with a Godin A4 SA but haven’t seen a fretless one which would be my preference

What splitter?

Actually maybe not, 16mm might be the minimum.See page 8 http://midimanuals.com/manuals/roland/gk-3b/owners_manual/gk-3b_om.pdf

The GK pickup uses bar shaped magnets so it will cope with any spacing I think.. there are tabs to switch to change the magnet placement a little but I think it would be OK. if not you could use piezo saddles.

Yes I think it would be per patch but quite easy to set up once you know how, and you can probably cut and paste the setting to make it a standard patch to then adjust further. Good luck with Roland, they told me there would be absolutely no way tat the Wingbass would work with a GK pickup. I knew it would, because after all the VB99 thinks I'm just fretting a normal bass above the 12th fret, but it seems that anyone who was involved with the VB99 doesn't work there any more! The Vguitar forums are great though, although sometimes I feel like I'm being drawn down a rabbit hole. The fact that I've never tried making a two string synth and the rest clean just shows how massively flexible this unit can be - I've had mine probably 10 years now (about 20 if you could the previous model too) and I'm still finding new things to try and know that if I can hear a sound in my head, I can basically make it one way or another.

Just to confirm, I just created a patch for my five string wingbass with a synth on the B and E and clean on the ADG strings so that works fine. Also worth noting that you can dynamically shift between the two (VB99 has two) 'instruments' on each patch, so for example I have one set up clean but when I dig in I get a synth. It takes a lot of adjusting to get right but can be a good way to achieve what you are after (I think) too.

I think so yes - for example if I choose the Vigier setting and plug in my Wingbass it still works but affects the way things sound, or the way the unit perceives the signal, to a degree. All you then do is set the direction of the pickup and how many strings you want to process (and if using on a five string, is the fifth string at the top or bottom of the pickup). Next you dial in the distance of each bridge point to the pickup, then adjust the sensitivity. If I plug in my Vigier I can tune the bass however I like and it doesn't make any difference beyond the difference you'd get plugging into anything else. That's the genius of the unit IMO; it does so much but you end up taking it for granted because it's so easy to use in terms of 'playability' - once you've set it up it's as easy as plugging into any multi effect. No latency or anything like that.

I'm using a GK3B on my mini half scale bass and it works fine - I don't think you need to worry about what note the unit is expecting because it'll work with whatever you give it - downturning etc is done manually from whatever pitch you put in, if you see what I mean.

You can get a breakout box here to send each string to a separate output https://www.separate-strings.co.uk Not sure re the multiple instruments with strings muted but I’ll try it and let you know.

Yes, I was referring to Bassjapandirect

I’ve just gone from loads back to one and I have no intention to go back up again! Although I could do with a fretless, and maybe a five string with a six string too, and a backup for my actual bass... 🤦🏻‍♂️

Mine’s a Fender made version which I think Scott licensed at some point (unless they ripped him off?) The internals aren’t as advanced but it seems to hold everything securely. I’ll only have one bass soon so not really sure why I have it still.

Amazing! I’ve got a 3 bass case and it’s superb, and takes up much less room than a bass rack. Love this idea.. imagine if it clipped to the bass case 😂

Get yourself tested

I think it should be the new normal

That’s Feiten’ talk 🤜

The Roland VB99 (and I think GR55) has an advanced version of the Boss effect which tracks and processes each string separately, you can even pan them and apply separate reverbs and eq to each. I’ve got a fretless patch set up with the on-board bass assignable knob for varying the high cut which goves a great variety of sounds. Weirdly because it sounds so good I start playing like I’m on a fretless, too.

But what they do have is an irritating TV advert with an instantly dislikable man gushing over how he is 'literally living on teams' as if that's going to convince anyone

Be careful with the 'free shipping' bit because there's always duty to pay. In the past I have a feeling Japan Direct have undervalued items in order to avoid taxes which is risky at best. I've had two Bacchus basses that I imported myself from Japan. With wonderful. The Jazz had no forearm cutaway so was a bit uncomfortable to play seated but the TwentyFour I had next was just sublime in every way. It had the 'Smith' sound in spades and was just great to play. I sold both when I rationalised my collection down to four strings, then one four string. I have some recordings made with both basses I'll dig out. Cheers ped

Yeah bit weird, my computer is a 2012 model though but the camera is 720p and fine in Zoom/Hangouts.