ped

Yamaha TRB I think

It does lend itself to that sound very nicely - I use wimpy thin strings too so all in all it is quite effortless to play. I like it so that when you dig in, it sounds almost like a slap. hard to describe. I normally play with a light touch so any variation in plucking technique is amplified massively, and of course, mistakes really stand out and make me look even more of a bender than usual. Cheers ped

Personally, 4. I normally drop my E to D and this sounds much better on a 4 than playing a 5er to D.

I love this sound. I have my action extremely low and no relief in my neck so that when I dig in I get a bit of 'clack'. My sound otherwise is quite smooth and a bit of clack really helps define the bottom end. Watch my 'demo' video on my websh*te (link in sig) for my interpretation of the sound. I don't like basses with higher action because I find them harder to play and I can't get that sound if I dig in, it just goes 'buh' Cheers! ped

Hehe you know what - I listened to it on my laptop and didn't realise there was bass in it because of these speakers!! I will have another listen later!! ped

I like it too mate, sounds great. You should still be able to pan yourself in Mono, but stereo will give your reverbs and so on a bit of room to breathe, but not really any need most of the time. Nice tune though man, really good. ped

Hi Bob - would be very interested to see some pics of the home build. We have quite a few DIY enthusiasts here, too. Have a look in the 'Build Diary' forum. Cheers ped

I was just about to say the same, or Robbie at RIM; I remember him talking about sourcing some rods for himself. Cheers ped

How bad exactly is the brassware? Is it not something you could do with some brasso and cotton tipped buds etc? I use 'Peek' metal cleaner on my fretless bass neck (brass/zinc mix) and it comes up beautifully. Cheers ped

Used to use Elites Player series strings but now sold on Elixirs - current set over a year old and sound new when compared to a brand new set of Elites ( a little test I did a month or so ago to make sure I wasn't deceiving myself!) ped

I have little doubt that the Vigier would be better value for money, but that has a lot to do with the fact they are relatively unknown and probably because they smell of onions. The Ray is expensive for what it is (from a technical point of view) and arguably the price is inflated due to the whole 'vintage' baggage but if it feels that good then you will have to bite the bullet and suck it up just this once. It sounds like you won't regret it and can then sit back and chill with 'the one' whilst you watch people go crazy buying and trading basses. It's a lovely place to be, believe me! Actually Hamster said it better!