Painy

Just stumbled across this thread and I think I want one! The paint job looks very cool too. Does it come with a free pair of metallic purple spandex trousers and a single earring with a cross hanging off it ?

[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1472332007' post='3120453'] How are you going to make your trousers flap Karl? Will you have a roadie with a reel of fishing line helping you out? [/quote] The approved method is actually to attach one end of a piece of string to your belt and then tie the other end to a live haddock which should then be lowered down the inside of your trouser leg to just below the knee. As the haddock flaps about it will naturally cause your trousers to also flap sympathetically. To accurately reproduce the specific trouser flap of an all tube amp through a fridge, this should ideally be an organically reared, line caught haddock (obviously).

I like having my amp behind me on stage, especially as I only bought it because it's very pretty and has nice blue lights on the front. Fortunately it also sounds rather lovely too but there are places I've played where the load in has got me thinking about IEMs.

[quote name='doomed' timestamp='1472307217' post='3120229'] [URL=http://s264.photobucket.com/user/timev/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160827_150429_zpsaaz7hrxl.jpg.html][IMG]http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii166/timev/Mobile%20Uploads/20160827_150429_zpsaaz7hrxl.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [/quote] I'm sure it sounds nice and everything but is it loud enough?....

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1472305896' post='3120213'] 20dB eh? So you pull up the knob and your bass suddenly gets ten times louder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel Yup, makes perfect sense to me. [/quote] I have a Joyo Roll Boost pedal that gives up to 35dB clean boost but that's designed to be be used with a 6 string to drive the front end tubes of a valve amp (which is obviously then 'compressed' back down in volume terms by the distortion it creates). As a clean boost on bass for passages where the bass needs to stand out more, I have it barely on - I'd guess maybe 1-2dB - so 20dB does seem a tad much. Either way that's a stunning bass though ped - congrats .

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1472295626' post='3120116'] Flats and rounds of the same gauge by the same manufacturer are pretty similar tension wise. It's the construction of the flatwound which gives it less flexibility hence this idea about flats having more tension. [/quote] To be fair I use the term tension only because - if you can't beat them, join them. If you prefer, then I'm liking the slight reduction in compliance / the increased stiffness .

Right. So after looking into the SIT Silencers (pressure wound nickels) as recommended by fleabag , I decided to give them a try. Really glad I did because they've answered 2 questions for me. First of all, the E string was dead straight out of the packet. Now it's not put me off as its one of those things that I've had happen on the odd rare occasion with pretty much every brand I've used so far and it actually proved handy in a way this time. The dead string actually just sounded like a flatwound and it's shown me that it's probably not the sound I'm looking for after all - I really do miss the overtones too much I'm afraid. Secondly, The good news though is the rest of the strings sounded amazing and in fact I think these could be the strings for me. They feel great on the fingers and I'm actually really liking the slight increase in tension (just a quarter turn of the trussrod needed). They do have the metallic zing of rounds but it's a clear, rich zing rather than the harsher, piercing zing I was getting from the prosteels (if that makes any sense). As for the dead string I've got to hand it to Bass Direct for their customer service. I phoned to say I'd had a dead string. Mark then contacted the UK distributor for me who have sent out a full replacement set straight away and free of charge - can't really argue with that for service.

So I guess it goes something like: Heft Punch Growl Clank Zing Oomph I'd imagine to just be a kind of hefty punch (or possibly a punchy heft). It's that fretless Mmmwah that confuses me....

So which one is growl then?

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1472076062' post='3118400'] Repair [i]and [/i]relicing, that's good service! [/quote]

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1472039951' post='3117906'] For this failure case the normal solution is the AA/RAC/Greenflag. [/quote] That gives me an idea. Maybe we should start a Basschat "Gig Assistance Service" (see what I did there ) for people who can't take a spare bass with them to their gig. If a string breaks then we'll come and replace it. If an electrical connection goes then we'll resolder it. If for any reason we're unable to repair your bass there at the gig then we'll tow it to the nearest garage. I might need to give the last point a bit more thought...

Well if you don't mind slumming it with a Squier there's a Mike Dirnt in Swaffham on one of the facebook selling pages .

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1471990832' post='3117567'] I actually like them! A bit rough but sound great. It's my go-to string for new (to me) basses that I am not sure I'll keep, as they're pretty cheap. [/quote] To be fair I bought them heavily discounted from Sound Control (as was) as they'd had them hanging around on the shelf for literally years so I'm guessing they may have been some way past their best by the time they went on my my bass.

Only time I tried this was a set of Warwick red labels on my Corvette. Unfortunately the red label strings were completely poo.

After a quick Google Search it's not too different (although clearly not quite the same) from this Washburn XB102. Of course it could just be what made me think of Washburn though rather than actually being anything to do with the bass in the pic.

The body has something about it that makes me think maybe Washburn but just a vague thought.

I had a Bart mk1 pups and pre loaded Cort A6 which like you I loved to play but I wanted a bit more depth and weight in the lows. I was planning to change to an Aguilar OB3 pre-amp but ended up selling the bass to go back to playing 5 strings. I believe Aguilar also do a soapbar pup which is a straight drop in for the Bart units.

Just been looking at these SIT Silencers and it seems they're actually pressure wound rather than true flats which sounds like it could be a good compromise for me. Found a YouTube video demoing the GHS pressure wounds and they sounded really nice but I've no idea how representative they'd be of pressure wounds generally. Any thoughts or input from anyone on pressure wound strings as an option?

[quote name='fleabag' timestamp='1471818831' post='3116188'] SIT Silencers are quite magical. I've used them on Fretted & Fretless both They dont sound much like the dull ' dompf ' of a regular old school flat. Quite punchy in fact but they're amazingly easy under the fingers http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/SIT_strings.html [/quote] They look interesting. Good price too. I've not come across SIT strings before. Are they some kind of Bass Direct exclusive or house brand?

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1471802117' post='3116005'] I wouldn't risk it to be honest.... it's just too dangerous... [/quote]

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1471730400' post='3115474'] Leave some Cat litter in a stocking inside the case for a few days.... [/quote] It may be worth mentioning that this should be fresh, unused cat litter as used litter may actually exacerbate the original problem.

[quote name='Shaggy' timestamp='1471760820' post='3115554'] we were musicians [/quote] Well all of you apart from the drummer obviously .

Managed to find this online. It's pretty terrible but somehow I still find it less disturbing than the Prince - Lovesexy album cover.

Thanks all. My original thought of the Chromes do sound appealing as I generally prefer higher tension strings anyway. I did figure a truss rod tweek would be fairly likely anyway but that could equally happen changing between different brands of rounds anyway. Might be worth a look in the market place for used strings too from the sound of it - even if I pick up a 4 string set and have to buy the single low B new (unless they're TIs - in which case I'll just PM dannybuoy ).

Now I've always aimed for the brightest, zingiest , new roundwound sound possible but then I'd never been a Precision fan until very recently. My P has now become my number 1 gigging bass though and I'm loving the deep round lows and mid-range growl. However, it doesn't really produce the zing I've always aimed for and yet I'm still loving the tone anyway. So now I'm wondering if I can make do without that bright new rounds sound and take advantage of the longevity and smooth feel of flats but I'm still a bit worried I'll miss some of the harmonics and overtones. Add the fact I only play five string basses and the additional cost that adds to a set and it feels like a bit of a gamble. Should I go for it and what strings to try if I do (first thoughts were D'Addario Chromes to retain as much brightness as possible and also EB Cobalts have been mentioned on here recently)?