Woodinblack

One of the rare songs in Locrian mode, the mode people say you don't write songs in!

Depends I guess - I have done over 100 gigs using the jack out on my iPad without issues.

I would say Jimi Hendrix - endorsed more stuff since he was dead!

I had a carlsbro stingray and it was awesome. Reverb, overdrive and a Suzz control, what more did you need??

Well, surprisingly enough, even the iPhones will work here. Get yourself an apple camera connection kit (a plug from USB to lightning) and most of the synths will work on it, just as well. If you have an iPhone with headphones, run that to line out and you would be impressed. Obviously it is a bit smaller and harder to see!

Well, there are plugins for windows. I have windows PCs but don't use any of them for music so I can't really say, I am sure others will chime in with what they use. No iPad lurking around?

Depends on what laptop - i am a Mac User, my laptop plugins are expensive (I use equator 2) but the iPad stuff is pretty cheap and very powerful. Latency isn't a problem on keyboards in most situations. To be honest you can get more range with software plugins, although sometimes it is just nice to have a standalone device. Yes, absolute have a good range of stuff.

It is a way to go, there are many good synth plugins.

Indeed. Inadequate volute, but can't replace it with a different style because people didn't like the look.

I do like zooms manifold effect

I am sure there are gibsons with neck breaks - I think it is par for the course for early gibsons to have those, I doubt the basses fared better as it wasn't the neck that was an issue itself.

Did a wedding at the weekend. Arrived, took a while to find someone who could tell where we were setting up. It was a really tiny stage area, that already had some huge speakers in. Started moving those, then the DJ who owned them turned up.. oops. He was ok though. Managed to cram in there. First half bad choice of songs near the start so the crowd weren't really with us. In the second half we threw out everythign that wasn't ska or party, and it went down a storm. Also started that half with a song we had learned for a first dance, but they had the first dance to the DJ, so by the time of the second first dance, loads of alcohol had gone through and they were more up for it anyway. So all went ok, and they were all happy in the end, so double the money, half the time, what is not to like!

I can think of a few tracks where bit crushers are used well, mostly it has to be said on industrial music, where it probably came from some broken digital effect in the first place (most effects came from some fault to start with!).

I use delay - there is nothing about it that takes the rhythm away from the bass, if anything it enhances it. The delay is fixed, you know when the repeat is coming back so you are doubling your notes. Take this for instance, Pneuma by tool, which if I linked correctly is at 1:12, when the bass comes in with a slapback echo, so it is one single echo at a fixed time, and the band is sync'd to that Or something more old school like Pink Floyd Where the bass is thickened up and runs entirely with a lot of echo. I use it in a couple of songs, whole lotta love in the bit where the guitarist is doing something - me and the drummer do a section on a low e, then low e, higher e before going into the bass solo part (yes, there is a bass solo part in ours), at which point I kill the echo.

Umm.. ok.. we are going for absurd are we? Right, I will bow out, sorry for suggesting that a bolt on neck was something other than a financial decision for mr fender and shimming a neck is just a normal adjustment for a perfectly fine instrument.

The ability to shim the neck is surely there to correct a problem in the build of that instrument? Are there any other instruments with a bolt on neck? Most acoustic guitars don't have them. There aren't many bolt on gibson guitars, but I don't recall that ever being much of an issue? And anyway, Mr Fender when thinking about making a bolt on neck was not thinking of strength, or customisation of a players experience, he was thinking about economy. I am not in any way saying that it is a bad thing, just that it was 100% designed as a budget thing. And that is how I see it. I would also say my favourite bass I have is a bolt on - again, not due to sound or sustain or convenience or budget or the ability to shim, just because I like the bass.

Why is that relevant - any joint where you double the size of the object is probably going to be strong - you could put another joint half way down the neck and it would have no problem with strength, it would just be bad as a design. Literally the point of a bolt on neck was economy, it is handy, it lets you swap necks, it means you can produce them in different places, it lets you use more automation, it makes storage cheaper and it lets you replace if things are broken. There are lots of things that are great about it, but it is a design based entirely on economy rather than strength.

We used to have one of those as a company vehicle to move demo equipment round. It was good and really secure as you could leave stuff in it - noone would assumed if you owned anything of value you would be driving a multipla!

I like it more literal. Offer something for £400: Whats your best price? My best price is about £800, but I am willing to take £400

A bolt on neck always seems a bit of a budget thing to me but TBH, I haven't really ever noticed too much issue playing at the top end. As most bolt ons are fender style they tend to not go up that many frets anyway. I feel a neck through is nicer to play, but that doesn't mean it gets played any better. And I have never had sound issues with bolt on or neck through, for me it is a fingerboard / tonewood style microdifference that I wouldn't notice anyway.

She does, although so did Rocky, the previous singer.

Some very nice basses. Going through bass direct is an option if you want something general (or here, there are quite a few that pass through our marketplace), but one of the advantages they have is that they can do whatever you want. As you are at the beginning of the thread you will still be at the point where the only way to get one was to contact them and ask, wheras a few years back the configurator came out, and you could then automatically pick what you want, but there are still limits. Mine for instance was configured the old way, which gives you options you cant get otherwise, such as the neck on mine, flamed maple with ebony and I specified the width at both ends and the thickness to be an exact match to my #1 ibanez neck. And it is. Blind you can't tell the difference (except the ibanez neck is actually a bit rougher due to the woods). Its also chambered for weight reduction with a 3+2 headstock, which at the time didn't exist as an actual model, although it is now close to an Elwood L24.

Obviously its is easy to know something is there once you have been around a bit! It should take you a while to get through. The long and short is they make fantastic basses in pretty much every combination you could want, and options that are hard to get anywhere else. The quality is mostly superb except maybe for screws and fittings, 90% of the time everything will be perfect, if it isn't they will fix it for you mostly but mr Maruszczyk can come over as a bit harsh. If you specify something, specify everything, don't make assumptions about what would be obvious, as it might not be! I have a Maruszczyk, I love it, one of my favourite basses. However, I have had broken screws and mine also lacks string retainers which means I have to be really careful stringing it to avoid buzz. but honestly, I should just buy some string retainers!

Well, if want in depth opinions and the true collective experience, the best place to look is the 128 page Maruszczyk thread. That should keep you busy for a while.

Here is the leon before sticking stuff in it As you said, the seats aren't entirely flat, but as soon as you put the PA on them they go fairly flat! So that is everything in my list up there, plus the bass bin