Dood

Well, firstly it's not the MUSIC Business, it's the music BUSINESS and therefore it's about making money, thus what is marketable. I guess the music equivalent of Godwin's Law is mentioning the X-Factor machine - and unfortunately that is a great example of marketability.

Have a break, have a Kit-Kat.

I'm not sure about the newest models but the '16's can only do two pickup 'jazz' or NG2 config. You'd need to rout to do a 3x conversion. Maybe the later models have a bigger cut out, I've not seen.

The forearm cutaway is worth on it's own!

Awww! Cool! I hope they were helpful - and if not, ask away, I'll do what I can to make your selection easier.. quick tip.. underneath the pick guard for the NG2 and Combustion (standard models) there's routs for both configurations. I.e., I could turn my 'standard' in to an NG2 pickup option should I fancy it.

I have an AB1 and a Combustion. They both certainly have their plus points as you mention. I actually went for the non-Nolly version Combustion as I prefer a more 'jazz' tone I suppose. The neck profiles are a little different on each, so that might sway you - as is also the fretboard radius. Everything else is great at each price point and even if it wasn't, pickups and preamps can be swapped out for other Dingwall hardware. You won't be upset with either, but the AB1 really is a great, great piece of kit!

You can buy direct yes. Bergantino are also very much looking at ways to get them in to the UK, so certainly aren't forgetting about everyone else round the world - so hopefully there will be some news on that soon. Having experience with the B|Amp, knowing what I know now, yes I would most certainly import. I am a fan! I've not tried the Forte yet, but I would love to get one in to the magazine for a full video review.

You've actually answered your own question, it is indeed a 57 Reissue - often known as a PB57- with a number after such as 70 or 85 which suggested the retail price at the time in Yen, e.g 70,000 or 85,000 - the higher price models getting the better specifications.

Yes, which for me is great news as I too have not had an EMG fail ever, but this is very good news as it has taken two respected Luthiers to attempt to order some pickups for a project and as yet neither have had any confirmation of order, so I (and they) gave up. It's almost as if they don't want to sell any pickups!

Oh, here's the string tension app for selecting and balancing the gauges of your strings: http://stringtensionpro.com

Had you been doing this on a guitar then I would have just pointed you to these: http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/bass-guitar-c34/daddario-exl156-nickel-fender-bass-vi-strings-24-84-p699

D'addario certainly do! There's a wound 25 or you could go for either a plain 20 or a plain 18. I'd have to check abasing D'Addario's tension guide to choose the correct string for the job, or maybe @daddariouk will be along shortly to advise for your scale length!

Do say hi from me. I must catch up with my last email with him!

Great to see Gillett Guitars being represented officially on BassChat. About 6, maybe 7 years ago Michael himself posted on BassChat to discuss the new product line and I just had to reach out to him to talk more. We've stayed in touch as much as possible and I feel honoured that I was able to be instrumental in aiding the design of the original range. Certainly very touched when Michael reached out to me as he did with other bassists who are highly regarded to discuss his basses and what players were looking for in an instrument. In case you missed it on TV, Michael has been on Dragon's Den with his instruments as well which I think was superb! I have a lot of time for Michael, I think he's a really nice guy and I want to see him and his basses progress.

Hi, sorry for the slow response, been so busy in the studio, but I will do my best to reply properly later. Apologies chap.

Same here. All of my 'best bass tones' as commented on by engineers have never had cabinet or amp sims on, even when I am using drive effects. So yes, my last pedal board pre-helix (everything mounted on a bit of Ikea shelf, yeah I rock ha ha) had a mini DI on it and I split the signal direct to XLR for the PA and should I have had an amp on stage the 1/4" went straight to that. I took the direct signal from the PA and ran it back with my own mix to IEMs. I like the 'immediacy' I suppose of being plugged in direct. If that makes sense? Also meant that the EQ and compression on the desk sorted out the FOH tone, saved, set and pretty much forget.

I think I'll come at this from a different angle. Pro Steels are definitely one of the brightest sets of strings out there. Now, I used to think that strings didn't stay bright for me for very long, but it wasn't the fault of the strings. My hand sweat etc killed strings after long gigs under hot lights etc. For a while when we were busy I was changing strings nearly every gig! So, rather than looking for even brighter strings, maybe look at ways of stopping these from going dead so quickly. If you can handle a 'little less bright' then you should absolutely give coated strings a go. D'Addario do their own non-tacky strings that will try to keep the sweat out of the windings. They will sound more consistent for longer. The other thing you can do of course is to keep your hands dry between songs. Wipe down the strings if you need to as well. I don't know if you can still get it, but I used to use a rub in sport 'grip' powder throughout the hottest of summer gigs which really helped to keep not only my fingers dry but also my palms too. I used to leave gigs absolutely drenched back then, but I needed up saving my strings; they stayed bright longer. - I'm a lot less animated these days ha ha. Anyway, just a few thoughts and you never know if you find a solution, you'll change strings less and that will save you money in the long run!

Look up Rick Beato on YouTube and his son Dylan. Irrefutable I think that music has a massive effect on us, even under the age of two years old.

Laughably, I've had the Helix a while and I've just not had the time I would have liked to have spent tweaking, but, the Pearce Preamp is very very good and will probably at some point take over the pedal. That said, I really like the simplicity of the pedal there too. It feels a bit like when I used to be a guitar shredder and have a two channel amp behind me ha! It's a bit of a 'core tone' thing for me in conjunction with the HyperGravity just above it. If I continue that route, so I have a 'core tone always on' thing, I'll probably drop an EQ in there. Not because I need to, but you know... that's more pretty lights, isn't it lol !!!! I think with some tweaking the Pearce Preamp is going to be a killer, but for now, EBS stays. It is my favourite distortion pedal. Dan

I know! the OCD I don't have is going crazy right now!!!!!

Seen out in the wild this weekend... (Not quite finished setting up yet but enough to be safe 'on the road')