Dood

I still do too! My Shuker Guitars custom 7 string is indeed tuned that way! It has clocked up over ten years of service and still going strong. Yes! Though you are absolutely up against physics and some technical thinking is required to get the best out of these very low tunings. Only recently I was "chatting" to someone in a Facebook thread who wanted me to believe that their speaker cabinets (described in the thread) were easily capable of producing the fundamental frequencies of the low B string at a volume equal to the rest of the frequency range. I didn't respond to the comment but I did go in to great detail why that wouldn't be such a good idea on stage anyway. So, here's the thing - very few speaker cabinets (for bass) can even get anywhere near those fundamentals - speakers will just flap about wasting energy (as heat instead) with no real volume, clarity or.. point. So onstage, I get rid of all the sub frequencies - the 1st and second harmonics and the equivalent note over tones are where the volume is. You still "hear" the note as being that low, but you rely on overtones (that are contained within the note) to get the quality, timbre and volume. So, an HPF on my cabinets. I don't use speaker simulations in my signal path so, it's an EQ'd DI straight out to front of house which is left to do all the heavy lifting. My usual gig this year has included a great PA with big subs and that would have done a great job of dealing with the full breadth of sound that this bass can deal out. (it was designed especially for the job rather than just strapping low strings on any ole bass to see what happens.) Finally FOH, well, to sit in the mix the sound gets tweaked some more, but the net effect is some really nice low frequencies that don't boom but provide depth. The low string isn't about being louder or bassier than anyone else, just like my keyboard players left hand piano register. See above. Yes, when done badly, low tunings sound ghastly, mushy, incoherent and not at all adding anything to the overall sound. Done well, it's no different from hearing a piano player "go low".

Good lord, how did I miss this thread. Beautiful P basses!

Positive Grid’s modelling software is insanely good. I use it every day in my studio. I expect Spark to be a cool addition to the product line!

Thank you for the picture too! I spent many years with the Hartke 4.5XL cabinets too. I do love them things, even if they didn't help me with a Hernia!!!!

As you have the amplifier side of things sorted already, the BB2 as the solution you require is going to be pretty hard to beat.

He he! Though I reckon these basses are amongst Fender’s finest. Both of mine are absolutely lovely.

Thank you for the tag! Yes I have a pair of these! I will post some pictures! (Re:burgundy mist) if you want drop in like for like tuners, the Gotoh FB30 is the same. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the stock keys were Gotoh OEMs back in the late 80’s. I prefer them actually, as the longer key “stalks” seem to suit the bass.

Frankly, I think everyone should now send you pedals and you could turn this in to a super blog Great work chap! Do more! It will be really useful!

Once again, thank you all. I really appreciate it. I'm going to take screen shots from here and post them on my Facebook, thank you so very much and I'll have some news for you all soon! Dan x

Actually whilst on the subject, I am going to selfishly talk all about myself. Back in 2004(?-ish) I had planned my first custom build with Jon Shuker. We already knew that I wanted to add a ramp and why. The thing is, I could already see that the vast majority of after market ramps were simply not up to the job. This is pretty obvious actually as there's only so much you can do with a bass that you don't want to gouge holes in. As much as possible I wanted my ramp to be invisible - at least colour matched to the top of the instrument. Then, we hatched our plan. What if I didn't need it? Well, it needs to be able to be dropped in to the bass out of the way. What if I needed to change the height or the angle it sits at? Well that was planned in to the design too. Four specially sourced springs, one in each corner allows the ramp to drop in to the bass, but they are stiff enough that I could be pretty brutal with the ramp and it won't move whilst I am playing. It is of course radiused to match the curve of my bass fretboard and it sits in my playing sweet spot between my two EMG soapbars. Both of my Shuker's have the same ramp design and if I ever have another, well so will it too. The design is now Jon's standard ramp design but of course @MacDaddy's example is just a beautiful example of how far you can go with it and I would love to get my paws back on his basses to experience again. Oh! If you google "ramps", No Treble did a feature and used a picture of my 7 string at the top of the piece! YAY!

He he he!!! Maybe lol No, in seriousness it's just another tool we can use. String mutes help to soften the tone of the bass string, yet many times we can get by with left and and right hand (palm) muting. I've even used great big hair scrunchies on my 7 string when I used to do lots of "8 fingered" tapping back in the day. It's all good. Not an aid to bad technique no more than using different types of sticks when playing drums.

If you can hang in there a bit longer I’ve just reviewed the HD360 30th Anniversary (HD350) and the 502 with the same bass and EBS cabinet. Reviews will be live in the next couple of months I guess.

I had a Gerald Veasley 6 string. It wasn't really the name on the bass I was interested in, though Gerald, not only a great player, but a super friendly guy to talk to, helped me make my selection; It was actually the 14mm spacing that was absolutely brilliant fun.

All I can say is: Woohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! 🤩 Whoever created this went to a lot of effort!

I think the Steve Harris Signature Precision Bass is one fo the heaviest I have ever had the misfortune to pick up. Lovely sound, but that solid Maple body makes for a hefty beast. I think they come in at around 11-12lb?

You've got me thinking! I'm not going to go all Bill Clements / Rick Allen on you; although I am massively inspired by both of these guys, not to mention many artists and athletes who have overcome the loss of a limb or control of; I don't want you to stop playing bass though! Is it the movement of your thumb, resting your hand on your thumb, pressure against the thumb which causes pain? Looking at the guitar; playing it gently will cause less discomfort? I would love to understand how. I'm not an occupational therapist by any means, but I reckon there's a way having something made that could attach to the bass that would support your hand and allow you to still pluck the strings? Its a crazy idea and if anyone is reading this with access to a 3D printer, can we get this man back behind his Bass where he belongs! Good luck with the op' and I hope there's a solution out there for you!

Ahhhh yes, I think that counts! I think it works both ways as I absolutely know I need another Shuker. It will be a series 2 and it it will be a headless!

Once again, thank you, I really appreciate this a huge amount! If you have anything to add or if there is anything I am missing from my reviews - or maybe you have suggestions of things I can do or offer, I would love to hear from you!!