NancyJohnson

It looks a bit shiny on a 40 year old bass, it'll calm down a bit.

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1505211221' post='3370204'] Cool, been wondering about these myself since the BAII became impossible to get any more. I like the idea of the Brass saddles, which, correct me if I'm wrong, also offer sideways movement so you can adjust the string spacing? [/quote] Each saddle has a groove that carries an insert that the string rides on. There is a few millimetres sideways movement; there's a little hex grub-screw at the front of the saddle that you slacken off, adjust the insert, then re-tighten. Mine were set centrally on delivery, didn't need any adjustment.

Some of you may know a few years back I landed a very old Aria Pro II Primary bass...it was in a very poorly state. Over the years, I've done some patching up to bring it up to speed, but the bridge (a stock Fender bent tin unit with the knurled saddles) has been failing recently; the grub screws don't hold the saddle height and at a gig on Friday, one of them fell out. I ordered a Hipshot Kickass from BAss Direct yesterday and it arrived today and is fitted. It's pretty much a BadAss II clone, kind of updated with the rough edges removed. Brass saddles. Took about 15 minutes to install, another 15 to intonate and set the action and we're in business. The E -string saddle wouldn't go back far enough, but you get shorter saddle screws in the kit. It's really very nice and feels a whole lot more sturdy for starters. I'm a fairly heavy player and it's nice that the saddles aren't prone to movement. Notes actually sound fuller, more solid. Sound investment in my book.

Ordered a Hipshot KickAss bridge from them yesterday. It arrived today. Not good enough! Terrible service.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1505148446' post='3369815'] IME exotic woods might look nice (if you like that kind of thing) but they don't really add anything else to the bass. Same with fancy electronics, which unless you are Wal or ACG and are specifying your very own custom circuits are just some off the peg pickups and pre-amp shoe-horned into the instrument. AFAICS Mike Lull makes the best new Thunderbirds you can buy, while Gibson continues to drop the ball when it comes to bass guitars. [/quote] It's going to be covered in paint, so the exotic wood thing doesn't make much difference. I've never really bought into this argument that different woods sound better, plus in a blind test would anyone really be able to hear the differences between mahogany, alder, maple etc? Probably not. Years ago, I remember playing a Les Paul at a jam and the guitarist asked how I got 'that sound', I just handed it over and without the slightest tweak he sounded completely different. He never ever sounded like me, despite wanting to. Sound/tone comes as much from your hands as much as the pickups and guts of the thing.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1505125580' post='3369580'] I'm intrigued too. What's the spec? Rare or exotic woods, or a complex construction? I'm not familiar with this model. [/quote] There's enough about Lull out there...Seattle based, high end builder, array of well known players. To be honest, they were never really on my radar until I saw the Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam) Thunderbird model (JAXT4); I'd been playing Gibson Thunderbirds for about a decade, but the Lull just took the design, made it bigger and bettered it. I'm a big bloke - the JAX has a body size 15-20% bigger than a regular Thunderbird - so it just looks normal on me. It oozes quality and plays like a dream. I saw some photos of Steven Jay Wilson online and he was using the NRT (non-reverse Thunderbird) 5-string shown in the above. It's loosely based on the Gibson Non-Reverse Thunderbird, but again, the body is bigger. It was like someone threw a switch, so I put up the rest of my 'birds up for sale and put in an order. Buildwise it's pretty standard stuff. Mahogany body and (Plek'd/graphite reinforced) mahogany neck...I've asked for an ebony board, but you know, if it comes with a mahogany board it's not a deal-breaker, the JAXT4 is nice enough...it's just looks aesthetically different. Pickups are Lull originals, Hipshot machines.

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1505115543' post='3369490'] I'm looking forward to seeing your bass on here. £4.5k for a bass is quite a fair bit and must be pretty special. Sure it will all go well and you'll be more than happy with it. Dave [/quote] Dave I've ordered the bass on the left below. 100% same spec. When the spec confirmation came through (weeks later), it was wrong...four string, vintage style scratchplate. Considering the money, it was all horribly vague. Now I know what it's like operating a small business; Mark is probably drowning in emails from suppliers, sellers and buyers. The team there have always been very nice when I've needed to speak to them, but maybe it's time for them to take on someone to handle their admin! It doesn't matter whether the bass is £250 or £5,000 you have to know that what you're getting is what you expect to be getting. I'm almost tempted to contact Lull direct prior to shipping to ensure that what they despatch is 100% what I've ordered. It feels awful, but I just have this nagging doubt that something won't be right. Anyhow, I ordered it in the first week of June, it should be here next month. Should. P

Wow, as Kate Bush would say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5z3PEvdrQ8&sns=fb

Here's the next one... http://youtu.be/iZMbZcFCgVE

Never been there, bought my first Lull through BD, which was pretty smooth. I have a custom Lull on order; I've supplied fills specs, photos etc...I covered the specifics of the order with them, paid a 25% deposit, but they didn't confirm the specification for ages and when they did it was pretty much all wrong. I honestly nearly sh*t myself. I did contact Lull direct and they confirmed they're building what I want BUT if there's anything wrong/incorrect, it's going back. I mean, I'm paying nearly £4.5k...I really would have expected better comms, especially as it's a custom build. I'm still not going to be happy (or mad) until I pop the catches on the case.

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1505034132' post='3368925'] They do seem very good, do they actually 'sound' good? [/quote] Now I'm on a PC I can type a bit better. Yep, they sound great (and this isn't a sales pitch!). On occasion, when we've headlined gigs, my backline seems to be the one that gets used by everyone. Nothing but positive comments; they've had every type of bass styling pushed through them, rock, jazz, metal and they don't seem to have issue. I started with a 1x15 and a 4x10; both Hydrives, I really didn't get on with the 15...very scooped mids and it didn't seem to move much air. Stuck with the 4x10 and then added a 2x10 so I could run a dual channel application or daisychain them. (With my sale, you could pick up a 410 and a 210 for quite a bit less than a new 410). The only thing I've needed to so was to put some new wheels on the 4x10. Last year, I won Alex's prototype Barefaced Big One and the 15/6 configuration in one package just suits my tone a little better so the Hartke's are currently surplus to requirement. They're well worth a look. P

They're great cabs. Fairly lightweight, robust. The horn function, while basic, works well to pick up high frequencies. I think the rating is 1000w. I pair mine with the matched 2x10 for different applcations. Both my cabs are on the sale board; I won Barefaced cab last year and that's become my go to enclosure.

It's like this. I do wonder what people are thinking sometimes. A white Hamer Cruisebass is my first choice. It's cheap (£300/zero bids). We'll see. If the neck and headstock are OK, then there's an easy demarcation line to getting the body re-done. I'd really want to preserve the headstock facia. P

I've seen a bass on eBay where someone has painted flowers on the original finish and the clear-coated over it. It's a set neck bass. Would it be possible to rub back the finish to remove the flowers and then clear-coat or is it more a case of stripping it all back and refinishing?

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1504789244' post='3367324'] Hey this looks like an amazing resource, particularly if they are not charging bands, thanks for sharing! Also really like the idea of a grass-roots "Later..." Will they let you have the video recordings for your own use / editing e.g. for use on your band website or is this "their property" and only for use on their YouTube page and you just have to link to their YouTube upload? Btw - really liked your band, too! Did you guys do both recordings in "one take"? [/quote] They've said we're free to share the recordings with whoever we wish, providing we don't edit out the Plasma TV logos/intro etc., which we'd have no intention of doing even if we could. On the music front, both are 100% one take, but Fear has some weirdness going on at the 50 second mark on the video as there's an extra bar there (it may be that we simply cocked up on the day). Thanks for the nice remark! If you like the band, try these: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOFdvxkzop8[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06GOu9JjHDM[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6WMtblfq1k[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCrQ5T-iMJg[/media]

They just posted up another one from the session we did with them. This is the lead track from the EP we recorded at the start of the year. It's up on Spotify as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C98ey-4CQdo&feature=youtu.be

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1504696807' post='3366623'] Much as I love Geddy, I'm fairly sure that it would take more than just replicating his set-up to sound like him... [/quote] I watched a few videos on You Tube with guys gurning their way through various Rush tracks and feel that stuff like the one below might be the holy grail of tone. That said, the none of the basses I've pushed through the unit give anywhere like the tone this guy has. I don't own a Jazz Bass either...anyone in my vicinity who does, it welcome to give it a whirl! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QsdDYKpC0U[/media]

Tech21NYC posted this on Talkbass yesterday. Rather than taking the unit apart and fiddling with the jumpers, it's possible to route the Deep channel into the Effects return on the unit and it will output in blended/mono via the Drive output. I jammed with it last night and have to say it sounds so much better with this wiring configuration that the reverse-ABY method I had it wired with yesterday. [b][size=3][i]"If you want to have the unit set internally to have both channels present at each output contact our support dept. We don't recommend using an ABY box in reverse, as this will compromise the tone and not provide consistent results. If you’d like a “quicker” method for mixing the channels, you can run a short cable from the Deep section’s 1/4” Output, set for 0dB (button pushed in) to the Effect Return with the 50/50 mix engaged (button pushed in). Then run from the Drive section’s 1/4” Output to your amp, and/or the Drive XLR Out to the PA. Start with both Level controls at 12:00. The Drive Level will now serve as a “master volume,” and the Deep Level will allow you to “blend in” the clean signal."[/i][/size][/b]

Well here we are then. Apparently the first in the UK. Picked this up through FX Pedal Rental [url="https://fxpedalrental.com/"]https://fxpedalrental.com/[/url] arrived this morning. I savoured the unboxing and loading the unit into my rack (pics below). First impressions are that it's sturdy and the build quality is great. I feels like it weighs a little more than my outgoing RBI. For test purposes, I've been running a variety of basses through it, trying different wiring configurations. To get one thing straight immediately, the Drive channel sounds very nice in isolation, so (IMO) it's a perfectly adequate solution should you need to utilise the unit in a single channel set up; the Deep channel operates more in a subwoofer capacity, phattening up the overall tone when combines with the Drive channel. (The Deep channel also sounds super nice as well, sounding lovely and clean in isolation with the saturation knob phattening up the tone on rotation.) While I have purchased a micro-ABY pedal to test whether I can route both channels down into a single output feed, for the purpose of this brief sum-up, I attached the unit to a Morley ABY. An external ABY is a far simpler solution than taking the thing apart and arseing about with the internal jumpers. (See edit #1 below.) Tonally, I was honestly expecting to simply plug in a bass and it would just emulate Geddy Lee's tone out of the box, but that's not really the case, so experimentation in a real life scenario in a biggish room will be required for that. I assume that the unit has been built with Jazz basses in mind, but as I don't own one, I'll just need to tweak things with accordingly. I'll be basing things on my Lull JAXT4 as it's the one I'll be sticking through it most of the time. The drive channel is pretty sensitive; whereas with the RBI it was a case of dialling up a 100% Sansamp blend and rolling up the drive to about halfway, this unit seems happy at 50% and drive at about 25% before you get into clippage. The mid/midshift are controls I've never really had previously and obviously they have an effect on the drive, so there'll be experimentation in the coming days. That's it for now. Edits below. [Edit #1] The unit works with a Morley ABY box (not the one I'll be using), so you [u]can[/u] combine both channels externally and route one output into a poweramp. There's a very slight dropoff in volume when the drive and deep channels are combined using this method. As I'll generally be running this into a single Barefaced enclosure, it may be a case of just leaving the ABY Velcro'd inside the rack, so I can rewire easily. [Edit #2] The Lull sounds happier with the mid shirt at about the 5 o'clock position (2-2.5K).

Mine should be here today from FX Pedal Rental. [Edit] I've also ordered a tiny Vein Tap ABY box as well to see whether I can run it into one channel...

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1504454401' post='3364967'] A set of drums, just the 'shells', not the stands, cymbals etc, although cymbals/snare stands [i]would [/i]count if we're talking transportation, because of the weight. The drummer just brings his/her 'breakables', ie: snare drum, cymbals, sticks, pedal... Didn't you learn nuffin' at uni music studies..? [/quote] It's got eve more cliquey for drummers now...I've seen the headline act drummers actually removing their felts from cymbal stands as well.

I know guys who seem to be able to use public transport for gigs, but in general they're reliant on other band's shellpacks or enclosures.

I owned one for about a year and to be honest it was simple to get a decent tone and it did sound pretty good irrespective of what I played it through. I'll ping a question or two back to you. What do[b] [i]you[/i] [/b]want it to sound like, or more precisely, [i][b]who [/b][/i]do you want to sound like? (If for instance you said, Geddy Lee, then we have a good start point.) Plus, what's your budget? Do you have the ability to lift heavy things or do you want something a bit more bijou? You want to go loud or quiet?

I'd forgotten about this thread. A year on, I'm still going through a big XTC phase; that I need to do periodic three hour car drives just gives me the opportunity to dial up a playlist and let it go. For the fanboys out there, the XTC documentary, 'This Is Pop' airs on Sky Arts on 7/10/17. Maybe they'll do the right thing and give the band the credit it deserves and show some other stuff around it too, there has to be a ton of live footage.