NancyJohnson

Just sniffing around for an update here. Apparently the two channels can be blended; there's a toggle switch inside the unit that can be accessed inside via one of the battery boxes (it's under/behind the fascia and located next to the 'mute' button). I suppose this works like the jumper thing on the rack unit.

While my musical roots are pretty much in punk/post-punk, it can go as heavy as it likes, so long as it's well written/crafted, well played, interesting and the vocals are good. Can't stand cookie monster vocals.

I had one of those Gibson Thunderbird non-reverse reissues a few tears ago. Bought it new. Couldn't have been any more different than the regular Thunderbirds that I'd been playing. Heavy, fat neck and it sounded like mud. It's all documented elsewhere here.

The cost does really hurt BUT they stay bright for yonks. Back in my busy times, I was using Dunlop/D'Addario; cheapish and pretty cheery, but these sets would go off very quickly, on my preferred bass it wasn't uncommon to to change strings twice a month. Granted I'm not doing as much now, but one of my Lulls has had the same Elixirs on it for nearly two years and they still sound bright; better (*subjective) than a two week old set of D'Addarios.

If you want to try another brand of coated string, I bought some Markbass strings a few months ago (there was a business trialing them), just got a four string set and they're wonderful.

I love the strings, but the five string issue really irritated me. £60 or thereabouts by this method (and having to go extra long too). It's a pity Elixir aren't on here.

I blame half a bottle of red and three very large Bourbon & Cokes.

Presidents Of The United States of America.

I've played in loud bands, quiet bands, tiny venues up to medium sized festivals. I honestly believe the rule of thumb is to buy headroom, know your frequency, know the room you're playing, know where your amp sounds best (ie how far away from walls etc.) and not run everything at 10. Gear now is way more reliable than the heavy old stuff I inherited in the 1980s and with that comes better tolerances. If it plugs together, it'll work. I know when I post here I will put in caveats that tone is subjective, I doubt anyone would be able to tick a box and say with any authority that they recognise a 50watts hitting their ears over 100watts. The secret is to ensure - irrespective of what style you play - that the bass sits well in the mix with the drums and then roll the guitars/keys/BVs up to compliment that; if you're playing in a room with a sound guy, he should be able to identify where things are going wrong and Identify that. Nobody runs their gear at 10 all the time, do they? My gear right now is a Darkglass A/O head - I only utilise the power side and prefer my tone to be shaped by a @Tech21NYC dUg stompbox. It's supposed to be 900w. I played with a very loud punky/rocky band a few times in 2019 and I never took the DG output over 40%, the cabs (I tried a couple) didn't melt down or anything. I couldn't have been any less concerned about the ohm-age of either.

The amp/cab impedence thing comes up frequently, doesn't it and we, as a group, seem to be obsessed with headroom/amp-power/wattage. You know, and perhaps I've been lucky, I've been in this game for over 30 years and I've never experienced gear damage due to mismatching or over-egging things with my backline. I'll admit here that I still don't fully grasp the whole ohms/watts thing and don't let it worry me. Take comfort from this.

There was a Hamer B12 up a few years ago in Jeff Ament specs; 12 string, matt black, had different pickup configuration. £1,700 I think it was, which was a fair price then. We had building work going on and just didn't have the spare £££ at the time, although my wife did say (after it sold) that if it was special enough we could have found the money. Ack. I did message the seller to see where it went. I think about it every day.

While it's a huge shame that they only put out two official albums, we're fortunate that labels like Not Lame and Omnivore kept the flag flying with the 4CD Fan Club boxset, the live CDs and the StakATrak editions. Omnivore still (apparently) have more stuff that they've yet to put out.

To my dismay, it transpires that Elixir do not make extra long 5-string sets, so one has to resort to ordering a four string set and a single for the Low-B. I ordered both in nickel plated steel, the four string set (SKU 14087) arrived about a month ago, the the low-B (SKU 15433) arrived earlier today. Here's a photo of the happy family: Now then, look at the bottom right of each pack; both are nickels, the 45-105s are 'warm and round', the 130 is 'bright and smooth'. Now look at the back of the 45-105s: They're the same construction, so they shouldn't be described as one or another that applies to different base metals. I'm sure they'll be fine, but for the love of puppies, why don't companies get their poop together and make sure their blurb is aligned?

I don't buy so much now so essential purchase bands would be Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, XTC (reissue series). In the unlikely event of new product, I'd extend this to Ludo, Charlie Sexton, Tears For Fears, Jellyfish, Stevie Salas/Colorcode, 3 Colours Red.

Thanks...it was in a pretty poor state when I got it (job lot, two guitars, this bass and a practice amp for £50!). It needed a lot of TLC to get it playable... I've changed the bridge, pickup and pots, but it came with Schaller machines. Every time it goes out I ensure it gets another ding.

Here's my 1978 Aria Primary. I think it's probably a bit more dinged up since I took this.

There should be another option of 'No'. Don't we live in a world of fakery? It's not limited to Fender decals on Limelight/Bravewood/Squier or Gibson truss rod covers on Epiphones or Rickenbacker covers on Chickenbackers, it extends to other products including watches, clothing, accessories. I've never seen the point in faking things up; maybe I'm just wired differently. I actually like the fact that my 40 year old Aria Primary bass plays and sounds better (*subjective) than it's Fender equivalent, so why would I sand off the logo and put a Fender on on it?

I personally, have no experience of guitars/basses with provenance, I did however own Davey Johnston's Orange Matamp (he is/was Elton John's guitarist - the amp caught fire). It's probable there's this feel good thing going on, all these people queuing to pay $$$ for stage played basses, just never seen the appeal. It did make me happy to know that Mick Karn's Travis Bean was in safekeeping with Steve Jansen and that Geddy Lee still owned the Rickenbacker, but I'd have little desire to own these.

Anyone care to explain what the fascination is? Owning a guitar played by someone 'famous' (*subjective) isn't going to rub off on anyone.

The Shapes, anyone?

I do like the idea of a Crafter, but my head says a Taylor. (And then get a Godin later.)

Well, here's my two cents. I think the first time I saw a 400* was the inside of the Sweet album Desolation Boulevard; now I know Steve Priest used lots of basses, but that was the first time. I suppose I was aware of them for ages, Geddy Lee, Matlock, Paul Simonon, Foxton etc. Ownership didn't happen until maybe seven or eight years ago. Right out of the box it sounded distinctly different to any bass I'd played/owned previously; very distinctive. I don't really adhere to this train of thought that all P-basses sound alike (etc), but this was different, boom and clank with little effort. It looked and sounded great. I used it once through two amps and it was huge tonally. On the downside, I gigged it live twice; on both occasions someone tried to steal it from backstage. The neck had no taper; same radius its entire length which made it a bit hard going through long sessions. Hated that I couldn't get the Schaller Strap locks off

I think you only have to watch a couple of the Trogly videos to see how output resistance for individual pickups are in many cases double that of the combined. Certainly with the Geezer Butlers the P-unit does sound lovely through my kit (*subjective); the J-unit, now it's at it's sweet spot height, just gives it a little more mid-lower high ponk. I'd never use the bridge unit in isolation. I'm unsure what @Supernaut means by the pots being off. Certainly no issue here with them; they're linear, crackle free and the tone does what it's supposed to do.