Greg Edwards69

14 hours ago, AngeR said:

Today one of my students brought the purple jazz to the lesson. In my opinion, it’s a beautiful piece of crap. Looks good but sounds awful. Low output pickups, terrible bridge and not a nice tone. The neck tough it’s not bad, the binding and the fret ends are well finished. 

I'm surprised you say the bridge is terrible. Sure, it's an inexpensive vintage-style affair and not exactly a hipshot or hi-mass babicz or omega. But I would expect a Wilkinson bridge to be more than adequate.

On 14/11/2022 at 15:03, Buddster said:

Friday night gig at Backwell Village Club, SW of Bristol. Their beer festival weekend. Not out target audience, and we were more the band in the background while people chatted, but there were a few swaying and singing along. One of those 'get it under your belt' type. The venue and organiser were very happy though. 

 

 

What system are you using for your FOH PA? I’ve been looking in line array systems - is yours for vocal only or could he handle all the instruments without backline?

1 hour ago, mcnach said:

I think Jazz style basses tend to be heavier purely because their bodies are pretty big.

 

Between my girlfriend and I we own 4 HB basses. With regards to weight, the Precision is average -not heavy-, the 5-string Stingray style is quite light, the 5-string JJ55OP is average and the 5-string JP55OP is pretty light (I think it was 8.6 lbs, mayeb less, I can't recall).

This is one of the reasons I decided to buy my G&L Tribute JB2 last year. Jazz bass with a precision shape body. I only found out about it when I was looking for a light, inexpensive bass and found it listed on Bass Direct's lightweight basses page.

Here you go, I think these are the one's installed at the factory

Framus & Warwick - Strap Button Set - Black | W-Music Distribution

FWIW, I've switched to using rubber washers too. I used to swear by schaller strap locks. The locking mechanism itself is fine, but as with all third party straplock systems, they require removing the original button and screw and replacing them. This action IME weakens the fixing. One on of my basses, I was frequently tightening up one of the strap button screws and had to perform the cocktail stick and superglue trick a couple of times to reinforce it, but it still kept loosening.  Since switching back to the original button and screw it's been rock solid. The basses I've bought since I have only used rubber washers and not removed the buttons at all, and they are rock solid as well.

I think I'm getting my descriptive terms mixed up. If I'm understanding the definitions correctly, I think my Jabra Move's are actually closed back, on-ear. However, they still won't offer the isolation of over-ear headphones. I've had the Edifier H850 headphones on my wishlist for ages - they are basically the same product as the PJB headphones for less money. Maybe I'll pick up a pair soon.

Good shout on the drum/vocal mic bleed. That didn't occur to me, but it makes sense.

10 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

I don't think that latency is a design concern of headphones for use in listening to music - it doesn't really matter if the music comes at you 200ms later, if that is all you are listening to.

1 minute ago, dave_bass5 said:

Well it does if you are watching movies on them. Can’t say I’ve ever seen any lip sync issues doing this with mine. 
I do sometimes put them in at rehearsals just to use the ANC side of them, and this does work well. 

I realise latency is not an issue for listening to recorded music. Not an issue at all.  I'm specifically wondering about transparency mode, and if there's any latency with outside noises being processed by the Airpods and fed into your ear. I understand that you can dive into the accessibility settings and adjust the level of transparency too, which would be helpful.

11 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

I really wish i could use my AirPod Pro’s as IEM’s. They have such a great transparency mode. I know i can, in theory, but the latency would mean its not a good idea. 

1 hour ago, EBS_freak said:

200ms+!

Is that the latency of the transparency mode? I was considering getting a set at some point and using them as digital earplugs. But if the latency is bad, then there's no point.

12 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

I use over ears at rehearsal and encourage the others to do the same. No-one cares how you look and they are much more comfortable.

That make sense. I use a pair of open back, on-ear headphones for quiet practice. Nothing amazing, just a Jabra Move set, but they sound great and dead comfy (I chose them after extensive research for a pair of inexpensive headphones, with bluetooth and optional wired connections, with decent sound and sensible non-hyped bass response - they also don't look ridiculous if I wear them in public).

I can imagine that an on ear set could work better in rehearsal, as you get some of the room ambience to hear the drums properly, whilst being comfortable to wear for 4 hours. If I do need additional protection, I could switch to IEM or simply stick some earplugs in underneath the headphones.

EDIT: I wonder how well bone conduction headphones would work in this regard?

5 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

You wait til you figure out you can do that at gigs and get that brilliant in ear sound too.

That’s is the plan, but not until we get a subwoofer. But it didn’t occur to me that it could make rehearsals easier and in many ways, better!

1 hour ago, Phil Starr said:

FWIW I use a P2 for rehearsals and an old UHF wireless at a gig. The sound quality in rehearsal is stunning, at a gig not so much which i guess is down to the compander. It's workable with and saves my hearing but not very rewarding.

You've gotten me thinking now. Me and the two guitarists use a helix, we always bring individual FRFR speaker to rehearsal. One of them doubles on keys, and the drummer has a little trigger device with a couple of pads that he sometimes puts in a spare channel of my headrush speaker. We could potentially just bring a 12 channel mixer to rehearsal, plug everything into it and rehearse with IEM. 

13 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

Just a generic  one from G4M. It worked fine some of the time, but we ended up taking a monitor with us as quite often it wouldn’t be solid enough to rely on. 

That things cost more than the Xvive. 

If it's anything like the generic G4M system my band has, it's not great. The problem, according to the IEM bible thread, is the cheap compander in the system. It's fine for a vocal only mix, but if you put the whole band through it, the bass is the first thing to disappear. I end up using one earpiece and an earplug in the other ear.

We're in the process of rethinking our IEM setup. I've pretty much given up using my Line 6 wireless, it's often too much hassle for many of the smaller venues we play in. So we're thinking out going wired with behringer P2 units for the musicians, and the current wireless for the 2 singers up front. I'm thinking of making up a loom cable so I can put the P2 on the floor with my Helix, and have a single 'cable' for guitar and headphone extention.

Aha

he does mention its not that light however, but he will weigh it for a future review. 

21 minutes ago, Paolo85 said:

Good spot on the wood. Aesthetically I prefer the sunburst bass in the poplar series and I am not so sure I have strong opinions on tone woods yet so maybe that's still the way to go for me unless it balances badly (and it certainly would unless they have changed the neck shape significantly from the JB75fl

I think there is a very good chance I'll buy a HB J within the next few months. But I'll let others go ahead and test them first 😁 

I have no opinions on tonewood either. My main concern with wood these days is weight, and as you say, whether it balances or not.

Looking at the specs again, it appears the new basses have a D shaped neck profile, whereas the JB75 Vintage series have a C shaped profile. I guess there's potential for the D shape to be heavier, or maybe they break even. However, with a roasted maple neck (assuming roasted=caramelised) and the lightweight Gotoh tuners, the neck should be lighter too and balance better.

It makes me wonder if HB have been listening and created this bass in answer to the comments regarding the weight of their basses.

I've just compared the specs on the HB website. The JB75 is "american ash" and the new MV-4JB Gotoh is alder.  One would assume the alder bass is lighter.

FWIW, the other new jazz bass they recently released in their Classic series (the Gotoh is Deluxe) has a poplar body.

49 minutes ago, Paolo85 said:

That should be it right?

https://harleybenton.com/product/mv-4jb-gotoh-db/

Aesthetic aside, looks like the main difference with the JB75 is the gotoh tuners, unless the caramelized neck is actually roasted. Unless.. they have taken the opportunity to slim down the neck and the body and the bass has a more normal weigh. In this case, with good pickups, tuners and bridge, it would be a game changer for the price range

I came back to post the same thing via a Music Radar article.

Harley Benton offers premium hardware at entry-level prices on the £199 J-style MV-4JB Gotoh bass guitar | MusicRadar

I have to admit, they are quite pretty basses. I don't usually go for shell pink (it's a bit of fad at the moment), but it does look quite handsome.  I just wish they'd offer a maple fretboard with black inlays - like the JB75 series, but with a painted, matching headstock.

And I hope they've saved some weight. It's the only thing that put me off getting a JB75.

6 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

Hipshot!

Yes. I had a problem with one of the gears on the factory installed Xtender on my Attitude Bass. It's a custom-built tuner made especially for this line of basses and not available to buy. Yamaha was no help in resolving the issue, so I contacted Hipshot.  They sent me the parts I needed to rebuild the tuner, all the way from the US to the UK for free.

Only problem I have with hipshot at the moment is scarcity and price. The specific ultralite tuners and xtender I want to buy for my G&L tribute seem to be out of stock in most UK vendors, and the price has skyrockets lately, like most things (I bought an xtender from Bass Direct last year for £80 - a similar tuner is now around half as much again depending on the colour.  I wonder if it would be easier and cheaper to buy them direct from the US.

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

There were 2 at albrighton, blue and red, I know Vinnie had one, not sure who the other belonged to.

My brother had one for a while, and IIRC Paul Simpson bought one from Vinnie. I have a feeling Jim Nugent might have had one too.

16 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

I know several people with guitars like that, didn't know there was a bass.

Indeed, there were a few in the UKMG who had the guitars, including Vinnie Burns for a while. I seem to recall a certain Mr Creedy having several of the basses. No idea if he still has them.

28 minutes ago, Tim2291 said:

I'm not gonna make any friends saying this... but Rickenbackers are truly hideous! At a retail price of £5499 for this 90th anniversary 4005XC I would be getting a doctor to check for signs of insanity if I saw someone buy one!

I'm inclined to agree. I'm aware of their significance and legions of fans, but I just can't stand the look or sound of ricks and I'm not keen on the sound they make either. The only redeeming feature I can think of is Rick'o'sound, a version of which found its way into the Yamaha Attitude.

19 minutes ago, TimR said:

Blaming the type of bass guitar for a lack of bass is a bit of a cop out, but understandable if it 'appears' to be the only difference to the last time you played. Even though all the above will be different they'll be invisible to practically anyone who doesn't know anything about acoustics. Which includes a lot of musicians. 

And ironically, it's usually the bass player who has the best understanding of acoustics, due to the nature of our chosen instrument. But we're usually passed over as a gibbering simpleton.

3 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Singer, spend money? Never thought I would see those words in the same sentence.

Steady on. Next you'll be saying that they help carry equipment!

Redonizm was back on "The Rock" (aka Canvey Island) Saturday night.  A new venue for us, and first live band for them. The venue next door frequently has live music and this one was losing customers, so they've decided to bring some competition to the market, which is a good thing for everyone. We went into it expecting it to be a little quiet, but we got a decent sized crowd, including some friends and family and it turned out to be a fun evening.  We were a guitarist down, so the other guitarist who usually doubles on keyboard just played guitar all night (making him happy bunny).  He added a boss synth pedal to his rig for some extra texture, and loaded up a few samples, chords and sounds to an Alesis sample pad that one of the two singers triggered. This solution worked great and meant we could still play some of the pop and dance tunes we normally play when we have the keyboard. Otherwise, the set would have been more rock orientated.

The only potential issue was being informed about the dreaded decibel meter upon arrival. It was installed by the council after complaints from someone who had moved into a flat above the bar (this really grinds my gears - it's not as if someone was living there already and their flat was jacked up and slid the bar in underneath!). It was quite a sensitive meter too, I reckon just a heated debate could set it off. Luckily, only one socket was wired into it and after some furniture rearrangement, we plugged in elsewhere. Sorted.

Oh, and a well behaved audience this time. No fights!

1 hour ago, Staggering on said:

Thanks for the info. That's pretty cool but I don't think I need it, I will continue to produce the nice dull thud that fits nicely with the band I play in. On my DB I use a Realist Lifeline and go direct to my Acoustic Image Coda S4 or straight into our Bose PA and for my limited home recording I have a decent mic that does the job.

That's the second time today I've seen the AI Coda S4 mentioned. The other time was on a talk bass thread - a chap has downsized from bemoth rigs to one with a similar sized extension cab for electric bass. 

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/your-feelings-about-rig-size-for-stage.1579120/#post-26845765

It's gotten me intrigued, as I reckon it would be a far superior, compact, one box solution to my current Headrush FRFR-112. I note there's a used one for sale in my local music shop, but unfortunately I can't justify the £1,000 asking price.

8 hours ago, Staggering on said:

I have played with mics and pickups on guitar, mandolin, tenor banjo and double bass and I have to admit the good pickups we can get now are easy to work with can sound quite good but it doesn't sound like an acoustic instrument but that's the way it is now, many people have never heard a real acoustic guitar or bass without an elaborate sound system.

The worst part from my point of view is that when you see a great player the excellent guitar he is playing often sounds pretty much like any other guitar once it has a pickup and some electronic tweaking.

Not a rant, just an observation, and as I said above, I use pickups and love them but it's not really an "acoustic" show and calling it that just doesn't seem right. Of course I am part of this problem when I tell people I play acoustic double bass...with a pickup.🙄

I've not tried it myself, but allegedly, IRs (impulse responses) can help 'plugged in' acoustic instruments sound more like a mic'd up acoustic guitar/bass. One of my guitarists used an IR in his helix when he uses his Yamaha Silent acoustic guitar.

3Sigma have a few bass options you might be interested in. Of course you'll need something to load the IR into. But you can pick a small device up relatively inexpensively these days.

Upright Basses Archives - 3 Sigma Audio

This is one of the reasons I love Basschat.  Discussing "ugly basses" is prohibited on Talkbass, just in case it offends someone.