Al Krow

Ok I succumbed! Seller kindly offered to knock the cost of a replacement Glock pre off his previously agreed price and left me with nowhere to go in terms of excuses! Quick review There was a huge amount of fret buzz on 4 out of the 5 strings, when I first got my hands on the bass, but this was easily sorted by raising the action on the strings a little and it's still very comfortable to play. I needed to order some imperial Allen keys, as it's a USA Sept 2005 model predating my other basses. 1/16" was supposedly the right size, but turned out to be too big; fortunately the immediately smaller thread (1.27mm) in the mini set I got from Amazon did the honours nicely. Followed that by adjusting the pup heights to balance the volume from each of the pups and also adjusting the internal preamp trim pot and she was good to go. The preamp does need replacing, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, but set flat on active both pups individually deliver a full, meaty tone which I really like. There's a slightly sweeter mid-scooped tone with both pups engaged, but the B string is then correspondingly weaker, so I'll likely be using it on either solo'd pup for now. At just over 10 lbs she's at the heavier end of my basses, but the extended horn is there to provide really good weight balance, which seems to work well. 34" fretboard is what I'm used to and makes it easy to play and has 24 frets with very easy access to the top end, which I'm a fan of. I always love a neck through for that additional touch of sustain and ability to make the bass sing, but mostly 'cos it looks great (ok I'm shallow - haha!). Block inlays on what seems to be an ebony fretboard are a nice touch and I'm very much a sucker for anything white sporting a "BB" moniker 😁, and in common with my Yamaha BB1025, the Carvin also offers the option of body through stringing.

Will be really interested on your feedback on the Classic 4, a couple of us have got our eye on the Classic 5 in white!

Oooh what are the two new models you have incoming?

Any family resemblance? 😉

Another big fan of Dua Lipa's basslines! And they don't do it too shabbily "live" on bass either...

Hey - I don't recall seeing one of those on this thread. There will obviously be plenty of white BB pics with no pickguard at all, but that's clearly not what you're looking for.

EURO 5LX PJ RAS-LAYER Not sure about the Nord pups vs trad EMGs and those plastic knobs are meh. But the reverse-PJ format in a 5er is lush. Only available in Japan?

Also just in from their website... PS please also note a bass is not a car: don't assume it will necessarily go faster just because it's red ...I'd best get my hat now

Ah ok my bad: I had a recollection you already had or previously had an East in one of your basses?

Agreed. However, your gigging amp may change and additional EQ options be had from pedals or something like a Berg BIAmp, and a temptation to fiddle about too much if too much flexibility, so there is also something to recommend relatively simple but capable. Definitely pros and cons to both approaches. I particularly value two things on the bass EQ itself: A capable treble to dial right back for a Motown feel and boost a touch for slap zing (obviously not both at the same time!). Being able to boost the mids to cut through the mix From knowing what I do about you from comments that have been shared over the years, you've got a better ear than most BC'ers I've come across in relation to EQ matters and I have no doubt will be getting a lot out of your East Pre - gotta be an excellent choice for you.

That's really good news! ...Even if it does mean we're allowed to pull your leg a wee bit... Just seen this on their website: WARNING: anyone using the wrong sized Allen key to adjust a truss rod - please note: it may not work and you do so entirely at your own risk. If you choose to still go ahead, please don't ask us for a new bass. 😁

^^ +1

Good job - liked that a lot!

Indeed! 😁

All good points, cheers Gav. Having looked at the options again I think I may well end up with either the very well regarded Glock 3 band, which I'm coming back around to, and several BC'ers have already mentioned works well for them including @BassBunny who swapped in a Glock 3 band into his Carvin BB and said it works really well, which is obviously directly relevant to my bass and model. My take is that the Glock is pretty transparent and allows the tone of the rest of the bass, strings and pups to shine through. It's also around £125 + fitting so at the more affordable end. Or a more versatile East which would likely add a further £100 on top, for the reasons you set out very well above. I'm going to get to know the bass a bit better first in terms of feel and play and can come back to putting in a pre-amp post lock down ending / gigs restarting.

Congrats on your Sire - great basses (not guitars, please!) and such good value. Sincere commiserations to finding us on Basschat quite so quickly and the amount of time and money you're about to squander on gear in direct consequence 😁 But most of all - fantastic you've discovered bass! I picked my first one up in anger 8 years back and have loved playing it ever since.

Yeah the East stuff definitely has a great rep and I should probably not skimp the extra £50 or so it would cost. Not sure I need sweepable (just sensible usable mids), but 40 Hz cut / boost is a bit "boomy-end" territory for the bass EQ. Maybe no bad thing in that it's not often that you need to boost the bass (unless you're in a dub / reggae outfit with a sub woofer on tap), but being able to cut at 40 Hz would still be useful.

The bass, treble and mids are definitely not working right. But it's now got a more usable sound than I had feared, although I need to sort out the fret buzz next. Interestingly a couple of other Carvin BB owners have replaced their EQs as they felt they had become tired and that seemed to be a very positive move for them. Leaning towards an Aggie OBP-3, which I guess is on-topic of sorts to this thread, given that Korg now own both Aguilar and Spector! Glock 3 band has its fans too from several comments, but is apparently a little subtle, whereas I appreciate having a broad tonal sweep at my finger tips, so the Aggie is probably more suited to what I'm after. I can play it as a quasi passive bass / in passive mode in the meantime.

Yeah been sad to watch Debbie fade to a shadow of her former self. I completely loved that track as a teen!

A foot rest wheel is always good. I presume used prices rather than new? Wonder what's driving the crazy demand?

Pleasant surprise when I opened up my Carvin BB! Saw what looked remarkably like a Tone Pump mechanism - the bass was built in late 2005. Adjusted the screw so that it ended up being a 1/4 turn off the max, which was an increase from previous setting, immediately filled out the tone from what had been pretty anaemic beforehand.

My turn for OT 😂 ... I'm in the market for my first van (well, second if I count my previous Volvo Estate) and am looking at the Ford Transit. Has anyone used a Ford Transit to transport their BB and can recommend it (or not)? Other recommendations appreciated too, specifically regarding camper vans, rear-wheel drive and metered snake oil. PS the Boss OC-5 looks like a really good alternative to the MXR and definitely is on my radar.

Good question about whether DAC involved. Seems to be using the Line 6 Relay G10T which is "fully compatible with Yamaha THR-II bluetooth amps". If they are going down a bluetooth route won't that immediately introduce additional latency?

At current rates of progress you're going to be down to two strings in the 2030s...😁

Congrats @Pow_22 Already looking pretty darned good! Are you thinking of replacing the bridge, knobs and tuners all in gold?