Al Krow

Indeed it does (i.e. both brand new or used stuff is "new" i.e. different to what you already have, gear). The three things I got yesterday - haha! Well I thought if I'm going to crash and burn, you may as well do it in style. I've got a bit more imagination than some (well @FinnDave anyway), so at least I didn't simply go for a new bass, followed by a new bass and just to add a bit of variety, yet another new bass as my third item. I guess he must like basses...

Haha - I know, I'll send you my paypal details over the weekend. So you up for it then?! Won't be the same without you around to take the p*iss out of tease on a regular basis in a manner that is very graciously received on your part! 😁

Like the full hairshirt challenge and to keep this as a bit of fun, we can keep track of those who sign up and how long they last. Bassfan (who’s failed his own full hairshirt challenge already!) had the fun idea of having a £5 singing up fee, which we only need to pay up if we succumb to GAS and will be shared between whoever is still standing at the end of the year. So who’s up for it? @bassfan @dave_bass5 @Sibob @FinnDave you guys back in? 1. Al Krow (OUT April - Proton pedal) 2. Finn Dave (to show the youngsters how this is not done 😁) [UPDATE - can't believe he's still in this] (OUT May - bass swap) 3. Bassfan (OUT June - a sexy Sadowsky bass) 4. Dave_Bass5 5. Ead (OUT May - Cort A5 bass) 6. PJ Bassist 7. Maude (OUT April - new set of pups)

(BASS) GEAR ABSTINENCE CHALLENGE 2020 the 3 nine diet! – RULES OF THE GAME Why? To focus on making the most of the existing gear we have rather than get distracted by the next ‘shiny new thing’. What’s a fail? Any purchase or trade of new or used bass gear. 'Bass gear' = anything in your signal chain that you use to make or augment your bass sound /tone. basses, amps, cabs, pedals, PA gear (if your bass is DI’d into this) What’s ok? Anything to look after or organise your existing gear or wear & tear related. Any non-bass gear. strings, gig bags, leads, pedal boards, PSUs for pedal boards, repairs or identical replacement of existing kit, lessons, software related to existing kit non-bass musical gear (this came under a stricter Tier 2 for the completely hair shirted last year) e.g. music software not related to existing kit, keyboards, guitars, drum machines etc. By concession: unsolicited gifts of gear where you had no say in the matter! When? Any purchases between 25th March 2020 to 24th Dec 2020

What's this nonsense? Well it's a bit of fun for those of us who find not buying any gear for a whole year nigh on impossible BUT are keen to try to get the most out of their existing gear. Last year I often didn't get through 9 days without GAS rearing it's (very pleasant) head. This year I managed 9 weeks. Keen to see if I can go 9 months, so I've dreamt up this "GAC made easy". How does it work? Well you get to buy whatever you like for the first 3 months of the year with a start date very carefully chosen to include Christmas 2019, New Year Sales and NAMM 2020. And then you quit buying and make the most of your gear for the rest of the year. The Gear Abstinence Challenge 2020 - the 3 nine diet. Dieting starts March 25th and finishes on Dec 24th, just in time for Christmas, so fill your boots before then 😊

Don't know about harsh.

@stewblack-please see the posts above for a budget compact PSU, which I tried out with my Zoom B1X-4. Could be just the ticket for your noise issues.

Oooh I do like those knobs! Won't be to @dave_bass5's liking though, he specialises in pink knobs for some reason 😁 Out of interest, how much were they and could you post a link to where you got them from? The plastic 'cheap' look of the Sire bass standard knobs seem to be the most common recurring gripes from owners about their Sires. Thanks very much for your comment on the comparison with a J bass costing 7X more - you have 100% dealt with my Mike Lull question in my earlier post.

Ah I see, you actually prefer maple to rosewood and more to the point, turdburst to antique white. Fair enough, there is no accounting for taste 😁

Word on the street is the Alder is a touch lighter (as well as less expensive) than the Swamp Ash but they are all around the 9.5lbs mark (for the version 2 line up). @dave_bass5...well for just another £50 on top of your steeply discounted price for a new BB435, you could probably twist Andertons to sell you a new Alder / Rosewood P7 in a lovely antique white finish.

Dammit - this was all going so well! Then I made the schoolboy error of starting a thread (as it happens on P bass tone & Fender basses over on the Fender-lovers forum in the US) and that together with a mint condition piece of kit coming up in the FS that I've been dithering about getting for 18 months means that I'm likely to crash and burn on multiple fronts in a way that @FinnDave would be proud of. And I've not even resorted to starting a GoFundMe page to ease the pain...

Ok I get in advance that this is a damn stupid question...but Mike Lull PJ5s have a great rep and the PJ5-24 does have a two octave fretboard and I've been having a little look at them. What got me thinking was that they're typically made of same body & fretboard wood as the P7 (e.g. Alder / Rosewood combination). It will no doubt have better tuners, bridge and electronics. It's also a bolt on. But as someone who hasn't tried either I'm kinda thinking: it's SIX times the price and while I appreciate the point about diminishing returns but is it really going to sound and play even twice as good? One of my BC mates described the P7 as the nicest bass he's ever played and he's played a few basses in his day!

@Skinnyman - just seen your NAD post, congrats on the new purchase! I think you're first out the blocks with one of these. If you could post your thoughts on what you're liking about it and how it compares to your previous heads, when you've had a chance to spend a bit of time with it, that would be much appreciated!

@mangotango do you know what - that's actually a really good point! I had spotted that but somehow not let it sink in, because the P7 ver 2 seem to have so much going for them for the money. You've made me have a think about what the highest frets I'm currently using on any of our sets and it's the 19th on the octave up of the bass riff on the Free - Alright Now guitar solo section, and up to fret 20 if I fancy playing the Bruno Mars - Runaway Baby bass riff an octave up, just to annoy the guitarist of course, so I should just about be ok. But you're right it's definitely a nice to have a few more frets. My Yammy BB 1025 has a relatively modest 21 frets, but the rest of my herd all have 24 other than the Ibby Portamento 5er which has a ridiculously versatile 30!! Now if you're partial to noodling at the dusty end, there's a fretless you should check out at some point. Just sayin' 😉

I get the point your making, but in Sire's defence: Fender don't seem to currently be offering a PJ 5 string. Very few other brands make a decent PJ 5 string in Sire's price range. So they're already tapping into a different market space. Then add in: body through stringing, a slimmer J neck, active / passive, 3 band EQ with variable mids and you've got a very distinct and desirable offering. And all for < £500.

Did you pull the trigger on a P7 in the end? I've got my eye on v2 as I suspect it will nail the 'iconic' Fender P tone closer than my Yammy PJ gets to it. @Dad3353 would you mind doing your 'thread refresh' thing on this thread for us please?

The 1001M is back down to £185 on Amazon (no extra delivery for Prime members), if anyone is currently after one.

That's a nice way of thinking about it. A lot of love for the DG AO Ultra as a preamp pedal from folk who have / used one, but it will set you back £345 new. Bolt that on to something like MB LM800 and it starts to make a lot more sense of the price differential. And then if you look at the additional feature set on the rear of the DG AO900 / M900 v2 (go on I dare you) then these £1k amps no longer seem quite so outrageous price wise. Darn it, they're almost value for money 😁

That's very reassuring to hear from someone else who has had one of these, and for a while longer than me, that they are a good piece of kit. Sounds like I can slot under my replacement HB 50M mini "budget" board, with confidence then! (FWIW, I sent my first HB 50M back as the hard case is somewhat vast! I've gone for the more compact soft case instead, which will also be a fair bit lighter).

This PSU is tiny! And at under £50 new (inc P&P) not going to break the bank. Was a bit worried about how decent it is at providing well isolated outputs, given that it's so lightweight / compact even compared to a Ciocks DC5. So I've tried it out with two units simultaneously that hate non isolated outputs: Smoothhound and Zoom multi-fx (B1X-4). Chain was SH-->Zoom-->amp Sailed through, not a whine or buzz to be heard. I even put my SH literally on top of the Iso-5 to maximise interference and there were still no issues. I do think your SH whine @dave_bass5 was completely down to having one of the older run units. As I mentioned, Chris has sorted this on the newer runs and kindly fixed my older run model so it was no longer an issue.

I find playing two amps at once a bit tricky 😉 I guess 80Hz might be a little high for bass EQ and 65Hz does seem to pretty much nail it - but 80Hz is the first harmonic of the low E so kinda makes good conceptual sense I have the additional option on my active basses of boosting / cutting on the on-board EQ which seems to get me there. I do like the 6 band EQ on the AO900 (and M900 Mk2) vs 4 band on the M900 Mk1; and the AO dirt is (for me anyway) more usable than B3K / VMT. Starting to also appreciate the really cool "double blend" option on the AO900 i.e. I can (i) blend Alpha & Omega drives and then (ii) blend how much drive I want with my clean. The AO900 seemed to get a big thumbs up from @MacDaddy - and always good to get an unbiased fellow BC'er's opinion on these things. What is it about the M900 poweramp that you prefer to the MB Marcus?

I'm not sure I could get my Yammy 1025 to sound like this:

Lovely to be able to meet up with fellow BC'er this morning and get a chance to A/B our D class heads. Both amps sounded really good (using my Yammy BB1025 and BF SC). The key differentiator for me was the greater versatility of the DG AO900 with its 6 band EQ and ability to blend in anything from a touch of grit to full on AO drive. "You've got a LOT of usable sounds from that amp". Yup. Wasn't expecting that end from the A/B as the other amp has a great pedigree too, but good to be reminded of how good our existing kit is sometimes, and maybe the grass isn't always greener eh? @dave_bass5probably won't be needing a loan of your MB head just yet after all, a certain DG amp got withdrawn from fleabay earlier today and will likely be surviving a little longer in the crow household 😉