Osiris

I've thought about changing the bridge to something bigger on my P/J Mustang too, what bridge have you fitted to yours?

FSR means Fender Special Run, essentially a limited edition of a particular model.

Just stumbled across this when looking for new toys online, I think I want one https://www.gak.co.uk/en/fender-offset-mustang-bass-pj-sea-foam-pearl/927703?gclid=CjwKCAjw0N3nBRBvEiwAHMwvNmsxvmgo1JDe6QimSKavDDPBq7CnzkXBcrx06Pp0Uz1KHNtVwSf3LBoCcHQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Gotcha, I read your first post as literally meaning they make you play better, not that they make your sound better But you're absolutely right, when set up correctly they make the bass consistent and punchy, I love a multiband for big fat lows and punchy mids.

Not in my case they don't!

I'm an unashamed pro-compression advocate! But I think the quote above is the fundamental issue that a lot of people have with compression, they see it as an effect and expect a significant change to their sound as you'd get with other effects, but that simple isn't the case. It can be, but that's not usually productive to your dynamics or a great bass tone. Compressors are dynamics controls, nothing more. They are there to stop the peaks and spikes in your signal and to even things out. Some will colour your sound in a way that you may or may not like but that's usually the most obvious 'effect' of them. I think if more people followed your lead and stopped thinking of them as effects there would be much less confusion and misunderstanding surrounding them.

Just received an old pedal board from Nick, great guy to deal with, good communication and great sense of humour!

A surgical Q as you call it is usually a very high Q (i.e. a very narrow band of frequencies are being adjusted) and as the name implies is used to control unwanted frequencies, for example on a booming stage you can cut the offending frequency that's causing the boom without having to cut the other bass frequencies and end up sounding thin. You're simple removing the problem frequency. Generally speaking most of us want a broader (lower Q) set of frequencies to be controlled by our EQ systems.

@Lozz196 One of the nerves in my left wrist is damaged and that has made it uncomfortable for me to play standard scale basses for more than a few minutes at a time. A mate of mine who's in the medical profession suggested a short scale bass to help reduce the wrist angle when playing. I picked up a cheap Ibanez Talman shorty from a mate and problem solved. I can now get through a 2 hour plus gig without any fatigue or cramps. I also wear a neoprene wrist support that really helps. You can get ones that look like sweat bands which hopefully shouldn't look too out of place with the image of your band. This is the one I use. Switching over to short scales has forced me to sell 2 of my 3 beloved Sandbergs. I'm in negotiations with someone to let the last one go. Like you with your Precisions, these are, or were, my perfect basses. But needs must, if I'd have kept my Sandbergs they'd be little more than ornaments which is wrong for such sublime instruments. I miss playing them but the change means that I can continue gigging which I wouldn't have been able to had I not switched. I've now got 3 short scale gigging basses instead. As for your strap length, it might not be the cool thing to do but if you shortened it a bit it may well help, even if you shorten by just a couple of inches. I'm a fat, bald middle aged man so any notion of looking cool has long gone for me 😀 I have the strap adjusted so the bass hangs at the same height as it is when I'm playing sitting down.

Close the door on your way out 😀

Yes, you are unnecessarily being picky, now do f@#k off, there's a good chap OK, so to clarify things, yes if you take my original post absolutely literally as in it is only the user selected frequency that is affected then that is incorrect, as I'm sure we all know. At least I assumed we did! The Q is the width of the frequencies either side of the centre frequency (i.e. the one selected by the user) that are also affected. This usually looks like a bell shape when plotted on a graph, i.e. if you adjust at 400 Hz, that will be the the highest (or lowest if you're cutting) point on the graph, 380 and 420 Hz hill be slightly lower, 350 and 450 lower still, and so on. Many EQ systems have a fixed Q whereas parametric equalisers allow the user to vary the Q i.e. how much or how little of the surrounding frequencies are affected. So yes, it is not only the user selected frequency that is affected when a change is made to an EQ control, the surrounding frequencies will also be affected, but how wide that affect is depends on the EQ that's being used. Every EQ control, whether it's a simple bass and treble arrangement or something more sophisticated will have some sort of Q, either a fixed one or one that can be adjusted by the user.

@operative451 I think you might be over thinking this The signal will pass through the EQ stage instantaneously - there's probably a very small millisecond or so delay on the Zoom as the signal is processed from analogue to digital and back again, but you're not likely to ever notice that (no doubt someone will claim they can detect it but in reality they're probably deluding themselves!) but to all intents and purposes you'll play the note and hear it straight away with whatever EQ is applied. Whether the EQ is applied lows first, through the mids and then highs last, or in any other order, I don't know but with the speed it happens I honestly and I don't think it really matters! In theory the Zoom parametric Eqs should only be working on the frequency that you have selected and leaving all the others alone so your proposal to use 2 of them together should work fine in principal. Whether it sounds exactly the same as your guitar eq pedal is another matter, it may be that either pedal is imparting something of its own that you may or may not like. Best thing to do is to try it and see. What's the worst that could happen?

Of course it is. You just need a staple gun.

Have you tried the rubber washer type strap locks instead? Like the ones you get off the top of Grolsch bottles? I've been using this type for years and have never had a failure. The last ones I bought as a job lot from Amazon, it was a pack of 20 for about £3 or £4 and they are reassuringly sturdy. Here's a link but it looks like they're sold out now - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06ZZ39C8B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Try baby wipes, they're great for clearing up all kinds of mess. We had some tarmac thrown on our car bonnet on a hot day some years ago when my son was still a baby, all we had to hand was some baby wipes and not only did it clean all the tarmac off but it left the bonnet spotless, not a trace of anything sticky. God knows what they put in them but they're a great cleaning product!

No. It's rhyming slang.

Just a bit 😀

Are you using the bass boost switch on the Ampeg? If I remember correctly that adds bass as you'd expect but also cuts some of the mids out, that could possibly be the issue. Try switching the bass boost off if you are using it. Sounding great on it's own but getting lost on the mix sounds like classic mid scoop syndrome. If you don't cut out all the mids the bass won't sound so great on it's own but it will fill out the bass sound in the mix. The Ashdown ABM will likely have loads more midrange on tap, just don't use the shape button and don't EQ them all out again! I seem to think that the ABM EVO III has an inbuilt compressor, I've no idea if it's any good or not but it should give you an idea of whether one will solve your problem. Although from what you are saying I can't help but think that this is an EQ issue.

I have a dodgy nerve in my left wrist (similar to carpal tunnel syndrome but it's the ulna nerve that's affected) which can make playing uncomfortable at times, I've found that a move to 30" short scale basses has been invaluable in reducing fatigue. I also use a neoprene wrist support, it looks a bit like a sweat band but has a loop that goes around the thumb too. I'm not fussed if it looks cheesy, I'm more worried about my own comfort I got the neoprene wrist support from Amazon, this is the one - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005BI6J8I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It sounds to me that there might be a couple of potential issues here to address before possibly lashing out on a compressor. If you are losing volume on the G string it could be that you need to raise the pickup closer to the string to help make it louder. What bass are you using and what pickups does it have? Another possibility is EQ settings, have you got a big mid scooped sound? Dialling the mids back in will thicken out the higher registers. Anywhere from around 800-1200 Hz is a good starting point to start boosting but that will depend on your bass and rig.

Funnily enough, I've had the exact same conversation. My response to the idiot in question was "Well you're the one who gets excited watching men in hot pants and knee length socks chasing each other around a field" The idiot in question went so red with rage that I thought he was going to explode but he just ended up walking off. Just as well as I thought he was going to beach slap me