Osiris

I've played short scales exclusively for a few years now and have always strung them with long scale strings, mostly because I bought a job lot of strings when they were on offer years ago so I have a surplus to get through! I've never had any problems with using long scale strings on short scale basses, yes you end up with an extra turn around the machine head post and the E sting can sometimes look a bit dodgy as you usually end up with some of the fat part of the string wrapped around the post, but honestly it's not a problem, IME. That's 6 or 7 different basses with maybe a couple of string changes each. And as a JMJ owner, rounds all the way. Mine came with Fender flats fitted from the factory and it always felt a little subdued but once it was fitted with a set of rounds it really opened up the high end without getting abrasive or brittle, just more clarity and definition. It makes the JMJ more Precision like, you already have a subdued top end from being a short scale, why dull it more unless you want that 60's vibe? You can always back your tone off too!

I'd just like to say a big thank you to Ander for very graciously lending me a pedal to try out for a couple of days. What an absolute gent 😎

No, I don't get that issue but I seem to think I've read somewhere of others having the same problem. My basses are all passive too but none have an excessively high output.

This is my review of the HB Mustang after its gigging debut a few weeks ago.

Interesting reading. I also own both models and have played and gigged both, I did post my thoughts about the HB after gigging it for the first time, I'll try and find the post and copy it here. But in my experience, they both sounded very different as you said but I was highly impressed with how the HB sounded, and mine is still stock, no pickup changes or blend pot mods. The JMJ is your classic big, fat and punchy Precision sound and the HB is a much cleaner and clearer modern sounding bass, IMO, IME. One thing to ponder is the consistency between the models, I'd hope the custom shop pickup in the JMJ (Seymour Duncan?) are pretty much consistent in terms of tone. But the same may not be true of the cheaper HB, the pickups in mine sound great, IMO, a little mid shy for my tastes but with deep and clear lows without sounding bloated, and a clear high end that doesn't get shrill. Maybe it's personal taste, or maybe I just got a good one and you got a bit of a turd with regards to the pickups?

It sounds like you were just unlucky, I'm currently on my third or fourth one - over the years I just keep coming back to it after assuming that something more expensive and exotic must be better, and ending up disappointed and invariably missing what the LMB does - and I've never had any noise issues like you described. That's running them on batteries, daisy chains and from a Truetone CS6. I've even got a cheap and cheerful GLX branded clone that I picked up on ebay for about a fiver, boxed and immaculate, that runs on a daisy chain at home and it also noise free.

I'm sure I read about a simple mod that can be done to these to add a series/parallel switch, or a push/pull pot. Can't remember where I read it but it'll hopefully turn up from a Google search, but it was claimed it makes the pickup much bigger and more aggressive sounding if I remember correctly. It's be a quicker and cheaper upgrade if nothing else!

The trouble with sharing settings for compressors is that what works for me will almost certainly not work for you, moreso with compression than for any other pedal, unfortunately. There's too many variables to give a one size fits all answer even for a pedal as simple as the LMB-3. I can, however, give you some pointers but after that you'll have to figure out what works for you. For example, you mention a Stingray, which as far as I'm aware, is a pretty high output active bass whereas I prefer passive basses, which usually are lower output. This has a huge affect on the optimum threshold setting. First of all, make sure you understand what each control does. That's not meant to sound patronising or condescending in any way, but to get the best out of compression you really need to understand what each parameter does and how it impacts the signal and interacts with the other controls. Much of the misunderstanding that often gets said about compression is usually down to people not really understanding how to set them up properly. The most important control is the threshold, setting it too low and everything gets squashed leading to the compressors kill your dynamics argument. Too high a threshold and the signal gets through unchecked. I set my threshold so that the peaks are capped but the rest of the signal is untouched, that keeps things even but retains playing dynamics. Depending on the bass this can be anywhere between around 3-4 o'clock at the highest down to around 1 o'clock for my lowest output bass. The threshold control works backwards to what you might expect, when the control is fully clockwise you're adding the least amount of squash, and with the control fully anticlockwise you're crushing everything. The ratio controls how much squash is applied. The LMB-3 goes from 1:1 (no squash) to infinity:1 (where nothing gets past the threshold). I set mine around 10-11 o'clock~ish which feels like it's around 3:1 to 4:1~ish. For me this adds a pleasing punchy edge to the tone. The enhance control I tend to not bother with, or just add a touch for my darkest sounding bass. Volume to unity so as not to overload anything further downstream. Hope this helps, but as I mentioned earlier, you really need to understand what each parameter is doing to find your optimum setting.

Just received a set of strings from Sean in a very quick and easy transaction. That's a big thumbs up from me 👍

That's just greedy!

That's good to know, cheers corporal (I believe you've recently been promoted). It's a mod that I had initially considered, but my two main gigging basses are P pickup only configuration, albeit they're very different in terms of tone. So I really enjoy the tonal variation of the PJ pickups in the HB even though you can't blend between them. I just treat mine as having its own unique voice, but one that works with many different styles of music as it is. As you say, in the mix nobody is going to notice, which is also my conclusion based on lots of hours of use with my bands.

I've not noticed any neck dive with mine and I've done plenty of gigs with it. But I do use a wide leather strap (around 100mm or 4" ) with suede backing which is very grippy and holds the bass in position. But I can't vouch for how it would balance with straps made from other materials. But I know what you mean about the lack of body contours but I find it comfortable and haven't had any issues playing it either seated or on a strap. For the record I have my strap length adjusted so that the bass sits in the same position when standing as when seated so it's sitting over my lower ribs. You may need to adjust your right hand position a touch due to the lack of a front contour but that only took me a couple of minutes to get used to.

I've just googled the PJB ear box as I wasn't familiar with it, but it's two 2.5" drivers according to what I found so when you describe a wasp like buzz my first thought is that the compressor may be adding a gain boost that's pushing the drivers too hard so that they're distorting. Have you set the compressor - and the Noble - so that they're at unity, i.e. the same volume as when they're on and off? If you're using one or the other, or both, to boost the signal try backing off the volume to see if the buzz goes away. The Cali76 is made with high quality components so hopefully hasn't developed a fault, my guess is that the tiny drivers in the ear box are struggling to reproduce sufficient low end at the volumes you want. Do you have any other speakers you can try swapping out for the PJB to help with the problem solving?

The JMJ is a fantastic bass and more than justifies the hype it recieves. But as for flats, I felt that it sounded a little suffocated with the stock Fender flats, which from what I've read are pretty bright as far as flats go, but once it was strung with a set of rounds it really came to life. More detail and clarity as you'd expect but still with that short scale thump. Rounds also help accentuate that Precision-esque low mid thump too, IMO.

All valid points. However, as this thread demonstrates, their customer service is extremely variable. It's more often than not faultless, but they do seem to make arguably more than their fair share of mistakes. But it's how those mistakes are rectified - or not - which is the divisive issue. My own experiences of visiting the shop many times have ranged from great to a trade deal that was incompletely managed and my repeated queries were met with apathy and not even a cursory attempt to put things right. That was a few years ago and I've not used them since. But prior to this I'd had many positive experiences visiting the shop and had made numerous purchases including 2 or 3 basses, an amp and several odds and sods. I don't think there's anyone posting on this thread who actively wants BD to fail, quite the opposite as we're all bass nerds after all. As you say, they're a niche specialist in an increasingly tough economic climate and a company that I once supported and spent a lot of money with. They're only human and they make mistakes, we all acknowledge that even if we don't like it. However, I just don't think their current customer service model is sustainable for the long term.

Absolutely, rounds all the way on the JMJ! It didn't sound too bad with the stock flats, and I say that as someone who doesn't really care fort flats, but once I fitted some rounds it really came to life, much more clarity and definition without being bright or shrill, and it still have those thumping lows. I'm not one for a Marcus Miller high end but it just sounded a little suffocated with flats, but rounds open it up to a more full range tone.

I also have both a JMJ and a Lionel and the JMJ out-Precisions the Sandberg by good distance, IMO. The JMJ does that big, fat classic Precision sound but I find the Lionel has its own voice, definitely Precision favoured but with its own thing going on too, there's an edge of that Stingray clarity but without the overpowering nasal mid-range thing that Ray's do. But the pickup is 10-15mm closer to the bridge on the Sandberg which probably accounts for much of the tonal difference. To get it to sound like a P I find I have to play just in front of the pickup but then I find the stings a bit too flappy, but that's still with the stock strings on which are a gauge or 2 lighter than my usual preference. I'll change them eventually which may well change the feel and tone of the bass.

Not the fretless version but I did briefly own a fretted one. A very well made bass and the passive pickups were fantastic, very punchy and clear. However, the reason I very quickly moved it on was because of the way it hung on a strap, it puts the first fret in more or less the same place as a 34" scale bass which for me was a deal breaker as a wrist injury means that I can't play a 'normal' scale bass for more than a few minutes without cramping up. So despite it being a 30" scale, it plays and feels like a 34" scale bass when on a strap. I don't remember any balance issues with it but because of the issue above I didn't play it for more than a few minutes. Shame as it seemed to be an otherwise cracking bass.

The LMB-3 is a great pedal and often overlooked but it's quite possibly my favourite compressor pedal I've ever used. I'm a bit of a compressor nerd and have been all around the houses with compressors having tried many pedals, analogue and digital, single and multi-band, cheap and cheerful to some boutique stuff. But I started with one of these years ago and realised around 3 years ago that I was trying to get everything else to recreate the punch that only the LMB-3 delivers, so when I had the opportunity to pick up a new one for a bargain price I grabbed it and have never looked back! There's a sweet spot on the threshold where it keeps everything in check but when you dig in it adds a grin inducing punch that I could never get from any of the other units I tried, the Bus setting on the Darkglass Hype Luminal was the closest, but there's just something about the humble Boss that has seen off all the competition. I usually keep the Enhance control right down and only dial it in to around 8 o'clock for my darkest sounding bass.

There's a little more information on this video, although not much but it also includes a brief bass demo too. I'd love to see a Bass the world video giving this a detailed run through 🤞

What are your thoughts on the Doc Lloyd Photon Death Ray? I don't usually get on with optical compressors but the reviews of that model intrigue me.

The Zoom multi fx units carry a choice of a few different compressor models and several different types of compression to play with. As Sumone says they won't compete with high end dedicated units but they're still more than capable in their own right and well worth the time and money exploring the various options. Speaking as a bit of a compressor nerd, I used the DBX160 model in the Zoom MS-60B for several years as my gigging compressor of choice!

Yeah, either completely off or just a touch, no more than 8 o'clock on the dial for one of my darker sounding basses. That only leaves the ratio and threshold controls to worry about as the other control is the output volume. It's very quick and easy to dial in a great, punchy sound. I think it often gets overlooked as it's a Boss and some people tend to gravitate towards more boutique (read expensive) units, some of which are great IMO, but the LMB-3 is still an excellent little pedal in its own right.

Cheers for the info. Seeing as you're already using a couple of Boss pedals I'd add the Boss BC-1X Compressor and the Boss LMB-3 Limiter to your list. Both simple to use, great sounding pedals that are widely available and, most importantly, both sound great. The LMB-3 is actually my go-to pedal that I alluded to above. It's a FET based design so very quick in its action, but is very clean and adds a pleasing punchy quality to your bass tone that I haven't been able to get from any other compressor, the only one that got close was the SS Bus setting on the Darkglass Hyper Luminal. Just don't use the Enhance control on it unless you want additional hiss and a weird synthetic artificial sounding high end. But other than that it's possibly the most underrated compressor pedal out there, it's very simple to use and just sounds great. You can pick them up used for very little money. The Boss BC-1X is a newer digital multi-band compressor with a simple 4 control layout and very useful LED metering. It's arguably a more transparent sound and has a bit more apparent low end that the LMB-3 (not that the LMB-3 sucks the lows out but more likely the band that deals with the lows on the BC-1X is causing the lows to be compressed separately which makes them sound a little 'bigger') probably a bit more of a studio sound, for want of a nebulous description. It costs a bit more than the LMB-3 but still comes in at well under £200 new. So of these 2, go for the LMB-3 if you want a big, bold punchy bass tone, and go for the BC-1X if you want more of a studio style compression.

On it, Boss. That's pretty much the compressors job description 😉 Compression is widely misunderstood and there's a lot of urban myths surrounding it but you say you've done your homework and that is the most important bit as it'll help you understand what to do with the right pedal once you have decided which one to go for. There are many different types of compression and while they all do the same job, different circuit types do it in different ways and have different characteristics that you may or may not like. So the first thing to do is decide what type of compressor your looking for. For example, a lot of guys like optical compression circuits on bass. Optical designs are inherently slower and have a gooey feel in their action. They can also impart varying degrees of colour on your signal, something you may or may not want. Another common design is the FET based compressor which inherently has a much quicker response and is great for taming the initial note transient if you're a slapper or play aggressively. There are other types to consider too. Then you have single and multi band options, analogue and digital, transparent or coloured sounding. Do you want control over your attack and release times? Do you want to be able to blend in some clean signal or allow some of your uncompressed lows through to stop the high end getting dulled? Do you want a million parameters to tweak or just a simple one knob (fnarr) design, or something in between? Does it have to be a pedal? What about a rack unit? And then there's you as a player, what style of music do you play, what bass(es) you're using. Are you using something like a Sansamp or other pedal that's already adding a ton of compression to your sound? Do you need metering or have you already got your ears tuned in to hear the compression in action? And this is all off the top of my head... There's so much to consider and it's very easy to go for the wrong compressor your needs which can then put you off for life. There's some good recommendations above, but what works for someone else may not work for you. But what I would suggest is picking up a cheap Zoom multi fx pedal, something like the MS-60B or the B1 Four, as these have a few different compression models in that cover a few different compressor styles. Have a play, preferably at volume with the band if you're in one, and get a feel for the characteristics of each type to see which works best for you. Once you've decided you can then start narrowing down the choice of the millions of options out there. It's a rabbit hole that I got lost in for years, but I learnt a lot from trying as many different options that I could get my hands on and I now know what does and doesn't work for me. And my go to compressor these days is neither expensive nor complex but I know that it will give me exactly what I want every time I plug into it - which is always!