dave_bass5

The latest SBMM catalogue is out, here is the Classic page. These are the details for the Classic. The Ray34 Classic Active Series features: Old school flavour, cool retro colors, re-designed 2-band classic active preamp and pickup. Lightweight slab ash body (no belly or forearm contours) available in 2 new finishes — classic Mint Green and old school 3 Tone Sunburst. All Ray34 CA basses feature a narrow 38 mm nut width for greater playing comfort. Hard glossy amber tinted neck finish rounds out the classic old school look! Lightweight Ash body Slab body styling (no forearm & belly contours) Glossy tinted neck finish Narrow 38 mm nut width Classic style 2-band active preamp, w/bass, treble and volume controls Re-designed Classic StingRay pickup Rosewood fingerboard (MG), Maple fingerboard (3TS) Mint Green (MG) & 3 Tone Sunburst There is also a White/RW limited edition Ray34 (for this year only) and a left hand Ray34 in 3TSB. [attachment=69176:sterling2011.pdf]

I've now got one on my CV P and i think it looks much nicer than the BAII i have on my HW-one. I cant really hear much of a difference though. Im sure its there but i would think a new set of stings would make more of a difference. Then again, the CV bridge was already a high mass bridge, and in fact its bigger than the Gotoh so i can understand the lack of tonal change.

[quote name='tonybassplayer' post='1092881' date='Jan 17 2011, 06:33 PM']It might be my eyes (and the fact that its monday morning) but the AR looks off. Apologies but what is the "AR" lol[/quote] Sorry, I mean aspect ratio. You all look a bit tall and thin, or to use the technical term, squashed up.

[quote name='lojo' post='1092707' date='Jan 17 2011, 04:34 PM']I've posted my admiration for your playing before, but now i am wondering what your recording method is for these clips, the mix of your bass over the tune is good, but I still cant believe how great the tone of your bass is just coming through my standard Mac speakers, most clips on you tube don't have a tone like that[/quote] From his YT page "I use a Focusrite Saffire 6 USB interface, running into Logic Pro. The video is done in iMovie. The whole thing is done on my crappy old MacBook Pro" I agree, great tone and great playing, but i have a feeling its all in the fingers.

My take is a P sound slike a MW radio station, middy, not really sparkling although enough highs to do the job, and a Jazz (with neck soloed) more FM. deeper lows and brighter highs, but less mid range, like having the contour or loudness button on. FWIW, i have both CV P and Jazz, made out of the same wood, and both sound the same unplugged to my ears.

Lovely. Not really my sort of music but i really enjoyed the tightness and groove.

[quote name='tonybassplayer' post='1092019' date='Jan 16 2011, 11:48 PM']Just posted this elsewhere then spotted this thread lol Hope you like [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCPt-3N9ykE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCPt-3N9ykE[/url][/quote] Nice one. I enjoyed that. I also really like your version of Dead Ringer. It might be my eyes (and the fact that its monday morning) but the AR looks off.

As Clarky says, WD will sort you out. One problem (or something to watch out for). If you have a HW1 make sure you get the HW1 pickguard. If you have a HW-one get a MIA pickguard. I waited for almost a month for them to get me a HW-one PG for my Jazz, only for it to turn up as a HW1. It seems they dont know the difference and dont have a HW-one (at least they didn't a few months back). The truss rod adjustment is at different ends of the neck so a HW1 PG will cover the slot on a HW-one. I ended up putting a MIA PG on and its perfect. I cant vouch forthe P pickguards but im pretty certain it will be the same as for the Jazz. Oh, and is my old HW-one with a WD pickguard on it. The photo's dont do it justice but yes, it looks pretty cheap. For something better Sims custom shop will make you one thats a perfect fit, in the colours/finish you want but these dont come cheap IME.

[quote name='ukbassboy' post='1083222' date='Jan 9 2011, 03:42 PM']We played a big wedding in a nice venue that had a sound limiter. Grrrrrr. A quick explanation for those that aren't familiar with this evil invention... you plug all your gear into to specified (in this case red) power sockets which are controlled by a decibel metre. When you go over 90db, BOOM, all the power is turned off. Yeah, really great for your kit! Anyone else had trouble with these? The ambient noise in the place was around 83-84 decibels and this was just with people chatting, kids playing and people walking on a wooden floor! We did our best to be as quiet as we could but the drummer completely unmiked (and he doesn't hit that hard) was hitting 90 db. Thankfully we knew some of the guys at the wedding who kindly shimmied up some rafters and unplugged it after it killed everything during the 4th song. The hole atmosphere of the place just came alive then![/quote] And the venue got hit with a huge fine....nice one ;-) Ive never come across a meter that just cuts you off the moment you hit the limit, you normally have around 7-10 secs or so to get the level out of the red. Dont get me wrong, i hate them as much as anyone but normally the venue has to install these, and can get a very hefty fine or closed down if they dont so its not a good idea to unplug them IME.

There is also a new look SB14 coming out.

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1086479' date='Jan 12 2011, 10:36 AM']Ahh, but you can plug a line from the "tuner out" on your amp into the iPhone using IK Multimedia's iRig (amplitube)... They're about £24 I want one now. [/quote] Thats what i had and didnt really get on with it. I just couldn't get a reliable signal level. I hate distortion and really struggled to get a constantly clean tone.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1086433' date='Jan 12 2011, 09:38 AM']I give you the ugly sticks.[/quote] Blimey, thats the whole Ugly tree you posted there Wayne, even the frets are wonky

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1085878' date='Jan 11 2011, 06:33 PM']In truth Dave the answer is no. I have never found a dog of an EB nor a peach of a sub/olp/sterling etc. I'm sure there out there but the cheaper versions have always lacked something. A lot of people swap there gear all the time and buying new all those bits add up and at some point you may as well bite the bullet. When I bought the 02 brand new there wasn't a cheaper version comparable and all the Rays where perfect so it was simply a colour choice for me and a big treat to myself at the time too. I have cheaper version of other basses but once you have had the real thing of one brand the little differences add up. If you had £50 bass and upgraded to a sterling it would be a bigger step up than the step between a sterling and an EB for sure. If you had an Audi would you buy a skoda? I would as a second car or in this case backup bass , but not for the MD of the company! Is that a reasonably fair answer?[/quote] Yeah, thats a fair and honest answer. I will say after having some MIA's i do actually prefer my CV P and HW-one. These too are cheaper versions of the real deal and although it wouldn't make sense to everyone there are reasons why i prefer the cheaper versions, and this is how i see the SBMM/MM debate.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1084518' date='Jan 10 2011, 05:37 PM']I know after playing lots of Rays the ones I have if set up to whoevers liking would be better than any copy versions on all counts.[/quote] I can believe that, but am i right to assume that you have played some that aren't as good as yours? If so then couldn't that explain why some people like the SBMM's better that some MM SR's? Just a thought. Im not questioning your basses or how you feel about them, just like i wouldnt question someone else's views without actually playing the basses in question.

That looks pretty cool. Ive got the Peterson and TC Polytune apps on my ipod touch but dont use them much, as i fear for my ipod getting lost or dropped at gigs. And no, they dont, or shouldn't go out of tune IME.

Well ive just found out my penis resonates in C# lol.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1084357' date='Jan 10 2011, 03:33 PM']Are you trying to give Pete an embolism... or have you just not read this through. [/quote] Here come the worms lol

[quote name='iam' post='1084312' date='Jan 10 2011, 03:03 PM']they called the white one 'custom'[/quote] Ah yes, cheers.

Just a quick update. The tuner arrived and it works very well. Tried it on my 3 basses, my Yamaha A1 semi acoustic and also my sons toy Sponge Bob guitar. All tuned perfectly. I also found it a bit easier to get the intonation spot on over my GT4, although i guess that might just be getting a bit too anal about the tuning as it sounded ok before. It doesn't feel like a £60 tuner though. It feels quite cheap and looks like it could easily get broken if im not careful with it. The tin box is quite big and very well padded so i might keep in it that for a while. It has quite a few tuning options, including some i cant imagine ever using (in fact none of them) but i guess its there if i ever do need it. I am happy with it though, and i hope im going to find it makes life a bit easier at gigs. [attachment=68355:Mon_10_Jan_0573.jpg] [attachment=68356:Mon_10_Jan_0574.jpg] [attachment=68357:Mon_10_Jan_0575.jpg]

I agree with Lozz. I had Wizards in my CV J and thought about selling the Squier ones. Im glad i didnt because i now have the Wizards in my HW-one and the stock pups are back in the CV. Cheaper than buying a new set. I doubt ill do the same with the Thumper but im keeping the Squier P pup just in case i do want to put the Thumper in another bass at some point.

A white one would be nice. They did this last year but IIR you could only get them in GC in the USA. I think that was called the Classic as well.

Another vote for the Korg PX4D. I dont have any issues with batteries either. I use some good eneloop type rechargeable and these last for weeks, although i dont use it every day. You can shift the key of the music you are listening to, although as with most of this type of thing you dont want to go too mad with the shift as it can sound nasty. Some fo the presets are pretty naff (i tend to use Motown most of the time) but the building blocks are there to create some very nice tones. I personally dont use the effects but they are there if you need them. Last year i brought the Amplitube iRig adaptor lead and this lets you run a free or paid for iPhone version of guitar rig on a itouch or phone. This seemed like a great idea but i found it had too many shortcomings. The biggest was you had to load in specially converted MP3's to the app, rather than just being able to play along with any of your tracks already on the device. I also found the volume level a bit hit or miss and too fussy to use.

[quote name='skychaserhigh' post='1083903' date='Jan 10 2011, 08:40 AM']I'm definately interested in a Ray 34. It's a great bass for £400 less than i can get a Stingray 2eq new. I don't care what the resale value is as i play my basses , not keep them for a bit and sell them. I also want to buy a new bass not a second hand one so these are great value. Sure they may not be quite the same as a true Musicman but are they £400 worse in sound and quality ? I don't think so. I'm not bothered what name is on the headstock either , if it sounds and feels right to me then thats good enough i say ![/quote] My thinking exactly, although i do tend to sell my basses after a while for some reason. I dont plan to when i buy them. Im definitely not against buying second hand, but i do lie the idea of buying exactly what i want, when i want, and buying new normally means i get a choice.

More acknowledgement that these are just for people starting out or on a budget. [url="http://www.fender.com/blog/mars-volta-bassist-picks-up-a-new-classic-vibe-bass/"]Mars Volta Bassist[/url]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1083605' date='Jan 9 2011, 09:07 PM']It's not me that has said they are identical and better than a real one! There are many times it's been said in other threads.[/quote] ....by the same few people ;-) So why are these people who prefer their SBMM's wrong? Im not arguing the tone thing, i really couldn't say, but i personally didnt like the 2 SR4's i played in a shop, yet i loved the Ray34. For me the price was more attractive and i got a nicer playing, looking and sounding bass. IMO & IME of course but that's just as valid as anyone's. Im not sure why no one would believe me, but i guess it will be the same reaction over me thinking the SUB was inferior in almost every way to my Ray34. Im sure these new basses wont be as nice as the real thing to those who have either owned one or done a side by side comparison, nor will they sound the same, but considering the cost of the real thing, with a Jazz neck, there is no way i would be able to afford one and dont think i will need to now. And if i remember correctly Gareth (Musicman20) had to send his back due to a very poor neck heal/joint. Not good for a bass costing that much. No offence meant in any of my posts, but i take exception to people telling me my own feelings are wrong.