Doctor J

I do love a nice Ibby, currently with three of them. An 89 SR800LE, a 91 SB900 and an 89 SR1000E. Beasts all and very, very different from each other.

Nice! Congratulations!

How is the balance between your E and A strings? If you think pushing the magnets down will affect the balance between the G and other strings then, surely, you will also affect the balance between the E and other strings in the same way, no? Do you not end up with an E string which drowns out the G still but also the other two strings?

Neckenbreaker 4003?

Broken?

Try adjusting the height of the pickup so the treble side is slightly higher than the bass side. Is it a 2 or 3 band model? If 2 band, just remember that the bass control is boost only and, if you ramp it up you’re effectively cutting the mids, which is where your G string exists. If you’re doing the same on the EQ on your amp... bye bye G string. The amount of Stingrays out there with stock pickups suggests the pickup design and manufacture is ok. I’ve owned a 2 band and a 3 band model, all stock, and never had this issue. I tend to bypass amp EQ on basses with a pre-amp. Try the same and see how you get on. Start with the bass control (on the bass) all the way down and the treble (which cuts and boosts despite no centre detent) around halfway. That’s the natural sound of the bass. See what the G string response is like and then start EQing to taste. It’ll let you know for sure where the G goes missing.

There is a can of worms which believes that the extended length behind the nut contributes to a “better” B string experience. There are quite a few Foderas with that abomina... I mean, alternative headstock.

It’s a little close to...

Like this. Not all Foderas have the extended B.

Rosewood fretboards with blocks but no binding just looks wrong

Bad headstocks too much plastic (Stingray 5) no forearm contour control knobs too close together or a cluster which doesn’t flow with the shape of the bass... for example

I've got three MIJ Bacchuseses in the room with me and they're fantastic. The build quality is exceptional. I have lusted after a Dragonfly for quite some time. I'd love to try one. FWIW I'd choose a Japanese bass over a US one every time.

Yes, he still speaks quite clearly with his toungue so deep in his cheek

Lake land.

Here is the blurb on VAT https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/taxation/vat/vat-rules-rates/index_en.htm

For now, there is no import duty on goods coming in from the EU. At the end of the year, when the current deal expires and Brexit takes effect, that is liable to change depending on the deal the relative governmental and EU bodies come to. As for tax, if you buy new the seller should charge you the UK rate of VAT on those goods instead of the tax rate in their own country. There would be no VAT on a used bass from a private seller.

If wood were constant then every maple Stingray would sound exactly the same, every rosewood boarded P would sound the same and we're all sure they don't. Applying a blanket statement to the tonal impact of a small slip of organic material is, in my opinion, misguided. If you take a (insert manufacturer here) pickup and replace it with a model from the same line, you know they're going to sound essentially the same. If you replace a maple neck with a maple neck, will it sound the same? It might, but then again it might not. Wood is not a constant. That's partly why people spend big on old instruments. New maple doesn't sound like old maple, apparently, nor old alder like new, but I've yet to find someone who can clearly define how, so how can we say a particular species of wood has a definite and constant characteristic when, being organic, it is prone to variances before we get into age, how dry it is, the effect of vibrations on the cellular structure and all the other stuff which makes people spend money? How does old maple sound compared to new maple, what are the tonal variances? How does old, unplayed maple sound compared to recent maple which has had a lot of vibrations through it? It goes on and on. Years ago, when Fender replaced the nice and lively neck on my year old AmSe Strat which had started to crack with a brand new neck of the same woods which sounded dull and lifeless and played like crap, I learned a valuable lesson in getting too caught up in thinking wood types had a predictable characteristic

Let's turn it around again and say if you took the pickups and electronics out of a Stingray and replaced them with a P pickup with a passive volume and tone pot, what would it sound like? Does a maple boarded Stingray sound like a Stingray? If so, does a rosewood boarded Stingray also sound like a Stingray?

No, they say They say the differentiator is the frets.

I play original music so, overall, I have played at a loss for 30 years. Playing for free would be a step up in the world 😂 I would play for free for now because I enjoy playing, provided there were no expenses and, perhaps, the venue could throw in some goodies to sweeten it a smidge. The situation would be fluid, however, and no long term commitments would be made. Once the venue is doing well, the band should do well too.

Well, copper wire and pickup magnets are built to specific values with controlled tolerances so, yes, there is a level of verifiable consistency with them. DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan issue tonal charts as to what sonic properties you can expect from different pickup models. They are built to produce sound with a particular sonic footprint which the manufacturer will stand over since they're advertising the product as having these specific properties within a specified tolerance. There is no magic or guesswork to it.

My own take on it is that I can usually tell when I hear a Stingray on a recording. I can usually pick out Precisions and the bridge pickups of Jazz basses. Jazz bass neck pickup recordings can easily be confused with Ric 4000 or 4003, depending on the playing and settings. Same with single coil early 50's Precisions. I used to think The Holy Bible was a Ric until it was claimed that it was Bradfield on a Precision so I guess there are some sonic fingerprints common to both which get obscured in the context of a mix. Pickups make a huge difference, this much I am sure of. I have never been able to tell what fretboard wood they have just by listening, though. Even solo bass. Do I care about comparing isolation recordings and listening out for teeny tiny differences? No. I like bass in the context of a band playing a piece of music. Wood is organic. Every piece is different, even if they are of the same species. Does it make a difference? Yes, everything makes a difference, but my ears tell me it doesn't make enough of a difference for me to care signifigcantly about it. Therefore, I have learned not to get to caught up in it and pick what looks pretty. FWIW, I can't tell the bridge saddle material just by hearing, nor nickel vs steel frets, either. I'm pretty sure I can't tell if you're playing a BBOT or a Badass just by listening, to my shame. I am told they make a difference, too.

The Alembic perspective is interesting in that context http://www.alembic.com/info/wood_fingerboards.html