lemmywinks

I found it last time it was flagged on here, it's a Tiger branded bass sold on Amazon, they were a bit over £100 new with an amp: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiger-Electric-Bass-Guitar-Pack/dp/B009K68FZM I quite like it as it's a bit Warwick Fortessy, shame he's knackered it like. The original thread had links to the auctions where he bought the body and original neck IIRC.

Andertons demos are borderline unwatchable for me, they have some decent players but there's too much waffling and not enough planning. I watched the mini acoustic bass roundup they did when I was looking at buying one but it was ruined by them playing over each other, not bothering to eq each bass properly and having a cluttered backing track at the beginning. Would be better if things were a little more scripted I think so you can get a better idea of what the basses sound like rather than how many techniques the presenters can do.

I like it, never a fan of the streamer shape but liked all the curvy bits. Don't like those 12/24 fret markers though, leave it blank instead of sticking those gaudy things on there.

They used to tune the guitars to an open chord so it was less painful when he was strumming them IIRC. I have a mate who has never been much of a player, has always struggled with timing and doesn't have good pitch. He likes guitars though and enjoys buying/restoring them, he's got really good at setups and can level/crown frets etc, helps that he has a bit of money and wasn't shy about buying good quality tools but he's found a little niche which enables him to keep tinkering with guitars. Just need to convince him to buy an expensive bass straight edge now.

We have 5 members and our inputs are 3 x vocal, guitar, bass, keys and a fully mic'd up kit. At the moment we're using Alto TS215 tops and a single Alto TS215s sub although will most likely be upgrading to just a pair of RCF 745 cabs when we have enough band funds, the Altos are surprisingly good though. For monitoring we just use the Behringer P2 packs with KZ ZS10 IEM setup recommended on here, most of the band use the Mixing Station app on their phones but I have the full X Air PC app on a Windows tablet. Previously we used a Mackie DL32r with 2 x RCF 725 tops and 2 x RCF subs, tbh the subs were huge and weighed a ton so I don't want to go back to using that sort of setup really. In fact we've just got some bookings at a venue we used to play which has horrible fire escape stairs for loading in and it was a relief knowing our PA is much lighter and smaller than it was the last time we played there! Here's our entire desk/router etc in the 3u rack bag, the little laptop to the side of it has an 8" screen and is about the size of a small hardback book for size comparison, was using it to record the gig:

We keep our XR18 in a 3u shallow rack bag, similar size to a traditional bass head. In there is the XR18 itself, a power strip with everything plugged in, the router and an aux to bluetooth adapter so we can stream music wirelessly from phones etc. One plug and it's all ready to go, no faffing around hooking up routers or anything. This is the rack bag we use, they do 2u ones for the smaller digital desks as well: https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/3U-19-inch-Shallow-Rack-Bag-by-Gear4music/WNQ?origin=product-ads&gclid=Cj0KCQiA37KbBhDgARIsAIzce17S6t1xIeBq8JfKQgEfifJ7lwgcR4a1usDFz9goN6g-OuoB7qEBecEaAkJtEALw_wcB Has a shoulder strap so you can carry your entire desk and still have both hands free! For the main mix we use a slim 12.5" convertible laptop/tablet which can sit on the rack when we don't have a FoH engineer, we transport it in a slim bag which weighs nothing. For my own personal use I have an 8.9" tablet on a clamp attached to my bass stand, this goes in the dedicated laptop/tablet pocket in my Gator gigbag so nothing extra to carry on that front either. It's the smallest most easily transportable full band PA I've ever used, also one of the cheapest and means we don't have to lug amps/monitors around or use a van.

Great stuff thanks!!!

Yeah they handle everything. A few years ago I sent a defective item back to China and had to fill all the forms in to reclaim my import duty etc, was a PITA due to how incompetent our government are. Did the same form 3 times as they lost them twice along with evidence of the return (all sent signed for) and eventually got a call from them on a Saturday as for some reason they thought I was trying to claim it back on an item I had kept. Put me off importing expensive items from anywhere due to the hassle, make an exception for Thomann though.

Thomann sort all paperwork, just like ordering from the UK really.

I wouldn't worry about it, I had issues with one bass (a B stock with a terrible fret job) but have had many other good experiences. While DHL are poor the Thoman staff are very good and will see you right if something is amiss.

I have the body from one on my fretless, took the pre and pickups out as they sounded a bit lifeless to me. Very attractive veneers though and look a lot more boutique than the price tag would suggest. Here's mine with a Mighty Mite neck, Duncan Designed pickups, piezo bridge and Bartolini preamp: This is the preamp:

Can get set up with a little digital iron, power supply and stand for around £60 or so, do as many pickup swaps as you want then.

The provenance thing only really works (with the odd exception) for electric guitars and basses played on popular songs or that featured on prominent photographs/videos. Even then unless there's some sort of artist star factor you're not looking at much more. This one would be worth more stripped and stained than in its current state.

I had the same issues with DHL returns, convenience stores and Thomann. In my case the first shop refused the parcel due to size (classical guitar size) and the second accepted it but the barcode wouldn't scan so I ended up contacting Thomann who arranged a collection from my workplace and sent me a new label. Customer service on Thomann's part was excellent, although this was in January and it looks like they're still having the same issues with DHL. They also dumped the parcel in the porch at my work and didn't bother to knock or ring the bell.

Basically any bargain that is at a fixed buy it now price will be snapped up pretty quickly so save a search and when you have a few spare minutes refresh it for a bit. I had one search set at £70 and one at £300 (only for certain brands though), highlights of the cheapies were a Vintage V950 for £50, an Aria STJ for £45 and an Aria IGB55 also for £50. Best overall was a German Warwick Fortress One for £250. Gigged all of them and never lost any money selling them on.

I went through a stage of doing this, set up a search for BiN newly listed basses under £70 on eBay and keep updating it when you have a spare few minutes, all the BiN bargains are usually snapped up within the first few minutes. Just had a constant revolving door of surprisingly good backup basses and lots of fun along the way. Can snag some local bargains on Gumtree/Facebook as well.

Essentially an Affinity PJ with some better pickups, probably not a terrible deal if it plays half as well as he says. His valuation is a bit silly as the cap on what an upgraded bass is worth is mainly decided by the model of the bass itself and not the sum of the parts. You can't make a £100 Squier into a £500 bass by whacking better pickups in there, that's why you keep the original parts and put them back on before you sell it! Quite a lot of choice for ~£250 in the used market, can pick up a Gen1 Sire V7, Squier CV/VM, Yamaha BB414 etc. A pimped Squier Affinity wouldn't really be on my radar tbh.

I can see arguments for both really, the Sire is centred at 600hz I think so most people's preferences will be there or thereabouts. I do like the super low mids on the Ibanez though, one of the first things I did was roll it all the way back and boost a little. Sounds killer.

This is why I keep my basses situated directly under my light fittings at all times.

I first saw them on Tiny Desk Concerts and I watched their performance 3 times straight. They've just got that bit of something that all successful bands need IMO.

Had to ask the same question when I got mine, both my other basses with a mid sweep control had a centre detent so I thought it was broken!

I'm probably gonna pick one up as a secondary/standalone practice device, it does too much in such a little box for me to not want one!

Spent a bit of time with the B1 Four and even though it's their bargain unit it didn't feel or sound like it. Felt much nicer than the 708 I used to have which to be fair never missed a beat and was still working perfectly when I sold it years ago. They used to have a bit of an empty feel about them, plastics are better now IMO and they sound much more organic/convincing. Probably all a lot of people would really need tbh.

Had really good service from Promenade Music in Morecambe when I've used them, including sourcing parts for a bass they didn't even sell me when the shop I did buy it from shrugged their shoulders.