lemmywinks

What, discussing basses on a bass discussion forum? Whatever will we think of next? Crazy times indeed..........

The new line of GPDs with Core M3 and replaceable M.2 drives are fantastic but a lot of money. They also have the MicroPC which has just finished crowdfinding - quad core N4100, 6gb ram and a 128gb M.2 SSD. More for IT/network pros with it's I/O but cheap at under £250 and outputs video over USB Type C. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gpd-micropc-6-inch-handheld-industry-laptop#/

There's also the original version of the Onemix Yoga (Cherry Trail 8gb ram) for around £350 + import fees, sometimes rebranded as Voyo for the same price: https://www.techinthebasket.com/catalog/product/view/id/6657?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj8funr_14AIVSpztCh1rjwVdEAQYAiABEgI9BfD_BwE I love tiny computers btw, still have my old PSION S5 and 5MX as well as my original Dell Mini 9 and numerous ancient ultraportables. EDIT: Just noticed a Pocket 1 for £250 BIN, way less than what they usually go for: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GPD-Pocket-7-Inch-Aluminum-Shell-Mini-Laptop-UMPC-Windows-10-System-CPU-Silver/303090421611?epid=12017624044&hash=item469198cf6b:g:WogAAOSwEP9cg8kk

The GPD Pockets are ace, I had an opportunity to buy a cheap Pocket 1 (the Cherry Trail one) for £200 and passed it up which I still regret as one sold on eBay recently for £370. Currently have the original Win and the XD 64gb, fantastic little things. They do a cheaper version of the Pocket 2 now with a Celeron and 4gb ram for £399. https://droidbox.co.uk/gpd-pocket-2-celeron-edition-amber-black-4gb-128gb-touchscreen.html I currently use a Toshiba Click Mini 8.9 hybrid which is tiny (much smaller than the Asus T100 etc) and can be picked up pretty cheaply - I got mine for £70, I use it with an HDMI to Type D HDMI cable so no adapters plus it's so lightweight that it can be used as a proper tablet for reading etc which is horrible on most 10" Windows devices. Has a 8hr+ battery and a 1200p screen too. Even the old Bay Trail chips with 2gb ram are enough for me but YMMV.

I have a little Behringer Xenyx 302USB mixer which is USB powered, functions as a USB sound device and can also play audio over the USB connection meaning it's just one cable for power, data and audio. Something like that with a small powered speaker would be a nice compact setup with the bare minimum of cable runs.

One of his negative feedbacks on a 4 string bass definitely sounds like one of the admittedly rare write off dekos: Private Not as described. Needed new strings & a set up. Possibly needs a new neck too! Seems like he isn't even checking them, just using stock photos and flipping them, naughty.

Didn't know Wood & Tronics were Italian, every day is a school day!

Would it have killed them to put a tuner in there?

The new one has the Premium version of their tuners so it would be interesting to hear your opinion on those especially if you can compare them to the standard ones.

The tuners are functional, just not great IMO but nothing worse than what you find on any decent budget bass. I have Schallers on mine and they are far better. The bass I was using beforethe SIre was a Cort B5 which I got on sale for approx £235 IIRC, that had Licensed Ultralites and going from those to the Sire tuners was night and day which I think is one of the reasons I was keen on replacing them. Just bang average cheap tuners which do an adequate job if a little loose feeling, if it's your main gigging bass and the opportunity arises to upgrade for a good price then definitely look into it. I paid £50 for a 5 string set of Schallers on here - no brainer really. Again the bridge on mine wasn't an immediate problem, just something that was obviously not particularly good. I didn't like the almost 90 degree angle when stringing the B through body and from what I can gather on the 4 string version (at least on the original Sires) the E saddle covers the string hole when intonated!

There's been quite a few complaints about the bridges on all models, IMO they're the worst part of the bass albeit functional to a degree but there's definitely some design flaws there. There's been snapped intonation screws, general intonation issues and poor break angles when stringing neck through. There's probably a reason their basses for their home market get Hipshots. Also if you're gigging with the bass regularly then those tuners need to go. Never had a problem with the battery box on mine and would prefer it to something I need a screwdriver to access any day of the week.

I know, it's just interesting to compare the hardware they put on premium models (and what they sell for) compared to what represents their top of the line basses over here. I love my Sire and recommend them to anyone in the position of needing an excellent bass for minimal outlay but I think they are getting away from the original ethos of the range - a working bass which won't hold you back. That's a market they nailed out of the gate IMO so it's a bit disappointing to see prices creep up but the weak links still present. Also they should do a V3 fretless with an unlined board.

If you look at their basses for the Korean market (the original company name is Dame) they have Grover tuners and Hipshot bridges as well as a set of Lindy Fralins. Converting over from Won to £ sees these at £727: http://dame.co.kr/shop/data/intro/sub/snewlty-ex.html http://joymusicshop.com/product/데임-sanctus-lty-dame-상투스-이태윤-시그니쳐-국내생산/3679/ http://dame.co.kr/shop/data/intro/sub/sv900-ex.html http://akmusic.co.kr/renew/shop/item.php?it_id=v900 Not sure why we're getting a fancy top with in house cheap hardware for £1k+ but at least the V3s are still amazing value, I think the V7s are a great deal too especially looking at some of the Gen 1 clearance prices.

There was a video on the Andertons page, looks like it's been taken down now with an "Image coming soon" in it's place, consisted of two guys not going into much detail about the newer Sires while one of them acted like a children's TV presenter in the middle of a serious Class A binge.

Can see them on the topmost of the thicker neck laminates, just outside the heel scoop. Thar's where they usually are on dekos - on the body just before the neck.

I actually spelt Liechtenstein incorrectly the 2nd time around too, hope nobody notices....

Like this and yes I did have to Google the spelling of Leichtenstein on the previous post!

Liechtenstein is where Neutrik are based and their sockets often have that written on them.

Yeah they got snapped up really quickly and were sold out when I clicked on the BZ5000, there's still a fretless 5 string version of the other bass on there but it's well overpriced compared to what they listed these ones at, been hanging around on there for ages.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Deluxe-5-String-Thru-Neck-Electric-Bass-Guitar-With-Active-Pick-ups/283369501889?hash=item41fa2374c1:g:mj8AAOSwvtBcXByA https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Deluxe-5-String-Thru-Neck-Electric-Bass-Guitar-With-Active-Pick-ups/283377840412?hash=item41faa2b11c:g:3CAAAOSwi0FcYYg3 Annoyingly I missed out on the BZ-5000, these aren't even properly described so it looks like they're just being bought and flipped with copy paste descriptions. Stamped "D" clearly visible on the backs of these.

Exactly, they should concentrate on improving the hardware on the existing models while keeping the price down. Things like rolled fingerboard edges and tweaked pickups are steps forward, superfluous things like wooden cavity covers (with no quick access) and fancy finishes are a waste of time IMO. Will be interesting to see the resale prices on these and the V9 models in a year or so.

Apparently they're Sire "Premium" tuners over the standard ones and the bridge is exactly the same. Two areas where they should have spent the money on higher end parts IMO. Also that demo video was awful! I wish they wouldn't start with loads of meandering solos and "wacky" presenters and just show us closeups of the hardware differences.

The problem with the licensed Bart MkI pickups in Cort/Ibanez basses is that they're either married to the MkI preamp or an in house cheapy, neither of which seem to sit right with the pickup particularly the Bart pre which is a struggle to get a workable sound out of IME. Even though they aren't the full Bart experience they sound much better either wired passive or with a more musical sounding preamp. I've read plenty of threads where people go on expensive pickup swaps trying to improve these basses when the problem is the preamp and shoving a £30 Artec in there improves things massively. I had full fat Barts in a Squier Jazz many moons ago and it was a brilliant sounding instrument, would have them again in a heartbeat.

A term used to dismiss the concerns of certain groups of people as things that normal people should just get over. Ironically it's frequently used by the terminally outraged who can't seem to get over others living their lives differently from them.

Volume knobs are more of an annoyance for me, have to check they're still on full in case I've clumsily knocked them mid set.