Owen

I totally get the Reface thang. If only they put them all in one 5 octave keyboard I could have a 5 octave with all the sounds I might need but cannot play in any meaningful way.

The concept of not buying blind was for real back in the 70s and 80s when manufacturing tolerances were ..... liberal. By now things are much tighter and I do not worry about it. If you want to try different things, find a Bass Bash. Noodle all day.

Doctor J has been waiting for just the right moment. This thread has clearly hit his sweet spot.

This hardcore stuff is the kind of stuff we need!

They have to be properly hollow to get that DB dull thud we love. I spent an eyewatering amount of money to discover that.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/184621401586617/permalink/5703553439693358/?sale_post_id=5703553439693358&sfnsn=scwspmo&ref=share

The gearing, or whatever, on the Hipshots is just lovely.

I have always thought that a machine head was a machine head. My ACG has some Hipshot Ultra Lite jobbies on it. Wow, it looks like a machine head is not just a machine head. The mechanical action is massively pleasing and the tuning accuracy is fabulous. What should I have on my shopping list?

As that cockney geezer who plays the violin said, "monster".

Just say no to mixing sets.

DB strings. A whole vortex of £pain.

I could bore for hours on the topic of the TC Spectracomp. Why is it so good? Presets. Other people who understand how to set them have set them. You can zip through lots of presets by firing your phone at your pickups (I dunno either). Choose your fave, set and forget. I like it so much I have 3. One in church, one on my pedal board and one on my desk. With regard to lockdown editing. Yep, it was a monster undertaking by lots of people. If that bloke has left, it is not too late to contact and say that you appreciate what he did and make that conection. A pat on the back NEVER hurts. Ever.

It is weird, I have always gone for the cleanest/fastest sound I could get. This is why I had a soft spot for the U5, but lack of EQ was a non starter for DB and I could not justify 2 preamps. But then I spotted that a nice bit of squelch makes everything a bit more fruity. Just a bit hairy-er. There are all sorts of options out there, but I totted up all my present preamps and toys and figured a QC would give me the best of all worlds. I am not going to rush into one, but will be doing a lot of research. The thrill of the chase!

It is an odd thing. I suppose we are only responding to urges which everyone has but we are expressing it in bass-dom. In the past 2 years I have gravitated towards solid colour basses rather than natural wood ones which were my thing. The problem is that I have more than one bass which essentially do the same thing as soon as the Guitarmageddon kicks in. A case in point is my MM5/G&L L1000/5 conundrum. As soon as I crank the bass on the MM (and why would I not?) or hit the afterburner switch on the G&L (and why would I not?) then they are much of a muchness. I know that there are all sorts of differences, but to own both "for that special moment" is difficult to justify. But I like them both. The other side of the coin is that given that I buy carefully then I know I can get my money out of them easily so it could be a lot worse. I would happily flog 3 or 4 if I could find one bass to rule them all, but every time I have bought that one bass, they have never hit the spot.

Snap. 3D goodness. The SSL Native X-Saturator does much the same thing.

And you have to hand it to Strymon, I don't think I have seen any other brand maintain such buoyant 2nd hand values

Thanks all, I now have time to YT it because there is a Christmas film on the TV. Everyone is happy

I used to have a Monique preamp. It did LOVELY saturation. I fancy a bit now. My SSL plug-in does it very nicely. But lugging a mac book and interface around seems excessive. I do not want grind or distortion or grit. Just that saturation. This is new for me. What does it? I know that the obvious answer is another Monique, but that is not going to happen. I cannot play without earplugs so am not dropping a £grand+ to entertain other people and not get the goodness myself. But I could happily get a pedal which would do it. I am sure the super-dooper multi FX would do what I fancy. But I just fancy a footpedal on my tiny FX board.

I wish there was a magic internet way of putting all these useful people on a map.

I was playing Ebay roulette late one evening and accidentaly won a 5 stringer. The rubber finish was not for me so I had it stripped and painted with some chamfering and a tummy cut in the process. Lush it is. I like the 'ray teardrop plate but with the amount of strings I like.

!

I guess the cat is out of the bag then Andy and I both love the same basses!