CameronJ

That is dangerous news...

The current list... Dingwall Super P5 Sandberg California VM5 (soon to be for sale I think) Yamaha BB735a MTD Kingston Super 5 Sandberg Electra VS4 Wingbass NT5 (being custom built in the US, soon to be shipped!) Oh, and a Tanglewood Electro acoustic bass (decent quality, I’ve used it on shows) and a “Vintage” electro acoustic bass (fairly crap).

Love a nice slimy neck.

I think there are a few who weren’t affected (not sure why/how) so you aren’t alone. Seems like the majority lost theirs though.

@Grangur I like what you’ve done there

Agreed. Pre-baked beans please. I don’t want a sudden burst of GAS upon listening.

Ooh yes. That’s how a bass should sound!

Oh dear. PM Incoming...

It’s an MTD Kingston Super 5

It seems to have disappeared off the website?

Seems to be a direct competitor to the Mono Sleeve, at less than half the price and no doubt of comparable quality. They also seem to have taken the clip/flap idea from the Mono Sleeve but, at first glance, it looks to be a bit better executed. Love Gator!

I’m using it as an opportunity to reinvent myself! Meanwhile, an example of the comical ad size on my iPad:

Also I need a new avatar too

Some of the new ads are hilariously large on my iPad!

Purely reputation. Though I’ll say that for a guitarists purposes, it’s almost difficult to make a bad PA speaker. Low end handling just isn’t a concern, and that’s where you’ll see the difference in brands and budget most quickly. Had you A/B’s the Alto, Yamaha and QSC speakers with any of your 5 string basses you would, I’m sure, have noticed a clearer difference. Still, going back to the end purpose of the monitor for your band, if all that it’s needed for is Vox and the odd bit of acoustic geetar im sure you’ll be fine with near enough any PA speaker on the market - your existing compact Behringer being a prime example!

Tha’s fair enough. In which case, I return to my previous statement that another RCF will beat the Alto all day long!

I’ve run open mic nights off of these things, easily filling a whole pub with vocals and acoustic guitar. They can get very loud but I haven’t used them with a full band before. I imagine it’ll outgun the Behringer pound for pound and but I’d recommend one per mic stand so each vocalist can have individual control of their own foldback. There is a “thru” output so they can be chained easily, i.e. from vocalist 1 to vocalist 2’s mic stand. Not knowing just how loud your stage typically is or how far you tend to be from each other proximity-wise I can’t say for certain how useful they’d be for the rest of the band. In my experience though, as a general rule, if you can avoid sharing monitors between multiple band members - do. The form factor and weight of these things make it so easy to put them anywhere and have multiples of them without feeling like they’re encroaching on square footage in the performance space. Sure, 3 of them will cost a little under ~£600 but the flexibility they offer is pretty unique.

So the replacement monitor is purely for the vocalists, with a relatively light sonic workload (Vox & acoustic guitar). I’d actually suggest not upgrading massively in speaker size but in overall quality, going with something like a TC Helicon Voicesolo FX150. It’s basically a much more intelligent version of the Behringer that you currently use, with far greater control of levels and more comprehensive I/O. They can go bloody loud and ie even used mine as a small personal monitor for bass. It has 2 combo XLR Jack sockets, XLR outputs, 3.5mm (1/8”) stereo Aux in and can even supply phantom power to a condenser mic if needed. Has several flavours of reverb on board, adjustable per channel - useful if you have 2 mics going directly into the unit then onto the desk from there. 3 band EQ, again on a per channel basis. They can go silly loud and (perhaps most importantly on a cramped stage) are easily clamped onto the main upright bar of a mic stand, allowing all controls to be within easy reach of the user.

I did read that, but it implies that is what’s going though your mains (RCFs) not necessarily the same as what you hav going through your on stage band monitors. Anyway, I shall assume you have a full mix currently going through your Behringer B205s...

Given how narrow the price gap between the Alto and the RCF is, it’s a no-brainer IMO. RCF is without question a better product. @jrixn1‘s point about having an instant backup is reason enough to go for it I reckon. Just mix and match without worrying about what speakers are going where during setup. Same quality of sound on stage and out front. What will you be putting through the monitors? Just vocals? Full mix?

Also forgot to add that I mostly play P basses and variations thereof - PJ, PM etc. which tend to have the pickup where I naturally want to pluck anyway. The only non-P type bass I own is this: As you can see the pickups on this bass act as a ramp too. It’s a joy to play!

When you say the pickups are in the way on the Jazz, I guess you mean the pickups are preventing you from digging in as much as you want to? Personally the only time I have a problem with pickups getting in the way under the strings is when doing any (rare) slaps or pops in a song. Otherwise, I actually prefer playing over the pickup as a kind of limiter for how much I dig in. My first 5 stringer was an Ibanez BTB33 Volo which has dual humbuckers and a ramp between the pups so it effectively has one uniform block beneath a large proportion of the potential plucking area. I think having that ramp ultimately improved my technique and made my right hand a bit more efficient/economical.

Great work!

That neck...I want to lick it! Purpleheart & Wenge by any chance?