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Does anyone have any experience with the (Bill) Wyman Bass from Bass Centre? I didn't know about it before today. It's 30" scale, small body, £600 new.

Anyone heard of this thing? I hadn't until today. A few of us at work are going to play a few songs at a company do next week, and one of them said there was a bass amp in storage. It had been left by someone who no longer works there. I have a bass there, since we ran through some songs today, so I borrowed it, and it sounds OK at low volumes. It's very light - maybe 10 lbs - and I'm not confident it would be good at anything much louder.

Here's a picture of an identical one, which is on sale here, though that one is missing the tone controls. A search finds others on sale, including one for £12.99!

Gibson didn’t go after Serek for the Midwestern or others. If anything, that might have helped push Gibson in to bringing back the Newport.

Looking at that nut, I realised that I've never owned a bass (or guitar) that didn't have a straight string pull across the nut to the strings. I don't think I want one, either. If I get a Newport, I know that would annoy me to the point where I'd install some kind of string tree. The cheap plastic isn't helping, but maybe it's less brittle? Hmmm.

GAS is not over for me, since I do my own setups and wiring, and actually have one of those Artec mudbuckers here. I considered dropping one in to my Harley Benton MP-4EB, and haven’t ruled that out, but that requires woodwork and I went with active EMGs first. Until then, a Newport could be a good place for it. 

5 hours ago, Old Horse Murphy said:

Does anyone who owns one of these have an idea of the weight of them? 

I asked on TalkBass: answer I got was just shy of 8lbs, which lines up nicely with the above.

I've been going back and forth on these - not helped too much by multiple video reviews in which the bass clearly needed a setup. Here's a new one I found which compares it to a Fender Mustang, both with flatwounds & definitely sounding better to me than in the Andertons review:

On 17/02/2023 at 15:13, NancyJohnson said:

 

Anyone notice the bridge on the DWoFS video is a hi-mass one, the retail models seem to BBoT version.

Yep - not stock, Dave said the owner did a retrofit.

Dave - the angriest guitar repair guy in Canada - has a look at one. Pickup seems OK, the bridge had already been replaced, but ... frets: video link .

The Fender has got its own thread, here. It's pretty bad, more than one instrument affected.

About the Newport - in the latest demo video I don't hear the pickup phase problem that "Lobster" had earlier. In both videos I hear something odd with the blend knob, however, it seems to "switch" with a sudden volume change.

On TalkBass there are a few more reports, it doesn't appear to be a single example. Either the bridge or the pickup is in the wrong position.

I'm considering one of these too: I thought about the EB-0, because I like a mudbucker, but maybe not as the only pickup, so this looks better.

Here's a new playing demo I found today, fairly short:

PS for colour, I like the Sunset Yellow most so far. Anderton's website says they're in stock, anyone near Guildford?

On 09/06/2022 at 05:25, Lesfunk said:

I just took delivery of the new short scale headless from Bootlegger guitars 

it’s a fun little bass to play and sounds good!

here’s a link to a review I posted at talk bass. 
https://www.talkbass.com/reviews/bootlegger-ace-short-scale-headless-bass.541/

 

 

This baby is really ticking a lot of boxes for me: I like headless, I love green, I want a light & ergonomic body shape, and I've been considering a short scale. If you don't mind me asking, how was the ordering process from California, with the shipping costs etc.?

I’m not going to comment on the tone as it is, filtered through YouTube audio compression and the two different sets of cheap headphones I use. I want to hear that beast through a 1000W RMS amp driving some 24” subs. Though “hear” might be the wrong word. If my shirt sleeves aren’t flapping at 20 Hz, like sails ina stiff breeze, it’s not loud enough. 

2 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

Sounds terrible and will finish off many speakers.👎

Oh yeah, you need RMS limiters on the PA. In the video, Nate tries it through Porcupine Tree's PA ... 🥴

Thanks for the build video - should be v. inneresting. They don't say which strings are on there, but with those gauges I'd go to Kalium for e.g. a 0.256" E. (A 1/4 inch jack is 0.250", for comparison!)

I didn't think it was possible to go an octave below standard bass without the sound turning to mud, but Nate had Lignum make him a multiscale 4-string with the Low E0 at 42 inches:

Nate's not a small guy at six foot frack knows, but it really does look playable by mere mortals.

I've been looking for a short scale, and one of these might do the trick. I have a blend pot going spare after my MP-4EB mod a couple of years ago, the type where centre position means both pickups on full. It's an odd omission, though.

5 minutes ago, Lunoxx said:

What's the one in the top right with the red button? 

It looks like a custom / handmade thing, I can't find any information on it. The name is a cheeky movie reference for those of a certain age / preference.

Chris Larkin died in 2018 and his business wasn't taken over, so he should be removed from the first post, I think. The domain lapsed and has been taken over by scammers.

I know there are luthiers in Ireland, but I haven't dealt with any, so I don't have any to recommend yet.

On 12/10/2022 at 15:51, Chienmortbb said:

I once accidentally followed a series wiring diagram for my DiMarzio P/J set (both humbuckers). The sound was so thin it was unusable for bass.

That would make me suspect the two outputs were out of phase, so I would swap one of the pickup’s wires around. Even if the diagram told me exactly how to wire the whole thing. 

A real vintage Fender P-bass is high on my wish list. Gibson, on the other hand ... their recent bass offerings do nothing for me. A vintage Ripper or Grabber, maybe, but they could win me over if they brought back the Victory Artist in a modern form, not a reissue. By modern I mean slimmer & hopefully lighter (esp, the headstock), and with modern electronics from e.g. Fishman or EMG.

I only saw bits, caught the end of Them Crooked Vultures' set but saw an audience clip online today. I really hope this gives them the kick they need to make more music together, it's been so long that I worried about JPJ being up for it - but based on last night, he could be.

3 hours ago, toneknob said:

Can any Geddy geeks tell me more about his Jazz?

All I know is that it's not new, he played it on the last tour, as pictured here. The logo on the pickguard is the astronomical symbol for the planet Mercury.

2 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

 

My only issue with Joshua Tree is its too perfect, too polished and it feels to me like they could have made it a bit worse to make it better

Considering what they did next - Achtung Baby, a +1 from me, I suspect the band felt the same way!

Others on my list:

• Japan - Tin Drum
• James - Millionaires
• Steven Wilson - hand. cannot. erase

but if there is one that pushes all my buttons, it can only be The Yes Album.

I have one of those Harley Benton Enhanced MP-4 basses (reverse P and MM pickups). The neck is just over 39mm wide at the zero fret and just over 55mm at the twelfth. Could be right up your street.