Quilly

Actually I'll wait for the Z3 fretless

Id forgive everything except the wonky pickguard

Any links about ?

I'll be jumping on that as soon as it becomes available.

I've noticed over the last few years of so Thomann don't seem to hold much stock anymore. I thought originally it was due to pandemic logistics issue but it looks like its continuing on into 2025. I realize they're probably saving money by not holding loads of inventory but when other on-line stores have the same items ready to ship it doesn't seem to make sense to be losing impatient customers. Sorry if there's a thread already on this subject.

The little piece of metal that holds on to the tip of the jack plug was bent too far inwards and was actually pushing the plug outwards losing connection.

Paul you are a star, I just had to re-bend the jack catch on the + tip and it worked ! Thanks again for your advice !

What I found that there are loads of guitarists out there in your situation, and probably singers, drummers on the other hand are like hens teeth, the good ones are always in about 3/4 bands already. One way to get back playing is to team up with a decent guitarist and singer and go acoustic. If you're decent you'd be surprised how many gigs you could pick up. Be warned you might need to sing a bit.

Hi There I wonder would anyone have experienced this sort of preamp-failure. The Active circuitry wont work at all and with the battery still in place it will only work when the volume is turned up full. The bass will only work in passive mode when the battery is removed completely. No signs of broken wires from battery box or in main body wiring in general. Its a 'Basic' Model.

I’ve used it a few times with a barefaced 210 with excellent results , plenty loud on stage and as you say the pa is doing most of the heavy lifting you should be fine. Best of luck

I’ve used the elf with the barefaced two10 and it has heaps of poke.

Sounded particularly clean today in rehearsal 🤔

My Elf is so small I momentarily lost it today and found it under a pile of laundry 🙄. I don’t think thats ever happened to me before.

I played a TE elf through a 110 Epifani last night and it was great . Small gig, medium size venue

The vs models are nearly the most expensive California model…don’t ask me why . I wouldn’t have done this to a new VS but I’ve had that one over 10 years

Yeah I wouldn’t buy a p style bass again with an active preamp. I don’t miss any “power” with the current set up and it definitely has more of that classic bark.

Are you talking about my bass? Yeah I think the colour just changed over time due to UV sun exposure, what’s under the pickguard is the original colour .

Thanks , I replaced the pickup a couple of years ago as I felt the stock one sounded a bit flat. Although it sounded great it didn't sit perfectly well with the preamp and It was very noisy at low volumes. When I measured the resistance of the pickup it was twice that of the stock Sandberg one ! . I wasn't really using the active circuitry at all and I found myself preferring the sound of my Fender Precision bass (but the Sandberg is a nicer bass to play). It was bugging me for a while until I eventually snapped and pulled out the old soldering iron ! Couldn't be happier now. I do have an active Sandberg Basic and I think the electronics and PUP work really well on that bass.

To be honest I think the old fashioned pots and capacitor weighed more than the onboard preamp !

I suppose I could but I kinda like the bare bones look...its like when Malcolm young had the one Pup in his Gretsch and let the others blank. ... I know weird.

So I did some surgery on my 2010 California VS, removed all the active electronics, replaced it with decent pots a new scratch plate , copper shielding, new caps and Lollar overwounds (total active to passive conversion basically) Different beast altogether now, it did leave a bit of a hole in the back where the battery used to be but as the cavity is nicely varnished inside I’m not too bothered. Can’t put this bass down, loads of character.

I've already changed the Pickup in my California VS for a Lollar overwound and it added so much more character to the sound, in the process of replacing the preamp for a decent passive harness with decent pots and caps.

Thanks for that , just bought one !

I’d like to put together a 100w plexi style bass amp with 4x EL34s I can’t imagine that’s too complicated? It’s the cost of the actual cabinets I find a bit ludicrous. Almost the same cost of all the innards ….for a wooden box essentially