Bridgehouse

Oh dear - no wonder you can't tell the difference in sound between different basses

The cringlewangers require precise timing alignment or your playing will be slightly behind the beat. I use a special cringletimer: which attaches to the gripper splark and lets you manage the timing properly. Careful of cowboys who say they can set these using the guitar version (they are a totally different tool:)

I've not tried the platinum pro, but it would certainly be worth a go - as it's main usage is usually piezo style pickups anyway. I've got piezo saddles in my Shuker Fretless, (as well as a mag under the board). John East did me a preamp for it with a separate piezo pre and then his 4 knob standard EQ. The piezo saddles go through the piezo pre and then on into the main preamp for eq etc. What's interesting is that John's preamp has a treble roll off on it as the main control, to help shape the piezo sound and get rid of some quack - it works a treat. I would imagine the that the platinum pro may do a similar job tbh (just on the floor rather than onboard the bass) a bit like the LR Baggs would do too. Knowing it's a piezo, I'd avoid the valve based preamp pedals, and the ones that have drive on them, and stick to something that's centred around good quality EQ'ing and gain/output control. Ironically, I also think the HX Stomp would do a good job with this bass as well, as my Helix does a cracking job of getting a good sound out of my piezo saddles as well.. I've learned too much about piezo's on bass after having the Shuker - more than anyone should know in one lifetime I reckon

The action was a bit high on one of my basses so I spranged the floggle toggle a bit, adjusted each of the cringlewangers and then reset the flangoplonge. Played beautifully afterwards.

Fingerboard... it's a fingerboard.... 😁

Yep - there we go. You need an onboard preamp to deal with the high impedance output of a piezo pickup and make it usable in most amplification situations. The output from your mouse will be "regular" after the preamp. A nice floor mounted Preamp/DI will let you do some tone changing and tweaking - given it's a piezo I'd go for a nice clean sounding one like the LR Baggs Stadium to get the most out of the piezo sound - you can use it to cut out some of the really high frequency noise you sometimes get with a piezo or add some mids back in, which are often missing in a Piezo as well.

I can hear the other members of my band all saying “WTF are you lot on about?? Lol”

I’m not sure the origin of “it’s all in the fingers” is really related to different instrument sounds. It’s more about the player, and attitude to playing, and deciding what is going to get you to where you want to be. For some, the bass, the amp, the effects etc etc seem to be the be-all and end-all on getting good tone, and getting a sound that they really want. But the reality is that at the end of the day it’s all in practise, good technique and hard work. For me, that’s the spirit of it - buying all the expensive gear and expecting to sound like your bass heroes isn’t going to happen - because their tone is in their fingers - which have had years of practise, hard work, and experience.

What sort of pickups are in the mouse? Is there a Piezo element? If so, that will explain the Preamp as you need something active onboard to change the impedance of the piezo output tonsomething usable by a traditional bass amplifier

*trying really hard not to come across as sarcasm* An on-board Preamp is on board your bass, and an external one is, um, external... No, really - there might be a few extras on the external like compression, drive, DI out etc but they are essentially both doing the same job - taking your passive signal and amping it with active electronics - allowing you to shape the tone with EQ etc.

I’ve met her and she’s my bass hero.

Wasn’t the idea to sling it low to hide ones unwanted teen embarrassment?

And for clarity, “the worst” is:

I thought they were all universities now...?

Yes sort of - just to prove that they were either tooled pre agreement, or have the right paperwork for post agreement

Given it's current schedule, is there a way to get it near(ish) to me by 24th Nov?

There's some corking mistakes in that: 1. Markbass amp and cab.. 2. 5 string bass 3. Too many notes 4. Too many slides 5. Too much smiling - no pouty constipated "bass face" 6. Although seated, too much moving about - not enough "rigid bass player scared stiff" pose 7. Too much groove pushing and pulling - needs far more rigidity and lack of expression 8. Vertical blinds - in 2018?? 9. Should have oiled that fretboard 10. Not enough clank/mwah/thump/bounce/slap/twang* *delete as appropriate

I presume you mean CITES and not London, Paris, Milan etc..? The rules are complex, and a pain in the twerker.. it depends on the wood, which treaty it's covered by, and whether the original manufacturer got cites certification. If not, you need to get a cert to ship it outside of the EU, and the importer needs to do the same. Unless it's Braz Rosewood... don't even go there....

The fretted will be fine for the 24th You should do a lined fretless tho - yum yum !

I'd probably say the LR Baggs Stadium Bass DI will do the closest job to the AER - or maybe the Fishman Multi-instrument one. (platinum?) Other ones to consider: GK Plex (lots of tonal options) - Sansamp Bass DI (industry staple) - MXR (tends to be the least "coloured" tone)

See the problem is, if I like this bass I might get you to do a fretless one If someone can get it over to me before the 24th Nov then I'll take it to the Jam and let loads of people have a go on it. (With guitar, drums, keys, vocs etc in context too)

Yeah - I looked twice and came to the same conclusion - very low action but optical illusion makes it look huge!

A good DI/Preamp will give you control over your sound without having to lug the amp to do the same job tbh. Plus... and I think this is a biggie - having a Preamp/DI box in your bass bag is a good reserve/backup if your amp goes pop... Plus plus... they are great for recording directly into a desk as well to give you some tone shaping before it hits the desk

I’m playing bass at an organised jam on 24th November in Leicester which I could take it to and there will be half a dozen bass players there who could try - would be video’d too.. if that’s of interest

Here’s mine: