andruca

I might come out as BITTER. Sorry for that. Thing is I DEFINITELY AM, after spending a lot of money in the fraud over the years. My only advice is: AVOID BARTOLINIS AT ALL COSTS. They simply ignore how to manufacture pickups that don't sound dead. I've owned many, including the P452Js set I put in my 1005MS (the drop that broke the camel's back), and haven't owned nor played even one that's even been acceptable to me. The alnico Wilkinsons (under 3D printer covers) I have on now in my EHB are bizarrely better than those Bart quad coils, so yes, they're THAT BAD. Not dumping any more BIG money only to have instruments sound POORER and more generic. HUGE pile of decades long hype. My apologies to all snobs. Told ya' I'm bitter, sorry.

I'm still confused as per Zooms' guts. I own several G/MS/on generation devices. All have the same effects and sound the same. I own a B1Xfour too (following generation AFAIK). Are the newer B6/B2four/MS+ the same generation processor as the B1four/B3n? Effect parameters look like so (just don't get me started about the para-EQ going from 2-band to 1, I don't get such loss of functionality). I've been forever struggling to make my B1Xfour sound as "full" as my old Multistomps/on/B3. It both sounds more "lo-fi" and also "genericizes" the tone of my basses, meaning their character gets diluted in comparison with, i.e., my old MS-60B. That's why I want to know if tone is the same on newer models. I'm really interested in an MS-60B+, but if tone is similar to that of the B1four/Xfour I would pass, and patiently wait for the next gen (my duty as a decades long Zoom fanboy).

It's all mounted in 2 PCBs (one for every row of knobs). In my case the main con was knobs where too close to the strings, terrible for picking (which I sometimes do). I desoldered both volume pots to move them down, out of the way of my picking. Came out great. I think changing to a volume+blend config (instead of 2 x volume) shouldn't be complicated nor expensive.

IF you're considering the Jazz route and/or Sire, check the MarkBass Gloxy GV5. I changed my Sire V3 for one of those and couldn't be happier. No Sire I've played (mostly V7s and V3s) plays nor sounds like it. It's a pretty classic sounding '70s spaced JB, minus the offset body, with an active onboard that can be switched off. Neck is a skinny C profile and it takes less digging to get wild/growly than Sires. You should be able to get one for 400£ used.

Is it too off the charts to ask for some sound clip? It'd be easy to judge the kind of "jazzbassness" that particular instrument brings listening to a simple clean sample of both pickups plus each on their own.

I strongly hate the tone of 2 pickups too damm close together. Systematically ruins every bass for me. I know it's the "modern" standard for many. I just can't stand it. I think this is still a higher value than Ibanez's 2 cheapest EHB options (1005/1205), at least these don't come with Turdtolinis (a "standard" I couldn't care less about, after much money spent on their dead sounding crap). Pickup distance (or lack thereof) aside, those pickups sound open and normal. I wish somebody just made a headless fanned fret Jazz Bass, which just sounded like so (NORMAL decent pickups), no need to reinvent the nasal tin sounding wheel (nor the dark dead one). Closest I got was putting Wilkinson alnico Jazz pickups in my EHB1005MS as far apart as cavities will allow. Best that EHB has ever sounded, by far (moreso coming from the stock BH2s and some -also Darktolini- P452Js, a totally useless burning of a lot of money). Still pickup distances are WRONG on the EHB1005MS too. I love the bass but pickup position and pickup type choice are WEAK. Guess Leo got that right first time too. IDK, I like "modern" basses as per functionality and ergonomics. Just hate the sound choices manufacturers make for most of them.

Ed Motta anyone?

I had never thought of this. I've measured 8.25" (sounds like we're discussing skateboard decks). I of course knew I have big hands. I had indeed measured my hands beffore, just a different magnitude. When I open my hand as wide as I can, I cover 27cm/10.6" between my thumb and pinky tips. I've in fact used such data many times to roughly measure stuff 🤣 D3spite mybig paws, I prefer thin necks. I mostly own basses with thin necks (4 and 5 strings). I might not be the skinny neck nazi I was 10 years ago. I try to focus more into discovering basses now, instead of consuming them, but everything else must be nothing short of perfect/desirable for me to deal with a thick neck. One such case is a 1981 Yamaha SuperBass 500S I got some months ago. Awesome, I can deal with the less than ideal (thick, sorta' D) neck profile. It even plays (and slaps) real nice, I've played it for hours in several occasions without the hefty neck being an impediment, once I adapted to how the bass wants to be played. With age, I might be more open to listening to that than forcing my ways on an instrument, big hands or not.

I set up height by feel/buzz, but I've measured my setups many times. I usually go 2.5mm @ low B to 2mm for the G. It's sorta' low for the low B, but (A) if I'm picking I don't mind some buzz, and (B) when playing fingerstyle I (mostly unconsciously) pluck the low B more towards the bridge for extra articulation, so it's less buzzy by nature. I've just measured the setup I just did in my (4 string) Yamaha SuperBass, and I'm also 2.5 to 2mm high, so that looks like my "universal" string height range (all I know is I know nothing) 🤣 Also I file nuts as low as they can be (shouldn't be higher than a fret). Inproves both feel and intonation 👍

It's been a long time since I NEEDED a bass and was thus looking for something specific. All my latest acquisitions have been more like "I'd like a P bass, let's see what I can find...", or "wow!, that bass I had never heard of sounds spectacular, I want one", or "what is this bargain in the classifieds?" 🤣 Lately I can live with anything but the generic/dead "modern" lousy tone. I mostly stay away from bass humbuckers other than Leo's designs (P, MM). In that regard I have DARKtolinis and DEADlanos specifically blacklisted (after much dough stupidly dumped on them). I also stay away from the nasality of pickups positioned too close together (when there's more than 1). I find it a horrible design choice, sounds too bland and generic to me, every time, no matter how much the djent bass trend tries to make us believe that's how "virile" should sound. Those are the things I'm lately picky about. I can adapt to other circumstances if sound is fine. For instance, I was a skinny neck nazi some years back, now I can live with a thicker neck if I like a bass and its tone enough.

Is the question really "active or passive?" or should it be "why no active?"? Is there anyone "shunning" every passive bass? After 36 years of playing bass I've owned and own many of both. I still can't give a conclusive answer. What I'm sure is I don't like basses that sound generic. And I happen to find more active basses that sound so than passive. That said, out of the 12 basses I own nowadays 4 are active: 2 Stingray5s, a MarkBass GV5 (as gnarly a Jazz Bass in active mode as passive) and an Ibanez EHB-1005MS (with alnico Wilkinson pickups replacing the stock Bart BH2s, 1st time I've dealt with the generic sounding issue without selling a bass, I like it that much). I don't think it's a question of active vs. passive but of the higher chance there is of messing up the tone the "longer" the circuitry and overall options/variables involved. There will be active circuitry (and not just the cheapest) that will kill the tone/feel/responsiveness a bass can give, there's noisy circuitry, there's wrong EQ frequency point/curve choices for the particular instrument and/or pickups, there's "curious" voicings, etc. I'm just guessing more combinations could equate to more chances to screw up, thus probably a higher % of negative experiences with active bass guitars, resulting in the notion in some players' minds "blacklisting" active instruments.

Thanks so much 👍 Not as killer as Mike's. Not sure how sounds on a variety of devices, was trying to make it both thick, crunchy and clear enough. I was lucky enough to watch the man himself (with his Yamaha TRB) play the whole intro mashed up with Duke's end a few meters in front of me (2 hours of -teary on my part- eye contact with him, Daryl Stuermer and Phil Collins). Was the intro to their farewell tour show at the Chicago Bulls' stadium in 2021. This is the first Genesis song ever played at my home (my dad brought Duke home the moment it was available in Argentina). Me and my 3 siblings (38 to 47 y/o back then, living in different parts of the world) were all there. Unforgettable ❤️

TOUGH song 😓

There was also the Ibanez Paul Grey (Slipknot) signature ATK. Basically an ATK-300 with widened nut slots.

I've done it so far with many of my 4 strings: Jazz, my Yamahas (SBV-500, SB500S). I even punked the crap out of a (30.5" scale) Epiphone Viola strung BEAD for years, it just worked. 100% pick,with plenty of crunch and compression. Just pick a 4 string you like and start with that. As others point out, experiment with string gauges for a low B with authority. Just consider a bridge pickup always helps with low B articulation.