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On TalkBass a few people were posting about using a Nordstrand Acinonyx BEAD and that it works. If that is really true, I would have thought any full scale 4 string would be fine, as it is going to benefit from greater string tension than the 30.75” Acinonyx.

Yes, it works. I’ve tried it but the Two10 sounded like it was struggling with its share of the work load, so you are right: louder but not necessarily better. What I was more concerned with was an amp to get the best out of the Monza on its own but consensus seems to be to stick with what I have got. The need to run at 2.7 was only if I was going to get another amp and was to keep my options open. Looks like I’ll just stick with what I have for the while. I’d love to have a Messa Subway Plus but that’s champagne tastes for lemonade money as far as I am concerned! 😀

Agree with everything said about the Gnome’s EQ. What I find odd is the fan noise bit. Yes, the fan comes on very quickly but it doesn’t seem intrusive to me. That said, I’m sure they vary example to example. I’ve also got the 280 watt iPro version now. Returning to the EQ, the Gnome sounds pretty horrible into my FRFR LFSys Monza with the controls all at 12 o’clock. Conversely it sounds pretty good into my BF Two10. The two seem to compensate for each other’s built in character. Having seen the analysis work that @Phil Starr has done, I can set the Gnome to sound good through the Monza but it’s easier just to use my MB LM III, or Blackstar U700, which have better baked in tone (to my ears) to pair with an FRFR cab.

I have a 32” scale P Bass bitsa that I put together, which has a full size P body, so effectively what you are looking at doing. I think you will be very lucky not to have to move the bridge forward. The neck pictured has 20 frets, mine has 22 and I still needed to bring the bridge forward from where it would be on a 34” scale bass. The scale from nut to bridge saddle has got to be 32” (or very close) for the G string to intonate properly. I guess you might just get away without moving the bridge, if yours has masses of forward movement in the saddles. After that you will find the pickups are no longer in the sweet spot. Mine sounded very bright, so much so that I eventually put a second precision pickup set in closer to the neck. I like weird and whacky, so I’m not too bothered but it might not float your boat. You could move your pickups further towards the neck into the sweet spot (not sure how you calculate where that is for a 32”). That would mean routing the body probably and you would need a custom cut pickguard to accommodate the new position (or have a messy guard). Anyway see the pic. Bridge further forward than it would be for a 34” scale ditto (bridge) pickup in original position. The bridge is a Fender high mass, which sticks out at the back more than a standard BBOT, so doesn’t look quite so out of place as it might. Nevertheless, I have fitted a vintage style cover to conceal it a bit (that’s what the two screws are for). BTW my controls: first is a stacked volume/tone, second is a balance control for the pickups.

In my experience it will neck dive badly but other folks experience may be different. NB, I’ve only had the SS and 32” variants but I would have thought a full scale may be even more inclined to be neck heavy.

@fretmeister Thanks for the explanation. I won’t be confused in future. A friend just got a Lionel off BC and he is very pleased with it. I have a custom PJ shorty, which means I’m not in the market for a P (or should I say V) SS but if I was, this would definitely be on my list.

Lovely looking basses @Merton. I can’t manage a 5er any longer and these would be way out of my price range anyway but some lucky people will be very happy! GLWTS.

Thanks folks. I think you have saved me from a lot of unnecessary expenditure. A bit of research was suggesting one of the Mesa 800 heads would tick all the boxes but they start at well passed £1K!

Thanks for the details. It does sound worth investigating.

Quite a few questions bound up in this. The Monza is rated at 600 watts at 8 ohms. I have two gigging amp heads that I am very happy with:: a Blackstar U700 and a MB LMIII 500 but they are only capable of delivering 250 and 300 watts respectively at 8 ohms. While their max is as much as I am probably ever going to need, it does mean that they would be running at their ragged edge at this volume, which I don’t think is going to give the full clean sound I would like. My instinct is that I need more headroom in the amp, so that it can deliver 300-400 watts without being stretched, thus producing a full clean sound. Does this make sense, or am I just falling for an urban myth? I don’t want to be spending money on a new amp unnecessarily, especially as I like what the U700 and LMIII can deliver. If I was to consider an alternative it would need to be able to operate at 8 ohms for the Monza, 4 ohms for my BF Two10 and 2.67 to run both simultaneously. That seems to narrow my choice down to some pretty expensive hardware. If I was going to spend that sort of cash, I would want the amp to have some of the extra features that the U700 has like built in compression, variable overdrive and amp voicings, preferably controllable via footswitch. What do you folks think. Do I need a more powerful amp, or would I just be spending money for not much gain? If I do need to go down the more powerful amp route, what should I be looking at?

Well that’s a good way to confuse punters! Still doesn’t explain how it differs from a Lionel. It’s a lovely looking bass though and I’m sure it’s great to play.

I’m confused. Why is it called V when it’s a four and how does it differ from a Lionel?

I like the convenience of being able to roll off the top end easily and quickly from the guitar, without having to mess around with the EQ on my amp. There are only a few songs in our set that require the “British invasion” tone, so I’ve got to be able to switch quickly. I also find it is quite difficult to get that kind of top/mid cut at the amp. It somehow doesn’t sound the same.

Not come across one of those. I would like to know what the “cap” values are for it but it looks interesting. I wonder what the dimensions are: will it fit through the f-hole, I wonder.

I did think of a push/pull with a 0.047 and a 0.1 selection but I think I might struggle to get a decent sized push/pull into the body. The OEM push/pull on the volume, which does the series/parallel switching, has to be the smallest I have ever seen!

Nice! I did the series/single/parallel switch wiring too. Made the bass very versatile. I moved it on in the end because of the dreadful neck dive, even with a wide grippy strap. I guess lightweight machine heads would have helped but by that stage I had decided not to throw any more money at it. Bet yours sounds good with that Ibanez pickup!

To top and tale this. The varitone arrived a little while back but isn’t in my Starfire. I couldn’t get it into the body, even with the treble side pickup removed. It’s just too big. ☹️ I’m wondering what to do with the varitone. I think it may end up in my project 32” P bass, which is a touch on the bright side but that’s another story. I am left with not being very happy with the standard tone pot/capacitor on the Starfire. I think it should really give a deeper cut to fit the vibe of the instrument. I suspect it may be a 500k/0.022 combo. I think a 250K/0.047 combination would be better. I think I can fit a full size CTS or Alpha pot through the f-hole as long as I don’t have the Orange Drop cap sticking out too far from the base of the pot 🤞. I’m still psyching myself up to attempting it after the disappointment of not being able to fit the varitone.

I have a Thomann deluxe guitar gig bag for my Sire fretless shorty. It was recommended as a “perfect fit” on their website when I bought the bass and it is. There is a little bit of room spare above the headstock and plenty of room around the body, plus 25mm padding. Not bad for a tadge over £40. It is much better designed than the Fender SS gig bags that I have used previously. They don’t have any reinforcement at the bottom of the bag, so it doesn’t take long for the strap button to split the seam.

😀🤣 Do they throw in a truss with every bass?

The first link above says it weighs 5 Kg! Streuth!

Every P/J I’ve ever had and every replacement P/J pickup set (several different brands) has suffered from the Jazz having less output than the P. It would be great if someone does have an easy wiring fix for it but I’m not hopeful. At one stage I did think of doing a mix and match based on the output of pickups; I.E. seek out a really powerful Jazz and a less powerful P pickup but I am sure I read somewhere that it doesn’t necessarily produce the result you expect. Also a really powerful Jazz pickup is likely to produce a different tone to the standard. That may or may not work for what you are after. I decided in the end that it didn’t really matter for me, as I only use the Jazz pickup to blend in a bit of upper mids. I never solo it. I’m no Jacko! You might have different requirements of course. Probably irrelevant but one wiring trick I have used, is a push/pull to put both pickups on but in series. It sounds massive!

Just chuck the original neck and put a pattern maple Jazz neck on. Job done. 😀

Yes, QC is a bit dodgy but it makes an excellent modding platform. With a little bit of work (shielding, etc) you can get a decent bass. Just ignore the jazz pickup, it’s pretty weak and doesn’t add much, so not a priority for replacement IMO (if I remember correctly it’s not full size Jazz bridge size either, so difficult to find a direct replacement). The chunkyness is what made me move mine on but would probably suit the OP well. They do vary a bit in weight also: mine was a boat anchor but I’ve seen other reports of examples that weighed less than 8lbs.

Interesting looking bass. Wonder what the bridge string spacing is? It looks like 19mm, given the standard parts bin type bridge. The only let down for me is the slab body with no contouring (as far as I can tell from the pics). Reasonable price point though.

@ead I have hand issues too (after rugby and motorcycle accidents) but tend to go for the Jazz shape necks (narrow and deep-ish). Huge generalisation but a lot of shorties do tend to have quite narrow necks. There are exceptions around but I don’t think many fit your price/weight criteria. If you can find them used a JMJ Mustang might be a good one as it has a chunkier neck. The Reverend Watt Plower also but both are a bit pricey. I think there are other chunkier neck Mustangs and I am sure others can advise. The new Vintage Callan seems to have a fairly wide nut and it’s quite keenly priced.