Obrienp

That is definitely on my wish list but before I went there (money permitting), I wanted to know if I was getting the most out of the one I already have. I just wondered if I would be better off with an amp with more output and therefore, more clean headroom. Consensus seems that I should stick with what I have got. Also I was wondering whether I should keep saving and stretch to a Monaco instead of another Monza but then I would be mixing 10 and 12” drivers. Just that a mate, who recently got a Monaco, was saying how much more he “felt” the bass than with his two BF One10s. I know it’s not comparing apples with apples but I can’t help but wonder if the size of the driver has something to do with that.

That’s what I understand about the pickups. I certainly haven’t noticed any hum from the Jazz. I wouldn’t expect it from the P anyway. I would imagine that it would make a great modding platform. Everything seems fairly standard fitting, so there must be a lot of aftermarket stuff available but caveat: I haven’t tried replacing anything so far. I’ll post some pics when I get a chance.

Really but doesn’t it also beg the question at what frequency that is set to and what your cabinets can cope/are optimised for? For example the LFSys Monza can handle down to 40 Hz and the BF cabinets go down to 30 Hz. It will be obvious I’m no expert but presumably sending those cabs anything lower at high volume is likely to lead to them struggling. The Mesa Subway + has a variable HPF control. There must be a reason for that. I would also have thought that manufacturers would mention an HPF in their specs. They seem to boast about every other feature, however inconsequential. I have been convinced by the HPF/LPF thread that these are worth while and I have noticed a positive effect in my own experiments (I am using a pedal, which is clunky IMO), which is different to that produced by the amps EQ controls. Other people’s mileage may be different.

Don’t like the promotional video much. A bit like one of those car ads but a quick squint at the specs on the website are much more encouraging. A few things I would have liked to have seen: independent drive control, compressor, HPF, tuner, character control, ability to go down to 2 ohms. One day, someone will do it. Mesa are almost there with the Subway 800+. My Blackstar U700 doesn’t have the HPF.

@RichT I’m not sure I’m the best judge of fretless basses TBH. I have only owned 1 other, which was an acoustic short scale Guild but a huge bodied instrument. I find the Sire to be pretty close to perfect for me. I haven’t weighed it but it doesn’t feel heavy to me. The body is scaled down and quite dinky. It fits nicely into a Thomann guitar gig bag. I would say weight is on a par with other short scale basses I have played: Mustangs and the like. It’s a pretty looking thing, with a flamed maple top and a brown back. It has bound body edges as well, rolled finger board and some contouring (so better than a lot of shorties). The back contouring is a bit strange because it has a belly bulge rather than a cut but it seems to work fine. The board is maple, which is a bit unusual for a fretless and lined (good for newbie fretless players like me). It all seems to work though. The neck is definitely a Jazz bass style, which suits my arthritic left hand but may not be for everybody. Pickups aren’t the most aggressive I’ve come across but they are noiseless. TBH I hardly use the Jazz. I might eventually get round to replacing them with something with a bit more grunt but they are adequate so I’m in no rush. The same applies to the bridge and machine heads. The bridge is a variation on the BBOT theme but much better than some I’ve seen on other instruments in this price range and has ridged saddles, which I like. It comes with D’Addario flats that I haven’t seen the need to change. In short, I’m very pleased with it. It seems like a well made instrument for not a lot of money.

I just had a Rickenbacker post appear on my Facebook feed (they have obviously profiled me) about a short scale solid body bass they were sending out to a US dealer. It was called the 4030. I did a bit of online research and apparently it is 31” scale on a 4003 body. The bridge is stranded well up the body. The pickup placing also looks a bit odd. It turns out it is a full size body and it has a 24 fret neck, hence the very forward positioning of the bridge. The fingerboard looks like ebony but is in fact Richlite. I found a US dealer online with one from 2022, that was a special order, going for 3,500 USD. Makes you wonder what they cost new but still a bit cheaper than the anniversary special semi they did recently. I have always wanted a Rickie simply because Chris Squire was one of my bass hero’s as a kid. I could never afford it and still can’t. Plus I couldn’t manage the weight, or the nut width now. I got all excited at the idea of a short scale version but not if it has the same size, bulk and weight as a long scale version. I can’t help but feel they missed a trick here. A genuine short scale (in proportion) solid body variant would probably sell well, especially as shorties seem to be a bit trendy at the moment.

So far, I’ve not messed with my Nordstrand Acinonyx; Guild NS Starfire 1 (although the writing is on the wall for the tone circuit); Sire U5 Fretless Short Scale. Are any of them magic? Well not really but they are good enough to be left alone, despite my local luthier saying the pickups on the Acinonyx are really badly made; I respect his opinion because I have one of his custom basses with his own pickups and they are brilliant. The Acinonyx pickups sound good but the thread for the adjustment screws is cut into the metal baseplate, which is made of cheese (according to said luthier). He has had to repair several after little use and it’s difficult to do without completely rebuilding them: so much for US manufacturing (the pickups not the guitar which is built in China). Also the wheel truss rod adjustment at the neck heel was completely maxed out on mine. Turns out the retaining screw can be loosened to allow more adjustment but you have to remove the scratchplate complete with electronics to do this. Close to magic IMO, is my Maruszczyk Elwood Active medium scale but I did replace the stock bridge. I bought it used, so if I had done the specification, I wouldn’t have chosen the stock bridge. Apart from that, the standard pickups are really good, ditto the active circuit (although I use it in passive mode most of the time). If I had the cash, I would probably spec up a medium scale Jake

Is the original pickup set that bad? I think I would be a bit miffed paying that sort of money for a bass and then having to change the pickups. However, I know taste in tone is highly individual. P.S. Just heard that my mate, who recently acquired a used Lionel, is having the pickups rewound by a local luthier. Is this is a Sandberg/Lionel weakness, or just coincidence?

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.