Paul S

I have a Sterling 5er. Marvellous thing and weighs around 8.5lbs. I had Andyjr1515 put a P pickup in the sweet spot (with reversed treble side), routed out a little wood under the new pickguard to offset the extra weight - it still weighs around 8.5lbs. And, importantly, it is black with a maple neck, too!

No insights, just an opinion. I use my amps clean to the point where the signal 'just' starts to break up a little - warm but not remotely overdriven. Over the last 10 years or so I have used all sorts - class D, class D with tube pre, AB. Off the top of my head TC Electronic RH750, Harley Benton 500 (so Ibanez Prometheon, Red Sub), - Eden forget which, GB Streamliner, Mark Bass Little Mark Tube 800, whichever Mark Bass is in the combos, Fender Rumble 500, Orange TB500. Quilter Bassblock 800, Ashdown ABM500, Trace Elliot AH300. Trace Elliot heads always gave me the tone of choice. Orange is a close second followed by Quilter. Then very recently I acquired a Mesa Boogie Prodigy Four:88 and I can honestly say it is leagues above all the others. There is an organic, extra-dimensional quality about the tone way above those with tube preamps. I don't have the words to describe it properly but it puts a smile on my face whenever I have used it so far. Band mates have said it is by far the best sound I have had, so I guess it does notice.

That is one heck of a bass, Andy. I can't begin to understand the skill levels involved - not to mention the lateral thinking - that made it possible but I unquestionably admire them. However I also think it is one of the ugliest things I have ever seen! I like Fender shaped basses....

Used it at rehearsal. What a monster! Still smiling....

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1500326746' post='3337014'] Only one choice for my money... build your own. [url="https://public-peace.de/configurator/jake-c/"]Go nuts.[/url] [/quote] Wow, wish I had seen this 12 months ago! Just made my perfect bass for Euro1300.

Andy measured it for when he added a P pickup to my Sterling - the 'sweet spot' is 11.5" from 12th fret to the poles of the E/A string. You can do standard or reverse mounting for the treble side, according to your whim.

Not quite an accurate statement as the amp is second hand and I've had it longer than a day. Anyway, obbm (Dave) came to my assistance after I had put out a shout for a Mesa Boogie Prodigy Four:88, having decided that one of these was realistically my best shout at an all tube head because of it's low weight. It is a one hand carry - 14kg on my luggage scales. Very compact, looks great sitting on top of my Barefaced Supercompact. I imagine it would look even better sitting on top of both my Supercompacts, but I haven't done that yet Only used it at home - have a loud rehearsal tomorrow. But, my oh my, it sounds glorious. Nothing complicated about the EQ - bass, mids, treble and a 'voice' control that cuts mids one way, boosts them the other. Kind of. For me everything straight up, voice one notch to the left. The gain seems to be the key for using this - straight up is super clean, moves through warm and into grit as you turn it clockwise from there. For me around 1:30pm is perfect, before it starts to break up although that point varies between basses. But the richness, the sparkle - it brings my basses to life in a way that my other amps have failed to do - another league completely! Really looking forward to hearing it cut through tomorrow night! Also a throwaway comment from Dave about it fitting into a tool box. After measuring every toolbox in Homebase and Wickes I found it fits neatly into a Stanley 23" Fatmax with a little space either side for leads. I had an offcut of upholstery foam to pad out the bottom a bit. I can stand on it (I weigh 100kg +/-) and there is no give. 17kg fully loaded, still no problem to lift or move about. Perfect! [attachment=249239:MB1.jpg] [attachment=249240:MB2.jpg] [attachment=249241:MB3.jpg]

After kissing a lot of frogs I eventually found my prince - a Yamaha SG shaped bass, the SB-35, made in the early 70s. Previous owner bought it new. Medium scale, more mojo than you can shake a stick at. It even has a fag burn on the headstock! No neck dive, a tone to die for. [attachment=249098:sb351.jpg] [attachment=249099:sb352.jpg]

Dave answered my plea for a Mesa Boogie Prodigy Four:88 amp. Picked it up today with a couple of cab leads thrown in for good measure. A complete gentleman and a pleasure doing business. Thank you, Sir.

Young Americans for me. At long last it looks like I can finally make one of your gigs! Rayleigh Mill in January.

I have the no scratch plate version for sale at this very moment - only because I went for a more up market and vintage Yamaha. But these are the best vfm 5er out there, I reckon.

Well, to my mind a back up amp has to have a similar output to the amp it is backing up. 200W simply wouldn't be loud enough. But that is for me and my situation.

Aha! I didn't spot that. The two EQ knobs are very intuitive - they exactly do what the picture next to them suggests. It is easy to just dial it in whilst fiddling to find your 'sweet spot' Volume indents are also quite handy but I think where this scores is the gain. Up to 12o/c is clean but further round it will do warm, through grit and into over-driven - all with a nice organic kind of tone. Not fuzzy, though. I tried lots of small amps for back-up/ rehearsals/ small gigs and this is by some measure my favourite.

There is a Quilter Bassblock 800 for sale here - these are really tiny, very loud, great inherent tone, easy to use. For me it is the perfect back up head and often my first choice. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/307758-bergantino-hd210-quilter-bass-block-800/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/307758-bergantino-hd210-quilter-bass-block-800/[/url]

Victor bought my fretless Precision. He and I had a great transaction, however the courier cocked up majorly and it came back to me! Still, all is well that ends well. Victor is a great person to deal with. Good comms, friendly guy. Enjoy the bass!

Alan - if you want to have a look at mine or a noodle around on it to see if it is a good fit you are welcome to pop down the A12/A130 if you have a spare half day sometime.

Mine is 43mm. Just checked, given that I got the last measurement wrong Most likely Stingray based 5s have, but this is a Sterling. Smaller, lighter bodies, narrower necks etc. It is the reason I got it.