Paul S

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1363779139' post='2017371'] Fair comment. But in defence of the originals acts, I have to say there are [u]some[/u] great bands we've played with over the last few years, [u]some[/u] of whom are doing well. [/quote] Some. That's the thing, really. In a majorly mixed metaphor, the cream will always rise to the top but you've got to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince.

I like the idea of playing a distillation of the past 50 years' worth of music, to try and select the best of the best and play them to people who know and appreciate it. Originals stuff is, for me, too hit and miss - most of what I have heard I don't like. There aren't too many gifted song writers out there.

I need lightweight basses because of a back injury. The best of those I have tried are the SGC Nanyo Bass Collection - there is a stonker 320 for sale on this forum at the moment - or a Fender Precision Lyte. Both come in under 8lbs. Of the two I prefer the Precision Lyte, but I do quite like fenders. It has an absolutely beautiful neck, really slim and shallow. If I didn't already have too many basses I'd be having a look at the Ibanez SR800 that someone is selling on here - looks like a bargain. Then there are a whole raft of short scale basses - I have an Epiphone EB0 and Fender Musicman which are both lightweight. And Danelectro already got a mention. Then there is the small headless jobbies - I have a Hohner B2A that is lightweight. By my favourite is the Precision Lyte.

[quote name='Stroopy121' timestamp='1363774893' post='2017254'] If you'd be so kind as to measure it that'd be absolutely lovely, cheers! xx [/quote] I have the action 'reasonably' low and to the top of the saddle is 18mm. I compared this with a P-Bass I have with the BBOT and it is the same to the top of the saddle screw. Then again, that hasn't got a cover, either!

I have fitted both Hipshot A and Gotoh bridges to P.Basses and, for what I need, prefer the Hipshot A. Whether it fits under a cover or not I don't know, but it is a serioously good bit of kit. It also has quick fit for the string ends, rather than having to string them through, which might be useful if you have a cover fitted. If you need to know the clearance I can measure it if you like.

Title says 'now solved' - how, please?

Ki0gon on this very forum can do you a pretty fine electrics upgrade kit - wired pots/jack with screw terminals for your pups - at a very reasonable cost. Gives you an opportunity to chop and change the pups, too - see which you prefer. or if you want to go active and push the boat out, a J East P. Retro is as good a preamp as you could want. It will open up the range of tones immensely.

I have a B2A - which is 34" and also 24 fret. Which, being mainly a Fender man, compounded the mind games these things play until I got used to it.

I only really like black basses. I have 11 basses, 10 are black. Entirely subjective.

Yes, their live stuff was awesome. great example - their cover of 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling'. The studio version was a bit weak but live the highs and lows are tingly. As you say - the harmonies are spot on. [url="http://youtu.be/Fzh1IMhdMOo"]http://youtu.be/Fzh1IMhdMOo[/url] I got my old party/pub band to do a version along these lines and it always went down a storm. It seems everyone know the words to it and sings along - but the big surprise is when it rocks up.

Superb. H&O wrote and played some seriously good music. I saw them live in the 80s and they blew me away. T Bone Wolk was just one of the best, GE Smith insanely brilliant on guitar. As a slight aside, this is a pretty damned good cover of Sara Smile by Richie Kotzen [url="http://youtu.be/xk5H95iw-5g"]http://youtu.be/xk5H95iw-5g[/url]

Bought a J Retro from Dale in a remarkably smooth transaction. Good comms, easy to deal with. Nicely packed and swiftly dispatched. Cheers!!

I do still have a Zoom BFX-708 pedal, which I realise is one of the earlier ones. No firm idea how it differs from the more recent pedals, but I replaced it with the B2.1u when believing it to be faulty - it transpires it was the lead, not the pedal! Maybe I'll fiddle with that before shelling out cash - I may even have the manual somewhere. It would be nice to rationalise all these extras into one little pedal. Thanks!

I did have a Zoom B2.1u for a while but couldn't get on with programming it. All those 'patches' and 'banks' confused the hell out of me. But in some ways one of those might be a more compact solution.

Another thing I wondered about, although it might be a bit clumsy, was to have a number of the Behringer BDI 21 things in line. That would still be cheaper than one of these Sansamp jobs. Any thoughts?

Westone Thunder I or IIA would be my choice. Huge bottom end. Epi Thunderbird Pro probably looks cooler and are nice. More money, but I play in a heavy rock band and my gigging bass is a SBMM SB-14. Nice thinner neck than a Ray.

Thanks chaps. I got the LS-2 before I got the ODB-3 and just sort of kept it in the chain, really. I would prefer life without effects of any sort and have only really been dragged screaming into the necessity of it. as you can possibly tell, I don't really get it. HJ - indeed, ticks most of not all the boxes. Do you find enough control over the mids without having a separate mid sweep control? I think the VT Bass Deluxe has this, but also a lot of stuff i don't need such as amp simulation (or is that just 'presence' by another word?) I get confused.

I think I know what I want to do, but I am not sure about the best way of going about it or even what the options are. I have 2 amps - TC Electronic Classic 450 and Genz Benz Streamliner 600. Both are nice, both give me a variety of sounds that I enjoy. But both need fliddling with in order to get the tones I desire. With my band at the moment I need a warm, slightly overdriven tube-y kind of thing for nearly everything, a much-ly overdriven 'Ace of Spades' and a fuzzy Muse-ly 'Hysteria'. At the moment I set the EQ and gain on the amp for the overall warm tone, use an LS-2 with a ODB-3 set up for the Muse-type tone and either just use this for the Lemmy, which isn't really appropriate, or increase the gain and change the eq on the fly, which throws the levels out. I think I would like to have switchable presets at my disposal - at least 3, more wouldn't hurt. If I had the TC Electronic RH 450 I would use the footswitch for this, but I don't. Plus if I chop and change with the amps it would be kind of nice to be able to get a certain sound from both without spending ages at the controls (within reason). So I am thinking maybe one of the programmable Sansamp footswitches with the EQ and overdrive might work. I default to a scooped sound, which I have read is one of the off-putting aspects of the Sansamp stuff for people who don't. But, if so, which one? I particularly like having control over the mids and the V Bass Deluxe has a 3 band eq and is therefore the one I am drawn to. But would it be the most appropriate? Would I get an overdriven sound that would be fuzzy enough for the Muse-ly Hysteria tone? Are there other makes/pedals that do a similar thing? Advice please!!

There are folks on here who know stuff but I've been watching these for a little while and, as no-one else has chipped in, thought I'd wade in first! One has just gone from 'for sale' to 'on hold' on our classifieds, on sale for £350. I would say that is about right from what I've been looking at recently. There is a kind of hierarchy of Japanese Squiers, it seems to me. The first ones made are the most desirable - the JV series. I've read reports that say these are better than the USA made guitars of the time, don't know if that is true, but they had quality parts and quality builds. Next made were the SQ series, then after those the E series, then various other serial number configurations that, for various reasons, go for less money. The last ones, made in the early 90s, were the 'Silver Series' which seem to have ended on a high as they get better write-ups than some of the middle period ones. I'd buy any of them. I have an E series Jazz and a Silver Series Precision and both are absolute quality instruments. The Silver Series Precision is honestly the best P.Bass I have picked up straight out of the case - it has a tone to die for. My E series Jazz sounds *exactly* like a Jazz bass should, although it is a little heavy. Both have absolutely fantastic necks. An SQ series Jazz is only going to be of the same, or even better, quality.

This just popped up on eBay [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEFT-HANDED-PSN-BLACK-ELECTRIC-BASS-GUITAR-AMP-PACKAGE-KIT-/171007054968?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item27d0d09478"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEFT-HANDED-PSN-BLACK-ELECTRIC-BASS-GUITAR-AMP-PACKAGE-KIT-/171007054968?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item27d0d09478[/url]

GB Streamliner 600 also has aux in and headphones out. I use mine as homepractice when Mrs S is around.

Looks like a nice tidy one. I have one, light as a feather and possibly the finest neck I have played. Really skinny and shallow - rather like the Geddy Lee/Jaguar type necks (but with 22 frets - just counted them). Stock pups sounds great, albeit nothing much like a P.Bass, more Jazz-like, but I had to change the preamp on mine and ended up with a John East one which is immense.