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Baloney Balderdash

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Everything posted by Baloney Balderdash

  1. Baloney Balderdash
    Point being it's not realistic to expect a bass to be set up optimally, which is all that more important as a beginner, as you state yourself, it might had been nice if it was so, but fact is it is not, and as I said this would be the same for more or less any bass that you buy, regardless of price point, reality is not going to adapt to what is convenient I am afraid, and one is doing them self a disfavor expecting so. Also I don't think it's specifically designed to be a first bass, don't even know how you would go about doing so, there is no such thing as beginner instruments, only beginner players. If anything beginners ideally should keep away from too cheap instruments, where additional work, beside the mandatory setup (as said a setup and new strings really should be expected with any bass, regardless of price point, which honestly might also be a much better way to put it in the first place than making it look like it's a specific thing with a specific instrument, if one feel obligated to do a "beginner" review), might be required to make it a decent player.
  2. Baloney Balderdash
    Yes, that happened years ago, like several years, and TC has been going on as usual business, you are way behind, look at the above post for the real issue.
  3. Baloney Balderdash
    I doubt it get any smaller than the Joyo Orange Juice I suggested, it's like same width as standard mini pedals, but almost just half as long (though the HoTone pedals are actually even ever so slightly smaller than that again).
  4. Baloney Balderdash
    Regarding factory setup I never quite understood why some people include it in the reviews, this has nothing to do with the actually quality of the bass, it's made adjustable for a reason, and one should expect to have to do a proper setup on as good as any new bass or guitar, regardless of price tag, certainly for goes for all mass produced basses, but even then you should expect to have to do one to get it to your desired measurements. That a bass has a poor factory setup is a bit like complaining about the adjustable direction blades in the vents of the air condition in a car not haven been set up to fit your height and preferences when you got your new car, as said, it's a adjustable, it is literally made with the purpose of being fully adjustable, you having to adjust it to get it to fit your personal preferences is exactly what it is meant form, it's not a fault of the instrument.' Same thing with stock strings, though I guess one could argue for the actually being somewhat relevant. Personally I'd expect to change strings on every new instrument regardless of price class, along with a full proper setup, to make it fit my personal preferences, regardless of what the instrument might have costed, weather that is 100 or 2000, so what it might or might not be from factory doesn't interest me and is totally irrelevant as far as I am concerned, you might as well complain about the color of the cardboard box (if mail ordered) it comes in not being to your personal preferences, absolutely nothing to do with the actual quality of the actual instrument. Also that the pole pieces of the pickups doesn't always line perfectly up with the strings on a bass is perfectly normal, even for higher end basses. Sorry about the rant, I do appreciate your review otherwise and contribution to this thread, I just don't get the fixation on the setup in reviews, and it isn't just you, I see some people consequently including it every time they review a bass, it just doesn't make any sense to me as it, as said, has absolute nothing whatsoever to with the quality of the actual bass, nor affect it in any possible way, and is in fact made with purpose of adjusting it in mind.
  5. Baloney Balderdash
    It's digital though, for what it is worth, but really high resolution/modeling quality, and it does give it the advantage of being far more flexible than any analog pedal could possibly ever get, in fact extremely flexible, first of all allowing you to chose for a quite big library of popular distortion models, as well as a couple of unique ones, and for instance allowing you to blend two different distortion models in parallel with each other (say a Proco Rat and an EHX Metal Muff), each respectively with their own separate parallel clean blend, with it's own fully adjustable LPF, as well as each of the two distortion models respectively will have their own separate really flexible (for instance optional Pre/Post dirt and a fully adjustable HPF) EQ section, or you could have one of the distortion models be a light tube like overdrive, or even completely clean signal, instead, that you then would be able to shape with the dedicated EQ section, exactly to your liking, and then additionally you also get a flexible master EQ as well for the summed signal.
  6. Baloney Balderdash
    The standard Tone control on most pedals is actually a tilt style EQ, so sounds strange to me if you just discovered it last year. Also to OP, I believe there are a few clones around of the Diamond compressor, the Mooer Yellow Comp at least is one for certain, and in a mini pedal enclosure format too, so that would be an option to consider.
  7. Baloney Balderdash
    Sounds really weird about those fixed, non adjustable pickups. What on earth could possibly be the reasoning for that? Just doesn't make any sense whatsoever to me. Only thing I can possibly think is achieved by that is scaring potential buyers away as soon as it is revealed in one of the reviews of the bass on Thomann's own website, or people learn otherwise, or to troll beginners who don't know any better, not that those reasons makes any more sense. Just seems like a bad business decision, and strangely enough also quite unlike Harley Benton otherwise. Like almost as if someone in charge of the economy with no knowledge whatsoever about instruments from the top down decided that production expenses of these basses needed to be cut, by what, 5 cent?, for who knows what absolutely retarded reason, which incidentally happened to add up perfectly with the cost of the two small pieces of foam that was otherwise supposed to be attached underneath the pickups to make adjustment possible, and then just ordered them to be left out by the assumption that two crappy foam pieces couldn't possibly have any practical function anyway, and then when told: - "But those hold the pickups in place, are you sure about this?", replied: - "Well, then, just glue them in, much better solution anyway, and who are ever going to look under those..., was it peckhoofs you called them..., ...pigooze, ...right..., anyway?". I was told the pickups in their cheapest, progressive series I seem to recall, 6 string bass offering was like that too, when I revealed I was pondering on weather to buy one, I think actually here on this forum, which made me decide for a definite no purchase.
  8. Baloney Balderdash
    I agree on all points. As said I am fully aware it is far from an optimal mix. But it was made at a point where I only had a pretty crappy condenser microphone to record, even if I think the actual recordings sound surprisingly decent despite that, and also I just got a new PC after my only 1 year old Macbook Pro with Logic installed died on me after spilled beer into it while making music with a friend of mine, so I didn't have a proper reverb plugin at the time either. I am usually a big fan of reverb, and if I had had a proper reverb plugin at the time mixing this song the vocals would definitely had been processed thoroughly through that, really annoyed me even at the time I mixed it that I couldn't add more reverb to the vocal track and make it sound a bit more ethereal, definitely was never the intention that it should sound so dry. But yeah, will pull myself together to make a proper remix at some point, and I am glad you liked the actual song. Probably one of the most catchy songs I ever wrote, but without for that reason sucking up to anything, or deliberately going for being easily accessible. Here's another one of my personal favorites I recorded for that project, a couple of years earlier, this one is a bit more traditionally folky:
  9. Baloney Balderdash
    A shame about the guy in the last video having such a an ultra scooped muddy wet fart of a clean tone with no definition or articulation whatsoever, which just makes the demonstration overall sound muddy and farty, no matter how he sets the controls or blend the 3 parallel dirt effects this pedal features. I am really left non the wiser of how that pedal actually sounds, cause I am quite sure it doesn't sound like all muddy wet fart no matter how you use it, like this guy makes it sound like. I do though get a feeling that it would probably work better with guitar anyhow.
  10. Baloney Balderdash
    Well all those short scale basses I listed with narrower string spacing than the standard 4 string 19mm were originally designed back then, including the Nordstrand which is a modernized take of on an old design from back then as well, so I guess that makes a lot of sense. But yeah, as said, by far most short scale basses that was designed more recently pretty much share the same measurements as regular 34" scale basses, except obviously for the actual scale length and then the body size, which by far most often will be down scaled too, to match the relatively shorter length from the end of the neck to the bridge that the shorter scale length results in. Also short scale basses in recent years have now eventually nearly entirely got rid of that stigma of automatically being considered second grade "beginner/amateur" instruments, and several brands now offer higher end options for short scale basses that are as much serious "real"/"professional" basses as any full 34" scale bass. Needless to say way behind high profiled acclaimed professional bass players such as Stanley Clarke, Paul McCartney and Jack Bruce who switched to mainly playing short scale basses decades ago.
  11. Baloney Balderdash
    That's perfectly normal though, with a few exceptions (Feder/Squier Bronco and Mustang Bass (17mm string spacing), Nordstrand Acinonyx (17mm string spacing), Danelectro Longhorn Bass (16mm string spacing), Höfner Violin/Beatles Bass (15 mm string spacing), are the only ones I can think of are exceptions to this really), for short scale basses, having regular measurements, as a 34" scale bass, except for the actual scale length of course (and well, most often a sized down body as well). Also the measurements are actually listed on the page for this instrument on Thomann's website (or at least that it's a regular P Bass 42mm nut width, and as said the rest of the measurements follow a regular 34" scale bass, except for the scale length, as for most other short scale basses on the market). With a bit of work though with that nut width you could turn it into a narrow string spacing short scale 5 string bass (installing an extra tuner, a new nut and swapping the stock bridge for 5 mono rail bridge pieces), which I kind of have pondered on maybe doing myself, once I get one of these basses in the nearest future. I was surprised with how beefy the neck was on my Harley Benton GuitarBass (Fender Bass VI concept) too, but it is actually still surprisingly comfortable, and it does actually say C shape in the spec list on Thomann's website, not modern or slim C shape.
  12. Baloney Balderdash
    Thought it would be interesting to get an idea of how common different picking techniques are, hence this poll. As for myself I prefer using a pick to pluck the strings, and will do so 90% of the time. And after much experimentation with different picks I more specifically found that I like the feel/response and tone of the Dunlop USA Nylon .073 with a slightly rounded tip (use fine sand paper to round the tip slightly before use) the best. I do know how to use my fingers though, and in those rare cases where I don't use a pick I use a combination of different fingering technique, that is: regular 2 and 3 finger plucking technique, classical acoustic guitar style finger picking, double thumb, faux "index finger + thumb pressed together" pick, as well as flamenco style index and middle finger flicking. But I just happen to much prefer that unique snappy emphasis on the attack you get from using a pick, that can't really be replicated using any finger picking techniques. Funny enough I much prefer using my fingers on both acoustic and electric guitar.
  13. Baloney Balderdash
    Looks great, but can't quite wrap my head around how it is supposed to function in actual practice. Like how would you adjust string action, and wouldn't adjusting intonation cause the ball ends of the strings to get in the way of the intonation screws, unless they all are adjusted at absolute max length, which kind of would defeat the whole purpose in the first place?
  14. Baloney Balderdash
    Not worth it for EMG. A whole new additional packaging for such a set would cost more for EMG than an extra connector block, and I would think most people who upgrade or swap stock pickups would be likely to combine different pickup models anyway, meaning that if this should be consistent EMG would end up having to supply a lot of different double pickup sets, not to speak of those few people who run basses or guitars with 3 pickup configurations. Simply not worth it for EMG from a strictly business point of view. Finally this form allows customers more flexibility if they eventually end up using the 2 pickups in 2 different instruments, so there's that too. So really not that surprising when you think of it.
  15. Baloney Balderdash
    Not everybody got that same taste and preferences, or the person who owned it previously might have had a specific thing for Delano pickups, that doesn't mean the stock pickup necessarily was bad, just that the person owning the bass had other preferences, also some people modify instruments just for the sake of it, what you suggest could of course still be the case though, I honestly wouldn't know.
  16. Baloney Balderdash
    I had a thought, could it be that since Harley Benton have no issues with the no name pickups in even their lowest dirt cheap models sounding absolutely amazing that big brands with a budget line on purpose make lackluster pickups to put in these lower end models to make their expensive high end line of instruments seem better than they really are, so to speak to create an illusion of a difference that in reality is far from as huge, and certainly nowhere near what the price difference would otherwise suggest? Could this theory actually have any reality to it, or am I just making up conspiracy theories here? I mean the big companies would certainly have a motive to do so, and this theory does seem to match my, admittedly fairly limited and nowhere really statistically valid, first as well as second hand experience with such instruments in question.
  17. Baloney Balderdash
    Full size, yes. But there should be no need to upgrade that pickup, it sounds no short (no pun actually intended) of amazing.
  18. Baloney Balderdash
    I'm a big fan of the Joyo Orange Juice for everything from just a slight tube like breakup, over low gain overdrive, and all the way up to a medium kind of distortion. I got 2 on my board, one used as part of my always on basic "clean" tone, set to an upper low gain overdrive and mixed in parallel with clean signal via a Boss LS-2, placed towards the start of my signal chain, and later a post reverb medium gain distortion, and I actually plan to even add a third for a high gain overdrive, placed towards the start of my signal chain. Though I guess technically it is a seriously sized down clone of the Tech 21 Oxford, just with simplified EQ section and no cab sim filter, to accommodate it's miniature size, but I just had to mention it, since it is probably my favorite bass drive pedal for just about any level of drive, bar high gain distortion and fuzz. From what I heard the One Control Hooker's Green Bass Machine, as suggested by someone else earlier on the thread, sounds really great as well, providing a warmer, somewhat fuzzy, thickening kind of grit on lower gain settings and gets amazingly gnarly on higher gain settings, with as good as no low end loss, where as the Orange Juice is a somewhat other beast, more in the gritty grindy end of the spectrum with a good amount of bite as well.
  19. Baloney Balderdash
    Obvious the best tone bone for the nut of a bass is bass bone!
  20. Baloney Balderdash
    All other things being equal, that is design wise and going through a similar cabinet, an 800W amp will theoretically/technically, and likely in practice too, only be about just bellow +2dB louder than a 500W amp, try turning a booster through an amp with clean head room enough up +2dB and see if that'll really be worth it.
  21. Baloney Balderdash
    An old recording by me, for my alternative folk solo project "...and for such a long time". Unfortunately not that well recorded and mixed, but I do plan on remixing it at some point in the future. But otherwise I am actually really happy with the actual composition and lyrics writing I did.
  22. Baloney Balderdash
    It doesn't look abused to me, the front "scratches", as several people already pointed out, really looks like cracks in the finish, which would have happned regardless of how much one had babied around the bass, and the back scratches look like perfectly normal healthy use of an instrument that age, without anxiously obsessive cautiousness around what essentially is a mass produced tool, meant to be used, rather than displayed as if it was a piece of high art.
  23. Baloney Balderdash
    That's wildly impressive and really cool.
  24. Baloney Balderdash
    Which again is a rip off of Fender's :
  25. Baloney Balderdash
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