Baloney Balderdash

Likely more a case of being the inherent tonal characteristic of those specific basses rather than it having anything to do with the fact that they happened to have a shorter scale length. If anything the shorter scale length ought to give you more fundamental low end and less harmonic content. I guess that would be a cautionary tale of making generalizing judgements based on just a few single cases.

I realize that my initial reply could have been formulated much clearer and in fact got quite messy, with a lot of bracketed sentences and such, so don't blame you if you found it hard to wrap you head around (try read it again though, I think it really does explain why tension does not equal with sense of stiffness), as I said a shorter scale will result in lower tension of the strings, yes, but that lower tension will still feel stiffer on the shorter scale length than a similar string gauge and tension would on a longer scale length. As I said think of it, guitar strings on a guitar don't actually feel like complete spaghetti (believe me same gauge and tension of the strings of an instrument with a regular bass scale length would), even if they usually are of much lower tension than strings on a bass, longer scaled baritone guitars will usually have a much higher string tension than a guitar, but still lower tension than strings typically will have on a bass, for this exact reason. It's physics really, as the strings got less length to be flexible in they will feel less flexible, aka stiffer, like if you lay out a wooden stick between two points on a short distance it will still be relatively rigid, but if you lie out the same piece of wood between two points further away from each other the wooden stick will get more flexible, and thereby easier to bend when you expose it to a force, and at a certain distance between the two points it will even start to bend just by the force of it's own weight (though the thicker the stick the more rigid it will be relatively to the distance between the two mentioned points). That's why necks on short scale instruments are usually also more stable than those of longer scaled instruments. Not many seems to take this into account, but as said it is basic physics, and I can confirm from own first hand experience with string instruments of all kind of different scales that this in fact also is effectively true in practice. Tension does not equal stiffness, tension influences on stiffness, yes, but so does scale length, hence, as I said in my initial post, it's a question of finding the right balance between those factors, respectively being the relation between scale length/string gauge and stiffness/tension.

One thing to consider is that while thicker gauge strings will have more tension they will also feel relatively stiffer on the short scale (especially as you move up the fretboard and the active string length gets shorter) than they would on a long scale bass, so it's a question of finding the right balance, as in lower tension strings will still feel stiffer on a short scale bass than strings with the same tension on a long scale bass (which is also the reason why typically gauged guitar strings won't feel like spaghetti on a guitar, even if the tension is much lower then on a bass, and why baritone guitars usually will have higher tension strings than a guitar, but still lower than bass strings typically would have). Personally I prefer gauge .095 to .040 on a 30" scale bass, but I would say that gauge .100 to .045 probably is a good compromise, for me a gauge .105 low E string will feel way to stiff on such a short scale (this stiffness will also result in a thudier tone compared to lower gauge strings). Also as long as we are talking roundwound strings I never experienced any issues with cutting long scale strings to size, as long as you remember to make an abrupt bend above the cutting point and make sure to make a clean cut. Don't try this on flatwound strings though.

Buy a poweramp (or use the Effects Return of one of your other amps) and hook it up to the Line/Headphones Out of the Hotone Thunder Bass amp, problem solved.

And yet 5 string basses was the new hot trend once among bass players.

Perhaps they are still commonly viewed as as novelty, just for fun, or beginner instruments, but the fact that several big guitar/bass manufactures are now offering production short scale bass models that cost 1000$+ is definitely a sign that they have become much more widely accepted as serious instruments than they used to, very few people would spend several thousand dollars on a toy, at least not enough people to make such a production viable, and certainly not beginner players. And I mean the whole notion, commonly believed or not, that they are toys/beginner instruments just by default of them being short scale is just totally absurd when you got someone like Stanley Clarke, generally acknowledged as an absolute virtuous legend on bass, having a short scale bass that cost several thousand dollars as his main instrument.

I think it is safe to say that while it is very doubtful that short scale basses remains as hip and popular as they are now forever people and guitar/bass manufactures have finally opened their eyes to short scale basses not necessarily being cheap beginner second class basses of poor quality that aren't really real basses or viable for serious/professional gigging and recording (even if bass players like Mike Watt, Jack Bruce, Paul McCartney and Stanley Clarke proved so long ago), that they are as much real instruments as their bigger brothers, and that they offer some unique tonal possibilities and got some advantages in playing comfort/playabillity over regular 34" scale basses. So I think it is safe to say that short scale basses are definitely here to stay, and while not very likely remaining the current hot new hip thing forever I am quite sure that they will continue to be considerably more common forward on than they historically used to be, keeping the status they have achieved now as instruments serious/professional bass players will have no issues using for gigs and recordings, or even as their main bass, and at least would want to have at least one of in their arsenal, and therefor will continue to be something the big guitar/bass manufactures will find necessary to have offers in their product line in order to accommodate, just as is the case with for example 5 string basses, they too had their turn as the latest fashion among bass players, but they still pretty much has kept their status as being a standard inventory item among serious bass players (even in these times where old fashioned 4 string basses seems to be where the trend is at). I even think the current hype has been necessary in order to remove the stigma short scale basses historically has been labeled and associated with in order for them to become more widely and commonly accepted as viable serious and real professional instruments.

People suddenly discovered that Jack Bruce, Paul McCartney and Stanley Clarke despite their huge success and skill level wasn't actual second class bass players who had been wrong all along.

Yes, but as I see it having such a system is assuming in before hand that people will use these words with the intention of being vulgar, and as such judging them in beforehand, I for one really don't understand why "stinky poo" should be any better, if anything it is even worse, "sh*t" is after all a quite common curse word, whereas "stinky poo" means exactly what it says "stinky fecal matters", just put in a more infantile way, judging certain expressions as especially bad over other expressions that semantically is even worse shows a lack of ability to understand individual people's use of language and how it might for example be a product of their social background and circle of friends, where it might not have the same bad connotations as you insist it to have, a lack of ability to understand that language and words connotations are merely social constructs, sucking up to this sort old fashioned pseudo moralist code of conduct that really has absolutely nothing to do with real ethics, finally they are after all just words, they can mean whatever you want them to mean, and if you insist in seeing something dirty in them then it is you who think dirty not the people using them with no dirty intentions in mind. This sort of censorship would never be implemented on any Danish forum, and I am not going to change my mind about it being completely and utterly brain dead, that it protects absolutely no one, but on the contrary display intelligent people as salivating imbecile morons, contributes to maintaining and feed an old fashioned rigid pseudo-moral socially conservative code of conduct and view on reality, and that the people deciding to implement this system have an infinitely more dirty mind than all the bull-crap and cow-dung in the whole wide world together could ever possibly have.

I contemplated if it would be inappropriate to like your post, but got to say, even if it's hard to earn respect by taking one's own life, she absolutely earned it in my book. This seems like a fitting homage to your friend (a shame it's become such a worn out cliche, cause its actually a great song) : Life's a piece of stinky poo (well, that is not how the actual lyrics goes, in what kind of world would you want to censor Monty Python *resigned sigh*) When you look at it Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true You'll see it's all a show Keep 'em laughin' as you go Just remember that the last laugh is on you (also I fail to see how a "stinky poo" can possibly be any better than a "stinky poo", and personally I take infinitely more offence to being made into looking like a completely retarded imbecile than someone using the word stinky poo)

I wouldn't worry, neither as a hypothetical future second hand buyer if the offer was right and I happened to be on the lookout for that particular model. I am not shallow like that. It's only a quite minor cosmetic, I would't even really call it a flaw, rather peculiar detail, that I actually even think adds a certain unique charm to the fretboard.

That's not Lemmy! (the one in the OP) Not even remotely! Scam!

I am primarily a pick player too. I am perfectly capable of playing with my fingers, and I primarily do so when I play electric guitar, but for bass I much prefer the specific tone you get from a pick, that signature snappy emphasis of the attack. Personally I prefer a relatively flexible one and found the Dunlop USA Nylon .73mm just about perfect for me, and since those picks are ready available and cheap I will never face any problems with finding a new pick, and I got no issues with brand new picks either.

Technically the center frequency it is the middle, and therefor top point, of the (kind of bell shaped triangular) curve that the boost/cut effects, so the more you boost or cut the broader a frequency spectrum will be affected around the center frequency, how broad determined by the bandwidth (or steepness/angle) of said curve (which will vary depending on the specific equalizer's circuit, and as far as goes fully parametric equalizers will be adjustable), either measured in dB/Oct (dB per octave) or as the Q value.

I would most possibly and enjoy it too, and sometimes I feel sad about and for some people apparently not being capable of sharing other people's enthusiasm and seemingly never feeling the urge to explore unknown territory just for the sake of their own curiosity, cause to me that is a pretty essential part of life and the human experience. As for the video in the OP, that's pretty amazing, and I even really liked it as well, pretty much sounded like a great jazz bass solo (as in an electric bass guitar solo in a jazz piece), which I guess is not all that strange, given what it was based on.

Is there such a thing as a passive preamp?

Assuming the Eden cab you mention is actually an 8 Ohm cab, as labeled, since you can't measure the load the way you did, as the replies above explains, adding an additional 8 Ohm cab in parallel would give a 4 Ohm load, and in series 16 Ohm (assuming you are using 2 speaker outputs from the amp to connect the two 8 Ohm cabs it would most likely be 4 Ohm, as multiple speaker outputs on an amp are usually wired in parallel).

If that is the case, and the guy with the Trace Elliot amp for sale doesn't agree on reserving it until the 30th of this month, perhaps I should get the new Ashdown Ant amp then, about the same size and got about the same power as the ELF, and it does claim to have the Ashdown tone, which as I understand it is close to the classic Trace Elliot one, as it is one of the people who designed the Trace amps who run that company. Will be a bit more expensive, but not by that much. Something I will have to seriously consider at least.

So I wrote a message to the seller of the 300W GP7SM head and offered him the option of reserving it to me to the 30th this month, with the promise that we'd then have a 100% certain closed deal by then, where I will have the money to actually buy it, or not, and then him taking the risk of possibly not finding another buyer before that anyway and me having changed my mind in the meantime, of course formulated in a much nicer, not so ultimatum like, way, actually just asking him kindly if he would be kind and reserve it for me till I had the money by the end of the month, and assuring him that if he did I'd commit to paying him there. So time will tell if he'll accept, and I can expect to have a new amp by the end of this month, or I will have to wait with buying it till I got the money, taking the risk of someone else doing so before me, but on the other hand then still will have the option for eventually deciding against buying it. I'll write an update when that has been settled.

Confirms the impression I got from the rest of the replies in this thread, that the ELF will likely not do what I am really interested in. As for waiting and getting a SMC instead though I think I'll stick to the SM I mentioned in my OP, as I already got a compressor that I love, and as the GP7SM, as I also mentioned in my OP, will be the exact same type of amp, just in head form and with more power, as the combo I once owned and absolutely loved the tone of. Actually I am pretty convinced now that that would be the right way to go for me, so now I just need to decide weather to actually do it or if I would really be better off spending my money on other useful music equipment instead. It's not like I am really strictly needing an amp, as, as said, I am actually quite satisfied with the tone I got currently, it is just that I am really tempted by the prospect of once more owning a Trace Elliot amp and being able to once more achieve that sweet sweet tone they are capable of.

True, but I would think I could still get a general idea of more specifically how the ELF and old Trace Elliot amp compares tone wise, judging from the general consensus of people with first hand experience with both. In that this is not exactly as much a matter of personal preferences and taste in tone as it is a specific comparison of how close two different amps get tone wise to each other. My impression so far from this thread is that the ELF likely won't do what I am interested in and that I would properly be best off either buying and old Trace Elliot head or simply stick to my current setup and use my money on some effect pedals I want as well. I actually think the replies in this thread has helped me, they somewhat managed to changed my initial slight preposition towards the ELF in favor of other options, and I would say that's the proof of it not being completely pointless, but still interested to hear from more people and their take on it.

Thanks. Seems not everyone agree with you, judging from the comments I have read other where, but in case you are right that would be a really heavy argument for me to get the old Trace Elliot GP7SM head instead of the ELF, so waiting to see if that will be the general consensus of this thread. I concluded that, yes, but I didn't say anywhere that that was the most important argument to me, I just listed the ELF's obvious advantages, and as I also wrote I wanted to know what disadvantages there would be, like for instance tone wise, by getting that over an old Trace Elliot head (in fact I say so at the very beginning of the paragraph you quote me for). No use in being able to transport it easily if I would be as good without it tone wise, and if that is the case there would be no reason for me to buy it either really. Obviously not going to buy something that would be completely useless to me just for the sake of being able to drag it around with me. While being able to transport it easily would be ideal, transport of an eventual more heavy head could be arranged otherwise, even if it'll make it slightly more complicated for me, for one the drummer I play with owns a van, as said I have no intention of sacrificing tone for transporatabillity, as I also wrote in my OP I am actually already pretty satisfied with the setup I got currently, just tempted by that sweet classic Trace Elliot tone, and if the ELF won't be able to deliver that I wouldn't spend money on it even if it had been as small and light as a stamp and had a 100 years full unconditional warranty.

Thanks for your input. Well, if I can trust the comments I've read it is supposed to have inherited the old Trace amp's conservative power rating, meaning it ought to be much louder than the watts it is rated at would suggest, and I have a history of using bass amps most people would claim to have too little power to keep up with a drummer in quite loud rock band settings, even keeping up in small bar sized venues without PA support, and the 130W 1x15" Trace Elliot combo that I owned had no issues with keeping up with a loud rock power trio at rehearsals with the master volume never getting past the 11 o'clock position, so as far as wattage power goes I think I should be good with the ELF.