Baloney Balderdash

My EHX Black Finger, tube driven optical compressor, that acts as much as a fairly moderate compression as a tube preamp stage, then going into a Behringer BEQ700 Bass Graphic Equalizer with the 50, 400, 500 and 800 Hz, as well as the 4,5kHz, bands boosted ever so slightly, approximate just about 1 or 2dB, then going into my NUX Solid Studio IR & Poweramp Simulator, using a 3rd party Dr. Bonkers Poly Pro 1x15" + 2x8" cab IR and the EL34 tube poweramp simulator, the NUX also functioning as a DI. Works really well for my use, really punchy, kind of slightly aggressive, tone, with a nice crisp high end presence and bite and a gutsy tight bottom end, but with a prominent hint of nice warm tube flavor and slight compression as well.

Thanks for your inputs, "Bartitone bass guitar" seems like a good way to categorize it, think I might end up using that definition for the credits.

So my main bass for quite some years has been a 28,6" scale Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, even if I originally started out playing on a regular 34" scale bass, more specifically a great Aria Pro II Laser Electric Classic, which I by the way still own. And for a while I haven't played in a band but had my main musical focus on working on the bass parts for some songs with a work in progress solo sort of progressive psychedelic stoner rock bass project, where the idea was that the primary instrumentation was going to consist of just bass, vocals and mainly programmed drums (in the meantime I have just found a skilled drummer I have played in a band with before, who is willing to be responsible for the drum parts though, and we will have the first band rehearsal in less then 2 weeks from now), though with some additional secondary more flavor oriented instrumentation here and there. And for that I tuned my bass in standard F# tuning, as in 2 half steps above regular E standard 4 string bass tuning (F#1 - B1 - E2 - A2), and run the bass signal through an always on 1 octave up effect, placed as the very first thing in my signal chain right after the bass, giving an effect somewhat similar to that of an 8 string "octave" bass (with pairs of respectively bass and octave strings). However now I have discovered that the bass parts for the songs I have been working on sounds better when I tune my bass an additional half step further up, as in G standard tuning, which means that my bass technically is now actually tuned just exactly one half step closer to A standard baritone guitar tuning than regular E standard 4 string bass tuning, so would that mean that I should consider my 28,6" scale bass more as a down tuned 4 string baritone guitar than really a sub-short scale up tuned bass, especially considering that my playing for this musical project is somewhat closer to how you traditionally would play a baritone guitar than really how you traditionally would play a bass (the 3 highest strings is even technically going to be guitar strings for this new tuning (as of now I have it equipped with the lightest bass string set, .095 - .040), threaded through bass string ball ends to not slip through the bridge string holes)? To sum up my question: Can a 28,6" scale 4 string bass, tuned in G standard tuning, as in 2 half steps below A standard baritone guitar tuning, and played somewhat closer to how you probably would a 4 string baritone guitar than how you traditionally would play a bass, further more with the 3 highest strings technically being guitar strings, and finally run through an always on 1 octave up effect, giving an effect somewhat similar to that of an 8 string "octave" bass (with pairs of respectively bass and octave strings), still be called a bass, or would it rather be a down tuned 4 string baritone guitar? I might add before anyone comment on it that it's not like the answer to this question really matters much to me, it's not like it will actually make me reconsider how I play and use my bass whatsoever or anything like that, just curious how you would categorize my instrument taking the information given above on how I play and use it into consideration, like for instance if you hypothetically should assign my role in the credits of on let's say the project's Bandcamp and Facebook profiles or a physical album release. Personally I am not even quite sure, but will properly end up going with just "Bass" or perhaps "4 string baritone guitar", for the sake of simplicity when writing credits, right now actually kind of leaning towards just "Bass".

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing" : Quote : - George Bernard Shaw -

They are truly a great band, one of my all time favorite bands in fact, a couple of members from "Goodspeed You! Black Emperor" started it, and it is somewhat similar, yet totally different. Those two songs might not be the most accessible to start out with though, but you might still like them, I'll recommend "Mountains Made of Steam" and "God Bless Our Dead Marines", from, in my opinion, their best album, "Horses in the Sky". They altered their band name several times, they started out with the name "The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band", and is currently going under the name "The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra", other names they have gone by are variations on that. Here's four of my favorite songs by them:

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - "This Gentle Hearts Like Shot Bird's Fallen" Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - "Blown-out Joy From Heaven's Mercied Hole"

So anyone got any experience with the relatively new tiny AMT A-Bass and AMT O-Bass tube preamp pedals from their Bricks series, which were just released earlier this year, the two pedals being repectively an Alembic style preamp and an Orange style preamp? I am pondering on acquiring one of them and use it in combination with the NUX Soiid Studio that I just bought, for cab IR and poweramp simulation, since these tiny tube preamp pedal doesn't feature any form of cab sim. So I am interesting in knowing if they are any good to use primarily as a clean preamp for dialing in my main tone, and what to expect from the two pedals respectively, so I have an idea of weather I should chose the Orange or Alembic style preamp? Here's the link to the A-Bass on AMT's homepage : https://amtelectronics.com/new/amt-a-bass/ And Here's the link to the O-Bass : https://amtelectronics.com/new/amt-o-bass/ They are quite reasonable priced as well, just about 175 Euro/156£ (Thomann prices, though they only seem to carry the A-Bass in their stock), and the tubes works at proper high voltage too, around 250V to 300V. Edit!!! : Just found these YouTube demos featuring the 2 pedals, and judging from those it seems like the A-Bass will be closest to my personal taste, plus the A-Bass got a Mid and Treble frequency shift switch, unlike the O-Bass, both got a Bright switch though (in fact to me the A-Bass sounds great, while the O-Bass sounds like crap, though that might be the fault of the guy demoing the pedals) :

I got a GRSM20 Mikro Bass, which is actually my main, that I owned since April 2011, and I have never has any issues with the tuners whatsoever, even if this is a cheap budget Ibanez, on the contrary they work exceptionally well for being tuners on a such a cheap instrument, and the bass holds tuning extremely well too.

Not according to my taste and opinion, I like the way a P bass sound soloed, and much prefer it over the thin burpy tone of a J bass, it needs to be played through a proper cab or cab sim though, not through a full range speaker or even worse a set of headphones without going through a proper cab sim before. If you only option for practicing is through headphones then you need to get some kind of decent cab simulator pedal, preferably with the option for loading 3rd party cab IRs, to place between your bass and headphone amp. I can warmly recommend the NUX Solid Studio IR & Poweramp Simulator, which use over double the IR resolution of for example the Mooer Radar, while only being ever so slightly more expensive, although not having as many features, though I'd prefer the higher resolution of the NUX Solid Studio over the extra bells and whistles of the Mooer Radar, since all you will really need is 1 great cab IR (the NUX will require of you to find a 3rd party cab IR, the Mooer got a couple of bass cab IRs unlike the NUX, which only features guitar cab IRs from stock, but you'll likely want just the right 3rd party cab IR anyway, so I don't really see that as much of an issue, for that I recommend you checking out https://www.drbonkerssoundlab.com/ , his trademark HyperReal cab IR mixes sounds amazing (included in all the IR packs he offers, I personally prefer the ones recorded with an AKG C414 XLS microphone)).

I have often cut roundwound strings made to fit a regular 34" scale bass to size to fit my on my Mikro Bass, and if done properly, making sure to make an abrupt break on the string below the cut and making the cut as clean as possible, I have never ever experienced the strings starting to unravel, have tuning instability issues, or any other sort of issue usually associated with cutting bass strings to size. However I am pretty sure from what I have read and heard, even if not having any specific personal experience, that cutting flatwound strings to size is considerably more problematic, and might cause exactly issues similar to the ones mentioned above, so sorry, can't really help you. I guess your only option really will be to have custom strings made specifically for your needs, I know for a fact that some companies do this, but as I have never had any use for this I can't name any of them, I am sure someone else can be of help with this though. And as a fellow sub-short scale bass enthusiast I wish you the best of luck.

So I ordered 4 pieces of neodymium magnets that size wise should fit pretty closely to the 4 ceramic magnets that is glued to each side of the pole pieces of the 2 split coil parts of my DeMarzio Model P, P pickup. If I go through with this what should I expect, beside increased output, tone wise? And since these neodymium magnets are supposed to be much stronger than the current original ceramic ones, would it be wiser to only use 2 of the 4 neodymium magnets that I bought, as in just placing 1 neodymium magnet right beneath the pole pieces of each of the P pickup's 2 coils, instead of using all 4 by placing 1 on each side of the pole pieces, as is currently the case with the 4 original ceramic ones? Also if so, will that have influence on the pickup's tone as well?

I use an Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass as my main too, it has a bit longer scale then the 27" you talk about, namely 28,6", but I only found advantages with the short scale and no disadvantages, I have an idea that anything shorter might have disadvantages though. I only use round wound strings, but one thing to be aware of is that even though the tension will be lower thicker strings will feel stiffer and less flexible on the short scale than on a regular 34" bass in comparison, as for round wounds in regular 4 string E standard tuning I found .100 to .045 to suit perfectly for the Mikro's 28,6" scale length.

David Bowie :

Wouh, apart from the finish, which admittedly is quite awful, I love the design of that bass. So much I wouldn't even mind the horrible baby blue cheesy 80's paintbrush poster finish. If only it came as a short scale bass and that I would actually be able to afford it I wouldn't think twice about getting one (though a reverse P in the neck position and a normal P in the bridge position seems to have made more sense to me).

I saw a few "whale hump" basses that actually looked good, but by far far the most I have ever seen looked absolutely awful to me, and will generally always avoid any single cut basses or guitars. I am not too fond of white basses and guitars either, though that didn't stop me for having a white bass as my main bass for about 10 tears or so, an Aria Pro II Laser Electric Classic to be exact, which I still own. Also not fond of basses and guitars with all the tuners in one row and generally prefer 2+2 headstocks for basses and 3+3 for guitars. No hard turnoffs really I guess beside the thing about "whale humps" and it would have to otherwise be irresistible if single cut. Edit!!!: Now, that's a lie actually, I totally hate tortoise pickguards and would never ever have one on my bass or guitar.

When someone swear by wild exaggerations and then even conclude it with no less than double exclamation signs it usually imply that they feel bothered about the subject that is being wildly exaggerated while sworn to be the actual reality. But I guess I'll have to take your word for that no ill intentions is meant by anything you post, neither your post above this one, even if the way you word it seems to suggest otherwise. I could otherwise have sworn that you by now had sought to ridicule me twice, but what do I know...

I posted these pictures in 1, ONE, other thread exactly, that I started myself, with kind of the same topic as this one, since I din't know this one existed, and which never really caught on, my OP remaining the only post in that topic, and it isn't even a copy paste of that, just the pictures and more or less the same story, just told slightly differently, I wrote everything specifically for this post. Sure I have posted single pictures of my main bass in threads where it fits the topic, but is that such a strange thing? I see no rule that you are only allowed to post one picture per bass you own ever here on the forum. It's not like I am just copy pasting the exact same post and spamming it on the forum 10 times a day like you make it sound like, or even as if I just randomly throw a picture of my bass in topics where it doesn't make sense. I refuse to feel bad about loving my bass, even if you seem to think I ought to feel ashamed of my self for whatever sick reason you might have. It happens to be my main, and I don't happen to own 100+ 1000£+ basses that I can chose from, sorry if that bothers you, but I didn't realize that was a requirement to join this forum. Your problem, not mine. I mean how hard hard can it be to just ignore a reply if you feel repulsed by it, despite nothing that normally would be considered offensive has really been posted?

Little known, but absolutely true, fact! : Cliff Burton recorded the bass track for "Master of Puppets" with finger puppets of respectively James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett, but strangely enough looking remarkably similar to how they did in their "Load" phase, placed on the tuning pegs of his bass, and with the low E string tuning peg being equipped with a finger puppet of the Grim Reaper himself. He was truly prophetic like that. Though the conspiracy theory goes that it was actually really part of a black magic ritual that he performed to place a curse on Metalica, sacrificing his own life as part of the deal, and as an evil ironic stroke of genius using James Hetfield's own words against him, basically having James unknowingly chant the incantation sealing the ritual to the doom of his own, as well as Lars's and Kirk's, creativity :

Loved my Wetsbury Standard, which I unfortunately was stupid enough to sell, the Yamaha Revstar gets pretty close though, and I will no doubt acquire one of those at some point. Until then my cheap budget Epiphone SG Special, with the stock pickups replaced for an IronGear Dirty Torque in the bridge position and an IronGear Blues Engine in the neck position, that I named "Epicphoneya", is actually not too bad either:

My old Peavey amp and my SWR Triad 1 cab actually both pretty much look like if they had just left the factory, even if being from somewhere around the early 90's and both bought fairly recently used. My main bass, an Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, from the December 2010 production, bought April 2011 looks pretty battered though, the worst blemish being from a failed haphazard attempt to drill an extra pickup cavity in the far neck position, which then later was filled up with filler mass and painted and varnished over, though quite poorly executed as well, this haphazard procedure also causing 2 small chips of the end of the fretboard wood to be ripped off by the drill piece ramming into it, as the drilling machine at some point spun out of my control, and since I stupidly enough didn't even bother remove the neck first. Here's a frontal shot of the whole bass : Here's a closeup the blemish from the haphazard failed attempt to drill an extra far neck pickup cavity, and the holes in the freboard at the last fret is from taking off the neck, filling out the neck screw holes for a tighter fit back on, however resulting in me needing to drill new pilot holes for the screws, but drilling far too deep, all the way through the fretboard, and then filling out the resulting holes in the fretboard with glued in wooden sticks, one of the previously mentioned chips in the fretboard wood is also visible on this picture (I have pondered on at some point thoroughly but carefully removing the filler mass that I pretty sloppily filled the failed pickup cavity with, and then redo the job, this time using a much more durable filler mass and paying more attention to getting it done properly, though this far, a couple of years by now, it seems like the original filler mass holds up just perfectly fine, but I just would wish I had made a better effort to make it look decent and that I had bothered doing the needed research and bought a filler mass that with guarantee would hold up at least as good as the mahogany wood the body of the bass is made of, instead of on a whim sloppily just slapping the first thing I had at hand that could do the job down in the hole, without much consideration really going into the process, unfortunately that seems to be a recurrent theme for me, acting spontaneously on a more or less random whim with a resulting haphazardly and poorly thought out and executed outcome) : And here's a closeup of the chipped off wood pieces of the fretboard, one wood chip found again and relatively successfully glued back on, but another wood piece never found again, and now lost and missing forever (luckily the fretwire remained perfectly seated and completely undamaged, and I have also pondered on possibly getting it fixed by a luthier, since I contacted one about it, sending him pictures of the damage, who confirmed that it would be perfectly doable, by cutting out a piece of the fretboard around the damaged area and then replacing it with a perfectly matching undamaged piece of wood, cut to precisely fit the removed part, which he claimed he ought to be able to do sufficiently precisely and elegantly subtle for it only to be noticeable for someone specifically looking for it) : And here's a big chipped off piece of the thick polythene coating of the bass from the side of the upper end towards the bridge part of the body, happening back to when the bass was still relatively new and I accidentally dropped the gigbag with the bass inside of it on the concrete sidewalk on my way to band rehearsal, luckily nothing else took any kind of damage whatsoever :' And finally this crude/crooked star like "engraving" in the polythene finish/wood, done on purpose by hammering a flat headed screwdriver into the body of the bass, and then dabbing special paint, supposed to replicate the effect of marble, down in the resulting cracks, and after that had dried then additionally dabbing clear glitter nail polish down in the cracks as well, intended to replicate the effect of the kind of star shaped crack that a sharp point impact in a glass window sometimes will result in :

I have admittedly drooled a lot over the basses displayed on the Serek homepage, personally I am particularly fond of the Sacramento model, and if I were to buy one of their basses it would be that model, short scale of course, and then probably equipped with TV Jones Thunder Blade pickups, or perhaps the Novak Thunderbird ones, but really they are all gorgeous basses to look at and listen to, and your's is no exception to that. Though if I ever get to save up the kind of money that a Serek bass would cost me, and can afford to use them on a bass, I'd personally rather chose to spend them on having a custom bass made exactly to my preferred specs by one of the cheaper luthiers who'll do custom work. I absolutely do understand the appeal of these basses though, as said they are absolutely astonishing beautiful instruments, and the ones I've heard demos or sound samples of has sounded no short of amazing as well, I just happens to have some very specific and a bit unusual preferences and wishes when it comes to the ultimate specs for a bass, so getting a bass that would actually fulfill those wishes and be able to closely match my, as said a bit unusual, personal preferences would have priority for me. However had my economical situation been different and I would never have to consider my priorities in that regard and weren't being forced to make such a choice, but was able to afford both I'd most definitely get me a Serek Sacramento bass, or perhaps even a couple. In fact owning a Serek bass is actually quite high up on my bass guitar wish list, just not at the very top, and I'll just have to come to terms with the facts of my economical situation coupled with my other higher priorities making the prospect of me ever actually getting one of these basses extremely slim, with quite high probability even. I suppose that would probably really make it more of a dream than an actual wish, as in : "If only..." ->**deep wistful sigh**<- "...guess we are just not meant to be..." Though they sure do seem to be absolutely amazing instruments, and I can totally see how you would love it so much.

I rest my case... Doesn't own one. Got these though: This one being the original stock old official Ibanez Mikro Bass gigbag that I got with my old 4 string Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, which is actually my main bass, back when that was still a standard accessory included as part of the deal when you bought a new Ibanez Mikro Bass. It doesn't have the thickest padding (not being of quite as high quality as the separately sold later version of the official Ibanez Mikro Bass gigbag), but it's the perfect size and shape for the Mikro Bass to fit quite snugly inside, which prevents it from skipping around inside the standard guitar gigbag that I later bought, which got thicker padding, and which is actually big enough, despite it being meant for guitars and not basses, for the stock Mikro Bass gigbag packed with my Mikro Bass, to easily fit inside of it, the two gigbags combined this way offering super effective protection, quite sure more effective than any single gigbag on the market would be able to offer, even if it does makes packing and unpacking the bass slightly more circumstantial, though really being a quite minor inconvenience to pay for the extremely solid protection this solution actually offers : And this one being the mentioned gigbag that the gigbag on the above picture is packed inside of when transporting my Mikro Bass : Note that the pictures not quite reflects the actual real size ratio between the 2 bags, the gigbag on the second picture actually ought to had been slightly bigger compared to the size of the gigbag on the first image.