CookPassBabtridge

@thodrik @MNY and @walshy I think I have your baby brother! For me this bass really comes into its own in a mix - punchy, growly and articulate. Ridiculously comfortable to play and pretty much flawless finish. I was thinking about replacing the chrome hardware with black, but then discovered that the ABM bridge is a proprietary Vigier design so decided against messing around drilling new holes etc. I did originally want a matte sapphire finish but couldn't wait the 12 months for Mr. Vigier to build it! Am very happy with this one though, the deep deep blue looks great.

This is actually a very good point! I'd be interested to know too.

@Rothko Well they’re both excellent with headphones, the PJB Big Head is good because it’s portable and is very clear and punchy, which is the kind of sound I like. The Magellan is a bit more of a ‘traditional’ amp and has way more tone shaping options. So both good in different ways.

This. And this. I have a PJB Big Head and it aligns with both of these comments - very clean, sounds like a DI and is bright and punchy compared to my Genzler Magellan amp. The Genzler is also pretty clean, a touch warmer than the PJB but they both have a headphone out and an Aux input.

Off the back of the first 3 (maybe 4) albums, Metallica could fart into a microphone and I’d still listen to it. In fact, that’s pretty much what St. Anger was. Hardwired is a slight return to form but nowhere near the early stuff. I pretty much agree with everything that’s been said; they’ve never been the same since Cliff passed. Jason was a great bassist but he got shafted by a band that never got over the death of his predecessor and some very big egos.

I’m sure you’ll be fine, if you’ve had a good experience up to now part of it I guess will be the driver for your patch. Fingers crossed your guitar will be with you soon!

And me. Partly to support the artist, and admittedly partly for my own benefit - I like listening to albums in their entirety, without skipping tracks. I also like having the physical item in my hands, complete with artwork etc. We’ve certainly lost some of the experience by just having tracks at the touch of a button on a phone screen. Admittedly I do use spotify, but only where I can’t practically use my vinyl, such as in the car or on a run. I heard that one of the reasons Tool weren’t on streaming services for a long time was linked to my point above - that they regarded their music as something more than just a digital track - the artwork of an album, and having to listen to it in a very specific order were both critical to the story they were trying to tell. More on topic - a friend of mine had a single that went silver a couple of years ago. When I last saw him before lockdown he was using an app where local shops sold food they’d otherwise throw out on the cheap, as he was struggling to pay all his bills. That was even factoring in his income from production work at his home studio, along with his band stuff.

I ordered some parts from Thomann the other week with no issues (apart from UPS being a bit of a pain on this side, claiming they’d attempted delivery when they hadn’t - no fault of Thomann). So wouldn’t hesitate to use them.

I think I remember reading somewhere (sorry I don’t have a link) that part of it was the Japanese workshop wasn’t putting out the volume of basses Sadowsky wanted/needed - I recall there was a delay to the first batch of Japanese Metro Expresses for example. That and the fact that others have mentioned, Roger may be thinking about winding down/retiring, and Warwick are known for having a big factory with a high volume of output.

@ikay Thanks for the info, that's pretty encouraging as the niggles you mention are things that don't tend to bother me (heavy and lack of contour) as most of my basses are on the heavy side. Bit of a cliche but it does look like a lot of bass for the money - lots of switching/tone options and the bridge is adjustable I believe? Which is good for me as I often like to go up to 20mm. @LeftyJ That's a really interesting story, I had no idea they'd been around since at least the 80s, I had assumed they hadn't been around too long given the lack of info out there. I also like the look of the current Max model, but would be a bit too much of a risk to commit to given the cost and lack of places in the UK (lockdown aside) to try one out.

Does anyone have any experience playing/owning one of these? Their website, shall we say, has room for improvement and their Facebook page hasn't been updated for about a year. The big German retailers (Thomann and DV247) seem to stock a few but I can't really find them anywhere else. Their higher-end models look stunning but main reason I'm asking is their Roxy model seems an interesting proposition - I love Delano Xtenders and it appears to have a huge amount of tone shaping options from just the single pickup. I've seen a couple of 5ers pop up on the classifieds here but not much more. Anyone have any insights they'd be willing to share? Thanks!

Ahh thank you both! So @LeftyJ the brown wire from my pups is effectively the red in the above diagram, and I am soldering multiple (three wires) to the red from the battery - a brown from each pickup, and the red from the preamp?

I think Bass Direct will deduct the VAT for you if buying from outside the UK, you pay it when it arrives in Germany. So the only potential additional cost would just be a handling fee and whatever the difference is between UK and German VAT.

@Old Horse Murphy In that case I am going to assume it’s real. I refuse to allow the pleasure it’s given me to be snatched away by it being a parody.

That’s interesting. So are the videos ‘genuine’, i.e. not a joke/parody? The first one with its dodgy green screens, awkward looks away from the camera and Peeping Tom-esque shots of the young lady had me in stitches.

Goodness me, and it was only 2007. It looks like something straight out of the 80s.

The only 3-band preamp with 3 pots that I've managed to find is a Bartolini, which I put in my Thumb bass and am very happy with.

This is the best thing ever. I'm amazed a 'proper' band hasn't parodied it yet. Or is this actually a parody that has flown over my head? So. Many. Questions.

I've had generally good experience with Bass Direct, they have always responded very quickly to my enquiries and were very patient when I tried out a number of high-end basses at the shop (pre-lockdown!). The website does need an overhaul though, it's rather outdated and I've been caught out a few times ordering something which is actually out of stock. But I believe they're looking at launching a new one this year. They've proved to be a bit of a lifesaver for me, they sell stuff that I wouldn't be able to obtain or simply ask questions about easily anywhere else. So I echo a lot of the other comments - they may not be perfect but the bass playing community is a better place with them around.

Thanks, I'll check those out. Looks like they're discontinued but presume there will be some on the used market.

Hi All, I'm trying to wire a set of Seymour Duncan Pro-Actives (PJs) into an STC-3A preamp. I'm pretty confident with what I need to do apart from one wire coming from the pickups. One diagram seem to imply that a red wire from the pups needs to go to the battery, and the other says it's the red wire from the preamp that goes to the battery. Problem is, there's no red wire from the pups, only brown. And I'm guessing they can't both go to the battery? Or maybe they do. Given the pickup diagram is for a passive system I'm guessing one possibility is I don't need the red/brown wire from the pups as the power will be coming from the preamp? Do I just tape over the brown wire and not use it? Or have I got all of this wrong. Am keen to install this myself as it's tricky getting a luthier at the moment. So if anyone can help mitigate my incompetence that would be great! STC-3A_Wiring_Diagram.pdf

Certainly agree with you on most points there, particularly the recent rock bands that are completely unoriginal. Bruno, JT and the Weeknd are all great (looking forward to seeing the latter at the Superbowl tonight). However, I cannot stand Olivia Rodrigo and 'Driving License'. I think the lyrics are awful and I don't know why so many vocalists try to rip off Dolores O'Riordan, because they'll never sound as good as her. Sorry for going into grumpy old man mode 😂 Each to their own though.

Dua Lipa is great, but the state of pop music in general at the moment is dire. She’s more the exception rather than the rule. In my humble opinion.

Haha, actually it does help. Aligns with a lot of the feedback so far that the 8s will likely give a nice punchy tone, but I’d probably need 4 of them to outperform a single 12. So thanks 😁