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I have a female singer in my band and she has a fantastic range and is a great singer but doesnt belt it out like the the guys in the band. We were all using SM58 mics (I personally dont like them that much) and she was struggling with it, it just didnt suit her and gave her no volume. I have a older Sennheiser e865 and lent it to her for practice. There was a massive difference, she was clearer, had more gain and overall volume and she also sang away from the mic a little and it picked her up no proble. I find Sennheiser microphones a little more sensitive but in a good way. I would say get the best Sennheiser you can, I have seen a lot of top quality female singers, both Pro an amateur/semi-pro use them, they just seem to work well and they are extremely robust.

I have Ebanol on my Squier Deluxe V, i love it, its got a lot of 'snap' to it and makes the bass sound very bright and modern but as BigRedX says, its preference. Some people like that some don't. I have played the fretless squier and really liked the feel and sound.

I have had one really bad experience with posting gear, I sent an Aggie cab and whoever 'handled' it obviouly dropped it so hard the front baffle warped and smashed the tweater. Luckily I deal with a broker called P4D, I called them before hand and explained exactly what I was sending and asked specifically if there were any restrictions. I took the name of the person I spoke to (she was very nice) and had a phonecall to quote incase they tried to pull a fast one. I also insured it for the price of a brand new replacement not what I sold it for and this was only a minor up-charge. I took pictures of the parcel before hand and also the recipient of the can took pictures when he unwrapped it. I called P4D, emailed them photos and a complete explanation of what had happened and what had been broken and they went off and sorted the whole thing out for me, relatively hassle free. I got all of the money back, and offered the buyer a complete refund. He was happy just to have new tweater which I paid for from the refund.....everyone is happy!! The moral of the story.....take pictures, wrap it well and deal with a good company and actually talk to them. I use specific couriers now who I really do trust, and avoid Royal Mail, Parcel Force, City Link at all costs.

I normally play 5 String basses and usually like modern styling and I am a bit 'OCD' about dirt and scratches and dings etc. However, this gives me a warm tingly feeling.

Sorry to detract from the original subject Gillento, but can I ask how the Fender compares to your Nordy? I know one is mass produced and one boutique but I was just ondering what the build quality is like on the Fender? does it hold up against the Nordstrand? I really want a P5 at the moment and trying to decide which drection to head in, cheaper Fender or go for something like a Lull or Nordy. Many thanks

If you go to this website: [url="http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/TOWN8019/"]http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/TOWN8019/[/url] it will help you date your bass, your actual bass may be registered there but if not you will get some idea by looking at the serials on the site. Regarding strings, I had a StingRay 5 for while and tried a few strings on it. As has been mentioned ernie balls do work well, 45 - 130 are a good gauge. Personally though, the strings sound good initially but I get through slinkys quickly and they go dead within a couple of plays. I switched over to Elixirs and they were superb, they lack a little bit in the mids initially (this can be countered easily with he mid on the bass eq) but they bed in quickly and then keep a lovely tone for months. I had mine on for about 8 months in total and that was twice weekly practices and gigging. They cost a bit more initially but worth it my opinion.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1366564804' post='2054140'] some people have very bendy thumbs without forcing it whatsoever. Mine is not quite as bendy as the one in the video, but not far off, and has been like that forever. It really depends on the person. [/quote] Oh yeah I know some people have it naturally, I didn't mean to sound like I was saying he forced his thumb to do that. I have exactly the same thing but with my wrists and ankles, had it since I was a kid but I have been advised by several people that whilst it does give you a nifty party trick, its really not good for you to keep doing it and can cause issues later on. I just don't want the poor chap to get arthritis or joint issues, he's a damn good player.

The best little combo I have ever heard and had the pleasure to play through was the EBS Session 60. They also make a Session 30 now which I haven't played, but the 60 is incredible, i couldn't believe the sound when I put a precision through one. Its got all the aux input and headphone out etc and if you ever want to do an acoustic gig it will more than easily keep up with some light percussion and some acoustics. If I ever need a combo this is what I will get. For practicing I am about to get an Apogee interface to go into Garage Band on my laptop and then use it to play along with youtube, iTunes and spottily. As far as I know you don't need to drag songs is to the software or anything like that.

It gets confusing as there are some double ups name wise but I will have a bash: MusicMan Stingray - USA Made top of the range (apart from ball family reserve and limited models) 'Sterling by MusicMan' - These are the next level down in terms of cost, really good basses made in the far east as far as I know. MusicMan Sterling - A USA made bass similar to the Stingray but with slimmer neck and smaller body and slightly different pickup. MusicMan SUB - A now discontinued USA made 'budget' Stingray with textured body finish, black painted necks with USA electronics. Basically a normal stingray with no polished finish and no wood on show. S.U.B Series - The cheapest of the far east made budget MusicMan basses.

Firstly that thumb needs looking at by a doctor, its not right at all, he's hyperextending it and will probably get really bad problems in later life. Apart from that, awesome playing and the sound is superb. The growler had a MM pickup in basically so a Stingray should get very close to that, to be honest my old Stingray 5 sounded very similar to that.....god I miss it.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1366288354' post='2050527'] Which bit looks "wrong"? [/quote] They look ever so right to me.......LOVE those two precisions, absolutely stunning both of them. A P5 is next on my list, hopefully a Lull. Have you ever tried the Fender P5 out of interest? I would love to know if they held up against two of the best two P5's money can buy.

Amazing things, I love mine so much and such a breathe of fresh air after years of using Hiscox cases. Happy Birthday and enjoy your gig bag, I quickly moved on to the Mono straps and also looking at their messenger bags for work.

I think you are in an incredibly unique position (I am very jealous) not only owning two of these but also having one from each end of the production period. I owned an older model around 97 I think, and now have a newer 2005 and although I cant do direct comparison, my new one feels just the same as my older one, it was like coming home after a long period of other basses. I am sure there is someone else on here with two Roscoe Beck V's, maybe they will be able to help, I think it might have been silverfoxnik? I think Happy Jack has also had a couple of these (I traded my first one with him). If the older one is really not doing it for you and you decide to sell, please let me know

I am in exactly the same boat, I love active basses and multiple pickups so I have a huge range of tones at my disposal. I also love nice small clean amp heads and powerful clear cabs (I have EBS rig) and have always loved having a punchy modern tone. So I am a couple of months off turning 30, I have a mortgage, a dog, a sensible (but enjoyable) job, for some un-godly reason my body has decided to grow lenghty nose hair and now to top it all off now I want a relic Precision (preferably a Pino) and today I did something i never thought I would do.......I was looking at valve amps and specifically Ampeg and Orange. I think this its all linked, im getting to about vintage age (im sure someone said 30 year old basses are classed as vintage) and I have started to crave vintage gear. No offense to anyone who uses Precisions and valve amps, I just never thought I would want either and now I am really trying to hold bak on the credit card because they do sound so good.

I think its wicked and even better with the signature and all the pictures to back it up etc! I havent seen many Duff signatures up for sale so I have no idea on value but I am sure it would be snapped up. Lovely bass, I hav wanted one for ages but no spare dosh.

I would agree with this 99% the one 'freak' cheap 5 string bass that has truly stunned me is the Squier Deluxe 5 String. I bought one it was so good, really good B string and a lovely bass, but it has a MASSIVE neck, I love it and find it comfortable but its not for everyone. My Stingray 5 was amazing, but not very flexible in terms of sound, but it did the one sound incredibly well. My Warwick Streamer was brilliant (too tight string spacing for me) and now My Roscoe Beck V is very good and I am really happy with it. Its not a super expensive bass but to get one will cost you around £1300 if you can find one. Spend some money and get a good 5 string and you will never look back. [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1352647612' post='1865534'] +1 on this . I have never played a cheaper 5 string that was really good , to be perfectly frank. I haven't played everything out there by any means , but the least expensive half- decent 5 string I have encountered is the Music Man Stingray 5 , but even that has one or two idiosyncrasies that mean that I wouldn't buy one myself. In my experience , really good 5 strings are few and far between at any price and I have played a few very expensive boutique ones that were quite frankly rubbish in my opinion , but the best ones tend to be pricey because the builder has taken the time and trouble to address the design issues arising from the sonic and ergonomic issues arising from the extra string . If you are looking for a decent reasonably affordable 5 string I would check out some of the Yamaha basses- they probably offer the most low B string bang for your buck. [/quote]