noelk27

There can't be many, if any, standard strings that could be dropped that many steps and maintain output stability. Even those strings that are compression wound. The issue is mass. There are a few sets on the market that are designed for drop tuning, but, even still, you'll get much better, and stable, results using the bottom four strings from a five-string set.

While all .105 strings are the same "gauge" they're not necessarily the same mass, and my choice has always been more focused on the mass of the string than the stated gauge. It's why, with unaltered setup criteria, I've gone from using one manufacturer's .045 - .105 set to another manufacturer's .045 - .100 set, with no loss of output across the .080 and .100 strings, but have to accept that there's a touch more output from the .045 and .065 strings.

[quote name='Doddy' post='1347068' date='Aug 21 2011, 11:29 AM']Plus a lot of basses have split Precision style pickups,they're just in a soapbar case.[/quote] A lot of the comments seem to be directed at the "look" and "heritage" of what's Precision and what's Jazz, why I highlighted the Elite II. As for other Fender concepts, there was a Jazzmaster prototype that featured two double coil pickups, so the "Blacktop" is just another variation of an idea Fender first had in the early 60s.

I'd have bought a Yamaha BB2000, a BB2000F, and a BB5000, and saved myself a lot of time (25 or 30 years) and money (well into six figures). I know being able to say I've owned most of the alphabet, from Alembic to Zeta, can, on occasions, attract a certain number of cool points, but all it really says about me is I either suffer from decision paralysis or grass is greener syndrome. Sure, I'd know a lot less about other marques and models, but sometimes ignorance is bliss.

[quote name='sime17' post='1346752' date='Aug 20 2011, 08:54 PM']Whatever next? Basses costing £10k made out of coffee table?[/quote] Not sure it currently makes basses that way, but if you want an expensive guitar made out of old or antique furniture you should just buy a Martin. [quote name='CrazyDavey' post='1346847' date='Aug 20 2011, 11:37 PM']2 P-Bass pick ups? Such a horrible idea.[/quote] As for the two split pickups, Fender did this already in the 80s, so it's nothing new. Say hello to the Elite II.

What used to come as standard on G&L and Tribute basses. Very much like D'addario in quality and feel. Perhaps a little "tighter" in terms of feel.

Fretless electric? Tick. Fretless acoustic? Tick. How often played? Well, play the fretless versions more often than their ftretted cousins. It's more fun without frets!

You do realise the SB1000-5 has been available for years? To be honest, a bit like the SB1000JT, the 5 is very much a let down. The updated pickups and electrics have nowhere near the character of the originals, and the neck on the 5 is not a comfortable taper or profile. Aria would have been much better advised to use either the original SB900 or later SB-ELT template as the basis for a "modern" 5-er.

Owned two. Sold two. Well built (both), but sounded terrible. Agree that the electrics offer lots of options, but that's somewhat pointless when the output from the pickups is all honk. Wouldn't have another one even if it were free. And agree about the Akai. You could also add the DigiTech Bass Whammy to the list.

[quote name='Killerfridge' post='1342595' date='Aug 16 2011, 11:07 PM']There will be no perceivable difference between string-through body and top-loading, other than the placebo effect. There will certainly be no difference in string tension, as the string tension is not affected by where the string goes after it has gone past the saddles.[/quote] You're right, in that the amount of tension required to bring a given mass of string up to a given pitch is a known quantity and is not altered by the method of string anchoring, but there are other perceptible/measurable qualities, one of which is influenced by the break angle at the witness points, another of which is influenced by the total contact area - string to saddle/nut - at the witness point.

I'd be tempted to try an outboard preamp (Sadowsky's is a good one) and/or a parametric EQ (Yamaha's NE1 is a good one) and/or upgrade the internal wiring before swapping out pickups.

Keep something along similar lines (without the scheduled maintenance aspect) for insurance purposes (with description, serial numbers, modifications, and value, all noted, and supporting photographs and scans of documentation), to cover for the destruction and/or theft of any item. A memory is all well and good, but it won't assist you to any great degree when you are required to prove ownership, or substantiate values.

Urban legend, perhaps (I've no way of knowing), but I read that Geddy Lee has done a bunch of recording with a $200 junk shop find ... Says it all, really.

[quote name='Wilco' post='1341285' date='Aug 15 2011, 09:41 PM']The early 80's Aria RSB Deluxe 5 sounds very interesting. A Matsumoku 5 stringer - yes please!! Bet they're as rare as rocking horse s**t though. Will have to start saving my pennies just in case![/quote] The RSB Deluxe 5 was designed to be strung with a high C (although the catalogue of the time notes that, alternatively, it can be strung with a low B ). There's at least one on the boards, so its owner can possibly clarify if it was ever manufactured at the Matsumoku facility, as circa '85 Aria had other factories building for it. The top of the Aria line was the Integra CST 5 (definitely not Matsumoku). That's another point to bear in mind when looking at 80s 5-ers, that many were designed to be strung with a high C, not a low B. These instruments were most usually 34" scale length. It's the combination of those factors that lead people to comment on the weak "B" string.

[quote name='icastle' post='1340201' date='Aug 14 2011, 10:49 PM']By 'production' I mean mass produced instruments for a mass market. I'm working from memory but the difference between 1989 and 1990 seems a lot smaller than a year 20 years on... [/quote] In which case Aria (RSB Deluxe 5 - '84; Integra CST/DLX 5 - '88), Ibanez (Roadstar II 885 - '85; Soundgear SR05/SR925 - '87/'88), SGC Nanyo (Bass Collection 300/500 - '86/'87), Tokai (W775 - '88) and Yamaha (BB5000 - '84; TRB5 - '88) all makes/models that fit the bill, and all pre '89. Could be that the Japanese makers were earlier in developing and marketing 5-ers (leaving aside that Fender were there first, in '65, with the Bass V).

[quote name='icastle' post='1340162' date='Aug 14 2011, 10:04 PM']Nope. Cheaper manufacturers didn't get onboard with 5 string basses until the early 90's. In the 80's the only production models that I can remember being available with 5 strings were Alembic, Steinberger and Yamaha.[/quote] Well, you might be right in that more players started using 5-ers in the early 90s, but my memory is telling me that by '88/'89 there were a lot of production models available. Guess it depends what you define as production, but the likes of Zon, Tobias, Spector, Smith, Pedulla, Peavey, G&L, Fernandes, Carvin, Warwick, Vigier, Larrivee, Tune and Ibanez all had 5-ers in their line-ups. Seem to recall the Peavey model being called the "TL-Five", and although I never tried that one I'd either played or owned various models, including a Zon Legacy Elite and a G&L L5000, both of which I still own.

Well, if you're sticking with the Japanese marques, then Aria introduced the RSB Deluxe 5 in '84, and Yamaha introduced the BB5000 in the same year. Westone had a few 5-ers in its line-up, although the only model I'm certain of was the Spectrum, which first appeared circa '88.

[quote name='stringintheshade' post='1336809' date='Aug 11 2011, 05:14 PM'][Harrison] Mixbus is a branch of Ardour ... Use Ardour and you've got the same thing, minus the Harrison DSPs. ... You'd have to question why anyone would go the Logic or ProTools route starting from scratch when there's stuff like Ardour around.[/quote] Well, for me, the reason to purchase the Mixbus package was (and is) the Harrison interface, and sonic processing. The Harrison EQ in the Mixbus package is one of the most musical I've used (and for $89 it was a no-brainer). Perhaps the reason it's not better known is that the Ardour package is specifically Mac and Linux based. Ardour is a solid package, although not exceptional. It has suffered with a number of significant limitations, but more and more of these are being addressed with releases. (Having not yet upgraded to Mixbus 2, I can't comment on the performance of the latest version of that package, or the latest version of Ardour, but my understanding is that there has been a significant improvement in both.) And, the biggest "selling" point for some, perhaps, is that Ardour is free (although the developers ask that you make a donation to their technology fund). Well worth checking out. (Of course, if you were PC-based you could be looking at Acoustica's Mixcraft, as an alternative to the likes of Cakewalk, among the other usual suspects.)