BabyBlueSound

The P was a perfect fit, the J was 1-2mm larger than the stock J... I had to get the file out to work off a bit of plastic edit: On the photo it just looks like I have just off-set the top and the bottom pickups, but it was in fact longer on both sides. Yes, I definitely like the new sound better. It's louder, and the lows have more growl, but I am biased, I always liked that zingier EMG sound some people consider too sterile or artificial. Was the replacement necessary? No, the stock's sound was alright, really. To be completely honest, I definitely under-use the J pickup, and since it's very quiet compared to the P, I could have settled with only the P in hindsight. I am however not aware that this Geezer Butler PJ comes in a 5-string version?

I have seen hipshots in black! Not sure, never measured them and did not find the specs. One stock machinehead is about 92g, just measured it (although I mixed the stock head rings with the Schaller heads, size difference issues, so I might be a few gramms off). I usually just play at home, seated, so do not feel a difference as I don't deal with head dive.

The EMGs are pretty good, they give a low "growl" the stock was missing. I am writing up the whole story of the upgrade, will be posting soon!

Upgrades are done for now, here's the end result below. Black Schaller machine heads, EMG Geezer Butlers, black screws, black knobs, black tapes, now I need a black bridge...

Getting there! Black Schaller machine heads, EMG Geezer Butlers, black screws, black knobs, black tapes, now I need a black bridge...

I am not sure... Isopropyl Alcohol attacks some plastic or removes the sheen on some plastics and leaves behind a residue that cannot be removed by cleaning. Would not test it on my tapes.

Have to revive this topic! Pics incoming soon, applied a few upgrades to my lovely mint green TMB-30, just doing some finishing touches.

YAY great news, can't wait!!! The relationship/signature is not really a factor for me (although I do like Davie and his slappp, I know a lot of people don't 😁), it's just his channel and his signature bass is how I discovered your brand in the first place a couple months ago, and has been drooling over your basses ever since then. So I guess he got you at least one prospect customer 😉 A shortscale Retrovibe Evo in green... again, just can't wait!

I wish the Davie504 signature would come in shortscale (or at least medium scale) version, 34'' is way too long for me

Also considering just using the original rings that fit PERFECTLY, and paint them black... Maybe that would be for the best.

I have tried a lot of these by now (at one point I had 5 of them, constantly swapping them), and in the end decided on the Nux! Will write a short review and adjust my opening comment as well to reflect my findings. Thanks for the ideas, everyone!

Hope someone can help me with some advice here. I have replaced my loosey, cheapo machineheads with a nice set of Schallers. However that nut-like ring-thing (highlighted on screenshot, sorry don't know the proper name for that part) was just a tiny bit smaller than the original rings, like 0.3mm according to my digital caliper. The original rings have been a perfectly tight fit, while the new one has just a tiny bit of wiggle room. So I wrapped some masking tape around the rings until it became very hard to push in, and hoped for the best. My hopes were soon crushed by a weird buzz being present, and upon careful listening I found that it is indeed coming from the base of the machine heads. I think it even started to slowly crawl out due to the resonation as I have definitely pushed them all in tightly and now some of them got a tiny bit of room between the headpiece and the metal part. So ok, filling the gap with masking tape is clearly not an option. What should I do? Use some Loctite threadlocker on the metal rings? Put small pieces of bamboo around the inner metal part to stabilise it further? Gorilla glue? A combination of these? Thanks

But as I said before, this is exactly what I don't need. I got my perfect practice machine set up and equipped with all that. I need one of those plugin microamps I can take to the other room if I'd need to practice there, simple as that. No cables, no pedals, no multieffects, etc

Oh cool, I am trying the EHX and the Valeton tomorrow, and might actually opt in for yours if I do not like them! Hope it's loud enough 😄

Yup I left facebook so I can't vote on the colour options... I'm a sucker for green basses, hoping for a grass coloured SWB 😁

Thanks I know the Zoom ones but that's hardly a microamp I got my setup for all that already, just want to be able to practice in the other room without bringing the gear

Wow I did not know this output level setting thing, thanks! However it was already on green, so yeah, still not loud enough . And it's not like I want to bust my eardrums, but even with good headphones I can hear external stuff over it, it's just not enough. My pickups are as high as they can be without making contact with the strings, but I'm planning to install a EMG Geezer Butler PJ set shortly, so maybe that will solve it, and that should still be in my return window for the Vox. Unfortunately the hiss is real and unrelated to pickups, it's happening even when there's nothing plugged in. It's just there. The EHX I will look into if possible to get in the UK on a reasonable price

This is getting a bit off-topic here methinks, and you're making arguments against points I have never made Don't get me wrong, I am not blindly against Amazon, I use Prime too, I know how great it can be, etc. All I am saying is, whenever I am presented with an option to give my monies to a huge global company that worth trillions, or the local biz around here and the price difference is like £5 or <5%, I try to make a conscious choice. That's just my approach. Especially after talking to a friend who had a nice little online retail biz but now has to sell solely through Amazon to be competitive and is making a lot less money with the same amount of work as Amazon is taking it's cut and you have to compete with the cheap priced chinese stuff too, whatever you're making. Yeah, what Jeff does with his money is his thing (though I always find it weird that people who have the most help the world oh so little which DOES weigh in to my decision), but what I do with my own little money is my thing, and if I have the option to give my money to literally anybody else, I will do it, as Jeff will be fine without me. Again don't get me wrong, I am no saint, I am just about to unpack a few Prime boxes here... which just underlines that even if you're trying to make a conscious choice, sometimes you just can't avoid the convenience and price. But I do believe I have to counterbalance the Amazon monopoly whenever I can, as no matter what they're trying to make me believe, I actually DON'T need EVERYTHING the next day . And if I do... well Amazon is not going anywhere anyway, I will always have that option.

If we continue this train of thought, this ends when all small retailers are out of business, only Amazon remains, and then they can decide the price (which they pretty much already do). I'm sure Jeff needs another space rocket to be able to continue the spacefaring epeen-comparison game with his ultrabillionaire buddies, but I still try to support smaller retailers whenever I can, when the price difference is 5-10% or so. But the 20% extra plus shipping is a little bit out there, my pockets aren't infinite...

Well, that sounds cool, glad to hear! Are you planning to move the top strap button by any chance? It looks a bit weird behind/under the horn where it currently is, and a lot of review videos mentioned this too that it does not feel particularly comfortable this way, having to get the strap behind the horn.

So I've been looking for a micro amp just to be able to practice in another room without having to carry my small amp around, and so far I am not amused with the options available. I tried the Sonicake "US Madness" microamp, designed for bass. Not great. The sound has no body at all, sounds like I'm listening through a tin can, and I could hear pops and weird noises too. Does not worth the £25. So I thought maybe I need a slightly more expensive quality brand, and tried the Vox one (amPlug2 AP2-BS Bass Guitar Headphone Amplifier). The sound quality is noticeably better, BUT the volume levels are not really satisfactory on my passive bass, and there's a LOT of pretty audible hiss going on that increases or decreases with the Tone dial. Not just your average everyday electric noise, this is a separate hiss (I can hear the regular electric noise as well, not that loudly, so that's normal), and SERIOUSLY loud. All in all I can roll with the Vox, but I am wondering if there's any better options for such a simple goal: to be able to practice with headphones WHILE not breaking the bank. ---------------------------------------- EDIT: I got the NUX in the end, see my review below: So I tried the following stuff: VOX - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NAUKJTY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&th=1 Almost a solid choice, BUT. It's not nearly loud enough (at least for some passive basses I guess), and there is a terribly, terribly loud HISS. The hiss is not coming from the bass, because the microamp does it even when it's not plugged in to a bass. Sound quality is pretty decent, your bass sounds like a bass... a lot of compromises here. Sonicake bass - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B079FGN89H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Ugh, sounds like rattling a plastic can inside a tin can. Very artificial, dull sound, and the deeps even end up being distorted. Would not give a penny for this sound. Valeton RH-100 Rushead Max - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07W3K92ZM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Like the Sonicake, terrible plastic-y sound without a real body or any deeps. Sounds like a toy. EHX Headphone Amp - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003UIBQEI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Now this one was a quality build, the volume was great, and there was enough bass too. But it does not have an AUX-IN for practicing, and compared to the Vox, it has basically no treble at all. If you're in the game for a very deep sound, this can be a pretty good choice. But I like my zing, so this was a no. NUX MP2 Might Plug - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084JB519R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 My choice! Sound quality is not exactly as great as the Vox or the EHX, but almost! And there is no hiss, there is enough volume, and there is enough treble. It actually has bluetooth aux-in which makes practicing very comfortable, it's got drum machines, and a lot of different amp simulators and effects. These were not really a factor for me as I rarely use any effects, and these sometimes (with some settings) sound a bit toy-like once again, but there are enough options to find a sound that works for your taste. Hope I helped some of you.

Oh god, I've been eyeballing the SWB-1 for a while now and that's quite a bit of a jump in price But still happy to support moving production to the UK, good for you!

Wow glad I found this topic! Got myself a short scale Ibanez Talman TMB30 recently, which I love but it's definitely not without issues stemming from being a fairly cheap bass (£150-ish). I will do a proper writeup/review soon.

I try to avoid ordering on Amazon when anything is available anywhere else, but stringsdirect charging £59 for a short scale tapewound D'addario... No thanks, same thing is £48 on Amazon. Your options are much more limited if you're using a short scale

Thanks, might check this out too, for now I went with the Ebay fingerboard cleaner linked above. I'm sure we should not wash the strings with soap 😁 Nylon guitar strings have no metal core on the inside, but tapewounds do.