BabyBlueSound

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.

Thanks for all this, glad to hear you can't see it either on yours either - and curious if your ball-end windings look a bit off too. I heard they improve the coating tech every few years, so yeah the extra layer might be just a lot less visible now. And I'll be looking out for the coating stretching at the peg when I'm re-stringing, good idea too! I had an un-opened seal on the back of the box, but that's not very secure, I could still easily open the packaging on the top or the bottom without really damaging it, leaving the seal intact.

It was £27, some eBayer had like a single set, was not a "vendor" per se nor one of the suspiciously cheap ones, where some Chinese vendors are selling them for like £10 - I can't imagine those being real. Thanks, good to see they seem legit. I don't know how do they sound yet, as I still got my black tapes on. But will definitely give it a go in the next few days when I'll have the time to properly re-string. I only thought I should be seeing something with the naked eye as I've seen a few photos online like this, but I definitely can't see such a film neither with my naked eye nor with the crappy macro camera:

Thanks Guys, here are some additional pics

I personally like a somewhat scooped sound. Does playing with the BLEND knob help? If you turn it down, it's supposed to soften the "effect" and bring back more of the mids of your original sound.

Could someone post a macro of their Elixir nanoweb strings, do you think I have been scammed? I bought a set of cheap ones on eBay and might have been scammed. I do not see nor feel the nanoweb coating at all, although I'm not sure how visible would it be to the naked eye. I should be able to see it at least a little in the gaps between the rounds, no? I have only seen Elixirs years ago when their coating technology was very different. First photo comparing it to some regular strings, rest is just macros where I'm trying to catch a glimpse of the coat from various macro angles but without success.

Umm ok sure. The point of a forum is to ASK without trying something that might damage your £50 string set, and asking for information IS research. 🙃 I can certainly just try random stuff, but what's the point of the forum then? The hard plastic on a casette is not the same plastic that is on the tapewound.

I just bought the BDI21 and I got the GDI21 switches in the manual too.

I just spraypainted them black in the end. It's not perfect as the paint comes off fairly easy when scratched, but I won't be scratching the rings

Got it. Yeah, there's not a lot of room in there, but I think it should be possible to sort it out:

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 😄