Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

RichT

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    64

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by RichT

  1. RichT
    I can recommend the 4" Leathergraft Softy bass straps. As the owner of an arthritic dodgy left shoulder, I've tried a few different wide/padded straps including Neotech, Planet Waves and other Leathergraft stuff, but haven't yet found anything I prefer to these. They're thick and comfortable with a suedey backing but no sectioned foam padding so it's not obviously unusual looking, they just look like a wide leather strap. Between basses and guitars I must have about 10 of them.
  2. RichT
    I'm not sure £1500 gets you that much new now, compared to the pre-Covid pre-inflation pricing of just 5 years ago. e.g. You can spend £1500 on an Indonesian Sterling Stingray at the top end now. With £1500 5 years ago, you'd have only been a few hundred short of an American EBMM Stingray. The increases in bass & guitar prices over the last few years have been something else. I'd echo some of the other comments and encourage you to look 2nd hand. You can get some really nice gear 2nd hand in that price range.
  3. RichT
    If it was that important to them, maybe they shouldn't write 'SquiEz' on their instruments. No wonder people get confused! 😉
  4. RichT
    You've got 14 days to return anything bought online in this country, just be prepared that you'll be paying for the return if it's simply because you don't like it and there's no fault with it. Someone like Parcel Force will charge you about £25 and pick it up direct from your house. About as easy as it gets. Thomann say they'll give you free returns but I've read so many tales of woe around that, I'm personally very wary of buying from them (or any other non-UK retailers for that matter) due to the complete PITA if it needs to go back.
  5. RichT
    I don't know if it's just some trick of the camera lens, but that headstock looks enormous!
  6. RichT
    Yes, Hofners technically require medium scale 32" strings, so most sets listed as short scale are too short, but those Rotosound and GHS sets happen to be wound long enough to fit. The LaBellas I've linked to are sets made specifically to fit Hofners. The Cobalts are 40-95 gauge and they fit through the tuners no problem, but as they're 34" strings then some of the wound string is also wrapped around the posts. That doesn't bother me, and the sound is exactly what I was looking for so I've stuck with them.
  7. RichT
    It's misleading of them to suggest that the bass will only accept Hofner CT strings, there are several LaBella Hofner sets you can buy which will fit it fine, such as these flats, these rounds, and these tapewounds, all of which I'd recommend over the Hofner CT sets. I've currently got light gauge Ernie Ball Cobalt flats on my HCT Hofner (also Chinese) which are long scale strings but crucially fit through the tuners ok, and I've seen other people report putting Pyramid flats on them with no issue. The thing with Thomastiks not fitting the Chinese made models seems to be a deliberate choice, other companies can manage it fine. Edit: Remembered that I've also successfully fitted Rotosound RS77S flats and GHS 7700 Pressurewounds to my Chinese HCT in the past as well. Both these sets are listed as short scale, but I can confirm the winding lengths do fit Hofners correctly if you want a few more options.
  8. RichT
    Several mentions of Ibanez Talmans above, but as weight is one of your concerns I have to say I never found Talmans particularly light. For their size they're often surprisingly heavy. The Ibanez EHB line are more pricey but generally very light for their size. Peach Guitars have a 1505S short scale 5 string on their site currently weighing in at 6lb 10oz although they're not the cheapest option for them. If you're indeed a lefty as your name suggests, you're unfortunately out of luck as far as short scale EHB's go. I believe the only lefty they make is a multiscale 5 string. Still fairly light comparatively though, I have a 1505 34" 5 string which weighs 7lbs.
  9. RichT
    My Club bass is very light and great at what it does, but some important things to be aware of before choosing one. Firstly the string spacing is 14mm, if you've only ever played Precisions this is going to be quite a change; and secondly you're really limited on string choice with Hofners. The tuners have tiny holes which you can only get light gauge strings through, and officially* they take medium scale (not short scale) strings due to the extended tailpiece, which limits you even further. *I've currently fitted standard 34" scale 40-95 EB Cobalt flats to mine, but some people are wary of doing that sort of thing.
  10. RichT
    EB Cobalt flats are my default goto on my short scales now. Traditional flats have never really done it for me soundwise, but as alluded to above there can be something a little odd about the harmonics on the first few frets on a 30" E string when using rounds (probably my brain has just been indoctrinated for years by the sound of 34" harmonics so anything different sounds odd). The Cobalt flats have plenty of bite and life to them but I find they also negate those weird E string harmonics. Fantastic strings, little bit pricey but so worth it.
  11. RichT
    I too discovered short scale 'by accident' when I got a Hofner HCT Club a few years ago after seeing Curt Smith playing a Club bass in a Tears For Fears live video and just loving the look of it. It wasn't a conscious decision re scale length at all, it hadn't really registered with me that it was a thing prior to actually getting one! Although looking back I now realise that the first bass I learnt on in early teenage years was a short scale, I just never knew it.
  12. RichT
    Both my short scale EBMM Stingray and Maruszczyk Jake (P style) have scaled down bodies to keep them visually in proportion with the scale length. I don't know exactly how much but I'd have guessed they're about 7/8ths, which would be in keeping with a figure of 12%ish. I love the fact that they are very obviously Ray and P shaped/sounding because I physically struggle with the full size versions, and this way I don't have to miss out on having those classic looks & tones. I never got on with large bodied basses even before I moved to short scale, so as a result I'd never owned a Fender in the 35 odd years I've been playing. These scaled down shorties are a godsend.
  13. RichT
    Bargains! I already have two A1H, but I jumped straight over to the Vox site and almost immediately bought the A2S... then like a fool I remembered that the reason I never owned a jazz is that I'm allergic to single coil hum. The Aguilar AG 4J-70's sound great from what I've heard but alas not hum cancelling. Somebody's going to get a great bass though, if jazz pickups are your thing that price is ridiculous.
  14. RichT
    @Obrienp Thanks for the detailed run down, the U5 certainly sounds worth a shot, especially given the lack of anything else anywhere near it in price. Jazz width necks are my preference, and amazing to hear that the pickups are noiseless, I just can't do single coil hum! I also saw a Low End Lobster video which indicated that Gotoh GB528 lightweight tuners will fit the U5, so nice to know that option's there if an upgrade is needed. We'll have to see about the 'belly bulge' (there's one of those round here already 😁...) Cheers! 👍
  15. RichT
    @Obrienp I recall seeing on a thread somewhere that you have a Sire U5 fretless? I'm having to come to terms with there being something about the ergonomics of my 34" fretless that leaves my shoulder in pain despite it not being that heavy, so I've been considering the (very limited) ss fretless options out there. How have you found the U5? I hear Sires can be quite heavy generally, how does yours stack up weight wise? It seems to be the only affordable ss fretless I can find, and apparently exclusively available from Thomann with about a 3 month wait time. They don't make them easy to find! More widely, does anyone have any other suggestions for a ss fretless that won't break the bank?
  16. RichT
    Never had one, but in every Youtube demo of a Sandberg I've seen they always have a very characteristic bright and modern 'metallic' top end to the sound. I think of it as sounding 'springy'. It's very distinctive, I always presumed that's just the inherent Sandberg style.
  17. RichT
    Definitely, different basses have different voices which need certain strings to get the best out of them. I don't mind that at all, it's just a pain that the only way to find out which strings suit which bass is random trial and error. Currently have Ernie Ball Cobalt flats on my EBMM ss Stingray, Ibanez EHB 1505, Hofner HCT Club and one Vox Starstream. Got Elixir nanoweb nickels on Ibanez SR500e and the other Vox Starstream. Thomastik Jazz flats on fretless Ibanez Portamento (only ones I'm not sure about yet). And Ernie Ball roundwound slinkys on my Maruszczyk ss Jake (P bass pickup). On my guitars though it's D'Addario XS all the way.
  18. RichT
    I say use whatever strings make you happy in the moment and not necessarily what internet forums think is right. Internet wisdom has told me several times that I must use flats on a P bass and rounds on a Stingray, but after much experimentation, I've found I like flats on my Ray and rounds on my P. And they're both short scale (which the internet says is only for children and people with small hands 😉)
  19. RichT
    I buy short scale strings when they're available, but to be honest I've never actually had a problem fitting long scale strings on my SS basses. Sometimes I'll cut them down (e.g. Elixirs, which have no silks), and sometimes I'll just wrap the full silk length around the tuning post. Nothing's broken on me (yet).
  20. RichT
    As far as these things go it's pretty straightforward 😊 - Knob closest to neck is Volume. - Centre stacked knobs are Treble cut/boost (upper) and Bass cut/boost (lower). - Stacked knobs closest to the bridge are Mid cut/boost (upper) and Mid Frequency sweep (lower). You can also pull up the Treble pot for an instant bright boost One of the great things about this preamp is that if 3 bands and sweepable mids all seems like a bit of an overcomplicated faff, then it can also essentially function just as a 2 band, simply by leaving the Mid boost pot on the centre detente. In this position, the effect on the mids is completely neutral so the Mid sweep knob has no effect on the sound, and you can then ignore the knobs closest to the bridge altogether if you wish.
  21. RichT
    Lola Young's album This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway. Spotify suggested her song Messy to me a few weeks ago and it was one of those rare moments where something new just grabs you instantly. Fantastic voice and I love the fact that lyrically and musically she consistently subverts my expectations. And her bassist plays an Anaconda, so at least 10 extra basschat points.
  22. RichT

    NHBBD

    RichT replied to Franticsmurf's topic in Bass Guitars

    The Ibanez SRH500F (or Aerium) has a very nicely designed contoured edge. Very specific sound though, being both piezo and fretless. They don't make the fretted version any more but someone was selling one very affordably on here recently.
  23. RichT
    *Everyone* should learn to play with a floating hand 😊 I had no choice but to learn when I got a piezo-only Ibanez SRH500F about 5 years ago and suddenly had no pickup to rest my thumb on. Turned out to be one of the best things to happen to my playing technique. Very freeing being able to completely change right hand position on the fly from note to note to get brighter/warmer tones even within the same phrase.
  24. RichT
    These days weight is an overriding factor in my bass choices. I know I'm ok up to 7.5lbs, but going much above that tends to completely screw my shoulder up. Current favourites are: (short scales) EBMM Stingray - 7.5lbs Vox Starstream A1H - 7lbs Maruszczyk Jake - 7.4lbs Hofner HCT Club - 6lbs (long scales) Ibanez EHB 1505 (5 string) - 7lbs Ibanez Portamento (4 string) - 7.5lbs I've also previously had and moved on: Hofner Ignition Club - 4.5lbs Gretsch G2220 - 7lbs Ibanez Aerium fretless - 6.5lbs On the one hand it's fantastic that there are plenty of light basses around if you look, but on the other I find it massively frustrating when some bass makers and online sellers really just can't be bothered to even try, or to understand that this can be absolutely crucial to someone's ability to play an instrument. I recently had a farcical discussion with a customer service rep from Gear4Music who insisted on quoting the weight of a Mustang as 8kg, because that was the official 'shipping weight' in the specs, wouldn't budge on it despite me gently explaining this would literally make it one of the heaviest basses ever made at more than 17lbs, before they admitted that they didn't have a scale in the warehouse to weigh them even if they wanted to. If the likes of Bass Direct, Peach Guitars and Sweetwater are capable of weighing everything, then the failure of Andertons, Gear4Music, PMT, GAK, Guitarguitar etc to do likewise is at the least pure laziness (or worse... I could go on far more of a rant about it, but I won't, I just never spend money with those places any more).
  25. RichT
    The Hofner Contemporary flats do feature a very dead E string. Anything between low E to at the least G on 3rd fret is completely indistinguishable to my ears and sounds almost like a bass drum. Lots of people swear by the LaBella Hofner sets. I've never tried their flats, but I have tried their white tapewounds which I liked and gave a lot more definition and growl in those low notes. The LaBella tapes are *very* loose and slinky though, I like that but I know many don't. I ended up putting a set of 40-95 gauge Ernie Ball Cobalt flats on my HCT Club. No they don't officially fit it, yes they are on my bass and sound great* 😁 *now I think about it, I had to use a .45 gauge G from an old set, as I couldn't get the .40 anywhere close to intonating correctly. It was likely just a dodgy string because I couldn't get it to intonate on two other bases either. The Hofner looks a bit of a Franken-job with different colour silks now but it sounds exactly like I want it to.
×
×
  • Create New...