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RichT

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Everything posted by RichT

  1. RichT
    That's all fantastically useful information thank you. I do like different, my only bass for an awful long time was my Hohner B2A stick (well after/before they were cool 😉), and after being fascinated by the oddness of Ibanez EHB's since they launched I finally but the bullet and bought at 1505 a few months ago. It's the first 5 string I've ever bonded with and felt comfortable playing, now I wonder what took me so long. I've currently got the same fascination with the strangeness of the Starstream, and knowing it ticks all the boxes of being an affordable lightweight short scale that offers the 'Ray-esque sound, I may succumb sooner rather than later.
  2. RichT
    That is exactly what it feels like. At the price point I was expecting a step up from the SUB level, but seems that's essentially what they are. Yeah this was in PMT Bristol, being the only place I'd been for months with one in stock. They'd probably have price matched if I'd asked as they're £699 most places online. I'd happily pay it if the quality was there but sadly it was way off the mark on this one. I went in expecting to love it to bits and was really quite surprised at what I found.
  3. RichT
    In light of my experience with the Sterling SS described in my previous post, I've been looking at the Vox Starstream 1H again, with the Artist version being available for a similar price to the Sterling. How exactly does the non-Artist version differ? I guess it doesn't have the Aguilar and Gotoh hardware, but what's the setup with it? Is it all passive with just a straightforward volume & tone? How are the ergonomics and how have you found it compares sound wise (I guess I'm asking with regard to 'Rays more than anything else)? Do you feel like you'd prefer the option of it being active? Part of wanting the SS Sterling was the appeal of a passive Stingray. I'm in love with Paul Denman's dark mellow 'Ray tone on the early Sade records, I'd love a lightweight SS bass that can sound like that!
  4. RichT
    I finally got to try a SS Sterling Ray last weekend, one of the new black/maple ones. After all the glowing reviews and demos online, I was pretty shocked at the lacklustre build quality. Sure it played and sounded pretty good, but it felt... cheap. The knobs in particular were shockingly flimsy, loose and wobbling everywhere. The pickup selector felt kind of 'spongy' with a huge amount of mushy play between the clicks, felt like it was about to break in my hands. The neck too was no more than functional. It reminded me most of the neck on my son's Squier Affinity Jazzmaster HH - completely unfinished and not in a good way, like some kind of cheap uncompleted neck blank with no finesse about it and a hard corner on to the fretboard. I'm biased against maple boards anyway so I'll let that bit go, but compared to this the neck profile on my Gretsch G2220 is a work of art. Despite that, it sounded good and actually felt fine and easy to play with a comfortable body, and the weight felt less than I'd feared, but there is no way on earth I'd part with £749 for the specimen I tested. I noted afterwards that these are a lot less in the US, currently $599, equivalent to £520. I think they launched more equivalent to around the £450 mark. We're being completely gouged on these over here. I honestly don't think they'd have been initially reviewed half so well if the Americans were getting them at our current equivalent of $800-$860, they're just not worth it. I think I'll be keeping my eye out for a well priced 2nd hand rosewood one.
  5. RichT
    After thinking very hard about what you wrote above, spending literally days listening to demos to the point of distraction, briefly going back and forth over my other GAS distractions of SS 'Rays & Mustangs before remembering my ultimate goal of low weight... the ultimate deciding factor came down to the fact that I just couldn't get past the green finish on the EHB1005SMS. Yeah I know Call me shallow but I like my basses and guitars to look like they're made of wood, and as much as I'd probably prefer short scale to play, the solid metallic emerald green just wasn't doing it for me. So tonight I've made a decision and ordered the EHB1505 Dragon Eye burst with the Nords. PMT currently have it on sale for under £1000, and at only £65 more than the shorty it seemed way too good an opportunity to pass up. Thank you everyone who has offered advice and input to my recent questions, it's been very much appreciated even if I didn't ultimately end up buying SS this time. But it's an EHB so will no doubt be light, and as it's the parallel fret 34" version it'll still be easier to get around than the 35.5" SRMS805 was. And I love bursts. Delivery on Thursday. Fingers crossed...
  6. RichT
    See, now look what you've gone and done! Today all I can think about is Mustangs. I'd love a sunburst American Performer Mustang... (un)luckily they seem to be pretty much impossible to find at the moment.
  7. RichT
    By contrast I'm not a traditional Fender man, never owned a Fender bass or FSO. My main bass right up until about 2019 was my beloved headless Hohner B2A. Only when the electronics got too unreliable did I start buying new basses for the first time this century (and begin making up for lost time!) at which point I started with some Ibanez models, so in my case Ibanez + headless is an attraction for me I've seen several people complain about those luminous side fretmarkers. I don't need them to be luminous, but I do need the markers to be visible under normal lighting. I've seen some people say they don't even do that too well - is this because they camouflage into the bird's eye maple neck? Is this maybe less of an issue on the plain darker necks of the 1505 series? The front fretboard dots don't bother me, I never look at them, but side markers are essential. I've also seen a few people comment unfavourably on the locking jack, but also that there seems to be a particular technique to it. Hopefully that would just be persevering to get the hang of it. Thank you, excellent feedback.
  8. RichT
    Thanks! Interesting - from what I've heard there I prefer the sound of the Aguilars to the Nordstrands. Are you playing flats there (and is that maybe why it's darker and warmer sounding than all the demos I've seen with Nordstrands?) Out of interest, how much did they set you back for the pair? Always got the option of upgrading further down the line.
  9. RichT
    Thanks, that sounds very encouraging. Light and well made is the number one goal here. Glad to hear the neck isn't too disimilar to the SRMS805, I navigated the width and fanned frets of that just fine. I hear you with the ability to darken the tone on the Nordstrands. The non-multiscale 34" Nord-equipped EHB1505 is also an option and within budget, but after enjoying playing the Hofner and Gretsch so much and finding I can do things easier than on my long scale basses, I think I'd prefer the shorter reach and scale of the 1005SMS. Oh decisions decisions...
  10. RichT
    Following on from my posts a few pages ago about looking for a lightweight SS solid body a little more upmarket than my Gretsch G2220, and a little less hollow sounding than my Hofner HCT Club, the current top of my list is the Ibanez EHB1005SMS - i.e. the multiscale SS 5 string version. The thinking is mainly around wanting a light comfortable main player SS. The 5 string element isn't the primary concern, where that comes in is that I had the SRMS805 multiscale SR style 5 string, loved the sound but I was never playing it for more than 10 minutes at a time due to the size and weight, so discussions on this thread spurred me on to sell it to fund something smaller and lighter that will see more use. It was however my only 5 string and I'd love to have at least one, so this could be a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Has anyone tried one of the EHB short scales? Anything I should really know about them in advance? I know a lot of people don't like the Bartolini pickups and want to replace them with Nordstrands or Aguilars. The same BH2 Barts as the SRMS805 are in the EHB. Going by all the videos I've seen on Youtube I honestly I prefer the warmer sound of the Barts. The Nords seem too trebley and top-end heavy for my tastes, not sure if maybe people who prefer their sound are just playing totally different genres to me but the Barts suit me just fine. Interested in any thoughts re how that B string holds up at 32", the neck profile and reach to the nut, overall ergonomics and comfort/oddities, any particular successes or failures with types of strings tried, whether they really do feel like a well made main bass or if there's a gimmicky element to them. Anything at all that would be useful. TIA!
  11. RichT
    Thanks for that rundown, lots of food for thought there. I looked at the Vox before, love the retro futurism aesthetic of it, it looks like it's escaped from Daft Punk's Interstellar 5555 Tell me more, was it really that good? Have you tried the humbucker version?
  12. RichT
    Thank you for linking to the review, very informative. Incidentally you mentioned on the thread how noisy your JMJ Mustang was. I've never owned a Mustang, but I was under the impression that the split coil pickup was split for the same purpose a P pickup is - to cancel hum. Is that not the case on Mustangs then?
  13. RichT
    Ah right ounces, I was confused for a moment there too but that's excellent info, thank you!
  14. RichT
    I seem to be the only person who likes the dropped copper finish, that's probably the one for me if I go down that route but I wish it came with a darker board. I note that on Talk Bass a community of SS Ray neck swappers has developed to deal with that issue.
  15. RichT
    Yeah I get what you're saying about resale value. Upgrading the G2220 would be purely because I love the playability of it and would be wanting to keep it, but those TV Jones pickups aren't cheap and it kind of doesn't feel worth spending all that money when it's already 'a good bass' and would just be to iron out some fairly minor issues. And part of its charm is that it's not precious, right now I know I can take it to an open mic night and not be devastated if it gets dinged or worse. That's lost if I sink more money into it. Funnily enough the 5 string EHB 1005SMS is one of my top contenders at the moment. I'd like something lighter to replace my Ibanez SRMS805 multiscale (getting on for 8.5lbs) which also has the MkII Barts and it's a sound I like and am familiar with. I'm fine with headless, I played a Hohner B2A as my main bass for an awfully long time . The EHB has really got a lot of plus points, but I'm looking for something that will be a main bass, and I do hesitate slightly simply because the EHB is such an odd looking beast! But getting one does mean I can then feel ok selling on the SRMS805 which is my only 5 string but realistically too heavy for me to play for any length of time. The Acinonyx looks and sounds really great on the demos I've heard, and the light weight is amazing (proves it can be done - why are so many companies producing 8-9lb shorties?) It was literally just the single coil hum that turned me off that one. I look forward to hearing your report on it when you get it
  16. RichT
    Ooh now that's very interesting. I'm rather taken by the idea of the SS passive Stingrays, the pickup switching system on them looks great, versatile but also intuitive. I'd written them off due to the weight, I hadn't considered putting some of my budget into lightweight tuners. I've never actually changed tuners on anything before, what sort of weight saving would you expect to gain from it? And thanks for the update on the Gretsch business I was looking up the G2220 neck measurements yesterday and noticed they now describe them as single coils on the official specs, so wondered if there had been some kind of official response.
  17. RichT
    I've just been looking at that It's a little over my budget, I'm anticipating £1500 absolute tops, preferably more around the £1K range. My main restriction is weight (I know, I know), my left shoulder desperately struggles to deal with much above 7lbs for any length of time these days, hence me getting into the hollow & semi-hollow Hofners. The plus side of that though has been that after more than 30 years of playing bass, I've now found I prefer short scale and wonder why I never tried it before. Better late than never. Needing a quick solid body fix, I found myself a 7lb Gretsch G2220 a few months ago (yes it was plainly obvious it had single coil hum from the minute I got it home ) and while it's so much fun to play, there's no denying the components are cheap - jack socket, bridge, pickups, tuners, all could be much better. I do however love the look & weight, and the neck is possibly my favourite that I've ever played, so I kind of have a choice between setting about upgrading the Gretsch (could easily be £500 worth) or just look for something better built to start with. I've been researching and been somewhat surprised to be honest at how heavy solid body short scales can be! When the likes of Sandberg are doing their superlight line I do wonder why other companies don't make a similar effort, there's obviously a market for it. I would be grateful for any suggestions offered - I'm just looking for that tight solid (or possibly chambered) body sound, nothing hollow. Anything coming in below 7.5lbs considered, the lighter the better. It's kind of essential to avoid anything with single coil hum as well, but I'm easy as to whether that's in the form of humbuckers or split pickup designs. I feel I've looked at a lot already but I'm certain to have missed some, let me know! TIA
  18. RichT
    Many thanks to everyone who offered advice re my Hofner strings query. Re suggestions of the Hofner HCT not being suited to the sound I'm looking for, a couple of things to clarify - I'm definitely in the market for a well built, more premium solid body short scale right now, but I'm going to ask about that in a separate post! I actually get a lot of versatility out of the Hofner Contemporary's tone with rounds, and being specific with playing style (fingers/thumb/palm muting) and position over pickups, I can get it to do fairly good imitations of both a standard electric bass sound and a more hollow vintage sound. My main issue is, as has been mentioned, string choice is highly restricted due to the tiny tuners, and with the Hofner Contemporary Rounds I've found that almost as soon as I've broken them in, they start to tarnish, turn a coppery colour and look pretty horrendous, so I was hoping for something with more life expectancy to get out of that cycle being stuck between overly bright strings or tarnished eyesore! When I said I wasn't going for vintage I realise that wasn't being specific enough to be useful. At that moment I was thinking 'vintage' in the sense that 90% of people with Hofners on bass forums seem to believe that there is only one correct way for them to sound - McCartneyesque, flats, picked, thumpy - that does nothing for me whatsoever. But I suppose there's also the sense of 'vintage' as in the opposite of what most of us would perceive as a modern bass sound - i.e. that bright, active, zingy, slappy tone. That modern sound is also the antithesis of what I like! My Platonic ideal of a bass tone (like many other people my age I imagine) are things like Flea's sound on Blood Sugar Sex Magic, or Stuart Zender on the first Jamiroquai album. Actually quite warm dark tones but with that roundwound funky growl and bite. Anyway I ordered the Labella White Tapes specifically for Hofners. Despite the increased gauge they fit they HCT Club perfectly fine at the nut and felt great to play, much preferred them to the flats I tried. Ultimately after trying them out for a full 10 hours or so playing time I switched back to the rounds. Although I liked the sound I was getting and it was certainly more expressive, growly and brighter than flats, it was less so than the broken-in rounds. Also with rounds the HCT Club just has this absolutely beautiful unique full-bodied tone in the upper registers, and it lost that completely with the tapes. Above the 7th fret of the G sounded like the nylon strings on an acoustic - not what I wanted at all. So, I moved the tapes to my Hofner Ignition Club (which has been unmentioned until now...) Previously I'd put the flats on there to give it a raison d'etre after getting the HCT, which had ultimately had the effect of making me want to play it even less (doh!) I did have to slightly file a nut slot on the Ignition to get the D string to fit, mostly because that slot happened to be wonkily cut to start with, but once on the tapes sounded absolutely made for that instrument. Full, warm, expressive, responsive and articulate, and oddly didn't have the same 'nylon acoustic string' effect in the upper register at all. It's one of those long term goals of mine to one day own a German Hofner Club bass, and if/when that happens, I will be putting a set of Labella white tapes on it. In the meantime, I may just have to learn to love the lived-in look of rounds on the HCT.
  19. RichT
    Apologies if this isn't quite the right place to ask this, but I figured if anyone knows then the shortie fans are most likely to. I have a Hofner HCT Contemporary Club bass, generally loving it but looking for strings that are better suited for me. I'm very interested in getting a set of the Labella white tapewounds specifically made for Hofners (760THBB) but I note the gauge is higher than the stock strings - 50/65/80/100 vs 40/60/75/95. All I really need to know is whether they will fit the Contemporary Hofner line with no modifications to the nut. Anyone used them at all, or know for sure? Secondary to this, any opinions on the sound you get from white tapes would be welcome. Despite owning a Hofner I'm certainly not going for a vintage or 'thumpy' tone, I want a fairly standard electric bass sound. I've been using Hofner's own Contemporary roundwounds up until now. The sound of worn in rounds is the general vibe I'm after, I hate new string zing, and I'd also like something that lasts longer than the rounds. I did try the Hofner contemporary flatwound set and hated them, sounded totally dead and lifeless to me. I also wasn't impressed by a set of D'Addario flats on another bass, don't think flats are my thing. Hoping the white tapewounds will be the answer and have more life and bite to them.
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