Muzz

I thought the output from the pickups was quite 'polite' compared to a lot of basses I've played. I love the neck, but I'd decided if I ever went for one, changing the pups was job no 1 on the list. Given the current list price, 425 for a nice one is a great price to pay. I'd certainly go for that.

Going down the same route here (not with the second Mrs (yet) tho... ) on the Fenderbird - Hipshot Xtender and tuners fitted, Supertone ordered, next it'll be the Seymour Duncans and a CTS rewire. Then it'll be finished. Probably. This modding lark's more GAS-inducing than buying em whole. At least it's cheaper...

I thought the Rumour build quality was very very good, but then so was the build quality of the Shuker and the Overwater I had. Not another level between them though. Couldn't fault any of them, so it'd be doing someone an injustice to claim one was better than another, much less vastly better. Once build standards and attention to detail reach the heights of most (haven't owned em all, so I can't say all) top-end luthiers, the differences become very very small indeed. Maybe you've had a substandard Sei, or an under-par Overwater, or a dodgy Dingwall, I don't know.

Not for me - I had a Rumour a fair while ago, and it was a very well made instrument (not sure about 'another level') but that's just Huggy Bear's bass.

I like even more Tubetone in my sound - between 12 and 2 o'clock on the dial, but I think this is one of the strengths of the RH450 (certainly compared to the LM Rocker or Tube) - that tube saturation (as well as being very natural sounding) is also very gradual from a hint to full fuzz. I preferred it to lots of heads with yer actual valves in the preamps. Oh, and I have a pretty compressed sound, too, so them there transients are all squished out before I start...

Yep, that was my first 34" scale bass, too - second bass overall, first was a short-scale - Satellite, too. It was OK at the time - certainly better than I was in 1978...

This has been round the EBay block fairly recently - I was watching it then. Can't remember what it went for.

Anyone care to point out the difference between this and the Spyder 550? I'm presuming it's the same power stage, tho the Spyder has (I think) the Drophead pre. Is there much difference? I loved the sound, but it didn't beat my RH450 as an overall package (size and weight had a lot to do with it) so it went. Gotta say I quite like the styling (if they did it right - those labels are cack for an amp on the north side of £700), tho the 'bastard' thing got old very quickly some time ago, and is embarassing now.

Nice wood, but it's yet another version of the most-versioned bass shape in the world. If basses were cars, people would still be making Model Ts out of carbon fibre and composites. The Dingwall's much nicer.

Very nice, unfortunately that stonking great switch on the upper horn ruins it...

Easy Freebird is easy, but there's a YouTube isolated bass track which made me raise an eyebrow - there's a lot more in it than I'd suspected in the 30+years I've been listening to it. Break a leg at the audition, mate...

Sacrilege! Whatever next? Non-red ferraris? Jaco J's in purple flake? Actually, he did use a mythical greenburst P (I think there's a pic on here somewhere), but IMO it's a particularly bilious combination. It's your dosh, though, so you're paying the piper on this one... just don't do it pink.

Yep, there's a jumper, (helpfully marked 110/240) on the board. Well, you can on a LMIII, anyway - I've done it on that one. Takes about 5 mins, and most of that is getting the cover on and off. Don't forget to change the fuse, too. It's a bum-clenching moment switching it on for the first time, tho...

Just had a very pleasant sales experience with Andrew - a gent from start to finish. Deal with confidence...

OooooooowishIhad1500quidspareooooooooo...

[quote name='LowdownRumble' timestamp='1317141187' post='1387298'] Sorry to high jack this thread a bit, but im having a similar dilemma. Got a Hartke VX215 cab, but no head to run through it. Ive checked out a few heads and narrowed it down to these: -GK MB500 -Hartke LH500 -Peavey Tour 450 -Ashdown MiBass -Markbass F1 at a push ...and obviously any used head thats under £450. I play metal music in a band, but most other genres outside that so am looking for a pretty versatile head. Unfortunately, im not in a position to go and try out different heads as i live in the back corner of norfolk a.k.a miles from anything remotely related to bass. I love a bit of grit when needed, but mostly look for a warm, punchy tone with plenty of lows. Any other suggestions apart from those would be welcome. Max I'd pay is £500 [/quote] There's a LM Tube and a LMII on here for way under £500. The Tube'll do grit and is warm, I'd say the LMII is more refined. At the prices they're going for you could resell without losing much - got to be worth a punt in your position.

[quote name='Spaced' timestamp='1317056959' post='1386143'] Finally, someone who understands! People tend to think I'm strange when I go round sniffing all the basses in the store. I have no idea why that is, though [/quote] You [i]are[/i] strange, it's just there's two of you now...

That body looks fantastic - you're not helping my must-buy-a-body-from-Warmoth GAS here, you know...

[quote name='lobematt' timestamp='1317046243' post='1385887'] I've never done it so don't take my advice to seriously, but I was trying to find a thread on talkbass to link you to (but I couldn't!) but basically he had a normal bass and recorded a few samples and then using the same electronics gaffa'd onto a plank of wood made a few recordings and asked people to guess which was which. The results came back pretty much 50/50, so based on that I'd say the tone's pretty much 90% electronics so I wouldn't worry about it [/quote] This. I've got a FrankenP-Bass with ash body, maple neck and board, corian nut, Schaller bridge, and I've got a Warwick Fortress with a maple body, wenge neck and board, brass nut and Warwick bridge. They feel and play very very differently. They both have Wizard Big pickups. Amplified, they sound 90% the same. Once the band starts up at a gig, they sound 99% the same.

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1316859889' post='1383724'] You really should try the Markbass LMII before you spend. You won`t find a bad word about it on this forum. [/quote] Yep, this is also true, tho it depends on the sound you're after - I ended up changing my LMIII for the TC, but I was after a specific type of sound: Sansamp/Ampeggy valvey old school. The LMIII is very very good.

Schroeder 1515L with my RH450. 2x15, 800w, 104db - very loud. Absolutely love it, and it weighs bugger all. It's (relatively) tiny, so you have to be a fan of low mids, but dial in some bass and it'll thump like a good 'un. I'm in a rock band with a loud drummer, and it's more than capable of drowning him out if absolutely necessary. Having said all that, I'd like to try a S12...