M-Bass-M

Firstly, I'm talking basses with a P-bass pickup at the neck and a J-bass pickup at the bridge...not the clothes that you may wear at night in bed! I currently have an obsession with PJ basses. In my mind I want to emulate my bass heroes and own a p-bass. But then I also would love the ability to dial in that mid, punchy bridge pup sound every now and again. I guess I see the PJ combination as the ultimate versatility. However, there seem to be very few of these about. Plenty of JJ pickup configurations, or HH combinations (as per my current Status). So am I missing something - why are there so few PJ basses on the market? Cheers! Mark

+1 to Melodyne. I normally use it to tidy up backing vocals, but on one occasion I used it to tweak one wrong bass note that I couldn't really re-record - worked a treat.

Great to see he's getting some positive recommendations...will probably book myself in at some point as I go in search of my next bass!

Head office perhaps, but ultimately the profits will be remitted to Germany and to the German owners. If I have the option to purchase from an all-British store, them that's what I'd rather do.

I was planning to make a few purchases from DV247 given that they were the lowest prices around. Don't think I will now, in these economic times I'd rather my money be kept in the UK economy supporting UK jobs.

Ah, so they've been taken over by a German firm, with most of the stores shutting down: http://bit.ly/11Ycx6g Hence why they're now stocking Fender and also Sandberg.

+1 to the above. His book is a must-read for all new budding engineers, and his free multitrack library is a truly fantastic resource. It's great to see him taking the time to support communities like Basschat.

You say that, but Fender will happily create twin P90 editions of their tele's and strats!

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1366924205' post='2059196'] I'm guessing (and hoping) the Alembic is a Photoshop.. [/quote] Hmmm, they've gone out of their way with Photoshop then: [url="http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_knobfest2010.html"]http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_knobfest2010.html[/url] "The bass is now permanently on display at the Knobbersham Music Hall" To be fair, by all accounts it was a April Fool...

How about you buy a random new instrument, and some lessons to go with it? Mandolin and rock organ would be my considerations.

Are you an Alembic in disguise?

To add some more positive news, I asked on twitter whether a moblie-friendly site was on its way - "We've something very special in the pipeline for our mobile shoppers this year..." Make of that what you will. A company rumoured to be on the brink wouldn't make statements like that.

I've tried playing around with the various volumes along the whole effects chain, but it still seems that the most likely conclusion is that the pedal is probably past it! Wally - really appreciate the help, will certainly check out the website for the next choice in compressor! Mark

Wally - I have an active bass, as I've been testing the fx chain I've had the volume on full but eq flat. Essentially the reason why I suspect the smx as being excessively noisy is because when I remove it from my fx chain, then the noise essentially disappears, and high-gain distortion fx later in the chain sound a lot less noisy. Note that the noise persists even when the smx is in bypass. I'm drawn more and more to concluding that there's something wrong with the unit. Time for a new compressor!

Almost, only a tuner in front of it.

I have the aforementioned pedal, and one of the things that I have noticed is that it appears to generate a significant level of noise in my signal chain. I can't imagine this to be normal, so is it likely that this venerable unit has some sort of default? Cheers Mark

Always remembers me when I call, and is happy to entertain a bit of chit-chat around how I'm finding the kit, what I'm doing with the band etc. Really wish I could buy all my music gear from there!

Another +1 for the Mono. Not the cheapest, but the bass is very well protected and it's a comfortable wear too.

Allow me to introduce my '80s nostalgia Trace Elliot rig: It's made up of an MP11 digital graphic equaliser pre-amp, a (heavy!) RA500sx power-amp, and a 1518c cabinet. I don't think I'll do much gigging with the cabinet, but I'm sure at some point I'll use the head instead of my GB Shuttle. I guess ultimately it would be good to add a 4x10" cabinet, but I'm not sure if my back could take the heavy lifting!

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1359988459' post='1963003'] You could replace both the control plate and scratchplate at the same time though, I think a Fender one will fit ok then (in that the screw holes line up) but I'm not 100% sure on that, its been a while since I looked at a VMJ. [/quote] I'm considering fitting a new pre-amp with attached control plate, so it seems as though these two modifications will have to be done together. Thanks for the respsonses.

I've just acquired a Squier VMJ fretless, which has the usual Jaco sunburst / no scratchplate combo. I've got some long-term plans for the bass, which involves adding a scratchplate. Now is this as simple as buying a scratchplate, some screws, drilling a few pilot holes and then screwing it on? Will any generic Jazz scratchplate fit? Cheers Mark