LawrenceH

Another vote for a Yamaha. You can easily get an RBX170 for under £100 and they are very 'friendly' basses for a beginner. You won't lose any resale value if you get a good-priced s/h RBX170. The 374s with the big fat pickups are also brilliant budget basses IMO that punch well above their weight sound- and playability-wise given the low s/h prices they go for. Bear in mind that the price of the Squier CV series people are so keen on puts them up in the bracket of the Yamaha BB414, rather than RBX range. Ibanez also make similarly beginner-friendly instruments. I moved Yam-Ibby-Fender and am very glad I started on the Yamaha.

I don't think there will be many cabs on the bass side of the market, better off looking at PA cabs designed to give reasonable low-end performance and/or crossed to decent subs. For 'hi-fi' quality (bit of a dangerous term!)? Fohhn, and the top end of the HK Audio range, can't think of many 'big names' that'll do it. For a low-powered and small all-round solution then AER kit is good, something like their Compact. None of these options are cheap though!

If you find your current rig loud enough then you won't need to change amps - there's no way the Compact will be any less loud than the Ampeg cab. But if you want a lightweight option then Markbass are one of many.

[quote name='jimmyb625' post='1090926' date='Jan 15 2011, 10:14 PM']Even Behringer have changed the game apparently, although there are unconfirmed rumours that the game they've changed it to bears an uncanny resemblence to the old one....[/quote]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1090916' date='Jan 15 2011, 10:03 PM']I have never tried an S1 jazz but the strat one is rubbish! I have never met anyone who ever found a nice tone with it switched in, Muddy mush switch doesn't sound as appealing as S1 though does it, Marketing just the same.[/quote] Well that's the general effect of running pickups in series! But a low-end boost and HF attenuation can be quite useful to bassists looking for a very thick, thuddy tone.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1090878' date='Jan 15 2011, 09:14 PM']No one has played it, so we can't be overly negative. I personally trust they've done a good job like the Bongo and Big Al.[/quote] I think the main negative is a response to the way the product is presented, which we can each judge according to our own tastes! EBMM's style there reminds me a lot of Mackie, if you've ever read any of their product manuals you'll probably know what I mean. Assuming I've understood what it does correctly then I think you can get quite a long way with conjecture since pickup phase and series-parallel switches are nothing new. If I was a guitarist then I'd be drooling over the idea of retrofitting this to an HSS strat! As a bass player though, I can't see it being a big success, especially given the utter lack of love for the old s1 switch which I felt added a really useful tonal option to the already versatile jazz bass.

[quote name='silddx' post='1090811' date='Jan 15 2011, 08:00 PM']If you could only be bothered watching it for 3 minutes, why should any of us bother wasting our own time explaining it to you, when the vids tell you all you need to know? Yes, you are missing something. You clearly have no idea what the GC does, so why do you bother expressing your opinion?[/quote] You've just quoted a message where I expressed no opinion other than frustration at the marketing - I didn't just watch 3 mins of the video I spent a fair while trawling the site for more precise technical info first before trying the video, which was devoid of any actual technical explanation up to 3 mins in and was pretty irritating. Below that someone was kind enough to summarise what it actually did. And then I commented on that, assuming it was a correct explanation. I didn't say I thought it was rubbish either.

[quote name='ikay' post='1090492' date='Jan 15 2011, 03:01 PM']Solid shaft and 0.47uF[/quote] I have jazzes with either split or solid - it depends on the model. Easiest way to be sure is to just pull the plastic knob off and see what's there currently, though if you have to uinscrew it to do that it's highly likely to be solid.

[quote name='silddx' post='1090791' date='Jan 15 2011, 07:44 PM']This GC eliminates almost all of that.[/quote] Not exactly true. It's still going to have limitations in its tonal palette down to the pickup positions and construction type. It's versatile, but I think you have to think of it as somewhat akin to greyscale-type colour palettes - eg you can have 4 bit, 8 bit or 16 bit with 16, 256 or 65000 odd different shades of grey but there is no way you can get pink out of the system. That's not to detract from the product as I'm sure it could prove very versatile if they implement it well, but it simply won't do a precise recreation of something like a basic p or jazz bass (or, if you used it on a Big Al, a Stingray).

[quote name='Johnston' post='1090623' date='Jan 15 2011, 04:50 PM']I was thinking it's probably something that guitarists will be all over thinking it's the best thing since since they last pleasured themselves. Where as being a more conservative lot bassist are more likely to go Mmne.h[/quote] It's more 'fundamental' than that though (geddit?! you will!), an equal number of coils in and out of phase is going to kill the fundamental and early series harmonics which is far more of a problem for bassists than guitarists - there's a reason most basses don't bother with phase reverse switches that goes beyond the extra 2p it'd add to manufacturing costs. Could be more interesting on the odd combinations though. I think my idea of a variable delay between pickups would be interesting, it would allow phase cancellations/reinforcements at higher order harmonics without necessarily being detrimental to the bottom end. Anyone ever does it? Should I rush to the patent office?!

[quote name='jimmyb625' post='1090522' date='Jan 15 2011, 03:27 PM']Did you look at the NAMM video, or the one from the EBMM website? The NAMM one is a bit pants. The coils of the pickup are treated separately, so 2 humbuckers gives 4 coils. If you take coil 1 for example, you can get the combinations 1, 12, 13, 14, 123, 124, 134, 1234, 142, 143. and you can have them in phase, out of phase, in series, or in parallel (I think Steve Morse says that 1&3 in series sounds different to 3&1 in series in one of the vids). The 8.5 million combinations stated come from having 6 coils in use and works on the assumption that the coils in series sound different. As far as I've been able to see, things like tone and volume controls are not a part of what it does, it just gives lots of switching options, but I can see it being possible to incorporate that within the future.[/quote] I looked at the EBMM vid actually, and thought it was rubbish! But as I said, I couldn't face going all the way through it. If it's essentially a (highly) glorified pickup selector then I can see it being very useful for guitars, but tbh far less so for bass where lots of the out-of-phase combinations aren't really going to be very conventionally useful, and lots of the series combinations will end up sounding very similar. Fair play to them for giving it a crack as there will be some good combos in there but it's not going to live up to their own hype and revolutionise the bass world!

OK so I got 3 minutes through that video before I lost the will to live and had to give up. American guitar/amp manufacturers seem to specialise in these extended commercials completely devoid of information content. So is there anywhere on their site that actually explains what this thing is doing that makes it so special? Because so far all I can gather is that it lets you combine pickups any way you want - but there aren't that many combinations possible with a 2-pickup system so I must be missing something. I was wondering if it used delay between pickups to give continuously variable phase shifts but since it's all analogue...or do the 8 million combinations include 'treble boost 3.1dB, treble boost 3.2dB'? I'd like to see a good explanation of what's actually going on but so far I've only seen meaningless hype.

Pickup type and as has been pointed out position are huge contributors to tone. But, my experience is definitely that different basses sound different unplugged. And swapping the same pickups between a couple of different J basses, each has their own character which reflects the unplugged sound. I don't know if there're construction differences between J and P basses that would give [b]consistent[/b] differences between the models, I guess neck mass would be the most likely consistent factor if there was one. But definitely there are going to be differences between particular examples of each bass that go beyond the pickup type/placement.

[quote name='Phil Starr' post='1088286' date='Jan 13 2011, 04:49 PM']I find Behringer the most frustrating company in music. They almost get it right and somehow end up missing the point. The EP1500 is a little gem. We've had one for years, does what it says on the tin and looks to be well made. They haven't spent a lot on designing the Nuke. It is just one of their PA amps in a case with their bass pre-amp. They've just combined two products they already make into a single case. Some of their design are quite good, when they work but they are let down with stupid cost cutting, crappy connectors a handful of cheap components in an otherwise good product combined with the same couldn't care less attitude to after sales that Apple show to their customers. Don't their people read the press they get on the internet. It would cost them pence to improve the quality of their critical components and they would still have huge economies of scale. 5% on their production costs would probably improve their reliability fourfold and their sales by 50%. If their stuff was 20% more expensive but was reliable and repairable we would all be looking at it seriously, it would still be cheap. I'd love it if there was someone making cheap reliable exotic gear. I can't afford the real thing. Behringer could potentially solve all my problems, but it doesn't.[/quote] +1, this sums up Behringer exactly. The good thing in the case of this one is that if it's just one of their PA amps then there's half a chance it'll work! The built-in crossover is actually a nice way of dealing with these stereo power amps for bass guitar IMO, cross to a decent sub at 100-ish Hz with a 4x10 above and it could be a monstrous rig. I'd let somone else do the product-testing first though

[quote name='KK Jale' post='1087862' date='Jan 13 2011, 12:40 PM']Re. the Compact… that's almost certainly the way I'm going. I just didn't want to get into it on this thread… First, wateroftyne… excellent YouTube clips. The RH450 sounds really impressive… tip top. The Promethean comes over as very acceptable. Bit less focus and detail, maybe that's the settings, but a nice enough sound. At the risk of sounding like a complete doughnut, I've got to be honest here… I cannot have flashy hi-tech lights. I just cannot. Not only am I spiritually allergic to blinking LEDs, but the piss-taking I would endure from my vintage Tele-playing, Hammond-organ stabbing, Selmer sax-sucking bandmates would be unbearable. So the TC is OUT. Sorry, TC. (Off-topic: Musicman20, my TC Polytune has let me down twice and the ****er ain't getting a chance to do it again). Musicman20, Thumperbob, bartelby - you're helping me make up my mind on the Little Mark. I'm not ruling it out yet but there's no way I'm putting a preamp or pedal in front of an amp to get extra EQ or make it sound generally interesting enough. If any bass amp needs that, it's a fail in my book. Burrito - you're definitely coming from the same place as me style-wise and if you're finding the Terror 500 does retro without being too rock, then that's an important recommendation. I will try one, that's a definite.[/quote] I'm surprised to see all the Compact recommendations in this case. I'd be inclined to make full use of the trial policy - the voicing of those Eminence neo drivers is pretty much the opposite of 'old school' with a full bandwidth, no lo-mid hump and a pronounced rising upper-mid response. If you find something like the VPF/VLE filters on the LMs compensate for this, then it's fine and will be very loud indeed, but run flat it won't give a 'vintage' tone at all. When I tried the Terror in Red Dog Edinburgh through the orange cabs, it coloured the tone a LOT! I didn't fiddle much with the drive so perhaps if you set it between 0 and 0.1 then it's a bit more subtle, but as it stood although it was a tone that a lot of people would like,I can't recall any tracks from the 60s that have anything like that amount of gub on them. Definitely give it a whirl but in your shoes I'd be inclined also to test something like the Little Mark Tube which is apparently much more gently warming, or if you don't mind the weight something like the Hartke LH500 which uses the old Fender Showman valve pre design and is fat but clean.

Ah, Behringer are a great company if you like comedy and lawsuits. Having said that, I worked my way through some of their kit as a student and every so often they come up with something rather good for the money. I believe (apart from the copying of other brands) that somewhere Behringer have updated an old concept and have a thousand monkeys chained to autocad...going by the number of products they release on a regular basis, they probably release the top 1% of the monkeys' output to market. And we all know, anyone who has a substantial amount of kit shamefully has a few Behringer products lurking at the bottom of their rack, hoping the 100s of LEDs they love to adorn their products with won't attract the attention of the gear police!

oh yeah, you really don't need much of the stuff - i'd find a way of holding the neck upright too so it all stays in the nut

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='1087194' date='Jan 12 2011, 08:38 PM']Well, there seems to be a smaller, dark space behind the 'X' of the nut, so maybe that's it?[/quote] I'd spray some penetrating oil in there then (like WD40)and wait, minimum 1h - definitely won't do any harm and may well free the bolt.

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='1087121' date='Jan 12 2011, 07:42 PM']What do you mean by an 'open centre'?[/quote] On some Fenders the truss rod nut isn't capped under the cross head so you can see the end of the truss rod itself. On others it's solid.

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='1086837' date='Jan 12 2011, 03:59 PM']Aha - thanks for that! At the moment the rod doesn't seem to like being tightened or loosened, so I wonder if it's okay. I rescued the bass from years of very bad neglect so I wonder if some of that it catching up with it now [/quote] Is it the kind of nut with an open centre? If so you can get some WD40 into it and leave it to work its way in that'll help a lot getting it loose but you'll struggle if it's the closed kind and might just have to force it, which is gonna be a bit scary! Often you can help ease off screws with a change in temperature but obviously with a neck that might not be such a bright idea.

One alternative is to just buy trousers that fit properly... Seriously, I never had a problem with this (due to the aforementioned trousers not needing a belt) but when I used my Ibby sr500 as the house instrument for a jam night, it got progressively more and more mauled by the other punters! One of these would have been a good idea and I'll get something like it if I ever do something similar with my loving if amateur refinned jazz. I've just realised though, my bass has crept upwards over the last few years such that even if I wore a belt it still wouldn't scratch it At 29 I've become a sad, old man.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1085572' date='Jan 11 2011, 03:04 PM']Fun is overated. I think it should be something you have when you are doing something satisfying and of value and not just an end in itself. Fun, on its own, can be pretty boring and aimless. I never watch comedies because they don't seem to have much point [/quote] Seriously?! Man, then no wonder you don't like Chic! But if you can see that something meets a criteria well albeit it's a different set of criteria than what you would set, then you can't really dismiss it like that - you've just gone from sort-of objective analysis to entirely subjective. If I heard it played differently in a way that didn't meet those criteria I'd think it was crap, unless it added something completely new to compensate. I'm guessing you'd feel the same if someone took a 'serious' jazz track that you like and stripped out all that made it jazz. By the way and in the politest possible way I think your analysis of the line misses the point entirely. My wife (many years of ballet/jazz/modern/fusion dancing) thinks it's a brilliant line justifying that with a totally different set of criteria related to how the rhythmic interplay between instruments creates contrast, space and emphasis for moving the body. In contrast she has no time for things like Coltrane because that element of jazz has been subsumed! It's much easier to do analyses based on harmony/scales but quite often they're just not relevant.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1085471' date='Jan 11 2011, 01:35 PM']Is there a wah of getting a response chart cheaply, from your PC or something, using some live level output from your amp?[/quote] You could use RTA software to generate noise/sweep tones etc that you could play through the amp and re-record after calibrating against your soundcard I/Os. A quick google reveals several programs that claim to be free, I've only ever used Adobe Audition for this type of thing though and for live PA tend to use dedicated hardware. Obviously if you want to get into measuring the cab contribution then you need a calibrated measurement mic and (more difficult) a suitable space to do the tests in.

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='1084947' date='Jan 10 2011, 10:27 PM']Pretty much agree with you Doddy. Part of the trouble with this debate is the language itself i.e. 'creative' and creative, with a sliding scale of professionalism between the two. It's a minefield[/quote] Surely it's gotta depend on the nature of the gig, and just how exact we're talking? To re-work the Clapton example more generally, what about all those bands playing their own songs live with the same broad arrangement and not putting every single note in exactly the same order as the record, maybe embellishing it with fills etc. Are they wrong? Or is no-one but the original band allowed to improvise something ever? What about solos for other instruments? Are guitarists, saxes and the like allowed some creative freedom but none for the rhythm section. To my mind there are very particular occasions when an exact copy is required (certain tribute acts, notated gigs like big band or shows) but otherwise it makes live music tedious in the extreme if covers bands are just automata, and I speak as an audience member/music lover not just from a playing perspective. If that's what you want, why not just have a disco? That way any vocal part will sound 'right' too, and the production! A busked bassline from someone who hasn't bothered listening to an original to capture its essence is mostly annoying (though sometimes people come up with something new and interesting when freed from preconception), but a part that pays musical homage to the original while expanding upon it is exactly what it's all about for me.

[quote name='gizmo6789' post='1084922' date='Jan 10 2011, 10:06 PM']im pretty sure it was quoted around £200 to get it fixed, set up and re strung. tbh i dont think i want it re strung, the ones on it have been there for a year or so but theyre still sharp coz iv never used them, and they cost £36 quid[/quote] £200? There is no way on earth that this could possibly justify £200! Ask somewhere else