discreet

[b]NPD: Dunlop MXR M81 Bass Preamp[/b] [url="http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/bass-preamp"]http://www.jimdunlop...uct/bass-preamp[/url] [b]Blurb:[/b] 'The MXR Bass Preamp combines a pristine bass preamp with a studio-quality Direct Out in a Phase 90-sized box, providing clear tone without hogging precious pedalboard space. Use it to add a new voice to an old passive bass, sweeten up any amp, or put some special sauce on a particular song. Dial it in just the way you want it and send it straight to the house — pre or post-EQ — with the built-in Direct Out. 'The MXR Bass Preamp features separate INPUT and OUTPUT level controls and a 3-band EQ section with sweepable midrange — from 250hz to 1khz — for extensive tonal flexibility. It's all delivered super-clean with high headroom thanks to our own Constant Headroom Technology™, and you can use the PRE/POST EQ switch to set whether or not your Direct Out signal is affected by the Bass Preamp's EQ section. And the Bass Preamp features a GROUND LIFT switch in case you encounter ground loop hum. 'The MXR Bass Preamp is pre-set to operate in 1/4" Out buffered bypass and Direct Out active. For players who only want to use the 1/4" Out, there are two internal switches that disable the Direct Out and 1/4" Out buffered bypass for true 1/4" Out bypass mode.' [b]Now read on:[/b] I have bought, used and sold many onboard and outboard bass preamps of various flavours over the years - VT Bass, Behringer BDI-21, Markbass Super Booster, Zoom B3, B1on, B1Xon and MS-60B, MXR M80, DHA VT1, Tone Hammer, Audere JZ3, East P-Retro, EMG BTS, Spector TonePump, TonePump Jr, most of the various types of Guitar and bass Sansamps... and so on and so forth. I suppose the nearest thing to the M81 I've used would be the MXR M80. I liked the M80 a lot for its big clean-channel tones, but not so much for it's distortion facilities, so reluctantly I moved it on. However, the difference between the M81 and much of the competition at this price point is the 3-band EQ with sweepable mid control. I've no idea what the 'Q' is set to, but it can't be too wide as blithely cutting or boosting the mids does not overly interfere with your bass or treble settings. This is a good thing. The input and output controls can provide lots of clean boost and together they are very user-friendly. Unity gain on a board would be a doddle. There is nothing that is not useful and there are no superfluous bells or whistles. The build quality is as you would expect from Dunlop/MXR and the action of the controls feels very positive. The M81 is also fairly unique in that it provides no crunch, grind, grit, hair, fuzz, growl or distortion of any kind and doesn't radically change your tone in an obvious way - it's very transparent in use and very clean and quiet in operation - yet it imparts a vivid, crystal-clear warmth. So if you're already happy with the core tone of your bass (as I am - Fender Road Worn P with La Bella flats) then the M81 will keep it intact but also render it sonically epic, somehow. Plus you can add more punch in the mids, iron out any frequency lumps and bumps that a crap-sounding room may introduce, bring forth a full, tightly-controlled bottom (fnarr) and dial in an airy (but not strident) top end. Which is nice. I have a Markbass SA450 - itself an amp that sounds great just as it is - but the M81 really brings it to life, turning an already very capable and articulate amp into a muscular Balrog of Warm Clean Heft. I suspect this would be a perfect preamp to drive a power amp. It would also be interesting to try it on the front of an all-valve power amp for that big-bounce slam. In short it's a powerful, flexible and very useful little box with a cracking circuit in it that gives your sound great clarity and warmth, apparently without artifice, which is a neat trick. How much of this is down to MXR's proprietary Constant Headroom Technology™ is something of a mystery, as even via the gift of Google I've so far been unable to find out exactly what it is. Marketing, probably. No matter, the M81 is a great-sounding pre/DI and it's easy to imagine it being used as an always-on device both live and in the studio. It's also something of a bargain... at least compared with some of its peers. Buy used for around the £100-mark - if you can find one. Recommended.

Sold a Markbass amp to Mark, he is a fast payer and good communicator. Unfortunately PorcelFarce managed to drop the package from a great height so the amp didn't arrive in the same condition as it left me. But! No matter, because Mark is a gentleman, a scholar and an acrobat and we got it sorted. I would recommend Mark unreservedly, he is a good egg and a top Basschatter. Happy New Year!

Expressed interest in James' MXR M81 yesterday and his package duly arrived at my entrance this very morning! Probably the quickest Basschat delivery ever, and from the other end of the country, too. Thanks James, absolutely top service. The M81 is a fantastic little pre and I'm very pleased with it.

Bontempi home organ. That is all.

Perhaps it was once owned by The Stones.

Yes, Smartwater. http://www.smartwater.com/property-marking

I got a Roqsolid for my Two10 - a 5mm foam padded with a placeholder strap. It was a return in great nick and I got it for £23. Just to be annoying.

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1475841475' post='3149123'] It has five strings. [/quote] So it does. I knew I didn't like it for some reason...

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1475831099' post='3149004'] If it was just about tone/groove we'd all be using P-basses & sending everything DI'd through the PA. [/quote] That is what I thought in 1974 and it's what I think now. Pity I spent so much time and money in the intervening 42 years proving to myself that I was right in the first place.

[size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#000000]'This half scale bass exactly one octave above the normal bass register. Normal register can be reached using an octave pedal if you want that. I liked to run it into a guitar amp myself. It's like a bass chopped off at the 12th fret.[/color] '[/font][/size] So... it's a 4-string guitar, then?

Fit skateboard wheels and ride it to gigs...

Not really. I'm not a technical player in that I don't spend hours working on my technique or practising scales, etc. In fact I'm sure I make loads of 'errors' as far as that goes. I just do whatever is necessary for the song. I've seen guys who do the right thing from the positioning and technique point of view who just don't have very good timing or feel and can't hold a groove, so what do you think is important?

[quote name='Johnny Wishbone' timestamp='1475249490' post='3144453'] I think C is actually "chromatic". At least I assumed so as with the "bass" setting mine only shows the notes EADG and if you're sharp or flat, whilst in "C" it shows the closest note. [/quote] You're probably right- another one here who didn't read the manual...

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1475246695' post='3144420'] am I being really thick here but what do the small letters mean under the string note, C, G, B, V, and U that appear when you press the on off button and numbers appear next to the string note when G B V U are selected? [/quote] Cello, Guitar, Bass, Violin and Ukulele? I think the number relates to which string is being tuned.

[quote name='Mike' timestamp='1475224858' post='3144097'] Still absolutely loving my 1966 style P/J with jazz neck. Sounds terrific in the ELO theatre show I'm doing. [/quote] Looking good. And your Jeff Lynne is very authentic.

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1475222884' post='3144070'] Are the P characteristics really down to the split pickup and its placement relative to the strings and bridge? [/quote] Yes. Yes, it is. Edit: Well, at least relative to the nut and bridge. String-to-pickup distance is part of your own set-up.

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1475223491' post='3144078'] Love that sound Lozz. Cool song too, props to you and the band! [/quote] +1

[quote name='Raggy' timestamp='1475150570' post='3143452'] Sounds like Retro's would work with the Ska sound but not the punk [/quote] I don't know... a P bass with rounds played with a pick through a VT Bass and your amp of choice would get you close, I'm sure.

Might be OK in white... But why have they hidden their decal away on the TRC? What's with the huge expanse of blank headstock?

My Two10 is going nowhere. That doesn't mean you'll like it of course, but my cab journey has been a long one. I'm not saying I'm at the end of it either - but for size, weight and portability versus power handling, tone and clarity, the Two10 is very hard to beat. In my humble opinion, of course. I've never been a big fan of tweeters in a bass cab anyway, but the Two10 certainly isn't lacking in treble response.

When you play the right note, in the right place, at the right time, you're as good as anyone on the planet.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1475051456' post='3142543'] I'm now approximately 100 years old, tired, worn down and unable to remember where my car keys are. [/quote] You're lucky. I can't remember where my car is. *Mumble, dribble*

Ciao e Benvenuto.