ThomBassmonkey

[quote name='Shockwave' post='777866' date='Mar 17 2010, 07:36 PM']Can it be used if you can pay off the majority of the instrument with cash, but need a little booster loan?[/quote] I'd assume so if the deposit is [i]at least[/i] 10%. If you paid off 50% as your deposit, it'd drop the amount you needed to spend extra. Dunno if you'd be able to pay it off in less payments though (e.g. pay off half straight away with only have half the amount of months you need to pay back or if your monthly payments would just drop for the same 9 months).

OTPJ [quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='775864' date='Mar 16 2010, 12:05 AM']Just for the record, I've raised the pickups, I've looked for a gain screw on the preamp and I'd rather not use any effects in front of it because although it's lowish volume, it sounds great.[/quote] I'll double check the pickup height just in case but I think it's pretty good. Weird Chris, I've definitely heard other people mention low output from these. I would've thought Ibanez would be pretty consistent.

I'm seriously tempted by this, I've been put off applying in the past though because I'm on a really low income and usually get refused loans on that basis. Could use another cab and bass.

[quote name='geoffbyrne' post='777715' date='Mar 17 2010, 05:32 PM']Try turning up the master and turning down the gain. G.[/quote] Or vice versa

[quote name='thodrik' post='776139' date='Mar 16 2010, 12:12 PM']My eyes weren't working last night, I totally missed the 'active' bit![/quote] hehe, no problem. I don't know what pickups are in it, I'll see if I can find out later. I don't think the grounding's too bad. Interesting thought though, I do have some problems with noise because it's not shielded (if I stand close to my amp or a TV). Is it possible that the fact that in the studio I was right next to their racks and the desk was on a different circuit to the live room (so they had grounding problems anyway) could've made the volume problem worse?

[quote name='Basska' post='775918' date='Mar 16 2010, 05:47 AM']+1 on that statement being a total farce lol[/quote] I have nothing against proper open tunings but the whole point of drop D is so that 5th chords can be played on 1 fret over the "E" (now low D), A and D strings. There have been some songs that use drop D properly, Lullaby by Creed being one that's lovely, but in general, there's no real advantage to drop D apart from the 5th chords, so it's just lazyness in 99% of cases. I'm not saying all bands that use drop D are no good either, Tool are one of my fave bands for example and obviously my band plays in drop D sometimes to spark this debate. It's just a guitarist thing.

[quote name='Tait' post='775836' date='Mar 15 2010, 11:10 PM']have you thought about just having one of your new 4 stringers permenantly tuned to DADG? sorry, you may have already given a reason why not, but i must have missed it, and that seems the obvious thing to do to me.[/quote] I just don't like having my intervals messed with between strings. Drop D is purely there for lazy guitarists to play riffs with one finger, since basses don't tend to use chords (at least I personally don't low down) it doesn't make sense for me to make arpeggios and scales (which I use) harder for myself and chords (which I don't use) easier. The sale fell through on the P and Jazz, so only got 2 4ers and 1 6er for the moment, though I'm hoping to get another ERB later this year anyway. Think I'm just gonna keep my 6er in standard, put my BC in DGCF and I'll try out AEBF# on my Washburn on Wednesday. Should be an interesting experiment. Thanks for the help everyone, it's helped me decide what I'm gonna do. If I be bothered to play with strings and can stomach the 5ths, I might report back on how it feels.

[quote name='thodrik' post='775898' date='Mar 16 2010, 01:50 AM']Is it an active or passive bass? A passive is generally not going to be as loud as an active bass. Unless you try your bass side by side with another bass of same model, it will be difficult to tell if yours has a lower output than the rest. If its active, I know this is stupidly obvious but have you tried changing the battery? Sorry, if there are obvious problems with the eq etc then its probably best to take it to a repair shop, if possible one with experience of Ibanez basses. Also if it sounds great but just has a low output, couldn't you just crank the gain on the amp a bit? Amps in my experience only start breaking up or clipping when they are being driven hard/too hard. If the output is too low to even drive an amp properly then you might as well take to repair shop as there is clearly be something wrong with it.[/quote] It's an active, as per the title. Yeah I have tried changing the battery, sorry, forgot to cross that off the checklist. I do have to crank the amp compared to my other basses and in the studio they had problems getting a strong signal. I talked to someone else on here that was selling one recently and they said it was quiet but not that bad. Maybe it's just they haven't been in a situation to notice with it or something. This may be a silly question, but when a SS amp starts breaking up, is it at a set point on the amp (e.g. always 5 o clock) or is it to do with the signal strength too? I'm pretty sure that one or two of my other basses can go through my amp and get louder without it breaking up. Is it because the input signal's stronger so the amp isn't working as hard to amplify it or should the amp start clipping at the same internal volume regardless of the input strength? Like I said above, it has lasted me years, ironically I'm hopefully going to be getting a new bass this year, so it's quite late to think about doing something about this. If I hadn't had problems in recording with it recently, I wouldn't be questioning it so it'll do until I get something new in a few months. Just one of those things where you think "well if I can find an easy solution, I should go with it". Thanks for the helpful reply though.

[quote name='Paul_C' post='775867' date='Mar 16 2010, 12:15 AM']my (previously unwritten) standard reply to all such questions, as a pro guitar repairer, is, unless it's a warranty issue, take it to a guitar repairer/ shop / (worst case) mate who has a degree of knowledge of such things if there's a problem, then someone [b]who knows what they're doing[/b] should be able to repair it [/quote] I don't see the harm in asking for advice first, why would I spend what could possibly be a relatively large amount of money for someone with the expertise to look at it when it could be something relatively simple? I know that these basses do suffer with a low output anyway (though from what I've heard others seem better), so someone might have some information on why that's the case and if I was to take it to a repairer, I might be able to give them a heads up and not take up as much time. And for what it's worth, I work in a shop and do/help with simple repairs if possible before sending instruments off to an expert, so please don't assume that because I'm asking for help that I'm completely inexperienced. If I do think that it's a problem that I can't deal with on my own, then I've been using this bass for about 8 years, I'll continue using it as it is, I just don't see the harm in trying to fix one of the few niggles I have with it. I understand that you're a repairer, but this isn't like having an ill pet that should be rushed to the vet then money worried about later, I'm afraid. So I'd rather explore other options before deciding NOT to pay out for a professional to look at it because it works ok as it is.

OK, I've used this bass for years and I've always dealt with the problem it has with low output, but I've wondered recently if there is anything I could do about it since it doesn't make anything easier and caused problems in the studio recently. I'm sure that the problems I've had recently with my amp breaking up a bit wouldn't have been such a problem if the output was higher on the bass (which doesn't seem to be as much of an issue with other basses). I've just been looking for a contact email address for Ibanez to see if they could suggest anything, but the only contact details they have on their site are distribution details, which I don't think would be much help. So, can anyone either offer advice on the problem or let me know of an email address I can contact Ibanez on about it? Just for the record, I've raised the pickups, I've looked for a gain screw on the preamp and I'd rather not use any effects in front of it because although it's lowish volume, it sounds great.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='775418' date='Mar 15 2010, 05:14 PM']I've never understood all of these alternative tunings. I suppose I rely on knowing where all the notes are (be it 4,5 or 6 string) and if they all suddenly moved, I'd be very confused. No good when you're sight reading like fury! I like the idea of the A D G C (perfect fifths) tuning. Like a viola/cello or a tenor banjo, although the bass and it's close cousin the double bass were tuned in fourths for a reason - To cope with the larger scale length! Edit: Did you mean A D G C in fifths or... C G D A in fourths?[/quote] I can't read music well enough to rely on, so I never have that problem. I've thought about tuning to 5ths, I'm just too lazy to re-learn my shapes (with all of the 5 minutes it would take for the basic scales and arpeggios). It could be worth a try. Hmm, it is an interesting idea though and something I still intend to try. I'm thinking from a low D to a high F (so 4ths). The idea with the low B (or A/C in your examples) was just me rambling on a tangent to the thread about other tunings I'm considering using. I might re-tune my Washburn AEBF# to give it a try. Having the range of a 5 string with the accessibility of a 4 string can't hurt.

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='775287' date='Mar 15 2010, 02:58 PM']I don't understand how it is that there seem to be all these great sound guys working with rock bands, yet we get such crappy soundmen in churches.[/quote] There's a whole world of difference between mixing in a hall and mixing in a rock venue usually. Plus rock bands are usually pretty easy to mix, drums, bass and electric guitar all have their own frequency ranges, then vocals just go over the top. We also have flute which is just treble so sits in the background at a higher frequency than guitars and keyboards which just sit back so don't swamp anything. A lot of acoustic instruments have a very full sound so can muddy each other up if they're not mixed well. If you regularly have problems with bad sound, try getting everyone who uses instruments with a full frequency range to use an EQ pedal then you can have some control yourself before it gets to the soundguy. So long as as many people as possible are within their own frequency range, it should help a lot. If you're experienced in sound, buy a longer lead/wireless and then go stand out where the audience will be while you sound check, me and the singer/guitarist do that at our gigs, it's more important than getting the monitor mix right IMO. My band hears our music all the time, we know what it sounds like. If it sounds awful to the guys out front, they won't enjoy the show as much and won't come to our next gig or buy our merch.

I'm only 25 and already have tinnitus permanently. Shame I didn't think about ear damage when I was loads younger, but it's not the top thing on a 10 year old's mind. My hearing's not too bad, just the tinnitus masks high frequencies. As far as I know, I don't actually have any hearing loss. I ALWAYS use earplugs now though at gigs (not always soundchecks though, need to change that really) and my ears are much better for it. Never have bad tinnitus afterwards etc. As for the lack of beer crates, have you thought about getting a smaller cab (1x10 or something) that you can use as a personal monitor. If you have a friend who can engineer you some kind of stand, does it have to actually fix into the cab or can you have him make some kind of tray that the cab fits in and you just sit it on top? I'd be quite wary personally about lifting my cab off the floor because of the changes it makes to sound, each to their own though.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='774994' date='Mar 15 2010, 10:23 AM']I had one come loose (although not out) at a gig and used a splinter off my drummers drum stick. That seemed to work really well and it never moved again.[/quote] Careful with drumsticks because the wood's very hard, you might end up splitting the wood on your bass if it's not as strong (more a problem on hollow bodied instruments where the wood's thinner). Matchsticks are fine, one of my mates used matchsticks to hold up a door after he knocked it out of the frame and it never came out once in years. I usually put in a matchstick, screw in the screw, unscrew it again etc 3-4 times just to make sure that there's a lot of wood going in to really cram the hole, you can tell how firm it is by how hard it is to screw in the pin anyway.

Just a quick note about the Promethean, I believe it only has one output (well, one speakon and one jack that can't be used together) so if you're going to get that, you need to make sure that you have a single cab that can do the job. I might be wrong though, never used one myself. There are other options than the ones mentioned too, it might be worth just buying a bigger combo, then getting an extension cab cab later if you feel you need it. Ashdown, Gallien-Krueger, MarkBass, Eden, Hartke and many others make decent combos that'll be giggable for various prices and a lot of them come with extension sockets.

Claire (I think that was her name), bassist from Hepburn and various session work came to see one of my bands (friend of a friend) and we had a chat after we'd played. We were doing some recording in London recently and shared a canteen with The Uzis (who none of us even realised until someone told us) and Dizzee Rascal was rehearsing in the same complex.

Best advice I can give is just enjoy it. Noone will even notice if you fluff it, much less care. Last night there was a bass part where I was just playing on my own and I COMPLETELY fluffed it (playing solo and I had to stop and think what I was doing) and noone gave two hoots. So long as you look like you're having fun instead of trying too hard, the audience will relax and everyone will have fun. If you have a mic try and keep the crowd in the loop, tell them song names, make little jokes, try and encourage them to dance etc.

[quote name='retroman' post='774479' date='Mar 14 2010, 05:45 PM']Some people would rather suck the juice out of a slug, than play a Ric! [/quote] Guilty, yer honour. I think it's probably rare that anyone would rate their bass at 100% after a few years. Basses aren't perfect, there's no bass that can cover every sound possible so 100% isn't possible. When you get a new one, it's exciting and you'd give it a higher score than usual, once you've had it a while, you want something else and you'd score your bass lower than you otherwise would.

Very lucky, it sounds like quite an extended chain of events haha. JWP's guitarist/singer regularly finds himself the wrong way up over the drum kit, luckily no damage has been done yet though.

[quote name='bartelby' post='774244' date='Mar 14 2010, 12:39 PM']I love my BTB405. It's super easy to play and sounds great!![/quote] I use a BTB406 as my main bass and I agree, stunning instruments. I have a problem with very low output on mine, but it's never really caused an issue and it sounds stunning.

[quote name='bartelby' post='774244' date='Mar 14 2010, 12:39 PM']I love my BTB405. It's super easy to play and sounds great!![/quote] I use a BTB406 as my main bass and I agree, stunning instruments. I have a problem with very low output on mine, but it's never really caused an issue and it sounds stunning.

If it helps mate, here's the wiring diagram for the bass: [url="http://www.rondomusic.com/photos/bass/hxbdiag.jpg"]http://www.rondomusic.com/photos/bass/hxbdiag.jpg[/url] I always got put off making the change myself because of the messy wiring and having no previous experience of pickup rewiring (jack sockets is about the limit of my wiring in instruments), I was expecting it to be more of a one out, one in job.

[quote name='Rosh' post='772790' date='Mar 12 2010, 02:17 PM']I've always thought badly of Ibanez since I played a very bad one (a bassist of another band hand "tinkered" with it)[/quote] The only bad Ibanezes I've played (without exception) are the guitars with Floyd Rose trems when some twit that thinks intonation is the opposite of detonation has set it up. Every bass I've ever played of theirs (including a quick blast on the K5) has been stunning. Personally I wouldn't go for the K5 because I'm not a fan of it's tone, but that's purely opinion. The one I had a go on felt nice and looked brilliant (if you can see past the inlay).