EBS_freak

It's all down to the pickups and electronics. There is nothing special about the construction or the wood. Similarly, it's why my GB basses have that GB sound, it's why Alembic have the Alembic sound etc... The actual construction has less and less influence once you start swinging the balance of tone towards the electronics rather than the instrument itself.

If you are going to refinish, a complete strip would be best for the reasons mentioned above. Fill with p38, sand through the grades, poly finish. It will look ace. Authentic, no... but ace non the less. The neck crack - is that a paint crack, or does it go deeper than that? Cracks in neck pockets are quite common where the neck is an overly tight fit or the neck has received a knock at some point.

If you are using IEMs, you would want to be pre and do a mix using the aux2s on each channel. The aux output sums to a single mono source so if you are using an IEM mixer, you are pretty much using it as a headphone amp exclusively. If you put a FOH to your ears, it's likely to not sound as good as you run a mix tailored for you - a monitor mix is generally "you" heavy... and that's a good thing.

I know, I know!!

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1364238122' post='2023694'] Can be expensive..we were quoted £350 per gig minimum for a two man section on a saturday. [/quote] I'd say that's cheap for an up to speed drop in horn section. Our horn guys are a £400 plus travelling...

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1363957142' post='2020109'] If you speak to Jens he's totally focused on sound of each instrument. I was chatting to him at London Bass Guitar Show with a prospective customer and the whole conversation was about what sound the customer was after and which woods, pickups, electronics etc would deliver what he was after. He then tried different body shapes and neck profiles to get a good idea of how he wanted it to feel. Only after agreeing all of this did they discuss colours and finish options. Sound was very much the key to everything. He took Jens's advice and placed an order [/quote] I would completely agree - if the instruments were passive. As soon as you load an instrument with an active eq, the characteristics of the woods are somewhat less important. There's a lot of BS surrounding basses, woods and how they will sound. The only way you'll hear what a bass sounds like, is when it's strung up and played for the first time. Wood is not a uniform product - I would wager that there are more Status basses that sound identical than anything else out there.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1363956407' post='2020093'] I guess this is the catch22 of custom instrument designers - push on with something unconventional sounding and less people will want it, create something familiar and it will have a wider range of applications for the player. Some builders seem to cater for this e.g. Overwater and Status seem to aim for a high end but fairly neutral (to my ears bland sometimes) tonal range so that along with the EQ they really can be a bass for all occasions, which I guess is a massive plus for your busy pro player. [/quote] I guess so - if everybody wants a P of J bass sound for example, then the reason for getting a bass has to be more about cosmetics, playability or some other unique selling point. Having said that, there are instruments that have the "standard" palette, in addition to a bit more. Wal for instance, comes to mind. Status is an interesting one - obviously their main selling point is the carbon fibre element (or the fact they have a captive audience catering for Mark King wanabees). Funnily enough, I wouldn't say that Status are neutral... they defo have a certain character, a hardness to the tone if you like.

Dan Pearce should so be an international star... This will be a killer gig I'm sure.

I think Jens is truely one of the greats in term on innovation. He has taken the bass and tried to make new shapes that I think we are all agree, shout "Ritter" - which is an achievement in itself. For example, how many truely unique basses are there? Most basses can be obviously traced back to Fender classic designs in some way. Ritter seem to have escaped this - but I feel that this comes at the price of playing comfort. The thing is for Ritter, is that for me, they aren't particularly amazing sounding instruments in the fact that they don't offer anything extra sonically over anything else in a much lesser price range. Again, his finishes are pushing against the grain of tradition, which is great - but I found they photograph a lot better than they look up close in detail. This came as quite a shock to me. Yes, the traditional paint jobs are done very well but the pushing the boundary finishes, to me at least, looked a bit ropey up close. Taking those last two points into account, you really are paying for the design genius and "art" of Jens - which is fine. As for Jens being the German Stradivarius, well, I'm not entirely sure I agree with that. Stradivarius didn't push the boundaries of violin design - more perfected the construction and sound of them. He certainly wasn't doing whacky finishes! Having said all of that... Would I buy one? Absolutely.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1363871206' post='2018659'] John Hall wouldn't hide in the bushes... he might try to sue the bushes though [/quote] I relinquish my £5.

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1363863743' post='2018510'] I'm a big Ric fan, and TBH, I don't see the problem! (Goes and hides in the bushes.......) [/quote] You are John Hall and I claim my £5.

Done lots of research into this and I ended up with both the Sony DWZ and Shure ULX-D systems. They are ridiculously good - and the Sony transmitter smacks all the other transmitters in terms of build quality, including the top flight Shure ULX-D and Senn system. Stay digital to keep your lows intact by staying away from the compounders used in analogue systems. Basically, any Line6, StageClix, Sony or Shure ULX-D (pricey) system is going to see you alright. Chose which one you cosmetically like the best because they all perform to a high standard.

Those new Line6 offerings looks pretty tasty.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1363788574' post='2017615'] Thanks! Loads of information there and it will take some time to work through it all. At first glance the Shure ULXD system looks the best bet for me. Front output is absolutely essential though. This will fill the last empty space in the front of my rack and so far there is no space between the other units to feed even the thinnest of cables through. I don't understand why the manufactures of rack-mounting wireless systems don't offer a unit with at least a duplicated instrument level output on the front. The front panel is after all where the input jack of the next piece of equipment in the audio is chain is most likely to be! [/quote] Just been thinking about it, with the ULX-D you will be able to pass a cable from the back to the front of the unit quite easily - where the BNC attached aerials attach to the rack mounting kit, you could easily drill another hole through the rack mounting (e.g. on the right panel in the pic) and feed a cable through or drill another hole for the aerial and use the hole on the left of the unit for an input... I did this on one of my rack setups and bought a nice rubber grommet in the hole to finish it off nicely. Something like this - You get the idea anyway... The ULX-D is an awesome unit. I will be upgrading to it at some point in the future. That way I can nicely rack my PSM900 next to it! Anyway, here's the pic to which I'm referring.

[quote name='joeystrange' timestamp='1363775924' post='2017279'] I never had any problems with it although, to my ears, it seemed to add a bit of top end to the sound. [/quote] That's because there isn't the capacitance of a long cable rolling the top end off your sound. Some systems, for example, (and I'm sure it's on your line 6 system, or it could be the G50) have a cable tone function to emulate that roll off.

Off the top of my head. 1. That puts you in the digital camp 2. Shure ULX-D is the obvious rack option given 1. Also the Line 6 G90. Otherwise, look at the Sony DWZ-B30GB (non rack but I'm sure you can velcro it somewhere) or the DWZB70HL (rack but lavier system which can be used for instruments, when it comes out). Stageclix. 3. Shure is 1/2 width. Line 6 is full width. Sony is 1/2 width (but you need to buy rack kit) or the "brick" that is designed to go on a pedal board. Stageclix is like a Maplins box! Output on the back is not an issue if you use thin George L's to take the output back to the front as you can tease it between rack units. 4. ULX-D system available as seperates. Sony parts available as seperates. Not sure about Stageclix. Not sure about Line6. 5. Jack plug is a cable so make up as you wish otherwise Stageclix you can but so it uses a cable - avoid the "bug" type system. 6. Shure is metal case, Sony is metal case. Line 6 is metal case. Stageclix is robust enough. I have had a leather case to match my strap to hold my transmitter but there is a very good neotech pouch out there if you don't trust the clips on the backs of the unit. I would clip the unit to my belt or tops of trousers if you are concerned about having it strapped to the strap. 7. Out of the game. Both Sony and Shure are seperate PSUs. (Annoying isn't it?). Line 6 is IEC "kettle". Stageclix is also seperate PSU I recall. 8. AAs. Stageclix has it's own rebuilt batteries. Annoying if you forget to charge it. 9. Seems fair enough. All will fit the bill. There are other digital offerings but I'm not up to speed with them - but they are more designed for lavier mic application. Be wary of high latency figures in the digital world. All of the above are low enough. Shure if you are feeling rich, Sony or Line 6 if not. Otherwise Stageclix.

Not had any problems. I have three wireless networks running at every gig I play plus never had any problems when combining them with the wifi networks present at the hotels I play at all over the country. OK they occupy the same band so theoretically could be a problem... but my Sony unit has not failed me once. For instances like that Id resort to a cable. We run an analogue wireless iem on the open band and that is prone to rf interference. I use the licensed band for my iems and never had any issues on that.

I would defo go for a digital over analogue system - the compounders destroy your low end unless you are paying some serious money for the real top end stuff.

I thought for a minute old JJ got burnt.

[quote name='hubrad' timestamp='1363700208' post='2016047'] I think that looks alone don't generally get you the gig with a decent band (thank goodness! ), although I vaguely remember a Bassist mag interview with the guy who was, at the time, Terence Trent D'Arby's bass player. He said he turned up for the audition, walked in the room, and the management said 'yes, you'll do nicely'. 'Don't you want to hear me play?' says he.. 'Nope, you look the part and you wouldn't be here if you couldn't play.' [/quote] That would be Cass Lewis... also of Skunk Anansie and Gary Moore fame. He can play a fair bit.

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1363651766' post='2015454'] I wonder what he thinks of this? [/quote] Probably plays better than a real one...

[quote name='Lynottfan' timestamp='1363688913' post='2015747'] I notice that a lot of really good women players all seem to gravitate towards the J style bass to. [/quote] May have something to do with the top contour...

Sony DWZB30GB. Sorted.

Purpleheart pickup covers?

Closeish to Birmingham... [url="http://www.timtoftviolins.com/"]http://www.timtoftviolins.com/[/url]