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trothwell said:

But that was a long time ago. Is it still an issue?

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sorry for the late response:

in 2012 they changed the "formula" of the coating, and now it doesn't "flake" anymore. in the last couple of years they upgraded again, and it's also less "slippery", they feel a bit more natural.
I have a set on my Manson JPJ since at least three years, abused with a pick in punk gigs, and still not flaking.

trothwell said:

Thus, I reckon -- the irritation in the past must have had nothing to do with nickel per se.

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GHS Boomers IMHO are some of the "more nickelish" out there, so probably the issue was not nickel irritation.

In my experience, this stage is big enough for my 5-piece band, including a keyboard player with 76-keys synth.

A 5 stringer doesn't have to have 5 strings he he

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You don’t need full-on distortion to be brutal, and practically everything Hooky has played is brutal. But this entire album, due to its circumstances, is brutal on so many different levels…
Login to view embedded media The chronicle of a man giving up. Not an allegory, not a third person thing, but an actual documentation.

For some reason, in the 10pin socket, only the pins 4 and 8 receives the pickups input. I strongly believe that this pcb board was also used for other projects at that time. My bass is a 5 strings Vantage from 1994. Someone burned the copper trace when trying to change two potentiometers (As you can see in the pictures). Because of that I will probably build a new pcb with the same circuit.

I have a Johnson acoustic guitar made in China circa 2000 and it still sounds and plays awesome after all these years. My father's name is John so it suits me just fine...

96tbird said:

Non dire fesseria!

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Ma stai zitto su e impara un po’ d’inglese, altro che fesserie .. ciao bello, bardzo prozsę!

It turns out that Matt did the set up on the West Valley College 1970s awesome carved bass with lots of curly everything. The set up on that thing is unbelievable. It plays like a Les Paul. Buttery…
Unfortunately, I am lefty so I can’t play it.

I play louder than the fan.

Flatwound said:

Gig report! Played a rooftop bar in a local touristy area, We had to turn down a couple of times (because of the bartenders, not the patrons), but the tip jar kept filling up. Lotsa dancers. The bass did it's job perfectly (well, almost). Confirmed my previous statement that this is a good bass, not a "good bass for the money". People liked the color, which I would call "very red".

Why is it "almost" perfect? Mostly the pickup. To my ears, it's a bit brash on the top end. Even when we did our one slap tune, I didn't open the tone control all the way. Just too much, IMO. And speaking of the tone control, it may be the best I've used. Very linear, usable tones at every position. The upshot is that I *might* replace the pickup with a Duncan SPB-1, which I have found to be a very traditional sounding pickup in the past. As per usual, I used my Terror Bass 500 and two OBC-112's. For next weekend's gig, where load-in is super easy, I might bring the AD200B MKIII. It's cool, but heavy.

Oh, and I got compliments. I'm no virtuoso, but one older (like my age) person came up and said, "You know when to hold back and when to let loose", which I took as high praise indeed. Since bass players don't get many compliments, I treasure each one.

Pix or it didn't happen:

View attachment 7548867
With the Pacific ocean in the background:

View attachment 7548868

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I have the same bass in the same color, and the same amp and cabs too. I put an EMG Geezer pup and wiring harness in mine and it was just the trick.

I think MA's style is almost more attitude than gear. He attacks the bass.

I would love it if GK made an actual analog preamp pedal with the appropriate routing. I’m hoping to see Bob in January.

To clarify, the band will continue, just it's better that we either try to work through things and retain the current four piece lineup, or continue as a three piece, as opposed to replacing Corey. I think if Jim and I focus on solo/duo bookings, we can take some of the pressure off with the band, and pull things together in the Fall. That's my current feeling.

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's comments!

One thing that stood out to me is how many people outside Japan have been playing Ibanez basses since the 1970s.
I knew they were more popular overseas than they were in Japan, but I never expected to see so many passionate fans here.

I was also very happy to find that many of you share the same opinion I've had for years—that Japanese basses from the late '70s through the '80s offered outstanding build quality and incredible value for the money.
I currently own and play several Japanese Jazz Basses from the 1970s through the early 1990s, and every one of them is a cherished companion.

Reading the real experiences of people who have actually owned and played these instruments has been both fascinating and educational.

I'm sure there are still plenty of hidden gems out there that I've never even heard of!

Pocket Dave said:

Interesting phrase. Speaking from experience?

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I had a friend who was a firefighter.

Coming from a BH mini and BH .5K, looking forward to the extra headroom and integrated signal filter. These amps are so inspiring to play.

Ok so I've frozen the Bass Better-er Beta

And I have put out a version 1 of the free plugin, now Box Of Bass



I have (amongst other things):

• Improved the UI
• Added Sidechain/external signals
• Added multi-instance linking (for multiple bus uses)
• Selectable channels on reverb
• Parametric EQ (which customisable bands)
• Improved the fuzz/dist engines, and added option to run them in sequence

I have also added a simple mode to emulate the ethos of Bass Better-er:



And even added a guitar mode that pitches it down an octave:



All still for free - if you want info about the upcoming pro version, you can sign up to newsletter here - and if anyone is willing to give me a 10/15 min interview on how they've used this as data for my masters, please send me an email at [email protected]

Akami said:

I've never minded help with the mains and stands, but I'm moving my amps and instruments myself.

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If help is offered, they get a cable bag or my axe. I don’t let anybody touch my amp or cabs. They’re just too fragile.

Another update...

I sent the bass back to Arizona for inspection two weeks ago. I also asked the builder for a refund because the bass has been out of my possession and in the shop longer that it has been with me. By this point, I was also unhappy with the lack of QC regarding the electronics.

He was able to fix the electronics issues in 2 days. Because of that, he declined my refund request because he said that I bought the bass in person at the trade show back in June and that I was able to test everything out before buying. The one good thing he did was pay for the shipping in both directions and the labor to fix his own mistakes.

On top of that, he also undid the professional setup that I had paid for and reset it up to his personal preferences. I asked him not to alter the setup, but he did anyway! When I got the bass home, it was virtually unplayable because of the new setup. At least the electronics are working properly. I inspected it myself and I found that the truss rod was WAY too loose. I tightened it and most of the buzzing was gone.

The one problem this bass still has is a rattling D string. I didn't hear any rattling on the D string until the bass arrived back at my house last week, so this is another new issue. The builder did not install a string retainer (as on a Fender 5 string) for the D and G strings. This would have solved the problem from the factory. What's more is that the best location on the head stock for the string retainer is where the builder branded his logo! So something has to give: functionality or design. Regardless, this is a stupid QC issue that could have been avoided.

Last week, I called my credit card company and filed a dispute against the builder for the cash portion of what I paid for this bass. The QC issues that I'm solving are comparable to those of a modern Fender. I expected A LOT MORE from a smaller, custom builder. I'm not sure how this is going to go, but I'm hopeful.

This bass is currently for sale on the Sweetwater Gear Exchange. I can't return it, so I would rather move on from it in another way. This whole experience has been very frustrating for me!

4sight said:

Looks like a Sonic to me. They originally came out of two factories in China and Indonesia, but I believe they're Indonesia only now. The "ears" on the MIC model's pickups are slightly larger so a standard pickguard won't fit, I guess that could be a way of checking.

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Thanks!

RIP.

I have been using the whites on my Fretless Am Prof jazz. Tried others. Nothing as smooth , flexible or upright bass sounding. Not a lot of bite. That's part of the deal. EQ. I just epox'd my fingerboard(rosewood) even better sustain and growl.

LadyLoveStingRay5 said:

Sharay has become my favorite player.

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Dr. Cheese said:

That is great taste on your part.

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Sharay is the embodiment of make a joyful noise.

The B Keeper said:

It's too bad there aren't more comparisons of these to stainless Lo-Riders because there's a pack here waiting to be strung up but I don't know what bass to put them on yet. So far a passive Stingray is the top contender once the Slinkies on it start to lose some shine

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I think there are some videos with someone sound testing power steels somewhere on YouTube