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Jon Clegg · Jul 27, 2026

Lo-E said:
If I had to choose one I’d go with Guinness, but shouldn’t there be a matching ‘51 P? I mean…. you’ve got two crates!

stefaniw80401 · Jul 27, 2026

PBandJazzBass said:
Thought about that as well. I’ve heard that they can be brighter than Spiros, at least initially.

Yeah -- I recently installed a full set S42 superflexible medium think they'd be darker/bassier than spiros -- they lasted only a couple of weeks on my bass. From that I put on a set of Evah Pirazzi med. They definitely bring out the low end on my bass, and sound decent acoustically, but just got buried at a jazz gig last week, so I'm on the string hunt again. Problem is that I play mostly orchestra, and evahs don't like to be changed, so I'm going to start this upcoming orchestra season with these EP's and see how they perform in the section. They sound good in my practice studio.

N. Kentucky Bass · Jul 27, 2026

Thom Fioriglio said:
Hi all, is anyone here using a Fender Am Pro II with Labella 760FL 43-104 flatwound strings for a classic P bass tone? I owned one of the new Fender Vintera II Road Worn 60s P basses and strung it with Labella 760FL 43-104 flatwounds and fell in love with the tone and feel of those strings. The pickup in that bass is supposed to be a bit darker and 60s voiced. What I didn't like about that bass was the width of the neck and the tall frets so I sold it.

I love how my Am Pro II P bass feels and sounds. I have DR Sunbeams on it. If strung with Labella Deep Talking Bass strings does it do that classic 60s kind of vibe well? Does anyone play an Am Pro II with Labella flats or are they more suited for other P bass models?

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I use those strings on a Fender Am Pro I and they sound superb. Of course, the bass now has a Jazz neck and Fralin pickups, but I can assure you the strings sound glorious. Don't overthink it as it's not an expensive experiment to try the La Bellas.

P.S. Those La Bellas feel perfectly balanced to me and have an especially even feel across all four strings when using a pick. I switched from TI Flats, which are not particularly balanced in feel. Picking on the La Bellas was immediately smoother with an even flow. FWIW.

Trundle · Jul 27, 2026

chiphaleonbass said:
I tried the Dynamics at the end of last year, the cancellation wasn’t great. They sounded awesome, but didn’t work for me in a live setting

Wasn't enough headroom for me, but the Stages I've been using for like 2-3 years now. Best music purchase I've ever made, no questions

Billyzoom · Jul 27, 2026

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Don Hergert · Jul 27, 2026

I've only been there a few times over the last 10 years or so, FMI is about 60 miles from my home and I've only visited the shop when I happened to be traveling though Pasadena. Finding the store, located behind other buildings on the address street, is challenging if you've never been there before. All the times I was there the staff were helpful enough but perhaps a little bit distant; maybe they were distracted or maybe I just looked like a stranger off the street -- which is really what I was to them. I wasn't ever seriously put off by that, and I have purchased a few items from them; they were good and functional standard DB accessories, all which I'm still using today. Unfortunately I have never had an opportunity to talk with Tom.

I've never entertained the idea of buying a DB from FMI because I'm really not in the market at all, but they had a lot of DBs in stock there, especially compared to any music store closer to my home that I'm aware of. The instruments there that initially caught my eyes looked mostly finished (ie: painted) to cater more to RaB or PsyB -- my Alcoa would have been very comfortable there -- but there were also some more natural finished DBs that might have been Shen or older American or European made instruments. I wouldn't be surprised if they had between 12 and 20 DBs in the shop at the times I was there; it was pretty amazing for me to be around that many DBs.

It's nice to know they are good at fingerboard work, if I ever need a fingerboard dressing or a fingerboard replacement I'll contact them; I currently know of no one closer to where I live who would be able to do that kind of work well.

boghurtgurule · Jul 27, 2026

New bass day!! I’ve hardly seen a lefty club let alone one on this color!

Al T. · Jul 27, 2026

I'd see if Lindy Fralin could help, he's pretty good at pickup repair and rewinding .

BassHole1 · Jul 27, 2026

Great color!!!

Brewsbrother · Jul 27, 2026

Piggybacking onto this thread, since it's relevant to my issue. I, too, picked up a Squire Contemporary Jazz Bass V body with a faulty preamp. I just finished the build with an aftermarket roasted maple neck. The volume, blend, and tone pots all work just fine, but the dual control preamp does nothing at all. Is it possible to replace only that preamp, and if so, what do folks recommend?

paul · Jul 27, 2026

Dana R Gregory said:
Unfortunately, I don't see any improvement since the effort to eliminate these pesky rogue ads. TB is infested with them now and to add insult to injury, they have nothing to do with music at all. As I have said previously, Google ads are the worst offender.

We need ads to keep the lights on. You've been a member for 12 years! If you want to go ad-free, it's just $3/month. https://www.talkbass.com/account/upgrades/

pepj · Jul 27, 2026

Generally you need to keep it in perspective.
If you spend way way over 50% of your practice time on stuff you'll use in one track or part of one track, you'll likely compromise what you can play at the expense of others.
2 guys I know do that..and their slap parts are good, but not every song wants it and tbf, the good bands don't call them as the rest of their game isn't up to it. Nobody wants a bass solo for more than 4 measures either....if it really can't serve the song..
Sure, the bass player might argue for it but gtrs have bigger egos and the best gtrs will win.
No one I know will stop the odd lick if tastefully done and even then..forget 80's style. IME.

And if the only groove you can carry is a slap groove, I'd suggest you put work in elsewhere or start your own band.

dponbass · Jul 27, 2026

Looking still?

Jwilste · Jul 27, 2026

Killed_by_Death said:
After playing the instrument for days, I finally plugged in after dark & couldn't see the side-dots, At ALL!

Turns out you need to charge them up-close with a strong light. I finally realized my mobile phone's flash LED will charge them, but I'm not too happy that it won't charge in normal, bright light.
I left it on the kitchen table under our brightest light for an hour, nothing!

I was conflicted when I got my used EHB 1500. I so wanted it to be perfect and from a looks perspective it is! Many years ago I bought my first bass, a Steinberger L2. My used EBH did not have the original strings, previous owner put some D'Addario 45-100's on it. It had a strong over tone on the big E string and no amount of finagling would fix. Then I put on a .105 E string and the bass came to life, big bass sound and no overtone distortion. I plays like a dream and I can dial in a lot of things. One thing I'll say which is a little unusual... it does not sound particularly good flat, with all the knobs on the detents. Just a little bass boost and a tweak of the Mid-frequency knob and it has my sound. I almost feel that it is not the same scale length as all my G&L's, even though it is. Playing on the low notes near the nut seems like my left hand needs to stretch more. Weird, huh?

SomewhatHarmles · Jul 27, 2026

I dunno about your results, but I was looking at some woodworking I did in highschool...where I liberally used wood filler.

After a while, it gets sorta gappy looking because of the contraction/expansion cycles. With veneer, I haven't had as much of an issue as the wood also expands and contracts in a forgiving way. (not same application, just my 1 cent)

gt96g · Jul 27, 2026

CoughSyrup said:
That bass is beautiful, and I can certainly understand the appeal of paying top dollar for a bespoke P bass. But I can't help but think that for that dollar amount, there should be a more elegant solution for the output jack. Not sure what that solution is, but this option just bugs me.

Fodera will do a side jack at no charge. All you have to do is request it. I had a couple of builds done that way, and I've always felt it looked far better.

jerry · Jul 27, 2026

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PitBossMan · Jul 27, 2026

fig said:
What's the reason? You should find out and get back with us.

Electrically, I don't see a problem with installing the Active/Passive Push/Pull Volume control.

However, if you have a thin-bodied bass, maybe the Push/Pull pot is physically too tall to fit.

On a personal note, I had that problem once many years ago. I made a wood & plastic stand-off, mounted it on the face of the bass, installed the push/pull, and problem solved. Yeah, it was about a 1/2 inch bump sticking up, but who cares. Functionality above looks. I get that some folk don't like 'bastardizing' their instrument and mar the looks, but I'm here to play bass, not enter the frakkin' thing in a beauty contest LOL. I never got fired once for it and the audience never boo'd me, so...

Anyway, if you can, find out why he says it won't work.

I ended up having him wire the hybird setup as the directions instructed (it omits the push pull volume for a normal volume pot, and the included treble pot is a stacked passive tone when in passive, and treble tone when in actice). He is having an issue with horrible feedback/noise when the preamp is engaged/humbucker mode. He contacted Delano, hopefully they'll help him sus it out. I went over the diagram with him, seems (hopefully) that he has it right from what I can tell. Fingers crossed they figure it out, I would love to have this bass in my hands soon!

littlebun · Jul 27, 2026

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BKMM · Jul 27, 2026

As I write this I'm nursing my sore back from playing yesterday for church and setting up PA speakers as well. Age 53 here.

Lots of good recommendations and reminders about posture, and footwear. It got me thinking though if there are times when you need a high stool with a back, where do I get one that looks good on a stage? The one we have at church is like an old school stool, and it looks pretty ratty.

A drum throne can have a back but they're short.

Quik Lok makes a Musician's Stool but it isn't that tall I don't think: QUIK LOK DX749 | Height adjustable Musicians' stool

Any suggestions?

Edit: Wait the Quik Lok goes up to 31.5" which i guess is pretty high, actually. So thats an option. Anything nicer looking though?

SomewhatHarmles · Jul 27, 2026

Phyzoid1965 said:
Hello to all Luthiers and would-be Luthiers, like me. I have had this system for years and am just setting up to use it but I can't find the Locating Pin! Does anyone either have one to sell or have the specifications so that I can make one? I can give it a pretty good go of it with the mount diameter and slot widths. I'm assuming that the pin should be tapered to center on the slots. Any help with this would be great and much appreciated!

I dunno if I'm necrobumping this thread, since I got a head cold.

Contact Stewmac. They got all of LMI's old stock. Currently, they're in the process of streamlining their stock....some stuff in the future with be LMI because it's better designs. Some stuff will be the Stewmac stuff. The Stewmac people are friendly and no BS imho.

rludlow · Jul 27, 2026

Richard, July 24, 2026: Fantastic Musical Instruments in Pasadena, CA is a real “bass shop”. Tom Kerr was very gracious to me when I was trying out basses a few years ago, even after I returned a fine bass I had on trial. I ended up buying a Pollmann Bass from another store. However, when I needed a set-up, , cleaning, and sound adjustment, I took my Pollmann to Tom. My bass now sounds better than ever, and he had a solid string recommendation. Also, just this week I bought a Kay Bass, circ, 1940 from Tom, for my bluegrass, gigs. It was reasonably priced and he did some work I requested for a minimal charge, adjustments to the bridge curvature, and a replacement tailpiece cable (I wanted a new Teflon version). I kept the original metal piece since it was part of the original bass. Thanks, Tom, for your expertise and gracious manner with me as a customer who needed some guidance.

Aloe · Jul 27, 2026

just today I’ve butchered a Bart NTMB from an SR that has aftermarket pickups.

I’d wish, a jack would fit the treble pot hole, but nope. still debating what to do with holes.

pretty happy with sonic results tho, the pre somehow overdrove the low B even at minimum gain. yeah, I know, 18v is also a way, but gave up the idea of fitting a second battery due to compact body.

AbsolutZeroGI · Jul 27, 2026

cyclopsbookworm said:
I almost exclusively use compression wound these days, because they can lean forward and be more aggressive with volume/tone adjustments and attack techniques, or lean back towards (but not quite to) flat wound territory by dropping the tone knob. Plus they’re super cozy. I prefer smith compressors, but they’re wound by ghs, so the ghs pressure wounds work just as nicely.

I've used those before! They are super comfortable. I didn't know what they were when my luthier recommended them, so I took a shot in the dark, and when I picked up the bass later, it was super noticeable that the strings felt different. I'm a GHS fan, and I like the Pressurewounds, Bassics, and round core Bass Boomers. Haven't tried their steels yet, but all my basses are pretty bright so they don't really need em.

cultrvultr · Jul 27, 2026

oooh wow. gotta try this. especially if it works in the Bay!

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