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Piranha The B said:

Hello,

I’d like to hear your opinion. Which strings would you recommend for a P-Bass or J-Bass (Fender) so it sounds good in an acoustic band mix?
(Acoustic guitar, vocals, bass guitar and cajón)

I currently have 45-105 DR Hi-Beams on both basses and I’m happy with them, but I’m thinking about switching to (try) Thomastik JF344 43-100 or Labella 760FS 45-105

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I've used Thomastik JF344 flats exclusively on my basses (Fender, Rick 4003 and 4005 basses) for my acoustic/electric band for more than a decade - they're low tension, sound wonderful played with fingers or a pick, and will likely be the last set of strings you'll ever buy for whichever bass you choose to play. Our instrumentation includes acoustic guitars, cajon, keyboards, flute, additional percussion and 5 vocalists.

You can currently buy these on Amazon for about $90. It will likely be the best investment in strings you'll ever make.

Never seen one in the wild. My (…and shared) biggest bone-of-contention is the design introduced what would normally be components of the afterlength into the vibrating string path. I don’t recall this query ever being fully answered but, then again, the product is flying beneath the radar if still available…kinda like “My Pillow”.

Riis

Mystic Michael said:

As a bassist, you should understand - perhaps better than any other musician - the value of space. For one example: When the bassist chooses to sit out the entirety of the first two verses - then finally comes in at the chorus - with authority, gravitas and force - his presence is immediately felt, as a direct effect of his absence, far more than if he had simply played through the first two verses as well.

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Speaking of a track that illustrates this principle perfectly, I suggest for your consideration the following:

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MM

I have the Saint Soap, the long scale with the humbucker, an early production version with a mini-HB. I got it January of 2024, from a shop in the UK and had it shipped. Same bass, but with a long scale. Overall it was well built with decent parts. Think of it in the same range of higher end Squiers or Harley Bentons, to Sire midrange basses.

I had two issues. First was the mini humbucker cover wasn't properly soldered to the pickup base plate. I soldered it in properly and all is fine. Ashdown replaced the mini with the "tron styled pickup. The other issue was the A string would pop out of the groove if I played it hard. The string groove on the nut was correct height, as was the depth of the groove. The brake angle was a little shallo, so I installed a Hipshot 3 string retainer (tree). This fixed the brake angle issue and it plays well.

I did one modification, with a HipShot Bass Extender (Drop Tuner). Aside from what I've noted, everything else is tock.

It is one of my main players/go to basses. It's sort of a moder P style bass, with a little more modern sound. The roasted maple neck is a beautiful, amber-brown shade and is extremely stable.

The Onyx Green Metallic is a nice shade. At that time they also had the Shell Pink (not my style/taste) and the Ice Blue Metallic (an alright color). The Mint Green and Black weren't available at the time I got mine. The black looks good, but that Mint Green looks like nuclear pea soup! (YUK!)

I'm 69 with strong distance vision, but increasing dim within 6 feet. I recently had luminlay sidedots installed on my main gig bass - we play a few places with fancy lights that can go completely dark or suddenly stab me with a bright beam...and as a mediocre bassist trying to use the whole fingerboard, I really need to see those side dots. Since that installation I've done 5-6 gigs in those clubs, and the luminlays REALLY help.

Freezer can totally work to slow aging, but you have to use the right material for the wrap. Cling wrap and food storage bags of today are mostly thin PE and are NOT a terpene barrier, so the rosin can dry out right through those materials. You need either nylon freezer/vacuum bags or, mylar food storage bags (even better).

This is also why back in the day you could wrap your Pops in plastic wrap to keep it fresh longer. Saran wrap used to be made with PVDC which was an excellent vapor, oxygen, aroma, and terpene barrier. But it was changed to polyethylene in 2004 which is over 100,000 times more permiable to oxygen and volatile rosin terpenes. PE will also directly absorb the volatile rosin terpenes from the outside surface so it actively dries out your rosin.

For Pops, the best option is to take the rosins out of their containers (still in wax paper) and vacuum seal, or get as much air out as you can, in a nylon or mylar food storage bag.

You also don't need to worry about the freezer de-humidifying your rosin. Cigar humidors work to keep the water content of the tobacco leaves in the cigar stable so that the cigar doesn't dry out. There is no water content in gum rosin or derived resins so humidity does nothing to keep volatile components of the rosin in place.

You might think the water vapor in a humidity pack takes up the air space so the rosin volatiles can't dry out, but it doesn't really work that way because of Dalton’s law of partial pressures. Water vapor and the terpene vapors each have their own partial pressure and more of one doesn't impact the other. What matters is air tightness and quality of barrier. So things like a Rosin Saver are only really working because of tightness of seal and thickness of the plastic container walls.

JKos said:

@Sean Baumann ,
I have working Android apps for firmware versions 2.0 and 3.7 that allow you to:

1) Control all parameters* easily,
2) Save and recall presets,
3) Automatically saves all user loaded IRs and reloads as necessary if a preset needs it or selected by user.

PM me your email address and I'll send you a link. There are currently six users and it is working properly for all of them. I did just notice a noncritical bug that I need to fix.

* The NBP-5 does not allow control of IR on/off for DI or Out via MIDI.

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Hello JKos,
I just found this amazing thread about custom Android Controller App for the NUX NBP-5 pedal.English is not my native language, but I would really love to try your application on my phone. Could you please send me the download link or the APK file?

My email address is: [email protected]

Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your work with the community!

Best regards,
Ismet Zein

badgrandad said:

I only played arco on one song out of the 4-5 we did so once in practice once at the 9:30 service then the no-go at the 11:00 service, so I didn’t think to rosin up between services.
I did think to try to cut the volume and rub across the strings enough to warm the bow up but I just elected to quiver the bow and pizz my way out of trouble.

Next time I’ll warm up my bow before the song.

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You're upper 60s temp problem a classic issue for Pops and similar rosins that depend on slow-drying solvent components for their grab. So when your bow sits around for more than an hour at that temperature, it needs another swipe or a "warm up" scrub, which on the microscopic level is just mixing the dried out top layer back in and heating the rosin enough to resume grab. At minimum, try wiping the strings to get any powder off during the downtime so it doesn't block the grab further.

Rather than push my own solutions, you might consider Barrie Kolstein's new Wiedoeft Ultra-Grip (seems to me like a Kolstein-soft variation with a more processed base resin for the lighter color) as a base layer you put on earlier in the day when you know conditions might get like this. Then you can put the Pops on top for the familiar feeling. That should prevent the loss of grab when the bow is just sitting.

Maybe someone with more experience with Kolstein-soft of the new Wiedoeft can chime in on this.

This site is becoming a fantastic source for Rick info, aka, rabbit hole map
Maybe you can find some useful info inside;


Replaced tuners can be a whole other universe.
Personally, I would try to return it to stock, if possible.
If not, I would use the next simplest, time proven mod.
If the hole hasn't been enlarged, you'll probably have more options.
Schaller currently offers a few different Rickenbacker specific tuner models,
but there are also many other replacement options available.

Value is in the mind of the beholder…
If you want a AV 63 precision but prefer a jazz neck, There is no better way to buy one then have it be a factory mistake!!
IMHO… that factory mistake is more valuable than someone who just put a jazz neck on the body.
Personally, I would buy it if it’s in good condition and the date on the neck coincides with the date on the Body…
Also is the jazz neck from one of the American vintage Jazz basses that they were making during that series which was
2013-2017?

nyctigerintx said:

I just bought an AMP BH-420 this past weekend for $250, including the very nice gator road case it was racked in, and I am in love with this amp already. I normally play an Eden 550 head on the road, and this AMP seems to match up very well so far in rehearsal. If anything, it seems punchier and clearer than the Eden. I also REALLY like the Bass/Treble tone balance knob that comes after the EQ section. I haven't found anything to complain about yet. BTW, at rehearsal room I'm playing a 70s Jazz bass and driving an Eden D115XLT and an old Eden D210T. My brief experience with this amp is very positive. My wife even commented on the killer tone which quite surprised me.

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That is funny when the wife compliments bass tone. Mine did the same which is so out of character with "the whole house is shaking" as she starts randomly turning off any with a light on it.

I've had this bass for 10 years, I love it, but hate that lovely figured Bumbinga is hiding under satin.

I have everything I need to polish it to a warm shine, but afraid of messing it up.

What would you do?

Here's my new MK P-bass

Unplugged, the LaBella's are loud enough but, plugged in, it's even more muted in a way but, pleasing.

A very light touch with these, which is fine. On a P-Bass, I'm a jackhammer at times and I NEED to always (re)check my technical premises.

Here are two pics of spacing including the full width (divide by 4). As Scubaduba says, 17.5 although if you ignore the string width and just measure edge to edge, it's 17mm. But technically, this would be 17.5mm spacing. Note that in the pics, i started the measurement from 1mm, not 0, so you have to subtract 1mm from the measurement mark.

Well, somebody made an offer and got it even cheaper. Good for them.

Admiral Chew said:

Spencer posted a photo of his newborn on IG yesterday so I suspect it’s not the screen printer delaying things. Congratulations to Spencer!

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Well, that definitely tends to put business on the backburner haha. Gz to him and the wife!

Marty Forrer said:

I had one briefly, but could never bond with it. To me, a bass has to feel like an extension of my body, and some basses don't. This was one of those.

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Same here. Something about the feel of the neck, and the tone wasn't what I was after. It was a very nice bass, just not for me.

Pics would help. Upgrades may not perform any better but it may shed some headstock weight.

Riis

Have you sent Lakland a recent photo, so they can see how it's getting on?

My 100th (published) transcription of 2026!
Miles Davis - Aïda | Marcus Miller

bottomzone said:

These basses look and sound amazing!!!! I'm thrilled with my StingRay Special 5 H, but having the tonal versatility and 24 frets on the Alusonic is very appealing!!!! Hmmmmmm.

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I probably forgot to mention that it weighs 7.5 lbs Now (hardware and preamp changes), balances relatively well, and most recently I swapped the preamp for a Trickfish IPA 3 band with a seperate tone knob, added a Hipshot A Style bridge.

Zbysek said:

What’s the reason for two DIs?

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The Finally is for the Stomp, the LiveWire PDI is for the Atmosphere.

SpyderX said:

Found somethiing here (frrom 2011): https://www.talkbass.com/threads/gk-800rb-vertical-power-switch.804418/#post-11425660

AI seems to agree:

Internal Components: Modern units utilize toroidal power transformers and MJ10024/25 output transistors for higher reliability and power ratings compared to the older rectangular transformers and MJ10022/23 parts.

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Thanks, dude. That thread is one of the places I convinced myself about the horizontal, but I’ve seen it elsewhere too. Could all be mythology, but humans are funny animals.

ImTheOnlyOne said:

Thanks for the samples!

This makes the BB seem more attractive than I'd presumed. BB more throaty, DCX stringy-er.

Which do you think plays better when there's additional EQ in the chain?

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They both take additional EQ down the line very well.
The BB feels like the EQ is more or less there to shape the drive tone while the DCX adds to your total tone.
I've often used the DCX on pedal boards for the EQ options alone, with the drive so low it won't drive at all.

That's the thing: The DCX can approach the drive tones from the BB.
But you can flip the switch to OD and get a much meaner sound. What I like about the DCX heavy drive is that it won't come apart in a dense band mix.
I've played in a metal band in a practice room that was far from ideal, and much too loud. In there, I could really test a drive pedal for its capabilities in a dense and loud mix. The DCX really balls up the bass in one place and keeps it there, while many other heavier drives smear the bass on top of everything, and it gets lost in the mix.

And you can also go the opposite direction and use it without drive, because the LF and HF knobs work so well. The LF adds a subtle weight that really gets you places when you run it through a capable PA, and the HF knob adds sparkle. These combine well with other EQ, just watch out that you're not bath-tubbing the life out of your signal.