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Dave Higham · Aug 11, 2026

SomewhatHarmles said:
Does the Kubiki count as a plywood instrument? Multiple lams of maple glued up the right way?

Personally, I think plywood can be superior for some things (better neck block/heel block for acoustic guitars, because less likely to split).
However, I find solid wood way more pleasurable to shape and work with.

I'll be laminating up some sides for one of my bass attempts (the Larait knockoff in Mezzaluna profile). I'll probably be using some basswood windowblinds I have sitting in my scavenged stash of stuff.

Many acoustic luthiers now make 3-ply laminated sides with the middle layer cross-grained so you could call it plywood. Taylor does it and not just for economy. The sides are much more rigid (a good thing) and there's no more risk of cracked sides if the instrument gets a bump. Top-class bespoke luthiers also do it for the same reasons except economy doesn't really come into it when they are working with something like Brazilian rosewood or 'The Tree' mahogany. To paraphrase Ben Wilborn, "It tends to concentrate the mind when you're working with wood that cost more than your car". Espacially if the customer supplied the wood!

BlueTalon · Aug 11, 2026

micguy said:
In this case, a "mode" is a fixed mix of the pickups. Each mode has it's own loading tone circuit, including a load capacitor, and different tone capacitor values. And there's a master volume control, which is wired the right way - not backwards like on a J bass, so that it turns down the volume, without changing the sound. There are a lot more usable sounds in that bass (at least for how I play) than in a regular VVT wired J bass, and there are sounds you simply can't get out of a standard Jazz. Yes, a Jazz can do other sounds - the parameters that are controllable in my cifrcuits are different from the ones that you have on a standard circuit. The user interface, with a tone control for each mode, allows you to dial up two sounds, and switch between them, literally with the flick of a switch. Or, when you're playing one sound, you can dial the other one to a different sound, without changing the one you're currently using. Also, although the pickups are single coils, there is no way to get a sound that hums with this bass.

A VVT user interface to me, is something where the designer decided "I don't know how people are going to use this...here's some controls, good luck figuring it out". Sure, if you spend enough time with one, you figure out workarounds for the drawbacks of that interface, and maybe you get good at turning 3 knobs to precise locations in a hurry, but to me, this interface is much more usable. I re-wire basses (and the occasional guitar) for people, and one of the things we talk about before I design a circuit for an instrument is how they are going to use it - I don't end upi doing VVT circuits for anyone - if that's what they want, they don't come to me.

I think if I'd have written "baseline" instead of "mode" in my previous post, I would have been more accurate. But either way, I can see that gives you two noise-free ranges of sounds, and I think it's brilliant!

Dan Hannum · Aug 11, 2026

I have a 30" scale semi hollow bass recently bought and have been told creating string thru body channels will increase performance. Can anyone with experience verify? My American Pro 2 jazz fretless , which is string thru as well as a top loader bridge doesn't seem to make a diff either way. This SS is the recent red hot longhorn Dano.I do not plan on changing out the original bridge. Anyone with optimum string recommendations please?

Wood and Wire · Aug 10, 2026

I wonder if the Scott Pilgrim references are a sly joke, or an ironic oversight...

In the movies infamous "Bass Battle", Scott, and his trusty Rickenbacker face off against Todd, and his Fender Mustang.

Todd wins the battle, blasting Scott through a wall.

The only problem is the actors are miming to a real bass battle, improvised in the studio by Justin Meldal-Johnsen (standing in for Todd, playing his now iconic Mustang), and Jason Falkner (standing in for Scott, with a Rickenbacker 4001)... and Jason only goes and wins the bass battle.

So, in the movie you're seeing a Rickenbacker 4001, but hearing a Fender Mustang - and you're seeing a Fender Mustang, but hearing a Rickenbacker 4001.

I guess this video goes some way to solving that problem; he just needs to do the short scale version.

John D Harris · Aug 10, 2026

John D Harris said:
Cross pollenating a post from @Ross Davies on the Two Notes User Group Thread:

New Genome release

For those who don't know, here is the link to Two Notes Cab IR's.

Two Notes Dynamic IR's For Bass Cabinets

moles · Aug 10, 2026

Gopherbassist said:
The yellow 1 Spot logo is iconic in my mind. I wonder why they're ditching it?

With all the lawsuits these days, probably someone else thinks they own Yellow

iqi616 · Aug 10, 2026

I couldn't choose any one of my basses over the others. I love them all.

bass player 53 · Aug 10, 2026

Don Hergert said:
True, I don't question what they say, I've read the specs a number of times. All I can say is that the specs are not where the rubber meets the road for the e604 on a double bass. I use mine on stage all the time as well as in the studio -- my playing may not be the most polished in the world, but I consistently get very positive reviews for sound of the bass.

Ok, I am genuinely glad to hear, of course, that this is working for you.
You know I’m going to site one of the numerous TB threads on this subject.
There are specs that we are all familiar with, and that give us guidelines and means of comparison amongst the various options out there. I didn’t say that this particular Sennheiser wouldn’t work, I said it’s “not the best choice”. And I’m not talking about apples to oranges here, $150 to $15000. It’s just not the best choice for many people.

Put another way, by Sennheiser’s own design engineering and marketing, this mic was not designed for this application. If you brush up on your German and talk to the head of engineering (I’m joking about the German), I’m very sure that they would recommend a different Sennheiser mic.
That’s all I’m trying to say.
The joking about speaking German comes from my experience traveling to Bremen twice yearly for 15 years for factory training with ThermoFisher Scientific.

Fantastic experience.

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/mic-for-live.1688497/

P.S. I glad to hear that this works for the OP as well. No need to do anything further. Enjoy it and make beautiful music.

Smallmouth_Bass · Aug 10, 2026

dave64o said:
Love the white pickup cover on the blue one. It's a small change, but makes a big impact.

Isn't that how they originally came? All the ones I have seen had white pickup covers and pickguards.

T. Brookins · Aug 10, 2026

Winton said:
That’s cool they started putting in the Will Lee preamp. When these MX22 first came out, it was only the 2 band preamp. These are such good basses for the price, but sadly in my experience, every single 5 string from the Metroexpress line has noticeable neck dive (which my body can’t handle). The 4 strings are usually well-balanced though.

The MX tuners look lightweight, but they are not.

consectaneus · Aug 10, 2026

I would love to follow along and talk about it.

fdeck · Aug 10, 2026

Over the years I've met a number of ex-military musicians. One thing I can say without exception is that they all had killer chops and knowledge, just from playing so much, but have also been among the nicest people on the planet.

Justin Keoni · Aug 10, 2026

Does anyone have a Tone Hammer V1 for sale? I’m in the market again, especially for a limited edition color. I have cash or a Mesa Subway+ Preamp II for trade, if interested.

DonaldR · Aug 10, 2026

abarson said:
Didn't intend to be harsh

You were not

walterw · Aug 10, 2026

yodedude2 said:
... i should add not just hearing it, but feeling it as well. the way the instrument resonates changes, and i can feel it physically. perhaps that is linked to my hearing somehow?

i'm more inclined to suspect the byproduct of messing with the inserts was the process of taking the neck off, resulting in a change to the actual neck/body connection when put back together

especially if you do the trick of loosening those bolts a 1/4 turn while tuned to pitch so as to pull the neck down hard into the pocket, then re-tightening, sometimes that can "wake up" the bass a little tiny bit

Turnaround said:
Inserts screw into the wood in the same way that the regular screw do, so from that standpoint there's no difference. It there's a chance that the wood screw might work loose, there's double that chance with both the screw-in insert working loose and the bolt working loose from the insert. (actually neither is very likely).

i found a very interesting youtube video where a guy tested various methods of holding a 1/4-20 screw in hard wood, including installing inserts, and he found that the strongest method was not inserts at all but rather threads straight into the wood, then "chased" with thin CA glue to harden them up before installing the screw!

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Prodigus Filius · Aug 10, 2026

basebasser said:
You've all inspired me to remove a string from my stick bass (the one in my profile pic). It was made with a plank of wood found at a demolition site and was never really wide enough for 4 strings in the first place. Piezo pickup should be fine as is but I'll have to fashion a new bridge and nut for it.

3 strings is more than enuff for sure. The Three String Double Bass

agedhorse · Aug 10, 2026

davepen said:
All sounds are about moving air, especially low frequency sound. Ported cabinets move more air, thus more sound.

Is it good sound or crappy sound? That’s where the math comes in.

Ported cabinets don't necessarily "move more air", they "move air differently" which is why drivers for sealed cabinets are designed differently than for ported cabinets.

nicksorenson · Aug 10, 2026

Kahn. That guy designed some of the best stuff at SLM. Nice that he's building a bass DI.

bass player 53 · Aug 10, 2026

ted burik said:
On my GR 800 Cube there’s a small button above the Master that controls the LEDs. Other than the light show that happens when you first power up the unit, I’ve set mine for the lights to only come on when the amp is muted for tuning.

Yes, it’s in the user manual.

https://www.grbass.com/media/2018/03/manuale_one_web1.pdf

nonohmic · Aug 10, 2026

nonohmic said:
This is exactly the picture I was searching for! I wanna put cream pups on my sunburst fretless jazz. Looks great. Don't know about that control plate tho

Hey would you look at that, I did it

AlBass · Aug 10, 2026

Thank you for your input guys, truly appreciated!

ardgedee · Aug 10, 2026

I checked to see if last year's version of this page had been saved by archive.org, but talkbass blocks archive.org's bots :banghead:

Let's try this again:

https://www.discogs.com/artist/5780234-Todd-Bolden

and, for good measure: mincing the URL so that the software doesn't try to parse it:
www. discogs. com/artist/5780234-Todd-Bolden

Thir13teen · Aug 10, 2026

Gingerbass said:
Have you not had a model with a truss rod? My q5 is from 99 and had a pretty sizeable bow but I was able to correct it about 99% with the truss rod. Also you can get them with rosewood fretboards that don't shrink like the phenolic. Cheers!

I have a 1997 J-bass (Modulus of course) with the Chechen fingerboard and have had no issues - knock on wood (or graphite).

etherealme · Aug 10, 2026

Gearhead17 said:
Did the seller tell you what model/year of the Spector bass it was?

He has no idea.

ra0ulduke · Aug 10, 2026

Finally, another thread about alternative P-Bass pickups. The topic is discussed far too rarely.

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