Reviews by HateyMcAmp

This magnetic, humbucking double bass pickup is a rare bird, but I’m so happy it exists. I play bass in a very loud touring / festival band that has recently moved from a percussionist to full set drummer. Before then, my amplification strategy had been bridge wing pickup into a well designed combo amp, DI out. That set up can go loud mind you, but I need really loud, and send an easy to use signal to the sound guy. It wasn’t even feedback that was the issue, more so a lack of presence. I...

Hi everyone, now that I have had the Thomann 111E for about 9 months I wanted to give some observations about my bass and how it's holding up. 1- I took my bass to a luthier (who happens to be a bandmate) and did all the upgrade @MIKMANrecommend. Hardwood tailpiece,new tail gut, carbon fiber endpin,bridge shaping, and my bass needed some minor fingerboard planing. The tuning pegs are pretty rough but don't seem to slip, so they are staying for now. I got some parts of eBay and my friend did...

I’ve owned three plywood basses, a cheap Thomann 111E and an Eberle set up at David Gage. My bass, which had its intinal setup/bridge installed at Upton and subsequent upkeep by Bob Ross in Denver, plays so much nicer than my last two. Very even and dark with some clarlity. Mine liked Helicores but loves Spirocores. I didn’t like it with Velvets or gut. Not a lot of volume. This bass is clearly a big step up from the Thomann, In which just about every corner was cut to keep costs low....

I love Gamut strings, and while the Pistoys get a lot of (deserved) love, I'm still very fond of Lyons. I've tried a bunch of brands, but I'm currently on my 4th Lyon G (this time in medium, but I've tried light+, medium+, and heavy as well.) They are extremely well made, last a very long time, and have kind of a "new traditional" kind of sound. Compared to Chordas and the low buck gut I've tried, which are about 90% thump, the Lyons have a noticeable increase in midrange character and...

This is a review of Spirocore solo (4/4, S43) strings downtuned to orchestral pitch on my Shen SB80. So far, I like them a lot, way more than any other steel string I’ve tried. They remind me a lot of how Velvet Blue felt on this bass. Soft, but not floppy by any means. I know they’re thin, but they honestly don’t feel very different than any other steel gauge to me, being a gut / nylon / Velvet guy. They are way darker than the Sprio weichs / Helicore Hybrids I’ve used in the past, but...