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You know that quest, looking for the right preamp, best compressor, bass with "that" tone that will magically support the bottom and cut through the mix. Well sometimes, it is the PA system that matters, not the gear the bassist has. Today was one of those days for me. Big house PA with a...

About a month ago, I'm playing bass and serving as music director at one of the larger churches in town. Middle of the first song and the room went 100% totally dark. No lights, no open windows, no back-wall confidence monitor. I'm reading NNS on my iPad and I can still see but the rest of...

I have been using a Sonic Research ST 300 tuner for a long time. Last week I had a simple gig where I used the house DI and full size Polytune pedal. It worked well but I noticed it was slower than I am used to with my ST 300. The Polytune was fine, I guess I am just spoiled.

I've pondered this for decades. My gigs are 100% IEM with full FOH systems (i.e. church). The bass tone I hear through IEM does not match the tone through FoH. In the house with the full band mix, bass tone is typically muffled and muddy while the tone is clean and clear in my ears. I...

One perspective is the sound tech is there to do the band's bidding. To translate the band's sound into the room. Doesn't matter if the band makes poor musical choices (e.g. overplaying), whatever they do should be reflected in the room. Another perspective is the sound tech is there to...

My new Ray35 bass is rather neck heavy. I ordered Hipshot USA Ultralite mini clover leaf tuners to replace the stock heavy tuners. I measured the headstock holes at an even 18mm so I got the optional Hipshot inserts for 18mm. Total cost for the tuners plus inserts was about $180 which was my...

Tone pot, to be exact. I was soldering ground wires to the case. Solder iron was not heating very quickly so my dwell time was more than I wanted. After assembly, the tone control shorts when wide open. If I turn it back from wide open a bit it crackles to life and works normally from there...

I've had an on-again, off-again relationship with 5-string basses. Their necks are big and hurt my hand. They tend to be heavy. I find notes below low D to rarely be that useful. And yet, I keep shopping. Eventually found this Sterling Ray35. I picked it because I believe it had: Thicker...

I just bought a nine pound 5-string that has a lot of the weight on the headstock. It doesn't neck-dive, but it is definitely neck heavy. Played it for an hour or so with the strap and my upper back and shoulder were sore. I had forgotten what it is like to play such an instrument. I'll be...

Joe Ayoub (Joe Ayoub on SoundBetter) has the American Idol bassist for a while. I've noticed this year he is switching basses less often and just playing the Stingray. I wonder if it is his choice or if he is doing as requested by someone else?

I'm considering a 5-er. But it needs to be not a thin neck. Something around 0.82" thick at the nut would be great. And narrow with narrow spacing would also be good. Oh, and low cost, low weight would be ideal :) TIA.

I'm going to Nashville. Are there any iconic music stores I should see? And while I'm there I'll have some music gear to sell (basses, bass amp, e-drums, a-gtr). Where is the best place to sell low to mid-level music gear? With my limited time I won't be using Craigslist or Facebook/Marketplace.

Guitarist killed his FlyRig 5 by trying to run it with a 12v wall wart when the FlyRig takes 9v. I shipped it back to Tech 21 for repair. They fixed it or a total cost of about $85. Pretty quick turn around, no fuss. Easy Peasy.

My 32" scale ebony fingerboard fretless sounds really good, but is not a mwah machine. I've gone through the adjustment range but there just seems to be a limit. Then it dawned on me. The shorter scale will affect the string motion which affects the action, both of which may affect...

Can someone please measure the distance from the 12th fret to the center of the pickup of your Stingray? I'd like measurements for the full scale and for the short scale to compare with my Warmoth 'Ray basses.

I have a family member in dire straights (not Dire Straits) who needs some money. To help them out I am very likely buying their Carvin SB5000 bass. White / tort / rosewood, 10.5 lbs. Near mint condition with the white faded to a nice off-white. With HSC. Has been played but not a lot. I...

I will likely be buying a bass from a family member in financial need. I want to pay a fair price but don't know what fair market value for this used bass would be. Is it OK to ask for input on TB?

Do you have more than one copy of a particular type of bass? Maybe two PJ basses? Or perhaps a pair of J basses? I'm wondering if one type if bass is more likely to be duplicated in one's collection? Let me know what other classes of basses to add to the poll. Vote, then post a reply to...

My small pedal board has an RFE near the end. I run it on 18V from a 1Spot Pro isolated PS. I notice a bit of distortion and slight compression with the RFE engaged which goes away with the RFE bypassed. All other pedals are bypassed. I hear it with several passive basses with normal to...

I picked up a set to put in my 70's spaced J bass to replace the rather nice sounding Fender CIJ pickups I had in it. I wanted good output with enough clarity to not be muddy and enough grunt to not be thin. Quick Summary - With high-resistance pots, I find the Relentless J's to deliver the...

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DiMarzio recommends 500k ohm pots for these pickups since they are hum cancelling. How many of us use these pickups but with 250k pots?

For years I've wondered about all the hype over ODs, Warwick basses, big pedal boards. Then my son had me listen to Girish and the Chronicles. Not my style of music but I sure noticed the bass and though "oh, that's the sound those guys are chasing"! Things are more clear to me now. Rock on!

How much shifting does your collection go through. Is is growing or shrinking? Are you swapping stuff in and out? Or do you have a stable stable of thoroughbreds? Despite recently adding a fifth bass to my collection, I believe mine to be a stable stable. Wait, scratch that. I'm one step...

I've always been a 100% player. You know instrument volume and tone at 100%. But this weekend I broke my record. I actually played a song with just the neck pickup on my 4 string J bass and the tone control at zero. From what I heard in my ears and on the livestream playback, the bass tone...

I read it all the time. People write about resonance of a bass as if it is a desirable thing. The physical / engineering definition of resonance is when the bass vibrates at the same frequency as the string, robbing energy (tone and/or sustain) from the string. Dead spots are due to...

I have one student who is unfortunate enough to have a hack for a teacher. :-( She is a beginner, about 2 months in. She is showing some pretty bad right hand habits and that is the next thing we need to focus on. As a former cello player, she tends to pluck the strings away from the body...

I have several basses and I tend to rotate through them for my live (church) gigs. Each time I walk away thinking the one I just played is the best sounding of the bunch. It doesn't matter it whether it's the P, P/flats, J, or MM. It is the best sounding. Until next time when I play a...

I assume they sound the same? D4+ just adds some features?

A couple of years ago I bought one. Tried it. Was disappointed in the lack of bass and the boxy sound. For the price I expected better, fuller. I returned it. Well, I just bought another one. Found a deal on a used one (thank you GC) and today's experience is different. This thing sounds...

It has been a while since agedhorse asked us for input on combo amps. I wonder what the outcome was.

First, let me grumble about the name. Sonic is a great name except there is this color called "sonic blue" and if you seach for "sonic precision" it doesn't go great. Sigh. I bought this for use as a house bass at my church. Wanted something cheap but workable, preferably single P (hum free)...

This Warmoth video was surprising to me. The guitar actually did sound better with higher action. Which got me wondering ... How much does string height affect bass tone?

In my case it is the Broughton RFE and the Boss OC-5. Playing 4-string P, J, MM basses. No stage amp. DI to FoH with good subwoofers. Would you run the HPF before the octave pedal or after it?

We've heard it 1000 times - Leo got it right the first time when he built the Precision bass. But I'm thinking he didn't really know it. Some of the features / decisions seem to either be off-target or made for reasons not related to performance: String mutes - Apparently this new creation it...

I notice an increase in the use of roasted maple for necks on production basses. Even low cost production basses. Do you think all maple necks will eventually be roasted?

I play gigs (church) where stands are provided. I only like using stands that hang the bass from the headstock as they avoid tangling with the strap and cord. My preference is strong enough I usually hassle with bringing my own even though others are provided. But as I watch and talk with...

Most bassists I see are playing Fender instruments that are white, black, or sunburst. I hardly ever see red, LPB, or some pastel color. Has me wondering if it is on purpose? Flashy colors attract attention which is not what the bass is supposed to do. Those safe colors work in all...

Is there some album / CD / music release that really hit you when you first heard it and you find even today it still sticks with you? For me it is easy. Toto - Hydra. What's yours?

I recently built the J bass "of my dreams". P body, JJ pickups. It has been great. And then today I discovered it has 70s pickup spacing. I had been targeting 60s spacing and with all the other things to consider I lost track of that one thing. No wonder it is so bright when I play slap...