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Low End Jazz Megathread, post pics and soundbites!!

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#61
Thanks Brian and everyone for the good answers. Satin necks feel niiice. I usually sand down my gloss necks to get a similar feel.

These seem like really great basses, given the experience and skill of players that are using them and very impressed with them. You've made great headway in a short amount of time Brian. Good work.

I like an active/passive switch like my Hotwire Big Apple has, in which the sound and volume are basically the same if the EQ is set flat. Not *exactly* the same, there's a very slight bit of extra volume and sizzle in active but you have to be listening closely with nothing else going on to hear it. I still usually run it in active though, but set flat, then if I need a boost or cut I can go for it. I like a preamp that'll allow me to do that, whereas some are coloured quite a bit even when set flat.

Is anyone using the latest preamp with the passive tone, or has anyone tried the latest necks? They're a bit thinniner front-to-back according to the site.

Brian, what suprred the change in necks - a decision on your part or new capabilities on Chris' part to be able to make them thinner?
 
#63
mark beem said:
Off topic..

So Brian, will there be any Benavente-joy for me this week??? :D
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I/we (Chris) changed the necks on the LEJ's and Benavente's a while ago. They still vary somewhat obviously, but stay pretty close.

Mark, looks like first of next week, like Monday or Tuesday. Let me know what works best for you, even if its later in the afternoon or night I can meet you.
 
#64
SMASH said:
I like an active/passive switch like my Hotwire Big Apple has, in which the sound and volume are basically the same if the EQ is set flat. Not *exactly* the same, there's a very slight bit of extra volume and sizzle in active but you have to be listening closely with nothing else going on to hear it. I still usually run it in active though, but set flat, then if I need a boost or cut I can go for it. I like a preamp that'll allow me to do that, whereas some are coloured quite a bit even when set flat.

Is anyone using the latest preamp with the passive tone, or has anyone tried the latest necks?
Click to expand...

I get to play all the goodies that Brian builds. The preamps have no tonal coloration from going to passive to active until you play with the settings. I've actually been playing around with the newer ones with the passive mode and I really enjoy them passive. It pulls off a convincing passive Jazz tone. I play with a more old school grittier Jazz tone so the hifi active Jazz sound doesn't work for me in a live setting. The only complaint I have about them is that it's seems to have pretty big volume change when going from active to passive. I realize this is the nature of switching from active to passive. However, I have to be picky about something.
 
#65
Thanks guys.

Yeah, most preamps will have a volume boost but IME usually because they're not "flat" when set "flat". Not a big deal, so long as there's no loud "pop" (esp. with the volume turned all the way down) - that can be a pain through a PA system.

Sounds like a great & versatile preamp/bass overall. I'm extremely impressed with the clips I've heard from Kevin Walker with Justin Timberlake to Caesarbass here on TB. Gotta try one of these someday.
 
#66
I can guarantee that if and when you play either a Low End or a Benavente that you will HAVE TO have one, Brian and Chris are really making basses that working guys can use day in and day out without worrying about much of anything and knowing that they will work in a variety of situations.
Good luck and may the GAS be with you!!!!!
P.S. If this bass made any kind of loud pops or weird noises it would be completely worthless to me, I need basses/electronics/amp/preamps that are quiet because of the many different gigs that I do, the last thing I NEED to worry about is faulty/noisy equipment.
 
#67
caesarbass said:
...P.S. If this bass made any kind of loud pops or weird noises it would be completely worthless to me, I need basses/electronics/amp/preamps that are quiet because of the many different gigs that I do, the last thing I NEED to worry about is faulty/noisy equipment.
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Well put. One day soon I'll see & hear for myself.

I've no doubt that they're every bit as excellent as you, Knarleybass, Al Caldwell, Kevin Walker, Alan Golstein, JT, and Jorg Schroeder say they are.

IMO that's a stunning and very diverse list to score for a bass that's been around so short a time and in such limited availability, and I probably missed a few monster players. And all with essentially the same config in re: pickups, preamp, and spacing.

No one else around here owns or has played one?

Y'all might enjoy this thread if you haven't seen it - http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=346694
 
#68
I guess these belong in this thread eh? Kevin Walker playing his LEJ on the Grammys w/ Justin Timberlake.

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Kinda related - Al Caldwell playing his Benavente on TV w/ Vanessa Williams. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#75
kotzman said:
... new spalt top LEJ5 is on its' way to me. ...
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That makes two of us. The spalt burst 6 is mine. Classic, in a modern way.

CIMG4279.jpg
 
#77
Here's my contribution.

LEJ 4 (Alder, Rosewood)

All these clips were recording straight into a M-Audio Mobilepre into Sonar 6 Producers Edition with just enough compression to compensate for my horrible right hand technique (except for the last clips where I use a Sansamp). As you can tell when listening to these clips, there’s no editing, just me sucking, playing an incredible bass. I play the same lame bassline on all the clips so you can hear the versatility of the bass.

Passive –

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My favorite part of this bass is that the preamp is colorless. This is what the bass sounds like going from Link Removed. Notice the only thing that changes is the volume.

Active –

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Neck at 75% and Bridge at 100% with the Bass at 100% and the Treble at 75%
Neck at 100% and Bridge off with the Bass at 100% and the Treble at 75%


I personally play harder rock/metal, so I like a little grit to my tone, so here are a couple of sound settings running through a Sansamp BDDI.
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So yeah, that’s what mine sounds like. If you want to hear what one sounds like when someone with talent plays it, talk to SMASH, caesarbass or idezlman (or whatever the hippies name is).
 
#79
Those sound good, and the SansAmp is pretty convincing in that application.

The pickups are humbuckers, correct? Benavente "slimbuckers"? It'd be cool if there were a way to coil tap them - been playing my Roscoe Beck 5 a lot again lately and I really love the sound of the bridge pickup as a humbucker and the neck as a single coil. I should probably try one of those Laklands with the J/MM pickups config. one day.

The LEJ sounds great. Nice range of tones. The preamp is very powerful, by which I mean it really boosts the signal. One thing I'd dig is if it was more benign that way - like if switching it on or dialing in some bass didn't affect the level of the signal quite so much. I'm more of a "set and forget" kinda guy, so it's no big concern, but I'm thinking that too much change between songs or parts could cause a headache at the sound board. Then again some top-shelf pros are using these, so that speaks for itself.

Any idea what value the capacitor is on the passive tone? I might increase it. Could use more of the pillow sound with it fully rolled-off, I think. Hard to say. The clips are great but the reality of blasting into a room within a mix is always different, as far as what you think will or won't work or sound good.

Thanks Beav.
 
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