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LowEndLobster Bass Videos
- Thread starter LowEndLobster
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- lowendlobster
Does anyone know if Lobster did an American Ultra V Jazz review? Last video I saw him do on a Fender was the Gold Foil. Perhaps he's too disenchanted with the company to do more Fender reviews? They sure are helpfull. Wish I would have taken more heed after his review of the Yamaha BB 735.
I haven't done an Ultra jazz review yet. Will be looking at the Player Plus soon though!
Hey all! Here's a fun little clip from my vacation. Got to hang out and jam with my friend Mauricio's (MrBassmanSV on instagram, many of you may know him!) band, Amaretto Classic Rock. Great bunch of musicians and really fun people. I had such a great time and it was an honor to join them for a few songs! Enjoy!
Who new that a lobster could dance around while having so much fun holding down the bass chair?
Decide to get a Lakland DJ5 over the Ultra or Player Plus. Hoping that was a wise move. Was really itching for an active/passive option, but I think will do just fine.
It's funny that I've made 500+ videos sitting down on a stool in my basement and never realized that few people know how I look standing up or have seen me play in a group setting hahaha. I'm not just an internet bassist!
I am a big fan of the lakland 5'ers. The DJ has been a bucket list bass for a while, I should snag one! IMO will be better than the ultra in sound and playability (they're PLEK'd from factory!)
Hey Everyone! Back from vacation and a little late on this release, but I hope you enjoy! We're exploring P bass with flats vs P bass with rounds... Sire 5 string edition! Let's do this!
Awesome. Wait, you have legs??!! Bass tone sounds awesome, and the band is tight. Nice seeing you in action
Hey everyone! Here's my latest review of the Harley Benton B-450 from the progressive series! Enjoy
Subscribed! - best wishes from Cornwall.
*TLDR* My quest for the ultimate, affordable 5 string bass has ended, yet is somewhat bittersweet. Never-the-less, the Lakland DJ5 slays.
I don't really know where I am going to go with this. Some of this will piggyback off of my previous post, and scaffold on some of the suggestions Lobster made. Here are some 5'ers that I tried: Fender American Ultra Jazz, Music Man SR Special, Fender Player Plus, Yamaha BB 735, Reverend (Unsure of model), Ibanez ST-1355, The Charvel San Dimas, and some others I know I'm forgetting or not worth mentioning. One bass I haven't gotten my hands on yet would be anything from Sire.
Of these, I really loved the Yamaha BB, it was the most comfortable 5 string bass, due to the narrow nut width, and wide (18mm) string spacing. The pickups sounded great, and I liked the preamp, but the pickup housing was super flimsy. Ultimately, the B and the G string was weak sounding. I tried raising the pickups on that side to no avail. I also flattened the pitch of the P-pups to match the neck radius. They were pretty much flat. I just couldn't dial in a nice low B.
The Fender MIMs and MIA necks are too wide for me. The MIMs were a flimsy B. The MIA Ultra was a great sounding bass, but I don't feel like Fender makes a great 5er.
Music Man is amazing. But for me, I really like a little wider spacing (18mm+) and the MM sound is very specific, and was not the sound I was looking for in the end. I'm just not in love with the MM sound anymore. I also feel like the D and G strings on any Sting Ray I've ever tried get way too thin in the mix. Any note played on the G string doesn't cut through at all, despite great attempts to set-up and EQ. And...the G is notorious for sliding off the neck, being too close to the edge and all. It happened to me quite a bit. I couldn't justify the cost of owning a MM. I can buy 2 great basses for that price.
Ibanez is great, but strings too close for me. Not a fan of the finish, and Ibanez is very punchy. Great bass, though.
I settled on the Lakland DJ5. It is the best 5 string I've tried to date. Here's my beef with Lakland:
They seem to be a fantastic bass......10-15 years ago. The construction seems pretty solid, and it sounds great.
There are some flaws with the finish. The pick-guard had some serious undercuts and was awkwardly cut. I hope to get another one soon. There are some odd angles in the body that aren't super noticeable, but in certain lighting, highlight some of the oddly cut contours.
My biggest gripe is with the electronics. It is a very noisy bass. Lakland told me with both pickups all the way on, it should be dead quiet. It is not. I had a luthier do some grounding work that was absent and should have been done in-factory, to no avail. I could try shielding the cavities, but I'm not going to, as I've heard some folks say it changes the tone (and most say that it doesn't...not a risk I'm going to take right now). As long as my fingers are on the strings, it's tolerable...mostly silent. In dirty power, it's awful. I would never be able to record with this bass. I noticed in my MIA fender jazz, the floor of the cavities has copper sheets under the pups. Perhaps that's why it's so quiet? In the Lakland group, other fellas have complained about noise and have shielded their basses with mixed results.
At the end of the day, it still beats everything else I've tried and will hopefully make a great forever bass. Perhaps in the future I'll upgrade the pickups. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has ideas of what would be a great fit for the DJ5.
Lastly, I'm now looking for a great PJ. I was going to get a Lakland 44-64, but the whole experience with electronics and finishing flaws has turned me off. I'm still open to trying them again, but if y'all have ideas on a great 4 string PJ in the $1000-$2000 range, let me know! Is Sire really as great as folks are saying? Is there something else I should be looking at or considering PJ-wise?
Here I thought he only wore pajamas.Awesome. Wait, you have legs??!! Bass tone sounds awesome, and the band is tight. Nice seeing you in action
If it quiets down when you touch the strings, it's 100% a shielding issue and not a grounding issue. I had a very similar issue with my Sterling Ray25CA after I swapped pickups - the factory pickup was internally shielded. The vintage replacement was not. I wound up having to both shield the cavities as well as make sure the back of the pole pieces was grounded to the shield. Might be worth trying. It's just a roll of copper tape and 15 minutes of your time.
Barring that, I've never had an EMG pickup that was noisy. If you're looking for a more vintage tone, I would highly recommend the J5AX set - they really sounds like passive pickups, they're hum cancelling, and they're really easy to install with the included volume and tone pots that are all solderless. As long as you have room for a 9V battery in the control cavity, you're golden.
Great video of you with the band. We get a glimpse of the 'real' you, plus the bonus of a young band kicking it on a 50 yr old classic that they make it sound fresh. Awesome post!
Been longer than usual since any content has come out. Hope all is good in LobsterLand.
I just bought the exact (daphne blue/maple) Sterling by Music Man short scale Sting Ray you reviewed side by each with the USA short scale. You mentioned being able to buy the USA tuners as an upgrade to the Sterling tuners.
Are these direct replacements? Where to buy? (Also new subscriber to your you tube channel.) also bought (earlier) a Sire U5 based in part on your reviews.
Are these direct replacements? Where to buy? (Also new subscriber to your you tube channel.) also bought (earlier) a Sire U5 based in part on your reviews.
I enjoy all the demo videos posted in this thread. Lots of good content. It's a public service we appreciate.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/lowendlobster-bass-videos.1559343/page-7
I'm interested in modding a Ray5 SUB with a Trickfish IPA and MM replacement as shown in Post #122, but would like to take the next step to add a neck pickup and make it a J/MM. I thought the Delano Hybrid 5 with matching single coil neck pickup might be the way to go but the Delano Hybrid was kind of "meh" in the review and there were better sounding pickups.
What J/MM set has a full sound with the best 60's jazz and stingray tones to use in this project?
Edit: I'm curious about this BigBladeMan/Big J-Blade configuration with a Nordy 2-band 2B-4c preamp. The preamp has a passive tone control and selectable treble curve. I also like the clever way Nordstrand uses an adjustable 50K pot to attenuate the series alignment to better match the parallel output.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/lowendlobster-bass-videos.1559343/page-7
I'm interested in modding a Ray5 SUB with a Trickfish IPA and MM replacement as shown in Post #122, but would like to take the next step to add a neck pickup and make it a J/MM. I thought the Delano Hybrid 5 with matching single coil neck pickup might be the way to go but the Delano Hybrid was kind of "meh" in the review and there were better sounding pickups.
What J/MM set has a full sound with the best 60's jazz and stingray tones to use in this project?
Edit: I'm curious about this BigBladeMan/Big J-Blade configuration with a Nordy 2-band 2B-4c preamp. The preamp has a passive tone control and selectable treble curve. I also like the clever way Nordstrand uses an adjustable 50K pot to attenuate the series alignment to better match the parallel output.
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