TL/DR - I got a used bass & new Rumble 40 today
and I wish I'd bought an active bass & a Rumble 40 from day 1
full story -
A BTB very similar to this one appeared in the same pawn shop at least a year ago, possibly two.
I rejected it when I found out it was Active. How ignorant, stubborn, and downright stupid I was!
So, this one turns up & I had just been jonesing for an Ibanez SR300E or SR400EQM.
Ibanez boasts that the bare pole pieces on their new Power Span pickups are what makes the SR300E so defined in the higher frequencies.
I tend to believe it, because SR models I've tried with the blackout pickups don't sound as good to me.
Low and behold, I came across this one in the pawn shop & thought the highs were just as pronounced as the SR300E
So I bought it and took it straight to the Ibanez dealer to compare.
The SR300E has more EQ (mids), it's lighter, thinner neck, and even has a three position switch for coil tapping.
All of that and I still decided to keep the BTB, as it's just a better bass overall. better bridge, locking output jack. I just wish I knew more about it, besides that it was made in Korea.
The Ibanez dealer is also the Fender, D'Addario, & V-Picks dealer, so I picked up a Rumble 40 (my very first new amp purchase)
a peg winder (D'Addario)
and a Screamer V-Pick for Motörhead songs
I got it all home, plugged in & my jaw dropped in disbelief!
not because it sounded so great, but because it sounded so meh
For a bit I sat there fooling with the EQ & it wasn't really getting any better, so I gave up and had dinner. I hadn't eaten anything all day, unless you call pounding almost 200 fl. oz. of diet Mt. Dew eating
Came back to it after some fine Thai scran, and found out I am SO glad I opted for the 40 with the 4-band EQ, because I dig bumping up the high mids. What a difference the timbre makes in the fun (or lack thereof) in playing.
I messed up pretty bad along the way, and in the end of 2016 I was just making things worse for myself, and my timbre was suffering and my mood to play right along with it.
I'm planning to put Cobalt Flats on it ASAP, but will do some research first to see if I can get that old Terence (Geezer) Butler sound with those.
I sat here for days trying to accomplish that sound on my Quilter Tone Block with a passive Yamaha, D'Addario Chrome Flats, & a Rumble 112. Oh, I also threw a Aguilar Tone Hammer pedal at it & almost got there, bumping the mids.
and I wish I'd bought an active bass & a Rumble 40 from day 1
full story -
A BTB very similar to this one appeared in the same pawn shop at least a year ago, possibly two.
I rejected it when I found out it was Active. How ignorant, stubborn, and downright stupid I was!
So, this one turns up & I had just been jonesing for an Ibanez SR300E or SR400EQM.
Ibanez boasts that the bare pole pieces on their new Power Span pickups are what makes the SR300E so defined in the higher frequencies.
I tend to believe it, because SR models I've tried with the blackout pickups don't sound as good to me.
Low and behold, I came across this one in the pawn shop & thought the highs were just as pronounced as the SR300E
So I bought it and took it straight to the Ibanez dealer to compare.
The SR300E has more EQ (mids), it's lighter, thinner neck, and even has a three position switch for coil tapping.
All of that and I still decided to keep the BTB, as it's just a better bass overall. better bridge, locking output jack. I just wish I knew more about it, besides that it was made in Korea.
The Ibanez dealer is also the Fender, D'Addario, & V-Picks dealer, so I picked up a Rumble 40 (my very first new amp purchase)
a peg winder (D'Addario)
and a Screamer V-Pick for Motörhead songs
I got it all home, plugged in & my jaw dropped in disbelief!
not because it sounded so great, but because it sounded so meh

For a bit I sat there fooling with the EQ & it wasn't really getting any better, so I gave up and had dinner. I hadn't eaten anything all day, unless you call pounding almost 200 fl. oz. of diet Mt. Dew eating
Came back to it after some fine Thai scran, and found out I am SO glad I opted for the 40 with the 4-band EQ, because I dig bumping up the high mids. What a difference the timbre makes in the fun (or lack thereof) in playing.
I messed up pretty bad along the way, and in the end of 2016 I was just making things worse for myself, and my timbre was suffering and my mood to play right along with it.
I'm planning to put Cobalt Flats on it ASAP, but will do some research first to see if I can get that old Terence (Geezer) Butler sound with those.
I sat here for days trying to accomplish that sound on my Quilter Tone Block with a passive Yamaha, D'Addario Chrome Flats, & a Rumble 112. Oh, I also threw a Aguilar Tone Hammer pedal at it & almost got there, bumping the mids.
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