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Hey y’all!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but I’m currently in the market for a 1957 style P Bass. I want a maple neck P with an anodized gold pick guard and either a black or sunburst finish. I’ve been looking at a bunch of different models but Fender has done so many through the years. MIM Classic 50s, AVRI 57, a bunch of Japanese ones, etc. They all look similar but I’ve only played a few versions so I want to know which ones the users here would recommend.

The main thing I want is the 1.75” nut and I want the neck to be as thick as possible front to back, and I want it to be less than $2000. Everything else I’m flexible on!

TLDR: What is the highest quality 50s style Fender P Bass have you played?

PS. I’m not looking for the original single coil Precision- I want a split single.

Hi gang, anyone have a chance to compare these two cabinets. They seem to have a lot in common.
Opinions welcome..

Joe Hubbard's courses are on sale, 50% off, until December 2. The courses have been widely praised here on TB, especially the 2 year mastery course. If you were thinking about it, this is a good time to take the leap.


I am not affiliated in any way. Just someone who is taking the course and passing it along for other TB members.

Seeking opinions from Talkbass family. I'm about to do a complete clean up. On my Tobias Killer B 5string. Cleaning, waxing and buffing, Polishing Fret's, oiling the bass neck fretboard as well. Even changing tuner's to Hipshot. I'm gonna be doing a little every other day. Question is! How long can I possibly leave my bass unstrung until I can finish everything My case is a mint conditioned plush hardshell case and my studio is climate controlled. So is this a big issue leaving the bass un strung for say 2 days?

How does one change the status or avatar caption? This is the short blurb that goes with one's avatar. I'm not sure what that is called, actually.

Also, I can't move my current avatar around where the entire image is displayed. I'm currently using my traditional Thanksgiving one, but I can't get the entire Turklops into the frame - the very top of the head or bottom foot are getting cut off. How do you make the entire image fit into the avatar frame?

Using @beaglesandbass as an example, "Think first, then post?" is the avatar caption. I don't see any way to change it. I've been able to do both things in the past, but not now.

Last night at rehersal, while playing the first song, my amp was acting up. Amp is a Darkglass microtube alpha&omega 900. Sounds was coming and going. It sounded exactly like a bad cable does. I tried running bass directly into the amp with different cables, but the problem persisted. Also tried different speaker cables. However..

I took me 2 min to realize my buddy had moved my amp and accidentally changed the settings. The gain (one gain for both channels) was set at 7/10 (I usually have it at 3/10) and the passive mode was engaged. I use an active bass and have a preamp on my board as well. I think the signal was just way too hot. Master volume was a 5/10. We started of the rehersal with a very loud and aggressive song, so I just didnt notice how hot I was running

After I dialed the gain down and set it back to the active bass setting, the amp behaved as normal again. We played through our 30min set twice with no issues.

Does it make sense that a very hot signal would cause my amp to act up like this? If yes, is it likely I did some lasting damage to it?

I have a gig coming up this weekend and I am now super worried that I cant trust my amp Should I worry about this?

I dont know much about amps, so was hoping someone could make some sense of this and give me some advice on the gig. Should I borrow someone elses amp until I feel reassured mine is ok?

Picked up an Ibanez GVB36 from Sweetwater today. This is the latest version of the GVB36 (has the Aguilar OBP3 preamp).

Initial thoughts:
- I have tried finding a 6 string bass for years now and always find the necks/string spacing to be a little wide. Neck is still fairly wide/flat on this one, but the narrow string spacing (14mm) makes it work for me.
- I like the pickup/preamp setup better than I expected to. Some of the reviews on this bass complained about the preamp, but those reviews were prior to the switch to Aguilar. Prior to 2024, these used the Bartolini EQB-IIISB. I may eventually swap to US Bartolini pickups, but am happy enough with what is there that I may not. Extremely flexible setup as is. Nice full range sound with plenty of adjustment in the preamp.
- I typically use right angle cables or a Sennheiser XSW-D. Neither fit with the recessed jack. Need to find the extension cable that came with my XSW-D and pick up a straight-straight cable. Minor annoyance, but not something I thought about before purchasing.
- Sweetwater sales rep gave me a solid discount for picking up in store. I assume it was mostly money they saved not shipping, but still happy for the discount.







Somewhat related note, I traded some gear to Sweetwater’s used store. Since I could not find anything on others who have used their used gear trade in, I have a few notes below.

Pros:
- Easy to get a quote online before going into the store.
- No need to deal with shipping your guitar or having a difficult buyer.
- Transparent offers; they show you what they plan on selling your gear for.

Cons:
- Offers are not top dollar; they should not be given Sweetwater has to resell it. Just calling out selling yourself will net more money. On the plus side, Sweetwater did give me better offers than the time I tried MusicGoRound (granted these are franchised so probably vary by location).
- Trade in is in store only; fine for me, but probably does not work for anyone more than a few hours drive away.
- If you want a check instead of store credit, you have to have it mailed or pick it up the next day. As a general note, they pay check or store credit at the same rate (mentioning because Music Go Round pays more if you take store credit).

Overall:
I lost some money by not selling myself. Opted to go Sweetwater, so that I did not have to deal with listing/shipping gear. I have had a difficult buyer in the past. While it was only one bad experience out of many sales, I place some value on not dealing with buyers as a result. I am ultimately happy with what I was paid given the time savings/lack of risk. Bonus is that I was able to unload a good amount of gear in one day that likely would have taken weeks to sell online. Discount on my GVB36 purchase helped offset some of my losses.

I've had my eye on these Metro Express basses since they were announced a couple of years back (or whenever they dropped). I even have a buddy who was able to buy one of the very first ones before they had the RSD labeling and it was a nice player. After watching the first RSD run come out with less than stellar reviews I put buying a SMX on the shelf but kept an eye out. Fast forward to the latest gen and I was interested again. After doing my homework and speaking with Andy Irvine about them I felt confident to make the purchase of a brand new metallic sage green JJ 5er. I picked this one up off of Sweetwater. I actually got it in a couple of weeks ago and have been able to play 5 shows on it....4 with my regular band and 1 as a sub. All I can say is this bass (IMO) is a killer instrument for the money. Definitely way more pros than cons. I put light gauge strings on out of the box, did the full setup and it plays excellent. The Warwick style adjustable nut and invisible fret technology they use on these basses give them a premium type upgrade. The roasted maple neck/FB also gives it a top notch look and feel. This one weighs around 9lbs 6oz and has been easy to play through the 3 hour gigs. Running the treble and bass around 30% and using the p/u blend knob has gotten me some excellent tones. And it's true what they say about a Sadowsky....they just seem to always fit well into a mix. The only thing negative I can say so far is the B string tuner has felt a little bound up but as I use it and tune it seems like it is freeing up. I guess the the only other negative (if you would call it that) is the preamp not being the stock VTC type preamp. I know this is a 'budget friendly' model and it does sound great, but I have gone ahead and ordered the standard pre and will be dropping that in this coming weekend. The band has been loving it and I was on the sub gig with some Texas touring pros ( a steel guitar player and a drummer) and a touring sound man and they were all really impressed with how it sounded. Sound guy loved it. I'm super pumped how this bass has worked out and I'm going to try and find a song or two to cover on the holiday break to put up on my YT channel. Glad I took the plunge!

No affiliation, just thought I'd drop this here.

I saw this for sale at Music Go Round and am wondering if anybody knows the make / model.


View attachment mystery_bass.webp

Been scouring the interwebs for info on these random "Loud Technologies King Slayer" speakers listed for sale locally. I even tried ChatGPT but that was a bust.
Does anyone recognize these and have some technical specifications they can share? The more detail the better.

The provided details from the seller provided are:
"These are in great shape. I believe they are from a 4x10 Ampeg cabinet. Pretty heavy duty 10s. They are from Loud Technologies (ampeg, mackie, etc.) They work great, and as you see in the pics, the cones are like new. They are 4 ohm, marked as king slayer and are dated 2019. If you want to try them out, you would need to bring some kind of 10” cabinet. Its not good to blast them just sitting on a table. I might separate them if you only need 2."

And before anyone asks, I messaged the seller to ask about the back-middle speaker and if the cone is actually bent or if it's just an optical illusion in the picture.

First of all, I'm not a luthier, nor do I play one on TV, but... my logic, which could be all wrong, thinks that the metal wheel adjusters for bridge height do not transfer sound from the strings to the bridge to the top as well as a bridge without adjusters would transfer sound. would vs metal. Right? Wrong?
I ask because if a non adjustable bridge would transfer sound better to the top, then I want to replace my slightly warping bridge with one that doesn't have adjuster wheels.
Thanks for your expert opinions!

What strings sound like the white nylon, but are higher tension.

Just put a set on my fretless P and daaaaayymmmnnnnnn they sound and feel amazing... But if I put it in drop D they are extremely flubby. I have to be extremely careful not to hit them too hard or they rattle like mad.

So... What sounds like them, but has higher tension?

Thanks!

Dear Santa:

I have been a pretty good boy this year, and somehow someone out there heard me (perhaps it was my semi-weekly scouring the internet, and search statistics), that there were few NEW 12 Strings available.

Sure there is the dUg, but it neck dives like a submarine with a bow leak.

Sure, there’s the Dean Rhapsody but the visuals turn me off.

There are the quirky Music Vox which look stellar, but seem to be unobtanium.

There are the Waterstones, cost prohibitive and availability? Scarce.

Wanted and bid on a couple older Oktober 12s = crushing disappointment

There are the 300.00 Chinese music box knock offs but I’m quite certain I’d be disappointed.

Then for November release Schecter stuns me with this:


Oh boy!!!
I turn 60 this week! If I promise to be good can the Blue truck with a smile on it bring this to my door?!!!!

All the Best,

/\/\ 3

When I was a touring musician back in the early/mid 80s I was playing in Massachusetts and went into a small music store and played my first fretless. It was a Ferrari red Pedulla Buzz. I looooved that bass but in my early 20s I was a tone chaser and traded it a few years later. Biggest regret ever.
For years I’ve been looking for one like that and a few weeks ago on Reverb I spotted this baby. I am overjoyed

What’s a good , go-to compressor pedal for bass that’s good for classic rock, country and blues? My buddy got me a UAFX audio 1176 compressor for Christmas last year. Friggin awesome compressor pedal but some part of me feels like it does better with guitar, especially those Lowell George and Jimmy Page tones so I keep it on my guitar rig. Maybe I should mess around it more for bass? I also wound up grabbing a Donner blue compressor on amazon last year for $30. This has been decent for my bass but I feel like I can do better. Another buddy of mine keeps talking about Xotic SP.

Any recommendations?

Hello! I am a guitarist looking to expand to playing bass, mostly for my own enjoyment, and I wanted to get a little advice on gear as I am mostly naive on bass beyond the basics! I have plenty of guitars and gear associated with that, so I'm basically looking for a simple "bedroom" setup for bass, though I don't want to get something so cheap/poor quality that it leaves me uninterested or needing to spend more money.

I listen to mostly metal and classic rock, with my favorite sub genre being Progressive metal (Opeth, Mastodon, Elder). While of course there are a tons of different basses being used I see a lot of Jazz and Precision Basses. I was thinking of getting a Jazz bass as the thinner neck might feel a little more comfortable as a guitarist and from what I know its very versatile. Would a Squire Jazz bass be too low quality or if I set it up right would that be good enough for me to have fun with? What bedroom amp would you recommend? Any pedals (I have a great selection of guitar pedals but I'm so naive that I don't even know if they work well with bass)? Lastly for this basic setup would you recommend active or passive pickups?

TLDR?

If you wanted a simple bedroom setup for rock/metal what would you go with?

I appreciate the feedback and I apologize if there are a million posts like this one!

Let’s talk about pedalboards and the endless pursuit of the perfect tone. Here’s my take: every single piece of gear you add to your pedalboard makes your setup exponentially more complicated.

Think about it—every knob on every pedal modifies your sound in a specific way. Now, multiply that by the number of knobs and switches on each pedal, and then multiply that by the number of pedals on your board. You’ve just created a system that’s orders of magnitude more complex than simply plugging directly into your amp—or, if you really need it, running through one or two well-chosen effects.

In the end, there’s no way your bass actually sounds better under all that complexity. What you’re really doing is chasing your tail, tweaking endlessly, and potentially masking the natural tone of your instrument.

I get it—buying gear is fun, and tweaking your sound is too. But personally, I’m moving in the opposite direction. Stripping things down to the essentials has helped me focus more on my playing and less on chasing a tone that may not even exist.

Sometimes, less is more. Simplicity gives you clarity, focus, and a sound that cuts through without getting bogged down in a maze of knobs and settings. So before you add that next pedal, ask yourself: Do I really need it?

I know very little about tariffs, but listening to yesterday's news does anyone know if the prices of these basses will go up?

... then it's clear that no progress will be made, mistakes are ignored and repeated. We hack through the songs and get lucky occasionally, but often it is a somewhat embarrassing trainwreck. I guess it's common to have different expectations arise... some care, some don't. I'm no perfectionist, but I like at least some desire to improve, and present myself with integrity. Retired Grandpa bands... is that my sad future?

My 2nd Bronco mod - on this one the stock pickup sounds good so I’m leaving it until I find something better that will work under the white cover. Swapped the pots to CTS, added a .104 orange drop cap, used brass sleeves on the pots so I could install the Davies pointer knobs, swapped the phillips screws for slotted on the pickguard (but have not found slotted for the pickup screws yet) and DR Sunbeams. Its very thumpy!

I know it isn't a scratch build, but I wanted to share. I built this bass for my son for his Christmas gift this year. It's just a cheap kit and I used all the stock components (except strings...it got a set of Rotosound 66s on it that I had laying around). I had built another one of these kits for my wife back in June and when my son saw it he thought her's looked, sounded and played pretty well. I had purchased the first kit for my wife, but when I saw how good the kit was, I got 4 more of them. I still have three left to do up and have plans for them.

Anyway, for the build, I had to do a lot of fretwork, but the action is really good on there now. Body was done with Rit fabric dyes and Tru Oil. Neck has Tru Oil on the back of the neck and the headstock is finished with satin clear poly.

I am by no means a pro at this, but I do enjoy building these kits and it is rather therapeutic to do them as well. My job can be more than a little stressful at times, and these allow me to shut off that part of my brain and do something different. The picture at the bottom is the one I did for my wife after she told me she wanted to learn how to play bass.



My wife's:

So I'm in the studio right now, I'll attach a photo of my pedalboard for context.

I'm trying to record a song with my fuzz effect and I'm having issues with it just not sounding right. It seems like there's phase cancelation happening somewhere in my rig. I've found that running from my amps DI sounds nothing like running it through a cabinet and it's caused us a lot of headaches.
Are there any studio tools that we can use to work around this before i go in for a 5th tracking session? How do you deal with phase canceling between your gain stages? Any advice is appreciated, I've never had this issue before, but I've also significantly upgraded my rig since my last studio session.

Full signal chain for live performance () = noise gate loop

Ibanez BTB400QM > Korg pitchblack tuner > Boss NS2 noise gate (Two Notes Le Bass > Soundblox Pro Multiwave Distortion > Justin Chancellor Fuzz Wah > Boss GEB7 EQ) > Digitech Bass Whammy > "Coulson Electronics" Polychorus Clone > Boss BF2 Flanger > Boss DD7 Delay > Gallien Krueger MB500 Bass Amp > Audient iD44 interface > Reaper

Signal chain I'm using for this song

Ibanez BTB400QM > Korg tuner > Boss NS2 (Two Notes Le Bass > Justin Chancellor Fuzz Wah > Boss GEB7) > Digitech Bass Whammy > GK MB500 > Audient iD44 > Reaper

During our last session I ran a DI from the Two Notes Le Bass as well as the MB500 and I found that improved the overall sound, but the fuzz is still not breaking up the way that it does through my cabinet.

Any tips are greatly appreciated!

Dear all, maybe specifically @agedhorse, I am looking for some help regarding the potential purchase of a D800+ with serial number D8P-001552. How can I go about authenticating this amp? I will test it out tomorrow and can probably get it for a really fair price, but I don't want to dive headfirst in a deal that may be 'to good to be true'. Mesa customer service indicated that this amp may have originally shipped out in May 2018.

• After short negotiations, agreed price went down to € 650 from an asking price of € 825;
• Pictures originally weren't great, but just clear enough. More photo's were added by the seller to his posting;
• Provided invoice indicates purchase in March 2019, but for a WD800 and the shop (Music Store Professional) "made a mistake back then";
• Indicated as 'mint'/'in new condition' but is scratched on its rear top edge (from "bumping into laptop on the table");
• The provided case does not look original.

Should I open it up and check the insides? Have Mesa amps been counterfeited? Any advice on testing this amp? Your help will be much appreciated.

Long time lurker, first time poster. Hope I didn't do anything wrong.