Hey man, I broke out my L2000 today, and man it sounds great, definitely all I need. I just wanted to say if you do go for something like the L2500, I’d make sure to get the coil tap option, which they appear to have done away with on certain models it seems. I think my favorite sounds are in the passive mode with the coil split on either the front or rear pickup. I’m using flat wounds though, so not sure how it sounds with regular wound strings.
I’d like to try one of the recent high-end bass amp modelers, but I’m using one of these and it still sounds good to me.
Bridge pickup only?
GenLoss mk2 original first batch with high pass filter intact Yeh nah seriously, that track has that noisy vibe that’s either tape or AM radio noise (I think the new Fairfield Circuitry pedal does that).
just came to post this … not surprising in one sense that his career has been such a treasure trove
I’m binge-ing on og Gang of Four right now and i’m pleased he’s got to work with them too … he’s popped up in many guises in my back-catalog and i wasn’t even sure i was aware he’d rocked up with Stereolab despite their John McEntire connection
His solo album on Thrill Jockey with a painting of him and his dog is one of my favourites, title escapes me even though it’s one of my favourite albums, it’s full of awesome songs, less instrumental … Gonna dig out Aerial M shortly
What i find touching about teh video is just how grounded he is, he seems amazingly personable and quietly humble, very self unaware - no rock-star trappings despite his wide presence in influential music, which you could say is surprising
whatever, mortal is that title - highly recommended - need to look out for his last release
I was in a Starbucks (in Seattle) years ago reading a copy of Tape Op magazine (the best recording magazine in the world, and it’s a free subscription for both paper copy and digital). Some random guy walks up to me and comments “That’s a great magazine”. We started chatting about music, guitars, recording, gigs, etc. It was Andy Gill.
I had asked him if they were going to start playing shows again. He said that after playing really big venues, that he just couldn’t go back to playing in small clubs again.
I’ve been very tempted by these double humbucker Aria basses on Reverb, they just really click somethin in my brain, but I’m kinda picky about necks and have never had a chance to put my hands on one. A friend of mine had an Aria guitar from that era that had a neck that felt really effortless to play, so I may end up caving and buying one sight unseen one day…
The neck is thicker than say a P Bass but it feels good to play, one thing to bear in mind is the parallel string spacing from bridge to nut. It takes a bit of getting used to especially if you come from something like a Jazz bass or similar.
There is also an issue with the pickups breaking down with age. Touch wood mine seem okay but there’s plenty of evidence of this happening. I don’t know if there’s a direct connection but I’ve seen more than one active model that’s had the internal circuitry replaced by an aftermarket circuit. My SB1000 had that done by a previous owner.
I sound like I’m putting you off but I’m not, they’re great bases
My first bass was a Japanese made counterfeit Rickenbacker so the string spacing I think I would like. When you say the neck is thicker than a p bass do you mean at the nut or front to back? I don’t mind a wide nut but I struggle with chunky round necks. Bummer about the electronics tho, maybe an old ibanez musician is a safer bet since I feel like I see those with all original electronics usually.
I’ve just taken a couple of quick measurements of my SB1000
Neck width is 45mm at the nut, 55mm at the heel. depth from fingerboard to back of the neck is 23mm at the first fret
String spacing is 16mm at the bridge reducing to 12mm at the nut so not quite parallel but not far off.
I’ve not got a P or J bass to hand to compare dimensions but from memory those necks always felt thinner front to back than the Aria. It’s all personal preference but I always found the Aria neck really comfortable.
It’s worth mentioning the origin of the SB moniker. It stands for Super Balanced and I can’t disagree. No neck diving and very comfy when played on a strap. As far as electronics goes I think only the SB1000 and a couple of others were active, the others were passive with coil tapping and phase inversion switching. There’s info on the Matsumoku website that will clarify.
I’ve no experience with older Ibanez basses but I’ve played a few Yamaha BB basses and they’re lovely. I’ve got a late 70’s thru neck BB on long term loan to a work colleague and a friend has a couple of later bolt on narrower body BB’s. There used to be an adage that if you want the best P bass then buy a BB.
Measurement wise that’s a pretty wide nut, wider than modern p basses I think. Front to back thickness sounds within average range but I always feel like that’s an area where very small differences can feel really big. I think shape makes a huge difference to how a neck feels, I was playing an early 90s stingray in a store a while back and comparing it to other basses on the wall it wasn’t really much if any thicker from front to back, but the shape was so round that it felt massive to me compared to a more tapered C shape on my modern fender bass. Thanks for sharing those measurements! It’s always interesting to see how different people find different instruments comfortable.
A mate bought a vintage Stingray years ago and I couldn’t wait to get a play on it. It’s true what they say about not meeting your heroes! It felt awful, the neck was like a baseball bat sawn in half. I’ve never picked another up since even though I love their tone.
It surprised me especially because a friend of mine has one of the budget Sterling by Music Man stingrays and that thing has this super good feeling thin fast neck, so I thought of course the name brand one would be even nicer.
I was trying a Spector bass in a store today. I think I’m realizing that what’s bigger than neck shapes to me is that fender style ergonomics don’t work as well for me. The Spector had a rounder fuller neck with a wider nut and it felt much smoother and more natural to play than my Jaguar bass with a really thin jazz shaped neck.
For those using amp modelling pedals, how do you have them setup for practice? I mean are you running the output into your interface, into a mixer, direct to monitors etc.?
Went ahead and bought a used FGN J-Standard Iliad 2018 in “blonde” and man, what a fantastic instrument. It’s very resonant and sustains longer than my Gibson Les Paul. Body is made of a single piece of ash, maple neck & fretboard, Gotoh lockin tuners, Seymour Duncan STR/STL-1 pickups…I love the guitar, it feels so high quality, can’t believe how good it is and then it being sub-1000€ is just outrageous.
Yeh nah seriously, that track has that noisy vibe that’s either tape or AM radio noise (I think the new Fairfield Circuitry pedal does that).
