What bass/amp setup do you guys use?

ZezozeceGlutz

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Darkstarred JS-2>Dano Cool Cat Fuzz(not shown)>Big Muff>EHX SMMH delay>Alembic F-2B>small mixer>headphones (apartment setup)

...F-2B>Ashdown 1-15 combo otherwise

Alas, for a limited time only. I got the bass about a week ago after wanting a Guild since I learned about Phil and Jack using them. As luck would have it, I realized just after getting the bass that that's not the sound I'm going for anymore and that I miss the gear I sold for it (simultaneous buyer's and seller's remorse!). I'll probably be listing it on the FS/FT here after I get clearer pictures to pass it on to someone who can appreciate it more fully.
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fronobulax

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Z man

Welcome since that was your third post.

Sorry about buyer's and seller's remorse. Maybe that's why I have not been able to part with my Guilds.

What sound are you looking for? What sound do you get from the JS w/DS? I realize that talking about sound is less than satisfactory but it would be interesting. Luckily, even if you wanted the fat, unfocused sound of the Guild humbuckers I don't think I could bring myself to trade JS's with you :wink:
 

ZezozeceGlutz

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Thanks for the welcome, frono.

The thing is that this is the first time that I've sold instruments I still liked to fund a different one. I was just about ready to pull the trigger on a DeA Starfire to Dark Star and experiment with when I came across this being advertised by a vintage dealer as a Hagstrom-equipped original bass and decided to take his word on it rather than fight for a bunch more pictures (he's a vintage dealer so he should have a clue, right?). I sold the Dark Star out of my beloved beater jazz bass (I was running it with just the DS in the middle position and nothing in the bridge, an Epi Firebird VII, and a ZVex Fuzz Probe to get the rest of the money together and thought that getting my "Holy Grail" would stop me from flipping instruments every couple of weeks looking for something that fit better.

I'm a compulsive modder and I thought that an original bass that wouldn't let me dig into it without significantly hurting the value would keep me in a working bass instead of a clump of wires all the time and nothing to play. Once I got it and saw the Dark Stars, my mind immediately went to Alembic-style bridges, jfet buffers, and the state variable filter circuit I've been looking to build into something. I wouldn't hesitate to do that to a DeArmond or other "lesser" instrument but I don't want to beat up on a clean old bass and I know that I'll end up messing with it if I keep it around.

It sounds about like you'd expect a short scale solid body with Dark Stars to sound like: Phil Lesh 1970 minus that little bit of active zing he got from the proto-Alembic guts.

As for where I'll go next, I'm either going to get a DeA and mod to my heart's content or track down an Epi Casady to try before I buy (now that's a crazy idea!). I liked the state variable filter with the Dark Star in my jazz so I think two SVFs with Dark Stars in a DeA could please me. On the other hand, I've heard of the Casady that it's like a P with more low end and I tend to be gravitating more and more in that direction but I don't really want the most ubiquitous bass in rock music.

In addition, I'd been playing electric guitar a lot lately and I sold my only guitar to get over the hump to buy this and if it's not total love, I would rather have a decent bass and a guitar than one or the other. Fuzz boxes just aren't the same on bass, especially one that tends to be as polite as this Guild.
 

PeteyBass

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Hi guys just joined the group, I'm a Pitter refugee

My regular rig is an old (first year) SWR 200 with a Korg tuner and Furrman power conditioner racked in a rolling case. My prime cab is a late 70's Sunn folded horn with a single 15" JBL. I like the folded horn because our acoustic player in the band is always bitching about my volume. I find the Sunn throws me out into the club and I can cut my stage volume down.

I have a second matching Sunn that's NON folded cab with a JBL that I use use in louder gigs with an electric band I play with once in a while. For small stages I sometime use an Ampeg Rocket 50 combo. It really sounds nice with my 66 Starfire
 

jp

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Default said:
jp said:

Just out of curiousity jp, what kind of sound are you getting out of those lipsticks?

I was always curious about the whole surfcaster line.
Truthfully, I wasn't expecting them to sound as good they do. They have a very open sound and pretty accurately convey the woody sound of the semi-hollow body. They're great for 60s-garage rock, but they lack a rich, fuller big bottom tone. The tone knob is also a sprung push-pull to switch them out of phase. I've never really heard pickups that sound like this though. Granted I've never played a Danelectro Longhorn.

When money allows (another project on the burner) I plan to install electronics like the discontinued Lakland Jerry Scheff model. I want to install two Kent Armstrong Lipstick tube bass pickups and a Bartolini (or Aguilar) 3-band preamp with sweepable mids. I usually don't like active electronics, but I played one of these basses, and it blew me away. It has an active/passive switch too. The setup made it really versatile, kind of the one quiver bass with a really unique sound that's hard to describe. Don't know how this will translate on the Surfcaster with its shorter scale, but I'd like to cut a new pickguard and give it a try.
 

fronobulax

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PeteyBass said:
Hi guys just joined the group, I'm a Pitter refugee

Welcome. I even seem to recall your handle from The Pit although I can't recall why :? A few other former Pitters are here as well.

One thing about LTG - the site owner is not trying to leverage the site into the next big social network so we have had a pretty stable BB for several years know. Compared to the Pit that is a good thing, IMO.
 

jp

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dluxe said:
I do love the early Pilot basses. I've owned Black and Red examples and originally thought this was a refinished natural. After taking it apart it is the original finish. First one I've seen with a natural finish.

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Hey dluxe
Nice bass! It's got that cool 70s Fender yellowed poly-patina to it. Thanks for posting.

As usual I forgot my manners. Welcome to the LTG, ZezozeceGlutz and PeteyBass. And wow, Etingi, you have the Holy Grail Portaflex. That setup's gotta sound great.
 
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Howdy all, I like to plug my '65 starfire I into a Kern ip=777 pre-amp with an Alembic sf-2 superfilter in the f/x loop in to a Crown Macro-Tech 2402 powerd by a 20amp Furman pl pro out to 2x15 hard trucker and an ampeg 4x10hlf. Having both a neck and bridge and sf-2 basses to play into this rig the bridge starfire sounds amazing through it. Knocks crap off the walls at will!!!
 

shadowcastaz

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BTW: Hey shadowcastaz,
Did you ever finish your Starfire bass resto?[/quote]

No but I have discovered through another forum that using diluted sheet rock mud as a grain filler does the same thing as commercial filler. It has silica(sp)in it which is what fills the pores ,I guess. Ive used it on another project and Im testing it with some dye in it. It sands much easier. I dont want to bleach the red pigment residue any more than I have already. Im testing some yellow now and then I will top with green.

Thanx for askin. Im also working on a B302 that is a beautiful plank :mrgreen:
 

jp

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shadowcastaz said:
No but I have discovered through another forum that using diluted sheet rock mud as a grain filler does the same thing as commercial filler. It has silica(sp)in it which is what fills the pores ,I guess. Ive used it on another project and Im testing it with some dye in it. It sands much easier. I dont want to bleach the red pigment residue any more than I have already. Im testing some yellow now and then I will top with green.

Thanx for askin. Im also working on a B302 that is a beautiful plank :mrgreen:
Sounds interesting. I've never heard of that trick before. Certainly much cheaper than some of the luthiers-specific products out there. Look forward to seeing that green!
 

mellowgerman

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Figured I'd post an update. Here's my jazz with my Eden Highwayman amp and Trace Elliot 1x15. Nicely portable and some of the biggest, warmest, most satisfying sound I've come accross.
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krysh

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Yggdrasil said:
Currently I have :

Alessandro Basset Hound  
Aguilar DB 285 JC (Jack Casady Cab)
SWR Baby Blue II Combo Amp


Bass%20Room%20%284%29.JPG

cool!
you got any soundfiles of the allesandro with the aggi and the starfire?
 
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Little update:

I'm selling my Markbass Little Mark II + Schroeder Mini 12L setup. It's a great rig--sounds good, very light, easy to use, but I've found that it's too hi-fi/modern sounding for me. So, I just bout myself an Acoustic amp today. It's the B200, which is a 1x15 combo amp with a 6 band EQ and 200 watts of power (although it sounds much louder than just 200). It's bigger and heavier than what I had before, but also a good deal cheaper, which is nice. So far, the tones I'm getting out of my Guilds are pretty tasty. I look forward to buying a full Acoustic stack sometime when I live in a bigger apartment and have more disposable income.
 

dlenaghan

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Oh, you guys and yoiur real amps... :oops:

Just got my setup running through a Hartke A15 - not half bad, actually, considering I got it for its compact size and equally compact price tag. None of the amps sold out here are really transferrable to other countries, and I'm bent on not staying forever.. (everything imported gets its power supply yanked out and replaced according to some government office somewhere... not a great thing when the voltage in a club or home already ebbs and sags unpredictably, so there are portable transformers everywhere.. maybe this is a common thing though, dunno..)

Transparent tone, decent power, and surprising volume. It's a good thing that clubs in Asia seem to stock all their own gear. You know, narrow streets and public transit get in the way of moving amps and drum kits. Maybe it's part of the reason so many local groups never really grow up -you're always practicing and performing on different gear depending on whether you booked the same practice room or not.

Good thing Sansamp makes those tube amp emulators! :wink:
 
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