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BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
Seems the road to Damascus goes through the Fens. @Funkfingers & @ICBM - you might want to sit down for this one..

Spent most of the evening playing bass and working on some band stuff - mostly acoustic arrangements and a variety of other stuff. 

I split my time equally between the 64P and my ACG Finn 4. The 64 tends to be home player choice number 1, and the Finn is getting to being gigging choice number 1.

Well. After much consideration I have decided that the Finn is a better bass than the 64. Why?

- Asymmetric Neck. Love it.
- Nearly flat board. Love it too.
- Punch on the pickup is just sublime - it has a serial/parallel switch which goes from subtle buzz to all out raucous thump.
- Shape - it's more comfortable to wear
- Weight - it's a lot lighter
- Machineheads - dunno what they are but they are bloody good
- Balance - very comfortable balance as well

So I'm a 100% Precision man. Sadly, I think the best precision ever made looks nothing like one, is handmade in Scotland, and is as left field as they come.

I've ordered more meds and the nurse is attempting to strap me to the bed as we speak.
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Comments

  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    This is the one, for the curious..


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  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7732
    Stingray next ;)
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Stingray next ;)
    Had one - neck on it was like an exterior downpipe from the loo :)

    I didn't ever really 'get' the active stingray sound tbh..
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  • LegionreturnsLegionreturns Frets: 7965
    I need a full scale bass in my life. That looks lovely. 

    If you're finding it conflicting with your "the answer is always a P bass" assertion, I'll take it off your hands in huddersfield. Coz I'm nice like that! 

    My Trading Feedback    |    You Bring The Band

    Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    I need a full scale bass in my life. That looks lovely. 

    If you're finding it conflicting with your "the answer is always a P bass" assertion, I'll take it off your hands in huddersfield. Coz I'm nice like that! 
    You know what's ironic? It was a bargain - like a sub-£500 bargain.. Yeah. I know. Handmade custom job, exotic wood and everything.

    Sadly it's a keeper as it's pretty much earmarked as gig slave. At this rate it's going to be home practice slave too.. 
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  • LegionreturnsLegionreturns Frets: 7965
    If you manage to fit it in when you come up I wouldn't mind a play :) 

    My Trading Feedback    |    You Bring The Band

    Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    If you manage to fit it in when you come up I wouldn't mind a play :) 
    Yes of course - I will bring it up and you can have as much of a play as you like. I'll bring a couple of others too so you can compare and contrast - probably an old one and a bitsa so you get the full range.
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    edited June 2018
    Funkfingers, you might want to sit down for this one.
    Leave me out of this. 

    I've ordered more meds and the nurse is attempting to strap me to the bed as we speak.
    Too much information.

    After much consideration, I have decided that the Finn is a better bass than the 64.
    The novelty will wear off ... eventually.

    For example, this week, I have been mostly playing my Rickenbacker. Not the 1977 4001 bass but the 230 guitar in Nashville High Tuning. This has resulted in a bunch of song/riff ideas that jangle like The Byrds, R.E.M., The Smiths and the Costello/McGuinn song "You Bowed Down" - only without ever being the same chord sequences as those guys. This is now reaching the point where I need to guard against overusing the novel toy.

    Seems the road to Damascus goes through the Fens. 
    Depends on your point of departure. 



    Be seeing you.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    @Funkfingers - sadly it's not a novelty.. I've had it and played it for a while. What with all these recent "Vintage Schmintage" threads I just decided to compare and contrast as I worked on some material, and lo and behold, the Finn just well, felt like an all round better bass. 

    So much so that I'm thinking of putting an active EQ in and having the switch as an on/off for it.. 
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    Usefulness of onboard active EQ will depend to some extent on the pickup that it has to work with. 

     You run the risk of ending up with the Stingray formula again.

    Actually, a lot can be achieved with just an EMG-VMC. The tricky part is finding anyone in the UK who stocks it. 

    Bridgehouse said:
    neck on it was like an exterior downpipe from the loo :)
    Bird's eye maple grytpype, huh? That's a flash flush. 
    Be seeing you.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Usefulness of onboard active EQ will depend to some extent on the pickup that it has to work with. 

     You run the risk of ending up with the Stingray formula again.

    Actually, a lot can be achieved with just an EMG-VMC. The tricky part is finding anyone in the UK who stocks it. 

    Bridgehouse said:
    neck on it was like an exterior downpipe from the loo :)
    Bird's eye maple grytpype, huh? That's a flash flush. 
    Pickup is an ACG B series PB Custom Wound Humbucker with ceramics and is actually quite a complex pickup really. Given the ACG Finns with this pickup normally come loaded with an active circuit then I suspect they take it very well. To be honest a bartonlini with a stacked treb/bass to replace the tone would be interesting enough. I'd turn the dpdt into an active/passive and see how it goes. probably. 
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  • richardhomerrichardhomer Frets: 24793
    A bit like me realising my PRS DGT was a better guitar than my ‘64 335....

    I no longer own any vintage guitars.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    UPDATE!!

    I have contacted Alan at AC Guitars.. he's making me a P-Retro preamp setup for the Finn 4.

    It's a twin-stack knob set up with vol and tone on one side with a push pull bright boost, and then a mid boost plus frequency on the other - from centre click on the boost, turning clockwise boost mids as per the frequency setting, and anticlockwise boosts treble and bass with balance set by the frequency knob. Pulling the boost gives a deep boost set by dip switches on the preamp panel. There's then a dpdt to switch from active to passive.

    Cor. Excited.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    So the ACG p-retro came and it’s been fitted. 

    It’s made by East and customised to Alan’s spec and it’s a really cracking bit of kit. 

    So I now have 2 dpdt switches - a serial/parallel and Pre-amp on/off (active/passive modes)

    The two knobs are replaced with two stack knobs with push pull top knobs.

    In passive mode the volume knob does volume and tone just like a P bass - it sounds identical to how it did before. 

    In active mode, pull up volume for a bright setting which gives a bit more gain and a bit more clarity. 

    The second stack gives a centre detent top knob with clockwise bass and treble boost, and anti-clockwise mid boost with frequency controlled by the lower knob. Pull the boost knob for a deep boost which gives an adjustable one shot boost at a frequency set by onboard dip switches with a small internal control for boost from 2-12 dB. 

    Combined with the series/parallel switch it gives a really broad and usable range of tones!

    Most pleased. If you can fit a 9v battery in then this setup can be fitted to a normal P bass. In fact, East’s version has an onboard rechargeable battery that fits under the pickguard so you wouldn’t need a 9v
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    The mid boost aspect of the P-Retro circuit would be of interest for my old fretless P. It would certainly avoid routing to take a long Jazz Bass pickup and a second volume pot. 
    Be seeing you.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    The mid boost aspect of the P-Retro circuit would be of interest for my old fretless P. It would certainly avoid routing to take a long Jazz Bass pickup and a second volume pot. 
    It's got quite some range to it (250 to 2.5khz iirc) and it's a boost of up to +12db so worth it. Nice tonal character too, Especially nice with the deep boost - which can be set at 40, 60, 80 or 100 hz
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Install is pretty non-intrusive as well - extra switch and two stack knobs...


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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    edited July 2018
    I just found this product demo. You won't like some of it. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=52&v=bRKwHe5ZkZc
    Be seeing you.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    I just found this product demo. You won't like some of it. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=52&v=bRKwHe5ZkZc
    That's actually not too bad. There's finger style, picking, and (yeah ok) slap. But that's ok. If a demo has all three in relatively equal measure, with some product description and context then I'm fine and all is good. The slap was there to show a particular tone. That's fine.

    What I object to is the 10 minute "demo" which is nothing more than a mutual slapturbation session whereby the player attempts to highlight the sum of fuck all about the product, only his ability to slap until his thumb falls off.
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