I find it really nice and comfortable to play and since I strung it with La Bellas… those are not coming off. Mine is not shell pink but it’s the same model and it’s not my favorite green (picture below) but that’s ok.
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So what do you think of it? I am back and forth on which one I would prefer, the Rascal, or the Mustang. Mustang is more of a small scale experience.
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I like p-bass tones a lot, indifferently if using flatwounds or round wounds and I feel this Mustang is like playing a short scale p-bass. I like the consistency of tone within strings that seems to be more even compared to long scale basses. Size and weight are awesome. As far as the pj aspect, my p-bass is a pj and I’ve learned 10% J is pretty cool. At some point I will exchange the toggle switch for a potentiometer to be able to blend. I have to say that if I could keep only one of my basses it would be the Mustang. The previous owner played it in really nicely. What I found to be a nice combination is that my two basses have a 39mm neck width which is nice when switching. I really like the looks of the Rascal but I haven’t had one in my hands and it’s a whole different story compared to the Mustang just like this Mustang is a whole different story compared to the “classic” Mustang, string through, Mustang pickups, etc. Cheers!
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10% J seems to b a sweet spot in PJs. Thanks for the info
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I’ve always called it 30% but ya same thing I’m sure.
The concept is that it just takes the mud out of the P. All my PJs basically end up on this setting all the time.
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I just looked a bit deeper into the specs of the Rascal and although the looks are great what I’m not sure about is the size of the body which seems to be the size of a 34" scale with the bridge moved forward to make it a 30" scale. That’s a bit like G&L’s short scale bass. Personally I find the smaller body of the Mustang a plus.
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The placement of the bridge is very reminiscent of the G&L “short scale”, which makes it feel like a full scale when playing. I think the ergonomics of the Mustang will be much better.
A player mustang with Aguilars or Fralins would be killer. The JMJ stang with the stock Seymour Duncan would be killer.
The Rascal is the Rascal. Not a mod ready platform
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I saw that, it’s how I found the bass comes in Pink
I like the sounds, I prefer a darker sounding bass as personal taste. It’s makes it a contender, seems like it’s up my alley
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Hey @Wombat-metal
What did you sort out on this Vs the Fender version? Is it with the extra $. Same specs?
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I sorted this out this afternoon a little while ago.
I went with the Player Mustang and a set of LaBella DTF. When I picked up a guitar, I said to myself this is so much more comfortable to play. The Rascal doesn’t give you that, because of the bridge placement. But from ergonomics I didn’t know I needed a short scale until I had one. Which happened as happenstance upon finding a fretless double p.
So I put a Shell Pink Player Mustang on pre-order with the Chicago Music Exchange - it’s a CME only finish.
I may change pickups - Aguilar or Fralin the only two choices - and I will be bugging my good buddies here on how to replace that switch because I get various answers on the net, and the folks here are the best for such things. I’d like to get a blend in there, maybe a stacked pot.
Thanks for askin
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I have almost talked myself into a DiMarzio Model P/Model J set. Won’t break the bank and are good pickups. Lord knows I got the warm end covered.
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Gotta love the ceramic punch
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I am pleased to welcome Empress to the EQ family photo. I drew a diagram for this pedal on Post Your Pedal Ideas a couple years ago thinking I would have to make it. Et voila, Empress saved me the trouble.
There’s a good chance I’ll strip the IcePower stage out of the Harley Benton Block 800, replace the tone controls with this Empress and mount it all up in a new case. Any given room will have a dominant boom frequency and this lets you notch it out without having to turn down the entire bass knob.
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Wow the amount of EQ on that empress is insane 
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I love that you can set both the frequency and the q, and that it has filter/shelf options. All EQ should be this way.
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When those came out, my first thought was…
“This looks purpose built for Dave. I wonder how long till he gets one.”
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Oh yeah, it was in my cart almost immediately waiting for a potential President’s Day sale. No good. For Father’s day Sweetwater had 10% bonus bucks back on a gift card, so I bought one for the exact price minus 10% knowing I’d be at Sweetwater August 2nd to pick it up, lower state tax than CA even. They put a demo on sale for 10% off, nahhhhh. Then came the email with the demo 20% off. OK, that’s my threshold of can’t resist. That beats the state tax advantage. Now I have a balance for strings and those cute little EBS flat cables when I get there, all as bonus.
As usual, I like having ALL the knobs. It’s just easier in my opinion. Otherwise I hear something and I’m standing there with a machete or a rock when I need a knife.
I can roll off all that high frequency string/fret noise edge with the low pass filter without burning my High control. How nice to just have a knob just for that. The high pass is nice to just clean up too much low end mud, but still not burning my Bass filter trying to do that. High pass is also great when using octave or synth effects since they can make stuff that’s too low to be useful. Instant clean up and no worries about playing octave low on the neck.
Then there’s a high shelf and a low shelf, so that’s pretty much like having a High and Low knob that’s on many preamps for an easy warm up or easy brighten up or vice versa. Again, not one of the three knives up top have been burned.
With the rest I can use a narrow notch on the low to get rid of a room resonance without destroying the rest of the lows.
With the parametric section it’s possible to dial in just about any good-enough to pass bass/string/cab sim equivalent. I’m starting with wide range pickups and bright wound rounds, so I can take out what I don’t need. I can put in the same mid range bump that I hear in a Stingray. Mid scoop, sure. Doesn’t sound quite right like I want it a little more bright; I can shift the scoop to the left, no problem. I can roll off to flats. Does it sound critically the same? No. Does it work for a song and is it pretty darn close? Sure.
It was between this and a Source Audio EQ2 for me. It has all the same filters, but has only one knob and you have to step around parameters to get it set. I have a harder time doing that. I like to reach impulsively directly for what I need and tweak. The only problem is this isn’t really practical if you need more than one setting for a show. If I needed to do that I think I may set it up on this one and try to replicate a preset in the EQ2.
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Yeah, seriously, I wish all EQ had these controls. All modern software EQ do; why not put it in a hardware unit, for those that still want hardware?
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