No, things are difficult for me right now, and I dont even think I cN afford $300 to get going with a Mac Mini and a monitor just yet.
Ipad it is for now, still.
This is why I am not posting so much.
But hopefully my fortunes change soon, and I can get a new mac mini or something, soon.
@billybass, I share your liking for Ibanez basses. I’m on my second, an SR885 I bought new in ? 1992. Now vintage, I guess, much like its owner.
REALLY narrow neck, which suits me fine since I have small hands (I’m really a clarinet player, bass was just a sideline that kinda took over).
Always was a bit noisy, tho’. As a retirement project I’m considering swapping out the pickups. Not trivial finding something because of the narrow string spacing, and there aren’t that many jazz 5-string pickups out there anyway.
Thanks for the suggestion. I had a look at the Nordstrand website. They appear to be just single-coil. right? I’m kinda hoping for hum-cancelling pickups - the reason I’m upgrading is that the existing pickups seem to be prone to hum. I’m going to take my courage in both hands and pull those out the beastie this evening to have a wee look. (Yes, I’m Scots. Can’t help it, I was born that way.)
I put Seymour Duncan Apollos in my Jazz. They are Linear Humbuckers, each pole is wound separately and are hum cancelling, and come in 5 string. Another thought.
@Wombat-metal, thanks for the suggestion. Those SD Apollos look like what I’m after. I’m also wondering about the Dimarzio Area J pickups, which are a better fit with the narrow string spacing. Any thoughts?
Pulled the pickups last night. Interesting… there are dummy coils under the pickups. The Internet seems split as to whether these are active or passive pickups. Looks to me like they’re getting power. But there’s definitely a preamp in the cavity. Hmm… active pickups AND active controls?
Yup, I think that’s the case. These have three. And one appears to be directly connected to the battery. Not the side of the battery connected to the output jack - which is ground, right? - but the other side.
(I know a wee bit about electronics, but I’m still getting up to speed on the peculiarities of bass wiring!)
Good news from DiMarzio tech support last night. There’s no real difference between their bridge and neck pickups, except for the pole spacing. So no problem installing a “neck” pickup in the bridge position of my skinny beast. Now swithering between Ultra Jazz and Area J pickups. @joeike, how is that Ultra Jazz pickup in the midrange?
It’s pretty good. It’s not quite as high output as the Split P in the neck position, but I chose it too add some zing and it does that really well. I like the way the two work together. Especially with the Labella flats I have on that bass. It cuts through the mix in our church band really well.