I bought this but I’m a bit worried it’s only got two strings and what looks like an apple growing out of the top…
Is it a new thing? Do I need a moustache and a v neck Slazenger sweater?
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My other vintage Aria, the classic SB1000. This one had replacement active electronics and the new knobs fitted before I bought it.
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Oh yeah, there are several videos now of people who are not tiny playing Mustangs
Also, it seems to be great for just about any style. I just watched a bit of somebody playing metal on a Squier Mustang. Melanie Faye and Molly Miller were previously mentioned playing R&B and jazz on it.
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I always keep an eye out for these. Played a few long long time ago and even quietly borrowed one from a studio for a few months 
In fact, I wouldn’t mind the new BB700 model (734?). It’s a third the cost of my Fender, and sounds a bit nicer!
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So when does this thread get renamed to the more-interesting “The Bass Thread”? 
Kidding, I play both, but there is something particularly special and fun about playing bass.
Speaking of, does anyone play bass with an “ampless” setup? Basically, from bass/pedals direct to the interface, with some sort of amp/cab emulation. I’ve got a combo amp that I have been using, but I’m looking at buying some nice monitors and sub, and wondering if getting good enough monitors would be a viable and fun enough option for at-home playing. I’m really wanting to have it tied into Ableton as a looper on steroids. I’m not worried about getting good guitar tones through monitors, but I’m more concerned about bass.
In particular, I’m looking at the Adam A5Xs or A7Xs with a matched sub, if that matters.
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I used a Tech21 Sansamp Bass Driver with bass back in the day, going into mixer and PA. Sounded pretty good I thought. Now there’s a gazillion more options.
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I do most of the time now. Straight into a DI box for clean, with thru to a dirty channel for drive. Monitoring is 8" Yamahas. Forget the Sub, you won’t need it, basically most Bass cabs don’t output anything below 40Hz (if I’m correctly informed), and mics have their limit too.
Does your bass combo have a headphone out? That’ll work excellently into your mixer, if it’s anything like my little Orange CB50. I can thoroughly recommend the Two Notes “Le Bass” DI/preamp/drive pedal for anything rock/pop.
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Mooer Radar works pretty well for bass, at least for clean sounds. I can get better sounds than with my HX STOMP easily with bass presets, so I kept it for that purpose.
Cheap and small.
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I’ve heard really good things about those Yamahas. You are right, a bigger speaker on the main monitors will probably do more for me than smaller speakers with a sub.
I’ve got a GK Microbass combo, so it does have line out and even XLR out, but what I’m trying to do is make it so I can leave that where I play with others, and have my studio as another option.
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I record bass and guitar into the DI of a DBX 580 while monitoring on KRKs. It’s clean, small and sounds great.
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I’ve been ampless the last seven years and have used Sansamp Tech 21 Liverpool and VT Bass pedals straight to my mixer/interface. I recently acquired a MXR M81 Bass Preamp and it’s absolutely ideal for clean tones, which is all I really use for my bass.
I was after another amp/cab sim pedal because that’s what I’ve been used to, but it doesn’t seem necessary with the M81. It wouldn’t be ideal used with dirt pedals, but it’s great for bringing out the nuances of your bass tone. It also can be powered via phantom power, which I enjoy a lot since I now have an on/off switch for the pedal via my mixer’s phantom switch.
There are a lot of options these days… I saw Darkglass mentioned a lot when researching. Almost tried the Bass Driver but heard a lot about how good the MXR is for cleans and it’s cheaper than the others so I’m glad I gave it a shot. It tames peaks nicely without distorting, has a solid eq, and is a proper DI. Worth giving a look if you’re into cleaner sounds.
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This is pretty much what I’m hoping to achieve. I’ve got a Strymon Iridium I use for guitar (I use the same pedalboard for both guitar/bass), and I figure if I can get a good bass preamp/sim pedal (like the VT Bass DI) and put it in front of the modulation effects and only use the IR part of the Iridium, I can play in stereo. Good enough size monitors (7”+) sound like the missing piece for me.
Not sure how super useful stereo is for a bass setup, but if you are a band of 1, there’s plenty of room for it sonically!
With exception of the Vintage Ultra, I found the rest of the Darkglass lineup to sound too geared towards a modern metal vibe, which appears to be exactly where they want to be.
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+1 this
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Have a look at DSM & Humboldt’s Simplifier and/or Bass Simplifier. I have one that complements my setup super nicely and fully replaces my amp (and 2 mics) if needed.
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I use Darkglass Vintage Deluxe for bass and guitar di, mostly mixer > Octatrack. But spuds great into an interface. Great range of dirt and tone sculpting. I run acoustic into it too.
This reminds me I need to dig out and spruce up, my Intersound IVP rack unit
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That’s pretty cool, takes on the dependency on mixer routings too. But no one around here in Sydney has one, or even heard about it. 
no new DI box for me.
anyone ever get into Harry Manx back in the day? i had a gf once who introduced me to him. she really had such an old man taste in music lol. Manx had this really cool story at the time, like this guy who moved to India as a blues guitarist, but studied under indian musicians with an indian instrument called a Mohanveena - like a cross between a sitar and a guitar.
So he has this blues undercurrent, but peppered with all these improv sitar style moments. it’s very low key, backwater bar type stuff. i saw him a bunch of times back in the early 2000’s. now his stuff has become a lot more bombastic with choirs and stuff, but the early records were just guitar, harmonica, singing. just classic stuff. check out Wise and Otherwise from 2002 and Dog my Cat from 2001. Just really chill stuff.
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They’re a brand new product out of Chile. I think the second run just got sent out. Not a lot of shops carrying them. Pretty good price and lots of interest so likely easy enough to resell in Oz if you shell out to ship one over and then decide you don’t like it.
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