Leaderboard

Wind back five years and you’ll hopefully understand why this bass is as special to me as it is.... In Feb 2013 I was diagnosed with a massive tumour on my right kidney. It was at Stage 3 due to the size (an unbelievable 9.5kgs!) and I was told by the surgeon that it they didn’t operate soon it would kill me one way or another. On Thursday last week, I was given the good news that I had no signs of recurrence and that they were leaving it to me whether I wanted to continue under observation; in short they were happy for me to be discharged. To get to the 5 year milestone was something I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to, so to say I’m relieved is an understatement! After a few tears (something in my eye) my wife told me to treat myself and knew I’d been hankering after one of these: who was I to refuse! After an early morning start I picked this up from Bass Direct on Saturday. The guys kindly restrung it with TI Flats and it really is the best Fretless I have owned. It is more special to me than words can adequately convey. Here it is:

Gibson: how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways. Here's the new 'Modern V' - apparently a new take on the 1967 V OK, not all bad, you think. You look closer and see a list price of $4499. Ouch! But - still - there's something about it that intrigues you. Then you discover it's got a richlite (compressed paper and resin) fingerboard. Alright, Martin use richlite on their cheaper (but still nice) acoustics. And you know that at least one reasonably well-known luthier's refretted a richlite board and pronounced it acceptable. But Richlite on a four-and-a-half grand guitar? Even so, the look still tugs at you. It's one of the less butt-ugly models Gibson have put out recently. Unique, almost. Then - being of a certain age - you dimly remember the Jackson Roswell Rhoads which first came out in the 1990's. Wow, must be worth a fortune, right. Secondhand Roswell went for just under £700 on Reverb just before Xmas. Another one went on the bay for £1500. So, $4499 for a slightly less-than-unique V mash-up with a richlite board. Thanks, Gibson. Thank you so very f**king much.

The problem I had gigging with Hitler was he was always booking shows hundreds of miles from home, usually in the dead of winter. Getting back was often a nightmare; we'd be on the road, up to our nuts in snow and he'd just swan off on the train with his mates. It all started well enough; touring the continent, big crowds, good money. Then we took on too much work and the quality began to slide; eventually he'd call band meetings then just ramble on about 'the future' even though we weren't getting the gigs anymore. It all collapsed when he suddenly told us he didn't want to carry on and that he was more interested in marrying his girlfriend. I'd do it all again, mind you.

Of course mate, especially in the jazz venues ;-)

Still my favourite looking bass. A super rare Hamer Impact neck through, from the 90's..

Unfortunately nowadays "Made In America" for mass produced instruments mostly means overpriced, for the build quality.

Oh my, they are lovely. Very nice @ped As soon as the new bass arrives, I will certainly post a few pics. I'm super excited and have always wanted a purple bass and like you, I have never seen an EXCESS 5 in purple but I have seen an ARPEGE V 5 string. I have attached the picture below. It is stunning

Hmm. I can see one of those in my future soon. I don't think I've seen a purple one, so look forward to pics of that... Inspired by your picture, I just opened a bottle of '65 and gave mine a polish!!

That is beautiful @Snarf I love that finish and colour. I have attached a picture of my no.1 and when my new Excess 5 arrives in purple this time, I'll post it then. Enjoy and this has turned in to my new fave BC thread ha ha ha ha ha ha

I play very lightly, I can play very fast too. It's just practice, ergonomics. I find that if you're 'digging in', then where can you go when you need to move up a gear?

Excellent - I'm tempted to bring one of my old Arpege basses to the show after I missed the chance of showing it to Patrice himself a few years ago. I showed him a picture of it and he said 'Thank you for looking after it' which I thought was pretty legendary.

Before anyone else mentions it: Scott Walker and Sunn 0)))

As I said up top - EQ pedal. Gain reduction.. with buffer in front of first pedal...

I didn't vote because it makes little difference. Go with the one that is lighter and/or the one you most like the look of. Then make sure your electrics and hardware are top-notch and the neck is a premium product. PS: Go with the maple board.

Generally have a beer or two on stage. Our last gig was at a bar with a huge number of TV screens and I was caught watching the cricket at one point - in my defence it might have been during Sex on Fire.

I find a Pot Noodle fits nicely into my drinks holder on my microphone stand....

My admiration for the organisers of any Bass Bash in the country is immense. Its a big task & you guys have my gratitude. I will always try to attend & support as it is the best fun to be a Bass Basher! The South West Bashes (my local) have been great & very well organised by members Yorks5stringer, then Jimrs2k & now taken on by Scrumpymike. Last years was the biggest yet that I have attended, onward to this years Big Fat South West Bass Bash on 8th April 2018!

Remember this? David Paton on the bass we don't mention....

Looks to me like a supreme level of skilled craftsmanship and incredible attention to detail was needed to create that instrument. Shame really then that to me it also looks bleedin orrible! A bit like if you'd gotten Leonardo Davinci to paint you a picture of a Ann Widdecombe in a string bikini.

Bass Heaven - Finally bringing home from the shop the bass you've been dreaming of for months and plugging it in for the first time Bass Hell- The following day when you're bored of it and already looking for something else.

Hello. Ive been getting in to pedals over the last year or so. It started with a tremelo for my pianet, then an octaver for my bass, an analogue echo for general mixing and so on. Now I need somewhere to put them, so here’s the fruits of this evening’s labours... 1. Started off with a few planks taken from an old bed base. 2. Cut to size (ish - I’m too impatient to wait for the correct tools). 3. Remember to charge the effin’ screwdriver! 4. Glooo and scroooo 5 & 6. Not looking too bad! Next I’ll need to fill the duff holes, give it a sand, then apply whatever suitable finish I find in the shed. Then Velcro up and see if I can attach the power supply to the underside, and finally attach some rubber feet on the bottom. Whattaya fink?

I generally use my basses on a rotation system - every few months I'll change the bass I've been playing for one that's been cased for "a while" - this can be months sometimes, on other occasions basses can go unused for years if they miss their turn. My recent acquisitions - the Warwick Streamer and the Japanese MM Ray - have been on the rack since arriving, throwing the rotation system into disarray. This has meant that basses I have gelled with already have been unplayed in cases. TBH neither of the new acquisitions have impressed me, though I'm sure others would find them extremely playable. At the weekend the Warwick and the Ray went into cases and were replaced by my Silk Bass, rescued and rebuilt by Andyjr1515 some time ago. Another great bass...well worthy of bearing the Three Swifts logo. I used the Silk Bass for a couple of days before remembering that the Spector hadn't been out for several months, so out it came. Man, what a joy!! I'd forgotten how well balanced it is, how playable the neck is and what great tones are available. I've been playing it for the past hour and a half, only stopping due to Dog harassment and the need to eat. By no means an expensive piece of kit but it represents great VFM and the emotional feedback I've had from it this evening means it's as valued as my more pricey equipment.... Shows that you haven't got to spend a fortune to get a fine instrument that feels "right".

they look excellent buys. the Mia are really silly money now i have the mia deluxe jp but the price was reasonable tbe elites are way overpriced

Not at all surprising, it's all obscure and/or one off stuff. L-R: Marco Bass Guitars SC5 prototype, Crescent Moon fretless, BSX Model 2000 EUB. I've personally organized quite a few Talkbass "Get-Togethers" over the years, and traveled as far as 2500 miles to attend others. Most of ours are free for the attendees, with varying degrees of vendor and "rock star" player participation. The picture I posted is from last year's Seattle event, which I think drew around 60-70 players. One had the option of catered food and beer, or not. And that beer in cans is not even available at the brewpub the event was held in, BTW.

heaven, bass below the waist played with a pick hell, bass just under the chin played with fingers, I'll get my coat and put my tin hat on

Torn between Bohemian Rhapsody and the proper (full) live version of Sultans Of Swing. I bet those opening Bb's caused a draught through that Acoustic rig of John Deacon's.

Hi, Nick ! Thanks for asking, since I think many other Basschat members wonder about that. There are many knobs, and all of them have a function ( on EARTH! Just kidding, Nick, ok? ). So.... From right to left, on the bottom line, the 3 first are : main volume, piezo volume, MIDI volume. From right to left, on the upper line, the first is pick-ups balance. So, as you noticed, this piccolo bass has a big electronic system (MIDI, and piezo pick-up) and, for the "regular" pick-ups, the Alembic-style filters systems. For each pick-up, you can select the frequency you like and modify the Q width. You can check this on the pic I uploaded just for you! Don't hesitate if you have any question; have a very good day ! Xtof

want!

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Go with what’s lightest followed by what looks nice. Your electronics will determine what it sounds like.

I've a Jazz Deluxe Ash. It's amazing and my only qualm is it's fairly quiet for a 18v preamp but it may be the pickups. I may change them, but not in a rush.

Blimey - that bass tone is fruity to say the least!

Great band. When I was in my teens it was either the Stones or the Faces that held my interest. Most of my mates at school were into ELP / Yes / Sabbath etc, but I always preferred the more blues driven rock bands, still do! Ronnie Lane was fantastic , both as a bassist and songwriter. Watching this makes me realise how sad it is that we lost him so soon, along with Ian MacLagan too. The Faces live had that wonderful 'loose but tight' thing going on, which didn't always translate to record IMO. Thanks for posting!

just what I want.....thanks Quatschmacher

... and Ronnie Lanes bass if you're interested:

I think the "S" stands for silver, but either way it seems to have addressed the two key shortcomings in the older MXR 108 highlighted in @OzMike's video clip which were: (1) noisy when not engaged and (2) not a true bypass. "The MXR Ten Band EQ lets you tune your bass or guitar rig in seconds, and it's been upgraded with noise-reduction circuitry, true bypass switching, a lightweight aluminum housing, brighter LEDs, and a second output." The updated version does sound good to me and I'm not sure that there is much better out there now in terms of a 10 band EQ than the MXR 108S?

Reef’s ‘Naked’, appropriate title for such a sparse bassline. It works perfectly for the song, but I hated playing this when my band had it in the set, bored me silly,

The primer is back in for a new track, still considering a H9 as it covers so many bases

My favourite was a guy who bought an Epi 335 and a lead to go with it. Came back in complaining his new electric guitar didn’t work. he’d gone home and somehow wired a household plug onto the end of his newly acquired cable... he’d been plugging it into the mains. how he didn’t die I’ll never know.

To me this is almost the perfect rock song. George Lynch is a vastly underrated guitarist and I think this is a beautiful solo, easily matching the famous Zak Wylde in Ozzy’s no more tears. Ray Luzier is a monster drummer and drives the song, rhythm changes etc. dUg kills it with simplicity. KXM - Breakout - I could listen to this everyday and not get bored.

It’s worth noting that soapbars simply refers to the casing, not what is inside. Generally speaking, you can find any pickup config in soapbar format, single cool, dual coul, humbucker etc etc. So actually, your setup is much more versatile with what you can test than anything else. I wager that there’s plenty of mid-priced or 2nd hand eBay alternatives to the big names too. You might even find that some pickup companies might fit whatever format you want in the cases you already have. Si

I finally had the chance to plug it in briefly tonight and... Wow! Fantastic tone. Definitely far brighter and growlier than the current Gibson Thunderbird pickup - in fact it sounds just like an old classic Thunderbird. For those going after that Martin Turner tone, the neck pickup nails it. To my ears, the tone with both pickups blended is slightly tighter that the classics but that's to be expected as the bridge pickup is closer to the bridge that it used to be. The neck pickup though, it just roars. Filthy beast! I think my initial impressions were a bit harsh - probably because it's a brand new, shiny thing that has never been played, I rarely buy brand new and I'm use to things being a bit more worn in. I've just spent a very pleasurable half hour finding my way around it. Amazingly, no neck dive either! It does hang in a slightly odd position compared to what I'm used to, but again, that's just the nature of Thunderbirds. I'm not 100% if it's staying yet, but it's rapidly growing on me.

Real. it’s the body, the sound, the feel....the sweat, the pain, the expense, the awkwardness, the difficulty....but oh the sheer joy!

Somewhat late to the party, but this is still a great tune: Vulfpeck - 'Dean Town' bass transcription Not a great tune, but this might save some people from having to actually listen to the damn thing before a gig Mariah Carey - 'All I Want For Christmas is You' bass transcription