Leaderboard

[walks into shop] Can I buy your Maruzoo... Marushu... Maruzaku... Mooroozoo... Ah b0llocks, I'll have that Fodera. No wonder I'm skint.

I may be able to offer some insight on this as I am something of an obsessive on the Jeff Berlin sound. It's always been a sound that I loved and since returning to bass full time in 2015 after a couple of years off, it has been the sound that I craved and sought to recreate in my playing. Of course, there are different eras of Jeff's sound but the key ingredients in getting his basic tone remain the same. Essentially, it's 15" cabs with no tweeters, an alder bodied bass with Bartolini pickups and a high mass bridge. Sometimes, but not always using a bit of chorus and almost exclusively using the bridge pickup with the tone rolled slightly back (it's worth noting that his 'blonde' bass had the neck pickup disconnected for many years before it was stolen). For reference, my rig is the Markbass CMD151P Jeff Berlin combo, with a Cort Rithimic 4 string and Peavey Palaedium in amber, as per what Jeff played from the early 90's until he signed with Dean Guitars. I also use a TC Electronic Corona Chorus pedal, I am reliably informed that this was Jeff's chorus pedal for years, although Jeff now uses an EBS Unichorus. You can read interviews where Jeff talks about why he no longer endorses the brand, though he never names TC Electronic directly. It boils down to a dispute over loaning a pedal at a trade show where Jeff was demonstrating for them, and I do not propose to expand on this matter here. I will note the varying eras by which I define Jeff's tone: Bruford era - black Jazz bass and 'Blonde' bass. Due to the production techniques of the late 70's, the early Bruford tones aren't massively defined. The black jazz bass was retired at some stage and by the early 80's Jeff was recording almost exclusively with what I call the 'blonde' bass. This was an alder precision body with two Bartolini humbuckers. The neck pickup became static at some point and was disconnected and in later years, the control knobs for this pickup were removed from the bass. The neck was a Fender Jazz neck reprofiled by Michael Tobias (Jeff used a Tobias bass for the live shows with AWBH band). The Bartolini humbuckers were wound by Bill Bartolini to Jeff's specification and sounded tremendous. The tone was middy, but the recordings of the day don't capture the 'nasal' upper mid quality which later records did. This same bass was used on Jeff's first two solo records. Around this time, Jeff was playing Yamaha amps and appeared in some promotional material with Billy Sheehan. The 90's - Peavey years - Jeff signed with Peavey and had the Palaedium signature bass made. The earlier basses used a different logo to the later instrument - look for the difference in a cursive, scrolled 'Palaedium' script against a more angular font. it is still unclear as to whether or not the pickups inside the basses are Bartolini. It is my belief that they are Peavey pickups. They are rather brighter and clearer than the Barts, with a little less warmth and a bump in the upper-mid character. For 1997's 'Taking Notes', Jeff noted that the bridge pickup was a little too close to the strings and created some interference on the record, though this is barely perceptible. By the end of this era, Jeff was getting more heavily into chorus. For whatever reason, by the end of 90's his Peavey basses had black tape over the Peavey logo. The 00's - Dean Guitars - The Dean instruments sounded very bight and nasally. They had an ebony board (like the Palaedium) but also Bartolini pickups. They had a beautiful singing quality to them. I understand that Jeff's instruments were made at Dean Guitars in Florida by someone called 'Mike', but I have been unable to find further info on this to date. There was a 'Grinch' bass, which had a slightly thicker than normal body. This had a top compromised of many different exotic woods. One ended up being sold to a TB'er in Florida (this was an early prototype) and another was sold by Jeff as part of his fundraising for the Jack Bruce project. Current day - Jeff now uses the Cort Rithimic. This includes Bartolini pickups wound to the original specifications of the pickup he designed with Bill Bartolini, after the original schematic for the pickups was recovered after many years being lost. The BadAss II bridge was replaced with a Babicz. It hangs on the body more like a traditonal jazz bass whereas the Palaedium and Dean tend to sit a little more in-board on the body. If you listen to 'Joe Frazier Round 3' you'll note that the bass sound is a little darker and punchier in the low mids. The Cort sound has serious balls, with a little more 'thump' than the earlier Palaedium and Dean. I think it sounds more like the 'blonde' bass and so it suits me to have both. One notes that Jeff does set his tone rolled back slightly, as in the instructional videos for his reading course, he has purple tape on the bass to keep the tone knob in the right place (ie, neither fully open nor closed). Over years of owning many, many basses, I am convinced that the Rithimic and the Palaedium are the best basses I have ever played and I would struggle to choose a favourite between the two. The trick is to use hand positioning to modulate your sound. When Jeff walks, he plays closer to the neck and returns to the bridge for superior control over the length and tone of the note. Jeff has always played with a low action and light strings (DR DDT .40 - .100). I recall a post from a Talkbass user who had played one of Jeff's Palaediums at a trade show and recalled that the action was so low he struggled to get a clean note out of it, but Jeff was able to make it sing with his controlled touch. I note that his touch these days is more refined than it has ever been. The bridge pickup is absolutely key.

ADEG Well, c'mon....I used to be a librarian.

This is how religious schisms begin. One innocent question about an inconsequential point of protocol. A thousand years from now our descendants will still be participating in mass persecutions and guerilla warfare between E starters and G starters.

You got it quite right @NJE, but the main reason for this price difference is called cupidity on the seller side and stupidity on the buyer side. And the Fodera team has not such extraordinary luthiers, that said. If these guys were so terrific they would do a differential fretboard dressing and certainly not that stupid unscientific string anchorage called "extended B"... Any real luthier knowing his job will build you a terrific bass, with terrific woods, extraordinary pickups and fantastic preamp for 3000 to 5000 quids, depending on the number of strings you want. And exactly as you want it. Think twice about the price tag of such high end basses, there is absolutely no reason for it. It's just like in the audiophile world, prices are totally unjustified. It's only the marketing department making his job. I had an original Fodera Richard Bona, simply the worst bass I ever played or owned, stupidly heavy, dull sound without the preamp loudly engaged : always thought it was a cheap Chinese copy ... but it wasn't. I know I won't make friends here, but truth always hurts.

I'm a cheap bastard. Do they do one a bit like that for 300 quid? 😁

I am intending to wait for proper medical advice but I just wanted to hear what other people's experiences have been. Have depped out the first couple already.

With all due respect I don’t think possession of a P bass is the main factor in me not being a first call LA session legend 😂

I've been on the forum for about 10yrs and it's fair to say it has changed, as would be expected. There were times when I first joined you'd get a proper verbal bust up. Posters would carry on into the early hours (some of the best threads would be active at 2 or 3 in the morning). It was busier. The membership was a little more diverse, especially age wise. It was it bit more raw, forthright and antagonistic at times, now it's more middle aged male grumpiness. It has always, ultimately, been friendly though. I may not have met them, but I regard some of the people I've 'met' on BC to be true friends. The place went downhill though when Bilbo ditched his carrots. Skank valiantly rescued them, but it still wasn't the same.

So there isn't really a problem? So glad I ploughed through 8 pages of this.

Ok, as requested I've had a tidyup and removed the argumentative non-contributions. Valuable and informative topics/discussions like this one are part of what makes this place so good. Please let's not spoil it with petty nonsense. Can I suggest that people use PMs in future if they want to have a handbag fight? So. As you were.

For the first time I can ever remember, when I last re-stringed my bass all 4 tuners ended up perpendicular to the headstock when tuned up*. So now I simply carry a set square around and tune by setting the angle. *This bit is actually true Really, G-E although I don't think it really matters. They are never out by much anyway and usually due to relative heat/humidity in the room.

Wait... you can tune a bass? I don't hold with all this new-fangled messing about & chicanery! I told the rest of the band that my tuning can't be changed, so they have to re-tune to me. Problemo solvedo 🎸 🎻 🎶 🍻

I play the songs first then tune my bass to compensate for all the wrong notes.... 🤪

-

2 bests for me, 2012 Ric 4003 and Fender player series p bass, if any of you are toying with getting a player series I can highly recommend them, mine plays as good as the USA I used to own. worse buy of 2018 was a 50s fender telecaster bass copy.. bloody orrible thing, sold it on immediately

Buy the cheaper one and a butterfly sticker. Nobody would know 😉

While the festives and family stuff has been going on, progress has been a bit spasmodic but by the end of tomorrow, I should be able to put some quality time into finishing this - hopefully by the end of the week. I've got two more slurry and buff grades to do on the body - 1500 and 2000, but already it is feeling right and looking pretty even. Here's how the back presently stands: The basic back carve shape is the same as on @Len_derby 's build. What I liked about this variation is that it still looks and feels a substantially thick body and yet still has the comfort and weight advantages of the arched back - some of my other builds have tapered more at the sides, making it look super skinny which freaks some players out (especially 6-string electric guitar players ) This variation softens the carve towards the edges, so retains the edge and front view thickness: Still to do - Final two grit levels of the body oil slurry and buff – 1500 and 2000 grit Sort the magnetic hatch and trussrod cover fixings Fit the jack-plate, set into the body the same way the bridge is Copper-foil line the control chamber Fit the electrics and pickups Level, re-crown and polish the frets Micro-mesh the neck and fretboard progressively to around 8000 grit micro-mesh Fit the nut, bridge, tuners and strap buttons String up Set up

No, they tend to play lead guitar:

Yup, this thread is turning into a secret confessional - oh, the shame we feel when we discover we've been doing it the 'wrong' way. It's like discovering that some people stand up to wipe their bums while others remain seated...

You guys tune your basses ?

Burn the heretical bastards, before their foul perversity spreads to the simple minded and unenlightened.

Only one thing to add. People abusing his ownership of the mirror scratchplate. Shoot in face when sighted.

After Bridgehouse saves Rock n Roll with a Marshall, here is my own contribution. I sold my Rumble last year as we were mostly doing gigs with supplied backline, there is now some gigs on the horizon where we need to bring our own gear. So a good excuse to get something with a bit of oommph. As a long time Ashdown fan, I spotted this in GG so pulled the trigger. It`s an ABM 500 EVO 2 but I havent seen any heads this size. It is in what looks like an official Asdown head sleeve but all the heads I have seen are a good bit shorter without the vents at the ends. This style of head looks like the ones fitted to the EVO 2 combo. I might drop them a line and see if I can get any info. It looks like it has never been used and is almost mint and needless to say the wife had a bloomin fit when I plugged it into my ABM 2 x 10 cab and gave it a bit of welly. It`s heavy, large and I love it already! Just need the 8 x 10 now... The saviour of Rock N Roll part 2!

For the original £15k I'd want Victor Wooten to provide a couple of Basscamps with flights included in the price as well

Thanks for your reply. 👍 You should link us up with the hostile threads, so we can all have a look. 😁

I'm really not sure what you're trying to get at. I don't get drawn into the arguments on here because, as I'm sure I've posted before, Internet arguing, where nobody wins and everyone looks like d!cks. I'm pretty laid back in life and on here and as far as I'm aware I've never upset anyone on here. So I'll just wish you a happy new year and leave it at that. No smiley as that appears to cause upset.

To be fair Al..... I’m really shallow, I’ll have the Bentley please 😂😂

Force of habit from orchestral playing, I always tune the D first - because in orchestras you tune the A harmonic on the D string to the A from the oboe - then the A string, then G and E last. I don't think there's a right way, really, but you should certainly go through them twice.

I picked up a Quilter BB800 amp early in 2018 as an experiment and am delighted with it - at last i have a small lightweight amp that delivers some proper heft. I'm happy to gig it in place of my EBS TD amps and thats the first class D i can say that about. And on Christmas Eve I nipped down the guitar shop to grab a skinnier lighter gig bag and came away with said gig bag full of new bass! I don't normally take much notice of the basses in there as i'm happy with what i have but i went upstairs for a look as i hadn't visited for ages. Fatal mistake...they had a Zon Sonus Standard in the secondhand section, absolutely mint (I don't buy new basses anymore). I had played one years ago and really liked it but never pushed the button on one. And i'm pretty sure i wont see another used one for a long time. Had a play on it, loved it, the sales guy spotted an opportunity and tempted me with a great price. I buy basses to gig with so i rarely know whether they will stick until i've gigged them. Last night was D Day. And I love it! The guys in the band all said they liked it in the mix, its easy to play and sounded fabulous to me. I just listened back to some video of the night and it really works in the band. Pretty sure its a keeper for me. Problem is that i have a one in,one out policy so i need to move another one on and i love them all 😞 And there haven't been any duffers - i haven't bought anything other than strings.....

I've got a P, a J and a more 'modern' looking bass with twin humbuckers. I've got a lot of basses covered In the original video there's one point that stood out for me, and that was these preferences seem to be driven by the 'fashion' of the day. There does seem to have been a point where P style basses and to a slightly lesser degree J basses have become all the rage again. When I started playing in the late 80s modern looking basses were much more popular. It's just the fickleness of fashion.

Er, thanks. I think. I can be round in about twenty minutes if you're sure it'll help 😕

Jimmy Hill volute !

You are Will Smith and I claim my five pounds 😂

Or 'Cease and Desist'

You'll never work again!

-

Still got them. They're looking considerably more wrinkled now and so am I.

I got them to tune mine in the shop when i bought it....

Phil-many thanks. Video is most helpful and your summary of measurements, together with plans will get me there. Great job, looking forward to the sound.

This may have been said earlier in the thread but I see this hostility always increase during the winters on many forums from photography to motorbiking to bass to cycling. People cannot get outside so much, it's dark from mid afternoon, for some musicians gigs generally slow down and we are all trapped inside our boxes. It is not surprising; sad, but not surprising that we behave more like caged animals rather than human beings.

I bought 3. It would have been rude not to.

When I sell my beaten up old Encore I will be sure to mention it was built at the same time as an ALEMBIC and has 4 strings and a neck just like an ALEMBIC.

I always tune G,D,A,E. Except on a Wednesday, when I tune E,A,D,G.

I've always began with the G then down to the D and beyond. I suppose if I thought about it the D then the G usually have the highest tension of all with the E usually the lowest so if the neck is going to move however slightly then it will have done so by the time I get down to the E rather than tune the E and have it go slightly out when I tune the higher strings. It sounds right in my head so must be correct I always restring the G first then the D, A & E as well

He was one of my heroes until he started showing signs of cocaine abuse. Apparently, the father in law's catch-phrase of Come on down!, had little or no effect on his habit. Growing up in sixties Dublin as an adopted mixed race child must have played a large part in forming his personality and charisma. Such a pity he is not still with us. One of the coolest artists ever.

OK - a bit of a respite between visiting one set of relatives for Christmas and another set visiting us running up to New Year While the finishing process is progressing, I'm knocking off a few of the remaining jobs. First is recessing the bridge. It's a small change but makes such a difference. From this: To this: using these simple tools: This is one of the only thing I use the little Veritas hand router for - but it's great for ensuring the bottom is completely flat. This small version is actually a bit of a flawed design but I think I've used it often enough to consider its bigger brother which is a much better design. Other things done are the luminlay side dots: And in the meantime, the finish is becoming silky smooth to the touch and nice and satin to the eye: Tomorrow I'm going to try to make a trio of knobs and also sort the truss rod cover

Still got the final shaping to finish, but grabbed a spare moment to do a few of the smaller jobs. I cut some swifts: Cut the control chamber cover from another offcut of the top wood: And fitted the tuners and bridge to pop on some strings, just tightened enough to straighten them, so that I can work out the exact positions of the PJ pickups before the scary bit of cutting the chambers: I will be sinking the bridge in so that the plate is flush with the top as I did with @Len_derby 's - but that and the pickup routs will wait a day or so while I make a bit more progress on @eude 's 6-er

Good man. The world needs more TractorBass.