Fat Rich

Wow, what a ground breaking bass! I shall sell a couple of my vintage Fenders and buy one immediately!

Have a go and see how it works out. For starters, begin learning the notes on the fingerboard, and I mean really learn them. No hesitations, no counting frets, no "I thinks that one is an E and so this one must be an, er... a Bb. Or is it?". If you're hunting around the bass for the right note you'll make very slow progress learning to read music or applying any music theory. If you've an iPhone/ iPad then this app is a great help [url="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bass-clef/id317094014?mt=8"]https://itunes.apple...d317094014?mt=8[/url] Good luck!

I've suddenly realised I've never played any song correctly for 20 years.

I had them in my J and P basses, they're great pickups particularly at 18v. I don't know much about the current varieties of EMG but the old ones didn't require an earth to the strings which meant no hum and less chance of being electrocuted when you step up to the mic! By most standards they're an improvement over standard pickups, however I've swapped them all out for Fender Vintage pickups purely because I wanted the more traditional Fender sound. Less good but more Fender

I knackered the original preamp in my Energy, I put in a Bartolini TBT instead but it's lost a lot of the oomph. I reckon you'd be better off getting the old preamp fixed, or get a direct replacement from Status on the website under On-Line Shop > Active Circuits.

Congratulations, very nice basses! I've a wooden necked Energy 5 string, they're good basses and the preamp is a big part of the sound. The original Energy had an all graphite neck and the famous Status body shape that's currently the S2 Classic. Then they introduced the wooden necks in the mid nineties, shortly afterwards they changed to body shape to be more contoured like yours. Not sure when they discontinued the wooden necks but they only offer graphite necks at the moment.

From Wikipedia ([url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewing"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewing[/url]): "[color=#000000][font=sans-serif][size=4]Before the role of yeast in fermentation was understood, fermentation involved wild or airborne yeasts, and a few styles such as [/size][/font][/color][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambic"]lambics[/url][color=#000000][font=sans-serif][size=4] still use this method today. [/size][/font][/color][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Christian_Hansen"]Emil Christian Hansen[/url][color=#000000][font=sans-serif][size=4], a Danish biochemist employed by the [/size][/font][/color][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlsberg_Laboratory"]Carlsberg Laboratory[/url][color=#000000][font=sans-serif][size=4], developed pure yeast [/size][/font][/color][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbiological_culture"]cultures[/url][color=#000000][font=sans-serif][size=4] which were introduced into the Carlsberg brewery in 1883,[/size][/font][/color][sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewing#cite_note-27"][28][/url][/sup][color=#000000][font=sans-serif][size=4] and pure yeast strains are now the main fermenting source used worldwide."[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=sans-serif][size=4]Almost all brewing today uses genetically modified yeast from Carlsberg, making them the Leo Fender of Beer. [/size][/font][/color]

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1350730863' post='1842758'] ...... Wonder if Geddy Lee MIM's are next... [/quote] Thought I read somewhere on Basschat that they are MIM now? Or maybe I dreamed it.

Pretty much the same thing. I fished out my drum machine to have something to play bass along to, but programming a drum machine is a pain. So when I saw a rubber electric kit I decided that was the way forward and got so into learning to play the drums.... I didn't pick up a bass for ages. Then I eventually got the urge to play bass again and the drums have taken a back seat for now.

The original Japanese Marcus Miller bass is a great bass, apart from the preamp which makes the bass sound less Marcus than running passive. Glad to hear they've improved it.

I've long been a fan of Japanese Fenders, I try to persuade myself they're not as good as my old 70s ones but the reality is the MIJs are the best Fenders I've got. As has been said now might not be the best time to be selling gear, but paying interest on debts isn't the way forward either if you can avoid it. I'd suggest sell the two heavy amps and have one light one, and keep the two best precisions and sell the other. But I wouldn't rush into it until you've played the new bass for a while and are sure it's right for you.

[quote name='Fuzzbass2000' timestamp='1350432416' post='1838948'] One of the few basses I like with a white (aged) scratch plate on. Is that neck pick up really low, and what are those screws heads behind the bridge pick up? [/quote] Very early Jazz basses had string mutes between the bridge and the bridge pickup. The price has come down quite a lot and it is a custom colour, the problem is it's not all original so won't appeal to many collectors. I think Norman is one of the greats and I love his playing, but he's probably not that well known outside bass playing / Blockhead circles so I'm not sure that makes this bass particularly valuable in the long term.

[quote name='Angel' timestamp='1350331228' post='1837499'] I just don't get why people trot out that tired old phrase. MODERN FINISHES DO NOT "RELIC"!!!!!!!! Doh [/quote] This is very true as most guitars have a poly finish. However a Fender Roadworn or Highway One has a nitro finish that wears quicker and after several years dries harder and brittler than poly. It'll flake and wear like the old basses used to. In my opinion no reliced bass looks quite right, but if it's nitro and you abuse it for several years it'll probably start to look right quicker.

Depends what I'm playing, mostly wide open but sometimes wound back to cut the zing a bit. Although I run a fairly fat sound on the amp with quite a lot of the bite taken off.

60 years in the future? There won't be any bass players or basses because there won't be any live music any more. Sounds will be generated by machines as background music only, nobody will have the attention span to really listen to anything or any one. The Electric Bass will be one of those obscure musical instruments that's only popular for 100 years or so. It's started already: [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=f6ZSZbNfSpk"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=f6ZSZbNfSpk[/url]

It'd take more than 4 rehearsals to make that lot sound good

Even worse if you do it for Bass Chat.

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1349766280' post='1830100'] Right, Stradivarius was made in Cremona and I'm in Florence - junk shops here only have Leonardos and Michelangelos... want one? ...... [/quote] No thanks. Tommy Cooper was right, Michaelangelo's violins were rotten.

[quote name='Donnyboy' timestamp='1349693347' post='1829087'] I've gone off him ever so slighty now!!! [/quote] Yeah, me too. But a mate of mine has worked with him regularly on Grand Designs and said he's a genuinely nice bloke.

I think I've seen McCloud playing drums somewhere too, speaking Italian and French fluently and doing some quite good paintings on his Grand Tour series. Also didn't he set fastest time on Top Gear's Star in a Reasonably Priced Car despite never having been on a race track before? He seems to be one of those irritating people who is good at everything he tries!

The large open type tuners are a pretty tight fit on the back of a Fender headstock, what if the holes for your existing tuners are a little too close together? I'd also say leave well alone!

I set out to buy a tidy looking 69 Jazz but when I tried it in the shop it was junk.... completely lifeless, very heavy and had an unpleasant honk. So it didn't just share a birthday with me but other characteristics too. The shop also had a scruffy 72 which was stunning so I got that instead.

Also had good service from them, they're beginning to give Denmark Street a good name again.

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1349533099' post='1827460'] ...... and I nearly forgot. Your bass amplifiers should be Danish (of course). [/quote] And your bacon!

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1349520197' post='1827256'] You're not being very helpful to someone seeking info - there must be some difference in the pick ups - or maybe there isn't? But ultimately you're right - it's as simple as that. [/quote] I posted (#65) a reply to a number of posts on here that, with hindsight I maybe took too seriously. Plus my replies maybe could have been taken as a bit confrontational.... so I deleted them soon after posting. However I still stand by my original post (#11), forget where the bass is made and just try as many as possible.