Fat Rich

I write left handed but play right handed instruments, I feel I need the dexterity on the fingerboard. I play right handed drum kit, but I don't play with crossed arms. Like many left handed people I can do most things fairly easily with either hand.

Arguing about the "sweet spot" positioning of pickups in this particular case is like arguing about the colour sticky plaster to use after he cuts his head off.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1322663829' post='1454121'] Why not simply move the bridge closer to the neck? [size=3](Puts hands in pockets, saunters off whistling)[/size] [/quote] Or get your arms extended so the bass feels shorter?

[quote name='benebass' timestamp='1322426766' post='1450804'] ........ The only shorter headless I've seen using double ball ends is the Status King Bass, which has the 'Bendwell' system to make up the string length. ....... Cheers, B. [/quote] This is probably your least destructive option (apart from not messing up... erm, I mean modifying your bass at all). Keep the original double ball end retainer, replace the 2nd fret with a nut and remove the first couple of frets and hollow out a bit to look like a bendwell then you won't need to chop the truss rod. But I think you'd be better off trading the bass for a proper short scale jobby,

[quote name='dafonky' timestamp='1322390344' post='1450114'] Hi all, my first Status .....It's an early Series II What kind of wood is this ? any idea? thanks [/quote] Looks like a particularly good bit of walnut, very nice bass!

Playing at the dusty end of the neck I have this annoying habit of tucking my little finger of my fretting hand under the fingerboard and only fretting with three fingers. I have to make an effort to stop myself doing it, and then when I'm not looking its gone again. I have seen other players do it too but it annoys the hell out of me.

[quote name='Linus27' timestamp='1321548180' post='1440544'] 5 string bass is one string away from being a guitarist. You are on a slippery slope my boy. You have been warned :) [/quote] While this is true, 4 string bass is one step closer to being a drummer. Your choice.

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1321533015' post='1440214'] OK, I've been playing bass (4 string) for 40 years, give or take. Year before last I decided I'd give it a go on a 5 string. Decided what I wanted and waited several months for delivery. It finally arrived, it looked great and sounded awesome. Spent a few months at home getting used to it before using it in the real world... To cut a long story short...I ditched it! I wasn't enjoying playing it. It was a bit like living with and loving a woman for 40 years, only to wake up one morning with another...great fun to start with, but the novelty soon wears off. [/quote] Could have been worse, like waking up with a woman and finding she has a little extra something down below I had to stop playing 4 stringers for about 6 months to get used to only playing 5 stringers. And then when I went back to 4 strings I'd get confused again on both. It took a while but suddenly I noticed I was having no problems going between 4 and 5, although 6 strings still throws me a bit. I probably need to go through the same process with 6.

Sorry but this flow chart is nonsense. What's gigging got to do with anything? Chop off the bottom few boxes and it'll be spot on.

I know Rob's been off sick for a few days so they may be catching up with a few things... they seem to be very busy even at the best of times. It's about 3 or 4 working days since your order as they're closed at weekends, but probably wouldn't do any harm to give them a ring if you need the strings urgently.

Plenty of expensive basses at the last one, Ernie Ball Musicman, Overwaters / Tanglewoods, Dingwalls, Goodfellows, Status, Ibanez, a couple of Fodera, Spectors etc. And quite a lot of amps, effects and strings and other bits and bobs. If you like only old Fenders and other classics you might be a bit disappointed. I looked round the show and got bored fairly quickly but if there are people performing that you're interested in that might tip the balance for you. It was good to catch up with some fellow Basschatters though.

This poll really needs a "Don't Know". I really don't know how long my cables are and I want share this important information with you. Or maybe "All different lengths".

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1320938374' post='1433465'] Cheers, do you know when they were first manufactured? [/quote] It looks like bass serial number 05 was made in '82, whether the first four were '81 or '82 I don't know. Rob Green started out as GMT and called the basses and guitars "Strata" but a large musical instrument manufacturer sent in the lawyers because the name sounded too much like some kind of guitar they came up with in the fifties. Some more info here: http://www.statii.com/status_cats/strata/index.html Also an interview http://www.statii.com/status_cats/players/rob_green/1985/rob_green_music_uk_1985.jpg which gives a few details into the type of construction and what's probably the use of an autoclave.

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1320829303' post='1431838'] ....... Have no idea about Status, a 1981 date would be a bit of a revelation. Mark King played them from 1983 onwards I believe. [/quote] From the Status website: "The S2-Classic, as the name suggests, is truly the Classic Status Bass. Originally designed in 1981, the fundamental range has expanded to include through-neck, bolt-on and left handed models"

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1320855476' post='1432327'] I'm not entirely sure that the action of a graphite neck can be set any lower than a wooden neck. I have all my actions set ridiculously low - and that includes both graphite and wooden necks. The key is more down to an accurately set truss rod and a great fret job (and of course, a correctly cut nut, a shimmed neck if necessary and a bridge that will adjust low enough). [/quote] I find I can set my Status necks to a low action and they'll stay there whatever the temperature, moisture levels, time of year. I can also set my Fender and my Stingray neck equally low but after 4 or five months when the seasons change (or more likely when the central heating dries out the air) I need to give them a tweak again. Maybe mine are more sensitive to moisture because I've gone through the finish on the back of the necks on most of the Fenders and the Stingray has that oily finish rather than lacquer.

I've never played a signature bass that I've preferred over the standard version, I then usually end up lightly modding the standard model to suit me. The only signature bass I've ever owned is a battered Marcus Miller Jazz, fundamentally a great sounding and playing bass but I've taken out the weedy sounding Fender preamp and put a standard passive tone control (and run it through my outboard Sadowsky preamp which sounds stunning). Given the chance I'd also lose the horrible MM control cover, fill the holes and put a standard Fender Jazz control plate on thus unmodding it back into a standard '75 reissue Jazz. Which is probably what I should have bought in the first place

Wondered why it said "IPS Community" at the top, Ped would have had to get new T shirts made which would probably have sent him over the edge

Completely happy with the basses I have at the moment, but really liked the look of: Red Japanese Jazz bass owned by Silddx White Goodfellow owned by EBS Freak Red Big Al owned by Grand Wazoo, and probably the Dingwalls too Haven't played any of them so maybe they wouldn't have been right for me.

I made an effort to play my fretted basses with my finger just behind the fret all the time to help my fretless intonation, so i set my fretless basses to be in tune just a little behind the dot rather than right on it. That way I find going between fretless and fretted doesn't require much of a change of technique. Ultimately I try to play without looking at the fingerboard too much so ideally it should be more about how in tune it sounds than where the notes are in relation to the dots.

[quote name='SirChewey' timestamp='1320298330' post='1424937'] I think it was a chap named Freddy Gruber. I know Peart went back to basics like 'How to hit a drum'; I believe Gruber told im to only use that drum and nothing else for a while and did the same with the rest of his kit slowly introducing other parts. Although a slightly odd concept, I suppose it forces shape and feel of sound. It's like saying give us a bass solo over this II-V-I only using the note G. You soon learn to do something a little more interesting than if you had the whole bass to choose from; less is sometimes more.[/quote] Stewart Copeland said a similar thing, when he has an "off" day he'll put a metronome on and play the simplest beat and focus on locking in to the click and making it groove. No fills, no variations, no accents but just focussing on getting the most feel out of playing the minimum. Eventually he said he ends up in a kind of a trance and turns his "off" day into something constructive. I've tried the same technique on bass and it seems to help.

Subdivide anything with a constant tempo into 8th notes and 16th notes (later when you've the hang of this try quarter note triplets, 8th triplets, 16th triplets). It could be the ticking of the indicators in your car or your footsteps while you're walking or whatever song is playing on the radio. The more you do it the quicker you'll get good at it. Also just because you're struggling a bit with 8th notes at the moment doesn't mean you shouldn't be tackling 16ths, it'll help you get to grips with 8ths quicker. You might find it very tricky switching between 8th and 16ths to the various triplets at first but once you get used to it you'll have no trouble placing the notes. Good luck!

Or get a Sadowsky outboard preamp and plug almost any bass you like into it, instant fatness and warmth without losing the fundamental tone of the bass. I use mine all the time.

I've tried a couple and liked them, but not enough to pay the huge money they go for. Putting aside the exchange rate, if they were about £1800 to £2500 I might consider one but £5K plus is far too much. Especially as the high price is more about limited supply and high(ish) demand.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1319143999' post='1410614'] Been a bit busy doing other bits and bobs lately but just had a quick go on the online Clef game and got a 1.4 wizard on the first attempt with no errors so I think the notes themselves are pretty well nailed now, just needs more time spent reading music. Are there any good books for reading popular rhythms to help recognise groups of notes? Im not too bad now but it takes me a long time to work out a whole song, far from sight read although if you read the opening posts from the start of the year I said I would be happy if I could class myself as a reader which I now can. Anyone else done anything or have you all given up? [/quote] Haven't given up but have been moving house and busy with work so haven't had time to play much bass in general let alone work on my reading. Will get back to it soon hopefully.

Should just be another white bass... but it looks fantastic.