JJ Bass

[quote name='steverickwood' post='1350006' date='Aug 24 2011, 10:24 AM']yes - now is the time to haggle if people want to get rid. Looks like a nice one. Let me know how you get on![/quote] Will do mate, I'm almost still reluctant to sell my Hohner B for it as it sounds damn good, but I do miss the status sound and if I can get close its a start! Theres also a Westone 3a on ebay, but thats definatley going to go out of my budget.... Also a Jaydee for £1.1k, time to rob a bank maybe? I'll keep you informed, once purchased it'll soon be on youtube being slapped like hell!

[quote name='steverickwood' post='1349426' date='Aug 23 2011, 08:39 PM']You know I can't remember what I paid, prob 300ish, but now I'm not sure. I think theres one on ebay at mo [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Washburn-MB-8-Active-Bass-Guitar-Status-Pickups-/110733307796?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item19c8382f94"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Washburn-MB-8-Ac...=item19c8382f94[/url] if its still there? Good luck with the hunt![/quote] Hi, I'm going to try and bargain that one down if it doesn't sell, but theres also a fella on here with one, so fingers crossed. The MB4 with the jazz status pick ups usually goes for around £75-£120 so really unsure of its price! My Status S1 only went for £500 so I really can't work out the prices of basses at the moment!!

[quote name='steverickwood' post='1349322' date='Aug 23 2011, 07:13 PM']I had one with a maple neck between 1994 and 1998; it was my first 'better than budget' bass and as close as I was ever going to get to something like a status... I loved it - just told a student to look out for one. Good slim smooth neck, good balance, light and the sound was as expected, pretty flexible. A bit 'hissy' on the highs of the active but otherwise, this and a little trace 15 combo were my friends until ventured into other waters. Snap one up, I say.[/quote] Thanks for that, roughly what do you think they are worth these days? Hope to try and pick one up asap....

[quote name='dave.c' post='1348855' date='Aug 23 2011, 11:48 AM']Is this the one? [attachment=87662:Washburn_MB_8.jpg] Washburn Mercury MB-8. 4 String Bass Mine was manufactured in 1994 and was my main bass for about a year. Alder body with a flamed maple top finished in see through black. 24 fret maple neck with a maple fingerboard and really (really!) great access to the top frets, Status pickups and 18 volt active electronics, Pickup blend, volume, bass cut/boost, treble cut/boost controls. Nice clear tones but not as rich as a Status IMHO but a very nice sounding and playing bass, especially for the money they can be had for now! I gave mine to my nephew, who still has it, it was too good to let go for the price.[/quote] Hi Dave and thanks for the reply! It looks the same one, just its in the cherry wine colour - re the 18v batteries, did it have a block thats 2 wide for batteries or one wide? Hope that makes sence, it looks the same size as a normal 1 x 9v size.. I've only seen pics of the back of a Kingbass which has the 2x9v supply which is wide rather than depth!!! Is it a good slapper? Cheers J

bump again!

bump for any info please

Hi all, Has anyone owned or played a Washburn MB-8 with the Status Soapbar pick ups? It looks to be the same elecs as my old Status S1 - does it sound similar? I loved that bass!! Any info and help will be gratefully received! Thanks

[quote name='pete.young' post='1346700' date='Aug 20 2011, 08:53 PM']Because they don't sell to the public, they have dealers. Somewhere! I don't recall what I paid for mine, but it was under 100 and at a time when used prices are higher than they are now. I'd have to say that if you wanted a bass that looked like that, you'd be better to find a Peavey Cirrus BXP or Grind, they seem to go for about the same money.[/quote] Thanks Pete, Theres a fella on here who's selling his Cirrus BXP which is pretty tempting, but I'm not sure if it would be an improvement on my Hohner B Pro which is maybe a better quality instrument? I've heard the BXP's are pretty good with fast neck, but I'm yet to play one. I just love the look of the through neck basses, as I'm still one of the old school who wants a Jaydee ! One day!

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[quote name='pete.young' post='1346245' date='Aug 20 2011, 12:05 PM']This one? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GUITAR-JIM-REED-OLD-VINTAGE-BASS-VERY-SOUND-/270803504663?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3f0d258e17"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GUITAR-JIM-REED-...=item3f0d258e17[/url] I've got a Jim Reed 4-string passive jazz copy which I bought second-hand off ebay a couple of years ago for the kids to play with, to keep them away from my decent basses. It has a really really fast slim neck and decent electrics (Kent Armstrong pickups). The only problem with it is a traditional 1970's Fender style neck pocket, with a 2mm gap along one side of the neck . Hopefully a neck-through won't suffer the same thing. Jim Reed is a 'luthier' working from Italy. For a while there was a guy up north importing them and selling them one-at-at-time on ebay. I don't know if there were ever any official importers. Web site is here: [url="http://www.jim-reed-guitars.com/eng/index.php"]http://www.jim-reed-guitars.com/eng/index.php[/url][/quote] Hi, and thanks for the reply. Yes its that one. I just don't know if it'll be good or not? No clue what its price range would be as I don't want to get shot of my current bass if this one isn't any better! I phoned the music shop in Glasgow that used to sell the guitars, but the fella doesn't recall selling the basses... He remember the guitars were £200 and upwards. This style bass looks to be one of their higher range basses and look quite 'ok', but some of the budget basses look the business these days!! Any idea what you paid for your one? I guess the one on ebay is a higher range bass, but it gives me an idea to its value and if its a cheapo bass or not ) Theres no prices on that website, why would they do that!!

Hi all, Just been offered a Jim Reed 4 string active through neck bass, 2x soapbar pick ups, active. Anyone know anything about the basses, price new, reviews etc...?? New one on me!! Help please

[quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='1334640' date='Aug 10 2011, 10:23 AM']I think you would too.[/quote] Thanks for the help. The JD looks a good bass, but some of the budget ones do loook the business these days but the elecs and build quality isn't all that. I ask alot of my bass so an inferior one would only annoy me and end up being sold on asap! Wish it was a 'jaydee' though !

[quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='1333957' date='Aug 9 2011, 06:41 PM'][url="http://www.alfelectronics.co.uk/j--d-bass-guitars-522-c.asp"]http://www.alfelectronics.co.uk/j--d-bass-guitars-522-c.asp[/url] New. [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/j-d-luthiers-jd-s4b-active-576235/"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/j-d-luthi...-active-576235/[/url][/quote] The reviews are a bit mixed, might be better off with my old hohner B!

[quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='1333930' date='Aug 9 2011, 06:27 PM'][url="http://www.alfelectronics.co.uk/j-and-d-jds4b-stbr-lh-bass-guitar-3374-p.asp"]http://www.alfelectronics.co.uk/j-and-d-jd...itar-3374-p.asp[/url] £250.[/quote] Is that new or used? Don't want to get rid of my bass if its better!

Hi all, Seen a nice looking bass for sale online a JD-S4B bass. Has anyone played one? I read its $699 new somewhere which may suggest its not a complete budget bass. It's a neck through wood bass with active 2 band eq and soapbar pick-ups, but not sure sure of the brand of them... Whats the second hand price? 'elp please Thanks

[quote name='aldude' post='1303640' date='Jul 14 2011, 03:35 PM']Longer scale?[/quote] it's 34 scale....!

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='1303196' date='Jul 14 2011, 08:55 AM']Thanks for clearing that up. The dead spot stuff was a red herring, so clamping something to your headstock won't solve your problem. When you say you "messed around with the truss rod", do you mean you were following any directions on how to adjust it and understand the prinicples of what the truss rod does & how it does it? or were you giving it a tweak to see what happens? If the latter it is unlikely you'll be able to set the optimum amount of relief correctly and in that case it's worth letting someone more experience take a look. where are you based? perhaps there's a BCer local to you who foes his own setups who can have a look?[/quote] I've set up a few of my old basses before, from handmade UK & Tawain basses to stock Schecter's and always got the action right, the intonation spot on etc, so I'm hoping I've grasped more than the basics of setting up the bass, plus my local luthier I'm not 100% sure on, and I'm low on funds!! The only thing I wouldn't touch are the frets, I'll clean them, but thats it! I'm still annoyed a bit by its tension, its just a bit firmer than any other bass I've had...!!! Odd but great bass for the money!!

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='1302942' date='Jul 13 2011, 10:12 PM']Good points. It does sound as if the bass needs a setup - we all zoomed in on the words "dead spot", but that could well be a red herring as the sypical symptoms of a dead spot aren't mentioned. The OP doesn't mention setting the truss rod if the relief is incorrect, no amount of setting the height at the bridge will help and messing about with the intonation will only affect how out of tune it is over the neck.[/quote] Thanks for all the tips! I only referred to it as a dead spot as I didn't know any other term for it! I think it may need re-fretting as I think its from 1990, but its in amazing condition. I've messed around with the truss rod, used no end of different strings from Olympia to Warwicks to Funkmasters. I think it maybe a mixture of the two from what everyone has said, but I've tried gently pulling the headstock and it still does it... May look for another bass, which is a real shame!

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='1301436' date='Jul 12 2011, 07:04 PM']I have two. Yes, they work, but can be unpredictable. One is permanently fixed to my Fortress MasterMan V, where it just "focusses" the tone. The other floats from bass to bass. It makes my Yamaha Attitude into the sonic equivalent of a Bunker-Buster bomb, but robs it of a degree of resonance- It's just all out armour-piercing! It ruins my Warwick Infinity. Kills it dead. Try before you buy if at all possible. Works a treat for some basses, not for others. Billy Sheehan likes such devices, but he uses a small G-Clamp on the headstock. They certainly aren't £30, but may be a bit of trial and error to get the weight right. Final thought- Got a string tree on the bass? Thru-neck? Probably not. Try attaching (carpet tape?) a small piece of brass to the back of your headstock. Try different weights. Find a weight/location that does the trick, drill it and screw it onto the headstock. Washburn used to do it on some of their instruments. Do be aware that there's a bass and guitar version of the FatFinger (different masses) As for string tension, try round cored strings. They are more compliant for a given tension, and feel softer under the hand. I favour DRs- Either FatBeams (for steels) or SunBeams (for Nickels) All a bit "suck-it-and-see", but there's nothing to be lost by [b]fully reversible, semi-permanent[/b] experimentation. (Except time and effort, I suppose!) Hope this helps. Alex.[/quote] Hi Alex, I'll give some of these ideas a try, is there a trick to positioning the weights on the headstock? I'm quite limited on the strings I use as there isn't many that do 30-90's - even the Rotosound funkmaster's feel like bridge wires!! The strings I got on best with on this bass are Indie strings for a 6 stringer that have 25-85 in the set, I used them on my old Schecter & Status and could barely feel the tension as they are great for bendinging/harmonics.... Thanks for the tips, still not sure what to do with the bass as it sounds bloody good! J

[quote name='fretmeister' post='1300726' date='Jul 12 2011, 10:41 AM']Try one of these: [url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/accessories/guitar_extras/fat_finger"]http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/accessories...tras/fat_finger[/url] If I remember my sums properly - more headstock mass - the higher up the neck the dead spot will be. So stick one of them on and see what happens.[/quote] Never seen one of those before!! - £30 odd quid? Gits! Is this a common flaw of basses with small headstocks? My Status 1000 never had a head and didn't do this, or my series 1.... Does it genuinely work? Any thoughts on the string tension anyone? All this makes my bass sounds like its knackered, but its a great little player!!