bassbiscuits

Sorry folks - been rushing round like a fool. Will post some pics tomorrow!

Went to Bass Direct for the first time today with my eye on a couple of jazz bass alikes, and ended up falling for a Sandberg TT4 - basically a soft reliced, cream/white passive jazz with a tort scratchplate. It wasn't what I actually expected to buy, but felt lovely and easy to play, light as a feather swamp ash and - as I found when I got home and plugged it into my own amp - loud as hell! I've always found myself drawn to passive basses, and this is no exception, but it's really articulate, bright and lively, spent most of the afternoon annoying my neighbours with it, and then realising how sunny it was outside, the rest of the afternoon noodling outside. My band's next gig is this Saturday, so it'll be getting an outing. Got a feeling it's going to sound very different to my usual thumping P bass tone, but there's definitely room for a lively singing jazz tone in my life. To be continued... Now with pics added:

I've got an unlined fretless Bass Collection SB301, which has earned its keep many times over. It rarely comes out nowadays, as I only ever do a handful of gigs or recordings which need fretless. But when it does it's so easy to play. Great action, dead comfortable, light as a feather.

1. The whole of Iron Maiden's Live After Death album - heard it when i was 12 and blew me away. The reason i learned bass, and have played along to it many many times (probably still know it by heart 30 years later, along with every detail of the glorious double gatefold sleeve!) Standout track - Revelations 2. Weather Report - Heavy Weather album. It really opened my eyes to the possibilities of bass after a couple of stagnant years of non-committal playing, and give me new purpose. Standout track - Birdland 3. Francis Dunnery - Tall Blond Helicopter (album). First heard it during a difficult time in life, and the songwriting really spoke to me. Still a brilliant album. Standout track - Only New York Going On 4. Karine Polwart - Scribbled in Chalk (album). Incredible Scottish singer/guitarist, with songs that will make you cry. Really profound stuff but with a lightness of touch, and moved the benchmark for me musically. Standout track - Daisy 5. David Ford - Let the Hard Times Roll (album). Saw this performed live before hearing the album, and its the sound of one multi-instrumentalist pouring his heart out musically and lyrically. Fiery, angst-ridden and brilliant. Standout track - To Hell With the World

Rita definitely. I have lots of basses, but I don't have a Rita Ora, so i'm just being fair really. Tricky to smuggle her into the house in a bass case tho.

Tis a tricky choice. I have a 1970 precision and a 1995 precision. Though I've had the 1970 for nearly 20 years and always considered it the cooler of the two, hand on heart the 1995 is the better all rounder. If I had to choose between them I'd be gutted - like yourself I'd be emotionally attached to the old one, but I'd know that the modern one is most likely actually the better bass as a useable gigging instrument. Hope you manage to sort your dilemma buddy.

Thanks to everyone who organised this - I had a great time meeting everyone and trying out some cool gear you don't see everyday! Especially loved the Sadowskys, Norris's Rick and T Bird, and Len Derby's Yamaha, plus loads of other good stuff. Top marks on the cakes too! Cheers folks and see you next year hopefully.

Started "Stand By Me" in A (correctly i felt) and got through half the intro before the singer i was depping for shouted "in C!" across the stage at me. Words were exchanged...!

Columbus were only ever a cheap and cheerful maker, and this isn't worth anything like £200... Don't think he's really understood the whole lawsuit thing - I understood that to be a writ against other Jap manufacturers like Ibanez, Tokai etc from using headstock and logo designs that were too similar to Fenders and Gibsons of the day. The quality of this is nothing like a regular Fender Jazz. Never mind eh...

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/259363-the-end-of-the-creative-fender-japan-range/page__p__2742486__hl__japan__fromsearch__1#entry2742486 This was the original thread from a few weeks back. Sadly it does sound like something is afoot.

I'm happy to leave my cab and head at home, if anyone has something they'd rather bring. It was mainly for me to sit on with a cup of tea if we were short of chairs! I can bring a little Roland Cube with headphones if its more helpful.

Brilliant - that should be a great evening. He's excellent

If you're worried about your pick/finger sounds being too different, I find that rolling off the tone control a bit when using a pick helps take out some of the thinnness and clacky rasp that sometimes happens with a pick. Then again on some songs that's exactly the sound you want. Horses for courses etc

Mine's a dead simple set up. A USA Fender precision or jazz (with round wounds) into a Markbass LittleMark head and into a Schroeder 1210 cabinet. The only thing in my signal chain is a Korg Pitchblack tuner which is possibly true bypass, tho i'm not sure. I have my eq fairly flat except for some added bass (especially needed with the jazz). I play in a trio or four-piece at most, so I have to cover a fair bit of ground in the band. My playing has always sounded quite thumpy and clanky regardless of what gear I've used over the years, mainly cos i dig in with my fingers quite a lot. At least this rig handles it well and also makes it sound rich and full. Fingers/pick/thumb and judicious use of my bass's tone control provides the rest of the light and shade. I dip into flat wound territory now and again, but that seems to take a lot of the balls out of my sound. I do like the sound and feel of flats tho, especially for recording. Live, i just seem to go for the growl of rounds every time. I should add - my bass sound is a classic example of sounding fairly nondescript by itself, but in the mix with a band it sits in there great and projects really well, which is really why I'm there I'm suppose...

[quote name='anaxcrosswords' timestamp='1428836671' post='2744982'] Oh yes, oh yes! That is one of my stock responses, probably the most frequent one I use. [/quote] Yeah mine usually involves something like "I can't really hear it up here so I'm glad it sounds good in the audience blah blah" I really want to be gracious, witty and humble if someone has taken the time to give a compliment - certainly don't want to appear as an aloof, socially inept tool.(Bit late for that now tho...😀)

Two years ago I did a Halloween function and had spent most of day feeling like utter crap but i didn't realise quite how bad until it was too late to get a dep. The gig was a 90 min drive away during which I had to stop twice to get out and try to barf in the gutter. Like Raslee's post, I gave basic reduced service only in that gig even tho I had to sing half the set. I was white as a sheet and sweating but at least at a hallowe'en party one more zombie didn't look out of place. Shocking evening tho.

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1428833759' post='2744925'] It's such a rare, albeit lovely, thing, that I'm often a bit embarrassed at the time. Replies of, "You're too kind," and, "Glad you liked it," and that ilk seem to be the order of the day. However, inside I'm going, "Get in!" [/quote] Ha ha! Exactly! Inside I'm thinking "glad it all sounds good, as I've put a lot of time and effort into it over the years!"

I've got a little sort of neoprene zip up basic laptop bag for my Markbass head and I just sit the head on top of that. I also loop my lead thru the handle on the cab to save it getting pulled over. Works for me