fretmeister

Pictures please! Was it the one that was in the shop a little while ago? I meant to try it while I was there, but Vic kept me loaded with coffee and I forgot!

I'm going to do it in stages. First of all a MM5CS into the standard position. That pickup comes with a simple Vol and Tone. While I don't mind thinking about a proper EQ system later my main aim is to make the Ray useable with the music trust orchestra I play with, and often a simple tone control seems to work best in that environment. If that gets me where I want, then that will be great. If not then I'll be looking at installing a neck pickup too. I am in 2 minds on the model. Either another MM5CS to give it that HH ray look, or a Jazz type. If I go with a Jazz version then I will get it in EMG's soapbar casing so I can easily swap with other same size pickups like their DC40 and the (whatever it's called) P bass version. This is all about making an excellent bass a bit more versatile so I can play it more. I only play with the orchestra but that is about 4 hours per week + home practice. The easy playability of the Ray is wonderful for playing 4 hours straight, but the sound does not fit well with the other traditional instruments. No amount of EQing can change the fundamental sound of a ray. Yes I could use a different bass, but it wouldn't be as easy to play and the sessions wouldn't be as fun.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1432804517' post='2785080'] I'd start with an outboard preamp. Find the sound you like first, before you've made any irreversible changes. Me? I'd just put all that money and effort into finding the right bass. [/quote] I am. The right bass is a 5 string stingray that weighs less than 9.5lb but sounds less like a ray and more like a modern jazz. If you can name an off the shelf 5 string modern jazz bass with 17.5mm string spacing, with a Ray 5 profile neck then I'm all ears!

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1432763924' post='2784842'] Yeah but classical is a different animal in a way that I think is pretty obvious to anyone here, so frankly anyone bringing that up is just spoiling for an argument (and one in which I shall not be engaging in any further). [/quote] Not spoiling for an argument. Music is music.

http://youtu.be/tS-tpgPFUpI There it is. Sounds good to me!

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1432758341' post='2784756'] Would be interested in how that sounds! I'm also going to be in the minority here and say that the exposed pole piece pickups that are standard on Stingrays look horrendously ugly to my eye. [/quote] There's a good YouTube video with a guy who put DC40 in his Ray. I'm going for a MM5CS

I'm going to rip my Ray5 apart and stick in EMGs. It's a wonderful playing bass but it needs to sound different. I may even rout it for a neck single coil too. I may or may not tell the EBMM forum afterwards!

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1432738833' post='2784449'] I find the distinction somewhat moot - is there such a thing as a great "bassist" who cannot compose good lines ?. [/quote] Yes. Just like Nigel Kennedy who is a great violinist and hasn't written a concerto.

Super long scale, small body, massive headstock. The balance on that is going to be bloody awful.

Getting back on topic for a moment (as none of you skanks have a chance), I find him to be a better composer than bassist. I don't find any of his lines difficult (no doubt caused by my excessive Sheehan worship in my youth) but I really like the composition of the bass parts. For me that is a far more impressive skill than just getting your fingers in the right place at the right time. Even on the newer stuff, which I don't like as much there is real thought in the bass parts. If there is anything I would hail about him (or anyone) it would be those composition & arrangement skills. (I am assuming he writes his parts and isn't just handed them by the others)

Bass construction is definitely more important. My Marleaux is 34 scale and has the best sounding B I've ever played - including a variety of 35 scale instruments and Dingwalls. That being said - with the stock Marleaux strings on it, it sounded bloody awful. I don't know who makes them. With D'addario's on it, sounds amazing. Very defined, not flubby at all. I've tried a few other makes on it, but I always come back to D'Addario

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1432717803' post='2784147'] Chaps can we lay off the insults please. I'm sure Chris is flattered by you all arguing over him but let's not be silly. [/quote] He's mine and you can't have him! Like he'd ever look at you anyway!

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1432677880' post='2783955'] TBH I don't think Chris gives a s*** about some mid life crisis geezers on BC who think he can't cover all the styles. Go back to drinking your Ovaltine, you tear stained losers. [/quote] +1 Paco De Lucia was never slagged off for not covering all the styles.

[quote name='jonnythenotes' timestamp='1432661854' post='2783729'] I agree Bassman, but I would much sooner watch someone be 'creative' instantly, on the spot, with no planning beforehand, and fractions of a second to think about what to do, how to do it, and where to go next, beat after beat, bar after bar. A lot of these 'big' players are either playing riffs they have played a thousand times before, or rehearsed to death in a studio, so they can't fail to get it right. Also, these lads a lot of the time are being screamed and yelled at by their adoring public because this adoration is all about familiarity with a song, and not musicianship. I have seen crowds become delirious because they know the chorus to Brown Eyed Girl or Mustang Sally. The crowd go nuts, but it's shallow praise for the band, as its not for them...it's for familiarity, and the audience buying into a chorus they know inside out. Go to the Funk Realm Jam Night in Birmingham, and you will see strangers getting up with each other and hypnotising a crowd with nothing but musicianship and creativity, there and then, on the spot, never heard before or again, and cheered for their skill, and not for reasons of 'familiarity' [/quote] Ye gods. Imagine how awful unplanned creativity would be! No more Mozart, Bach, Beethoven. I need to lie down.

Same for me on the SP Comp. Too much bass roll off. Hissy at higher settings too.

The Fender Urge is a fair bit smaller and lighter than the jazz it's based on.

It's a Marleaux contra bass. No idea who is playing it though.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1432464290' post='2781636'] You should seriously consider a Sire Marcus Miller V7 - when they're back in stock. [/quote] Can't get on with vintage radius fingerboards.

It's only an advance. Not a gift.

I keep looking at the Lull jazz's at Bass Direct. One day!

[IMG]https://fbcdn-photos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xat1/v/t1.0-0/1517411_10153236599663726_2504132695893663573_n.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoibCJ9&oh=5d6754390e5906a8fddb67089a3f7543&oe=55FC6E72&__gda__=1443462266_a7f00fded224e50b070eafb072e7c2ad[/IMG] It's quite big. Can't fit my whammy on now, but that can go on the floor.

[IMG]https://fbcdn-photos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xat1/v/t1.0-0/1517411_10153236599663726_2504132695893663573_n.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoibCJ9&oh=5d6754390e5906a8fddb67089a3f7543&oe=55FC6E72&__gda__=1443462266_a7f00fded224e50b070eafb072e7c2ad[/IMG] Just rebuilt mine.

I wouldn't change the basses I have, but I am still on the lookout for a really good modern Jazz type. 4 string, probably passive. I'm hoping the new Sandbergs will be the answer when they arrive. At that point I just might be a 5. For at least a couple of hours.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1432301371' post='2780212'] Personally speaking I would have no interest working with someone who was more concerned with what they sound like than what the whole band sounds like. A band has to be more than the sum of its parts. [/quote] +1 The worst offenders are those who move directly from the bedroom to the stage. They have no idea how "their sound" interacts or even ruins the overall noise made. Guitarists are just as bad as bassists. Scooped mids, tons of bass, no sonic space for the bass. On the other hand there are plenty of bassists who love their home grown Marcus Miller sound only to find that it's gutless with a wall of guitars. What you get right first is partly a matter of genre. If you are a Metallica tribute then you get the guitar sound right and add the rest - but still adjusting the guitars as you go. For reggae you might start with the bass and layer everything on top. Eitherway - if it doesn't sound good together and a band member won't adjust his settings, then he can go back to the bedroom.