Ben Jamin

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Also love the fact that some (definitely not all!) of the most successful musicians in the world played basses that many average gigging bassists could have afforded when those basses were in production. And for no other reason than they loved them eg Paul McCartney with his Hofner and Yamaha BB and Tina Weymouth another Hofner player are two that immediately come to mind, and I'm sure we can think of plenty of others?

Joe Dart's career is built off cheap frankenstein basses and his Mexican Fender, before the Musicman collaboration.

To be fair even the Musicman collab is all about creating the simplest instrument possible - he currently gigs the cheaper Sterling version.

Here's a crowd singing along to his bassline on his MIM Jazz.
 

Just be to a bit nerdy, it sounds like we could think about how expensive something is as the ratio between:

How much someone can afford : how valuable the object is.

Affordability : Value

So maybe 1:1 is great, 2:1 is a decent deal, 10:1 is super expensive.

Both sides are relative, as we all have different incomes/lifestyles etc, and we all perceive value differently.

I think the value factor is equally important, in the sense that you might think a £500 bass is expensive, but we all would probably think a £500 car is cheap.

For example, my disposable income wouldn't let me spend more anywhere near £500 on a bass right now, but I don't think a £1500-2000 USA Fender is expensive. However, I do think a £1500-2000 luthier custom is expensive.

For me, the value of a Fender isn't as much in the component parts or particular build quality; it's in the value of it being a known entity. Sound engineers, other musicians, even some punters - we all know what a Precision bass is about. Engineers like it as it's a familiar/iconic sound. It won't go wrong and no-one worries about it. It'll retain its value pretty well too.

The luthier custom would probably be a much better instrument objectively and hopefully fit the specific need, but there's no familiarity factor, it's a risk for a sound engineer, and it probably wouldn't retain its value as well. 

However if I was in the position to splash out, I'd be more excited about the luthier job than a USA Fender Precision.

We're weird creatures.

 

You folk are using money?? I bought a Mexican Fender Jazz back in 2008 and have straight swapped my main bass on here ever since 😇

Thank you Basschat ❤️

This is an ace thread! 

I'm in an originals band called Fred The Fool - it's folk(ish) pop/rock. 

The name's from a silly old Lincolnshire folk story - our frontman's an archaeologist and a lot of the songs draw from local history around Lincoln.

The line-up is: lead vocals/acoustic guitar, piano/accordian, mandolin/acoustic guitar, drums/percussion, bass/upright (me!)

We've spent the last year and half forming and recording about 12 songs, which are in various stages of production now. Some of them feature cool musicians - Graham Rorie from Gnoss plays some really nice fiddle on a few of our tracks - amazing how many folk are just an Instagram DM away! 

Currently working on our live set for an album launch gig in February 2026. The plan's to record/film that too, circulate it with some promoters we know and see what happens?

We did our first little gig the other week and it went pretty well - we've really just been focused on recording and producing the songs, so it was a fun challenge to try them out live!

Snazzy website: https://www.fredthefool.com

Picked up a lovely double bass in a trade with Lawrie. Pleasure to deal with and very grateful for the tips and pointers to get going with upright! Cheers!

G&L is pretty '80s!

https://richtonemusic.co.uk/g-l-tribute-series-l-2000-left-handed-bass-3-tone-sunburst-2nd-hand/

24 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

What was skipped? (for those of us that can't get more than 2 seconds through a Sapko youtube!)

Looks like a lot of the stock from the factory - bridges, tuning machines, pick-ups and misc. parts/electronics - as well as a bunch of BBE Sonic Maximisers and other outboard pre-amps.

Why? So much disrespect.

They could've listed them in the Recycling section here at least?

The L-series basses are so good, if you can get your hands on one. In particular the MFD pick-ups, really flexible pre-amp and the saddle-lock bridge are uniquely G&L.

I haven't tried them but the Fallout (beefy short scale) and Kiloton (Stingray/Pbass mix?) are meant to be ace.

'Vintage' models like the El Toro are ace, and on the guitar side there are some really great designs like the Espada or Comanche. 

Such a massive shame to see G&L go. I'll be holding onto my L2500!

Hope Fender can integrate staff and keep producing some of the models. The L-series could replace their Dimension bass, and guitar models like the Comanche or Espada could do really well under Fender.

I'm saying this to hopefully be helpful and constructive, but I think this is an overreaction. You're asking the question, so I imagine you might think so too.

It sounds like your singer reached out to say that he's in a seriously bad place, and it seems that your initial response to him is framed around how this might inconvenience your holiday. There are likely a number of reasons why he's struggled to communicate or find a prompt time to talk, but he's probably not trying to mess with your time off. We often assume bad intention towards us that just isn't there. Hanlon's Razor helps me out a lot.

If you want to resolve the band situation, don't take it personally (because it almost certainly isn't), give him space and help him to feel that he isn't being a burden. Being frustrated with him and leaving the chat is only going to push him away.

12 hours ago, Rodders said:

I maintain the 6 string/s made for Tye Zamora is the "weirdest" Fender, doesn't remotely resemble anything else they've ever produced. 

 

That is funky!!

Good competition as the Tye Zamora model has no Fender DNA, but looks like a pretty conventional set-up for a bass of it's type - whereas this Adrian Younge thing looks 100% Fender but is completely unconventional 😂

Really like the pick-guard as a mix of '52 P-bass and Marcus Miller Jazz!

I could see it doing pretty well as a body/pick-up concept in a MIM model if they committed to either fretted/fretless and put a passive tone circuit in there instead, with a more regular set of finishes. Those pick-ups would work great for a warm fretless tone.

But then that would just make it another boring Fender?

Another thought, is there a good reason why we don't see more effects in basses? There are plenty of 9V or 18V active basses that only power a 3-band EQ. It'd be cool to see something like a compressor and SansAmp in a body, which everyone could find useful. Maybe even a tuner? Could even be clever with an XLR output and phantom power?

 

Looks like Fender CS are doing a limited run of an Adrian Younge signature bass, which has got to be one of the quirkiest designs I've seen for a while! 

Seems like it would be a bunch of fun to play, and clearly works for Adrian! But definitely a niche instrument!

Jazz body with 50% fretted, 50% fretless jazz neck

Precision middle pick-up

Curtis Novak bisonic neck pick-up

Built-in fuzz and tremolo effects

https://www.fendercustomshop.com/basses/jazz-bass/limited-edition-masterbuilt-adrian-younge-jazz-bass/

Bought a Tech21 Bass FlyRig from Clarky. Great to deal with, thanks!

Thanks for the encouragement folks and sorry for the slow response!

It's arrived and it's glorious! I haven't played a Jack Casady model before, the impedance switch is really neat! Plenty of sonic variety between that and the volume/tone/playing style.

`

Hardware feels solid and the pickup sounds really punchy. Plenty of thump and warmth, with great resonance, but very articulate still. The satin finish looks great and it has a lovely vintage vibe.

The neck feels really nice and I think I'm slowly getting used to the lack of frets! It sounds just like I'd hoped a fretless would, and neat touch that it ships with Chromes. Thanks loads for all of the tips, the muscle memory's there, just need to keep playing to get confident.

Here's a short vid giving a spin after unboxing it at the office, using some open notes to get around! Please excuse the very timid left-hand technique 😂

https://www.instagram.com/p/DIwu7DRqQif/

I'll get some proper photos up shortly!

Cheers!

4 hours ago, Sambrook said:

I would second the above thoughts about not being scared of the 'bare' fingerboard. Your fingers already know the correct spacing, even if your eyes disagree...

Thanks! Just hope the ears don't disagree 😅

10 hours ago, Linus27 said:

 

You're welcome and you might actually surprise yourself at how not so daunting it is. My first introduction to fretless was in 1998. I had just signed and we were recording our debut album. The album cost £120k which at the time was more than my sister's brand new 4 bedroom house in Preston and was producer was Mark Wallis who did the Travis, It Bites, Primitive's albums and engineered U2's Joshua Tree so quite serious stuff 😂 The studio was owned by the singer/bassist of the prog tock group Asia and the keyboardist of the 80's pop group, Buggles. We turned up at the studio on day 1 and in the live room on the wall was about 20 basses including a beautiful Washburn AB20 fretless. I thought, let's give this a go and I ended up recording the hardest bass line on the album on it. The intonation was a bit off so I put a few bits of a post it note in places to know where to fret accurately but it was fine.

 

So just go in with an open mind and play the bass lines like it's a fretted and you'll be fine.

 

This is the track in question.

 

 

Wow that's much higher stakes than our home studio! Really nice bass line, can see why the fretless was the only one for that song. Going to have to pick up a chorus pedal now (and maybe some post-its)!

1 minute ago, Linus27 said:

 

Just approach it just like a fretted bass, so don't try and make it sound like a fretless and do lots of slides and trying to get that mwah sound. It is no different to play than a fretted bass, you just have to be more disciplined with your technique and train your ears. Good ears and strong technique are the two key things you need to play a fretless well. Don't be scared of it either or think of it as different, just play what you'd play on a fretted and you'll be amazed at how normal sounding it can be. Over time, you'll then start to bring out the nuances of the fretless as you become more competent. The Jack Cassidy is also an unlined fretless so you either play ON the dots or in the gaps, it's that easy. Oh and buy an octave and chorus pedal, you'll thank me later I promise 😂

Thanks that's a very helpful mindset to go in with! It's pretty daunting as my band's in the process of recording right now, but I have no idea how soon I'll be able to play with reliable intonation!

Also thanks for the excuse to check the Effects For Sale section 😂

55 minutes ago, Ramirez said:

Yes. Melodyne is very good. I haven’t tried AutoTune yet 🫣

 

Getting used to it- I had a Harley Benton short scale fretless that sounded wonderful, but seeing as I’m trying to play upright bass as well, the jump in scale lengths was one step too far and the more I played one if them, the more out of tune I seemed to get on the other!

Everything seems to fall into place easier for me on the standard scale fretless. That said, playing along to other tracks still show that there’s work to be done!

 

One thing I find helps quite is to ensure that you’re playing your FRETTED bass on top of/just behind the fret - ie. at essentially the correct position for a fretless. Muscle memory becomes much easier then, as you don’t have to change your technique as much when switching basses.

Melodyne is a great and likely necessary shout 😅

Juggling all those scale lengths sounds like a feat! I'm not brave enough for upright yet, luckily everything I have is standard scale.

Thanks for the fretting tip! Muscle memory is a beautiful thing, guessing it'll take a good bunch of playing to get cosy with it!

Got the last one from Andertons arriving on Tuesday 🥳

A wee bit nervous as it's my first fretless! Any tips??

Don't suppose this is still available?? I have a pal who would love this, I could collect in a couple weeks time??

I don't know about aggressive but I've always felt that the MFDs accentuate some nice punchy mids that always seem to fit well in a wall-of-sound kind of mix. Probably the pick-up placement as much as anything too, quite close together in the sweet spot of a Precision/Stingray. Would be interesting to compare it to a 55-02!

I got mine from here! They do pop up occasionally. I think Andertons used to stock more but it seems they just have the Tribute SB-2 in now. Heard good things about the Tribute series though, I think the hardware and electronics are the same as their USA series?

Not sure if you can order from G&L? The CLF Research stuff looks great too.

+1 for the G&L

Got to A/B my L2500 with a Lakland JO5 recently. They're both great. JO5 is super smooth, the G&L just has a gnarly mid-range that I love. I've had mine for about 13 years.

The pre-amp and controls on the L2500 are super flexible if you take the time to get familiar. You can get some nice warm tones in passive/parallel mode and a bunch of power in series/active. And aside from the active switch (just an impedance boost and treble boost), the whole thing is passive, not dependent on batteries.