Linus27

For 20 years I played my black Jazz with rosewood board with no pickguard as I hated the white one. In the last year or so I have put the white one on and think it looks cool. It has to be an age thing. I'm getting a fretless neck made for it so I might get a black pickguard made as your Jazz look great with one.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='938012' date='Aug 27 2010, 12:29 PM']Pics tonight. ill take a couple as it came but hoping my black PG will fit so ill get some of those as well. I might even put a tort on it if ti fits. I had one of these on my old black HW-one P and it looked pretty good. I do think this bass looks more robust than the MIA. The lack of gloss might help but ti looks very road worthy. Jazz basses eh? who'd have thought i would go back to these after the past few years of not liking them. Then again, im already thinking of a P body for this neck, but thats next year sometime. Oh, and another coincidence. I was also using my Behringer BDI21 last NYE. After not using ti for a while and getting a Sadowsky DI recently im now getting rid of that and going back to the BD21 (hopefully a BDDI). so, in effect i had my ideal tone last NYE and its taken me money and 7 months to realise that.[/quote] I've gone back to a Precision after all these years and loving it. I also play my Stingray lots. In fact the only Jazz I have is being made a fretless

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='937980' date='Aug 27 2010, 12:01 PM']Well it looks like this saga might be coming to a close. The Highway-one just turned up and i must say its seems much better put together. Pups are where they should be, routing if fine, no gaps under any frets and it seems a bit lighter than the MIA (i will weigh it on our postage scales today, just for reference). The neck pocket is also spot no but so were the MIA's. The finish if good although there are one or two very, very light surface scratches. Im not in the slightest bothered about this as after the first gig im sure it will have a few more. I loved the shiny finish on the MIA but i do like this flat back finish as well. It looks very rock and roll. Ive not plugged it in yet, and the action is a bit high due partly to too much relief but thats all easily sorted. So, its been a trying 4 weeks but i think i got there. And considering my original budget was £500 im very happy to have only just gone over that, rather than double it. This all started because i was a bit unhappy with my CVJ and wanted a MIM 70's classic, mainly for the blocked neck, but due to these MIA issues ive been forced to play it more and im back in love with it, although the HW is going to be my main bass from now on (fingers crossed) Cheers for reading and letting me share my experience. Oh, and a big thumbs up to Reidys (especially John and Paul), the shop thats been dealing with all this. These guys have had to put up with me sending 3 MIA's back and not once did they try and get out of it, they have paid all the postage both ways and been very helpful. I will definitely use them again and will be my first port of call for my next bass. Funny thing. I started this year playing my vastly under used HW1, then got rid of it and had my first experience with a MM (Sub, and then Ray34), first time with a maple necked Jazz but i expect ill go out playing a HW-one (i know, there is still time to go through a few more basses before NYE)[/quote] Pictures?????????????????

[quote name='wombatboter' post='937865' date='Aug 27 2010, 10:08 AM']If you don't have a lot of money to spend I would say an Ibanez Musician...I think it's up to the same level as very expensive basses. I've owned a couple of them and for around 350-400 £ you get an excellent instrument. I have owned four fretless Wal basses (two MKI, two Pro basses) and though they sound amazing with a tone of their own I was often disappointed by the sustain. I took a fretless Wal MKI to the studio once and I had to play a ballad in 3/4 and the notes died before I wanted them to. Luckily I had another fretless with me which did the job. I've sold all my fretless Wal basses, used a fretless Lefay bass for a long time (best sustain ever) but sold that one too. Now I stick to the Pedulla Buzz which I bought here on BC for 900£.. plenty of punch and a character of its own. My advice : if you have to think about your budget, an Ibanez Musician or a good Fender Jazz MIJ or MIM and if you have a bit more to spend : a Pedulla. But plenty of options left..[/quote] Did you ever try a Stingray?

[quote name='Chris2112' post='937739' date='Aug 27 2010, 01:35 AM']I'd still love to sit down with a Fender Jaco signature and have a proper go of one, rather than just 10 minutes in a shop. I fear though I might be disappointed given that the other fretless basses I like are all high tech, hand made affairs. IIRC Guitar Guitar in Newcastle had one a couple of years ago, one of the most beautiful fenders I've seen![/quote] Yes, I would also even to just clarify what tones I can get from it. A stingray fretless is another I would love to try especially to compare tonally against a fretted Stingray.

[quote name='risingson' post='934925' date='Aug 24 2010, 04:01 PM']Touring is a good laugh, although you need to be prepared for hanging around a lot of the time which can be such a pain. I love seeing new places on the continent though, that's what's great about it... being places you're unlikely to have seen had you not embarked on a tour in the first place.[/quote] Yeah, thats something I love also.

oh, we also had fake names when we booked into hotels and B&B's etc. We used the following names, Colin Quartercheese (Reference to Knob Cheese) Ginger Burns (My sideburns are ginger) Quentin Carruthers (Can't remember, porn name I think) Stewart Farquare (From the Carry On Abroad film and sounds like Stupid f***er when said fast)

Really bad news about your basses Dave. Quite shocking also. My MIA Fender precision plays superb but I'm not very good at looking at QC issues. If it plays nice, feels nice and sounds nice then I am happy. Maybe I should pay more attention to build quality in the future.

I am blown away with my 2EQ. Tonally it is 1000 x better than the two 3EQ's I had. I can't get a bad tone out of my 2EQ where as I struggled to get a good tone out of either of my 3EQ's. Its so good than I am thinking of selling my Warwick Corvette as my MIA Precision, ESP Jazz and 2EQ Stingray are all I need now.

Thanks for the input everyone. I had forgotten about Wal basses. My favourite bass player, Derek Forbes used to play a fretless Wal and many other 80's bassists played fretless Wal's. Such a shame they are so expensive.

Probably not a right or wrong answer to this question due to personnel preferences, but however, what is considered the best fretless bass? Musicman Stingray, Fender Jazz, Status or even something older like an Ibanez Musician or Aria Pro? Any thoughts? Maybe a better question would be what are the best fretless basses?

[quote name='mcnach' post='932684' date='Aug 22 2010, 12:28 PM']yum! [/quote] lol you clearly have great taste

[quote name='mcnach' post='932395' date='Aug 22 2010, 12:41 AM']Can I pay you a (small ) retainer so that you email me that post above every 2-3 weeks? [/quote] I will happily accept the following payments,

[quote name='chris_b' post='931991' date='Aug 21 2010, 04:27 PM']I think the rest of my post answers that question. Charlie Watts' comment to David Hepworth sums it all up: 25 years of the Rolling Stones, 5 years playing and 20 years hanging around.[/quote] HAHA great comment

[quote name='Doddy' post='931845' date='Aug 21 2010, 12:51 PM']I love it,but let's be honest it's not easy-especially if you are doing a self financed tour,with little money involved. By tour,I don't mean three or four days on the trot-I mean weeks. If you've got a decent gig it is certainly easier,although you may end up travelling on your own which can be very tiring. It's not for everone. People see the couple of hours on stage and hear the stories,but don't know(or want to know) about the other 22 hours a day-Alot of bands have split after doing badly run tours. I've grown up around touring-spending time in hotels and dingy caravans on theatre car parks,driving for ten hours a day and getting home in daylight-and I'm doing it myself now,so I have a pretty good idea how it works........And I wouldn't have it any other way.[/quote] It certainly has to be organised well. Our tour manager had the great idea of a bunch of gigs in Scotland, then a gig in London the next day and then down to Southampton and then all the way back to Scotland for some more gigs. Still, Father Ted videos kept up amused for most of the journeys I think its important to have a very strong unit where band members and crews have a good understanding of each persons personality as well as understanding your own personality and moods. If your feeling stressed, tired, fragile, no point putting yourself in a position where the other members can get on your nerves and likewise, they should be able to read the signs when you need your own space.

[quote name='chris_b' post='931780' date='Aug 21 2010, 11:41 AM']Like the mooning in inappropriate places, the women and when you shaved the roadies eyebrows off when he passed out.[/quote] HAHA oh yes and much worse. Our singer and guitarist had a habit of taking their clothes off. Quite a few inappropriate photos of people asleep on the tour bus with body parts on their shoulders or and around the head. I'm amazed they never got arrested in France on one occasion. Oh and if someone is driving, its always a good laugh to post porno pictures on the back of their car or a sign saying I shag Horses, Honk if you think I'm odd especially if its a 3 hour motorway drive from Manchester to London. The whole journey they are confused at why they are getting lots of attention from other drivers You see, touring can be fun with the right people, just expect to get hit at some point. We had to do a showcase gig in the centre of Dundee. Live vocals and miming everything else. Our roadies set up all our gear upside down, back to front and just totally wrong. Strings very loose, drums back to front and bits made of cardboard. Oh and I think rolling pins for drum sticks. Plus interesting signs all over the amps :)

I love it and appreciate it for what it was. I hate bands that slag off touring saying its hard work and really boring. If you don't like it then go back to your day job as not everyone gets the chance to be in a band and tour. It does take some planning though but we always had a selection of videos, books, magazines plus Ipods, games machines, cards etc. On days off we used to always try and fit it some kind of trip like Loch Ness, the beach, shopping, castles etc. Take a camera also for all the memories.

Been away from the forum a bit and totally stunned to find out we have lost Si. When I read the news, I could not believe it was who I thought. Very shocked. Si really was an amazing person. He helped me and gave me some advice of Jap Fenders but was never pushy. His humour was great. Very very sad news indeed. RIP Si and thanks for all the help. I hope this is not insensitive but I never saw the original thread. Would it be wrong or rude to ask via PM what actually happened? Sorry if this offends and I will remove if it does.

[quote name='urb' post='923460' date='Aug 13 2010, 07:36 AM']Thanks man - I have to admit I've been ignoring my fretless for a while so I put some new strings on it a week ago and have been getting back into it again - this bass has a wicked tone and it's very easy to get around on because of its narrow string spacing but I'm trying to play it with as much control as possible, and almost succeeding! I love fretless but I don't think it works all the time, but for lyrical melodic playing it's absolutely perfect... glad you enjoyed this I pleased with the backing as well on this too. Mike[/quote] It really does sound sweet. What bass is it?

[quote name='silddx' post='923010' date='Aug 12 2010, 06:12 PM']Thank you mate! Feel free to chuck us a bassline and I'll give it the silddx analysis [/quote] Your welcome and I may well do that

[quote name='silddx' post='922988' date='Aug 12 2010, 05:53 PM']Erm, thanks I'm not sure what to say to that, it wasn't anything clever, it's just what I heard from one listen. I don't know squat about theory except some of the very basics so I don't know what Mike is actually doing. I just use my ears. Maybe it's years of listening to Zappa and stuff and reading loads of sh*te about music I'll take your comment as a very nice compliment, thank you very much! Maybe I do have good ears after all![/quote] It certainly was a nice compliment. Quite impressed me. I can pick out if someone plays melodic, driven, funky or plays around the root, but to actually notice that someone sounds very dark and ends a lot of the runs descending was quite detailed. Very impressive.