miles'tone

Hoora........ah, bugger.

Now only for sale with added pics (finally).

Wow I remember that being on! Can't believe it was '92, how time flies!
Thanks for the link.

[quote name='pobrien_ie' timestamp='1372109150' post='2121845']


I can see both sides. The fact that it was supposedly stolen would allow the family to feel somewhat aggrieved. Wasn't he living rough at the time? I suppose it's possible it wasn't 'stolen' at all.

One of the stories with Jamerson's Funk Machine is similar. Rumour had he sold it before his death. The now common photos of an older Jameron showing off a bass that is not his '62 P Bass could back that up. Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that.

If RT is willing to return the bass for what he paid, that would seem fair to me. Just my tuppence...
[/quote]

Yes good points there.
The fact that RT owns the bass and lets Jaco's sons have access whenever they want and will hand it over if they give him back what he paid for it is the best outcome possible in reality.
RT took Jaco's bass to NAMM last year and let a few people play it. Good on him for sharing it with the wider bass world.
Better than some collector buying it and hiding it away from everyone again.

The way I question I always have about it all is this:

It's widely known and accepted that Jaco's bass of doom was stolen from him. When it surfaced again all those years later it is still stolen property isn't it?
Surely the police could simply gone to the vintage guitar dealer who had it and just taken it back and returned the stolen goods to it's rightful owner/next of kin?

Seems fair to me. Raising money to buy back what really is theirs shouldn't have been an issue for the Pastorius family anyway.

I guess the law was against them in some way.

They were great. The neck came very well packaged and didn't take too long to arrive, 10 days I think.
Once you take into account the cost for shipping and import duty/vat it's a very dear do though.
This is my second neck from them. I did have trouble with the first as it was an old reissue neck which had a bit of a corkscrew thing going on when it arrived which wasn't noticeable until it was put under tension. They did offer to exchange it straight away which was great of them but I just couldn't justify the cost of posting the twisted neck back to them and then paying the import tax/vat AGAIN when the replacement arrived, so I unhappily just let it go.
I ordered this neck about 2 and a half years later.
They do have great feedback and I found them helpful but I wouldn't buy a used old neck from them again (meaning that an old, settled neck doesn't take too kindly to being flown around the world in different climates it seems!) But if you buy brand new it would be fine I expect, especially with the graphite support rods like in this case.

I'm going to put some pics up for this neck later this week (at last), maybe then I can tempt you with a gorgeous bit of rosewood

Cheers,

Si.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut1q-SzURjo

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1371656135' post='2116689']
Frampton Comes Alive is fretless P if the sleeve art is anything to go by.
[/quote]

Y'now, I bought this album and it didn't really grab me at all at first. Nothing wrong with it, it's just my tastes are usually a little more 'out there' for want of a better expression.
Then I found this video (the link at the top of this post) on bassist Stanley Sheldon's website and now it all makes sense.
Frampton Comes Alive was actually a live album filmed in the daytime. No fancy stage show or lighting rig. No big screens or pyros, nothing. Just a few guys on stage playing their instruments to a few thousand people going absolutely apesh*t for them (hard to imagine this happening today).
Add to this that the whole concert was released as an album with NO OVERDUBS whatsoever, and this album was the highest selling no.1 album that year and still remains the best selling live album ever!
Sheldon had only joined the band eight weeks previously and nailed every song on the album playing a fretless! (Whilst providing some backing vox too!)
So yeah, Stanley Sheldon? What a Badass!!
(Loving his black/white/maple fretless P in the vid too - super cool!)

Cheers again everyone for all the fantastic suggestions here, loving them all. Great to have some new music to get into - nice one!

Cheers,

Si.

I read a further article (linked from talkbass I think) somewhere that Trujillo paid around $60000 to get the bass of doom back. Can't find it again right now sorry.
As for Norman Watt-Roy's Blockhead bass, it was sold here...

http://www.andybaxterbass.com/details.php?id=165

Updated ad: Now also for sale.

[quote name='pobrien_ie' timestamp='1371665387' post='2116819']
Aren't some of John Deacon's Queen basslines on a fretless p? I think Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Somebody to Love are, maybe Under Pressure too.
[/quote]

Hey you're right about Deaky playing one but the only evidence I can make out on line is he used one on a track called "'39" live.

Anyone know if he actually recorded with a fretless?

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1371657486' post='2116710']
Ralphe Armstrong when he was in the Mahavishnu Orchestra -

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtckEWfy2vE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtckEWfy2vE[/url]

He is also prominent on 'Visions Of The Emerald Beyond' and 'Inner Worlds'. All three super albums.

Ralphe has said it was one of the reasons he got the job - no-one was really playing fretless P!
[/quote]

This album is amazing! Very cinematic with some nice funky passages.
Cheers!!

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1371680832' post='2117036']
cheers for that! The strings are Rotosound Tru Bass, the big fat black nylon strings as used by Herbie Flowers, Jah Wobble and Macca
[/quote]

Very nice! I've always loved Macca's tone on The Beatles rooftop gig using them. I really must give them a go sometime.

Thanks for the offer damon but I'm just after an American Special Precision neck. They're really slim front to back with graphite support rods.

Cheers,

Si.

[quote name='mcgraham' timestamp='1371708584' post='2117129']
Walked down the aisle to Yann Tiersen

Walked out of the church to Totally Addicted to Bass
[/quote]

and into the last of the V8 Interceptors?
(wish I'd thought of that one!)

Multi-coloured Swap Shop bump
(showing my age there! )

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1371659997' post='2116760']


This guy's intonation is laughable. What a clown.
[/quote]

You can't kid a kidder, I'm having none of it!


Cheers everyone else for all your suggestions, not got any further so far but I'm going to listen to everything else tomorrow now.
Hats off to y'all!

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1371655687' post='2116685']
and finally, errr, here's me playng a fretless P

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v4PAaY7XU4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v4PAaY7XU4[/url]
[/quote]

That is a wicked tune mate! Right up my street - even Mrs.'tone liked it. She said ,"Ooo that's good, who's that?" I told her and she said,"That's much nicer than that other rubbish you've been listening too!"
Needless to say the Brand X hasn't been going down too well!
Cracking tone there Clarky, really smooth. What strings are you using?

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1371655279' post='2116679']
Erm, BC's very own wateroftyne?

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhdDipy8MB0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhdDipy8MB0[/url]
[/quote]

Yep, I've seen all his fretless youtube vids and his tone on them is pretty much what's doing it for me (and giving me some GAS induced sleepless nights! )
Seriously, he's getting really close to an upright tone on there, more authentic than some EUB's I've tried.
I play some upright too but I've not gigged it in ages to be honest.

I've grown up listening to Jaco and many fretless Jazz Bass players - the quintessential fretless tone? - but recently I've fallen in love with the awesome woody tones of the rarer beast that is the fretless P-bass.
I know Sting with the Police, Percy Jones with Brand X, Freebo with Bonnie Rait and of course Tony Franklin have all toted one in their time but beyond that, who else?
Can anybody suggest any recordings that have a fretless P to the fore (ie. noticeable)?
Need some further inspiration!

Cheers,

Si.

Down the aisle - Just In Time (Frank Sinatra)

Signing the register - Dirty Old Town (The Pogues)

Walked out to - I'm gonna be (500 miles) (The Proclaimers)

Awesome day

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1371558848' post='2115460']


What makes you say that?
[/quote]

Time is money that's what. Would you go out and gig for free every time just because you enjoy it?

Me neither.

This site must cost a fair bit to run and if the owners do have day jobs as well, then I for one don't begrudge them earning some dough for the time and effort it takes to keep my favourite place on the Internet alive.
If I sell a bass then what's 7 quid to cough up? I say this as somebody who has been hit very hard by the recession (one man band closing his business finally as it's costing me more to keep it open than what I make). EDIT: by this I don't mean I'm walking around town with a bass drum and hi-hats strapped to my back - I'm a tradey by day.
This means I'm not in a situation to buy anything right now so that's me out of the market place in that respect.
However, I have bass stuff that I can still trade so I do wish we could still do swapsies for free as there isn't money changing hands. But I know full well that the reality of that aspect of the market place will come with a "trade this for that with money my/your way half the time, so keeping tabs on that would be a nightmare.
The stock fees then are the easiest way to keep things fair.
Even if there were no fees I still wouldn't be buying anything right now. Things will pick up again eventually, and round and round it goes as it always has done.

Hey everyone.

I recently had this neck up for sale/trade and after much umming and ahhing about it being too slim for my large hands I decided to keep it as it cost me an arm and a leg from the STRATosphere ebay shop in the states.
The neck comes with a lovely fret dress by one of Cardiff's best luthiers.
As I previously decided to keep it I did start to spray a nitro amber tint finish over it but the stuff just didn't look good so I sanded it off as I was going to tru-oil it (the finish is missing in places) but I've had to be honest at last and admitted to myself that I need a P-bass neck to suit my size (yes it's been a wee nightmare really as it cost me including the fretdress £380 all in )

So, a Posiflex graphite support rod, super fast USA jazz neck for £130 posted.



Cheers,

Si.

Not to be presumptuous about the way you play but check out this vid. Great advice regarding left hand technique. I was playing for 20 years and it still helped me iron out some issues. Maybe it can help you too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRkSsapYYsA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Hi there.
I'm in similar situation as I bought an American Special Jazz neck for my ongoing P project. On paper I thought it would be what I wanted but it is very slim front to back and it gives me cramps combined with the skinny nut width. Really wish I'd got the Am Special Precision neck as I like the front to back thinness but need a wider neck.
What do you find uncomfortable about your Precision? Is it's the chunky neck front to back? (I personally find the Am standards on the chunky side - I had an Am Standard jazz) If so, the American special P may suit you better due to it's slimness front to back.
Is it the width of the neck giving you probs? Try an Am Standard Jazz neck for it's thin nut width but chunky depth. Sometimes a bit of girth will stop some people from cramping up as it can help keep the hand relaxed by not pinching the thumb and fingers too close together.
I'd avoid the Am Special jazz in your case as that's very much like an Ibby sr.

Hand cramps are a bummer for sure. I hope you get sorted soon.

Edit: Mickster is right, get professional medical/physio advice pronto, as this, more than anything will help you make the right decision here.
Best of luck,

Si.