Kiwi
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Everything posted by Kiwi
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I would expect that the best pickups would be as flat response as possible to allow the filters the greatest flexibililty. It would mean there is greater dependency on construction and materials for anyone chasing a specific timbre.
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All sounded great for different situations. My personal preference was 3...I'm really curious about how it might make my Status bass sound.
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Good question...if I recall correctly, it might be 35" because I was looking for tightness in the lower end (as you do). I never noticed any difference in feel but I have an old Spector which is 35" as well so may well be used to it. -
I hadn't noticed! Shall I post an awkard question relating to your membership status? Split frets, electrically isolated and hard to refret unless the neck is returned to base. I don't think they are but Steve appears to have taken his eye off the ball. Regardless, it really doesn't matter about why, the fact that it's happening is pretty much a death sentence for anyone in this industry, which is a shame. I suspect a solution might be to license the technology out again but I haven't seen Steve since 2009 so perhaps the window of opportunity is running out.
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2 Euphonic Audio (EA) Wizzy 12" M-Line Sale or trade
Kiwi replied to Mike1962's topic in Amps and Cabs For Sale
EA make some outrageously good stuff. I'm jonesing for an iAmp800. -
Bah bahbahbah bah bah-ump.
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Sheehan
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Over last Summer I had a minor purge of gear and concluded I didn't need a 6 in my bass playing life any more, especially since getting a little more serious about guitar. This bass may already be familiar to the longer term members and was made by Jon in 2009. It features a 5 piece through neck in a matt finish featuring maple and wenge laminates. The gloss finished body wings are from mahogany and feature facings made from burl/quilted redwood sinker log that I picked up in 2007 while prices were still sane. Fingerboard is birdseye maple to compliment the burl top and back, and stainless steel frets are fitted for long life. The hardware is made by ABM and the pickups are a set of custom Wizard humbuckers a few years before Andy decided to retire for health reasons. The electronics are comprehensive and include both Jon's own 3 band eq as well as a Graphtec Ghost piezo system that includes a buffer circuit and MIDI filtering to a 13 pin Roland output socket. I ran that through an Axon AX100 at one point (which I still have with me here at home). I can't recall if there are coil splits but the pickups have four wires so definitely split capable. There are also neck LED's fitted on the fingerboard edge which run off their own separate 9v. In terms of dimensions, the string spacing and neck profile was based on a Smith BSR6 that I had just sold so there is plenty of room to move about. The action is quite low and it's very easy to get around on the bass as you might expect for something made by Jon. I would say it's almost (but not quite) like a graphite neck because Jon tends to favour very stiff and dense maple for his necks. The sound can best be described as tight - very even response across the fingerboard with deep lows and bright highs and the wenge adds slight mid emphasis. I have some recorded samples but don't have anywhere to host them as attachments at the moment. I've only gigged this bass once. The rest of the time it's had home use or been in storage. There is one minor ding on the neck where my then-3 year son knocked it against a bookcase in 2015. But apart from that, no other marks to the best of my recollection. Apart from scribbles on the back by a few plonkers noone's probably ever heard of.. The bass is currently on consignment with the Bass Gallery and they've had it so far for ten months. So it's priced below what they are asking in the interests of a quick sale on here. No trades I'm sorry because I can't check the condition of any instruments taken in without them either being in China or me being in the UK....although a Vigier Passion III 5-string with a low action or a 87-88 Status Series II 5 string would be tempting. Hmmm. Any how if you want to go and play this bass, you can go ahead and do that at the Gallery who have done a fine job of looking after it. Feel free to drop me a line with any questions. Oh...and a Hiscox case is included.
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They are, I was just suggesting it was another option. Not necessarily a japanese made option.
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I was raised in Christchurch, yes.
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I've tried a few. They definitely look the part but I've found them to be a bit lifeless for a jazz bass. It doesn't make sense given they look so good on paper. I found Peavey basses the same way as well. If I was in the market for a japanese made Jazz bass, the Moon JB5 would be top of my list. And there is always Sire.
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To a point, yes. I owned a WT800 for a while and it was a very flexible platform. But it was still coloured, as many bass amps were in the mid eighties to noughties. I had three Smiths too and I ended up selling the WT800 because I couldn't hear the Smiths through it on stage. It's an amp better suited for a Jazz bass or something else quite bright. It's the same thing with SWR amps which, I'll also add, make bright, graphite necked basses sound fabulously fat and sweet for some reason. I never had a chance to test something like a Status bass through an Eden WT800 but I've been a proponent of matching basses to amps for over a decade.
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It's not even just eq settings - sometimes it comes down to the colouring of the bass and amp. One rig I played through was a Smith (mid scooped) into an Eden WT800 (also upper mid scooped). Enough mid range was removed that all I got was woof with some string noise. And the owner was a gospel player with some complicated harmonic runs at times. I was bewildered at how he managed to avoid bum notes.
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The Genz and the Eden kind of shared the same thing in common - plenty of midrange. The number of bass rigs I've played through with the mids scooped and I have no idea how the owner can hear themselves on stage. I still have my Shuttle 6's and even replaced the power amp board in one of them myself. Still great bass amps - I can even run my Kemper through the aux ins and use them just as power amps. Very modern and tight sounding but not lacking in warmth where it matters. I can hear myself really clearly on stage. My favourite bass amp is the Mesa Boogie Bass 400+. It weighs the same as a small black hole but...sweet and clean highs with slight compression, plenty of neutral mids and an immersive amount of low end without it ever sounding boomy. I would own one again but realistically it would never leave the house and I have a Trace Hexavalve anyway...(which I haven't played yet despite owning it for 6 years.)
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Would you happen to know a Nova Scotian bass player called Jamie Gatti per chance? Or Bruce Dixon?
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Yeah it wasn't Modulus who made the Alembic stuff but Geoff Gould was setting up Modulus around 84-85 and left someone else in charge of the production. Alembic weren't happy with the results and stopped buying graphite necks altogether in 1984 although there is a custom 5 with an excel shape out there from 1987. The necks for Musicman were originally Modulus and then they went inhouse to Musicman and they had issues with the phenolic resin recipe because all the necks I've played have been like bananas. There were no Cutlass basses made after 84 either. There are some out there without this problem but it's a lottery. I have customised Armstrong humbuckers in my Yamahas because they sounds like PAFs after they've eq'd for recording. Very smooth and rich sounding. Aaron is great to deal with and his prices are incredibly reasonable compared to other hand made pickup suppliers. Plus, his father has been involved with so many major brands including Aria (he made the Alembic licensed single coils), Celinder and Ken Smith. He won't copy those pickups but he'll get you in the ball park if they make a sifference (hint: sometimes they dont)
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Early Cutlass necks were labelled with a reference to Modulus on the back of the headstock. Geoff Gould also made after market necks under the bass-star brand. I read somewhere else that Ashley had issues with the original supplier of graphite necks so switched to another. Also even if the first was made in 85, others could gave followed in 1986. Particularly after Ashley supplied exclusively to the Bass Centre.
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Graphite neck construction can be as inconsistent as wooden necks - the fingerboard is still vitally important in how well the bass can be set up. I've had four Musicman Cutlass basses all with necks like bananas and a couple of Modulus Quantum basses, the fretless also had a banana neck while the fretted was so stiff it sounded like glass breaking. All because of the phenolic (aka Bakelite) fingerboards. Contrast that with the OG, my Alembic Series 1 which plays like butter because it's rigid but dampened by the wooden fingerboard. A bit like Leo, they got it right the first time...and then abandoned graphite necks completely around 84 because of QC issues. Geoff Gould supplied them to Alembic and Musicman AND was setting up Modulus at the same time. You've scored a honey of a bass with no issues. Enjoy it. I would recommend looking at the latest East Pro Uni pre, John has tweaked it so there's more of a mid peak available and with a bit of careful twiddling, it's possible to push things into Status Series II territory, if that's your thing. I've installed one in my Status S1 through neck and it does everything it used to but also now the Series II honk. So now I get to channel Graham Edwards and Go West...in the privacy of my office. BTW, I have a hunch this bass is an 86, not 85. @scojack maybe able to shed some light on things too, he used to run a website for Pangborn instruments.
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Here are a couple more mid-refin so you can take a look under the hood, so to speak.
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For a while I had a Steinberger XL25 - the narrow spacing one and yes it was dense and heavy, even compared to full sized basses. Steinbergers are made from carbon fibre impregnated resin though, not layers like you'll find in most other graphite necked basses. I think the Pangborn might be a carbon wrap but I have nothing other than speculation to base it on. I always liked the Panger's ergonomics and meant to trace the body shape before I took it to the Gallery. But my UK visit this summer was absolutely mental in terms of logistical complications and I didn't get time to see anyone...not even relatives. Any how, it seemed to me that Ashley was trying to make a greatest hits of eighties basses with this one - the pickups are Armstrong and modelled on the GMT pickup Kent Armstrong made for Rob Green originally. The body shape is clearly Alembic influenced but downsized. The electronics seem inspired by Jaydee. The original finish was so thick Tim (who helps Jon and used to be in Dead or Alive) was ready to give up on it. Those horns in the omega shape were literally sanded out of finish, not wood!
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It was mine. I'm a little confused about why I'm finding out that theyve sold it from you rather than them. But thats not your problem. 😶 I dont know much about it either apart from suspecting it may be one of a batch commissioned by the Bass Centre. The nut is precision width which I read somewhere was a specific request from the Bass Centre. The bass was refinished by Jon Shuker earlier this year after the armour plating cracked due to movement by the body wood. Jon thinks the wings are basswood, I think they might be alder. Either way they're quite light and soft. What reference did you uncover? I'm curious.
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Did you buy it from the Bass Gallery recently?
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I"m gonna a give a shout out to this guy. Killer reinterpretations of well known bass parts with a little more elaboration in a gospel style but not overplaying or losing the pocket. Gouche and Barnes should sit up and take notes because this is how it's done.
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The bass model design that You hate with passion.
Kiwi replied to nilorius's topic in General Discussion
I tried one in the Bass Gallery and didn't like it either. It was too stiff, really glassy sounding and that top horn dig into my ribs. Still, it was more playable than a ricky. -
The bass model design that You hate with passion.
Kiwi replied to nilorius's topic in General Discussion
I've only ever had one experience of using a bass that was so awkwardly dysfunctional that it killed all desire to pick one up again. It was a Ricky 4001, clearly designed for pick players rather than fingerstyle and so much hardware seemed to get in the way. Of course, they're a well known bass for a reason but most (not all) players I've seen using them are using a pick. Too much compromise for me.
