BigRedX

The Bass Cellar can be good or bad depending on the staff's attitude, the current stock and the number of other poeple in the store.

The Bass Centre is good if you're interested in Warwicks or Fenders (I'm not), although like the Cellar they occasionally have something else interesting in.

However the Gallery is always brilliant. There's something for all bass player's tastes - even mine.

Interesting points being made. Out of interest how many people here also write/compose songs/music as a major part of what you contribute towards your band as well as playing bass?

For me, I see myself as a writer/composer first and a musician second. Up until my current band every other band I've been involved in I was the main writer of the music that the band played. Even if I was joining an existing band, I found myself responisble for the majority of the new songs we wrote. I was never particularly bothered about cover versions, they were something that other bands did, and to be honest one of the things that drove me as both a writer and a musician was that there was very little music that was exactly what I wanted to hear, so I had to write my own if I wanted any more. My musical taste seldom co-incides with the mainstream so I don't normally enjoy covers bands unless they happen to play stuff I like and are very good at it. I'd rather be challenged by something new, but in the current musical climate in this country I see and hear very little of that even from "original" bands. I suppose it's no surprise that the original music that stimulates me at the moment comes mostly from Scandanavia and Japan.

However, in order to keep playing I have joined a band that had originally been doing mainly covers. Unfortunately there's a shortage of interesting original bands who are willing to taken on someone in their 40s as a member, no matter how proficient their musical skills are or how much they like the music being produced. I find it gratifying to see people up and dancing as we're playing but I'm also thinking "where were you b@st@rds when my last band was gigging?" because our songs were just as catchy and dancable (in many cases more so) but simply not as familiar. Also while I enjoy playing the songs and find it challenging to play in a style that is not one I would normally pick, I'm also not so sure how interested I would be in this band if I was not up on stage, but in the audience instead.

Sorry I must have missed that this thread had been added to...

I was going to buy mine from [url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Grand-Central-Music"]Grand Central Music[/url], but in the end a nearly-new second-hand one came up at a better price with all the extras, so I got that instead.

Therefore I can't really advise yous as to how good the store may be except to say that they answered all my questions regarding shipping costs and adding a hard case to the price very promptly and their feedback seems to be pretty good. Just bear in mind when you price your Traben up that if the seller uses USPS to ship to the UK you'll almost definitely have to pay duty VAT and ParcelForces handling fees on it (around 20-25% of the combined cost of the bass plus the shipping cost).

[quote name='Sibob' post='48249' date='Aug 21 2007, 12:14 PM']As for the Atum-Re design, who can honestly say that they'd use that in one of their musical projects??[/quote]

I'd have one in a flash if it played and balanced nicely.

I've only ever sold one bass - A Hagstrom Futurama that I bought as a backup for my Burns Sonic Bass, after breaking a string at an important gig and having to use the support band's horrible violin bass. Of course I never broke another string on the Burns at a gig after that, and unfortunately the Futrama wasn't half the bass from either a sound or playing perspective that the Burns was despite being in almost pristine condition (the Burns was much modified when I bought it - only the wood, frets and pickups were original). I ended up selling it for what I paid for it to the owner of the affore-mentioned violin bass for him to use as a backup and put the money towards a semi-acoustic 12 string. I wouldn't mind having it back mostly because it is the the only one I've ever sold and also because if it's still in the condition it was in when I let it go it would be worth a fair ammount money now (or at least compared with what I originally paid for it!)

With a bit of experimentation with strings and EQ settings you should be able to get a similar sound out of a [url="http://www.lightwave-systems.com/"]Lightwave Bass[/url].

Different picks of different materials and thicknesses are going to give you different sounds.

For bass I use Herco Flex 75s. For guitar a use a whole variety of picks depending on the kind of sound I want. If you're breaking picks try using heavier and/or more flexible ones (ie nylon rather than hard plastic). Of course they'll sound different so you'll have to find a suitable compromise between durability and sound.

No picks last for ever even the heavy and flexible Hercos I use are only good for a couple of weeks of hard playing before they've worn too much away. Once you find the picks you like buy yourself a good quantity of them.

Um... Unless the bass has some really wierd and wonderful active circuitary, the pots are most likely to be either 250 or 500k and either linear or log taper. Surely all your tech has to do is to take them out (they're being replaced anyway you say) and measure them with a multimeter to find out what they are?

Personally I wouldn't let anyone who doesn't seem to have even this level of electronic knowledge anywhere near any of my gear for repair...

Multi-instrumentalist/sound sculpter who currently plays bass.

I'm a pretty good bass player within my preferred styles, a passable guitarist, and can bash the keys well enough to get my ideas into the sequencer.

Have been playing in bands since I was 15, currently heading towards 47...

These days I'm mostly playing fretless (inflenced by Mick Karn) with occsional chord/lead bass in the style of Peter Hook.

I like wierd looking instruments - if everybody else hates it, I'm probably GASing for it!

Which model are you after?

I bought mine off ebay.

There's plenty of bargains still available depending on which model you want.

I got a Traben Phoenix 5 in blood red plus gig bag and (non-Traben) hardcase for £300 inluding 2 day FedEx delivery and no import duty VAT to pay.

YMMV on the payment of duty and VAT.

Having had a look on both of their sites now, I'd be more inclided to go for a bass based on their Atum-Re design. There's potential to get an original take on the single-cut design for a bass there - the sculpted/rounded back looks very interesting (or is that just a trick of the finish?), rather than the more conservative but seemingly pleasing to no-one shape that they've been proposing.

As ffor J-style basses IMO there's already too many. If I wanted one I'd either get a Fender or a Lakland or Celindar...

Thanks for putting up those sound clips.

Now I definitely know that this pre-amp is what I want. I'll be ordering one for my Buzz at the end of the month. Just got to check there's enough room for all the bits...

Some interesting design elements going on there (including a bit of a nod to the Overwater Original shape), but as Alan says the top horn is too big. I'd go further and say that both horns look too large in relation to the rest of the guitar so either reduce the horns or flare out the body more after the waist. Also I don't like angled pick-ups (on anything that doesn't have fanned frets). I can't believe that the slight angle of these makes enough of a difference to the sound to justify the ugliness of the look - these just look as though they were put on wrong. Also more imprtantly from a bass playing PoV I find angled pickups uncomfortable to use a thumb rests. What would be cool if they must have angled pick-ups, would be custom covers so at least the bass side of the pickup was parallel to the string. I'd also consider ditching the pickguard if the woods used are nice enough looking or making it a little fatter (to me the proportions don't quite sit right with the body, although with the reshaping of the horns the slim design might work better.) Reversed headstocks are cool looking on guitars, but watch for neck-dive on basses also the reach to the E tuner in this configuration might be a little too far for those of us with shorter arms...

Hope there's some useful food for thought there - although they might want to look more closely at my general taste in guiatrs and basses before taking too much notice of my comments! ;-)

The cr@pness of the E on Rotosound short scale strings was what got me buying them from Newtone instead.

I think the switch to fretless was very much helped by the style of music of the band I'd just joined. I started with me hearing a much more fluid style than I was getting from my fretted Gus on a couple of songs, and then once I'd got into the posibilities of not having any frets it just took off. The first gig I did, I only played fretless on one song. The next time I was playing half fretless, half fretted. Now it's only the 4 or so uptempo rocky songs where I tend to play chords and use a pick that are played on the fretted bass.

parker_muse, thanks for the kind words - the current list price for a Gus G3 bass is around £3000 depending on which options you choose. Not cheap. but like the Sei Basses worth every penny. A great sounding and playing instrument with a unique visual identity.

That's looking sweet now it's all coming together.

I really like the upside down strat jack socket idea.

Bob's a great person - I was seriously considering a fretless from him until Simon at Gus made me an offer I'd have been stupid to refuse...

Looking forward to seeing how this build finishes up.

That may well have been me.

Try [url="http://www.newtonestrings.com/"]Newtone[/url]. They're the only short scale strings that have allowed me to get a decent note out of the E string on my Burns Sonic Bass.

Interesting neck/head construction. Like to see how that feels when playing around the first two frets.

Thanks silverfoxnik,

I like the futuristic vibe too. I only started playing fretless 2 years ago, but now I only use fretted bass on about a quarter of the songs my band plays. For me there's something more "tactile" and expressive about playing without frets. Give it a go. You can get a Squire VMF Jazz for around £200 which is an excellent bass to try it out on.

With my two Gus basses I've got most of my low-end options covered:



And of course I could always add a bit of guitar with my Gus G1 Vibrato!

For that slightly cheesy retro styling I prefer [url="http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/"]Eastwood[/url]

Sort of GASing for an [url="http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/Bass/eub-1/images/EUB1-big/4227eebfretlessblackFINAL.jpg"]EUB-1[/url]

Lorne - what's the scale length on BCR 8-stingers? They look shorter that than the others. - 30"?

[url="http://www.east-uk.com/jrhome.htm"]Everything you need to know about the J-Retro[/url]

I fitted one to in my Squire VM Fretless Jazz and it's great. However I do think that on the whole fitting the Badass II Bridge did as much to improve the sound of the bass for 1/4 the price. Also check to body thickness and cavity depth of your Squire before buying. The body on mine is significantly thinner than a standard Fender J and as a consequence I had to route about 2mm out of the control cavity for the J-Retro to fit. Any more and I would have been worried about the structural integrety of the control cavity back.

Here's my Phoenix 5.



This is my spare fretted bass and live back-up for my Gus G3 5-string. One or two issues with it construction wise - the battery compartment cover is much too tight a fit to remove easily (or at all so far) and it needs a bit more attention to the finishing of the fret ends - but for the price (£300 inc shipping from the US) I can't really complain.

There see to be have been plenty of bargains on ebay recently if you're prepared to buy from the US. I'm on the look out for a Bootsy Collins 5-string Signature model at the right price.

Alpha-Dave, AFAIK all the Gus instruments have a Cedar core. Some of the more recent ones (in paticular the G1 10 guitar) have a carbon weave finish, but it's still a skin only. There's a [url="http://www.gusguitars.com/tour.php"]workshop tour[/url] on the Gus site which explains his construction technique, plus more info in a recent article in recent Guitar and Bass Magazine where Simon explains the changes he's made to the production process since the site tour. Simon makes all the parts himself except for the machine heads, strap buttons, frets and electronc components. The bridge is a wonderful design and the vibrato one on the guitar is very smooth and stable.

I've been interested in the instruments Simon produces as Gus Guitars since I saw pictures of his prototypes in the musical instrument mags in the mid to late 80s. I'm now fortunate enough to be the owner of three - this fretless, a 5-string fretted bass and a G1 vibrato guitar.

I like my instruments to be visually impactful as well as playing and sounding great, that's why I'm also GASing for a Basslab, and a Spalt Hybrid as well as looking for the opportunity to try out some of the more weird and wonderful basses and guitars that I've seen on various luthiers' web sites.

steve-soar, glad you like it! Can't have enough of the shiny! Have I tempted you into ordering for one yourself though?