cloudburst

I've recently got GAS and it really is quite scary. For many years I had one bass - no problems. However, having a second home in another country meant I had to get a second bass and that's when the trouble began. It's like the floodgates have opened. There is no such thing as a few. It's one or many. I'm buying two more this weekend ffs. How do you get rid of GAS? Is there any cure? CB PS: Although - here's a thought. Musical instruments are quite a good investment. And a fairly safe way to avoid putting all your eggs in the one bank basket that just might go belly up.

Only 2 still remain in existence? Owner number 1 please donate to Fender museum. Owner number 2 please buy a pack of matches and do the decent thing. CB

Thanks Lozz. @Luke - re parts, I don't think there is a neck in the finish I'm looking for. I may be wrong. CB

Still playing the original strings that my J-bass came with when I bought it. That was...er...in 1974. But they just seem to be getting better and better with age. Love the tone from my setup. All this new string stuff? Pah. Marketing hype. CB

I recently bought a 51 RI. It's a MIJ 'T' serial number, is in absolutely mint condition - literally not a single mark on it. It has the SCPB-3 Quarter Pound pickup and the 4 saddle bridge - although I still have the originals. It plays and sounds absolutely fabulous. Really really good tone and great neck and action. Thing is - I think it looks vile in that toxic sludge butterscotch blonde. Soooooo... I have a plan to do turn it into a contemporary-series one-off as follows: - Refinish body in deep gloss black - Reface fingerboard in rosewood with pearl dots and black nut - Refinish neck and headstock in deep gloss black - will need a silver decal to stand out on the black - Retain vintage reverse tuners in silver which will match silver control panel, knobs and... - ... 51 bridge and pickup covers which I have just bought - Finally add a transparent scratchplate (which I already have) What are your thoughts? Am I ruining a pristine instrument? Would someone be prepared to photoshop this up for me please? Ta, CB

Hadn't seen one of these headstock decals before. Amusing. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FRETLESS-PRECISION-BASS_W0QQitemZ140776267861QQcmdZViewItemQQssPageNameZRSS:B:SRCH:GB:102 CB

[quote name='MattM' timestamp='1340137044' post='1699870'] Anything with more than three knobs on the front - 'good design is when something is as simple as it needs to be, but no simpler' [/quote] Oddly enough I was told this quote for the first time in my life at about four thirty this very afternoon. CB

Large logo and thumb-rest on bass side. 1974/75 is my estimate (but I'm not terribly good at this sort of thing). CB

These new Fenders with "reverse headstocks". Words fail me. Pre-f**ked basses at hugely inflated prices to cover Denmark St shop overheads and pander to Denmark St egos. Anything so complicated that it doesn't have a signature tone. One of those ill-advised abortions that had fretted E/A and fretless D/G. That hideous Fender Antigua snot-burst finish that they have seen fit to re-inflict upon us. That Fender 51 RI in visible-from-space mustard. The really really unfortunate thing here is that I own one of these with the quarter pound pickup and it plays and sounds far too good to do the most appropriate thing which is to sell it and allow style to return to my living room. If only I could have it re-finished in black like a sort of contemporary-japan-jazz-bass special one-off 51 RI. Now there's a plan... CB PS: How about a roadworn 51 RI in mustard with an antigua scratchplate, complicated active electronics, a half fretted maple neck with black block inlays and LEDs and a reverse headstock. Sorry if you're eating your dinner.

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1339844182' post='1695241'] I think it's about pickup position/tonal balance and where that sits in the mix, along with whether you want instruments to blend together or stand apart. It's why a P is stereotypically so good for rock, really thick low mids and good fundamental that help it blend into the guitars to create a solid sound without eating into the higher frequencies, where the guitars are really biting and the vocal sits. Funk and disco on the other hand, often uses a thinner, more tonally restricted guitar sound leaving more room for a bass to work as a distinct voice in rhythmic counterpoint (though like rock still blending with the kick drum), works well with the upper-mid bite of a jazz or 'ray. But plenty of great funk with the clankier 70-type Precision sound (Paul Jackson springs to mind). I'm not sure about long sustain for jazz, depends what you're playing but the thud and relatively rapid decay of a double bass is often what's required for walking. Obviously Jaco's bridge pup sound is a very prominent voicing, lots going on around 500-1.5k ie lower vocal range where our ears are nicely sensitive. [/quote] Thanks for taking the time LawrenceH. This is exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. CB

@Truckshop - no worries mate. I did actually have a good reason for starting this thread. Perhaps I should explain: I've played my Fender Jazz since getting it new when I was 9 (I'm now 47). I liked the Jazz really because 1) I have quite small hands and 2) because I'd happened to walk past an open-air evangelism theatre and latched onto the warm booming bass which was a 70s Jazz and that's what I had to have. Although I've owned other instruments (Jazz Bass Special, StingRay etc.), I've really not sat down and appreciated their specific strengths and tonal variations. The only 'tones' I've really latched on to through the years has been Pino's StingRay Fretless with OC2 and Paul McCartney's Rickenbacker ringing like a bell (and not like a Ric I think) in stuff like Penny Lane. But those sounds have been quite extreme. It's really only recently, through starting to listen to Shalamar, that I've started latching on to some of the more subtle tonal differences between instruments and I have to admit, it's really only this year that I've started really respecting Precisions. I've recently bought a 51RI. And I went in to a shop on Denmark St a couple of weeks back to pick up a 75 Precision (White/Rosewood), but it seemed something was suspect about the truss rod so I let it slide. I've also been talking to a chap about buying a P/J but he made a comment about it being more suited to Rock than Funk. Soooo, that got me to thinking - what is it about certain basses that makes them good for one type of music but not another? And I'd prefer to focus on the capabilities rather than the brand and model - as the latter will just result in conflicting opinions. What I'm trying to understand is sort of like the following - forgive me if I get it wrong: GENRE: Funk WHAT'S REQD: Low action, bridge pickup, brightness, fast neck GENRE: Disco WHAT'S REQD: Mid pickup, short sustain, fast neck GENRE: Jazz WHAT'S REQD: Versatile tones, long sustain That's probably not correct, but I hope you can see what I'm trying to understand? CB

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1339712782' post='1693351'] /endthread Truckstop [/quote] Have I missed some forum etiquette? Do we have to pass questions through you for approval?

NOT - What's the best bass guitar for rock, funk, jazz, pop, disco etc etc. Everyone has their own opinion on that. Instead, it would be helpful (at least for an idiot like me) to get a handle on what are the various specific capabilities that each of the genres really requires from a bass guitar? Apologies if this has been asked before. CB

[quote name='alstocko' timestamp='1339696693' post='1692971'] I love the bass the way it is [/quote] There's your answer. Is your friend a bassist/guitarist/luthier? He needs to be asked to elaborate. CB

[quote name='Donnyboy' timestamp='1339592010' post='1691039'] and nobody has died. [/quote] Think you'll find Sid seems to have taken it quite badly.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1339531199' post='1690133'] I'm not actually saying any of them are rubbish, just more of they play what is needed in the song & very little else. [/quote] @xgsjx - just listened to the band on your myspace link (http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=33147526&ac=now) and the bass player (whoever that might be) is playing what is needed & very little else. So he gets my vote. :-) CB

Bakithi Khumalo Pino Palladino Paul McCartney James Jamerson Lee Sklar Louis Johnson Leon Sylvers Bernard Edwards Gail Ann Dorsey Mark Heyward-Chaplin

I think it's easier to categorise the periods in time than the bands themselves. All the bands were different to each other, had their own musical signature/identity and to group them, in my opinion, is to do them all a dis-service. You could categorise the periods you're referring to as: - the bands that provided the initial kick up the arse and - the wave of bands that cemented the reformation and built the new foundation CB.

I used to borrow one years ago. Didn't like its looks. And it never sounded as warm as the little Fender Musicmaster Bass amp I played through at the time. Once I discovered the HH Studio 60 Bass Baby, I never really thought any further about any other combos :-) CB

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1339168557' post='1684819'] That's not a bass. It's a piano. [/quote] And that's actually very witty. Nice one. :-) :-)

A confession. I've played bass for nearly 40 years and have never EVER bought a single string. To put this another way, my 74 Jazz has 74 strings. Sounds lovely too. Sorry. CB

Looking at the above pic - the stickers have been supplied correct but the last 4 have just been stuck in the wrong place on the fretboard. Wrong - 15-XV 17-XXIV 19-XVII 21-XIX 24-XXI Right - 15-XV 17-XVII 19-XIX 21-XXI 24-XXIV Am I missing something? Or more likely repeating the obvious? CB