White Cloud

Well Yolanda Charles uses one as her main gigging instrument ..and she knows a good bass I can assure you. These are very good quality basses make no mistake - however the lack of the F word on the headstock turns the general populace off them (as usual).

The last Fender P bass that I owned (50's classic mex job) did what it said on the tin...but the neck pocket was too loose for the neck. Its a common issue. They are what they are...simple design, gigging tool. QC is very poor. I also inherited a mex standard jazz a few years ago and the fret job was a joke - but thats another story. I shall now roll out my favourite catch phrase "if you want a great Fender buy a Lakland"

[quote name='Joel McIver' timestamp='1341383351' post='1717895'] Hi all Just a quick note to say hello. I recently became the editor of Bass Guitar Magazine and have been reading the posts here about the magazine with interest. I've noticed a few complaints about the content and some queries about why we do certain things, so I thought I'd better post here and if you have any questions, you can put them to me directly. Thanks to Bass Chat for letting me do this, it's an amazing forum. Cheers Joel McIver [/quote] Hi Joel and welcome. Personally I really enjoy the magazine...so keep up the good work. I had some communications with one of the previous editors a couple of years ago requesting an interview with one of the countries most overlooked prolific players...fretless genius/virtuoso/innovator Percy Jones. Too many young players havent even heard of him and that is a travesty. An incredible British legend....get him in print & put a smile on my face!

Hugely underrated bass guitars. The expensive models are as good as anything on the market. The cheaper models great value for money.

Half of my bands material! Tedious songs that make me want to chuck it (but punters always want)... sweet home, brown eyed girl, sex on fire ...more recently moves like jagger, bruno mars etc etc etc. BORING

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1357768207' post='1928230'] I've owned a standard Squier Jazz made in Indonesia in 2001, a Japanese Squier Jazz bass made in 1994, A Geddy Lee Fender Jazz Bass made in Japan in 2004, and a 62 reissue Fender Jazz bass also made in Japan in 1996. Both the Squiers were the equal of the Fenders in feel and sound. And there wasn't much between them when you compared quality of construction. These days most Squiers and Fenders are made with computerised lathes, so you can make them anywhere in the world you can transport your machinery. The biggest difference is price and that is down to labour costs - you can pay a worker in Indonesia or China a lot less than you would in Japan or the States. [/quote] Very valid and true statement. One nit pick though, it is actually computerised CNC routing machines that do the machining and not lathes. Lathes are for woodworking "in the round"...and not guitar building

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1353837547' post='1878794'] In my limited experience (having only played 3 GLs!) I would whole-heartedly agree with this. If you pick one up second hand (typically in the £450-£550 range) then the quality is stunning. [/quote] Yes it is a very good jazz bass indeed....but its not as good as the Lakland Darryll Jones!

The last Fender I bought was about 5 yrs ago or so for a gig that required it. I set out to buy a new US P bass, but once in the shop I tried all four new US models in stock and compared them with two highway 1 P's & out of interest a used mexican classic 50's fiesta red P. To my utter surprise the classic 50's P blew the rest away. The US P's were set up like dogs and the highway 1's werent much better. I bought the 50's classic and for £290 it did me a real turn. Despite having a neck pocket that was slighly oversized it was really quite a good workhorse. The nicest P bass I have ever played was a Lakland Bob Glaub....lighweight, killer tone, amazing neck, faultless construction/fret job. What else is there?

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1357596210' post='1925228'] Dont listen to em mate. Find a bass [i]you [/i]like and forget names and image. I would say it's a status thing but that would just confuse everybody [/quote] What I need is a Letts bass....but thats another discussion for another day

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1357593639' post='1925151'] Yer in me power! Absolutely no to hidden agendas. I love dissing the fender and you wont find me speaking ill of any respectable makers of MODERN quality instruments. I'm a basschat nut and mainly stick to the repair tech advice threads but occasionally cannot help myself when it comes to this kind of stuff depending on my level of grumpiness on any given day. My comments here rarely make me any new friends or sales as far as I know. [/quote] [quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1357595255' post='1925197'] Sound as. Thanks dl. With that avatar I'd expect you to have a different opinion Theres a time and a place for every kind of bass. With fenders its first thing wednesday morning on the pavement (bin day) [/quote] I have owned quite a few Fenders over the years (some of them desirable oldies), most of them good solid workhorses after being adjusted to my preference - but I laterally prefered Lakland for Fender style basses...better QC etc. I switched to Ibanez premium basses a few months ago...and I believe that they are one of the most playable underrated basses on the market. People look down their nose ask me all the time why I have switched to Ibanez after owning vintage Fenders, Wal's, Alembic etc etc. Its like being the hunchback of notre dame "The Ibanezzzzzzsss, the Ibanezzzzzzzzsss"...I'm a freak for playing Ibanez & not Fenders lol.

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1357591819' post='1925100'] I think the "superb luthier" may have an agenda which extends beyond enjoying a product though. [/quote] To be fair I have been brain washed by Letts basses lol...but thats another thread!

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1357558963' post='1924328'] You just discovered the meaning of fender. Heavy, plastic coated poorly made clones of the highest order. The name sells more guitars than the quality I'm afraid. I'm sure you can find 'good' ones or have one setup by a luthier (something you wont find in a fender factory/plant). You are much better off with your Ibanez. Gary Willis=Ibanez. Flea=fender. Says it all if you ask me. [/quote] This is wisdom...and coming from a superb luthier this statement is an absolute truism. I have been super dissapointed by most of the new Fenders I have played. Fenders stranglehold on the bass market is absolute...to the stage that when even considering criticising them you feel a strange sort of guilt and you know you will have plenty of players lining up to shout you down! Its almost like a form of brain washing. As I have been saying for some years...the best Fenders I have played have been Lakland skylines! Ahem...preparing for an ear bashing

Toyally agree with all the suggestions so far - but cant believe only one of you has mentioned Pastorius & Erskine. More of my fav's: Gary Husband & Jimmy Johnson Daney Carey & Justin Chancellor Gavin Harrison & Colin Edwin

[quote name='Chris Horton' timestamp='1357563543' post='1924459'] Thanks Harry , That video is not helping my GAS much you have a nice tone going on there [/quote] You certainly do have a great tone there indeed! Wals are fantastic fretless basses (as well as fretted lol).

Good luck with this. I have never seen a Fender with a non standard/direct fit replacement (Gotoh, Badass etc) bridge. My insticts tell me there is a very good reason for this! Remember though...music is art - there are no rules.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1357312199' post='1920790'] I learnt a few chords on guitar at the age of ten, but never pursued it because I just did not think that I would ever be good enough to become a musician. But around five or six years ago in my [b][i]mid-fifties[/i][/b], I was the physio of a football club, and the players had put together a make-shift band to play at the end of season presentation night, and they needed a bass player, so I volunteered thinking that they would not be that good, and I wont look too out of place just playing root notes with a few little fills here and there. At the first rehearsal, I was shocked to find that they were all decent musicians, with quite a bit of gigging experience behind them, but I couldn't wriggle out of it as they had no one else they could call on. So for the few weeks leading up to the big night, I set about finding tabs and YouTube video's of the SIX songs we were to play. The crowd seemed to like what we played, and I must have been ok'ish, or at least shown some potential, because they decided to form a proper band, and asked if I would be interested in being the bass player. I have now gigged regularly since then with various bands, but I don't know any theory, I don't know any scales or stuff like that, I don't know what they are talking about when they speak in musical terms etc... and I've never had a lesson in my life, but I can learn a song pretty quickly just by listening to it, and working it out myself, or sometimes if it's a difficult bass line, I might look for a tutorial video to help me. I know how to play the original bass line to around 200 songs, although I do like putting my own take on things, but I still don't believe I can class myself as a musician, because I know nothing about music, other that I can remember where my fingers go. [u][i]So, my question is this:[/i][/u] Can I call myself a [b][i]musician[/i][/b], or do I just have a good [b][i]memory[/i][/b]? [/quote] You are a musician because you have a combination of cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills in relation to the way you play your bass. You are not just using cognitive (memory, knowledge thinking) skills - your participation with your band mates, your audience, yourself and the actual compositions you play will undoubtedly have an emotional impact (affect) upon you & to some degree everyone you play to. Further to that the physicality of playing an instrument is much more than simple muscle memory in the psychomotor domain. This is what music is. This is what makes you not just a musician - but also human! Just my tuppenceworth.

Aha, you have discovered the drawback of the non direct replacement bridge! This will involve drilling new holes etc...not ideal. I would avoid this option - but then again I am a wuss. My advice: DONT break any strings (I have never broke a string in 35 years!).... and fit a Gotoh 201 for ease of replacement. Its a really nice bridge, every bit as good as the much more expensive Badass & a dead easy fit straight into the standard P bass bridge holes.

After 30 years of Rotos I was sceptical of Elixirs until I bought a new Ibanez sr1205 that came with them fitted as standard. That was several months & gigs ago - and they still sound fresh. They aint cheap...but I wont be going to back to my "2 gig then dead" Rotos! Elixir are twice the price but last four times as long & sound/feel great. Its a simple choice.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1294314475' post='1079669'] All Fender prices have rocketed! [/quote] Very true. I would only ever buy used..this is where the real deals are to be had.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1357312974' post='1920814'] I'm surprised at your surprise! To those of us with no training or experience in woodwork, maple just kind of "looks and feels" harder. Maybe it's because of the closer grain, or maybe the colour has an influence? I dunno. But I'd always assumed that maple was the harder of the two woods! [/quote] Not only is Rosewood harder...it is also much more expensive to buy in its raw form.

Well done Andy, it is beautiful! As a fledgling maker I would love to see the build process if you would be happy to share

[quote name='bassman344' timestamp='1357411330' post='1922367'] If a person had an old cheap 4 string bass that they didnt mind got wrecked and they wanted to try to defret it. What tools would they need and how would they do it ? I remember reading about Jaco Pastorius defretting a J and creating the bass of doom but is it as simple as it sounded ???? [/quote] The answer is no its not as simple as it sounds. To correctly defret a bass properly you have to know what you are doing or you will reap misery upon your bass! The good news is there are loads of good videos on Youtube that talk you through the correct procedure. Jaco Pastorius was infamously flippant with many of his claims and was not averse to exageration and the like when describing his antics. I believe he later claimed that he actually bought the bass of doom with the frets already ripped out (badly) - before fixing it up by filling the fret board and coating it in yachting epoxy.

Good luck with this. Dave Pegg is a wonderful bassist!