Dingus

How small a bass/kid? A Squier Jaguar Short Scale looks ( and sounds ) like it would be a terriffic bass for an older child/ younger teen. Any smaller than that and I am presuming you would be looking at a kind of "mini " bass, such as a Samick MCR1 Corsair . Just don't make the mistake someone I know did by lending his teenage stepdaughter his Music Man bass to see if she enjoyed playing the bass( she did) and thus giving her the expectation that all basses were that good. It turned out to be a very expensive Christmas.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1347196767' post='1797883'] Was it a boot? Which one? I'm basically a fan of the 70s rhythm-section-and-up mix. Fat and warm, and everything has room to breathe. You can feel the weight behind the bass. Modern production is generally sparkly and clear, but dense and woefully undynamic. Look at recent Rush stuff, for example. Someone recently pointed me at a new record by... Porcupine Tree, was it? Not a fan of the music, but the sound was incredible. The guy that produced that also did the new Ian Anderson CD and it's equally involving. All IMO, of course. [/quote] It's funny you mention the recent Rush albums; when I was growing up I was big fan of the band ( like a lot of men who are of a certain age nowadays) but I have found their recent albums quite literally unlistenable because of the dense textures of the recordings. The whole thing just sounds relentless and unintelligable to me . I wouldn't single out Rush in this respect however. I think that they are just trying to stay contemporary by mimicking a stylistic trend common to a whole host of bands in the "alternative rock" genre who want to make their recordings to make an impact by making them sound as aggressive as possible . Regarding how the sound of production has changed , producers and engineers have a far wider dynamic range and bandwidth of sound to play with nowadays , having escaped the technical constrictions placed on these parameters by vinyl. I agree with you that ,by and large, a lot of music has lost something as a result of this. One of the interesting things about Zeppelin is the different production sound from one album to the next. The first few albums have an analogue lushness to them that is a stark contrast to the far thinner and much more compressed sound of Physical Graffiti and Prescence. And then again , Prescence and In Through The Out Door have a much more expansive bottom end than the other albums. I think one thing about Led Zeppelin that a lot of people miss out on is that Jimmy Page wasn't just a great guitarist and song writer, he was a great record producer too. He produced all the Led Zeppelin albums, for goodness sake ! What greater accolade is there for any record producer than that?

Lakland recommend DR strings as an alternative to their own -branded strings that the basses ship with, which are in fact re-branded GHS Super Steels, if I remember correctly.

It's worth mentioning that JPJ varied his sound throughout his Zeppelin career; even on some earlier tracks like the Immigrant Song he uses a much brighter, more raunchy tone ( from memory, I think he had an early 50s' Precision that was definately strung with rounds that he used to record that track, but I could be wrong), and obviously, once he got his Alembics his sound got a lot more modern.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1347126773' post='1797268'] I kind-of agree. It's a great tone, but there's nothing mystical about it. It's great because of the production - records aren't mixed like this any more. [/quote] I think it's a classic example of the sound originating in the skill of player, not the equipment. His tone wasn't as up front as say John Entwistle or Chris Squire in the same era, but that rounder tone on the earlier Zeppelin stuff was still a great bass sound and suited the more traditional , R &B- based approach that JPJ had compared to those players. You are quite right that records are mixed differently now .too. They had to find a whole different balance because you couldn't put anywhere near as much bass on vinyl records , for a start.

In the later Zeppelin days ( Prescence - In Through The Out Door) JPJ used some of the first Gallien Krueger bass amps and four and eight string Alembic basses. He retired his 1963 Jazz around this time , claiming it was worn -out. He did indeed play with a pick when it suited him, and he was/is a master of palm- muting and varying his pick-attack . Check out tracks like D'yer Maker and Celebration Day for examples of this technique . The guy is a genius.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1347008915' post='1795849'] I bought my Wal Custom fretless in 1986 for £749 and could sell it today for about £2,500 or even more? But I wouldn't. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/21583-1986-wal-custom-fretless/"]http://basschat.co.u...ustom-fretless/[/url] [/quote] Thats what I would call a real investment- and I don't mean a financial one ,either.

It all dep [quote name='Bo0tsy' timestamp='1347003893' post='1795784'] The question here is can a bass ever be an investment opportunity? Or is that something you just tell the wife? I've been looking around for a new bass recently but been a bit alarmed by how much some makes (Warwick's for example), appear to lose their value as quick as when you drive a new car off a forecourt. Is there such a thing as a bass that can hold or become more valuable over time, any certain makes, or special editions? [/quote] It depends very much what you mean by investment. Do you mean making a profit on your initial purchase , or just limiting the amount of money you will lose if you decide to sell? I suspect you probably mean both. Put simply, if you are thinking about buying a new bass the brand you will lose least money on is a U.S.A Fender. Get a good one in the right colour and they are as good as money in the bank. In the short to medium term you won't get quite what you paid for it, but you will lose much less than most other brands, and in the long term you may well recoup your initial outlay. EBMM basses are a similaly good bet. Both of these brands never go out of fashion, and there will always be a residual demand, meaning that if you ever want to sell you will actually be able to find a punter to buy them without too much difficulty. There are a few other fairly good bets, but these two are the best sellers and keep the best price. If you want to buy basses as an investment to make a profit, all I can say is that you are wasting your time . Vintage guitar prices in the U.S.A have dropped recently- just like the housing market people thought prices would only ever go up- and a lot of people have lost money as a result. You might pick up a secondhand bargain on Ebay or something, but you could equally end up getting stuck with a lemon. There are a lot more solid and sensible ways to invest your money.

Watching this video has made me realise that I have been playing this wrong for the last 28 years. Back to the drawing board!

He is certainly a great raconteur, thats for sure.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1346963347' post='1795510'] This guy on the other hand...its not his bass line, but his playing on every vid makes me jealous! Just a very solid and energetic player. His Sandberg is a TM but with the pups the other way round! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLTKdWIgG5A[/media] [/quote] I've seen this guy before and he's a fine player. The significant difference is that he is actually trying ( and succeeeding!) to play basslines , not display some kind of gymnastics. I am all for busy and up front bass playing, but so many kids on Youtube nowadays think that the tricks and frills are the be-all and end-all of playing the bass . That Sandberg looks and sounds very good , too. Those block inlays are most desirable , and the relic job looks like a good 'un..

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1346955626' post='1795359'] The Electra bass is fine value but I don't need a passive P style bass. On another note, the guy who does those videos seems to grind my gears for no apparent reason. He is FANTASTIC on bass, no doubt, but something bugs me about the videos....silly really. [/quote] Probably because his playing is, like so many other young players nowadays, a load of sound and fury signifying nothing, to coin a phrase. Is it just me whose heart sinks every time one of these guys launches into another rapid fire sixteenth note double-thump with plucked double -stops slap routine followed by the obligatory sub-Jaco fingerfunk routine ? It's superficially impressive to the uninitiated but is easier than you would think to learn how to do and mostly useless in the real world of bass playing. On the subject of these Sandberg basses, I would love to have a go on one-they look really good to me and somthing I have noticed about the sound even on Youtube videos of them is that, like a lot of other super-Fender designs, they seem to have a much more extended treble than the Fenders they are derived from. The only thing that bothers me about them is the single large polepieces on the Precision pickups and the abscence of fingerboard dots , it just looks wierd and wrong to me.

[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1346934233' post='1794971'] ...it would be blown on this! [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Skjold_SS_Whale_5.html"]http://www.bassdirec...SS_Whale_5.html[/url] Oh my! [/quote] I think the look of this thing is what people refer to as an acquired taste, as is the somewhat polite tone of these basses. Looking at your gear list, I think what you already have will actually sound better. Most importantly though, I hope no actual whales were harmed in the manufacture of this bass.

[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1346886410' post='1794632'] Ummm...I can remember doing a silly video thing before a gig at the Astoria for MAD Music who were the main UK distributor and artist rep's back then with Glen Diani whose band was headlining that night, but I am sure I didn't have my Dolphin or the Thumb then...I dunno...my memory is a bit fuzzy...maybe. Besides, my Dolphin didn't see much stage time. I had a couple of beaten up and modded Corvette Proline's and a Streamer LX which I mostly played live. My Dolphin had a dark brown translucent high gloss lacquer finish...does that ring any bells? [/quote] I think it must have been someone else, because I seem to remember that it was a natural birds eye maple finish on the Dolphin and that the video was done in Germany. The player in question had hair that I would describe as being semi- Boris Johnson in style ( no offense intended if it does in fact turn out to be you after all !) and played in a band that was stylistically similar to Lostprophets or Feeder and that kind of alternative modern rock genre. It sticks in my memory because I had just seen another birds-eye maple Dolphin that was made for the NAMM show , albeit a fretless, in Bass Northwest in Seattle, and I was seriously smitten by the look of both basses.

[quote name='DiMarco' timestamp='1346773691' post='1793026'] Mine is a 1995 Boire + Wengé/Zebrano Pro 1 sporting MEC preamp and pickups. I also own a 1989 4str Pro1 with Bartolini pickups which sounds more modest but has that sweet Bartolini midrange which punches through the densest of mixes. This here is the current incarnation of the five string Pro1, which does sound a lot like my 1995 model. [media]http://youtu.be/d8EqLuL8Irs[/media] [/quote] This new Dolphin sounds great as well , but overall I prefer the look and sound of yours. I prefer the feel of wenge to ovangkol, too

[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1346622604' post='1791395'] Good question. Back then I was a working musician under contract and I bought that particular bass out of my advance funds along with a couple of other Warwick basses. Couldn't possibly afford to buy one now. After my deal folded I was broke and I had to sell that bass along with 3 other Warwicks I had (apart from the Thumb which I still have today). The Dolphin I had was built in '04 and was quite different to a usual model. Mine had a walnut body with a quilt maple top, a 5 piece maple and ovangkol neck. To be truthful, I ordered that bass on a gamble as I never even played a regular model before that. Over the years I have played basses made from the early 90's up to present day. Earlier basses don't have the valute on the back of the neck just below where the headstock is angled. I actually prefer that as I find the valute size on Warwick necks a bit too big and a tad uncomfortable when playing around the notes on the 1st fret. Mine had a valute which didn't bother me at the time, but when I play one without is feels better to me. Tone wise, Warwicks sound great from any decade of production IMO. That has never changed. [/quote] Were/ are you the fellow who was in a video for Warwick checking out some basses either at the factory or backstage before a gig, I can't remember which ? It's just that the maple Dolphin rings a bell in my distant memory, and it was a fair-haired British guy from a signed band playing it, I seem to recall.

The resurgence of popularity of these basses is truly amazing to me. I can remember when you quite literally couldn't give these basses away secondhand. I used to go in a local guitar shop in the late 80s' and chew the fat with the lads who worked there and every time they would offer me a cheaper and cheaper price on an old Gibson Grabber ( it might even have been one of these ; it was certainly this shape) they had that they couldn't sell in the full knowledge that I would never buy it , regardless . I think we may have even got down to talking two figures. To my taste , these were always some of the ugliest and most ungainly looking basses ever made and represent some kind of high ( or low, depending on which way round you look at it) watermark in gauche 70s' styling. They are so ugly that I can see how some people could find them beautiful, if you see what I mean. They are the bass equivalent of a brown shagplie carpet or a green draylon sofa. The American low-fi neo-punk post -grunge bass players who have popularised these particular instruments actually chose these models because they were cheap due to them being unwanted and a good way to get a better quality bass ( it's still a Gibson when all is said and done- it's going to be much better than a Hondo)at an affordable price. To be fair, they do sound good for certain styles of music , particulaly when played hard with a pick, and I do remember Johnny Colt of the Black Crowes using one to record the Amorica album with. Alas , the inevitable happens and what was once shunned by all and sundry becomes desirable and ultimately reissued, it seems.It's exactly the same thing that happened with Fender Jaguars and Jazzmaster guitars post- Nirvana and the whole Seattle grunge thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticising anyones taste . If these float you're boat then be my guest and buy one , play it and enjoy it , it's just that to me they have always symbolised something monumentally undesirable, and now they have achieved the seemingly impossible by coming back into fashion.

This bass sounds absolutely blinking amazing ! I remember playing a four string one of these not too long after they came out and the neck did indeed feel huge, but I have got pretty small hands, and some people like a big neck, I suppose. Were it not for that I probably would have bought it on the spot. Then I nearly bought a new Thumb Bass where the neck felt fine but I couldn't live with the balance and playing position on a strap . What I love about the best Warwick basses is summed up in the sound of this Dolphin ; they have got that modern hi-fi sound but don't sound too polished and polite like some modern hi-tech instruments. They have still got plenty of guts and a delicious edge to the sound that ,to me , is very appealing. I would be interested to know if this is an older model with the boire body and wenge neck. Whatever it is , it sounds great. I just wish I had bought a new custom Warwick when they were a bit more affordable.

It's worth mentioning that the one I had was the only Skyline I have ever played, and so I have no point of comparison . If other folks who have got them say they find that they have got plenty of treble, I am perfectly willing to accept that. What I will say is that mine weighed around 8 1/4 pounds , and it crossed my mind that the lightweight wood of that bass might have been the reason for the absent treble. I know that Faron who posts on here had a 4402 and he found it similaly lacking in treble.

These basses are quite often inherently shy in the treble department , and that can apply to the U.S.A models too. Has your bass got a maple or a rosewood board ? A lot of folks think that this particular style of Lakland (mm+j) needs a maple board to get a bit more bite in the top-end. I used to have a 44-02 with a rosewood board that was similaly lacking in natural treble, and often had to boost the actives to get more cut. Quite why this design would be a little muted in the treble , I really have no idea, but it seems to often be the case. It would be interesting to see what other people on heres' experience with them is. If you read the original review of the 4-94 in Bass Player Magazine from the 1990s that is reprinted on the Lakland website , they mention that the bass is less trebly than most other modern basses, It's still a great sounding bass though, and maybe using the brightest -sounding roundwound strings you can find might help. Daddario Prosteels would be a good bet, and they are relatively inexpensive.

I remember playing a couple of these when they came out 20 years ago. If I remember correctly, the one with the three knob preamp had jazz bass pickups, a bolt-on neck and the tone control was a of notched - filter kind of affair that was actually very useful. The other one I played may well have been neck-thru ( my memory is a little uncertain on this), with bass and treble cut and boost on the preamp. Both basses had fairly basic solid walnut bodies, and they were an affordable entry into the world of graphite necked basses. I do remember that I couldn't be certain of what the bridge was made of, and that ( quite understandably at the price) it might have been made of a more budget alloy rather than the usual brass affair on more upmarket Status basses. i do remenber that there was " rival" bass player around town who had the three -knob bolt -on version and I saw him use it on numerous gigs through a Trace Elliot and it had a great sound that really cut through. As for value , I seem to remember the model you are looking at them retailing for around the £600-700 mark at the time ( I couldnt swear to the accuracy of this -it's getting to be a long time ago!), and in those days Status were pretty widely distributed in shops so you could get some good deals on these at shops like Carlsboro retail. If it was me doing the deal , depending on condition ect., I would think it was a good trade if you fancy something a bit different.

I suppose there is no law against asking for two and a half grand for one of these, but if the seller manages to achieve anything near that price I would like to see him placed in charge of Britains' economic recovery. In terms of real value, I would actually rate it even lower than other folks on here; you could knock a zero off the price for me, meaning that this fellow is asking ten times what it is actually worth. What's more, I am willing to bet you that you could actually find one of these for £250 or much less without much problem . I can remember when these came out and even though they were a good budget bass with some high-end features at an affordable price, they were never the apogee of any serious players bass-buying ambition. I know Henry Thomas played one of these Westones on the first series of Rockschool, but I always suspected that he had been set a miserly bass budget -limit by right- on lefty BBC television producers who were keen not to alienate dissaffected unemployed youth in recession-stricken Thatchers' Britain in the early 1980s.

[quote name='paulconnolly' timestamp='1346352172' post='1788257'] I don't suppose Rod had much influence on who played on the record but yes they are top guys. [/quote] I think the choice of musicians (and studios , for that matter) was very much influenced by the producer Tom Dowd. , who had worked with many of them previously on during his illustrious career.

I havent played the 1024 so I can't comment on them , but I am very familiar with the 2024x and I think that these bassses are actually a bit of a bargain , even at over two grand. These Japanese-made Yamahas' are genuine high-quality instruments, and much better- made than a lot of basses I have played and owned from supposedly high-end boutque builders. Everything on these 2000 Series Yamahas' is done to perfection , and it shows in the cohesion of the final product. These basses play superbly well, and sound astonishingly good too. What's more , they have a unique sound that seemlessly blends the modern and the traditional and just sounds "right", if you know what I mean. They have got all the depth, punch and power of an active bass , but also the natural organic qualities of a classic passive bass. I have read comments in various places where people have scoffed at the idea of paying this kind of money for a Yamaha, but these comments are a long way wide of the mark; I think these basses are better than anything else I have played in this price range, and for what they are I would put them up against any bass at any price. As you can probably tell, I like them. A lot.

I suppose it's worth remembering that Muscle Shoals was turning out hits like a production line by the mid-'70s, and all kinds of artists wanted to utilise their sklills. They had expanded their style beyond the Southern- soul sound that made their reputation into more mainstream middle-of the-road pop music by this time, as well as "serious " artists like Paul Simon going down there to record. I know part of the appeal for artists using the Muscle Shoals players was that they had a reputation for making it sound like the finished article very quickly; I remember hearing Bob Seger say that he was shocked on the first day he recorded at the studio with them that the first takes of songs they were working on sounded like finished records, and how fast they could record an album.