redstriper

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='474776' date='Apr 29 2009, 07:34 AM']Played one for a whole evening recently and will never do so again. After the intial 'wow, it does sound like a bass', you quickly begin to find its limitations in terms of its expressive potential. Vibrato is clumpy and unmusical, right hand technique is all over the place because of the excessive flexibility in the strings (like tryin to play a hammock!!), and the smallness is a real barrier to digging in (its like a 6 foot man riding a five year olds bicycle). IMHO, they are toys and of limited use in real musical situations.[/quote] With respect, it takes more than a single evening to get the hang of this instrument IMVHO. The Ashbory is now my main bass and I don't think it's a toy any more than a violin, harmonica, ukelele or any other small musical instrument, but it's not as easy to play as a regular bass and requires considerable effort and a different approach to get the best from it. It certainly doesn't suit all styles of playing and is best suited to old school jazz, blues, country, classical or (in my case) reggae finger style playing. It may not help fragile egos as much as a 'proper' big bass and it's not a popular choice - but I like being different, (I'm 6' 4" and hard as nails BTW). I got it last year because arthritis meant holding my old jazz bass was becoming too painful. At first I thought I would never get used to it and I nearly gave up a few times, but I now find myself enjoying it more and I rarely use the jazz bass even sitting down at home or in a studio. I've played lots of gigs and a few festivals with it and had many compliments on the sound. My playing is very basic though and the sound suits me - deep and smooth. All the tracks [url="http://myspace.com/redstriper"]here[/url] were recorded with the Ashbory. Please excuse the sloppy playing, they were recorded while I was still learning the instrument and most are first takes recorded live in my front room. In fact I'm still learning and that's one of the best things about the Ashbory for me - it's like starting again after 30 years with a 'normal' bass and I'm really enjoying the challenge. I've started to play more old school jazz bass lines recently to make more of the fretless sound and it can sound very double bassish. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyURepi1rvE&feature=channel"]this guy[/url] has made his own from Ashbory parts and [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3IUSd5c6VM&feature=related"]and this guy[/url] has made a bass uke along similar lines. The Ashbory has been used on recordings around the world in a variety of settings, including: Lovetown by Peter Gabriel from the movie soundtrack Philadelphia: Music From The Motion Picture, with Tony Levin playing the Ashbory. It is also featured on multiple tracks from the 2002 release by the BYU Young Ambassadors titled Broadway Rhythm, where it plays the role of an upright bass. Mike Watt used an Ashbory on the 1989 self-titled release from Bootstrappers. There is a useful Ashbory forum [url="http://www.largesound.net/"]here[/url] and I wouldn't let bilbo's negative comments put you off if you're up for the challenge. One final point - the new black pahoehoe strings are higher tension, easier to play and don't need talc.

I really wish I understood any of the above

[quote name='12stringbassist' post='474356' date='Apr 28 2009, 03:56 PM']Hiya, I have sold a few basses over the years. Mistake. Never again!! [/quote] Yes I know what you mean, strange how you can miss something you thought you didn't need almost as soon as it's gone.

[quote name='12stringbassist' post='473548' date='Apr 27 2009, 04:44 PM']If you want a lovely deep thumping bass, the VM is probably the one you need. It's a very nice, sweet soft round bass tone with no 'clank' to it. 'Graunch' to me is a little bit of distorting / growling treble top end, when I play that bit harder. Have look at the 'Money' video at [url="http://www.crazeeworld.plus.com/kerbcrawlers/pages/video.htm"]http://www.crazeeworld.plus.com/kerbcrawlers/pages/video.htm[/url] There's a bit of farting about at the beginning and the depth of the Rickenbacker's tone isn't quite there, because of the video camera mic limitations, but the graunch is!!! [/quote] OK I get you now - graunch and clank are exactly what I don't want and I've spent a while eliminating all signs of both in my sound. Smooth and deep with a bit of punch is more my thing and I think you're right - the Squire Vintage Modified Precision Bass TB with fat flatwounds looks like the one for me. It's top of my list at the moment and I look forward to trying one at the next opportunity. Thanks for the advice graunchmeister PS: Don't suppose you want to sell yours...............?

[quote name='12stringbassist' post='472993' date='Apr 26 2009, 09:53 PM']The VM Precision has a very LOUD bassy humbucker, which I had to lower flush to the body, it's THAT loud - and you will struggle to get any treble under any circumstances with it. Great for blues and possibly also for reggae, I guess, but while it sounds great, I always end up changing it after a couple of songs for something with a bit of graunch to it.[/quote] I'm still drawn by the VM P bass and expect it will have plenty of low end for my sound, I don't need any treble because I only play reggae. I do like a very smooth tone though, without harsness or too much growl and I found the humbucker on the EB-0 too harsh. Would you say the VM Precision is smooth sounding and what do you mean by 'graunch'?

[quote name='12stringbassist' post='472993' date='Apr 26 2009, 09:53 PM']I have responded to your PM. Looking at the basses as supplied stock, without getting into switching out pickups: The best one for reggae (for me) Would be the Precision Special (Try to get a standard one with US P/J pickups - it says 'standard' in tiny script on the headstock).[/quote] Thanks for the advice - maybe I'll just stick with my old jazz bass. I only use the neck pup with the tone rolled off completely and I like the sound, just fancy a change.

[quote name='12stringbassist' date='Apr 19 2009, 09:01 PM' post='467048'] I have a few Squiers and they are pretty good on the whole. I like all 3 of those basses, probably prefer the 50s precision for looks. Which gives the smoothest, deepest sound suitable for reggae, (I would fit high gauge flatwound strings)?

Do you know the make and model of driver used in the Trace cab that you played through? I have an old AH150 and it has a great tone with plenty of volume, which can sound very different with different speakers. You should try your Ashdown amp played through the Trace cab for a better comparison with the AH150.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3IUSd5c6VM&feature=player_embedded"]The very thing.[/url] [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/75545"]Add this[/url] for battery powered amplifcation because the bass will be too quiet acoustically for anything more than practising.

[quote name='BassBod' post='456962' date='Apr 7 2009, 10:34 PM']My experiences with flats to date: Rotos - felt very stiff, put a lot of tension on the neck but didn't sound good to me. Thomastik - sound great, but the floppiness can get annoying (move the action up and they are easier to play). LaBella - tried the expensive black plastic ones - fantastic sound, heavy guages but don't feel like hard work to play. I think they'd probably last longer than I've got left on the planet. But my favourite so far has been Pyramid Gold (another old German company). Slightly higher tension than most rounds (but hardly) and a good "old" sound straight away. Makes you feel warm and cosy and ever so slightly melodic. They are stupidly expensive in the USA, but only normal expensive in Europe. BB[/quote] Are the pyramids smooth to the touch or ridged like the rotosounds? I like a deep smooth old skool sound for reggae and can't decide between labellas and pyramids - the labellas are available in heavier gauges, so might sound deeper. Shame there's nowhere to try before you buy.

[quote name='escholl' post='456443' date='Apr 7 2009, 01:26 PM']which motu, and running what system? ironically, i used to work for alesis but i never really hugely cared for those multimix mixers.[/quote] I don't remember which model the motu was, but it was an expensive 19" rackmount job. I used it with logic and cubase, but it was always crashing and putting glitches in the audio, also had latency problems and the support from motu was virtually nil. A friend of mine had the same model and he experienced similar problems. It also didn't have as many inputs or features as the Alesis and required another mixing desk to be of any practical use. The multimix has been excellent with more features, better stability and less expensive. The only problem I had with it was a burnt out power supply, I emailed alesis and had 2 new ones by return of post with no charge. But maybe I've just been lucky, since you must have good reasons to dislike the multimixes - did you get a lot returned? I would still recommend it because it's simple to use and gets the job done with no fuss, providing 8 mic inputs is enough.

I use an alesis multimix 16 firewire mixer like [url="http://www.djdeals.co.uk/product-downloads.asp?AID=1230&DownloadCat=2"]this.[/url] It records up to 16 channels at once to cubase and is very stable and good quality. You don't need a separate mixer, it's all in one box and it comes with basic cubase. I've had mine 2 years, I use it a lot and it's never crashed. I think they've stopped making them, but they come up on ebay and it won't break the bank. I've also used a MOTU interface and had all sorts of problems with it.

[quote name='Pookus' post='455812' date='Apr 6 2009, 07:31 PM']The TI flats sound great though the E and G strings have some of the string (beyond the silks) wound around the posts as you have pointed out they are for 32" scale. No problems though - nice tension.[/quote] I don't think it matters that they're a bit too long. I have extra long GHS flats on a jazz bass with some of the E string wound around the post and they've been on for years with no problems. I can't decide whther to replace them with TIs, La Bellas or Status flats. I don't like the rotosounds because they have ridges, are the TIs completely smooth?

Who needs HD when you've got 625

I don't know of anything light and loud within your budget. There's plenty of options if you want to compromise on the weight side, both new and used. Line 6 make a 350 watt combo which I thought had some great sounds, but it's heavy as heck. The 12" markbass combo is light as a feather and great if you don't need very low frequencies at high volume, but you might be better with the 15" combo if you can stretch the budget.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='248063' date='Jul 25 2008, 07:02 PM']I couldn't get on with the TI Jazz Flats I put on my fretless. They sounded great, but the low tension freaked me out. Back to good 'ol La Bella 760FLs.[/quote] Hi, I've wanted to try TIs and La Bellas for a while, currently use GHS flats on my jazz bass. I don't mind low tension and I like a deep smooth sound and very smooth heavy gauge flats for dub reggae. I've tried rotosound 77 flats, but they're not smooth enough for me, too rich sounding and hard on the fingers. I'm probably buying a Hofner Steinberger copy and will need to replace the roundwound strings. Which do you think would best suit my sound? Do you still have the TIs and if so do you want to sell them? Thanks.

Same problem here, but there's lots of solutions. I changed my trace rig to markbass and the lightest 15 cab I could find (flite). The lightest bass in the world must be the Ashbory, it's now my main bass since my old jazz started to feel too heavy. Hard to play at first, but great sound if you like the double bass. I'd like to try a status streamline or steiny too because I miss frets. Some light basses [url="http://www.playawayguitars.com/"]here[/url] It's nice to wake up after a gig with no back pain

If cost is an issue, the status hot wires look good value at £14.

[quote name='Pookus' post='448402' date='Mar 28 2009, 09:17 PM']Will post results of 32" flatwound strings on 30" scale bass type experiment soon [/quote] The others I've been considering are the [url="http://www.status-graphite.com/status/frames/index_home.html"]status hot wire flatwounds[/url] Does anyone have any experience of these in comparison to the TIs?

[quote name='Pookus' post='448357' date='Mar 28 2009, 08:03 PM']Thomastik JF324 String Set, Short Scale, Nickel flatwound Roundcore, Gauges 043-056-070-106. Just ordered these from Thomann for my EB 0[/quote] I've been thinking of trying these as I like a deep smooth tone without too much treble. They say they are for 32" scale, so they may be too long for a 30" scale bass. Please report back on how you find them.