birdy

[quote name='bubinga5' post='221283' date='Jun 18 2008, 12:02 PM']Thanks steve, this is usefull. When u say he took a 'hit' on the shipping, what did thy mean? Sorry dont know this street jive!!![/quote] Without getting into too much detail we agreed a price including shipping and Jim assumed they could use USPS as they usually did. He then found out that this wasn't practical any longer due to a limit on how much you can insure it for so used Fedex instead which cost more than double what he was expecting. He did what I consider to be the right thing and didn't attempt to change the price thus losing some or all of his profit. As it happens he could have probably shipped it a lot cheaper but he wanted to get it to me asap so all in all great service! Steve

I just added to this thread as I didn't think my comment warranted a new one but just to let you all know that I bought a bass from www.bassandbeyond.com and had great customer service. The place was recommended to me by Tom Bowlus from Talkbass and the guy I dealt with, Jim, did me a good deal and took a hit on the shipping as well. Worth considering if you are looking to buy from the States. Steve

[quote name='Willmill_77' post='220050' date='Jun 16 2008, 05:19 PM']Hi all, I had the opportunity to try a Sadowsky UV70MW Metroline 5 String and was blown away by the sound and feel. It has much more power than a Jazz bass. My question is how would you compare this to a stingray 5. I was told that they feel similar. Is this the case? Are the neck profiles close? Many thansk - you will influence a buying decision here! cheers W [/quote] I believe that the stingray has pretty narrow spacing (17mm from memory) whereas the Sadowsky will be I think 19mm. They are both great basses and you should really try a stingray as well and then pick the one you prefer and if it was me I would plump for the Sadowsky :-) Steve

Guys, I am going to offer a different, probably unpopular, perspective on this. I think the guy was genuinely trying to give some advice albeit in a patronising and clumsly manner. He states below that he isn't trying to offend. Sure it was out of order but it appears to me this thread has turned into a little bit of a witch hunt with gang mentality setting in a little which I am sure wasn't what Jo intended. Steve [quote name='jojobass' post='214361' date='Jun 7 2008, 02:13 PM']"hi Jo caught the show last night at the high barn, great night had by one and all i saw the potential of what your trying to achieve. [b]I don't like to criticize unless i feel it will be positive to a player so please don't take offence as it is the last thing i want to do.[/b] I believe you play upright bass, as your right hand fingering is very lazy and leads to a lack of definition in your playing. Spoons is a very powerful drummer and you need definition and power in your playing to stay with him which you lack. I feel if you address these issues you will have a better understanding of your playing in a trio, which is completely different to playing in any other formation as you will be left lacking when the guitar leaves the groove to solo. The fact you are female has nothing to do with our ability, to me you are a bass player, end of story. [b]Please feel free to reply in case i don't have the full picture, like i said i don't want to offend, just point you in the right direction.[/b].....fergie"[/quote]

[quote name='All thumbs' post='218067' date='Jun 13 2008, 02:56 AM']Haven't read ALL this thread, but enough to get the gist! When I was 15 I started playing bass and quickly realised that's what I wanted to do with my life. Had no interest in school and kind of always knew whatever I did would be kind of 'alternative'. Seemed to me that in order to dedicate my whole life to something, I'd need to have some kind of a financial return to keep the wolf from the door. Never really cared about fame or fortune, just being the best bassist in the world (we all have dreams) and having enough to live on. The three paths I could see ahead were 1. Get SOOOOOOO good that I'd be the UK session bassist of choice; 2. Join a 'name' b-list band from the 60's/70's and do the theatres/festivals etc. on wages; or 3. Play the clubs and pubs and scrape enough to live on. Never achieved No.1! No.2 I did a fair bit of and have been lucky enough to play with loads of pretty famous musicians. Being on the road for long periods playing that stuff wasn't for me though. Did LOADS of No.3 and made a fair living for a long time from it. The important thing throughout is that I was always doing creative, credible stuff ASWELL - be it blues/jazz gigs; studio work (again had the fortune to work with guys like Jerry Donahue, Clive Bunker from tull etc.); writing etc. This stuff is Food for the Soul to me. You see what I'm getting at - no's 1/2&3 above allowed me to do the cool stuff too. Crap though some of the Club gigs etc can be, to me it's always been far more enjoyable and closer to my dream of being a 'professional musician' than grinding away 9-5 every single week somewhere I hate with a boss from hell (I did actually try it for a few years!). On to the 'covers' thing. What the hell do bassists rant on about 'original' material for? I'm a bass player - not a song writer! I improvise a lot, and I interpret whichever song I play through my own personal style of playing - there lies my creativity. Every song I play is a 'cover' - whether it was written be John Lennon or the guitarist in my band! Doesn't make ANY difference to me as a bass player. Also anyone ready to slag of Elvis Presley; Frank Sinatra; The London Symphony orchestra for doing covers???!! On to the present day and I'm now concentrating my efforts into the 'function band' market. I have a function band called Boogie Express ( [url="http://www.boogieexpress.co.uk"]http://www.boogieexpress.co.uk[/url] )and we play out and out party music. Guess what - it's great fun, and whilst you know that the audience aren't really getting off on the playing, they are really having a great time! To open with your first song and see the dance floor [b]fill [/b]and not empty (sound familiar) is quite joyful. Still TONS of room for improvising too, and we have such a laugh slipping in cheeky runs, quotes & fills etc. The venues are lovely (unlike the horrible 'original' venues we've all played) and generally we get treated far, far better than in any other gig enviorenment. So have I sold out? I don't think so. This year I've been playing with a really interesting blues guy called Will Tang; I'm playing Colne Blues Festival internaional stage with Linda Gail Lewis (Jerry Lee's little sister); I've got my own slot on the British Stage as the Scott Whitley Blues Experience; and another set on the International stage with Nuno Mindellis from Brazil. I've recently recorded an album with the Animals etc., etc. Just trying to reiterate that the regular paid 'cheesy' gigs allow me to keep my hand in and do the Credible stuff! Hope some of that is an insight into why people play in function bands/covers bands, and that it's not really got anything to do with intergrity. In fact for me personally I would feel I had lost MY integrity if I had to get a 9-5. That's just me though, I play with lost of musicians who have regular jobs and they are true musicians![/quote] Thanks for posting this - its the one post that I can agree with most on this thread. I can see Bilbo's point to a degree and each to there own but this post is closest to my own opinion on the subject. Steve

I have got an IP112 with the EX112 extension and love it. If you are seriously looking at Bergantino you should arrange with Mark at bassdirect to go and visit him and try out all of the various combinations. A great way to spend an afternoon :-) Steve

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='212920' date='Jun 5 2008, 06:08 AM']Its a lot clearer with new basses like Foderas. Some of them retail for £6k easily. Birdy's '65 Jazz was up for sale at the Gallery for £6.5k.[/quote] Its up for £5.9k and wasn't ever £6.5k - unless Alex is making a few extra quid on the side :-) Steve

[quote name='bassjamm' post='212875' date='Jun 5 2008, 12:10 AM']That's helpful stuff Steve, thanks! Who did you get them shipped through? All the quotes i've had have been in excess of £100...is that right?[/quote] I think I used UPS both times for the cabs and can't remember how much it was but £100 does seem a lot for a bass. I seem to remember that I DID ship a bass to Portugal for bassaussie a couple of years ago and I think if I recall correctly it cost about £60 but I could be wrong. Incidentally he shipped one to me on a seperate occasion and took off the neck and sent two parcels which I think would be cheaper if its bolt on. I think I used parcelforce for the bass. EDIT: I shipped a cab in THIS country to Garbev and he recommended Citylink via [url="http://www.parcel2go.com/"]http://www.parcel2go.com/[/url] and they were a pretty decent price and it arrived safe and sound and they appear to ship to Europe as well. Steve

I have shipped a cab and a combo within Europe (no basses as of yet) and havent had a problem. I always make sure the goods are insured for more than they are worth to put my mind at rest and try and package as well as I can. Obviously wait for payment before shipping anything and if you get any suspicions at all trust your gut instinct and dont do the deal. Hope this helps, Steve

To me its all about 'spare' cash that I have which determines how much I would spend. If I won £10 million on the lottery I would have no problem paying £30K for a 1960 stack knob jazz but at the moment thats unattainable. On the other hand if I lost my reasonably well paid job and/or my band stopped earning I would have to tighten down the hatches. I could have a much more expensive car than the one I have but I prefer to spend my money on gear. I dont have expensive holidays etc. Since Octiber last year I haven't drank and stopped smoking and doing drugs years ago. Its all about personal priorities and preferences in my opinion. Buy what you can reasonably afford based on how important playing is in your life. Steve

[quote name='7string' post='211466' date='Jun 2 2008, 10:52 PM'][b]Would anyone say that the 'Metro' label take would put them off buying one ??[/b][/quote] Definately not. All of the ones I have played have been fantastic. Steve

I have played quite a few brands of basses and there are a LOT of good ones out there. Sadowskys are great but if it were me I would be seriously looking at a Nordy VJ5 ( I have one with another being built) or if you can find one a Celinder. Not much will beat either of those in my opinion. I have heard great things about the Skjolds and of course Shukers but havent played either. Lastly Alleva Coppollo always get rave reviews but again hard to find! Steve

Lovely bass, congrats! Steve

My opinion of P basses is that they sound MUCH better in a band situation (live or recording) than they do when played solo. Theres something about them that really cuts through.

I am pretty sure there is a difference. How else do you explain the noticeable difference in carbon necks? Willing to have my mind changed however. Steve

What a great thread. There have been other instances of things like this on Talkbass before and they are always very touching. Well done to everyone on Talkbass! Steve

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='200171' date='May 16 2008, 09:32 AM']I'm hardly a jazz afficianado but the nicest jazzes I've played have been (in order) 1) Birdy's sweet '65 preCBS : in the Bass Gallery. Warm (unlike many vintage jazz basses I've played) and sweet. Authorative without being aggressive. 2) Celinder Larry Graham : at the LGS a few years ago. Same as the preCBS jazz but without the mojo 3) My Celinder Update J : Completely different sound to the two above but it does that Marcus thing very well[/quote] I cant comment on number 2) but I agree with you completely on 1) and 3).

Just done a deal with Tim involving two basses and some cash and it was a pleasure. Lovely guy who communicated well and went exactly as planned. Thanks! Steve