[quote name='NJE' post='690389' date='Dec 21 2009, 09:10 AM']I believe these pictures were taken at a Annie Lennox gig. I know he does prefer using 4s but like someone said earlier for the kind of music he often plays he needs to get that low bass that is predominant in a lot of pop music. Saying that if the post about his Alleva now being in the hands of one of our own, maybe he has given up on 5s or switched back to his MusicMan. (sure he was playinga Nordy at one point too, and Sei.....cracking taste in basses)
I think he is such a fantatstic player and one of my biggest regrets was not going to say hello at the london guitar show a few years back when he was on the Ernie Ball stand.[/quote]
Yea I now own Paul's white Alleva as pictured previously and its a superb bass. I don't think he is giving up on 5's, just fancies a change and I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see him with a new five string soon perhaps. I believe that with Jamiroquai he can use fours for most of the gig but there are one or two tunes that have to have a 5 string. As you all know he is very busy and so needs quite an arsenal of basses for different gigs and I guess also likes changing gear as some of us do too!!
I haven't met Paul often but when I have he has always been really pleasant and is passionate about bass playing and his sound and a genuinely nice guy who hasn't been changed by his success at all. One thing that is maybe worth noting when it comes to tone is that I have been fortunate enough to play some of Paul's basses and he has a relatively high action which I think is key to the sound he gets. I lowered the action on the Alleva but still play with higher action than I used to as it seems to help the overall sound. I know that is a different debate but seeing as we are discussing Paul's tone its worth mentioning here.
Since I have had my Allevas I havent felt the need to look for a different bass although I would love a 4 string Jazz :-)
Steve