BigLicks67

It was done in association with Orange amps, which may be explains why 59 of the 60 are bass guitarists, but no Ron Carter, Paul Chambers or Dave Holland. Even Danny Thompson gets overlooked. 'Rio' was one of the first things I learned on bass, at the time the story was the whole album was played by session musicians, so I suppose top spot is sweet for JohnTaylor.

I noticed the Indonesian built Lakland Jazz/P bass copies are more expensive second hand than USA Fenders. Considering you get a hard case with the Fender, I was wondering what makes the Lakland's better/more expensive?

[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1361534034' post='1987042'] Three minutes in.... It's bad enough when people in the audience talk during your solo, but when your own band are having a chat during your solo? Someone needs to have a word Does Miles get away with cos he's Miles? [/quote] Apparently, after Coltrane left, Miles was fond of walking up behind his new tenor sax players and mumbling " He ain't no Trane" mid solo, so perhaps JC got off lightly.

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1361537466' post='1987117'] what's wrong with your Tokai jazz. Just use the neck pick up on its own, it should sound good enough. The CIJ basses feel better made (to me) than the standard USA things. They look almost anemic. The maple is always really pale. Plus I like the laquer on the necks on the CIJ stuff. Still, enjoy looking for whatever, it's great fun [/quote] It needs a refret, a new control panel with knobs, new nut, possible new machine heads and a new bridge saddle. It would also benefit from new pickups. When you add up the cost of that I could buy the Squier CV. I agree with you on the anaemic maple, but I think they have started giving it a vintage type stain on Standards from 2012 onwards. I'll keep my eye on the classifieds. Thanks for all the replies.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1361459829' post='1986012'] There have been some interesting ebay listings recently. There was a sunburst early 90s MIJ Squier Silver Series P-Bass finished last night for £185. I would have bid on it but I like black basses and really don't like sunburst. Then this morning ANOTHER Squier Silver series P-Bass appeared, in black, BIN £200. So I did. I'd think that for £200 +/- these would be hard to beat. Alternatively buy a nice Westone Thunder bass, stick a Wizard Trad pup in it and you have all the P-Bass tones you could ever want. [/quote] Yep, I noticed that silver series P Bass myself, with a mirror scratch plate you are in Phil Lynnot territory

After failing to sell my guitar on ebay I have now got a restricted budget for a P Bass. I would prefer a 9.5 radius and an unreliced bass. Which would you choose out of these : a) Squier Classic 60's Vibe Precision b Mex Standard P Bass c) save up and buy a second hand American Standard. d) none of the above I have a battered Tokai Jazz to keep me going in the meanwhile. Many thanks in advance for your replies.

I've had 4 strats over the years, a 1977 American Strat, a Tokai (pre-lawsuit), a USA standard and an Eric Johnson, also had a mexican Tele. Regards, inconsistency a lot of the problem lies with the shop, some shops just take them out of the box and just hang them on the wall, without any thought for the basic set up, then leave the same strings on for an eternity. A lot of stories about mexican guitars being made out of seventeen pieces of wood are nonsense and generally I think they represent good value for money. If you compare the Mex standard with the USA standard then it's probably the fit and finish which is superior on the USA model. In fact the Squier higher end models seem to be closer to the USA models in that respect. Apart from that the radius is the same, but the Mex has a 21 fret neck and the USA a 22 fret neck, also the nut is wider on the USA and the bridge string spacing narrower, on top of that you have a 2 point tremolo rather than the vintage 6 screw type. Pickups tend to be a bit smoother and maybe the electronics a bit better (?) Overall the best Strat I've played is the EJ Strat, but in a blind sound test you couldn't differentiate between that and my USA standard plugged in and acoustically the Ash bodied standard is more resonant. I'd assume these same differences apply to Fender basses. I recently played a Squier Classic Vibe Precision and was amazed at the quality for the price, same applies to a Mex 70's reissue Jazz Bass.

A few years ago I briefly owned a Double Bass (3/4 Stentor job, so I'm not trespassing here ) and I had a stab at this Miles Davis classic. Normally I'd play the opening riff starting on the 5th fret of the A string, but on the DB this seemed a bit awkward. So am I right in thinking that DB players would start with the open D string play the fifth on the G string and then slide up the neck for the rest (hope this makes sense). In my defence I had no lessons so I found intonation a bit of an issue. Thanks in advance for your learned replies.

I prefer music to TAB, so that's not a problem. I'll get this on my Birthday List, thanks for the replies.

My birthday is coming soon, so I was thinking of getting this book: [b] Standing in the Shadows of Motown: The Life and Music of Legendary Bassist James Jamerson (book and CD)[/b] Anyone got it and if so is it accurate/any good etc? Many thanks in advance for your replies.

Building Walking Bass Lines by Ed Friedland. If like me you are a beginner in the mysterious world of jazz style walking bass lines then this is a good place to start. It comes with a cd and encourages you to write your own bass lines (on paper) to get a better understanding of what you are doing. It's music notation only (no tab) so you will need a basic understanding of music to start with.

Many thanks for your lucid and well informed replies.

If you have an 150 watt amp with a maximum at 4 ohms. What speaker rating do you need to match this up with? IE do you need a speaker cab rated at 4 ohms for it to work? Many thanks in advance for your help.

Thanks for the replies. Obviously things have moved on in the bass amp world, no more back breaking heavy duty cabs needed.

I tried out some Ashdown combo amps, yesterday and I was amazed at the wattage rating for some of these amps. For example, a tiny 12 inch combo with a rating of 220 watts. Do these amps really put out this sort of power of is this the marketing people blowing smoke. If anyone has got one of these type of amps do they compete with a loud drummer? The amps tried were: Ashdown EB 12 220 watts, EB 15 220 watts, MAG c115 300 & a Mag 210 200.

Here is my Jazz Bass at the moment - finished in Danish Oil. Just needs a new set of pots, knobs, nut and a refret!!

I've just done this on my Tokai Jazz Bass. My initial advice would be don't do it. I used a combination of Paint stripper and sandpaper elbow grease. Wet and dry sandpaper will probably mean less scratches to the wood. The problem with paint stripper and nitromors is it depends on the paint used on your bass, if it is a car type paint it won't work very well. If you can get a heat gun you should be able to the paint off pretty quickly. Once down to the wood you can use Tru-Oil or Danish Oil ( i used this) and apply several coats.

[quote name='jaydentaku' timestamp='1358336056' post='1937093'] I have played classical and flamenco for 21 years. I hate long nails and I have never had to rely on them being long to play. They should never been more the 1-2mm higher than the tip of your fingers. That's the advice my instructor gave me and its also the rule that many players go by. Some say longer, but I find it can catch the strings. 1mm length doesn't impede my bass playing and I don't look like a woman or a member of the Adams Family. [/quote] This ties in with Scott Tennant's book 'Pumping Nylon' - he recommends that nails should not be too long, from his examples I'd say 1-2 mm would be ideal.

You should try a Fender baja telecaster or a 52 reissue telecaster - they both have large U shaped necks. I have an Eric Johnson strat and that too has a large soft V neck. As for stubby fingers, standard model Gibsons have a slenderer nut than standard Fenders. Theoretically you've more room on a Fender. If I was going for a Gibson I'd get a 335 with a chunky 59 neck (also on the 339). Tokai do a nice 335 copy which has a chunky style neck also.

Thanks for the replies, just a couple more questions. Looking at the seymour duncan schematic it shows white and black pickup wires, on the Tokai they are black and blue. Therefore, do I assume that the black wire is the same on the Tok as on the seymour ? There's also an additional (earth?) wire on the pickups looks like this is earthed to the body ? Regards pots are they long shaft or medium shaft? Many thanks in advance.