4000

I change them depending on what sound I'm after but the mainstay is a Jim Dunlop 3mm Big Stubby.

I suffer from "Entwistle Hook" syndrome and feel like I need a spare for everything (although ironically don't have a spare amp at the mo). I also once had a jack crap out on me during a gig and have never forgotten it. I have frequently gigged with one but much prefer to have a spare for piece of mind, even more so because both my main gigging basses are nearly 40 years old.

Speaking as someone who can never make the whole back-pickup thing work, that sounds tremendous. It actually reminds me somewhat of my old Sei Melt singlecut.

[quote name='chaypup' post='1141333' date='Feb 25 2011, 03:23 PM']Got myself a Westone Super Headless off of Gumtree yesterday.....pups need a respray but other than that, sounds and looks amazing! Came with the original case too! [attachment=73212:P1011420.JPG] [attachment=73213:P1011425.JPG] Will take more photos when I've done the pups - which i'm not in a hurry to do because re-stringing is a NIGHTMARE!!!![/quote] They were great basses; played a few of those. The stringing was the same as my old Quantum. Just takes a bit of getting used to, it's not as bad as it first appears. Double ball end is far easier though!

[quote name='ahpook' post='1142282' date='Feb 26 2011, 12:47 PM']a hefty does of "agree to differ" is needed on basschat these days...[/quote] Sadly I find this is the case in life generally....

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1141122' date='Feb 25 2011, 12:49 PM']Anyway, as soon as my scars heal, I'm off to murder some chavs. [/quote] Get a couple for me will you?

[quote name='Count Bassy' post='1141086' date='Feb 25 2011, 12:29 PM']Of course it is - I was just teasing Bilbo (you do know that don't you Bilbo?). Perhaps I should have put some smiley things in.[/quote] Ah. I wondered what that wooshing sound was (as it went over my head) . Ironically, & despite earlier comments, I love some of the players he's influenced such as Richard Bona and Tal. Personally I've always thought Jaco's greatest strengths were actually his groove and time, which are fantastic.

[quote name='Count Bassy' post='1141012' date='Feb 25 2011, 11:40 AM']Yes, and it happens to iconic songs as well, for example Mustang Sally, All Right Now, Sweet Home Alabahma, etc., but best not start on that old chestnut again. Ooops - I just did.[/quote] So it's not possible to simply dislike something, not because it's "anti", not because it's "cool" to not like it, but simply because you don't?

[quote name='thodrik' post='1140670' date='Feb 24 2011, 11:42 PM']I do like Jaco but I must say I think that the 'playing back pickup on a jazz bass' has been really overdone in recent years. Some people seem to have a 'back pickup brigade' mentality' implying that anybody that does not use the back pickup or love the sound of it played solo does not have any talent or appreciation for music. I find the sound to be a bit weedy myself and find it a bit strange when the burpy sound is described as a 'growl'. That said though, a lot of the back pickup fetish is down to the influence of Jaco himself. He was an amazing player, pushed the idea of the bass as a lead instrument forward and influenced many.[/quote] Absolutely. BTW I want to make it clear I have great respect for him as a musician whilst not really being his biggest fan. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1140899' date='Feb 25 2011, 10:12 AM']As for Stanley Clarke, his sound was the [i]absence[/i] of tone. [/quote] And yet, in its earlier incarnations at least, it's one of my all-time favourites. Which of course goes to show how subjective it all is.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1140418' date='Feb 24 2011, 08:58 PM']I've recently noticed that some people are not fans of Jaco's sound. Fair enough. Have these people judged this on Youtube clips or have actually listened to his sound on the albums? The back pickup sound on a Jazz bass cuts through a mix. It allows you to be heard. It also requires a lot of pressure on the string, and good technique. Try listening to Bernard Edwards, too.[/quote] I've certainly heard his records. I own a couple at least, also have a few live bits and pieces on dvd. Was never really a fan of that sound, and I did try very hard to be. Not really a fan of "the back pickup" sound generally, particularly on a Jazz; I just find it nasal. It's not my thing. I tend to feel in many of the situations I've heard him in, I can hear Jaco [i]too much[/i] which is one of the things that bothers me, but that's only my opinion. Ironically I love Bernard Edwards' sound, which personally I think is miles away from Jaco's. To be honest I don't really see what the "requires good technique" comment means. If you don't like the sound who cares whether it requires good technique or not? That's not a musical issue at all. EDIT: One other thing; sound is all about context. I love Chris Squire's sound in Yes, but would NOT want to hear it on a dub track......

[quote name='Bassassin' post='1139025' date='Feb 23 2011, 07:16 PM']Hands up who wishes they'd bought a Rail & a Quantum (and a Super Headless & a Washburn Bantam & a Washburn Force 42 & an Aria Pro ICB Interceptor & a Riverhead Unicorn & an Ibanez Axstar AXB...) before JapCrap got popular, & people couldn't give the damn things away? Yeah, me too... J.[/quote] Wish I still had my Quantum. Did me proud. Sold it for about £100 in the early '90s.

Just been logged out again.

I tend to look at basses in a similar way, using my favourite analogy, to training shoes. I have several pairs, all slightly different, and depending on how I feel on a given day I may tend to prefer one pair over another. I have my favourite pair but I don't always choose to wear them, sometimes I fancy a change; sometimes they simply don't match my outfit. Simple as.

I think aesthetics play a large part in it for me although I do like different sounds for different things. I don't subscribe to the idea that it doesn't matter what the bass sounds like as long as it sounds like a bass - there are players I can't listen to because of their tone and others who I could listen to all day long because of their tone. I find different instruments make me play differently too, they make me approach the music in a different way based on both physicality and sonics. I don't think that price, certainly from a personal perspective, makes any difference. I like a lot of boutiques but what I appreciate in them is generally build quality, playability and once again, aesthetics (I like beautifully crafted things, be they basses, chairs, whatever). I haven't generally found they sound any better, just different. In fact my go to basses would tend to be he opposite of what most boutiques tend to bring to the table. I don't think that it's anything to do with being "not worthy" though, more simply what fits in the band your playing in. 90% of the time I'm fighting distorted guitars and I tend to find passive oldies seem to do that better. I don't want thin, smooth or transparent in most situations I'm playing in because it doesn't work. YMMV.

Had trouble last night. Tried logging in about 5 times, just kept showing me as a guest. Had to turn the machine off and on again in the end which did the job. Just had trouble now (at work) too. I thought it was just me.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1136098' date='Feb 21 2011, 07:58 PM']If something happened where you couldn't get paid for gigs, would you carry on playing for nothing, just for the sheer enjoyment? When I was young I definitely would, but I'm not sure now. I know a lot of bands do play for no fee anyway. Any thoughts?[/quote] Absolutely. Spent 30 years doing it, I'm not about to stop now. On a serious note, for me it's not really about playing bass. It could be playing anything or even singing. The main thing to me is playing [i]musi[/i]c, preferably original music, even more preferably music I've written.

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='1136018' date='Feb 21 2011, 07:25 PM']Have you ever played anything hewn from Zebrano? [i]Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.[/i] Makes lots of tonewoods sound a bit.. Flat.[/quote] Er, the body on his (my old) bass is made from zebrano (with a buckeye top & maple neck with zebrano stringers). So yes, he has.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1134789' date='Feb 20 2011, 08:46 PM']There don't seem to be any hard and fast rules when it comes from shipping from abroad. Just a load of personal experiences, and what you hear from other people. IME no individual carrier is better than another. For each example of excellent service form a particular carrier someone else will have a complete horror story. These are my experiences. YMMV as they say... AFAIK none of the instruments I've had sent from the US have had any special insurance on them although the most I've paid for an individual instrument has been $999 plus postage. The basses I've had from Japan claim to have been insured up to the value I've paid for them, but I've never needed to test this. Most of the instruments I've imported from the US have been sent by USPS. They have been tracked all the way to my door (provided that the sender sends me a tracking number) using the [url="http://www.usps.com/shipping/trackandconfirm.htm"]USPS web site[/url] until it leaves the US and from there with [url="http://www.parcelforce.com/portal/pw"]Parcel Force[/url]. Parcel Force won't deliver until you pay the VAT/Duty/Clearance fee, which they send you a bill for once the parcel arrives at your local depot. It normally takes about 12 days door-to-door, but it can take up to 3 weeks. The last instrument I got from the US (a guitar in a rectangular hardcase) cost $115 for the postage. I've had one bass sent to me by FedEx. This cost a massive (compared with USPS which is normally around the $100 mark) $300. However the bass only took 3 days to get to me. Because I had it delivered to my work where we were already registered with FedEx for receiving imports I never saw a bill for VAT or Duty. Whether this is because the bill went directly to the company and they paid it without questioning I don't know. All I do know is that I've never had to pay and VAT or Duty on any FedEx parcel from either the US or Japan that I've had delivered to my work place. HTH.[/quote] Next time can I get mine delivered to your workplace?

[quote name='RhysP' post='1134475' date='Feb 20 2011, 04:29 PM']That's never happened to me. Everything has been delivered to the door & I've paid the import duties & tax there & then. The bass wasn't very expensive so I just took the risk. I didn't see the point in spending as much on the shipping as the bass cost just to get it insured. From all the stories I've heard over the years even if you have insurance cover it's an absolute nightmare trying to get a courier to pay out in the event something happened to it. I've been really lucky though & never once had any issues with having gear shipped either from abroad or in this country. If I'd had something destroyed I'd probably feel differently.[/quote] I've had to wait every time; am currently waiting for the most recent one. They send you a form where you disclose how much the bass cost (you have to provide proof) and then when they receive it they send you another letter detailing how much duty you have to pay. If the bass was a cheap-ish one I may think twice about insurance. With the ones I've been buying, no way; that first one that never got here taught me a big lesson.

[quote name='grayn' post='1134041' date='Feb 20 2011, 08:51 AM']It depends on what you are playing. Simple, root note, rhythm bass lines are easy to sing with. If you are playing more complex lines, then you have to know the lines well enough, that they are semi-automatic and then you can sing without having to concentrate on them, so much. Of course, strumming a few chords on an ordinary guitar is easier. But bass and vocals just needs more practice.[/quote] +1. However I ironically seem to struggle less with more busy, complex lines (within reason of course). Practice, practice, practice. Learn the line then learn the singing and put them together. I was called upon to do it before I could really play at all so learnt to do it along with learning to play. Having said that if I have a lay off for a while it takes me time to get up to scratch again. Of course there are some lines that are far more difficult than others, mainly for rhythmic reasons.