CamdenRob

Welcome 🙂 What a beautiful pair of Jazz basses. Dont hang around here too long. You’ll end up buying loads of “essential” gear you didn’t previously know existed, discover that all your current gear is too heavy, and find yourself in heated debate about things that aren’t real like “Heft”... 😐 Here are a couple stock phrases that will stand you in good stead and save time if you copy and paste them into a handy file upfront 👍 “It’s all in the fingers” - used in reply to any suggestion that different basses / amps are capable of affecting tone in any way whatsoever. ”Jaco only needed 4 strings” - Useful in reply to any topic regarding a bass with 5 or more strings 👍 This is especially poignant as it’s widely known that all bass players want to sound and play exactly like Jaco. “It’s one of the good ones” - Used when selling a Fender bass from the 70s to assure a buyer this particular instrument was on the right side of Fenders notoriously iffy QC at the time... Although as every bass sold on BC seems to be “one of the good ones” I’m not sure where this accusation comes from 🤔 Anyway just a few pointers 🙂 ... oh and if you discover which bass is best for metal can you let the rest of us know so we can finally close the site down and get back to whatever it was we were all doing before. 🎸 🤘

Thanks chaps. Think I’ll get myself a hygrometer and assess the extent of the problem... 👍

Having set things up as best we can to provide a private space for working from home for both myself and Mrs C, my basses have ended up in a different room. Unfortunately being limited on space (London flat) this room is also where we end up putting the washing whilst it dries... We have no garden so can’t hang stuff outside. Is this a recipe for disaster with humidity etc? I shall have to find somewhere to store them in cases for the duration of lockdown if there is a significant risk of damaging my gear. My rig is in there as well... any risk to that? Speakers etc...? I‘m likely worrying about nothing but thought I would check with the BC hive mind first 👍

Yeah me neither... too clever for me. I just play in time... 🤔 I also play my fretless in tune 🤥 ...honest.

Beautiful headstock... 😕 To be honest though I’m so completely and utterly conditioned to expect to see a Fender headstock with a P bass I always think anything else looks weird. Not so with J basses for some reason. Just the P bass.

The way Paul makes them these days Wal basses are up there with the very best for craftsmanship. A couple of touches on my 2017 MK3 standout for me as examples of going the extra mile. For example the Figured Maple facing I choose was slightly too small. So Paul went with a triple laminate to make up for the tiny shortfall rather then go with a different facing. And to keep things even, he also did it on the back face. As much attention goes into the back facings as the front. Similar level of detail on the headstock facing as well. Along with perfect balance, playability and the tone (which is the real reason anyone buys a Wal), I think they are up there with the very best 🙂

The Wal isn’t worth much... I’ll take it off his hands for £1k 😁 ... it’s not like that is the finish and model I have been looking for or anything 😕. To add to that, if Trevor is six months out (not that I’d ever expect Trevor to be a day out with his Encyclopedic knowledge of Wal) it’d be YOB too 😕

You don’t need a bass at all, it’s all in the fingers. 😐

It’s a bit of an odd one for me. The stuff I play these days is mostly rock / pop. I choose projects based on the proximity of the rehearsal space to my house and also the personalities of the other guys in the band, rather than what type of music it is. I just enjoy playing bass and can find something to like about pretty much anything in a playing scenario. As for what I like to listen too... I don’t think I listen to anything which didn’t come out when I was in my teens / early twenties which was nigh on twenty years ago. I was big into metal at the time (noisecore, hardcore and before that death/black metal) and I still listen to the likes of Will Haven, At The Gates etc now as my preference... I don't play metal anymore though. It’s a young mans game and to be honest it’s tuned so low now I’m not really sure I see the point of having a bass guitar in the styles I like. A low F# is virtually inaudible. I think if I was a younger man with the tunings these days I’d play everything an octave up.

It’s impressive in a solo context but if your doing all that in a band then the actual function of a bass instrument (bottom end - tying everything together) isn’t there, so either another instrument has to do it (in which case I’d rather be playing that instrument), or its missing and the music sounds like your listening to it on a phone speaker... I exclusively played slap bass for the first 5 years or so of my bass playing career until I became too old for it to make up for my looks when trying to impress girls at parties.

It looks great, really well proportioned. i’ve not tried anything beyond a 7 string.

Also what’s the tuning?

Do you have to tap it or can you fit your hand around the neck to play it conventionally? Recon I’d have to develop a technique with my thumb in front of the neck 😕

G&L L2000 tribute... or pretty much anything by Yamaha or Ibanez 👍

If we didn’t repeat ourselves there wouldn’t have been any new threads on BC since 2011... 😕

Look at those two on the left 😍 Ibanez do some astonishing finishes... More often than not when I click on an Instagram thumbnail for a closer look at a stunner it turns out to be an Ibanez... that or a Brubaker.

Frankly though what’s been the point of it all if we haven’t even decided which bass is best for metal...

My two all naturals...

Great stuff thanks for that 🙂 I have an Emperor 5 which is also just borderline and that’s not an issue with a wider strap as you say... I also once had a thumb NT6 which was so neck heavy you physically had to hold the neck up or the body would swing up in your face on a strap 😕 sounded absolutely terrific though... so much so that it arguably made up for the unplayable ergonomics... I am seriously considering a Sadowsky build but would need some assurance it wasn’t going to be like the thumb 😕

Those of you with chambered NYC models. How does the lighter weight affect the balance? My Wals could anchor a cruise ship, but the balance is perfect (both seated and on the strap), so they are very comfortable to play. I don’t imagine it’s the case with a builder like Sadowsky, but would the lighter body not result in neck dive?

GAS building to uncontrollable levels... Not sure how much longer I can hold out...This is the one for me.

You’ll get a fair spread of answers here I expect. Although the L2000 isn’t really a jazz bass Ive had a couple and they are excellent. Really versatile...

Once again it is proven that I have no idea what I’m talking about... I have discovered this morning (after 5 years) that my Wals are 17mm at the bridge... My Fodera is 19mm... and I can’t tell the difference. In future, it would be safer to assume anything I post is nonsense 😐

Don’t think I’ve got the physique for that 😕 Not sure gut muting is a valid right hand technique...

My cases are all in my parents loft 👍 They don’t live in London so have space for stuff beyond the absolute essentials. I have a full flight case for one of my Wal sixers which is larger than my flat and so heavy it is of little use.