Bass-Driver

[quote name='Passinwind' timestamp='1415470490' post='2600733'] '77 Travis Bean Fretless: [/quote] Instant early Mick Karn sound!

[quote name='gsgbass' timestamp='1414806100' post='2593612'] My Sterling Ray34CAFL just came in Thursday. It plays great. [/quote] Beautiful! I wonder if they make a fretless 5 too.

[quote name='gafbass02' timestamp='1409727125' post='2542579'] My warmoth, I rather like it. Looks a bit like chocolate! [URL=http://s34.photobucket.com/user/gafbass02/media/2333D65E-CCC0-4460-BC81-38CF3D13F144.jpg.html][IMG]http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d115/gafbass02/2333D65E-CCC0-4460-BC81-38CF3D13F144.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [/quote] Beauty!

No problem at all

I can't remember - I recorded them several years ago in a semi-pro studio while recording my ex-band's album. All I can tell is that it went through an Aguilar Tonehammer preamp and there was no compression. Can't remember if an Aguilar amp and cab I borrowed from a shop I worked in at the time were used for the clips (they were used for recording the bass for the album though). This is how the bass sounds in the mix (there's a small solo when the bass is the most audible instrument): [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5H6A4J_49o"]https://www.youtube....h?v=H5H6A4J_49o[/url] And me failing to reproduce the same line at home (did that in a hurry, about a month after leaving the band), plugged into an el crappo Line6 combo (I hate it, with hatred): [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xZl1eBsmdM"]https://www.youtube....h?v=2xZl1eBsmdM[/url]

Here are some sound clips of my Essence 5. Not very proffessional but might get you some picture. Empty stings and filter rolling off and on: https://soundcloud.com/dreamdigger/alembic-1 Fingerstyle - both pickups: https://soundcloud.com/dreamdigger/al-2 Fingerstyle - bridge pickup: https://soundcloud.com/dreamdigger/alembic-3 Fingerstyle - neck pickup: https://soundcloud.com/dreamdigger/alembic-4 Pick - both pickups: https://soundcloud.com/dreamdigger/alembic-5 Slapping - both pickups: https://soundcloud.com/dreamdigger/alembic-6

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1305911431' post='1238502'] From L-R: Superheadless Thunder II fretless Thunder IA Thunder III [attachment=80480:P1011703.JPG] [/quote] LOVELY! Especially the Super Headless and the fretless Thunder II. DO WANT!

[quote name='busccini' timestamp='1403954219' post='2487994'] [url="http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/busccini/media/IMG_8115_zpsedf7e615.jpg.html"][/url] [url="http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/busccini/media/IMG_8121_zps42324594.jpg.html"][/url] [url="http://s1285.photobucket.com/user/busccini/media/IMG_8130_zps70d38930.jpg.html"][/url] i sold my babe recently i gona mise u ..... [/quote] I absolutely love those Antiguas! Anyway, here's my P-Bass - not a Fender but it definitely can compete head to head(stock) with the "real" stuff: An '80 Fernandes. Those lawsuit-era Japanese basses were really great - I'm GASsing for a Greco Rickenbacker atm.

[quote name='wombatboter' timestamp='1408532072' post='2531057'] Had a lot of fretless basses the past years but recently sold my fretless Wal because this 400 euros second-hand Kawai just blew me away... Best fretless I have ever had, something about the very fast neck, the nylon strings and the electronics (a switch with three presets, very useable). Had never played one before so just gave it a lucky shot when I saw this second hand and I'm very glad I followed my intuition Looks great too imo (mixture of Alembic, Wal, Jaydee, I don't know) [url="http://s162.photobucket.com/user/wombatboter/media/k_zps85c7c143.jpg.html"][/url] [url="http://s162.photobucket.com/user/wombatboter/media/fre_zpsb39b7083.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote] YOU DID WHAT??? And I didn't know?! That Wal was the best sounding fretless bass I've ever heard, period! If I'd known you were selling it I'd have mortgaged my flat to get it!

Yes - when it's hot and humid, the treble side of the neck bends backwards.

[quote name='zomnius' timestamp='1403364699' post='2482156'] hi jazzyvee, is there a chronologic story somewhere of alembic models etc regarding your remark of 'post-facelift' ? cheers Zom. [/quote] I think a picture will explain it most accurately: Left - a "pre-facelift" version, as far as I remember, '92. Right - a "post-facelift" version, '00, in this case, mine [quote name='zomnius' timestamp='1404027618' post='2488542'] matching table haha great [/quote] I took the "matching table" picture at a place I used to work back then

Beautiful! I happen to know Piotr Zakrzewski personally (I used to work for him when he ran a bass-oriented store called "Bassment") and he's a very cool, helpful and honest guy. The basses he makes (with his accomplice Brunon) are top-notch!

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1393113080' post='2376423'] I bought this from Rumour6 and stupidly sold it. An early 80s Fernandes Jazz with EMGs [url="http://s927.photobucket.com/user/Delberthot/media/Fernandes%20Fretless/DSC08795Large.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote] [quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1393113510' post='2376432'] Harmony Gibson grabber maple fretless copy [url="http://s927.photobucket.com/user/Delberthot/media/Various/DSC03259MediumLarge.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote] I know this may be a bit off topic, but those lawsuit-era Japanese copies of Fender and Gibson basses were killer! I've just bought an '80 Fernandes P-bass, black/maple (I love that combo), and it can compete with almost any Fender out there. Sure, it's not as good as many of those vintage P-basses sold for thousands (and more) but it can give any modern Fender a run for the money.

It's beautiful!

Pino, Mick Karn, John Giblin. These three. A huge inspiration, especially MK in his Japan years. Absolutely unique playing. Unmistakable and irreplaceable.

I really love those things.

DO WANT

[size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Here's my story since 1995 (the ones I still have are [b]boldened[/b]): [color=#000000]1. Musima DeLuxe - made in DDR (East Germany), defretted after buying my 2nd bass - I still have the remains, maybe I'll "resurrect" it one day, it'll make a nice ultra-vintage sounding bass[/color] [color=#000000]2. Zak B4, P + H - alder/maple; Zak was an export brand of Mayones in the 90s[/color] [color=#000000]3. Cort Action Bass V, defretted after I bought my next bass[/color] [color=#000000]4. Yamaha BBG 5S - very decent[/color] [color=#000000]5. Mayones Be5 [/color] [color=#000000]6. [/color][color=#000000][b]Malinek fretless 5 [/b]- Jazz-shaped ash body, maple/wenge neck, rosewood fingerboard (lined), EMG humbucker in the MM posittion; I wanted to lose the EMG and install sth passive but now I'm having a new fretless 5 made so I won't bother with that; it's getting hardly any use atm[/color] [color=#000000]7. Ibanez Roadster '82 with EMGs - I should have changed the pickups and kept the bass instead of selling it [/color] [color=#000000]8. Nexus Shining 5 - I still miss it, definitely should have kept it[/color] [color=#000000]9. Aria Rev-Sound Bass '79 [/color] [color=#000000]10. Kolasiński 5 - a huge disappointment[/color] [color=#000000]11. Fender Jazz Bass 5 MIM[/color] [color=#000000]12. [/color][color=#000000][b]Alembic Essence 5 [/b]- my main weapon, it's magical, I'm planning to keep it forever[/color] [color=#000000]13. Yamaha BB 615 - a decent backup 5[/color] [color=#000000]14. [b]Fender Jazz Bass Geddy Lee Signature[/b][/color] 15.[b] Ibanez Roadstar II fretless - [/b]got it or peanuts, love the sound, very 80s! As long as I can't afford a fretless Wal it's a keeper[/font][/size]

I missed the joke, didn't I...? I meant basses with 2+3 headstocks...

Elricks, too.

PierBea - congratulations! It's a real stunner. I usually prefer maple fingerborards on Fenders (and Fender-like basses) but this one is perfect just like it is. I'd lose the pickguard but otwerwise everything is just beautiful. And I'll defend the BadAss - these are really great bridges!

Congratulations! Roscoes are very, very good. Not too much of a rock bass (in my book at least) but still definitely a great sounding one. Now grab a camera and treat us to some eye candy!

Bluejay - my attitude towards Warwick comes from nothing else than [b]listening and hearing[/b]. And from some experience. I used to really like those basses simply basing on their looks. I still think they look really good, especially the Infinity - that's a real beauty! But then I tried one, a Corvette... it was horrible. I thought "ok, maybe it was a weak one, or maybe it's my playing...". Then I borrowed a Thumb BO from a friend for a rehearsal (the bass I had at that time, an unexpensive Yamaha BBG5S, was getting a new nut installed by a luthier). I was thrilled. "I'm going to wow everyone with the sound", I thought. Well... no. No matter how I tweaked the amp or the Thumb's preamp, no matter how I tried to adjust my technique, I either couldn't hear myself at all or was too loud - with a horrible tone. Somehow, with my mediocre skills, I sounded 5 times better on a fairly cheap Yamaha than a very expensive Warwick - the same band, the same amp, the same rehearsal place! And several years later I became friends with a sound engineer, one of the best in Poland (and a great bassist) who told me several stories about how recording sessions with Warwicks usually ended - 9 times out of 10, the bassist showed up later with a different bass. And believe me, the guy's really open-minded - e.g. he openly says that Japanese Fender copies from the 70s are usually better than modern Fenders, he's against keeping an instrument in original state if modifications can improve the sound (he loves Jazz Basses, owns several and ALL of them have been modded quite heavily, despite being from the 70s!); he also used to dislike most "modern" active ntb basses but when I handed him my Alembic, he plugged it in his rig, played several notes and said "don't you ever dare selling it, it's phenomenal"... He actually taught me about what to pay attention to (apart from playing well, of course) in the studio, what frequencies "sit in" the mix, what frequencies "cut through" the mix, how to get a sound I want, how to make a great-sounding bass from a simply decent-sounding one... He also organized gatherings of bassists in his studio where we carried out massive gear comparisons - and yes, there was one or two Warwicks... Well, you can imagine the results. To put it short and simple - ovangkol and wenge are NOT tonewoods. And maybe that explains why the only decent-sounding Warwick I've ever held in my hands was an older Corvette 5 with ash body and 3-piece maple neck...

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1368142232' post='2073862'] The above probably happens when one of those is in your hands - but definitely not when this chap is playing his. [/quote] I have yet to hear the notes Robert's playing with Metallica... because so far it's been like a guitar with a muddy-sounding octaver. I really adore this guy's skills, I wish I could do like 10% of what he's capable of. But his current sound is virtually non-existant. Yes, there are many major bassists playing Warwicks - endorsement is the word, I guess... The only one who sounds good playing one is Jack Bruce. All others... Regardless of the skills, no matter if it's an absolute monster (in the positive meaning) like Ryan Martinie, Jonas Hellborg or TM Stevens, the sound is dead as a doornail. If you can hear the bass in the mix at all. Sorry, my Warwick hate is strong. [quote name='Stealth' timestamp='1367872189' post='2070551'] Food for thought. I did like the 55-02 maybe i need to try one again like i said the Sei with EMGs was awesome but it just needed setting up too much. Status Stealth yes please who wants to sell me one. (headed only) [/quote] If you want to hear any articulation whatsoever, not only "louder-more quiet" steer clear of EMGs. Big bottom, detached highs, scooped midrange - that sounds good solo but in the mix it's hardly ever a good choice. Those pickups are the biggest dynamics killers I know. My articulation is on a sloppy side and when I play a bass with EMG I can't hear it at all, while whenever I pick up a Jazz Bass it hits me like a ton of bricks, lol! I'd definitely try the Status, but the Lakland route isn't bad either. Very versatile and workable basses, even if lacking their own character. But it's your character you want to hear, right?

You might also want to try the upper-range Yamaha BB series. They're mighty good.