MisterFingers

+1 on getting hold of a second hand Squier Jazz Bass - I have the Vintage Modified 70's job and it's a better instrument than any of the MIM J's I've played. New they're about 300, but pre-owned you can pick them up for about 180-ish. They can be modded easily and any decent luthier can set them up to play as you want. The Farida Jazzers are also great budget basses.

The Jabba 4 arrived yesterday, so I've had time for us to get used to one another. It is very well made and is the at least the equal of the £1800 Fender Select I played last week. It's also the heaviest J-Bass I've held, but I don't mind, although the balance is a tad to the headstock side. The Delano pups seem to be very clean, so it doesn't get that vintage J sound with the tone rolled off, but I have a very good Squier VMJ which nails that sound anyway. The active control section switches in a slightly different tonal balance which is nice, even with the controls flat. The amount of different tones I can get out of this bass is great - I bought it for recording and even DI'ed straight into a line level pre-amp it's perfect - even tones all over, no buzzes, dead spots or undue fret click. The sustain is incredible. The slightly wider fretboard has been no problem to adjust to. A very precise and tight sounding bass which can go BIG if wanted.
All in all I'm pretty damn chuffed with it. Phew.

Well, resistance was futile to Mayones GAS, and I am expecting the arrival of a Jabba 4 on Tuesday. Fortunately, MissusFingers will not be at home and I will be...which is a relief. I will put the blame firmly on Mark S at Bass Direct for his convincing and in-depth sales pitch should there be any domestic er.."discussions" in the future.
Summer holiday is now in a tent on a midge infested peatbog.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1372354414' post='2124793']
For a the kind of music it is a 7" single makes a lot more sense, and besides the sleeve artwork has all been done to that size and doesn't have the resolution to blow up to 12".

I realise that by putting almost 6 minutes of music on one side of a 7" single we are compromising what can be done as regards level, but there's room to manoeuvre on the other side so the question is should we use it?
[/quote]

The A side is your jump up and down to song I'd guess, so I'd say pump it!

I don't think that spreading the grooves over the vinyl will necessarily give a cut more headroom, because you're still dealing with the stability of the cutting head and how much it can handle before the cut is ruined, even at 45 rpm. The loudest cuts I attended had peaks at +2dbFS, which didn't sacrifice too much dynamic range, but still had poke. It's actually a good thing if the music doesn't go right into the play-out grooves anyway as the end audio suffers from "diameter loss' which cutting engineers try and compensate for, but inevitably means that there is a loss in quality - that's why the last tracks on vinyl albums are often noticeably inferior.

Cool. Thanks.

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1372191457' post='2122756']
My main gigging bass is a white passive Jabba that I got from Mark at Bass Direct. Actually, I wanted an active ‘super jazz’ but like you, I couldn’t really afford the £2k plus for a s/h Sadowsky, Lull, Xotic or whatever. I put in a East J Retro Deluxe and then took it to Jon Shuker who fitted Bartolini pick-ups, a Schaller 2000 bridge, a brass nut and a customised thumb rest. Basically, I got the bass I wanted and saved the best part of a grand!

The reason I picked the Jabba is because it is a [b]very[/b] well put together bass, far better than my Fender Jazz. The build quality is fantastic and to be honest, it was very good in its original passive state when I first got it (apart from the rather cheap bridge). I just used it as starting point for my own 'custom bass' and it turned out great! If only it had a quarter-sawn neck and that rigidity that, say an Xotic has, then it would be just about perfect…
[/quote]

Thanks for that Pete - that's the kind of insight that i need. I spent an hour today in a local shop trying out 5 different Jazzers - 2 Sandberg California Tm's, a Fender US Standard, Deluxe and a Select - just to get some idea of the rival players. How did you find the Jabba's extra 4mm width compared to your Fender Jazz? That's probably my main concern TBH.

Yup, they look great - there's a video demo on YT, and it's a German review, but from what I can understand he's just going over the features rather than giving an honest appraisal - but it does sound like the dogs proverbials. Price-wise they are in the Fender US Deluxe/Sandberg California/Clover Apeirion range, but there's no Jabbas here locally for a test run.

How do they compare with other Jazz's from the likes of Sandberg and Clover? I'm kind of looking for a new JB in their price ranges. Not too taken with feel of the Fender US Jazz's I've tried recently, and I can't afford a Sadowsky or custom job from the likes of Lull, Shuker or Overwater. Or Fender CS. The Mayones look very well built and i'm interested in the Delano pick-up/Glockeklang pre-amp combo.
Any thoughts folks?

The EXS24 can import all sorts of file types - from wav/aiffs to 3rd party hardware sample sets (like Akai). The cheapest way to get a hold of new drum sounds is to browse a webstore like Loopmasters and buy/download your choice. Open up the Edit menu in the EXS24 and import all the drum sounds you want at one time, and it will automatically map and span the individual hits to keys. For multi layered drum sounds try and get a hold of sets that are in a .exs format or other sampler format and the plug-in should read them ok and automatically assign all the correct velocity wavs under each key.
There actually some okay kits already bundled with the EXS24, but you might not have them if you didn't get the Logic Pro Studio bundle.

If Gandalf had a bass that would be the one.

There's a T40 for sale in Glasgow Gumtree in Glasgow for £250 - 10 mins walk from me but I'm resisting!

That looks like a tiny body - on the bass I mean.

FinnDave - How do you think it compares with your standard US J?

I'll definitely try one out when they appear locally.
i knew after I joined this place I'd never be happy with just one bass...

Great looking bass - is it the new issue of the Classic 60's? I only see the Classic 70's ones in stores just now. I saw on TB that a lot of people prefer the 60's ones because the pups are in slightly different positions and really nail the sound.

SM57's have an upper mid lift to give clarity to vocals - and to flatter snares and guitar cabs. It's also not particularly sensitive (being a dynamic) so gain levels will be higher (and therefore the noise floor will be higher). You could try moving it close to the body/f holes to lift the low end (using the proximity effect), but TBH even a budget condenser or back electret will give you a more natural tone. I think with some experimenting with positioning you could get a useable sound. EQ might help too.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1369995889' post='2095281']
I reckon there has to be an issue with it. Admittedly my practice amp doesn`t have a clipping indicator, but I can push lows all the way up on an active bass and it still handles it fine, at 25 watts through an 8-inch speaker. There shouldn`t be any problem with an 80 watt amp at home practice levels.
[/quote]

There seems to be, and it's an intermittent one unfortunately, as I've been pushing it hard this morning and it's been perfect. Damn.

Thanks for the replies - I've tried all combinations of gain v volume, and the fact that it doesn't happen with headphones points towards it being either the power amp stage clipping or the speaker unable to handle the push. There's a slight chance that it could be a faulty amp, but more likely that even at neighbour friendly practise volumes, it just cant handle the massive lows that a J puts out - it's probably aimed at rocky mids rather than jazzy dub lows.
There's an amp repair shop quite near me, so I'll quiz the tech. I actually saw a post on TB that complained about how underpowered it was for a small band rehearsal, but I think even a mellow pianist would drown me out at the levels I can use without the distortion. I'm waiting on a reply from Eden about this, but I have a feeling it'll be a gumtree job and I'll end up with a Mark Bass JB school job. What I don't get is that this small combo retailed originally at about £350, not the cheapest of the cheap - and 80w seemed more than adequate for home use - but it isn't.

So basically you're saying that a 12" 80w bass combo can't handle..er..bass?

[size=4]Fellow Basschatters[/size]
Any feedback on this issue gratefully received:
I bought an ex shop demo Eden E12 kickback combo a few weeks ago but it's only recently that I've been putting it through it's paces with the JB at home.
[size=4]This combo is rated at 80w (and 120w peak), but I'm getting either power amp clipping or speaker fart even at about 40% of peak volume. This is definitely to do with an inability to handle the lows because even at lower master volumes with the low eq turned up it happens. I know this is a practice amp, but I'm not pushing it hard at all, but it just hates the J lows. Input gain/compressor settings have no effect, so it's not a pre-amp problem from a passive bass.[/size]
[size=4]Is the amp faulty or has the speaker coil/cone been damaged in the shop, or is it just me expecting too much from a budget Eden?[/size]

Columbus made absolute planks - They might be 35 years old now and have a whiff of vintage, but they are dreadful instruments- brings back terrible memories of 2" high action on banana necks, nasty paint jobs and, as owen says, plywood.

Yup, definitely Hugh Hopper - I think the late Kevin Ayers left after the first album. There's a great French TV performance of the Wyatt/Ayers/Ratledge line up on Vimeo here:

[media]http://vimeo.com/23399431[/media]

Thanks for all the advice guys - I've pulled the trigger on a member's Overwater Elite F/less - I can't justify an ACG custom job at the mo' but maybe down the line....?

I thought that might be your J type fretless in the gallery- total envy mate!
(BTW I know Moffat quite well but never knew there was a luthiers off the High St.!)
Tough decisions here.