Hugh971

The issue is definitely not with modern gear. As has previously been said most modern line array systems are very well engineered to create an even response throughout the whole range with no frequency gaps. The issue, I believe, is with the modern trend of EQuing the mids out of the bass. It's got nothing to do with micing vs DIing. A sound man could cut all the mids out of a miced signal as well as he could with a DI'd signal. Most digital desks have compressors and decent EQs on every channel so the tools are there. Also the sound guy can hear the big picture. What sounds good for you on stage is possibly not what would sound good coming out front. Some sound guys are idiots but lots are great, your best bet is to work with them. At the end of the day they have the final say to how you sound out front.

Yep, I'd walk, a drummer can either make or break a band. I'm not sure what I'd say was my reason for leaving though.

It seems lots of music shops go out of their way to not sell instruments. Rude staff, poor setups, loads of pressure to buy. And they wonder why people flock to online stores. I have had some good experiences though.

Definitely agree on this. Depends on the band, venue and engineer though. I think most engineers try to get a smooth, bottom end heavy bass tone but that sound doesn't sit in the mix at all for most music.

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1416748437' post='2613111'] Regarding the glove: Does the condition only affect his left hand? [/quote] No, it's a neurological condition to do with nerve signals getting confused and being sent to the wrong destination. The glove on his left hand seems to offset the condition but it still affects him.

I remember when I bought my Mexican precision a few years ago (which I've now sold) there was far less choice. If I remember correctly there was the MIA Fender Jazz and Precision bass, things like the MIA Precision Deluxe (or something like that) which was PJ and active, and the MIM Fender J and P. There was the MIJ stuff but that was hard to come by over here. They seem to have saturated and confused the product range now, there are loads of different Fender P and J basses which are all slight variations. I think they should have just stuck to the more simple approach they had a few years ago. I wouldn't look at Fender now (except maybe MIJ). If I wanted a cheaper (MIM range) I'd look at Squier and if I wanted a more expensive Fender type bass I'd be looking at Sandberg or similar.

Cool, you can sign up to SBL for 14 days for $1, why not do that to get a feel for it? I don't know if the Janek Gwizdala offerings have any kind of trial basis, but if they do why not trial both? Hope to see you soon on the campus.

[quote name='Hugh971' timestamp='1416738510' post='2612977'] I'm a subscriber to his premium site and it's worth every penny. His teaching style is great, I never find myself confused after his lessons. Most importantly my playing has rocketed ahead since I joined. [/quote] It's SBL that I'm signed up to, not the other one. I signed up to the bass academy which includes a load of premium courses amongst other stuff. He's recently released a harmonic layering course which breaks down arpeggios and scales and how to use them in your playing. This new course is over 10 hours long! https://www.scottsbasslessons.com/bass-academy It's not just the lessons that are great though, the online community is excellent too, it's great to be able to communicate with others who are also eager to learn. I find it motivates me more. You can actually sign up for 14 days for $1 to try it out if you want to look around. [quote name='Tuco' timestamp='1416739922' post='2612991'] One question : whats with the glove??? [/quote] He wears gloves because he has a medical condition (focal dystonia) which causes him big problems with his hands, the gloves help this. There's actually a page on his website about it. https://www.scottsbasslessons.com/odds-and-sods/the-gloves

I'm a subscriber to his premium site and it's worth every penny. His teaching style is great, I never find myself confused after his lessons. Most importantly my playing has rocketed ahead since I joined.

I thought my days of being treated like dirt in a music shop were over when I stopped being a penniless teen but I was proven wrong by a sales assistant at PMT Leeds yesterday. I buy music gear regularly but I don't think I'll be buying it from there ever. Sorry to reopen an old thread but I felt I had to rant.

I have the 75 Jazz in natural with a maple board. It's a great bass for any money, the fretwork is great on mine. I've got the neck pretty much straight and the action very low and it's very comfortable to play. It's not the lightest bass in the world but jazz basses aren't. I'm considering replacing the pickups on mine but the stock ones are pretty good. I did shield the cavities on mine to minimise the buzz that's common with single coil jazzes.

I'm looking for some new pickups for my cheapo Harley Benton Jazz Bass to replace the Wilkinson pickups. I like the jazz sound but also like a more modern twist. I'd like, if possible, something hum cancelling but I wouldn't want to sacrifice the single coil sound to get that. I've already shielded the cavities. I've been looking at [url="http://www.bartolini.net/product/9cbjd-l1/"]these Bartolini 9CBJD-L1 pickups[/url]. Has anyone tried these or any other Bartolini jazz pickups, what are your views? Any other suggestions are welcome too.

The necks on both basses are slim jazz profiles. Personally I would recommend sticking with the lined neck. Especially if this will be your first fretless. I don't know if the neck pocket is of the same size as a standard jazz bass.

It was NBD on Friday. After people's reviews here and after receiving 2 broken Vintage Fretless Icons I decided to go down a different route and buy the Harley Benton (thomann's own) equivalent. While I was at it I also purchased a fretted 4 string of the same type as I was missing a nice thin neck (I play a 5 string mainly at the moment) I had a Thomman voucher from reviewing products I'd purchased previously so it all worked out at £50 less than the Vintage. I'm pretty happy with them so far, the quality is excellent for a bass of their price and they sound nice too. I just need to actually learn how to play the fretless properly! As for sound clips I recorded a bit messing around with the fretted jazz on Friday. https://soundcloud.com/hughnoble/lazy-sunday-solo-bass

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1399284994' post='2442680'] When it arrives, please can we have an in-depth review? Pretty please. [/quote] Of course I also ordered the natural fretted 4 string HB Jazz so I'll review them both when they arrive.

[quote name='Raslee' timestamp='1399312653' post='2443042'] Wow that sounds interesting, didn't know they did a 5..was it custom built? Better still any pics? [/quote] I think it was a prototype that wasn't developed further, I bought it from Dawsons who told me it was the only one in the UK. As far as I can tell it's the only one in existence. It has DiMarzio pickups, I've managed to get the neck straight and the action low with no fret buzz (though I do play with a light touch). When I bought it I wasn't after a 5 string but I went for it as it felt perfect to play. The pics don't really do it justice. The grain on the neck is really nice.

I had 2, both had quality control issues. One of them had a stripped truss rod so I sent it back and the replacement was missing the string retainer completely. After this I decided to get my money back. It was a shame because they were great basses apart from the obvious issues. The Wilkinson hardware was good. If you have more luck than I did with QC then I'm sure it will be excellent. I ended up ordering a Harley Benton from Thomann which also has Wilkinson hardware so hopefully that will be better.

My main bass at the moment is a one of a kind Farida 5 string jazz. Excellent bass, solidly built, plays and sounds lovely.

After having to send back my second vintage fretless icon I decided to give one of these a go. So I have now ordered both the fretless and the natural fretted jazz bass. It does feel a bit excessive to buy 2 basses in 1 go but I had a voucher from reviewing products on Thomann so buying both together cost £50 less than the vintage. It looks like I'll have to wait 2 months for the fretted one but I can be patient!

Looks awesome, the finish looks excellent on that. Between these and the J&Ds I'm really struggling to not buy a 4 string fretted Jazz to complete my jazz collection.

So it finally arrived today after almost 2 months waiting. I really like it so far. My first experience with a fretless is going well!

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1390168004' post='2342301'] I'd have ordered both from Thomann and just sent back the one you liked the least... [/quote] Tempting, though I'd then be paying delivery back to Germany on a bass either way. Also the Vintage Icon is only £224 with a free lead from GAK.

I decided to go with the Vintage Icon in the end. I bought it before I saw your post about the Yamaha, I actually did a search on ebay yesterday for 'Fretless Yamaha' with no results. Oh well, it's too far for me to travel anyway. I'll let you know what I think of it when it arrives.

[quote name='clashcityrocker' timestamp='1390049589' post='2340865'] Ash body on the Harley Benton, surprising on a 100 quid bass I been considered the Vintage but that Harley is damm cheap,same pick ups too? [/quote] I don't know if the pickups are them same ones, just says Wilkinson. It looks like the Harley Benton was only released in December which maybe why I couldn't find anything about it.

HI, I'm after a cheap fretless bass. This will be my first fretless so a big part of this is so I can see if I like fretless and stick to it. My main influence in fretless playing is Jaco's more groove oriented stuff (not so much the soloing) but I'm not trying to be Jaco but I am specifically after a jazz due to the the bridge J pickup though I will consider other suggestions. At the moment I'm looking primarily at these 2 options[list] [*][b]Vintage Fretless Icon [/b](http://www.thomann.de/gb/vintage_vj96mrjp_fretless.htm) - This seems to be regarded quite well around here. [*][b]Cheap Harley Benton Fretless Jazz [/b](http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_jb_40fl_sb.htm) - I've found next to nothing about this online. It looks very good for the price but it's a bit of a risk. Has anyone ever played a Harley Benton bass and if so was it any good? [/list] Can anyone help here? I'm leaning towards the Vintage at the moment. Thanks Hugh