tobiewharton

Yes, gospel.

Bubinga5 - I was thinking the same with Abe Laboriel. Will check out these guys. Do you play yourself? The guys who are standing out for me at the moment are Justin Raines (Israel Houghton, amongst others) and Maurice Fitzgerald (Kurt Carr, amongst others).

Nice! Great plucking-hand technique and great feel. Those BBs sound lovely too.

Yes xgsj, he is a legend indeed. I've mostly heard his jazz and I'm not too familiar with his gospel playing, besides his work with Ron Kenoly. I shall dig a bit deeper...Enjoy Fred!

Cheers Ambient! All these guys are incredible players, Fred being a prolfic writer too. He also has that incredible ability to play complex, sycopated lines whilst singing. Have you listened yourself? If so, what did you think?

Hello to all gospel players out there! I'd love to hear from fellow players who'd like to share some hints and tips about gospel music, technique and gear. There's a lot to talk about! Cheers, Tobie

Hello all, I've been signed up for a while now, sold a bass and received some great advice from the good folk here. However, I've never really taken the time to discover all of the treats that the site has to offer. What a treasure trove I've been missing! I'm 32 and have been playing bass for 18 years. Initially the allure was Brit Pop, but I've moved through playing pop, rock, funk, soul and reggae styles in all sorts of originals and covers bands and with solo artists. I now play almost exclusively gospel music, with a touch of soul and some contemporary Christian music. I also sing and play guitar (badly) and write Christian music extensively. I am in the process of starting a tuition business as I continue to learn myself. My influences include: Duck Dunn, Justin Raines, Chuck Rainey and Calvin Turner. Cheers! Tobie

Thanks for the replies guys - I've only just seen them! Incidentally, I did correspond with the guys from LeFunk, but we didn't tick each others' boxes. All the best if you're still searching. Tobie

Thanks JimBob.

Any other suggestions? I wonder if the EMGs might be difficult to get hold of second-hand and they're not cheap new. I just need something that will do the jazz job

Cheers Fretmeister

Hi all, I have an Epiphone Tobias Toby Fiver (16.5mm spacing) with major pup pole piece misalignment issues. Does anyone have any suggestions for inexpensive replacement pups that will fit? Thanks Tobie

This is great! All the best with it. Tobie

[size=4]They're medium gauge [font=arial, sans-serif]D'Addarios of some description. It sounds quite bright acoustically. [/font][/size]

Number6 - I agree, the quality is very good and the playability's superb. I think I was a little rash with my explorations of the electronics - there are very useable tones. The crackle and distortion on mine soon disappeared when the high bridge pup was lowered and there's now nothing from the treble pot either, so sounds the same as yours. Output wise, the last active bass I owned was a Warwick Corvette $$, which was an absolute beast. I think the volume bar in my mind was unreasonably high!

Many thanks gents. Whilst you are all probably right, I'm erring towards keeping this one. I've found some very useable tones messing about with EQs and amps and I'm really enjoying the neck. If I'm honest, I suppose I'm primarily of the 'playability takes priority' persuasion, with less interest and certainly less nowse when it comes to the technicalities of a variety of tones (having been a P Bass man for a long time - who am I kidding? I still am!) and I perhaps just expected too much in the versatile sounds department from a relatively inexpensive instrument. Funkle - a Lakland 55-01 sounds like a lovely bass, but more than I'd like to part with. Also a bit of a stretch on the scale and spacing for these hands. Discreet - I had my eye on the V7s, but just can't fall in love with jazz basses - it's those whacking great bodies that look peculiar hanging from my skinny frame. I'm sure they sound the part and seem to have a great spec for this sort of price range. I enjoyed reading your comprehensive review. As always, your input's much appreciated nevertheless, even if it's just for personal clarity. This place is such a treasure trove of knowledge and experience! Happy playing...

I've just received a Yamaha TRBX305 from Thomann and I'm generally pleased with it: build quality, finish and set-up are good and it's very playable indeed. Initially, there was a little crackle and distortion from the bridge pup soloed, but that disappeared after I lowered it. The problem is, the sound just isn't doing it for me. The pups seem to have a low output and there's a distinct lack of top end. The volume balance between the pups is fine, but the bass boost is subby and loud. The two-band EQ features the five-way preset selector, which I think is unique to this model. I took a punt on a cheap, active fiver and can't help wondering whether a passive instrument (the very playable Squier VM P5 springs to mind) might have been a safer bet. However, ideally I'd like a bit more tonal versatility as I play both gospel and soul and this will be my only bass. Plus, I can't really be bothered to send the Yamaha back to Thomann as it was a hoo ha getting it from Parcel Force in the first place. So, I'm wondering what the best solution is. Perhaps a pup change (the stock pups are ugly too)? If so, would it be an easy, straight swap (bearing in mind the preamp)? The cavities are 11.5 cm. Any other suggestions? It would be really good to hear from any of you kind folk who own one of these and particularly those of you who've made any changes. Much appreciated! Tobie