Misdee

I remember these basses in the shops when they were new , around the time I started playing . They were pretty exotic at the time, probably the most expensive bass in the shop. 

Fashion always comes full circle , and these would be pretty trendy nowadays if they were a new design, blending as it does a novel technological approach and retro Seventies styling. Conventional wisdom at the time was that these basses were flawed by the aforementioned temperature- sensitivity of the aluminium neck. I have no idea how true that was/is. I never got to play one. What I do know is that a few years ago I picked up a Kramer  aluminium-necked six string guitar from this era  off a stand  in a music shop and it was shockingly heavy, like it was made of lead. 

The old Boss BF-2 was great, but nowadays I have the EBS Unichorus and it's so versatile and useful, with chorus and pitch modulation on offer in addition to some excellent flanging, easily as good as my early 1980s Japanese-made BF-2.

I've got the Tech21 BDDI V2  and it's great, but I find I have to keep the Presence and Treble controls rolled back a fair bit or it's a bit toppy for my taste. I using it with headphones for home recording , and it may well be that I need to add a bit of compression to my Focusrite interface to take the edge off. 

Contrary to Tech21's assertion that the BDDI  shouldn't  necessarily  be used in conjunction with a separate compressor because there is already some natural tube compression factored into the sound , in my setup when I combine the V2 with my Diamond BC1 the sound  is much more to my taste. But then again , I am a middle -aged bloke with middle-aged taste in bass tone. The BDDI , even the V2 with a midrange control, seems to  naturally favour the  more aggressive scooped and distorted  modern kind of tones that angry  kids in board shorts with tattoos and multiple piercings seem to like . That is fair enough, because the present( and probably the future) belongs to them .

On 23/09/2020 at 18:08, moley6knipe said:

If it were me, I’d buy this!

 

Also a fantastic bass. 

I  would reserve judgement until I had seen the condition, but yes, as others have said, for £1800 it would have to be in very good nick. That said, that 20th Anniversary Stingray 5 was an exceptionally good bass, albeit a bit on the heavy side. Arguably the best-sounding Stingray 5 ever. One of the better EBMM Special Editions because it was substantively different( and better) than the standard model. 

As ever, the laws of supply and demand are applicable, and if I had one to sell in good condition I would be asking £1800 too. Whether I would  find a buyer is anybody's guess, but if you really want one where else would you get one? If you can find one at a better price, buy that one. That would be my attitude. 

Absolutely stunning!

I've never played one of these Rob Allen basses, but I'm sure I would love them . They look like an awful lot of fun to play, and they sound great. 

Thanks for the info, I will have to try a set then!

They sound mighty impressive in the demos I have heard, something quite special. I really like XL's, although in recent years Dunlop Nickel have been my default string of choice. It's just a shame the NYXL's are twice the price of the XL's, but maybe they are more expensive to produce . Something must make them sound so good. 

I read one or two accounts of NYXL  being rough on frets. I would love to hear what any ones' experience is in respect of that potential pitfall. They sound superb on YT, that's for sure. 

There is always the overwound pickup option too, the more overwinding you go for usually giving  proportionately higher output and more pronounced midrange, but at the expense of treble extension. Aguilar do  an overwound 70's Jazz Bass set that is well worth checking out.

If you are going for a more aggressive tone, Di Marzio Ultra Jazz are a great choice. High output, raw tone but still very pleasing and musical. Would be my pick for heavier rock styles. 

 The right choice of pickup depends on what kind of a J Bass tone you want .Will you be going for the modern hifi  active Jazz Bass tone , or a more gritty traditional Fender sound, for example ? 

I favour the latter, and the best pickup for my taste has been the Fender Custom Shop 60's Jazz Bass set, and also the 74 Jazz Bass set. Both are superb.  Stating the obvious maybe, but Fender make great pickups if you want a Fender-style sound.  I thoroughly recommend either of those two sets.

I wish that they'd had Scott's Bass Lessons back when I was starting out. All we had was Rockschool on BBC2 , half an hour once a week  for a few weeks, two series. That was your lot. And no VCR to tape the first series. It was tough in those days to find out things that you can learn in minutes now. But yes, all the relentless marketing is pretty annoying. 

I have a very similar Lakand fretless 4 string with Lakland pickups and it sounds great.  If you're only going to have one fretless this design makes a lot of sense as it is so tonally versatile, offering as it does Jazz Bass and Stingray options, plus a few more besides.

3 hours ago, chris_b said:

I've only played 1 NYC and my Japanese Metro blew it out of the water. I hope the Japanese Sadowsky crew carry on and start up their own line of "Sadowsky's". I'm waiting to see what the Warwick basses are like but I know Yoshi's basses would be impeccable.

It has to be said, in 40 years a playing bass, the best- made instruments I have ever played and owned were made in Japan. And the thing is  I am old enough that I can clearly remember the time when "made in Japan" carried with it an assumption of inferiority from many(most) people in Britain. How wrong they were, even in those days.

I would love to return to the days when companies like Ibanez and Yamaha were manufacturing superb instruments exclusively in Japan . I've never played a  Sadowsky Metro but I wouldn't be  at all surprised if they were that good. 

For me, there's no getting away from the fact that Sadowsky as a brand was all about  the close stewardship of Roger  and the reputation of  his NYC workshop. As soon as Warwick got involved  I lost all interest in buying one of their basses, even a NYC-made model. 

Warwick want to get into the Fender- style market, Roger wants to take things a bit easier. Fair enough. But over time the Sadowsky brand  will lose its' prestige.  It's inevitable that affordability, reaching a mass-market and profitability will overtake excellence as the primary objective. 

Back in the 1980's there actually was a Chinese restaurant on or around the Edgeware Road called Lee Ho Fooks, I seem to remember. Whether   the name was a reference to WZ, I have no idea!

Terrific YT vid demonstrating the sound of various graphite neck basses. Would have been nice to hear some fingerstyle playing too, but still a fascinating listen :

They all sound good to me, but I am particularly partial to the more midrangey tone of the Schack. The Stati and the Bogart sound pretty similar to my ears, a bit mid-scooped. 

On 01/09/2020 at 13:48, Fil1ip said:

What strings do people use on their BBs.

Mine has come with flat wounds but I think I prefer my Rotosounds roundwound on my cheap P bass (I think I prefer the feel). I have always used Rotosounds but I hear mixed reviews! 

A lot  depends on which BB you have, and what kind of a sound and  feel  you like. Different brands of the same gauge can feel very different in terms of tension. Round core DR's like Hi-Beams  or Sunbeams feel a lot more elastic than D'Addario XL,  for example.

I love the sound of Rotosound RS66 Swing Bass, but they tend to lose their lovely bright, aggressive tone pretty quickly. Once they go dull, they sound pretty average. They also have a very rough feel to them under your fingers( and on your frets). That roughness doesn't bother me, but some players find it uncomfortable.  Elites Stainless Steel are a pretty good alternative if you want a bright tone and they seem to stay bright a bit longer than Rotosound.

1 hour ago, javi_bassist said:

True, I did that with an old Fender Jazz I had. I didn't think about it now! Thank you! I'll do that

Even high-end, very expensive  basses often have shims.

1 hour ago, javi_bassist said:

Yes! The neck on both are in the same position. 

This is a problem that can effect any bass, and  on a bolt- on neck is easily fixed by inserting a shim in the neck pocket.

On 31/08/2020 at 15:18, drTStingray said:

The science says this (for a 2 band) - which confirms what Sterling Ball said, but only when you fully boost the bass and treble on 2 band Stingrays.

I know we've got used to septuagenarian world leaders with bleached and nicotine stained hair poo pooing science in favour of rumour and rhetoric but you can't deny these frequency charts.

Next thing, some of you'll be telling us the world's flat because Mr Farage and a few businessman cronies say so often enough that people start to believe it!!! 

 

 

I appreciate what you are saying, Dr T, but why is it that we don't  need to have graphs and scientific  explanations  about why other kinds of basses actually sound o.k when our ears are telling us otherwise?

I would contend that, for whatever reason, there are a significant number of Musicman Stingrays that don't sound satisfactory on the G string. Not all Stingrays  by any means, but some for sure. As with any such  idiosyncrasy, it will annoy some people more than others. 

I don't think any flats will give you the cut of roundwounds, but the supple tone of Thomastik Jazz flats is the closest I have found to what you are describing. To me ,they are the flats that a devoted roundwound player could learn to love. I certainly have. 

They're much more  articulate than traditional-sounding flats, and have a low tension-feel to them  like you want. They've  got a really nice rubbery midrange to them that is very pleasing to the ear.  You could play dub reggae on them or heavy rock and they will give you a great rendition of some classic tones . Very versatile and thoroughly recommended. 

On 23/08/2020 at 23:04, Musicman20 said:

I never realised they stopped making H and HS Bongos. 

Oh dear!🙁

5 hours ago, therealting said:

@Misdee I guess waiting for one of those secondhand BFRs to come along and then having it refinished might be the ticket.

I kind of feel your pain in that Sadowsky won’t make six strings. Lots of people would buy one, but Roger has just said it’s not something he’s interested in. Such is life with artistic / creative people I guess 🤷🏻‍♂️

Now Warwick are involved,  that could change...

To be fair, this JM Sig Bongo is (to me) a very attractive bass in a  lot of ways . It looks great in black with the Stealth pickups  , I don't mind the split fingerboard woods  and I think the preset EQ will probably sound great as it is. None of those things would put me off at all on a differently configured Bongo .  With the JM Bongo it's just the fact that I couldn't play it🙁.My existing 5 string is 18mm spacing  at the bridge  and I find that difficult  to adjust to. 

2 hours ago, therealting said:

I’m disappointed when Aston Martin brings out another car that costs several hundred grand, but not everything is for me.

You don’t have to care what the artist wants, but that’s kind of EBMM’s job if they’re producing a signature model. It’s SUPPOSED to represent what the artist wants.

Both John Myung and John Petrucci moved from their previous endorsement deals because they weren’t getting what they wanted out of their signature instruments (Yamaha and Ibanez respectively). They both have fairly esoteric tastes that thuse more conservative companies weren’t willing to indulge. EBMM invited them to spec their instruments exactly the way they wanted.

Petrucci drew a lot of ire and criticism from his fans at the time for moving from Ibanez, but he states that the carte blanche he was offered at EBMM was too much to resist. His EBMM JP models represented a relatively novel departure from the superstrats at the time, with the scooped forearm bevel, the new non-locking vibrato bridge design (with piezo option) and control / switching layout.

He later went to them with the pretty radical Majesty design concept, which is now one of their most popular guitars including among players outside the prog / metal genre.

Myung has played Bongos for a very long time now, playing one-off models from their custom shop, and has waited this long to figure out exactly what he wants and to agree to put his name to something. His fans and those playing in a similar way have waited a long time to try out his narrow spaced six string option, and now they have their chance.

EBMM is a commercial company, and a signature instrument obviously has the triple roles of satisfying a known player, putting the company’s instruments in that player’s hands and on stages, and putting that instrument in the hands of fans and players in order to make the company money.

With all due respect, why should their signature model for John Myung pay any deference to your wishes?

Also, serious question, if you want a finish they don’t offer, why not just get one refinished? A secondhand one will be substantially cheaper than a new one, and you could put the savings towards a custom paint job which will make it like new and to your liking.

I take your point entirely , but the correct analogy would be if you had the money for any Aston Martin  that took your fancy, you wanted something a bit special and  then they brought out a new model that was everything you didn't want . Of course Aston Martin can make whatever they want, as can EBMM. I am equally free to lament their choices.

All I am saying is that from my own selfish point of view I wish EBMM  had directed their energies elsewhere. John Myung is obviously a virtuoso player( although to say that Dream Theatre  are  not my cup of tea is something of an understatement...), but I doubt his personal requirements will suit many others who do not share his gift. Of course he need  not  pay any heed to my wishes ( who knows, he might not even of heard of me😄), but EBMM might do better as a company if they prioritised their customers . And as any successful retailer will tell you, the customer is king.  I seriously doubt this bass will sell in  significant quantities. Yes, it's always good for guitar companies to have top endorsees on their books, that is undeniable, but the trick is to translate that into sales. 

 Regarding a used Bongo, I am looking for a custom version that might sound a little bit different to what I already have, ie different body wood,  maple fingerboard, stainless steel frets ect, so a refinished stock model wouldn't really do . They did a tobacco sunburst and a blue burst BFR that fit the bill, but I  didn't like  the colours.