Candybassed

Best sounding ABGs I've ever tried are the Rob Allen range and Rick Turner Renaissance acoustic fretless. Sweet, thick tones. The next best thing and significantly cheaper is what I currently play: A crafter fretless acoustic with D'Addario nylon wrapped strings, which are far superior to the Rotosound Tru88s. I had the Rotos for 4yrs and switched to the D'Addarios and the they sustain AND thud better than the rotosounds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVcVCSruKIU&feature=relmfu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfrRBqscf7I&feature=relmfu Both clips demonstrate the thud, and the fretless growl if required. Very versatile and for less than £300 in total compared to nearly 3grand for the Rob Allen/Rick Turner basses.

ABG's are not made to be played unamplified in a group setting. They simply aren't loud enough. There are some great small bass rigs out there that shouldn't cause a riot. I've used a Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0 with an 8" cab, plenty loud enough and a nice uncoloured tone. Gallien Kruger and AER also have great mini combos. I use a Crafter Fretless acoustic with D'Addario nylon tapered strings. Best strings I've had on this bass. Here's a clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVcVCSruKIU This the also the bet ABG in it's price range, if you don't mind the shorter scale length. I picked this up for less than £200.

I remember trying a 6P because I'm a massive John Patitucci fan and remember being disappointed with the tone. In fact John's tone on the 'Sketchbook' album sounded weak to my ears and it was a 6P. The Signature model and particularly the TRB6II impressed me immensely. BIG tone, louder than Music man by quite some way. My only gripe/personal bug bear is that Yamaha basses have a particular sound and never sound neutral. I can recognise a yamaha bass a mile off like I can a fender. That might be a good thing for some, but I like a bass that can sound neutral and have the tone come from me. The latest TRBs are not the same build quality as the last models and it really shows.

I have a 6 string Grind and have also considered upgrading the pickups. However, the tone it produces currently is very even and I think considering it's passive, the tonal variety is not as limited as some would say. Hand position plays a massive part. I use the bass for jazz, soul, gospel, pop and reggae mainly and it's covered every genre effectively and authentically. The strings I've used so far are Rotosound PSD piano strings (nice) DR High Beams (lot's better) R.Cocco Steels medium gauge (awesome but very pricey!) and also D'Addario Nickel rounds light top medium bottoms (sweet when new and lovely mature played in feel after a few gigs and a very reasonable price from Stringbusters). I don't agree with the loudness issue, it's a double soapbar which must be louder than any passive P/Jazz. I had my bass looked over by a shop technician and made my own bridge/saddle height adjustments. To say "the tone is in the hands" would be a tad blase, but there would be a merit of truth in that. I compared a Grind 6 with a 2 grand signature cirrus at PMT in Birmingham and the sub £400 Grind felt and sounded phatter than the Cirrus. I think the Grind is the best bass in it's price range and already easily competes with basses in the sub £1000 mark. My particular model is roughly 5/6 years old and has the oil look finish. It looks great in photos, the Imbuya wings have a lovely grain. Unfortunately not every Grind looks as good, I've seen some with different coloured wings. So they can be hit and miss aesthetically but tonally I've had it sound deeper and clearer than a £1800 Sadowsky. I'm looking at Bartolinis or modified MM pickups. I'll report the results and if anyone's interested in what I sound like, check this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m900YmvnXQ&list=PL1A1AEE5968004BAE&index=2&feature=plpp_video Bit of an essay, but this is my bass - I get great results from it and have never had complaints about the tone. Active electronics with always have a degree of noise, passive is quiet if properly shielded and of course no battery to worry about.

A Hartke kickback 1x12 will cover a lot of situations. Nice transparent sound, fair bit of depth/beef. Rated at 120watts, but seems to 'throw' the sound right to the back of the room. Reasonably light. The DI seems a little hot for some mixers and doesn't like every XLR cable but apart from that it's a bargain and probably the only Hartke cab that interests me.

Hi eveyone, Just signed up today and its great to see so many lowenders out there! I've been playing for 22yrs now, having grown up on gospel, soul, reggae, blues, funk and latterly jazz, latin and afro rhythms. I've played in bands covering all of the above plus bluegrass, pop and indie rock. Looking forward to in depth chat with the guys and gals who share the best seat in the house. Candybassed

[quote name='simon1964' post='184505' date='Apr 24 2008, 01:45 PM']You'll be more than welcome! Not sure of time scale generally yet - I'm expecting it to be a while, but it will be well worth the wait![/quote] I've also been to Jon's workshop and the basses look and sound superb! Any luthier worth his salt will have a demand for their wares so inevitably a waiting time lasting several months. Your bass will def. be worth the wait! I'm looking to get an Artist bass fretless 6 and then a single cut fretted 6. But with a slightly larger body. Whicjh brings me to a question: Anyone out there got a bass of 36" scale or more? I'm intrigued if I could actually handle that size ala Mr. A. Jackson. Candybassed