tom5string

Morning Rich, find attached my transcription. I also use the "only on the A string" approach. Yes, it's a lot of stretching but YES: it gives a clear, consistent tone on the riff because all happens on one string. Plus: no struggle with the pick when changing from A to E string. Just another opinion :-) Cheeers Tom (edit: the attachment is pdf ...)

Tried one of these the other day - fretless - and was really impressed by sound and playability. Go for it, seems to be a good instrument. You might discuss on the price, in Germany they sell for 300 Euros new ...

Ok, ampwise I'm more on the classical "big iron" route: playing a GBE 750 for 5 years now. In combination with the NeoXt212 cab it's a really good combination. This is a funny situation - the amp + rack is about 25 kilogramms, the cabinet just 21. Now, what I like about the amp is first of all the raw power ..... the drummer is too loud .... smile .... turn master volume up just a bit ..... problem solved. Now, despite this nice ability (and - of course, I don't do this, ask the drummer instead .. but I *could*) - I like the brilliant tone of the amp, the clarity and the punch. The GBE series has a lot of useful features. The most important for me: it has two completely separate channels, one FET and one valve. They have a each a full gain/volume/low/low mid/hi mid/treble section. Gives you the ability to sculpt two completely different sounds. Then, the channels can be switched and mixed ... which opens numerous possibilities I haven't explored in depth. For me, it's enough to have the EUB on the valve channel and the bassguit on the funky FET channel .... In total: the best amp I have owned (yet) ... bought for a ridiculous 650 Euros :-). I you find one used ... get it. And: never had issues with it, it's built like a tank. So: brilliant Amp!

Heya, red windings on both ends of the string ... might be Thomastic Spirocores. [quote name='sunfish' timestamp='1414417333' post='2589047'] I'm so used to being a fast bass player, Iit takes real stamina to keep up the tempo on my Stagg! [/quote] I know that feeling . Then ... I started seeing this not as an obstacle but as a new chance. Switching over from a versatile, extremely eloquent way of playing (well, sometimes) to an instrument that just does not allow staying in my comfort zone made me start to think about each note I play. The lush "dunno the chord exactly, play some fast 16th chromatic line" does not work anymore - due to the sheer mass of the DB strings and the extremely large scale. So,I started thinking about which note to play in more detail, started to modulate thoroughly each single note ... and so forth. I guess it's a good idea getting a teacher ... just to make sure to avoid injuries.

[quote name='The fasting showman' timestamp='1410642019' post='2551621'] ..... , I always think it sounds like a Stingray on 'Ashes to ashes' by Bowie, though I've only ever seen George Murray use a P bass or a Travis Bean .... [/quote] Exactly that is my vote too .... but could not find any info proving that it's a Stingray. Funny if my definition of a Stingray sound would have been played with a Precision

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1410388940' post='2549042'] The fretless Squier VM Jazz is reputed to be a decent instrument, has a lined hardwearing ebonol fingerboard, they come up for sale on here from time to time - not sure if this one's still going [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/232924-fs-squier-vintage-modified-jazz-vmj-fretless-now-l180/"]http://basschat.co.u...tless-now-l180/[/url] [/quote] Seconded - played one in a shop some time ago and I was wondering how the hell they can produce such a good sounding and nicely playable instrument at that price-tag. I doubt that starting fretless with a six-string is a good idea - you spend more time on damping strings then concentrating on intonation or tone-sculpting - my humble opinion. Cheers, Tom

Thx :-) now, if you don't mind language training, here's a full review and some pics: [url="http://www.musiker-board.de/reviews-bass/468658-bass-maruszczyk-elwood-l5-24-fretless.html"]http://www.musiker-board.de/reviews-bass/468658-bass-maruszczyk-elwood-l5-24-fretless.html[/url]

Mornin, not a Jake, but an Elwood. And this baby is the (current) end-point of a long search for a perfect 5-string fretless. It's the instrument I have been playing most for the last 3 years. Best compliment for an instrument, I think. So, in short: Elwood 5L-24 - fretless, 2 octave neck with an impressive ebony board - alder body with bright maple facings, maple neck - extremely light (3.7 kg) - unexpected, massive neck (not what you'd expect on a j-bass clone), but real good handling - punchy, mid-focused fretless tone, somewhere between Jaco and Pino A well built instrument, simple, without any "schnickschnack" like active electronics and the like. Serves perfectly to express my musical ideas. sounds like: [url="https://soundcloud.com/tom-63-1/wir-waren-indie-ideales"]http://soundcloud.com/tom-63-1/wir-waren-indie-ideales[/url] (sorry, german lyrics ;-)) [url="https://soundcloud.com/tom-63-1/slapped-fretless"]http://soundcloud.com/tom-63-1/slapped-fretless[/url] Add on top of this - as you already stated - that Adrian is a nice guy, very responsive and helpful ... -> place an order :-) Cheers, Tom

Some of my all-time-favs: David Bowie - Hunky Dory Amy Winehouse - Back to black Chick Corea Acoustic Band Nils Petter Molvaer - Khmer Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones J.S. Bach - Goldbergvariations played by Gould Brahms - Violin Concerto, Bernstein and Gidon Kremer Beethoven - 6th Symphony, Claudio Abbado Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm with you ... :-)

Mornin, from my - admittely not really profound - experience with EUB strings I can second that opinion. I was coming from bass-guitar to EUB after 25 years of playing and stumbled over exactly the same problems that you experience. Everything is sooo large, the string tension is sooo ... uaaah. In the end it's - as ususal - practice, practice, practice and: practice which will strengthen your hands and improve intonation :-) After some experiments with Pirastro Obligato (too mellow sounding) and D'Addario Hybrids (even more tension); I'm sticking with Spirocore Weichs for some years now. In contrast to bass strings that rapidly decrease in sound, the EUB strings have a very long life. I bought mine 5 years ago and still playing them without any problems,soundwise. So, the initial impact of 150 Euros for a set of strings pays in the end. Btw - playing a Clevinger EUB. Cheers, Tom

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1390825074' post='2349868'] Nothing like a well-stacked blonde... [/quote]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1390605975' post='2347623'] Check out Andy Baxter's site for a general idea of the prices you will pay [url="http://www.andybaxterbass.com/"]http://www.andybaxterbass.com/[/url] [/quote] Don't you post such links, DON'T YOU -> a stack-knob Jazz in blonde, WOW.

Well, ahm, .... no :-) That is a Zon Sonus, the Wal is the melody voice.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1372174612' post='2122472'] Have others experienced this phenomenon? [/quote] Yes! I love the possibilities to sculpt a tone, to modulate, let it swell up and down ..... Took me year to come there, but now it feels like singing when playing the fretless. In one of my bands, I'm just using a Maruszczyk Elwood L5 fretless and a Clevinger EUB. Pure ebony fingerboards. And - of course - depends on the context. In my funk-band I'm still using fretted instruments - it's just a different feel, but I have not the impression to fall back to a "lower level" when slapping my Zon ;-)

Here's an example of a MkII fourstring, PU blend center, all tone controls flat. Pure Wal sound :-) [url="https://myspace.com/tomblock/music/song/decimate-36583198-38464103"]http://myspace.com/tomblock/music/song/decimate-36583198-38464103[/url] Guess which of them two is the Wal ....

For the super clean and powerful tone: Tecamp Puma 1000 combine this with a Tecamp S212 cab and you're done ..... I'm also quite happy with my GenzBenz NeoX212, a bit heavier than the Tecamp cab but still in the manageable range.

I'm using a Crafter TG 200H, both for electric and upright. Think this was the best invested 15 Euros during the last years. Simple, reliable, efficient - and you don't have to turn your back to the audience as you do when using a rack-based system. Concerning accuracy ..... sufficient for Pop and Rock. Main reason for tuning oddities in my bands is the guitarplayers getting weak in tune - and me compensating (at least on the fretless :-) Tom

3Leaf Audio Groove Regulator - 3 Aguilar Agro - 1 Aguilar Octamizer - 1 Akai Unibass - 1 AMT Slap Bass -1 Ashdown Chorus - 1 Ashdown Drive Plus - 1 Asdown dual band compressor - 2 Ashdown sub octave plus - 1 Barge Concepts VFB-2 - 1 Behringer chorus - 1 Boss CE-2 - 1 Boss DD-20 - 2 Boss LS-2 - 4 Boss OC-2 - 4 Boss ODB-3 - 1 Boss SL-20 -1 [b]Boss SYB 3 - 1[/b] Boss TU2 - 3 Boss TU-12H - 1 Boss chorus ensemble - 1 Devi Ever Hyperion - 1 Devi Ever Cherry Pop - 1 Devi Ever SodaMeiser - 1 Digitech Whammy - 2 Dunlop Bass Cry Baby - 3 DHA VT2 - 2 [b]EBS Octabass - 1[/b] EBS Multicomp - 2 EBS Unichorus - 1 EHX Bass Micro Synth - 3 EHX Big Muff Pi (Black Russian) - 1 EHX POG2 - 1 EHX Small Stone Nano - 1 EHX Qtron+ - 2 Ernie Ball VP-Jr - 1 Guyatone MD-3 delay - 1 Guyatone PS-3 Phase Shifter - 1 HBE Psilocybe -1 Ibanez PD7 Phat-Hed Bass Overdrive - 1 [b]Ibanez SB 7 - 1[/b] Korg DT-10 - 1 Korg Pitchblack - 2 Line 6 M9 - 1 Line 6 Bass Pod XT Live - 1 MarkBass Super Synth - 1 Marshall Jackhammer - 1 Maxon CP9+ - 1 Mojo Hand Cream Pie - 1 Moog MF-101 - 2 Moog MF-102 - 1 Moog MF-105b - 1 Moog MF-107 - 1 Moog MP-201 - 1 MXR Blowtorch - 1 MXR M-80 DI+ - 1 ProCo Tubro Rat - 1 [b]Radial Bassbone - 1[/b] Sansamp Bddi - 4 SFX Micro Fuzz - 1 SFX S&M - 1 Subdecay Noise Box - 1 TC Electronics PolyTune - 1 [b]Tech 21 VT Bass - 2[/b] Tech 21 VT Bass Deluxe - 1 Way huge swollen pickle - 1 Z.Vex Woolly Mammoth - 1 Z.Vex Mastotron - 1

I always found Sandbergs to sound boring and getting lost in the mix ..... keep the Roadworn, that's a great instrument!

This one (ancient German amp) has a built-in cigarette lighter ..... :-)

[quote name='BigRedX' post='958026' date='Sep 16 2010, 10:28 AM']f) Isn't already massively expensive.[/quote] Ignoring this we can conclude on: Carl Thompson Basses - Les Claypool Zon Basses - Michael Manring Alembics - Stanley Clarke Additionally, i guess Marleaux Basses have a good chance being collectibles in the future, while I don't believe Warwicks will ever be (despite those ultra custom signature handmade stuff)

[quote name='neilb' post='952242' date='Sep 10 2010, 09:50 PM']Take a look at the Radial website. They do a I/O box that allows you to adjust the level of one input.[/quote] +1 I have this one: [url="http://www.tonebone.com/tb-bassbone.htm"]Radial Bassbone[/url] and it does the job ... plus you have separate EQ for one channel AND (I discovered the benefits of this not so long ago) a switchable effects loop. Great piece of equipment. Tom