Jonesy

I'd def give flats a go first and see where that gets you. Especially seeing as it sounds like you're going to put flats on it anyway. You're not wasting any dosh and, if you're still not happy then look at the pups. I've had the EMG GZR's in a MIM PBass before and they're pretty hot and aggy. Then again, so was my whole signal chain and setup. I think I read someone on TB say they had a set with flats and foam under the strings and got a Motown tone out of them. One advantage of the GZR's is that they come with all of the guts and are a solderless installation. Even I managed it!

I've just seen these on a short scale group on FB. It looks like Gretsch have changed the description on their site to say they're single coils....... https://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/build/bass/g2220-electromatic-junior-jet-bass-ii-short-scale/2514730526

I'd say the finish 'issues' are probably a mixture of taking a still from a video, the lighting and the grain. As dubious as Gibson's QC has been in the past, I doubt it's a rough finish. I hope so anyway!

I was just thinking exactly that.......the demon face mask would have been a loads better logo to whack on it 😁 I wonder if that is grain around the edge of the headstock rather than a poor finish? I think the white/ebony models usually have a fairly flat painted edge, but the burst ones you can normally see a bit of grain come through....

I love the binding, clover tuners and split block markers on this, everything else is a bit 'meh', the logo on the pick guard doesn't do it for me either........ However, are T'birds cool? Yes. Is this cool? Yes. Would I buy it? No, but it's not aimed at me, so who cares. I can't seem to find what pups are in it apart from a bit of a generic description - the housing is the same as the Epi Classic Pro that had the Gibson TB Plus pups in them. It can't be those seeing as it's a sig model...can it? The vid isn't up to much.......but T'birds aren't supposed to be played clean! 😁

I'd have thought you could coax a decent funk/slap tone out of what you have tbh. I haven't played or even heard those pups, but I'd explore all my eq'ing options first before looking at changing pups. Having said that.........I put a pair of the Fender pure vintage 74 J pups in my G&L JB Tribute and I love them. I don't play slap, but they were the brightest/gnarliest set to my ears after plodding through a load of vids on YouTube. If you were to upgrade then I'd thoroughly recommend them 👍

If Fender/Squier are happy calling this a Precision then I'm going for the body shape as being the deciding factor. A H/S/S strat is still a strat and they call a Jaguar a Jaguar whether it's a J/J with a load of switches or has P/J pups in it. There's probably a few exceptions and odd models here and there just to muddy the waters, but body shape is what does it for me.

Was yours the newer double pup version? Maybe it's just the single pup ones that actually have humbuckers in them?

There's mention of them being available over on TB back in November, but there doesn't seem to be any mention of them on the G&L site and I can't see it on many retailers sites. I wonder if it's a US only line?

Someone on a short scale bass group on FB has had a look at theirs (earlier single pup model) and it's a humbucker.....

As impersonal as Pirate are, I quite like them just because they're not that pricey for a central London location and are always clean with decent gear. Dalston Studio is a nice little space, although not so central. It's only one room though so booking can be a pain sometimes. https://dalstonrehearsalstudio.co.uk/

Being listening to loads of Jeff Beck recently and love this tune. Ronnie Wood lays down some fantastic runs in it too

Nice bass! I reckon this is the best colour in the player range and have toyed with picking one of these up before. I reckon black if you're playing rockier stuff and, I used to think tort would go well with it, but seeing that gold has swayed me towards a gold plate!

That's where I'm at at the mo, the PBass has D'Addario XL's on it and the VT is set as per the pic. I really wanted to move to flats, but sounds like I'm sticking with rounds. I'll maybe tweak my miss some more too. I'll maybe give rounds a go on the SG and see what happens. I love playing that bass and would like to get it back in the mix. When we first auditioned him a was playing a Ric with flats, so maybe that's worth a go too

Was that with a BDDI? I tried the same and thought it was a bit too harsh, but the VT pedal was perfect. Although, maybe not worth you looking into seeing as your playing through an Ampeg in the room 😁

Yeah, I reckon the P with rounds is the way forward. I'm just kinda gutted because I really love the SG. I could whack some rounds on it and see if that helps I guess. Or maybe keep an eye out for a Mustang...... I've been listening to loads of Duck Dunn and Tommy Shannon recently........they were definitely on to something!!

Ahhh, I'll investigate and chat to him about it. Thanks!

Thanks for the tips! We've only had 2 jams together and we've talked about not treading on each others toes in what we play and the space we take up. We're both really open to changing what we do to improve the song overall, so I don't think we'll have any issues there. It's not so much that we're playing the same sort of lines, it was more I wasn't cutting through and was getting lost in the mix. Maybe I went a bit overboard with describing my own tone - it wasn't a complete muddy mess. I was in the ball park of Andy Fraser/Jack Bruce/Felix Pappalardi (just without their talent). To me (and the rest of the band) it was perfect for what I wanted and without keys to play with, but definitely on the mushier side of things and it could be a tone you hate! Hahaha, yeah, I'd rather not leave myself at the complete mercy of the sound engineer (even though we all are anyway!). Hmmmm, I think an active bass and steels would definitely help cut through.........but I'm just not an active player. There's something just too 'modern' sounding in their tone for me and I'm after a more traditional warm/tubey/bluesy tone. Good tips on the style of playing. One thing that that has jogged my memory on - we recorded a version of 'Going Down' and it was pretty hard to pick me out until I kicked in with the fills. That tune is naturally pretty root notey anyway, but as soon as I broke away from that it was definitely easier to pick me out.

I was wondering how many of the collective hive mind here at BC play in a band, or regularly play with keys players? How do you all get on stopping the sound becoming sloppy and deal with being heard? Or have you had any other problems that you have to deal with? Just as a bit of a back story..... My blues band used to just be bass, drums and guitar. With this setup I was playing an SG with flats, using a Solidgold FX Beta as a preamp (which basically adds more warm goo to a sound that is already warmer and gooier than liquid fudge) and loads of low end rumble that you could probably feel more than hear - it was a lovely warm mush. I was happy with this and it complemented the overall sound as the guitarist has a really piercing tone - a really glassy strat + tube screamer. We've recently got a great keys player on board and our first practice the other week went well, but I struggled to hear myself and got lost in the mix quite a bit. Roll on practice number 2 - P bass and rounds & Tech 21 VT preamp. This does the trick and I've retained the low end, but the extra mids from the Pbass and zing from the rounds help to declutter the overall sonic space we're covering as a band. Perfect! Sort of...... Ideally, I'd like to stick flats on the P bass, but I'm just a bit worried that I'll get lost again and would rather not waste the money on new strings and setup if it won't work. Has anyone else had any similar issues? Do you reckon a P with flats will be OK with keys? I suppose I could just EQ out anything that competes with the keys if I did change to flats...... I potentially have answered my own question here........anyway, just interested in what you lot think 😁

I agree with you and think the vid does go a bit OTT on the whole fraud front............but he's not wrong, a company deliberately misleading the buying public is definitely fraudulent and he has a case. There's no way this is a mistake by Fender/Gretsch and they don't know what sort of pick up they put in there. I still have no idea why they'd do it though. By all accounts, it's a good bass with a big sound. I doubt many buyers would have not gone home with it based on what they read with their eyes over what they heard with their ears. Having a custom image like that is best practice for any YT material and it's designed to grab attention, but I wouldn't say it was clickbait, personally. It's not as if the content is unrelated to image or he's talking about something completely unrelated. Another thing that will help the view figures be a lot higher than those others is the brands he talks about .G&L, Lakland & Reverend are all well known to us in this little bubble, but they're no way near as big a brand as Fender, who are arguably the worlds best known guitar brand. The amount of content and searches for Fender on YouTube compared to the other 3 would be mammoth - hence the vid appearing in more searches, suggested videos and subsequent views. But you're right - that image would help him boost views. Personally I'm not against it. But maybe because it's the field I work in 🙂

It's very sexy! I've just spent the last 10 minutes looking at Bass vi's on youtube wondering if i need one...

Jimi would have transcended out of his human form and evolved into a being of pure energy. The human race would begin to worship him, war and world hunger would become a thing of the past and we'd be out exploring the universe. Kaftans and kimonos would be our standard wear, as would turquoise rings and hats with feathers in them.

I've not played one before, but have only heard good things and am always tempted when one comes up for sale locally. This doesn't make them a bad bass all of a sudden, or mean the pups don't sound great, so I'd still be tempted by one if it came up. It's poor form by Fender and their marketing team though. I don't really see what advantage they've gained by lying or why they've decided to go down that route.

I wish drunk me was a little more like drunk you 🤣 Lovely bass, your inebriated self has impeccable taste!

Ah, it must've been that eBay thread I remember seeing. They're certainly nice basses and one I'd break my 'no Yammy' stance on. Maybe it's the pick guard shape, or lack of binding, but the horns on the SB-35 don't look quite as pointy as they are on their 6 string counterparts.