Jonesy

Just out of interest to anyone with a brass bridge......... have you ever had a go at removing the green oxidation from hardware? 

I'll have to check with the owner first and don't want to make it too shiny, but it is a bit grubby

I'm fairly sure it's a Sb1000 anyway, it definitely fretless 😂

So, it's not really a new bass day. It's more like I've become it's custodian since the owner picked up a Tony Franklin fretless. 

So it's mine to enjoy for the time being, and enjoying it I have been. The neck is lovely and fairly straight all the way down (as in little taper to it), it's really resonant unplugged and sounds great. Speaking of sounds, I'm still getting used to the circuitry and all of the tone shaping options, which are almost as alien to me as not having frets. I have to play it with headphones for the time being just to save the house hearing my bum notes.

6 hours ago, Dood said:

 

 

If I can find it, there used to be a website with every model described in detail years ago, but I haven’t seen it for a while.

This one doesn't have details on all of the MIJ models (though I could have sworn it had most models at some point), but it does have specs for the reissue series P's and a few J's:

https://japanfender.wordpress.com/

Had our first jam with the blues band since our drummer passed away in May. It was amazing to be back in a room making noise with the band again, but it did feel a bit weird playing with someone else behind the skins. Still, roll on the next jam! 

The Epiphone Classic and Vintage Pro Tbirds are great basses. I had a hankering for a Tbird and heard great things about the Classic Pro's when they first came out, watched a few vids on YouTube and, GAS being GAS, had to have one. I headed to a shop to try one out and fell in love immediately, neck profile was lovely, it looked the business and sounded HUGE. Just out of curiosity, I picked up the Gibson model out at the time and the Epiphone was miles ahead - fit , finish, sound, feel were all better on the Epi. The only thing that felt better on the full fat Gibson was the tuners, but you don't play those and the Epi ones weren't bad at all (just the Gibson ones felt smoother, but the Epi ones always held tune).

I sold it a few years ago and it's the only bass I miss.

The people in Wunjo are brilliant - enjoy your new toy!!

4 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

You’re gonna need a Red Bull subscription to keep up with that 😂

There's a bit, about 2 mins I to that vid, where Troy just shakes his right hand. I might need a support! 

Does anyone else play this game when they're bored and fill a shopping cart on somewhere like Andertons (other retailers are available), imagining what they'd buy after a lotto win? No? ..........yeah, I don't do it either.

One of the first in the basket is always the Tony Franklin fretless 

I hate Elvis Costello, apart from the odd track here and there, so don't really listen to much of his stuff. I know Bruce Thomas is a monster player and this popped up in a playlist the other day......

Wish me luck!

On 09/03/2025 at 13:32, neepheid said:

Things have changed a lot in the past 10 years.  I firmly believe that the quality at the cheaper end of the market has improved dramatically, whereas the quality at the higher end hasn't as much - not having a dig, in the sense that it had less room to move up in the first place.  But I have detected a noticeable squeezing of the top end in this regard which makes the question you're asking now even more pertinent.

 

It's a gut shot to be honest, and sometimes you have no choice - for example if you've got your heart set on something like a G&L L-1000, ASAT or SB-1, your only option is to buy G&L USA because they don't make Tribute versions of those models.  But these days I'd have no qualms about taking a Squier over a Fender and trousering the difference, confident in not feeling like I'm missing out on anything.  The current Epiphone Thunderbirds are the best T-birds Gibson have never made.  It really depends upon the bass you're talking about and what the options are but most of the time, I'd be happy to go with the cheaper option.  But if a £1500 bass calls to you and you connect with it, you're not wrong!

FYI.....not to derail......I only found out in the last year or so that G&L made a MIJ Tribute ASAT. One went on eBay for standard Tribute prices in the past year or so. I was umming and arring over it for too long and missed out. Been kicking myself ever since 

It's a tough choice as it kinda depends on the situation.....

- If it was a special birthday purchase, I'd rather have a shiny new one (unless there was something vintage I couldn't get new) 

- If there was a specific finish/model that was out now that I didn't want to wait for 3-5 years for one to hit the 2nd hand market then you'd have to go new.

- For pretty much everything else I'd go 2nd hand and get the best bass I could budget for

12 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

They are quite a workout, maybe first off try their low tension flats, that might be an interim solution that could work for a while.

Great call, I'd definitely look at lower tension flats if hand pain was an issue. 

I have a set of Labella 760fl's on a p bass and they're supposed to be a lighter tension than their standard set. I wouldn't exactly call them low tension though, just slightly lower than their usual cables 😂. TBF, I haven't tried Labella's specific low tension set.

TI Jazz flats are very comfortable though and sound great too, so I'd also throw those into contention.

On 15/02/2025 at 17:29, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

I use my trusty Zoom H2n to record gigs & rehearsals. I then bring the recordings into Logic Pro and usually just top & tail the tracks to cut out any the faffing about between songs and apply Logic's built-in mastering. Sometimes I split the tracks into stems using Logic's stem splitter so I can apply processing on drums/guitars/bass/vocals individually before mastering, but that tends to make the process a fair bit more time-consuming. Once I have a folder full of mastered MP3s, I upload them to a hidden page on the band website so the other band members can have a listen.

Ah nice, that sounds like the same sort of thing we plan to use it for, but I'll be chucking the tracks up to our Google drive. 

The idea of splitting one track out to individual instruments sounds like a bit too much faff for my use, but more accurately, well beyond my skill set! 

Do you know what Logic's built in mastering does? Is it just limit/enhance/compress?

Howdy folks, 

I've just got my grubby mitts on a Tascam DR40x to start recording rehearsals and was wondering if anyone then plays with their tracks to sort of 'master' them after recording?

I have Reaper and, from a bit of reading around, it sounds like using a multiband compressor and limiter on the tracks will improve them, so I have some reading to do on that. 

We've previously just chucked a phone down in the room and the recordings have been good enough to share and listen to, so I'm assuming I won't have to do anything to the Tascam tracks for them to be listenable, but if anyone has any tips/tricks/a workflow to share then I'd love to hear what you do!

21 hours ago, Musicman666 said:

it's going to be game to see which one collapses first ..ozzy just has to sing but bill has to drum, and it's not easy drumming.

I'd imagine Mike Bordin will do most of the drumming and Bill will do the odd tune here and there.

7 pages in and no mention of Freddie King yet - sacrilege! 

This ones a little funkier than the record and has a nice little bass break by Benny Turner, one of my favourite blues bassists

The full line up looks insane. 

Take my money!

Check this one out as well...

I think you'll like the version of 'Yonder Wall' at about the 12 minute mark, but the whole show is great!
 

Nice walk through of a lovely Duck Dunn bassline!

Freddie had some great players with him. I really love Benny Turner's work with him (playing with your bro must be an advantage for feel and just knowing where the song is going!), especially on the live in Europe live stuff..
 

Quite a unique mod!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156658530392?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m164380.l178264&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=c94bfe4ab8ac49f89a94f44800489968&bu=43119291937&ut=RU&exe=0&ext=0&osub=-1~1&crd=20250128012836&segname=11021&recoId=156658530392&recoPos=1

"Headstock: Good aesthetic condition."

Is it?! 🤔

I like the look of the Silver Sparkle Z3 too...

https://www.andertons.co.uk/sire-z3-4string-bass-in-silver-sparkle/

Must. Resist.

Squier have produced a few different Jaguars over the years with a PJ setup. You could pick one of those up for us under £200 second hand.

You should also check out Limelight. They fit the bill for that played in feeling you're after and you can spec it to suit your taste, they pop up every now and again in the classifieds too. 

18 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

Something UL certified would be a good start.

 

A Quilter BB800 is designed for that sort of thing. Compact package.

I'll second the Quilter, that's exactly what I use mine for. I have a Tronographic Rusty Box as a pre for one band and Sansamp VT Bass DI for the other. Small, light, and headroom for days.

The Hama above will be a lovely bass, but will have a J neck so may be too skinny for you? I love Japanese Fenders, especially that reissue line, and reckon they're a perfect mix of price, quality and features that I like (EG. gloss necks and vintage frets). The PB70 mentioned will top bass too, although you don't see them pop up too often.

This looks to be fairly similar and would be worth looking at.....
 

If you like maple boards, then the PB57 is also worth checking out and comes in at 42mm at the nut. There's one in a BassBros. The body will be basswood (not Alder as specified on site), so should be fairly light....

https://bassbros.co.uk/product/2005-fender-japan-pb-57-precision-bass-reissue/