Hellzero

Wow. I hate the Thunderbird, but this one sees all the default of the original gone by a clever process of thinking right. Lookat the other video, you'll understand why this Lowlander sounds terrific : https://youtu.be/JZ5ifnvXKtQ

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1508314091' post='3391217'] Squier Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz. I was playing in a band whose music was calling out for some fretless bass and to that end I'd bought a cheap Acrylic Bodied Wesley that had already been de-fretted for £70 off eBay to get me started. I'd seen nothing but positive reviews for the Squier both on the bass forums and in the musical instrument magazines, where the overall tone was that the VMJ fretless was just about the best fretless bass you could buy for under £500. One Saturday I spotted a Squier in a local music shop, and after half an hours playing I paid my £209 and went home with my new bass. Unfortunately playing in a music shop for half an hour is not really a decent real-world test for any instrument. The first thing I noticed when I got it home was that it didn't hang comfortably on the strap, and I had to pull the whole bass over in order to reach the G string machine head - something I never had to do with my 36" scale Overwater. Next I discovered that in comparison with all my other basses including the cheap Wesley, the Squier sounded thin and weedy, and in rehearsal with my band I really had to pump the volume up when I used in order to be heard. So I embarked on a round of upgrades. First came the Badass Bridge which made a slight improvement, followed by a J-Retro pre-amp, that allowed me to overdrive the input to my amp in all sorts of new and "interesting" ways, but still didn't make the bass sound as full or fat as my other basses. Finally a set of Bartolini pickups which were supposed to be darker sounding than the standard J-style models started to get me into the right ball park as regards sound, but by that time I'd get fed up with all the other short-comings of the bass like the huge (in comparison to my other basses) body and the awkward neck joint that seemed to be constantly in the way when I was playing up the neck, and the fact that for me it just didn't hang comfortably on the strap, and so I went back to playing the Wesley until I go the opportunity to buy a second hand Pedulla Buzz at a very attractive price. I'm sure that there's nothing actually wrong with the Squier, but 3 decades of playing basses that owed very little to Leo Fender's designs - Burns Sonic, Overwater Original and Gus G3 - meant that I wasn't ready to step into the past and put up with design issues that even the Burns, originally made in 1960, had improved upon. [/quote] Same for me, I bought one of these early Squier Vintage Modified Jazz fretless and made lots of upgrades, but the sound was never there. In fact I've been playing luthiers or boutique basses for such a long time that the other instruments look and sound like toys. And I've owned lots of brands including Fender's over the time that were all sold. The only Fender that quite gets it is the Precision Bass, but it's lacking what is in its name. I also have to mention all neck diving basses which are a pity to play and never sound good : you don't have to fight with your bass to play.

[quote name='philw' timestamp='1508241505' post='3390730'] Ohh I've always fancied a Leduc U-Bass. Never seen a half-fret one before though. [/quote] Great basses, I owned and played in my duet a 6 strings fretted U-Bass that I sold to Serge Leverrier when I got this : http://leduc.fr/index.php/series-l/basses-de-la-serie-l/164-l-09-la-u-contrebasse-moai There are only two half-fretted U-Basses, the first ever was made for Gilles Coquard and the other for Serge Leverrier : https://myspace.com/mariesergeduo/mixes/streammix-705750/photo/371919485

What about this : http://ubass.free.fr/donnees/imgppl/gillesUB2.jpg

This listing was ended by the seller because there was an error in the listing...

Yes, and it's gorgeous. :-D

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood ?

Steve Hillage is in great condition and playing so close to the spirit of Mike Oldfield... :-) Looks like the Gong gang was a favourite of Mike Oldfield. Thanks for posting this. A pleasure to watch and hear. I've always loved Mike Oldfield compositions and contribtions And it's more on the Purcell and Vivaldi [ever listened to the concerti for mandoline(s) ?)] side than Beethoven. ;-)

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/313371-fenix-by-young-chang-jazz-bass-fretless-for-peanuts-again-i-know/

For those looking for a cheap and good fretless, here is a good opportunity : https://www.bassic.de/kleinanzeigen/fenix-by-young-chang-jazz-bass-fretless.9691/gallery/

Human beings pretend to tend to pefection, which is true, but in the same time they hate perfection. What they are looking for is that imperfection that makes it ... real. There is another point where the machines won't beat human beings which is the pitch related to timing. And there goes another debate.

To date, if you like roundwounds, the Fodera nickels are really good, way far better than the D’Addario nickels which is a standard to compare other brands. If you want to go to tapewounds, I've tried (almost, as you can't be sure) everything available on the market and the best tone will be achieved with the LaBella gold white nylon, but I love very fast attack and endless sustain on fretless... And I hate flatwounds on fretless, because they kill the sound I want to hear.

Owen, there is another option simply called intelligence. Can your student play complex rhythm patterns with an astonishing ease ? If that's the case, he is one of those high potential human beings. He won't be able to clap on each beat of a 4/4 because it's simply annoying and absolutely unrewarding to him... So you'll have to explain him why this ability to clap on the beat is absolutely mandatory, simply because he needs to know why in a scientific way. Then mix what would be complex to anyone with simple 4/4 in your (faster) teaching and he'll get it. Indian music theory will help a lot for these students. Easier to say than to do, I know. Hoping he is one of these high potential human beings, otherwise only patience and slow teaching will help.

Eight posts before, quite as usual.:-S

If you have some wrist problems, in 99% of the cases, it's a bad playing position and has nothing to do with the scale... For your bad sound, in 99% of the issues, it's a bad setup. Before going any further, go see the two specialists who will really help you : a physiotherapist and a luthier. It's worth going this way than spending money in the wrong direction...

Don't think so as you'll see fingerprints everywhere afterwards...

I traded my Alpher Mako Elite Custom Fretless 5 for Pawel LeFay Herr Schwarz 5. Everything was perfect from the start to the end with lots of communications. The strangest thing is that we were in touch some 10 or 15 years ago and that he still remembered me as I sent him some cd's with fretless bass players and I remembered him as the Carles Benavent aficionado... Quite funny. So you can deal in total confidence with Pawel, he is a real great guy with a very good memory. ;-)

With original Seymour Duncan pickups from 1980-81, massive brass original Leduc bridge, Gotoh tuners, neckthrough, ebony fretboard and master grade woods (Canadian hard maple neck, Gabon ebony fretboard and French alder body wings). And love or hate look... https://www.zikinf.com/annonces/dispannonce.php?annonce=1470083

[quote name='oldslapper' timestamp='1506182240' post='3376948'] Haha...i couldn't tell the difference in tone between his jazz & his ric tbh. [/quote] And try to hear any difference when he was playing a Wal. :-P

ThePolytune is already made for bass as there is the function for it. One of the rare tuner able to catch my EUB 6 strings low B... Got 2 of them.

Careful, Fodera will surely make a signature model with this type of string mounting in the next days ! Yek, yek, yek. :-P