Doctor J

I've seen him three times in the last ten years - the Pet Sounds tour, his greatest hits tour and then last year his Gershwin tour, the 5 string guy always used a Lakland 55-02, very tidy player but didn't sing. Last year he had a new guy who was playing a P and sang, again a fantastic solid player. Brian never played his P for the encore, just held it really. I enjoyed the Gershwin gig the most, principally because I was better prepared for it mentally The Pet Sounds tour was just too much to take in, the band is [i]that[/i] good and they played everything [i]exactly[/i] as it was on the record (fade-outs excepted, of course). The greatest hits tour was a lot of fun but, again, still too much to take in. For the Gershwin tour he played the whole Gershwin album, which was good because I quite enjoyed the album, took a ten minute break, and then came out and played the hits and used a string quartet on some songs which he used through the Gershwin section. Just mind-blowing stuff But I knew what to expect this time so, I felt, was better prepared to take it all in. The vocals during Heroes and Villains get me every time and God Only Knows still gets several minutes standing ovation every time too. I was actually a little disappointed when I heard of the Beach Boys reunion, those Wondermints fellas are impeccable musicians. You're never going to see a better band in preparation or execution.

So volume - blend - bass - treble? You should be able to deduct most of it. The wires from the pickups are going to go to the blend pot. You'll have three wires coming from the jack, one to the battery, one to the volume pot and one to earth. Check them for a start and then let us know what's left.

What are the controls?

It's a looker, that's for sure.

I'm an Elixir devotee, I'm baffled by how you only get a month out of them.

I've ripped everything to apple lossless, m4a, does the job nicely.

Nice. It's hard to find a 7 string set with a heavy enough B, I found. When I had a 7 the biggest B string I could find in a set was a 52, which I usually use for E 7s are a lot of fun

Good choice. If you look at the bottom of the tuner shaft, those ones have a torque adjuster too so you can set the tuner as loose or tight as you like, which you don't get as standard on Fender, EBMM, G&L, etc

I've got a set of Ultralites (real ones, not licenced) and had a DeTuner in the past. In my experience, Gotoh are [i]at least[/i] as good quality.... in fact, they feel more solid to me. I've got GB7s on a couple of basses and they're as solid as you're going to find. I think Hipshot are outrageously overpriced, to be honest, rather than Gotoh being cheap.

I've a few different Gotoh sets on the go here. You tune up, they stay in tune until you decide you want to change that. Don't know what else to tell you.

Fair play. I remember when I made that decision too. The first time you open the case, that's a magical feeling you'll never replicate. Save on!

Listed chronologically: ESP 400 Series Jazz - I can't think of anything I dislike, it's the perfect J bass. I can be a real prick for swapping out parts but the fact that this is as stock as the day they made it tells you everything you need to know. Bacchus Standard 5 - This thing looks and sounds amazing, my only gripe is I'm not playing 5s that much any more. Maybe a passive tone control would be worth adding, it's bass and treble boost only but still sounds amazing. Hotwire Custom 5 - It wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be in terms of build quality and the Bacchus blew it away. I like the Q-Tuners which work well with the ACG filter pre I installed recently. I've recently defretted it and it's getting more use that way. Warwick Streamer LX4 - The tone, I love. The neck I grew to love after rolling the edges. I dislike where they put the bridge strap button which is about two inches away from the bridge and the strap rubs off my arm when I play. Bacchus Woodline P Classic - is to P basses what the ESP is to J basses. Godlyke Disciple 4 - Just fits my hands perfectly, I love everything about it and sold my Stingray after getting it. Godlyke Disciple 5 - I like it a lot but don't love it yet, just haven't been able to get what I want from it tonally, but I'm getting closer. It's the most comfortable 5er I've ever played and the fretwork is perfect. Home Made Jazz - It's good, but it's not the ESP Ibanez SR1300 - Very nice bass, has really come alive since I installed EMG pickups and preamp Warwick Streamer NT - Put in a lot of work bringing this back from the dead, it's really, really nice and the strap button is in the right place so very comfortable too. Bacchus 24 - Just got it a couple of weeks ago but I am deeply in love with this thing, probably the best built instrument I've ever held. I'm still getting to know it though. Lookie [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/100315-the-bassdrobe/page__view__findpost__p__1370974"]here[/url] for pics

Is it a series 1, 2 or 3? I've had a series 1 for almost 10 years and never had a minute of trouble out of it. There is talk of Series 2 and 3 being less reliable but I can't comment on that and it's quite possibly just internet sh*te talk. It's plenty loud and, while the EQ isn't the greatest I've tried (but I tend to bypass the EQ anyway), I can get the sounds I'm perfectly happy with out of it with ease. The solid state channel with a bit of valve dirt added in is a thing of beauty. I've no idea what the going rate is for them but £200 doesn't sound too bad to me, though it might be worth your while checking the FS section here and ebay too for more references.

Time to head to the opticians so

[quote name='Clarky72' timestamp='1335871916' post='1637210'] Arent the jags jazz neck anyway? [/quote]That one looks wider than a J neck, looks like P width to me.

Does it have to be a [i]Fender[/i]?

As above, ordered from them plenty of times, always great service.

And a Jazz neck profile.

Trying harder will be when they re-release it in a couple of years with a [i]new[/i] colour, oooooooooooh, like goldflake mystical pixie blue, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Proving the draw-parts-from-a-bag-and-see-what-it-makes theory... new Fenders... a mish-mash of old Fenders... I do like the reverse Jag though That well is going to run dry some day, then they'll do Reverse Jag With Humbuckers Reissues, but we'll all know the first ones are the ones with mojo.

I've never had a problem with the MECs in my Warwicks. As a pickup manufacturer, they don't have the prestige of some of the American brands but I don't believe they're an inferior option. In fact, the MEC MM style in the $$ sounded better to my ears than my old Stingray.

Do you set your eq with a big mid scoop by any chance?