Russ

I'll have to go with the consensus here - get a Precision. One caveat though - take someone who knows their Fenders along with you when you go to get it. In the lower end of their price bracket, Fender's quality control is a little suspect. Two models of the same bass may sound and play totally differently - one might sound dead, and the other growly and punchy. Bring someone along who is used to the differences.

I believe Status will still make you a B-2 (the same as the one on eBay) - this is also an authorised Entwistle design, has most of the features of Status' original all-graphite Buzzard (including his pickups and circuit), and has the cachet of being his last authorised design. It just doesn't have quite as outlandish looks as the original. I've played the Warwicks too... they were hugely disappointing.

I've just redone those high vocals in the middle-eight... I listened back to them and they sound bloody awful... slightly out of key and way too loud in the mix. So I'll upload that version shortly. EDIT: The new version's up. No more embarassing out-of-tune vocals.

I've been toying with the idea of a solo project for a while, so recently I finally got my sh*t together, and recorded a few tunes. What's more, I've finally finished one! It's at www.myspace.com/recursemusic . It's kinda a techno-rock number, all fuzzy guitars, bleepy synths and moody vocals. It was done on my Mac, with GarageBand, a Tascam US-122, an old Yamaha MIDI synth, a Bass POD XT Live, a cheapo guitar, and my Ibanez ATK405 bass (amazing recording bass, by the way). Oh, and that is me on vocals. What do you think? Be gentle with me, it's my first proper attempt...

Go and join Freecycle (www.freecycle.org) - it's basically a mailing list where people advertise the stuff they don't need anymore for free. I've had a pair of speakers, a 19" monitor, a coffee table and a 2-seat sofa off there recently, all locally, and all for nothing!

Both here, probably about 70% fingers and 30% other techniques (pick/slap/etc). I'll use whatever gets the job done to get the tone and feel I want in a song. Having good pick technique is just another tool in your arsenal, another set of tones with another set of possibilities.

[quote name='thedontcarebear' post='34964' date='Jul 20 2007, 09:38 PM']Why is it never mentioned in the specs? I also read a review saying that he wished it had delay, very confusing. "5 Essential Bass Effects: Synth, Compressor, Envelope Filter, Octaver, and Chorus" Can't see it on here either.... [url="http://cachepe.samedaymusic.com/media/quality,85/brand,sameday/4viewHiRez-ae7f153036038afa1423adae8f6f9d9e.jpg"]http://cachepe.samedaymusic.com/media/qual...dae8f6f9d9e.jpg[/url] If there was a delay I'd be even more interested.[/quote] Hmmm.... just took a look at the Line6 site and you're right... I swear the one I played had delay and reverb on it. Maybe they've updated it - the one I played didn't have the envelope filter or octaver, it had the same effects as the Spider II guitar amp.

[quote name='thedontcarebear' post='34493' date='Jul 20 2007, 10:15 AM']They don't have delay though do they?[/quote] Yep, they do - it's on the effects knob (about the first quarter turn is delay and reverb). The knob also gives you chorus and flanger. I think you've got more options (combining effects, etc) if you get the FBV pedalboard.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='34180' date='Jul 19 2007, 03:46 PM']Interesting. What was the wood selection? Alex[/quote] Fairly simple really... swamp ash body, quilt maple top, maple fingerboard, maple/walnut laminate neck. To be honest, I'm not sure it was just the woods (I've had other basses with similar wood selections, and not had a problem with them), I think the voicing of the pickups and the preamp were just as much at fault.

Cool little amp. Worth it just for the SVT model and the nice built-in delays. The synth, as mentioned before, is rather toilet, the distortion model is fairly useless and some of the tones have a tendency towards muddiness. Other than that, they're bloody good, and not bad value either. I wish they'd do it in a head/cabs configuration.

I used to have a (very) custom Rumour 5-string, and it was a great bass... but, as wth all things custom, you never quite know how the bass is going to sound in a band environment until you actually get it. My Rumour just didn't cut it in a loud rock band - the tone got totally lost in the mix, even after some Bernie doing some tweaks to the EQ to get more mids out of it. So it ended up getting sold, alas. It was a shame - it was a fantastic bass, a real labour of love too, as the body shape was unique, even the headstock was reshaped to accomodate two Hipshots. In retrospect, I'd have gone with a very different wood selection. I say go for it, but only if you're sure you'll get the right tone for your band. Bernie may well loan you one to rehearse with, just to be sure.

[quote name='Sibob' post='33365' date='Jul 17 2007, 11:27 PM']But then he was probably doing it before you were born lol I think i saw it in his Bass Player mag interview a couple of years ago Si[/quote] I'm older than him! I missed that issue, couldn't find it anywhere.... (that was the one with him painted blue, wasn't it?)

[quote name='Sibob' post='33337' date='Jul 17 2007, 10:56 PM']Isn't that the technique that Ryan Martinie uses? He said he picked it up after watching his dad play classical guitar Si[/quote] Could be, although I didn't see him do it on the live Mudvayne DVD I've got. The bastard nicked some of my other moves though.... I was doing tapped harmonics the same way he does years before I ever saw him!

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='32730' date='Jul 16 2007, 09:18 PM']sounds interesting. Is it similar to 'chicken picking'?[/quote] In a way, yes (in the banjo sense of "chicken pickin'" anyway). The trick is getting it so you can do it all on one string in semiquavers (16ths), and using it to simulate the sound of up-and-down picking using a plectrum (since the thumb and fingers produce different tones, analogous to pick upstrokes and downstrokes). Crossing strings all of a sudden becomes really easy using the technique. I'll have to knock up a vid or something.

[quote name='johnakay' post='33138' date='Jul 17 2007, 04:42 PM']abit pricy for what I'm willing to pay.I've got a Fender quire but 6 strings.and that tremolo does not fit into the bridges.so I'm wondering if I fit a 4 string bridge and a bass neck,do you think that would be fine?I know the pick ups will be different but may work? oh I've found one on ebay check it out and see what you think... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150133816405&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RSCC_Pr4_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT&refitem=150142859810&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=active_view_item&usedrule1=StoreCatToStoreCat&usedrule2=CrossSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...s_promot_widget[/url][/quote] Sounds like you're talking about converting a guitar into a bass. I don't think that'll work, for all sorts of reasons - the neck pocket will be the wrong size for a bass neck, the scale length will be off so the intonation would be WAY out, the pickups won't match the layout of the strings (and will have the wrong frequency response to sound good), and a tremolo bass bridge won't fit the body routing for the existing tremolo. And that's just for starters! Sorry to be so negative, but you really need to have a proper bass to begin with. There's plenty of half-decent cheap basses on eBay, so why not pick one up, along with that cheap trem bridge, take them to your friendly neighbourhood luthier/guitar repair place, and get them to install it for you?

I dabbled with the three-finger playing thing for quite a few years, and still use it on occasion for playing triplets, but I worked out a new technique that works better for me, while providing the agility of three-finger picking and allowing me to mostly do away with using a pick for the tunes I do that needed that sound. It's pretty much a rock-optimised version of the Garrison fingers-plus-thumb technique, except using only two fingers in addition to my thumb, and incorporating the edge of my thumbnail for a pick-like sound. Basically, I nail the "one" using the thumb/thumbnail (depending on the sound I'm going for), then the 2,3,4 (or 2,3 or whatever) with the fingers in alternating fashion, and using the thumb to lead when crossing strings. It's not dissimilar to classical guitar technique, in a lot of ways. Makes for quite a powerful technique that has a lot of versatility as far as speed, tones and muting are concerned. I'm still working on it, but I can see it almost replacing all my other finger techniques once I'm comfortable with it for everything, as it's much more efficient.

I saw the Nemesis 8x10" combo a couple of weeks ago (it was slightly more expensive then, £579) and had a play through it... awesome, it just won't fit in my car! I was hoping they might have had the 2x12" combo and the 2x12" extension cab. I'd have had that right there and then!

There seems to be an unusually high demographic of lefties here (me included) - going by the current results of the voting, around 30%. The national average is around 10%... I wonder what we can draw from this? Probably something to do with right-brain thinkers being more creative, and possibly more drawn to playing music?

[quote name='bassboy115' post='31927' date='Jul 14 2007, 10:21 PM']errmmm... who is it? [/quote] Anthony Jackson. Shame on you. Having said that, when I first saw him after he lost all that weight, I almost didn't recognise him either!

Older Status bolt-on range. Most of the same features as their current range, although, if I remember right, the graphite necks didn't have truss rods back then and the bodies were more sharply bevelled. Hyperactive PJ pickups on the 4-string, and a pair of J pickups on the 5, with Status' own 2-band EQ. I think they carried the Energy name over when they started doing the wooden-neck range in addition to the graphite necks, so some Energy instruments may have the reinforced maple neck. Nice instruments and there are some serious bargains to be had. I've been on the lookout for an old Energy 5 for a while. You could probably find out a lot more from the crowd over at www.statii.com .

Love 'em. Just wish they did the cheaper models in a 5-string.

Just scored a nice ATK405 on eBay, so I am rather a happy Russ right about now. Anyone want my two Jazzes?