Steve Browning

I recently witnesed a a/b between the Berg and the Vanderkley. Both sounded great but I have also heard the Berg at a decent number of gigs (a good mate has one). It's an awesome cab. The Vanderkley was pretty close in sound (but it was a nice red colour!!). Is there any reason you seem to favour a 2x10 Vanderkley and a 2x12 BF or is that just a 'for instance' thing?

In fairness, Andy Baxter's price includes £225 of VAT and the cost of any work he had to do to it. Anyway, I suspect the price will be negotiable.

Not quite in the same league but I was playing at a festival where the BBC were filming. You can see from my signature than I'm a fairly traditional type when it comes to gear. The previous band finish and we stroll on to get a sound together and check tuning and I am confronted with this Peavey digital set up. The previous guy played upright and didn't use the rig so I had to power it up. It launched into the type of light display you see on car stereos at Halfords and I didn't have a clue what anything did. I was DI'd from the bass and so I noted I was getting some noise at least and so I just stuck with it but you can see on the broadcast that I was like a rabbit caught in headlights!

Yup.

Ha! That's for girls. You want my old Boogie Road Ready 2x18 at 107 kilos.

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/307432-now-l400-shipped-classic-50s-p-bass-fiesta-red-nitro/ There you go.

Very. I have been fighting the temptation. If my Aerodyne had gone by now I would be playing it!

That's for sale here. Lovely looking thing.

I almost hightailed it right there after reading the original post but caught myself thinking 'but I don't even like Jazz basses' and so didn't. I was thinking I was possibly missing out on a bit of a deal but it would seem not.

Go for it definitely. As for the bass parts, it's not all the same notes. If you don't know their stuff, listen to Shanana. Ok, they were a little 'comic' but listen to the instruments behind the vocals. Of course, you could also watch Tutti Frutti on DVD.

Three Little Birds done as a shuffle and Heard It On The X done as a funk version. Both went down really well and you could almost hear the points at which each was recognised.

.................... and how's the liver. :-)

I actually disagree, the vocabulary you encounter in jazz gives you options in all genres. Your post raises the question of why teach jazz at all if you don't expect them to pursue it further - and you teach people to solo? :-)

I have gone in completely the other direction (as a result of my Dad, who was a pro Jazz man before the war). As soon as I started playing bass 'seriously' he took me along to a jazz big band where I was sight reading all the usual big band things (I had learned piano for years and so the change to bass wasn't hard as far as sight reading went). I was also in a punk/R'n'B band at I got asked to join a modern jazz quarter so I was doing punk gigs, modern jazz (piano, bass, drums and vibes) and doing the big band too. I have to say, playing in a big band is something else when you are literally immersed in the sheer power of a horn section. It's quite an experience. I think it's the challenge but also you become less evangelical as you get older and are less inclined to maintain the 'tribalness' of youth. There are some simply stunning tunes in Jazz and I defy anyone to listen to Ben Webster play a ballad on the sax and not be moved.

Check out the Ishibashi site. There are lots of good Japanese basses here and the prices are good (don't be put off by the price in Yen).

I swap out all mine for the Gotoh 203. An advanced version of the original without having a brand name all over it. Great bridge and very reasonable cost.

I can only answer for the Aerodyne where I get a full on Precision with the Jazz pickup backed off and get a Jazz bridge pickup sound with the Pbass pickup wound off. The pair flat out gives a fatter 'Jazz' sound as you are incorporating a Pbass pickup rather than two Jazz pickups. The Pbass pickup is hum cancelling.