Beer of the Bass

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1329449' date='Aug 6 2011, 12:47 AM']Yeah I prefer Jaco's playing too but Jaco repeats himself quite a lot, and a lot of his stuff is fairly basic really. I'm not knocking Jaco there are performances where he shows that he can boss it effortlessly but for the most part he plays licks that audiences are going to be comfortable with.[/quote] I would agree with this. Judged beside some of the great jazz musicians (on all instruments), I don't think Jaco's greatest strengths were as an improvising soloist - he relied on a lot of stock licks and showboating much of the time. But he did have great rythmic feel and did a hell of a lot of innovative stuff on his instrument. I can see why he stuck with the Jazz, as it had become such a trademark sound. The boutique instruments often sound different, but who is to decide what counts as better? From a listeners point of view, I think his tone was in no way inferior to Stanley Clarke with his Alembic, as an example.

Also, a couple of musicians I've played with recommend Jimmy Gillan, who works out of his flat in the west end. I don't know if he's got an internet presence, but I can PM you his number if necessary.

Erm, in the poll, which one is "basswood" and which one is "basswood"?

I used to have a Bassix EUB, and ended up replacing the original piezo and preamp, as the original setup was barely workable IMO. Mine had a Kent Armstrong magnetic pickup at the end of the fingerboard, which was blended passively (which didn't really work) with a piezo disc inside the body, before going to a generic Artec preamp. I kept the magnetic pickup, and blended it with a K&K piezo on the bridge using a Fishman Powerchip preamp. I always suspected that the electronics side of things were not his strong point, but the bass sounded good once I'd changed things around. When I bought mine there were no NS WAVs, Stagg EUBs etc on the market, so the choice of EUBs was very limited. I hope his current models have ironed out the electronics issues I had with mine.

I think it's sound advice, if you're going to work the way MM works and have similar goals tonally. The kind of sound he goes for isn't really going to happen without a preamp voiced a particular way. There's more than one way to skin a cat, but that doesn't make the advice bad as such. Other equally respected players might say something quite different, and they're probably all worth hearing out.

My brother is a classical guitar maker who is trying to offer sustainable woods wherever possible, so it's something we've chatted about before. While it's harder to find quality examples of the traditional hardwoods like rosewood etc, there are any number of alternative, more sustainable woods which would do the job equally well [i]if customers can be persuaded to accept them[/i]. The area where it is more worrying is with softwoods like spruce for acoustic intruments. Quality spruce and cedar pretty much have to come from old-growth forests in high altitude or northern areas as the slower growth and shorter growing season gives them the required tight grain. Plantation grown softwoods have much wider grain and are not as suitable, apparently. The sustainable solution would be for musicians to maximise the lifespan of instruments by choosing used instruments and repairing rather than replacing them, but this is probably not too palatable to the big guitar companies.

[quote name='flyfisher' post='1326466' date='Aug 4 2011, 08:30 AM']Sadly, I'm not awaiting delivery of a new bass, but I've also only ever played passives. May I add my own stupid questions? 1. Why an active bass at all? 2. What can an active do that can't be achieved with amp eq and/or pedals? 3. Is it worth all the battery hassles that are regularly posted here?[/quote] On point 1 and 2, the major difference between a passive bass and one with a preamp installed is that the volume and tone controls on the passive bass place a load on the pickups which causes some treble to be lost. With passive pickups + on board preamp (like most active basses), the preamp usually has a very high impedance which doesn't load down the pickups like passive controls do, so there can be a bit more high frequency response. So even with a passive bass and outboard preamp, the sound will not be the same as running the pickups straight into the preamp. Having said that, I've always liked passive basses best.

I have a klotz bought in around 1995 which is still working fine. I thought that was pretty good going before I saw this thread. I've never actually had a lead go bad on me, but I've lost quite a few on dark, cluttered stages.

If you do try to glue the seam yourself, make sure you get hold of some hide glue, and read up on how to use it. Re-gluing top and back seams is not out of the scope of DIY, but clamping can be tricky. Gluing it with anything else causes all sorts of problems if the top ever has to be removed for repairs, and can actually increase the chance of cracks to the wood (as often when the wood moves, the hide glued seam will give way before the wood cracks). If you're getting lots of open seams and cracks, the humidity in your house may be too low. It's worth getting a hygrometer to keep an eye on it, and humidifying if necessary.

I got mine from the local homebrew shop, but then I play a homebrew bass.

Certainly, I'd be interested to check out anything that is developed in that direction. I keep switching back and forth between the Spiros and Honeys as both have certain things I like, so something in between could be perfect. I feel like the Honey G string gives me exactly what I need for pizz, but there is a softness to the attack on the lower strings which isn't always what I'm after.

Regarding the sustain and growl potential of the Honeys, I've recently changed from Spiro Mittels to Honeys. At first I was a bit concerned by the softer attack, but the sustain is still very good, and I can get a gut-like snappiness to the attack on the G-string when i dig in, which is nice. With the bow, they're much warmer sounding and more controllable than the spiros, though occasionally i'll get a slightly dry, reedy tone from the upper strings, which is also a gut-like property, I guess. I've not found them to be easily slappable, but that's not a priority for me. I wonder how much brighter sounding you could go with a synthetic core string while keeping their desirable properties? It strikes me that people looking for maximum growl, sustain and attack are already quite well served elsewhere and might not be the obvious market for Innovations.

I remember hearing an interview with Peter Hook where he talked about the back problems he now has as a result of his low slung bass. It hasn't stopped him doing it though!

Another vote for same height sitting as standing. I can understand why people might go higher for slap, or lower for a flex from the elbow pick style though.

Good question. Maybe a bit of card in the slot to "fix" a worn down nut? I've seen that a few times.

No-name P bass on Edinburgh Gumtree for 50 quid. Headstock looks a lot like some 70's Japanese P copies I've seen. It looks pretty good for the price... [url="http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/bass-guitar/84725311#gallery-item-full-3"]http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/bass-gui...ery-item-full-3[/url]

[quote name='ShergoldSnickers' post='1314788' date='Jul 24 2011, 02:43 PM']Good start, the first two answers are diametrically opposed. Maple is pretty tough stuff and I've stopped worrying. Try the Danish oil, but monitor it closely and see how it goes. I might have been lucky.[/quote] That's entertaining! Mine feels like the top layer is wood plus oil, rather than there being a thick coating of finish, so I don't feel it's much tougher than the wood itself (which could still be pretty tough). It may be complicated by the fact that not all things sold as Danish oil are the same. I've read that some are just a blend of oils while some are more of an oil based varnish and dry a bit harder.

I've not used it on a fingerboard, but I've played a Danish oil finished bass for a few years now. It would offer little or no abrasion resistance on a fingerboard, as the thickness of the coating is negligible, even with quite a few coats. The best it would do is prevent it from absorbing too much dirt.

I rummaged around in my drawers and found a tapered reamer to do the job, so at least I've got the string on now.

I bought one of these bridges on eBay to use on a 5 string I am building. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200258838414&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT"]5 string bass bridge[/url] I tried to string it up today and discovered that the holes in the back of the bridge are too small for the last inch or so of my B-string to pass through. This seems like very poor design. I'm using 45-130 gauge Dunlops, nothing outrageous. I doubt I'll be able to return the bridge as I bought it several weeks ago and have already posted feedback. I'm not really equipped to drill out the hole neatly as I don't have a pillar drill, though I guess I could have a go. Are there any other inexpensive, 17mm spaced 5-string bridges out there? I guess I'm just posting this as a heads-up really, as a 5-string bridge which can't handle a B-string is not much use to anyone.

I do it on a couple of songs my band play, usually combined with some palm muting. Occasionally I'll play harmonics with my fingers and a thumbed bass note underneath too, but I don't use that much outside the house.

[quote name='chrisd24' post='1313566' date='Jul 23 2011, 09:39 AM']Hmm you may be right,also these pickups attract each other,aren't they meant to repel?[/quote] Depends which way round you hold them! Most jazz sets have one pickup reverse wound and reverse polarity, so like faces will attract each other.

That looks like it has ceramic magnets on the bottom. I thought the US Fender pickups (the standard ones, at least) were all alnico magnets. I could be wrong about that though, as I'm not a fender expert.

That's not a bad point. My old defretted Westone had worn roundwounds for years when I got it, and [i]looked[/i] pretty badly worn, but I was surprised how shallow the wear actually was. It was a fairly quick job with a sanding block to get the board looking good again, and didn't lose much board thickness, so it could be done every few years for quite a long time before the board would need replacing. Although I prefer Thomastik Jazz flats for their sound, so it wasn't something I had to worry about after the first board dressing.

And what about basschat's own Spoombung? I can't hear the slightest resemblance to Pastorius in his stuff!