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Beer of the Bass

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Everything posted by Beer of the Bass

  1. Beer of the Bass
    Up for sale is my Westone Thunder 1 (passive model) de-fretted bass, from the famous Matsumoku factory. Serial begins with 2 (I've read that this means 1982, but maybe our resident Japcrap experts can confirm this). It has an ash body with maple/walnut centre, bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and a single precision type pickup. This was built as a fretted bass but has been defretted and the slots filled with a lighter coloured wood veneer. The bass is strung with Thomastik Jazz flatwounds and really sounds excellent - it has a really strong midrangey fretless "mwahh" tone, with p-bass chunkiness. The action at the 12th "fret" position is a little under 3mm across the board - it plays really comfortably. The bass does show various battle scars and signs of use - there are various dings and general wear to the body, the knobs are not original and the truss rod cover is missing. A previous owner has also removed the Westone logo from the headstock (too unfashionable perhaps?), and the strap button has been moved to next to the neckplate. It hangs pretty well on a strap like this, so I've never felt inclined to shift it back to the original spot. But as a great sounding fretless, I think it's pretty much unbeatable at the price! I'm looking for £120. You can have a decent, newish gig bag with it too. I would prefer this to be picked up from Edinburgh - that way you can check it out thoroughly and have a play. I'll look into postage if there's no local interest, but I'm a little wary as I only have a cardboard box - no hard case.
  2. Beer of the Bass
    As it happens, I was rummaging through a drawer, and realised I still had the old set of Chromes I'd used a couple of years ago. I wasn't blown away by them when I had them on before (they were last on my fretless), but they're pretty good on my fretted bass. The feel is exactly what I'm looking for, and they're thick and meaty sounding with a bit of definition. I'm reserving judgement until I've used them with my band though - I always find it hard to judge how a sound will work live when I'm playing at home.
  3. Beer of the Bass
    Hi Dave, what's the input impedance on the small DI-EQ? If it's high enough to sound good with a piezo (1Mohm or greater), it'd be really useful to me and I'd be interested in one. Will they have the usual crazy paintjob? I'd be happy if it did...
  4. Beer of the Bass
    That Queen Street pawn shop does have a funky looking well-worn EB3 with added Precision pickup at the moment - I couldn't make out the tag (tiny print!), but I'd guess it'll be ambitiously priced...
  5. Beer of the Bass
    Hmm, so many choices! Thanks for the input. I'm enjoying the Thomastiks at home, but just know that with the band I'll end up digging in too hard and getting that lovely rubber band effect. I've used Rotosounds, Chromes and Ernie ball flats in the past, but all on different (and fretless) basses, so it's hard to equate that to how they might sound on my fretted bass. I reckon I'm not quite ready to spring for the full Jamerson sound (foam mute plus well matured flats?), although that can be great in context. But with my bright sounding bass (heavy walnut body plus Darkstar pickup), I guess I can keep reasonable definition as long as there's some sustain there.
  6. Beer of the Bass
    Are rotosounds still as rough feeling as they used to be? I had a set on my fretless about 10 years ago, and the roughness is all I can remember about them. I might give Chromes a try - if I like them I'll swap the TIs back to my fretless. Are things like LaBellas and pyramids at the thumpier end of the spectrum?
  7. Beer of the Bass
    Ooh yes, I've been eyeing that up too, but can't really justify spending that amount. Looks nice though, and they do seem like decent folk in that shop...
  8. Beer of the Bass
    I'm not going to name any names, but I reckon you haven't properly encountered condescending, elitist shop staff until you've checked out certain classical string instrument shops! Even the surliest guitar salesman can only aspire to that sort of attitude...
  9. Beer of the Bass
    On a whim, I decided to try out the Thomastik jazz flats that I use on my fretless on my fretted bass. I'm really digging the sound, but I can't quite get on with the low tension on this bass. I like the Thomastiks because they're nice and mellow sounding, with a distinct flatwound sound to the attack, but not too dead and thumpy. Are there any flats that have these properties with a little more tension? Or should I just stick with them for a while and see if I get used to it?
  10. Beer of the Bass
    Re. the Ibby pickups, I had the mudbucker lookalike from my old, dead Ibanez on my home-built bass for several years (then changed to a Dimarzio, then a Darkstar). The sound was kind of cool - very lively, characterful and clanky, but maybe a bit lean in the bottom end. Pretty aggressive sounding with a set of new Rotosounds! I think the coil and magnets were identical to the smaller bridge pickup, but with a different polepiece arrangement.
  11. Beer of the Bass
    That crack in the back of the Ibanez will be the neck slowly creeping forwards due to the pickup cavity being too close to the end of the fingerboard. As it creeps, the neck angle will be changing and the action getting higher and higher. It happened to one I used to own - there just isn't much gluing surface with that huge pickup rout there. And the pickup on mine was a skinny little single coil under the cover anyway - what were they thinking when they chose that pickup for this bass?
  12. Beer of the Bass
    Just did a wee trade with Andy for a mexican p-bass pickup - very quick and easy, would deal with him again.
  13. Beer of the Bass
    A while back, the drummer I played with in my first band gave me a cassette with an old live recording of this song on. The bassline on that version was much more stripped down - no slappy bits, just really solid and driving. As good as this version is, I think I preferred it that way. Quite cool to see a pointy bass like that outside of a hair metal band though!
  14. Beer of the Bass
    Can you mix and match types in a bulk order? I'd chip in for a couple of sets of flatwounds if you're including any in the order...
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  17. Beer of the Bass
    I bought a spare set of 45 gauge rotosound "swing bass" a few weeks ago - I've used this gauge for years but I'm now thinking I'd like to go lighter. So, does anyone want to trade my unopened 45-105 set for their unused set of 40 gauge Rotosounds (or other steel roundwounds)?
  18. Beer of the Bass
    Isn't the medium action/Fender association more of a stylistic thing? i.e. a slightly higher action may suit the kind of playing styles that people tend to use those basses for? Of course, it's a massive generalisation, but there could be something in it!
  19. Beer of the Bass
    Great idea! Do you think I can get my double bass on one? It would be a bit of a squeeze getting it in the lift to my flat though...
  20. Beer of the Bass
    Just measured the string height on my electric bass out of curiosity. 4mm on the E, and 3.5mm on the G, and I'd always thought it was quite low! I think double bass might have warped my perception of these things. So perversely, I'm going to try lowering it a bit...
  21. Beer of the Bass
    I find a gigbag on the back is a bit of a nightmare for cycling - I can barely see behind myself and the centre of gravity is a bit high. If I'm nipping across town with a bass guitar, I'll put my gig bag in a rear pannier on one side, with a couple of bungee cords around it. The body fits neatly in to the pannier, with the neck sticking up to somewhere well below shoulder level. Much better visibility and balance.
  22. Beer of the Bass
    Cheers for pointing those out Pablo. Dave Holland is always worth hearing.
  23. Beer of the Bass
    Interesting - I've never seen one of those. Do you mean the top of the bridge is scalloped in between where the strings rest? I wonder if it's done to reduce the mass without thinning the bridge too much?
  24. Beer of the Bass
    I've also seen an article by Dan Erlewine from a couple of years back [url="http://www.bassplayer.com/article/superglue-savior/jun-06/20674"]here[/url]. I've thought about trying it on my Westone fretless, but never got around to it...
  25. Beer of the Bass
    It's interesting seeing the sort of values assigned to these old German flatbacks. My own bass is one, though with plain maple back and sides and devalued by a rather ugly coat of varnish. I have an insurance valuation of £2750 from a few years ago, it was tagged in the shop at about £1700 (If I recall correctly), and after some negotiation I took it away for £750! I've since put in a further £500 for a new fingerboard, bridge, soundpost etc, but I can't help but feel that I did OK.
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