FDC484950

Nope. The MetroExpress was a line made in the same place as the final Japanese line (called Metroline). One or two were still for sale new recently. Sadowsky offered a small number of finishes with apparently the same quality as the Japanese Metro basses. My experience was rather different. Link: https://www.sadowsky.com/sadowsky-instruments/metroexpress/

I briefly owned a MetroExpress made in Japan and the stacked pot wasn’t working and the B string was about 50% quieter than the E. This as a bass that retailed around £2K. The point I’m trying to make is that If they have genuinely sorted out the QC then it’s probably an attractive sub-£1K bass. Sire must be quite a thing competitor for a fair bit less, but I never had this kind of choice when I was learning - £500-£700 was by no means guaranteed to get a bass that was even moderately playable.

It really helps at first to have something to make the sounds with to tie what you see being played (of written) to what you are hearing. A small keyboard can make a big difference. You don’t have to have piano skills, just a bit of basic knowledge of chords. I use Musescore - I can insert chord symbols above the music and play it back. I make a bunch of single note lines into a chart and play them back to train with (I have a bad memory so forget what I put down quickly). Start with single notes as that’s what bass does most of the time. For chords a piano helps even more because you get to hear different chord voicing a, which makes a massive difference. A chord can sound very different depending on the voicing. Start by trying to hear the bass note and the top note of the chord (often the melody), then the bit in the middle is a process of elimination - does it sound simple or complex? If simple then it’s probably a straight major or minor. If complex then the flavour of chord will give you a guide - e.g a major sound that is more complex is often a maj7, maj9 or maj7#11, less commonly a 6/9 or maj13, even less common a maj7#5. A working knowledge of basic harmony (cycle of 4ths, common chord progressions etc.) also helps. As a real world example my last transcription (see my transcription thread) was done after working out the keyboard part as I was interested in the chords. I could hear that the first 2 chords sounded the same, but the bass note went down whilst the top note was going up. It sounded unresolved so didn’t sound major or minor, so I guessed it was some kind of suspended chord. I tried a sus4 but it didn’t sound quite right. Next was a sus2 and that worked perfectly. Then it was a case of working out the bass line and chords. I usually work out what I think the chords are in Musescore then key the track at tempo and play them back together. A slow down app is also a real boon for faster or more tricky parts. I’ve got decent ears but don’t ever feel it’s cheating - if it helps you work it out, it’s all positive! Finally - whilst some people are a natural at playing by ear, most top musicians got good with lots of practice and anyone can develop good ears

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Great album. I know Jeff Berlin isn’t universally popular but these Bruford albums and also his work with Allan Holdsworth was absolutely top drawer. Players like Jaco and Stanley Clarke are revered in the fusion world be I always thought he was every bit the equal. The real eye opener for me was his harmonic knowledge, his incredible facility across the neck and his pinpoint perfect technique. To this day I struggle to play some of his parts anywhere near as cleanly. Thanks again Bilbo 😀

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You are correct - not sure why my search picked the wrong item. It appears, looking at the table for Japan that it is in fact zero duty. @BigRedX my post was for illustration only as to how the process works, not a guide to getting a precise price - I’ve found it quite difficult to get the Sterling value before charges from courier companies and in some cases they refuse to hand over the customs entry document (I need this for business purposes).

Guitars/basses are commodity code 4202.92.1500. Duty for guitars is 6.7% from Japan and is payable on instrument cost plus shipping, converted from Yen to GBP at the monthly HMRC published rate, then 20% VAT is added to the total. So if your guitar is £800 plus £200 shipping (total £1,000), once converted it will be £67 Duty and £213.40 VAT, or a total of £1,280.40.

I have no opinion about the quality, other than it looks similar to other basses at the same price point, but being a direct copy of the RB is no bad thing, as that is a cracking bass and one of Fender’s best. Of course, the proof will be in actually being able to play it - are the electronics good enough as I assume it’s passive like the RB?

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/454740-new-fender-player-plus-series/

Totally. CAR, LPB OW with matching headstock. In terms of cost, offering another paint finish is quite economical. However that might hurt interest and sales of special runs and custom shop models. Personally speaking, many of the colour choices Fender has offered haven’t excited me - well, one or two have but they have tended to disappear quickly (e.g plasma burst on the US Jazz Ultra, I think). Offering 10 exciting colours would do just as much to boost sales, if not more than the model name switcheroo. The reality is that each model that comes out is 99.99% recognisable as a Precision or a Jazz, and tweaks and change of name is just marketing. Maybe they’ve assessed that their target audience responds to this, or maybe it’s general corporate pressure to always be seen to be releasing new products, but I don’t think anyone is fooled.

Yep, a Mexican special with nothing more than a new name and a couple of new colours (or 1.5 as one finish seems to only have half the black paint job). Typical Fender over the last 20 years.

Jeff Andrews was a monster bass player. He kind of slipped under the radar a bit but was enormously respected. Thanks very much for this and all the other transcriptions. I really wish we had this sort of thing when I was learning to play many years ago. The biggest issue with learning to read was a lack of good, bass-specific material (I ended up on Bach cello pieces, which is why I ended up on 5-string - but it was hardly rock and roll!) It’s also fabulous that this is freely available to everyone and inspired me to pick up the bass again. Keep up the great work!

It is a bit odd but even though I’m not a big fan of the result it is a neat idea to turn Thriller into a shuffle. The original is hardly 70s swing/groove, though, is it

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Ooh, SR5 with no pickguard. Tempting… well it was until I saw the price!

I’ve had both flavours and I can echo the opinions above. I didn’t need to touch the EQ on the active model as the 5-position switch offered a nice range of sounds. Personally I think it’s more versatile than an MM double humbucker as the pickup positions are further away from the neck; however I moved all of them in the end as they’re just not that engaging - but also I only play a 5 and the B string was OK but not exceptional. It recorded very well and would make a great do it all bass.

I could be wrong but I think Ultralites should be a drop-in replacement. I did have a look at the licensed tuners and couldn’t really see much of a difference. The US ones are supposed to be lighter but when I weighed mine (don’t ask, I was bored) they were quite a bit heavier than the spec sheet. But they feel as if they’ll last forever. Gotoh GB350 Res-O-Lite is another option but quite hard to get hold of (and expensive) but AFAIK the lightest tuners available at 40g each.

I’d love to know how a bass that retailed new for £950 just a few years ago, with the terrible grain matching of the bass in the OP’s photos might be worth more than its original purchase price! £700 tops shop price, more like £600 in a private sale.

Personally I would get the JANIII in brass as on the Warwick I had it added and extra something to the tone. Odd that the tuners should try to self-destruct. I had probably over 30 Warwicks in my time and have never had an issue with hardware - other than the JANII. Are Hipshot Ultralites a possible replacement? I have them on both of my MM basses and they're rock-solid.

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Technically speaking, parallel sends the output of each coils separately where series feed the output of one coil into the other other coil. The end result is the parallel is generally a bit quieter, more traditional and has slightly scooped mids, whereas series has more volume and a more aggressive low-mid punch. It’s like the difference between a MM Stingray and a Sterling. I much prefer Series. this is different to the 4-position selector, which gives the bridge and middle pickups in series and the bridge and neck pickups in parallel. Confusing, huh! Funnily enough I just got an ABZ5/3 with the S/P switches and I’m glad I did. Quick tip: set the outer pickups to Series and the middle to Parallel - then the 4 pickup settings will be roughly equal in volume. The ABII looks fabulous - well done

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I got the Big Al 5 SSS a few pages about not long ago. They really are amazing. No way I’ll ever sell it, and that’s saying something. If I had to take only one bass that would suit any style of music it would be the Big Al. That sound when you turn all the pickups off and get bridge/middle in series…

Gary Willis has a great exercise on his old tuition video (when I looked a few years ago it was on YT) about pressing the strings down lighter and lighter until the string just starts to buzz, then pulling back ever so slightly. It’s amazing how much more facility and fluidity you gain just by not pressing as hard. It does take quite a bit of practice, though.