LoneFurrow

I'd get in touch with Stuart Robson at Sunbear pickups - https://www.sunbearpickups.com/ . He made a fantastic set of Jazz pickups for me, which we a/b tested against some Abby's from a CS Jazz. Stu's pickups have much greater clarity, and bass extension, together with a lovely airiness to them. He'll custom-make a P pickup to your sonic / spec requirements, and age them beautifully if that's your thing. Most of the work on his website and Instagram is for guitars but he's been doing a fair amount of work with Chris Dobson at Alpher recently. 

On 27/01/2022 at 13:39, SumOne said:

Xotic Basses - what are y'all saying?!

 

I played an Xotic XP 5 a while ago (the one pictured below, at the Bass Gallery) and it's given me a dangerous case of GAS. Really nice tones that are consistent across all strings, comfortable to play, very low action with no fret buzz. I expect the XJ is just as good so will make an effort to try one of them too.

 

Anyone here own/owned one and have anything positive/negative to say about them? Anything in particular to look out for with them second hand?

 

As far as I can tell the disadvantages seem to be the price (not quite up there with very high-end Basses, but they are about  £2,500 new and usually about £1,700 second hand) and they are quite heavy:  this one looks a good deal at £1,449 but is 10lb 12oz / 4.8kg and even the 'lightweight' versions are a not particularaly lightweight 9lb 7oz/4.2kg (considering I had a Sandberg TM5 SL that was 3.3kg).

 

 

 

 

 

That's my old XP-1T, which I was clinging onto for quite a while. I eventually part-exchanged it because I wanted to 6-string and The Bass Gallery had something that hit the mark. I also had an XJ-1T 5-string alongside the XP. I sold the XJ first because I just found it too heavy - a tad over 10lbs was too much for me. I also enjoyed the neck profile and overall feel of the XP much more. YMMV, as they say. 

The ones without the toggles are typically the Pro / Lightweight series, although they're not that much lighter. They're made in the same factory though, iirc. The extra toggles of the "full fat" versions are fun if you like toggles and want to shape your mid / high frequencies a little more. I tended to run mine in passive mode a lot of the time as I found the core tone to be so good. 

Third vote for Dunlops. Black silks and also very smooth-feeling strings so it sounds like they're the ones. I love the 40-120 sets. 

Apologies if you've already spotted this, but it might be worth a chat with Mark at BD .... https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Yamaha_ATTitude_3_SH.html

38 minutes ago, krispn said:

@LoneFurrow your new Steak haunts me 😂

That's a faintly terrifying thought, but it's still with @GisserDright now. Awaiting a response... 

14 hours ago, GisserD said:

You are not the first, and you won't be the last!

Nope..... PM'd in that regard. 

34 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

The Yamaha TRB1004J is 35" scale. 40mm nut, two humcancelled single coil pickups, 3 band EQ

Yamaha TRB range

 

And there's a pre-owned offering currently for sale on the Bass Direct website, here. 

That looks like an Overwater by Tanglewood Classic Jazz. There was one for sale on Reverb for £165, since sold. 

Chris May explained a bit about them here: 

https://overwaterbasses.com/overwater-forums/chris-may-questions/aspiration-elite/

Hope that helps. 

Ah... fair enough. I have an XP-1T as well, which came in the original Xotic gigbag. They make great basses and guitars, which I think are sorely underrated. Most definitely a bargain for an incredibly flexible 5 string. 

It's a lovely bass, no question. I traded it at Guitar Guitar in Camden last year. At the time it had a Hiscox black hard case, which I wouldn't have called "shabby". Not sure if that's the case you have, @Kevsy71.

GLWTS. 

Maruszczyk offers a 40mm nut width as standard on their 4 string Elwood basses, but I realise that's still some way from a Fender C neck that you'd find on a Precision. I had a quick look at the AVRI '74 spec and it seems to offer a standard Jazz nut width of 1.475". It's a deeper "U" profile than some Jazz basses though, rather like Fender CS Jazzes. My other (almost certainly unhelpful) thought was to get a 5 string. 

1 hour ago, afterimage said:

^{looking forward to a visit in June} 

That's planning a fair ways out, isn't it? I'm unfortunate in that Wunjo is about a mile from my work location, and on my route home. I do accidentally have to pop in every now and then. 

I've had the same experience with both the Wunjo bass and guitar shops. Bought way too much from them, and occasionally cleared some space by part exchanging gear I could no longer accommodate. It's always a joy to pop in and have a chat / nose around / try stuff. 

Given they're from north of Detroit, you'd think Glasgow in spring would feel quite balmy. Sam was still wearing socks in London, although not as natty as those pictured. 

Looking forward to seeing how they evolve over the next few years. 

I was at the GVF / Second Sons gig at the O2 Academy in Islington last night. Both bands performed brilliantly, and elicited a great response from the packed audience. GVF in particular received a rapturous response throughout. As @Thunderpaws says about Glasgow, the audience demographic in London was a complete mix - males & females from late teens through to your mature rock fans, and all points in between. 

Sam Kiszka's bass (and keyboard) playing was most excellent, Josh's vocals were pretty close to album quality and I do like his style, although it was impossible to understand his rambles between songs. I found Jake's guitar playing perhaps a bit limited during their longer wig-out sections on a few of the songs, but otherwise he was good. I wouldn't be surprised if they sell out the Hammersmith Odeon (or whatever it's now called) by the time they return to UK shores. 

How about gold? 

Joie Calio of Dada

On 01/02/2018 at 15:50, T-Bay said:

 There is a good place in Leamington I think but I haven’t used it personally.

That'll be Bass Direct in Leamington. Many on here speak very highly of Mark and his team there. I've only been once (so far) ... but it's bass heaven. Worth having a look at their website, but TheGreek makes a good suggestion about going to the Bass Show in London, if you can make it. 

Three other thoughts...

1) Music Store Pro in Hanley seems to have some Epiphones in stock, but none of the others you've mentioned. 

2) The Guitar Show at Bingley Hall in Birmingham (24th/25th Feb) will have some bass representation, although I don't know how much. 

3) Guitar Guitar has a store in Birmingham, and normally carry a decent range of basses. I haven't been to that particular store, but have generally found them helpful. They can also shift stock from one branch to another, although typically for a small (refundable) deposit. 

Good luck and good hunting! 

I don't know if this is within your budget, but there's a very nice MTD Kingston KZ5 in the For Sale section right now - here. 

Sorry for the last minute notice, folks. I have a spare pair of tickets for the King King gig at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on Wednesday 17th Jan. I can't make it now (work... aargh), so thought I'd check if anyone on BC is interested. 

Ticket prices are £23.50 each, but I'd just be happy if someone takes them - no charge. PM me with your address if you'd like them and I'll pop them in the post first thing tomorrow. 

Thanks, 

Michael 

4 hours ago, Sean said:

Sadowsky.

I used to have chronic GAS for these basses. Then I played one and it just didn’t connect with me. I played two more over a couple of years and they all left me cold. The sound, the feel, nothing about them spoke to me in any way.

Also, I couldn’t fault its build, the look, anything. Top notch in every way, as you might expect but disappointing.

Difficult to explain why in the same way it’s difficult to explain why I connect so well with my Yamaha BB or my Valenti and think they’re amongst the best instruments I’ve ever played.

 

I've had a similar experience with several Sadowskys I've tried. Faultless build, but I just can't find anything that really connects with me. 

I have to add Ibanez basses. I know there's a lot of love for them on BC, but I can't get on with any I've tried (4, 5 and 6 string variants from pretty much all price brackets). The neck profile is just wrong for me. 

8 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

...haven't they just shot Cakewalk in the head?

Fair point about Cakewalk; slipped my mind. Their brand strategy seems rather confused at the moment, or maybe it's just me.  

Gibson will have a big stand at CES in Las Vegas next week, so perhaps their focus is on developing some of their pro-audio brands such as Cakewalk, KRK, Neat, and Onkyo. I didn't even know Onkyo was part of the group! 

1 hour ago, deepbass5 said:

I totally agree with these last few posts, I rarely plug a bass in when in a shop. A good one will talk to you acoustically, the construction feel and set up will come through. 

I tend to do the same. What are the factors that really speak to you? Resonance, weight, neck feel & shape ....? How do these come together in a way that makes one bass "great, I'll take it" and another "hmm....not for me"? I tried a great-looking Japanese Marcus Miller Jazz at The Bass Gallery recently. I couldn't get on with it at all, but the next chap into the store 5 mins later bought it on the spot. 

15 hours ago, PawelG said:

Try a JV Squier if you can. I was looking for a P Bass and my JV stays for life. And I did try quite a few 60’s P Basses.

There's a very clean (albeit red) 1983 JV Squier for sale at Notom on Denmark St at the moment. I tried it last week - really nice bass. I don't know how the price stacks up, but it might be worth a look.