OutToPlayJazz

[quote name='Fat Rich' post='910979' date='Jul 31 2010, 09:59 AM']Here's a couple more: They're both a bit lighter than I was expecting, not sure if it's the facings on the back are lighter than the usual mahogany, or if phenolic boards are heavier than the wood I specified instead. They still balance pretty well, lots of sustain and no deadspots. The maple board on the 6 string seems to give it a lot of projection while sounding quite warm, great for chords (when I learn some!) and more solo sort of stuff. The fretless is surprisingly dark sounding, it still has all of the Status growl but a really fat mellow attack. To get the sound you'd expect from a Status I have to play it pretty hard over the bridge pickup, or dial in a fair amount of treble on the EQ. It's got halfwound strings at the moment, I may try some brighter sounding strings at some point but it's early days. Definitely keeping these for life![/quote] Lovely to see your new basses, Rich. Stunning examples of the breed. How're you getting along with them comapred to your existing Statii?

The 424 has the five-piece laminate neck.

Try some single ball end Status Hotwires, Alex - They're made for phelonic fingerboards.

I'd rather chew off my own arms before I played that full time!

The basic physics of the matter is that in the lower positions, the left hand only spans one tone... A semitone between fingers one and two & another semitone between fingers two and four. If you look at your hand as you play, there should be a greater distance between the first and second fingers. This will give you the tuning stability in the lower positions. The compact hand shape allows for more dexterity and speed when playing, too. The third finger never really comes into play on it's own until you reach 5th position (1st finger on the G string at F & F#) and higher, especially when the hand changes shape for thumb position, for example. This technique also works really well on electric bass. It's how I teach all of my students to play as well. Rich

I'm just in the process of leaving the missus, so GAS is on hold while I concentrate on being a responsible adult and getting my new house sorted out! Rich

An expensive preamp can make a world of difference to a nice playing bass. Maybe worth a call to Status to see how much the vol/vol/treble/bass preamp from the Retroactive & T-Bass is. That's a serious super jazz pre. I had the East U-retro in one of my Status S2's, but ultimately preferred the original 2 band Status unit. Just personal taste in that particular case, though.

[quote name='ahpook' post='921296' date='Aug 11 2010, 09:14 AM']just on a status-related note, i was in the studio on saturday and had my t-bass running through my ampeg and it sounded amazing. "a manly bass sound" was the producer's comment. [/quote] Nice Yes, the basses always seem to get really great comments about the sound - On the Strictly Tour, the frontline wind/brass players love the sound of the Status, as they can pitch so easily from it, because they're able to hear every frequency of the bass including the overtones.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='911431' date='Jul 31 2010, 07:18 PM']I'm way late to this thread. I bought a Steinberger L2 in 1983. When the Status basses came out I was gobsmacked, as IMO they were so much better sounding. Our guitar player (also a bassist) bought one in the 80s and it was stunning. Those Mark King basses look stunning.[/quote] You were always welcome, Pete

[quote name='Wil' post='919779' date='Aug 9 2010, 04:26 PM']Status S2 Classic bolt ons tend to go for around 1K. I doubt you'd find a better built bass for double that.[/quote] A big +1 on that one! You simply won't find better than an S2-Classic at that money. The other suggestion on this thread was the Stingray 5 - The pre 2008 models have ceramic pickups, which give an amazing clean and bright sound. Highly recommended.

Did you say SG shortscale? If this has the big humbucker pickup right at the end of the neck, it'll be no good for slap playing - When you hit the string with your thumb, the "slap" sound comes from the string rebounding mainly off the last fret. When you have a pickup right at the end of the fingerboard, you also bang the string onto the pickup and just make a huge banging sound. Your Mustang with it's single P pickup in the sweet spot would be a better option for this style of playing.

Met up with Jim on the slab yesterday in order to complete a sale - Luckily, he's as smitten with the bass as I was, so another happy ending Jim is a great guy, who keeps his customers/sellers up to date via phone at all times & does exactly what he says on the 'tin. Highly recommended! Rich.

The standard size Fender bridge cover doesn't fit over the huge Badass II - But I'm sure someone somewhere must have realised this and makes a bigger one. No? Ah well

Before you even think of financing the new bass, take your existing 4001 and compare the two. Whether the new one is the right colour or not, it needs to be at least as good, or even better than your current bass in order to be worth the hassle and extra outlay in my view. Make sure the sound/feel of the new bass is superior to the old, otherwise it's really not worth changing over a colour.

Yes, I had a couple of traders knocking around and picked up a 424 in a deal this past weekend. It's a very nice bass, you'll be glad to hear. The neck finishing could be a little better, but all in all it's a stonking P&J passive with massive output and serious playability. It's not as boomy as the BB714BS & has a much stronger and richer tone than the 614/5 series. The 45 degree mitre through body stringing is a nice touch & the sound is to die for. I particularly like the 5-piece neck construction. These basses come as standard with the 45-105 D'darrios with the multi-coloured ball ends, but the one I have is now set up with Elixir 40-95's. Highly recommended for the money you'll pay on the high street.