OutToPlayJazz

They also depreciate like falling bricks - Someone wanted to trade me one a while ago for a £1500 bass until I told him I could buy his MTD Kingston Heir bass new for £799. At the time they were going used for £350. I have no idea how these far eastern versions compare with the American originals, though.

Yes, you have some very good points there - All I can tell you is that the graphite necks (whether through neck or bolt on) all seem to have this particular resonance and massive sustain. Add that to the Status circuit & the woods (where applicable) and you have the Status sound. I can see what people mean about the change when they add a graphite neck to a Jazz or Stingray, etc. The sound of the graphite neck does make it noticable more resonant, clearer & definitely more Status, but yes, there's always going to be a difference to the full Status bass with Rob's electronic package. I find it odd too, as even the single pickup, wooden, passive Sharks have the Status sound to them! They really are a hard one to work out. As we've both stated, they all have their own little characters, but there are so many factors. With something like a wooden Jazz bass it's easy. If you want the Marcus Miller sound (for instance) you just get something with 70's spacing & a nitro finish. Job done I guess the archetypal Status sound comes from a multi-laminate body (usually mahogany core, walnut centre block & exotic top wood cap), the graphite neck & Rob's soapbar pickups combined with the board TB42/302. I think you need to phone Status if you want to go into any further detail - I'm just a professional musician!

Yes, as far as I know, the modern "all-graphite models" are a foam-injected hollow core of some kind. I'm not up on the exact technique of how they make these things, but I know the original ones were solid block graphite and thusly very heavy! Rob always says that the biggest part of the basses is the pickups and electronics & you can hear that even in the older wooden necked models. They all have that Status signature sound, but there's also something in the woods used on S2's. The multi laminate sounds different with different top woods used, for instance. Still the "Status" sound, but a little different in character from bass to bass. The all-graphite models (Streamline/Stealth) also seem to possess a darker character with more "shimmer" to the sound. This could be because of the increased use of graphite on these basses, so you get the same resonance across the whole instrument, as opposed to just through the neck/spine. The KingBass is an interesting case in point as well - Again, it still has the classic Status sound, but with the two piece sandwich construction it sounds dryer to me. The pickup placement is different on these instruments as well. Hope that helps a bit Rich.

In the circles I work in, we tend to talk of players as having "great chops" or being a "monster" (ie., very good), but if we started calling eachother "cats", we'd have to shoot eachother in the heads in some sort of oddly ritualistic suicide pact, LOL!

[quote name='Bassman68' post='887262' date='Jul 6 2010, 01:33 PM']Lovely 2000 5 string, reckon it's from the first batch in late '89 when production went entirely 'in-house' for 2000 mouldings (well saying that, the manufacturing process was the same as the series II, With a wooden core, set-in neck & graphite facings front & back. The join between wood & graphite being hidden by the black sunburst). I had #0440... If you look in the battery compartment, see if it has a signature in there, either SS or $L, if it's $L.......I made it![/quote] I bet you probably worked on my original SII (#402) with the almost black rosewood top and light flashes. This bass was made in 1987 & I owned it from 1990 until 2006.

I want one! The idea of the upside down bass neck being hit from underneath is inspired!

Welcome to BassChat

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum, Skinz

Welcome PeteInKent & welcome back Ez

Welcome aboard, Dougie!

Hi Dave, welcome to the forum

The same as Tom (EssexBassCat) mentioned, the only thing I couldn't quite get my head around was the damage on the RW - Until I came up with the logical premise that it really didn't matter if the bass got chipped or scratched. A minor plus point in it's favour, but as you now know, how they play and sound just blows how they look out of the water, whether you like new and shiny like me, or not.

[quote name='Clarky' post='886732' date='Jul 5 2010, 10:06 PM']Post the same question on a drummer forum and they would eat the PC [/quote] Drummers can [i][b]read?![/b][/i] And [i][b]type?![/b][/i]

No idea what the NR stands for, but you have active treble/middle/bass on a Stingray 3eq. The basses seem to sound best with the bass frequency max'd & just a little added treble over the centre point & the mids flat. That's your classic ray sound

Quite true, Gareth - You've really got to play a bass before you spend two grand on it

[quote name='merello' post='886689' date='Jul 5 2010, 09:23 PM']Sadly, so I can look cool if I get the answer and you don't, I've emailed his management company! Did I type this out loud![/quote] Indeed you are a thinker & a problem solver, Merello - And cool with it, I must agree!

[quote name='blackmn90' post='885979' date='Jul 5 2010, 01:00 AM']Actually true plus u guys are very cool[/quote] I don't know about that - I work very hard indeed to make sure I'm always utterly uncool [quote name='Dave Vader' post='886017' date='Jul 5 2010, 07:39 AM']Yep, got tired of the yanks, wanted people who understand the british sweaty pub gig, and get Irony... [/quote] I used to like the sweaty British pub gig. Now I like quiet jazz gigs, big band gigs & theatre jobs. Ahhh To quote Mr.Baldrick - "Irony? That's a bit like brassy, but made from iron, isn't it?"

[quote]I can join your merry gang now![/quote] Indeed you can - Yay Us! Looks like late 80's to me - Around 87-88 at a guess. Give Dawn a call at Status after about 11am. She'll have all the details on file.