chris_b

Why single out the 70's for bad Fenders. Leo Fender made some crap basses in the 50's and CBS Fender made some crap basses in the 60's. I know. I've got one! But someone somewhere one day will pay me lots of money for it because the myth is that "in the old days they were great". I said this in another topic, these days old age makes anything collectable. There is no logic.

Just buy something old, keep it safe, and let your kids cash in in 50 years time.

[quote name='OldGit' post='10645' date='Jun 1 2007, 04:46 PM']Hey hang on, Snare and Bass drum on 2 and 4? Ah see now you are counting it slow 4/4 where I'd count that fast 4/4 with the bass drum on the 3 ..[/quote]

You have to count slow to get the groove.

No, it's not 2/4. As I sit here listening to No Woman No Cry it is definitely 4/4 with the snare and bass drum beats together on 2 and 4. Your "Musical Director" sounds like he comes from the Billy Cotton school of music!!!

Sorry, but if I had to have "just one Fender" my choice would be for a Lakland!

I've heard good reports about most of the above.... but I've been using Bartolini for the last 20 years and they are very, very good. They are supplied as standard or options on nearly all the top end basses. That says something about their tone.

I'd go with OBBM.

Your sound will get promoted into the Premiership!!

I think slap bass playing is overrated. It is one of those tricks, like double bass drum pedals, which can be used to good effect but if it is overdone it looses its effectiveness. Sorry but I think a Chieftain tank makes a better noise than Mark King!

[quote name='obbm' post='9175' date='May 30 2007, 01:38 PM']Comes down to why you do it?[/quote]

That's it.......

I used to see Jack Bruce with Cream, I have Frances Rocco Prestia DVD's and love Larry Graham and Victor Wooten, they are great to watch but I have never tried to play like them. It's not what I want to do.

There are ensemble bass players (Duck Dunn, John McVie, Nathan East, Freddie Washington, James Jamerson) and there are lead bass players (Marcus Miller, Adam Nitti etc). These are two completely seperate paths. The former are just as good at bass playing as the latter so don't confuse technique with musical ability.

My style is the former, I'm a very un-busy player (not too many notes), but if I get compliments about my playing it's because what I do play is RIGHT! That makes me a happy chap.

OK, sorry.... guess that was my anti smoking rant!!! I'm now off to play in one of the smokiest pubs in West London.... oh joy.

[quote name='Bigwan' post='8727' date='May 29 2007, 06:47 PM']In that sort of pricerange you could hold out for a nice Lakland though. Would beat all the above into a cocked hat without batting an eye and versatile too! Just IMHO and YMMV and all that...[/quote]

I'll go along with that. A good Lakland can do almost anything you'd ever want to do. I'd check out the difference between the Bartolini pickups and the Laklands that are being supplied on some basses. I don't like the Lakland pickups. Good luck.

[quote name='P-T-P' post='8577' date='May 29 2007, 01:15 PM']On the nanny state thing, personally I think it's a half-arsed, anti-tobacco lobby appeasing law. There was no need to ban smoking in public places, just make it easier for owners/employers to enforce smoking bans if they choose to put one in place. If health is the true concern, ban the damn things altogether, at least then there's no double standard. Non-smoking punters always had the choice not to enter a smoking bar/club etc. but it's easy to legislate to protect them while at far greater risk to health from second-hand smoke are kids who are forced to live in a home with parents who smoke and have no real say in the matter at all, why not legislate protect them?[/quote]

Firstly, this is not personal. Some of my best friends are currently smoking, but you are wrong and right. Smokers are drug addicts, I know because I gave up (about a dozen times) 25 years ago and it was bloody difficult. So smokers have a selfish interest in continuing and sod the rest of us. That is understandable, but you damage other people when you smoke. A voluntary or partial ban would never have worked. This is why no other country has tried it. No one complained when my right to drive after 10 pints was curtailed, so complaints about smoker’s rights are not really the issue. Non-smokers never had that choice; one smoker can contaminate the air for 100 non-smokers. Should we be the ones who have to hide away?

I agree about the damage done to the children in smoking homes. That is a serious problem which the government has dodged.

ps I'm glad you're working so much. As I usually walk into a wall of smoke at every gig, I hope that is the case for the rest of us in England.

All the above comments are true........ but in certain (jazz) circles there is snobbery about double bass. Laurence Cottle is a fantastic electric jazz bass player, but Martin Drew (ex Ronnie Scott drummer, who runs his own jazz group) said that he couldn't use Laurence on some gigs because he didn't play double bass and the promoters and audience wouldn't accept electric bass.

This isn't about the sound or the logic, it's about prejudice and you can't do much about that. Jazzers can be very bigoted. I hope your Orchestra leader is a reasonable chap.

Hi, Are you still looking for a cab? I have 3 ampegs, which I have hardly used, sitting in my back room which may be of interest.

Ampeg SVT410HE 8 ohm 500w very good cond

Ampeg SVT15E 8 ohm 200w good cond

Ampeg SVT210HE 8 ohm 200w ok cond

I use 2x10 and 1x15 Mesa Boogie cabs which are very heavy. I brought these cabs when I was trying to get lighter gear but decided to stick with the Boogies as I like the sound. You can mix and match any two of these cabs to get a great stack.

[quote name='paul, the' post='8181' date='May 28 2007, 05:23 PM']This one isn't mine, but I hope to spray it this colour or dark brown.

Would putting covers on detract from its value?

Does anyone know where you can get those spots/inserts shown on the first picture to cover the drill holes for the bridge cover?
Cheers,

Paul.[/quote]

Change it if you want but understand that unless you become very famous you will be reducing it's vintage value. The original model without any modifications will always be more sought after and will attract a higher price.

[quote name='ThirteenDevils' post='7875' date='May 27 2007, 10:51 PM']ok, so how come my fretless jazz has a dead spot at the 7th fret position on the G string?[/quote]

I don't know what a dead fret is but I believe a dead spot is caused by the sonic properties of the wood of the neck. Fenders are renown for this. I have a DVD where Marcus Miller talks about the dead spot on his jazz bass. Bass makers use quarter sawn necks, graphite rods and multiple layered necks to get around this problem. Fatfinger or G clamp (I have seen this used on stage!!) are about all you can do, or don't play that note!!

[quote name='dlloyd' post='7767' date='May 27 2007, 07:36 PM']I have one. I didn't notice any real difference to the tone of my bass so I took it off again.[/quote]

....me too.

Fatfinger (Groovetube) is just applying the Badass bridge theory to the headstock, ie heavier hardware will increase sustain and improve tone.

I think that some basses might benefit because cheaper quality wood and hardware might have been used, or you might have a specific problem such as dead spots , but better made or high end basses should not really need this.

[quote name='paul, the' post='7344' date='May 26 2007, 09:54 PM']Wow, now that's interesting, were they aiming for a vintage tone? do you know if any basses stock them as standard?

I'll look into those.[/quote]

You could try Chandlers at Kew. They used to stock Lindy Fralin pickups.

Several years ago Bass Player magazine compared the pickups on a highly rated early 60's Jazz Bass which had spent it's whole life in a Nashville studio, pumping out hits, with Lindy Fralin JJ vintage replacemants. The Fralins won! If I was going vintage I would start by checking these out.

We are in an era where if anything is old enough someone will buy it, so in the future even undeserving candidates could become high priced classics. There were some good pre CBS Fenders and there were some terrible ones, but they are all sought after now, so original quality isn't the issue.

My vote is also for WAL. With low production runs (barely a trickle), incredible sound and build quality and already a fanatical following, these basses have to be in first place.

Last month a JG WAL (#4) with the leather scratch plate and switches on the pickups failed to get an Ebay bid starting at £1700. 5 years ago Martin Kemps, similar bass which he brought off Alan Spenner, went for £1000. Times change... I thought £1000 was expensive then, now I think £1700 is cheap. These are one-offs with a history which will make them highly collectable. Oh how I wish I had £1700!!!

Isn't the government planning to take the frequencies away?

Check out Roger Inniss on www.rogerinniss.com he is good......

For info on old, obscure and even active musicians check out Musicians Olympus.

www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/palladium/9932/

Miguel Terol created this about 10 years ago but the site doesn't seem to be very active lately. He has created an amazing cross reference of many of the guys and bands I used to see around the London area on the British blues, rock and underground scene in the 60's and 70's.

He added the Americans later, I could have done without them, but this site is one big nostalgia trip for me I'm afraid.

[quote name='MB1' post='6421' date='May 25 2007, 12:35 PM']MB1.

I honestly dont see the point.i dont want my rig to sound like anything else.i spent alot of money buying what i wanted in the first place.i have tried the real amps and then tried the modeled equivalents they dont come close.a box you pick up for a couple of hundred quid is never gonna replicate a rig youve spent thousands on.theyred be a lot of manufacturers complaining if these things were accurate.stand in front of an ampeg 8x10 with a pair of flares on and ill see you in portsmouth(should blow you away). nothing in a pedalbox could ever replicate that.my view anyway!

MB1.[/quote]

Totally agree. These things are toys designed to get your money. Buy the real thing.

Great idea.

Check out the lessons section of the The International Institute Of Bassists site

www.instituteofbass.com/

[quote name='3V17C' post='5842' date='May 24 2007, 04:06 PM']Personally - I am against the smoking ban....i feel there should be choice...a smoking area and a non smoking area rather than a compusory law from a nanny state.

and......(opening a large can of nicotine flavoured worms)... alot of the 'facts' about smoking are unproven and based on either very old research of statistics that the government wants you to hear. yes, i'm a conspiracy theorist but check this link:[/quote]

Yeah.... and Hitler only went to Poland for his holidays!!! The facts linking smoking and ill health have been proven to the satisfaction of court cases in the UK and US. That is good enough for me and I reckon is nothing to do with the government.

On the other hand, I hope we are not going to loose any more gigs as a result of the smoking ban as enough have gone to the wall in the last few years anyway.

Is everyone signing the petition about the new alcohol and music licence? Now that really does look like another Blair cock-up which could really adversely affect gigging musicians.

[url="http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/licensing/"]http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/licensing/[/url]

There are currently over 76,300 signatures. The closing date is 11 June 2007.