Shaggy

Contact Chop-the-bass on this forum - top bloke, fantastic luthier, and has all sorts of bits - supplied most of my Jazz custom 5 parts including neck & body.

[quote name='Beedster' post='80749' date='Oct 29 2007, 11:48 AM']And me . I sooooo nearly bought it and so regret not doing so! Please promise me that, if you ever let it go, you'll let me know first.
Chers
Chris[/quote]
You know it! Those two basses belong together (Annifrid and Agnetha? Right era anyway).
As a biker I think the comparison between Fender and Harley is a valid one – both stuck with an iconic product that they can’t radically change without losing their customer base (although Harley made a brave attempt with the V-Rod). Hence the endless special editions. As such Fender, Gibson, and Rickenbacker fulfil an important niche in the market and shouldn’t really be knocked for it – there’s enough really excellent and truly innovative bass makers at low and high ends of the market; far, far more choice than when I started out on bass.
(I ride an old Norton by the way – long since extinct)

[quote name='Beedster' post='80371' date='Oct 28 2007, 11:12 AM']When I first started playing bass I associated the Precision with thumpy root notes and avoided it like the plague. I was a light gauge string & active circuitry kinda guy. Now my '73 Precision gets picked up more often that my Modulus. It's comparatively crude mechanically (in fact it's almost agricultural), has less tonal range, is harder to play and weighs a ton. It is however so much more satisfying to play, and although the Modulus can do so many things, the precision is so much better at the one or two things it does.
In response to a comment above, as far as I can remember form my music days, most musical instruments have evolved tremendously, and most in the modern orchestra are of a lineage that can be traced back to medieval or earlier times. As far as I know, pretty much the only instrument that was 'invented' as such was the saxophone. Instruments such as the violin and guitar can be traced back to earlier stringed instruments such as the viol whilst trumpets and trombones back to early horns. There are example of electric basses before the Precision, I think both Rick and Gibson made some, they just didn't work well and didn't get picked up in preference to uprights by the players of the time. I think, unlike his competitors, Leo did his homework, both in terms of technology and market research, and didn't go to market until he had it perfect.
Chris
PS he didn't actually get it perfect, perfection would have been adding a JPUP at the bridge [/quote]
+1 completely
It took me thirty years to get the point of the Fender P. Like Chris, I’d always considered them strictly a one-trick pony – thuddy, old-school, blues-rock. Especially as a mainly fretless player, you really need that bridge pick-up to add a bit of bite to your “mwah” - at least as an option - but I’ve never liked fretless Jazzes that much.
Anyway, last winter I joined a ‘60’s rock/R&B band as a side-project to the main covers band, and fancied a “retro” bass purely – I’m ashamed to say – for image. As the two guitarists have red Strats I was kind of looking for a red MIJ P-bass, briefly considered the Sting signature, then saw Walbassists’ ’73 sunburst P-bass on Basschat this summer. Heavily modded – converted to fretless with ebony board, narrowed neck, added J p/u at the bridge, re-wired with SD vintage/antiquity II replacement p/u’s. Ruined as a vintage bass of course, but it could have been custom built for me.
Well, plugged through a Trace valve head it was the tone I’d been looking for all my life, and with the neck mods and pro setup played like a dream. Yes, my active MM Sabre does a pretty good imitation of a P on neck p/u, but no bass I’ve tried gives that plummy, harmonic-rich, sock-in-the-gut sound of a P-bass. The addition of a J bridge pick-up is a revelation, makes it so much more versatile, and whilst string choice and a good set-up is crucial for any bass, for a P-bass I’d say it’s critical. And if it’s good enough for Pino, it’s good enough for me!

[quote name='Sibob' post='79325' date='Oct 25 2007, 12:20 PM']My moulded logo fender case is great!
Survived numerous gigs and tours and still lines up!


Si[/quote]
+1
Had mine since the late '80's, gigged contunually and still going strong, although once left it in the sun and the top warped! I prefer the Hiscox tho'

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='78648' date='Oct 24 2007, 08:24 AM']I've already got a rosewood fretless. I just want to collect the set...

[/quote]
Gobsmacked. You just can't beat 3T sunburst, tortoiseshell, & maple on an old Fender.

Some cracking stuff here, Grommit. Mine;
1. Learn another instrument; really broadens your musical awareness, and gives you solo noodling variety.
2. Wear earplugs! Should have been Moses' 11th commandment.

That's a real beaut, but don't get a maple-board fretless P - they look fab but don't sound like a fretless should and the boards wear badly - get a rosewood board or ebony conversion.

Typical guitarist. (Is he?). Turn up, play and look like you're having a ball even though you're thinking "what the f**k am I supposed to be playing?" Works for me

You can get the existing drivers reconed (which as far as I know means replacing the coil & general clean-up); contact Paul MacCallum at [email protected]. , tel 020 8743 4567. He reconed a couple of blown Hartke drivers for me, came back like new.

Never seen any tidy bass stuff, but last month I found a Peavy Classic 30 guit*r combo; all-valve, US-made, tweed covered case absolutely immaculate, for £95 - they retail at around £400. Not a patch on that Wal though!

Hmmmm....scratch n' sniff........could be the next "relic-ing" development. I should patent it quick. The "Keith Richards" signature Tele could keep you flying high all night!

[quote name='3V17C' post='71008' date='Oct 8 2007, 01:03 PM']It was the musical equivalent of aural rape.

c[/quote]
What a great band name!...........
Here in darkest Wales, criticism generaly takes the form of a flying beer bottle rather than anthing as posh as email. Personally I'd take the retro jibe as a compliment.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='70254' date='Oct 6 2007, 11:34 AM']Sorry but you lot aren't real people. My missus claims you're my imaginary friends![/quote]
Damn, that must be why that last bass I bought here turned out to be an "air bass"...........

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='70051' date='Oct 5 2007, 04:46 PM']A fella I know has recently put frets and mop dots into a Wal

Which is what his customer wanted[/quote]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to cry now

[quote name='joegarcia' post='69998' date='Oct 5 2007, 02:23 PM']If you buy that RD I will be supremely jealous. You would have my 3 fave basses, Magnum, Sabre and the RD.[/quote]
Sorry Joe mate, I guess I'm accumulating the basses I wanted in my 'teens. All HEAVY basses too! Anyway, you're not doing so bad yourself!

PM'd

Cool! All it needs now is some chrome trim and a supercharger.........
Lots of car finishes are really nice on basses. I recently reprayed a '66 Vox guitar in Audi pearlescent white (a crime I know, but I'd already stripped it some 20 years ago, as a foolish youth) - looked superb.
Anyway, do post the pics of the finished beastie!

There's a fine line between John Entwhistle "cool" and Bill Wyman "catatonia".

PM sent - couldn't suss how to attach pics in PM so they're here (hopefully);

PM'd

What a deeply cool amp. And there's just NOTHING like an 18" for disrupting concrete foundations, and causing spontanous bowel movements in anyone it's pointed at.

[quote name='SJA' post='67526' date='Sep 29 2007, 10:50 PM']I wondered about that one-

turns out he (Barry Adamson) was bending strings on a fretted (Ovation Magnum), with chorus on it-
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlnOGL-7dV4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlnOGL-7dV4[/url]

sounds good on fretless though.

what a band, way before their time.[/quote]
You're absolutely right of course, hadn't mentioned it as (a) they're totally obscure now, and ( I've banged on about the god-like genius of Barry Adamson on this forum way too much. He's the reason I bought a Magnum (not the choc-ice!) What fabulous atmouspheric music he, John McGeogh (guitar) and Dave Formula (keyboards) made - Howard Devoto's vocals could grate, but top songwriter. Superb live band.

[quote name='ARGH' post='67570' date='Sep 30 2007, 08:37 AM']I dunno,If you wanna hear fretless in Death metal you cant go far wrong with 'Individual thought patterns' by Death. Steve D's work with Sadus is hot too.[/quote]
I'll check that out for sure, and I guess what I meant was the more subtle and "moody" the music is, the more fretless becomes appropriate - probably digging a deeper hole for myself here! I'm basically a fretless player, but my main band at the moment is a covers band, we do a couple of hard-rock numbers and I find I can only get the aggressive upper-neck riffing nicely on my fretted Sabre (Avatar), so use it for the whole set as I can never be arsed to gig 2 basses...........hmmm .....double neck maybe?


[quote name='ARGH' post='67571' date='Sep 30 2007, 08:39 AM']Sorry ,but best David J track for me is 'Shes in parties' ......great intro,the BBC session version is the best.[/quote]
Saw Bauhaus in the v early '80's and can only recall the singer (Pete Murphy?) wearing a very holey black all-in-one underwear thingy. Did an astonishing version of "Bela Lugosi's dead" that went on for ever.......

I think one thing aparent from this thread that the late '70's - '80's was the main era for fretless, or am I wrong?

Black Velvet / Alannah Myles
Permafrost / Magazine
Walk on the wild side / Lou Reed (Herbie Flowers probably not on fretless, but shoud have been!)
"Gentlemen take polaroids" album / Japan (also "Quiet life" as posted above)
Lots of Peter Gabriel with Tony Levin on
The "No Parlez" Paul Young album (Pino again!)

Generally find anything short of balls-out rock, and especially balllads/acoustic numbers, works better on fretless so long as you keep it subtle.

[quote name='andy67' post='67426' date='Sep 29 2007, 05:42 PM']different situation withs valves add more cabs bigger sounds! seriously my 220 watt V4 is never cranked above 40% and it cuts through anything![/quote]
Andy is telling you the good stuff here. Our drummer regularly breaks 4 + sticks a gig he's that physical and the Trace twin copes without breaking a sweat - hooked up to 600W RMS worth of cab. I'm seriously thinking about getting another and bi-amping my stereo Ovation Magnum!

Any tune is coverable, so long as a completely new take is done on it, like that “Mad World” thingy a while back or the aforementioned “Love will tear us apart” (one of the very greatest songs in the universe). Driving in this morning Bob Harris played the British Ukelele Orchestra’s version of the Shadows “Wonderful Land” and it was truly fab!
But if a cover is a mere re-hash, then any band with a truly distinctive sound and high level of musicianship should be considered untouchable; this would include Zeppelin, Queen, Hendrix, the Jam, and Cream among many others.
(We do "Mustang Sally" too by the way, but I recntly refused to do "Brown eyed girl" any more!)