risingson

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='492399' date='May 19 2009, 02:43 PM']Didn't those Casio guitars and MIDI horns cost a small fortune back in the '80s? If they'd grabbed instruments from a school's music department it would've proved their point a bit better.[/quote] We got given one a while ago, it was such a piece of trash that we left it inside an old piano and no one has touched it in about 6 or 7 years.

I couldn't believe this really, but check out what I've just found on Youtube! And presented by Jools Holland! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBmLa-TrRRo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBmLa-TrRRo[/url]

That's Mike Elizondo on bass and he's also the track's producer. He's produced for Dr. Dre, Eminem, Maroon 5, Natasha Beddingfield, 50 Cent, Nelly Furtado and Pink. He is a complete monster of a bass player, and a superb producer as well. It would be hard to say what particular bass Mike used on the track because of the amount of processing gone into the whole tune, but he often uses a 5 string Sadowsky purpose built for Darryl Jones in 1990, vintage Fender Jazz/Precision basses strung with both flats and rounds, and a Hofner violin bass, amongst others. He most often records either straight into an Avalon U5 or into a miked Ampeg B15.

Just having a look at your signature... bloody hell mate, that's quite a collection! Why don't you leave it for a while and not let the money burn a hole in your pocket? There is SO much more you can get with £4000 than just a bass. Not to say that you shouldn't get what you want of course, I just think that with the impressive gear you've already got, can there be much that is missing that you REALLY need still? Just my thoughts of course. If you were determined to get a new axe, then get a Sadowsky NYC or a Celinder

Fenders, along with Squiers, generally hold the biggest sales quota in music shops up and down the country, so any good music store to you locally should stock them. Lakland are somewhat more limited, being much less popular and a less familiar brand but they are picking up now in a lot of good music stores, and I'd really advise checking them out if possible! Hope that's some help.

Wow, there really is about £3000-3500 price difference between the MTD 4/535's and the Jap '75 reissue! If you want to save money then you've made a good choice! In terms of current Fender products, and being a U.S Jazz bass owner myself, the quality of instruments can be hit or miss at times. I have, however, enjoyed a lot of the USA model basses, but I'd recommend trying before you buy. Other Fender style basses I would recommend in your price range would be Lakland Skylines, I believe the quality and sound of these instruments IMO exceed that of most of Fender's current range. Aside from that, there are Sadowsky Metros, which although are not entirely vintage Fender sounding, are superbly well-built and for me personally, are sonic perfection personified. There is a lovely second hand Sadowsky RV-5 being sold in the 'For Sale' section of the site, and the seller I can tell you is a very nice chap indeed! Check it out here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=48010"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=48010[/url]. At the price, this bass is a complete steal, I'd have it myself if I had the money!

If I'm not gigging then I'll make the trip!

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='489896' date='May 16 2009, 04:11 PM']Yes I did Jack, the bass is a genuine '64 Hofner and was brought in for a restoration job by one of Chris's customers. It needed a pickup rewinding and the electrics needed looking at. I plucked a few of the strings and it seemed to be a very resonant instrument. I didn't dare pick it up in that state though just incase something fell out and rolled under a cabinet. He does have plans in place to put the site back up. There's a lot going on in his mind at the moment and I think he's very worried that he will get so sucked into spending all his time managing the backlog orders and customer relationships that he won't have any time for his first love which is building the instruments (which is what actually brings in the money and makes the business viable). He doesn't want to delegate the building of instruments to anyone else because they don't have his experience or skill. I should have asked him why he doesn't get someone in to manage the customer side of things and leave him to deal with the instruments but I think he might feel there's no point if everything comes back to getting the basses out the door and maintaining a reputation for quality. I think he's in a very similar situation to Jon Shuker where he doesn't have a wide pool of skilled labour to draw on and he doesn't have the time to spend training someone up so ultimately he takes on 100% responsibility for producing the instruments.[/quote] I don't know anything about his business ideal at all, but if he could ever afford the overheads, then someone to manage his orders and the website that he has faith in and someone with a genuine love for his instruments would be a great asset. Promotion is always vital to business, and I know there is a worldwide interest in his marvelous basses, both on the continent and in the U.S. He's my favourite luthier next to Roger Sadowsky respectively. I'm hoping to hunt an Update model down in the summer when I'm over in Copenhagen very briefly so I can finally try one out! Liam

Celinder's have always made what I think would just be the perfect bass for me, I've always wanted a Jazz Update 5 in Daphne Blue. I must say that I do find it endlessly frustrating that he's taken down the website now, I went home every night after school and just used to be completely dazzled by the skill of his work.

[quote name='dood' post='488349' date='May 14 2009, 11:06 PM']I was looking at the 'isolated bass tracks' thread earlier.. - Anyone know if there are any Deacon bass lines floating around out there? I once heard large sections of Boh' Rap' in a studio broken down, that was pretty amazing, but I never had the chance to crank up the bass on its own.[/quote] If you have access to torrents, the multi-tracks for a boatload of Queen tracks are available. The basslines are all there! Even more amazing are the vocals, the arrangements that went into them I think rival the likes of the Beach Boys at times. Deacon is a simply fantastic bass player, so understated and yet completely melodic and brilliant. EDIT: perhaps I should have been a little more discreet about those multi-tracks... probably one to keep on the down low

I've had the pleasure of playing an old 1972 Jazz for a few gigs and it does sound terrific, but I'd say buying an old Fender is more of an investment. Prices for them are rocketing sky high, I remember looking round a couple of years ago and the price of a pre-CBS was the same price for an early to mid 70's model now... it's getting really out of hand. A lot of them sound great though, I think that once the wood has dried out over years and years, tone in Fenders vastly improves. I got the chance to play a '79 P-Bass and it sounded amazing, but the asking price was £2000... no thanks...

I think it's hugely obvious that Victor Wooten has a lot of soul, and I'm not even a massive fan.

I use one sometimes, but mainly rely on my palm-muting technique. Hard obviously to get the pumping 16th thing down though. Check out our band's cover of 'Head It Through the Grapevine', 'Signed Sealed Delivered', 'Live and Let Die' and 'Under Pressure' (www.myspace.com/bikergroove), all played on a Fender Jazz with rounds or a '67 Hofner Violin w/ flats respectively, with a foam mute.

Deon Estus got a few bass lessons off of Jamerson himself!

Got to agree with most of the posts, the few Sadowskys I've played have sounded fantastic flat. The preamp used sparingly is enough. Also the VTC extra on the Metros I think are a must. I plan to put an order in for a Sadowsky asap, and I'm going to make sure to high heaven that it's got a VTC in it.

Shop around, not all 5 stringers will have the same neck profile and string spacing, and also it might be a case of getting used to the transition between the two as well. Personally I would go for the 5 string, I think (though some might disagree) that the G string is really worth keeping, and probably not worth sacrificing.

Cool, cool thread. Bear with me, just got back from a gig and am a bit pissed. I'll probably go into way too much detail as well... I'm good at missing the points or posts like this!! [b]FENDER:[/b] [b]Jazz[/b] - well crafted, well rounded instrument, a lot of fun to play. My favourite bass design, will never date. [b]Precision[/b] - What beds a track like a p-bass? Flats = Jamerson and big old funk grooves. [b]ERNIE BALL/MUSICMAN[/b] [b]Stingray[/b] - ballsey, gritty and bright. Not everyone's slap sound, but definitely good. Would play one but would always worry about low end loss. Superb neck profile [b]Sterling[/b] - always struck me as a bit lightweight, would take a Stingray over one. 3-way switching not for me. Too many options [b]Sabre[/b] - bit of an underdog! Not pretty (IMO) but I'm sure it would be ace [b]RICKENBACKER[/b] [b]4001/4003[/b] - got to plead ignorance, but can't tell a difference? McCartney's later years. Would love one, but probably the wrong bass for me. [b]4005[/b] - WANT ONE, just like Mani's, paint-splattered. Flatwounds please. Dub-central. [b]HOFNER[/b] [b]Violin bass[/b] - McCartney aside, put tapes or flats on one and flat out, one of the best basses I've ever recorded with. Hip-Hop central, fat sound. There's good reason why it's all over Dr. Dre's tracks. Overpriced a bit though. Some other big brands [b]WARWICK[/b] - nice basses, but not for everyone. Streamer Stage I or II, the latter in 5 string. Was a massive Zender-head ya see, but give or take. [b]SADOWSKY[/b] - MV-5, shell-pink or an M5 in burst with an ebony neck please. Some of the best basses I've ever heard. [b]MTD[/b] - yeh, give me an 535 and I'd be very happy. [b]LAKLAND[/b] - Joe Osborn 5 with flats. Wouldn't argue with a DJ-5 or a Bob Glaub either. Very faithful Fender replicas, much better too. [b]IBANEZ[/b] - always been a bit skeptical. Not my cup of tea [b]YAMAHA[/b] - really like their TRB5PII's. [b]FODERA[/b] - Like their Emperors, otherwise pug-ugly and probably not worth investing in personally. [b]STATUS[/b] - personally don't like graphite in bass construction aside from truss-rod re-enforcement. [b]RITTER[/b] - they'd be better making weird lamps. Lamps with active electronics. Bah. Make what you will of my drunken ramblings!

Good melodic player, though must admit, a bit sharp sometimes! Mind you, I don't think I could do a better job on fretless.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='482108' date='May 7 2009, 03:58 PM']Why specifically Nordys?[/quote] I wanted the NJ4SV's instead of the stock Fender U.S pups for a change, and for humcancelling capability. I still will probably do this, but the actives don't really appeal to me. I'd consider looking to Dimarzio as well.

[quote name='Earbrass' post='482176' date='May 7 2009, 05:02 PM']But for a lot of us, the money is pretty much irrelevant. I just want to make music I like and share it with people who appreciate it. I simply don't look at music as a way of making money (though I have made a modest amount of money from it in the past, when I was heavily involved in soundtrack work). In fact, if by some miracle the band I play in became commercially successful (it's not going to happen), I'd probably leave, as there's no way I'd ever give up my day job to go on tour etc. For me, if music making became a job, it'd kill all the fun. That's what I mean by "non-commercial" music - music that's made for the joy of making it, not for money.[/quote] You're absolutely right, believe me, I've had nights out where this argument has come up and it always remains unresolved. I've just turned 20 and I would like to think in the future that I will be able to make some money out of what I do, but I took up music to enjoy it, and I always will. I just try and be realistic in my view. I understand that of course that music to most musicians means more to them than the money. But I guess you need to be able to make sacrifices to get to where you want to be. I guess some people would call it selling out, but you've got to fake it to make it, i.e. maybe sometimes you need to do things you're not so fussed on before you get to the position where you can call your own shots. Hope I haven't drifted off of topic too much!

[quote name='Earbrass' post='482142' date='May 7 2009, 04:29 PM']I would have thought quite the opposite; nowadays, with the internet and all the technology at our disposal, isn't it easier than ever for people to produce and distribute their own music without the backing of the big corporations, and to find and communicate with their audience, however tiny and niche that audience may be? Surely this ought to be a golden age for non-commercial music, compared to the situation a few decades ago?[/quote] It all depends on how much money you want to make. Currently I should imagine (having just done a huge part of my course on indie labels) that the current climate for such is quite poor... which is a shame, because I am about to be running a small label and a studio. The major labels still have the monopoly on things. Look at the profits on an independent distributor like CD Baby. They tout themselves on how much money they've made for indie artists who want to make it on their own, and true enough, they've helped generate quite a bit of money, but if you look at the profit of the individual musician, it's barely anything at all. The money they claim to have made is spread too thin to consider it a viable option for making any sort of living, or even a one off cash bonus.

He's been playing those for a while now. They look pretty ace actually. I do love the Manics...

Heard the John East is good, was considering putting it in my Jazz with some Nordys but prefer passive basses. Might want to consider the Sadowsky floor preamp as well?

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='482078' date='May 7 2009, 03:34 PM']Hey, I'm not saying these assumptions are good things or totally correct, but they exist. To most people Jazz is not "faceless". If it was, no one would be laughing at the Fast Show "Jazz Club" sketches.[/quote] Touche on the Fast Show sketch. I dunno, I think perhaps you're right, but hey, if there are people who think like that then they're only as closed to new music as the musos who champion their beloved jazz. I personally try not to subscribe to any assumption or image.