risingson

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1363824734' post='2018373'] But there are musicians, engineers, band leaders, who will all make assumptions based on what they see. [/quote] Definitely, not the decent ones. If you're a good enough player then you can expect to get calls from people who will want to work with you regardless of the instrument you're using. Engineers and producers may have their own ideas about what kind of bass they'd like you to play, but the good ones won't discriminate providing the end result is there, that's their job. I know countless players that use cheap instruments in professional environments with big names that you wouldn't dream of pulling from a gig for the sake of their choice of guitar/bass.

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1363821630' post='2018330'] Incorrect. [/quote] Then talk me through your thinking on this one. Here's mine. For starters, 99% of an audience don't give a rat's ass about what bass you're using full stop, and in fact depending on the audience they probably aren't even aware of your musical function in a live situation. Those that do care/might care about what bass you're using and might turn their noses up at the fact you're using a cheap/inferior/smalltime brand instrument (delete as applicable) are so low down on the scale by this stage that not only is their presumption totally ignorant, it actually pales into almost total insignificance.

Love that documentary! Really great album.

It's fun, I like most of what I play, I can keep my live playing sharp, it's taken me all over Europe and I can pay some of the bills.

Sold a Stingray 5 to [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Ferenc, it was the first time I've sold to anyone outside of the U.K and things just could not have been easier (actually easier than a lot of the UK transactions I've had). Do not even give it a second's thought selling abroad to this guy, he's sterling. [/font][/color]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1363723750' post='2016650'] [url="http://liutaiomottola.com/myth/perception.htm"]http://liutaiomottol.../perception.htm[/url] and other pages at that site. [/quote] Cheers! Just saw the word 'compliance' getting tossed around the other day and figured I was wrong to be calling it 'tension'. I need to read. In any case the Thomastiks are lovely strings. Also can't recommend the Status Hotwire flats enough either, superb and incredible affordable as flats go.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1363721161' post='2016584'] I like and read both Shakespeare and Dickens - I would never think of them as 'virtuosos' but great storytellers. I've never heard of Chabon and Franzen - I looked them up on Wikipedia now. [/quote] Why would you I guess if you hadn't had read their books, the same applies here I think. Purely trying to put it into perspective. By the way if you do like reading then definitely check out Michael Chabon and Jonathan Franzen!

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1363721317' post='2016587'] TI Flats are low tension but high compliance. [/quote] Not at all clued up on the science of anything string wise, what's the difference here?

Love flatwounds, got one of my two P-Basses strung with them right now. The Thomastiks are great, especially if you like lower tension (or compliance or whatever!!).

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1363719246' post='2016547'] Most of the stuff posted here leaves me totally cold. [/quote] Same for me, although I suppose (for example) that we can all be into different authors but at the same time loathe reading Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, modern guys like Michael Chabon or Franzen, it's just good to keep them in the back of your mind when we read because they're the ones that set a lot of the benchmarks whether we consider it to be interesting or not.

I struggle to think of any better bass player to have ever lived than Anthony Jackson. There's plenty of other bass players I really prefer listening to in most other contexts but for me the definition of virtuoso belongs to him so much more than any other player to have been mentioned in this thread so far, nothing constrains him technically or musically, he is in my mind the kind of bass player that [i]could[/i] be classed as the greatest of all time. Tom Jenkinson's bass playing bores me so much, but his music is some of my absolute favourite music of all time, I wouldn't care if he ever picked up a bass guitar ever again because he doesn't need it to translate his ideas and musicality. He is a genius.

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1363231632' post='2010250'] People hear with their eyes. Nobody will be impressed that you sound good on a cheap bass. They'll just assume you're an amateur for not having a better instrument. If you like the Fender logo, put it on. Just don't try to sell it as such. [/quote] Not even close to being true.

Just bought a 1978 Fender P-Bass from Lozz. I couldn't be happier, his comms throughout the transaction were excellent, his delivery was prompt and he was a great person to talk with over the phone too. What a top guy, thanks Lozz!

Just gone back from a brief stay with a 5'er to a 4. Not that I don't like 5 strings, I really do, I can get round on them absolutely fine and they open up a lot of passages for me which I think is great. But there really isn't anything right now that I can get out of a 5 that I can't do on a 4. They evoke different mindsets for me and my preference is still slightly towards a 4 string. I anticipate buying another 5'er in the future though, just don't need it right now. Most long term 5 string players will just say that they're used to playing them now and that they can't translate back to 4's quite as easily, which is fine too.

She's excellent.

I have been known to wear Burberry jacket from time to time. Does this mean I can put a little 'Basschat Chav Club member #3' in my signature like they do on Talkbass??

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1363116816' post='2008839'] What are you wasting your life on here for? You should have been playing bass! [/quote] Done all that! Noodled for a lot of the day on my P-Bass strung with flats... mmm lovely stuff. Everyone needs a Fender you know!

BRX's posts are always reasonable and well thought out. I do not at all agree with him at all but it hardly matters does it? It's certainly given me something to read on an otherwise boring Tuesday off!

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1363104679' post='2008577'] I think the angle of my question is relevant given the context of this thread. I also think that Fender users are generally just happy where they are, and don't feel compelled to look down their noses at boutique fans (for example). Most of the comments seem to come the other way, this thread being a good example. Or am I wrong..? As for tone, it's subjective. No-one's ever going to win that one. [/quote] I think owners of boutique instruments are probably more compelled to defend and press home the reasoning behind their instrument of choice due to the high volume of Fender players and the possible worry (take this with a pinch of salt anti-Fender camp) that their brand(s) of choice suffer from 'little man syndrome', having to shout louder than everyone else in the room in the hope of getting their opinion across. Just a theory. Got a new '78 P-Bass coming my way this week, can't bloody wait

I'm never too bothered by the amount of people who dislike Fender basses on this forum. I'm back to being exclusively a Fender bass player again after a few years of playing other maker's instruments and I'm perfectly happy because I know that my playing and my style suits a Fender bass perfectly, I can do anything that I want to do on a Fender and I'm not limited by genre or 90% of styles. Frankly the likes of Status, Overwater, ACG etc just do not do it for me but I'm happy to concede that the opposite is true of other people who use this forum, frankly I don't care and the world continues to turn either way.

[quote name='SlapbassSteve' timestamp='1363052839' post='2007728'] For function work I'd recommend a Markbass CMD of some description. Personally I use a 121P ([url="http://www.gak.co.uk/en/mark-bass-mini-combo-cmd-121-p/4276"]http://www.gak.co.uk...-cmd-121-p/4276[/url]) with an extension cab but 151P, 121H or 102P models are excellent too, just depends whether you'd prefer a 15" speaker, horn tweeter or a pair of 12's. Either way MB stuff is practically weightless compared to other amps with similar output, and very compact, also great at sitting in the right place in the mix... I'm starting to sound like an advert... [/quote] I'd agree. I use a TC Electronics RH750 and their RS212 cab for the work I do but for compact and great sounding I'd completely go with the Markbass rig, tons of punch and cut. Lifting it is like lifting a cab made of marshmallows, which I also see as a bonus.

Keep it coming! Enjoyed Esperanza a lot.

It's fair to say that there is no right or wrong way to do anything in a studio environment, click or no click have both worked for my band and I in the past, depending on whether the track's pulse/groove/whatever negates the need for a click. Sometimes you need it to pull everyone in line - I find it works well for our rhythm section (me, keys, drums) to record to a click on certain tunes and do guitars later, other times it's nicer to have a more 'live' feeling track where we all play together, no click. It's definitely a myth that it somehow creates a sterile feel or whatever, if you think about it even if you're playing with the tightest drummer ever to live, most of us will introduce our own little rhythmic imprints and inflections at are intrinsic to our playing. We ain't robots, even if we play along to robots!

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1363031871' post='2007385'] I can't think of any . It would go against the whole Fender design aesthetic - I am reluctant to describe it as a philosophy - in the same way that it would undermine Alembic to produce a bass with a bolt -on neck . The significant point is however , that most bass players and bass makers broadly agree nowadays that a bolt on neck is best . As with most things , Fender got it right to begin with , thus negating the need for change . [/quote] It's a bit of a broad statement to claim bolt on to be 'better' than neck through design, even if the former is my choice! It's definitely the current trend in bass construction so perhaps it's more like bass makers are claiming it to be superior because it sells?

[quote name='D.I. Joe' timestamp='1362952460' post='2006764'] Fenders are generally only as boring as the person playing them. [/quote] I like this! Might nick it and start using it round the forum claiming it as my own turn of phrase