Brother Jones

The Bass Centre continues its slow suicide. The new website is R U B B I S H. Unless you want to buy, er, a Warwick amp. There's no way of simply accessing what they have in stock at the moment - which seems (at least to me) the most important role of a shop website. It's not wonder the Gallery is taking over. Their website isn't perfect, but it works. Or maybe I'm just not finding the right link on the BC one? Jones

Just one pedantic addtion to the pros - active will enable you to run a greater length of cable on stage without signal degredation (mainly loss of high frequency info). I play an active Sadowsky MV70 Jazz, but also just bought a passive (a CIJ reissue) and am liking it a lot.

"Build number is 357973 as you can see, which will relate to 1972, Which is also known as the CBS era for Fender guitars" Huh?

Yeah, in fairness you really bished up there John ;-) Hmmm I seem to have just bought yet another Jap Jazz... Oh well.

Basses I've owned (in chronological order) 1984 [b]Kay shortscale[/b] plywood piece of crap. The neck was so warped I had to play it on my lap and fret the notes with my thumb. 1985 [b]Hohner Jazz copy[/b]. Not too bad. Maple board, but not really up to Marcus impressions then ('Marcus who?') First gig with this one. 1986 [b]Hondo[/b]. Insane thing with zebra stripes, pointy headstock and a P-MM pup config. Well, I was in a Goth band after all. 1986 [b]Aria 'The Cat'[/b]. Not bad at all. Had it defretted. Got gigged a lot. 1988 [b]Hohner 'The Jack'[/b]. Very fond memories of this; my major Mark King phase. Strung with 30/90s. Had a little light on it! 1989 [b]1976 Fender Precison fretless[/b]. Really should have kept it, but student debts were too massive. 1990 [b]Fender Jap Jazz standard[/b]. Nice. Modded with MEC pups and Badass by Bass Centre. 1991 [b]Ibanez SR1000[/b]. Lovely neck. A bit anonymous sounding though. 1993 [b]Fender Jap Jazz 62 reissue[/b]. Sunburst. What the hell happened to this one? 1994 [b]Warwick Thumb 4[/b] (s/h). Not a great example, but hey it was a Thumb. 1995 [b]Fender Jap Jazz 62 reissue[/b], LP Blue. Sold to one of my students 1997 [b]Musicman Stingray 4[/b]. Never really got on with Rays, but that didn't stop me from buying... 1998 [b]Musicman Stingray 5 fretless[/b]. Could have done a lot more with this bass, but was usually too busy playing... 1998 [b]1970 Fender Jazz[/b]. Black, bit gnarly, amazing sound and feel. Flogged to fund hols with g/f. ARSE. 2001 [b]Fender US Jazz Deluxe[/b]. My main squeeze for quite a while. Very reliable, well thought-out, a pleasure all round. 2005 [b]Warwick Dolphin Pro 1[/b]. The original thru-neck version. Really liked it, but just not me somehow. 2005 [b]1972 Fender Jazz[/b]. Sunburst. Nice and light, really good condition, but the sound wasn't quite right for me. And the ones I currently own: 2005 [b]1978 Fender Jazz[/b]. Black. My soul bass. 2006 [b]Aria SB Elite II[/b]. God I love it. Best passive sounds I've ever heard. 2006 [b]Zon Sonus fretless[/b]. A great, great neck. More mwah than you can shake a stick at and weirdly slappable too. 2007 [b]Zon Sonus fretted[/b]. Flame maple top. I knew it would be good and I was right. Seen once or twice in the for sale section of Bass Talk. 2007 [b]Sadowsky MV70 Vintage Jazz[/b]. A bit better than the last maple-board Jazz I owned 23 years ago To be honest, an awful lot of these were a complete waste of time. I could have stuck with any one of the Jap Jazzes I've owned and been the same musician I am now. The one I really regret letting go is the 1970 Jazz. Now I'm gassing for a good 5, or maybe a maple board Precision. Amp wise, for the first three years of playing the bass I used a plastic Korean guitar combo that would frequently electrocute me. Had to constantly borrow amps to gig with (remember the Session bass combos? Ah...). Then I got into Peavey in a big way and wound up with a TNT 150 and one of those bi-amp powered 2x8" cabs that went on the top. Really great sound. Used a GK MB150E for many years, but now have a small Eden rig with a WT400 and a 210XLT. It's been a bit of a revelation. Keep meaning to post pics of the current bass crop... Jones

I seem to have owned a lot of Jap Jazzes in the eighties and nineties and most of them were variations on a 60s reissue theme. The EMG Selects are pretty good for passive pups, but could easily be bettered by Seymours or Barts. Badass bridges really transform the sound of Jap Jazzes and are a very cost-effective upgrade. I'd take it to a good tech, ask for a refret, Badass and set-up. Then play the hell out of it... Jones

I tried one the Peavey BXP five strings out in a little shop in Putney a couple of weeks ago and really, really liked it. Amazing price. Problem was the practice amp I had to play it through. How is the B string sound? Jones

I have this weird suspicion that the market in second hand or 'vintage' Matsumoko Arias is about to go bonkers... Jones

Pete - I've never seen one of these before. That may be a good thing (rarity value?), but, er, probably not tbh. I know Aria were reissuing versions of the (increadingly sought after) 80s SB-series and this looks like a take on that. Problem is most people would rather have one of the actual reissues, or, even better, one of the originals. The definite upsides, though, are the through neck and decent looking electronics. But the resale is going to be poor because no one is familiar with these. Don't think you'll get more than £300 ish. Sorry I can't be more helpful. Jones

...is the way that the 'enlarge item' links are actually [i]smaller[/i] than the original picture. Brilliant The one I go back to time and time again is the Gallery one, which seems very straightforward. Any other candidates? Jones

Mostly other: Zon Sonus 4 Custom fretted (main squeeze at the mo.) Zon Sonus 4 Custom fretless Sadowsky Metro UV70 4 Fender 1978 Jazz Aria SB Elite II