BottomEndian

I don't usually do this, because it'll just open the doors to loads of "that's great"/"nah, it's crap, Binky McFlossnut could've played it twenty times better standing on his own arms" stuff... but I've been getting back into some Northern Soul kind of stuff recently. One of the stand-outs for me from the tunes I've heard is this little beauty: Information on Brunswick Records and their session players seems to be hard to come by on the net, but I think it's Bernard Reed on bass. Nothing spectacular technically, but that lovely octave pattern in the chorus really holds the song together, and that driving line through the verses just gets to me. Makes me want to dance, and I guess that's what bass is all about.

[quote name='Sibob' post='756161' date='Feb 24 2010, 03:21 PM']I believe it was more to do with aesthetics, they moved the rear pickup back slightly so that it was totally obscured by the bridge ashtray cover. The pickup poked out slightly in the previous position![/quote] I don't know which is worse:[list] [*]accidentally changing the way an instrument sounds through human/mechanical error; or [*]deliberately changing the way an instrument sounds because it'll look "better" [/list][size=1][Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I couldn't tell the difference in sound between a 70s Jazz and any other era of Jazz "in the wild", so it's a fairly pointless thing for me to have brought up. ][/size]

[quote name='Sibob' post='756111' date='Feb 24 2010, 02:27 PM']Sorry if it's been linked before!: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1964-Fender-Jazz-bass-SPARKLE-GOLD-64-Vintage-RARE_W0QQitemZ270533163739QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item3efd087adb"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1964-Fender-Jazz-bas...=item3efd087adb[/url][/quote] Isn't this the one that gets linked to every month or so?

[quote name='Doddy' post='754996' date='Feb 23 2010, 01:39 PM']Why the surprise? I think that it's a better way to play than thumb down. I find that it gives you way more control and accuracy if you have your thumb either pointing up or parallel to the strings. I've found that having your thumb pointing down pretty much limits you to playing octaves. You don't need a super short strap either-I have my bass at the same height standing as sitting. And I don't particularly like Mark King.[/quote] I think the surprise stems from the fact that every instructional book/video/teacher/YouTube clip/bit of written advice/whatever that I've seen on slap recommends having the thumb parallel to the strings. I can understand why some might slap with their thumb down (you can maintain your usual low-slung position... if you usually sling low anyway), and I agree that it'd probably be hugely limiting to do that. But thumb [i]up[/i] just feels uncomfortable unless I've got the instrument embedded in my wattle. Everybody's a different shape, though. A lot of things that work for others don't work for me, and vice-versa. I suppose slap is a relatively new technique on a still-young instrument in the grand scheme of all music, so people will have different ways of doing it. Hence my OP.

[quote name='The Funk' post='754989' date='Feb 23 2010, 01:32 PM']No you don't.[/quote] I stand corrected.

PM The Bass Doc.

I'm quite astonished (only quite, though ) at the way "thumb up" is winning. I hadn't even considered it as a sensible option for slapping. You've got to have a [b]seriously[/b] short strap to pull that off, surely? Is it just that Basschat's littered with Mark King wannabes?

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='754930' date='Feb 23 2010, 12:59 PM']Undinged headstock is usually a sign that the bass player has played with an excellent drummer - my '63 headstock is full of marks from the skull of bad time-keeping drummers who needed the odd reminder of the tempo.[/quote] If your '63 is the "light relic" that looks like it lost a fight with an angle-grinder, the headstock's the least of your worries.

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='754849' date='Feb 23 2010, 11:43 AM']I could be wrong of course and only more detailed photographs would confirm but my money is on it being a very well preserved example of a real '63.[/quote] Is it just me who dings the headstock way, way more often than the body? That headstock looks [i]pristine[/i] -- pretty much identical to my 2009 Precision, apart from the fact I've already put a couple of doinks in the end. Might it not be a new neck on an old body?

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='754810' date='Feb 23 2010, 11:05 AM']What you say is perfectly true but, on average, surely manufacturers are aiming to make their products better not worse over the years? I guess it's entirely possible that they have fired their R&D department and kept the "cost reduction" department [/quote] Well, my bass history knowledge is limited, but surely Fender (to take the obvious "vintage" brand) went through many good and bad (on average) periods? It just seemed to depend on who was in control and how much attention they were actually paying to their customers. I've heard rumour that the 70s Jazz pup position was down to the factory screwing up a jig, rather than any deliberate effort to improve. Loved by some, hated by others. Wasn't the 80s reinvention of the lines (Specials, Elites and all that) just a reaction to the cheaper and more technologically advanced basses starting to come out of the Far East? It didn't necessarily mean they were "better"... merely "different". Some people preferred them, some didn't. And the "Boner" Jazz didn't last long either. And people's perceptions of what actually constitutes "better" seem to change too. I'm sure Warwick want to stay on top of the game, but I'm aware (without being fully appraised of the details) that they've altered their standard neck profiles a few times over the years, and have now gone back to something like the original shape (IIRC).

Another thing to remember is that specifications change over the years. Yes, it's still called a Fender Jazz Bass, but if you pulled together Jazzes from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s and now the 10s they'll all be noticeably different. For example, from a quick noodle, I know that WoT's 70s Fenders have colossal necks compared to the modern equivalent. Then there's the 70s Jazz bridge pup placement, the early 90s "Boner" Jazz, the reinvention of Fender's basses in the 80s, the latest batch (08/09 onwards) of great necks... all that stuff. If the particular physical characteristics of a "vintage" bass coincide with your personal requirements, and you're interested in the cachet or "cool" or "vibe" or whatever that comes with said bass, then go for it.

[quote name='silddx' post='754530' date='Feb 22 2010, 11:23 PM']Valley Girl[/quote] Good call, sir. Thunes!

[quote name='silddx' post='754476' date='Feb 22 2010, 10:28 PM']Is it a valid point? I might question how long that inspiration lasted. In my case, it was inspiration that made me up my game and get a Warwick, I needed something reliable, ergonomically designed and versatile. I did my research, bought one second hand and it remains, most of the time, my number one bass. I have flirted with, and occasionally bought, cheap tarts, nice friendly girls and young supermodels, but really, the 'vette feels like an extension of me. It didn't really inspire me to play more much longer than a week or so. My bands inspire me infinitely more than a nice piece of wood with some strings on, as do my bass heroes.[/quote] Everyone's inspiration comes from different places. For some it's their instrument, for some it's the band(s) they're playing with, for some it's their loved ones, for some it's their musical heroes, for some it's the sausage they had for lunch, for some it's social injustice, for some it's a huge bag o' weed... everybody's different. I need -- i.e. want -- too many basses (various combinations of 4/5 strings, fretted, fretless, tuned bizarrely for different projects, etc.) to realistically lust after the really expensive ones. But if you can afford it and it brings a smile to your face... well, f*** it, why not?

[quote name='elliswasp' post='753650' date='Feb 22 2010, 12:03 PM']By the way if you are happy to try this i wuld have a look at the 4x10 cab you have and see if you could re wire it to run at 8ohms this is easy to find out if you pull one of the drivers out of the cab and check its ohm rating on the back you will be able to determine if you can re wire it or not if the drivers you have in the cab are all 16ohms then you can do it[/quote] Sorry, my brain may not be functioning properly today, and I'm mentally inserting my own punctuation in that, so I may have the wrong end of your stick, but... How can you wire up four 16-ohm speakers to give 8 ohms total? AFAIK, you can wire them in parallel (4 ohms), series (64 ohms) or series-parallel (16 ohms). Is there another configuration I don't know of?

I sold Ash my Akai Unibass after he posted a "Wanted" thread. Quick payment, smooth and easy communication, top fella. Wouldn't hesitate to do a deal again!

[quote name='lanark' post='752465' date='Feb 21 2010, 03:07 AM']Yeah but it won't let you vote without also choosing which direction the thumb you're not using is pointing lol[/quote] Option added. This is getting complicated...

[quote name='silddx' post='752337' date='Feb 20 2010, 11:25 PM']You're kidding, right? You really have to be kidding. With a pick, I [b]can[/b] shred like Yngvie on my 'vette.[/quote] Can? Please, for the love of god, tell me that you [b]don't[/b].

[quote name='jonnyfastfingers' post='751624' date='Feb 20 2010, 10:37 AM']The thing is when I left the band the bassist who replaced me used a MM Sub and they thought that sounded great, but I could only achieve a trebley-punchy effect with my Stingray?[/quote] If your Stingray was a 3-band EQ model, that could make a huge difference, because the SUBs were all 2-band, which are voiced really quite differently. Also, IIRC, the SUB pickups were wired in series and the Stingray's in parallel. A MM Sterling might be an option for you: it gives you the pickup-switching options of series, parallel and single-coil.

[quote name='dood' post='752321' date='Feb 20 2010, 11:15 PM']Another question you could ask is whether or not players are 'thumb up' (Like Mark King, for example) or 'thumb down' (Fieldy, as an extreme example).[/quote] Question added! I haven't enabled multiple-choice, because I guess people will have a preferred style, even if they can use more than one.

[quote name='silddx' post='752014' date='Feb 20 2010, 06:20 PM']I still think you would be totally wasting it on something providing so little extra benefit, and with two chrome saveloys attached to it.[/quote] I wonder, though, how much the carbon-fibre "shrink-wrapping" process adds to the cost. Would that not be a right bugger of a manufacturing technique to perfect? And hence it would whack the price up? Don't get me wrong -- I think it's crazy money. But don't forget that it's largely the work of one guy in Sussex, really pushing the boundaries of instrument design and construction. Sure, you could get a Shuker or an ACG for a quarter of the price or less... probably much less... but they're relatively "traditional" instruments in terms of design and manufacture, largely using hardware made by other people. Simon Farmer (from what I gleaned from the BGM review) makes most of the hardware himself too, so hats off to him. I'll be sticking to the "traditional" designs, though.

[quote name='Bloodaxe' post='752206' date='Feb 20 2010, 09:01 PM']Hmmmm.... "Buyer must uplift" eh? Interesting turn of phrase[/quote] Is that one of those phrases/words like "outwith" that only gets used north of the border?

I've added the "can't slap, won't slap" option for... well, those who can't slap and won't slap.

[quote name='Doddy' post='751908' date='Feb 20 2010, 04:35 PM']Using a song to determine ability just doesn't work.[/quote] True, when comparing one player to another. However, I know I've progressed when I come back to something I couldn't play for love nor money 6 months ago... and it's suddenly easy. That's when I find it a useful measure.

[quote name='endorka' post='751901' date='Feb 20 2010, 04:24 PM']Ha - you may speak in jest, but when starting to play bowed double bass, that is one of the exercises, and you can spend weeks, months or even years trying to make it sound good. Then you have to move on to the open A string.[/quote] Oh, yes. Tell me about it. I speak as an ex-violinist. And an ex-euphoniumist. I never reached the point on either where I would've been happy with my performance of said Étude.

[quote name='steve-soar' post='751865' date='Feb 20 2010, 03:48 PM']No coinsidence in its naming, eh? [url="http://www.innerearmag.com/reviews/cables/Siltech_Emperor.shtml"]http://www.innerearmag.com/reviews/cables/...h_Emperor.shtml[/url] $40, 000 anyone?[/quote] Wow. That's just chock-full of bullsh*t.