Jackzucker20000

23 hours ago, aguacollas said:

i just read the following messages, sorry. That Joker model looks great. 

I tried to get jamie to build me a 30" version of his ST-6 but he didn't seem to be interested. He doesn't speak english and I don't speak spanish so I'm not sure if it was a translation issue or not. I just sold my 6 string JCR but have 2 other ones. They needed a little TLC at first but i love both of them now. Adrian at mensinger was not not able to provide much info when I was thinking of building a custom joker so I've put that project on the backburner. I'm just going to live with the cazpar as is for now...

another clip of the mensinger on the beatles Norwegian Wood

as promised, here's the mensinger cazpar, i'll also update the original thread so folks can compare the tone...

mensinger cazpar 6

But I think i'm going to order a custom build like this. It's the joker model which does come in a 30. I like the buckeye burl better but my experience with guitars is that mahogany back and maple top is a magical combo. Buckeye probably doesn't contribute anything to the sound...

Maruszczyk emailed me back. 32 is the smallest they'll go on a singlecut...

But I did reach out to mensinger / Maruszczyk and asked him about making a 30 or 31" sputnik bass. The sputnik is more similar in construction to the JCR...

47 minutes ago, Sibob said:

Why not have JCR just make a 30" version of your 33"?

Again, it will sound and feel different due to the scale length, but you'll be able to tick off the build quality and hardware/pickups issues you are having with the Menzinger.

 

Si

He didn't seem to be interested...

58 minutes ago, andybassdoyle said:

I like that you've got your own thing going on there matey. FWIW I think you're right in that the JCR clear has a lot more 'stuff' going on - the cazpar will not be that bass even if you change out electrics etc. Different scale and materials like you say.

 

My experience of custom build is that it's great in theory but you don't necessarily get exactly what you need at the end of it. Very difficult to translate your feelings and inner thoughts into a clear spec that delivers the outcomes you want. This said there are great builders out there who will no doubt do a fantastic job. Alan or Martin at Sei, John Shuker etc.

 

I guess it starts to get really hard to find used basses to try once you go below 33 (and that's hard enough to find to begin with).

 

If you love the JCR perhaps you need to work with it. I'm guessing the challenge is the voicings but let's face it, depending on how ambitious you wanna get there will always be challenging voicings even at 30 scale!!

 

Good luck with your quest!

regardless of "challenges" there's the reality that there is almost no way to play this voicing without getting my elbow almost touching the neck...

1 hour ago, eude said:

Wasn't saying ACG is the way forward for you, but they are for me 100%.

What about asking JCR if they would make one for you, along the lines of what you already have, but in a shorter scale?

That's the more obvious solution, to me anyway. You have a bass by them that you really really like, it has everything you want, bar the reach being too much, they'd be best placed to come up with something that ticks all your boxes I'd expect...

It's a bit difficult with them because he doesn't speak english and I don't speak spanish so we are always tripping over each other but yeah, it's definitely worth reaching out to him about that.

3 hours ago, BassApprentice said:

Tough one, as you never want to change things on such expensive basses, but if you prefer the feel of the Cazpar you should be able to find some other pickups or preamp for it fairly easily. Easier to change those bits than the feel and fit of the bass 

yeah, i'd consider swapping the pickups and adding a preamp on the mensinger if I knew for sure it would bring it up to the JCR tonally. However, i think physics is at play here with a huge difference in string length (jcr is 3" longer scale and uses a through the body design). Also, the neck through design and complex body materials whereas the cazpar is a bolt on with simple ash body/maple neck. Sustain is way better on the JCR. One surprising thing, harmonics jump out much more on the cazpar...

1 hour ago, eude said:

Why not look into having a custom 30" 6er made?
You can go for similar specs to the JCR?
I play 31.5" ACG basses, 5s and 6s, and for me that's the best compromise as I can also get a really useable low B with it.

I used to play 33" basses, but switching to 31.5" has been a game changer for me.

Yeah, I have been hesitant to go that route because I've had spectacularly bad experiences with custom basses but it's probably worth looking into. Swan makes something that is 30.75 which I really like but it's very expensive and i'm not sure i'd get my money back out of it if I end up being disappointed. Manne also makes a 31 that looks great. I'll have to look at ACG again...

Wanted to give a little update. I practiced with the cazpar for several hours today. It's a great bass but it's not in the same league as the JCR. I put the JCR up forsale but i'm agonizing over it. In almost every way, the JCR is a much better bass. Better build quality, better hardware, better attention to detail, better sustain, tone, etc. The cazpar is way easier to play solo bass on due to the scale length though. When I do my solo stuff on the JCR, due to the wide neck and the 33" scale, it ends up hurting my left hand because a lot of the chord voicings I use stretch 5 or 6 frets. The cazpar is much better suited for that.

But the tone of the JCR really is in a different league...

I was lucky enough to find one of these in the USA. A little scary as the dealer was not local and all sales were final but it plays and sounds great. It's a 30" scale 6 string with 16mm spacing, tuned E-E. I have been using a JCR, 33" 6 string bass for solo playing (also tuned E-E) and I love the JCR. It sounds very rich, very complex, i love the aguilar super doubles and the pope preamp and the 33" scale but for some of the solo playing I do, the 33" scale and some of the stretches can be a bit tiresome/painful.

The cazpar is passive and along with the ash body, maple neck, zircote fb, it's not as rich or complex of a sound as the JCR. I'm not sure if that's due to the complexity in woods and construction of the jcr, the scale length, all of the above or what...However, I've only had it a couple hours so that impression could change after I dial it in.

With the shorter scale, I can use heavier strings and on the cazpar top 2 strings (B and E) i'm using .040 and .030 whereas on the JCR i'm using .032 and .022.

With the 33" scale, I'm not sure I could go as heavy as what's on the cazpar. And with the heavier strings, I can dig in a lot more on the high strings which I really like.

I posted a solo bass video of the JCR in this posting and I will add one of the cazpar in the next day or two so you can hear the comparison.

So far I'm really happy with the cazpar and I think it basically replaces the JCR *AND* my ibanez headless bass so it's a good bargain for me, lol...
 

Here's a clip of the JCR with the type of solo playing I do. I'll add a clip of the cazpar soon...

Someone asked in another forum about the 4 finger fingerstyle technique so I thought i'd post a separate thread about this since others might be interested.

A few months ago, I wrote about summer goals. Normally, I see practicing as an arc of multiple smaller goals. Learn tunes, improve time, new melodic/harmonic concepts, chops, reading, etc.

Since my father died in early 2021, I have been practicing almost exclusively on bass, inspired by his career. This summer, I decided to spend 3-6 months working on expanding my bass playing by working on a technique that I first hear Matt Garrison use. It's known as the 4 finger technique in various bass circles. And it involves using PIMA almost exclusively. (Thumb/index/middle/ring). He alternates these 4 fingers and using this technique, he is able to play lines that eclipse 99% of even the the best guitarists can play. Arpeggios, 4ths, 5ths, wide intervals - No problem!

So - A few months ago, I embarked upon this goal of really learning this technique by focusing my practice almost exclusively on it, attempting to incorporate it into my playing in a natural way. The end result was a failure of sorts. After months of struggle, I realized I was not going to be able to cleanly incorporate the ring finger into diatonic and chromatic lines. I just couldn't get the speed and accuracy between the middle and ring fingers and when I played fast - alternating with this technique, it had a gallop to it because of the forever-slight-delay of the ring finger.

Of course 3 months is not a long time, right. It should be more like 3 years, right?!? So I thought I'd try using PIM (Thumb/Index/Middle) for and see where that got me. That worked out better. No gallop and if I alternated between thumb and index or index and middle I could play pretty fast. (16th notes at 140-150). But it felt awkward to me because most of my lines are in sub groupings of 2, 4 or 8 and it meant the thumb would end up in an awkward place in the beat. I think a year's worth of practicing with this would yield some good results though. It definitely has a lot of potential. But - as I also play guitar, I found it really awkward to use the technique on guitar. I'm not sure why - perhaps the string spacing or tension or thickness.

On guitar, I would always gravitate to a hybrid pattern of PIPA (thumb/index/thumb/middle). Using this hybrid technique allowed me to play really fast lines without as much fatigue as index/middle and I could use my little finger or palm to mute the strings.

So, I thought why not try that on bass. And so I've been doing that for a month and I think that's the direction that's going to work the best for me. It feels super natural, has many of the same advantages as PIMA or PIM and allows me to very seamlessly go back and forth between alternating index/middle and the new technique. I can choose where and when to deply this based on what sound I'm looking for.

With index/middle, i tend to use all rest strokes and pluck every note of a line. In some ways, it reminds me of when a saxophonist tongues every note. With the PIPM (thumb/index/thumb/middle) I find it easier to use free strokes which have more of a legato feel to them.

I'm also able to use directional picking (sweeping) by using the thumb for sweeps toward the high strings and the index finger for backward sweeps toward the lower strings. This feels very natural to me and as I continue to practice it, I expect it will incorporate even more seamlessly into my playing...

I've only been really doing this (PIPM) for a month but I really see the potential here!

Some examples