Wylie

On 18/11/2021 at 14:14, Elfrasho said:

i had a non export model for years. Great bass, although the original jazz pickup was really weedy. I regret selling mine. I mean, i really regret... so much so i asked the guy if i could buy it back.

The humiliation of a buy-back request! I sold my Japanese Fender blue flower P-bass, regretted it, and asked if she'd sell it back. Answer: a very nice NO. Humiliation . . . As Bill Clinton said too often, I feel your pain, brother.

On 07/11/2021 at 12:57, owen said:

Bose kit is a lot of fun but there are WAY better options for the money. Get him to take them back asap.

I heard a Bose kit played outdoors (farmer's market) with a four piece band: guitars, bass, singer (no drummer). Sounded fantastic. Wherever you stood in relation to it, it sounded crisp and loud, but not blaring. Damned expensive, of course.

Reading these stories, I was reminded of Bruce Springsteen's telling an interviewer that "democratic" bands--in which general agreement, not unequivocal leadership, is the rule--are the ones most likely to blow up. Everything goes along great for a while, then the inevitable ego-quake occurs, or factions form, or disagreements are worked out on the spur of the moment (possibly on stage), or not at all. According to Springsteen's story, he was the leader of the E Street Band, the band members worked for him. Sounds cold, but look what they accomplished over the years. My own limited experience with leaderless bands confirms the idea that a strong, dedicated (and hopefully sober) leader is key to a band's success.

W.

1 hour ago, Dood said:

P.S. I wrote about impedance in a Bass Player Magazine article a little while back

Thanks, Dood. Damn! I was hoping for a miracle.

Bass players with lots more brain than me (probably most of you):

I currently run one 4-ohm cab out of my small but mighty Carvin microbass amp. I would like to run a second 4-ohm cab out of it as well, but my understanding is that if the cabs are linked, the ohm rating will drop to 2, which is too low. However, the amp has two speaker lines out. Can I run a line out of each to its own cab and still maintain the 4-ohm rating? Thanks!

Wylie

Should have said: My Crafted in Japan Geddy Lee is fabulous in every way. Not a 70s though, much newer.

On 27/11/2020 at 11:36, AndyTravis said:

Same 

My torment is worse than your torment. Just sayin.

8 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

Nice pun! 

My Hofner Contemporary Series "Club" bass, with the exact neck and general set-up of the violin version, was indeed a lot of trouble. Reducing the factory action took a lot of time (and some dollars as well). With reduced action, the bass was a very good one. The Contemporary version was $795, including case, and well worth it, I felt--after the adjustments.

On 23/08/2020 at 06:19, Steve Browning said:

I have had numerous Japanese Precisions and the build quality (CIJ or MIJ) has been consistently exemplary. Frankly, I see spending the extra on one from the American continent as pure waste.

That said, I have tended to go for the US variants as they have alder or ash bodies (for example PB-75US).

I've two Japan-made, a P and a J (currently). Top quality.

10 hours ago, Beedster said:

Reading yet another bridge thread this morning, and realised that in nearly every thread about mechanics, e.g., the various Badass v BBOT, through-neck versus bolt-on, tone woods versus whatever the opposite of tone woods are, and even about the basses themselves, sustain is often the characteristic of the bass that is discussed. But why? I get it with, for example lead guitar (although for rhythm it's often completely undesirable), and I get it with some orchestral instruments, although in many again it's undesirable (and I'm prepared to be told I'm wrong, but I assume that with many instruments it's de facto undesirable, for example kick drum)?

Anyway, I've realised over recent years that I've always been impressed by sustain on a bass, as if its capacity to sustain was somehow a mark of superior quality build or components, but that I rarely, if ever use sustain, even on fretless. In fact I use foam mutes so often that whilst being impressed by an instrument's sustain in principle, I often immediately inhibit it.

So, genuine question, why is this? Is sustain just the Emperors' Invisible Clothes, or a legitimate mark of quality? 

Could it be that sustain is lauded simply because there is not all that much to say about 98 out of 100 basses?

I picked up the bass after the trio I was with got into jazz. I realized quickly that my basically folk guitar skills were not going to make it in this new world.  Got a bass, learned a few basic moves (blues!)  then took lessons for a year and got better: scales, modes, key centers, and just learning on the fly. It helps immensely that my trio mates are great musicians. I've since studied jazz guitar but still consider bass my first instrument.

The only thing I'd do is buy cabs set at 8 ohms, not 4. As it is, the low ohm rating restricts my ability to stack cabs.

On 01/02/2019 at 07:13, stewblack said:

But should I add the hardware or not? I think it looks great then I think the bass doesn't need any holes drilling in it...

Yes to the hardware

! Great bass, and named for a great player. Cheers!

On 30/03/2020 at 12:09, Silvia Bluejay said:

You pays your money and you gets better looking fingerboards with no ugly dots. Makes sense to me. 👍

Thanks, Silvia, for the great and thorough review. There's an Ibanez bass dealer in Rutland, here in southern Vermont (Be Music). When this bloody virus is behind us, I am going to go in and play a few of them. Hope all's well with you.

Ted

3 hours ago, BassBod said:

Small cabs have got much better, so one or two 1x12” s can cover anything.  Also loading, parking and general gig logistics just keep on getting harder in most cities, so two lighter boxes just makes life easier.  
 

I didn’t want sell my 4x10 but it just wasn’t getting used, and gear needs to earn its house room 😳

+1. I have a Schroeder 2x10 that weighs 35 pounds and I've never wanted for volume. Schroeder declares it can put out the sound of a 4x10 (but of course he would say that). Whatever the case, it's a killer cab.

Ronnie Lane and Pete Townshend came out with "Rough Mix" in about 1978. Great stuff but not much played then or now.

7 hours ago, leschirons said:

Most suppliers call it satin jade pearl when it has the tort pick guard  but I've seen it listed as "champagne pearl" when it has the white pearl guard.

I am turning jade with envy just looking at this. Great buy.

On 07/10/2019 at 03:49, Cato said:

Hofner violin basses have a reputation for being a couple of pounds lighter than the average Precision.

Not sure if that applies to copies by the likes of Harley Benton etc.

Hofner Contemporary Series basses (Chinese made) are several pounds lighter than a P-bass.

The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys

On 14/09/2019 at 17:16, ezbass said:

I listened to this earlier and I found it to be a collection of ideas stuck together to make a whole, in the style of earlier, better works. In short - meh. For me, other than Who Are You, they haven’t done anything of real worth since Quadrophenia. YMMV.

Yes yes yes.

5 hours ago, markdavid said:

You will usually have to sand the bottom of the bridge down if you want low action, the factory setup is really high like 3mm at 12th fret but there is no reason why you have to have high action, I have had the action on mine as low as 1.5m on 17th fret but I have raised it to Fender spec action wise as i think the tone is better that way

Thanks, MD, that's exactly what I did; or rather, I sanded the bottom side of the top piece of the bridge. Worked very well.

On 13/08/2019 at 05:05, grandad said:

I've owned a few Violin basses, Epiphones, Tokai, Alden and eventually a HCT which is one of my favourite instruments. Everything about it is just right.

I've set some up myself and found they needed tweaking over a period of time to get a medium to low action. My HCT I've had set up by a luthier with Labella Beatle bass strings, (flats), which pass easily through the small tuners. One of the Epiphones needed the bridge shaving to get a low action.

Intonation is never perfect but good enough, set up on the E and G with the floating bridge. They are always a fiddle but you can get them set up to suit.

I really enjoy owning and playing mine, it is to my ears the most hi-fidelity bass I have and having mastered the quirky control panel it makes sense to me now. Love the tones coming from those very powerful PUs.

One question to ask - with or without scratch-plate, which do you prefer?

Grandad, thanks to you and all who replied. I agree about the Hofner tone; it does sound distinctive and lively.

About the scratch-plate: definitely without!

I may go ahead with the Cavern model, keeping all advice here in mind.

I owned a Contemporary Series "Club" bass and liked it a lot--except for the very high action. It wasn't a structural or neck problem, but required a substantial reduction of the bridge to bring the strings down. After that, no complaints; it was playable. However, I have read that high action is the norm on Hofner basses. (I have never played a German-made Hofner.) Has anyone found this to be the case, either with the German Hofners or their Contemporary Series basses? Thanks. I need help. I am being tractor-beamed in the direction of a Cavern-style violin bass . . . 

Two gigs on Saturday, the first a farmer's market in a college town (Williamstown, Mass.) where I got to watch our violinist's crap pickup fall off of his instrument several times, to the accompaniment of strenuous cursing. We are a 3-piece jazz (mostly) outfit with bass and keyboards supporting the violin when it is actually being played. The market is a high-end affair. I paid $4 for a bagel with cream cheese. We hit our stride halfway through and had people cheering and little girls dancing. In the afternoon, we played an arts and crafts exposition in a huge former mill building. Lots of people, good PA, artisan beers ($$$), and a small group sitting in front of the low stage who actually seemed to enjoy what we were playing. Both were paying gigs; no complaints. 

If you play that tune in Bb, you get a whole different sound.