Vibrating G String

[quote name='Oakbear' post='1063174' date='Dec 18 2010, 06:15 PM']A lot of it may be in your head though.....[/quote] That can be demonstrated to be true. It's harder to convince someone their religion is false but it's easier to show someone else's is wrong. If you've ever seen someone go on and on about what they think is a very expensive bottle of wine you should see parallels to the golden ear tone experts and their claims that exceed what is possible with laboratory instruments. Even better, watch a good psychic work. The tools are the same.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1063123' date='Dec 18 2010, 04:41 PM']Indeed, Victor Wooten wouldn't sound anywhere near as good as he does if he played something like a clunky old P bass or a Thunderbird.[/quote] It's these kind of comments I find most insulting to a player. Attributing their instrument as the most important thing in their sound just encourages more people to think you can buy talent. Victor does just fine on a wide range of instruments and I've seen him do it in person. A Fodera won't help if you can't make an old P bass sound good. If Victor switched to an old P bass all the experts would simply start attributing his tone to the old P bass. Not unlike all the experts who used to go on and on about Geddy's unmistakable Ric tone only to find out it was a Jazz on the recording. Same with Flea's MM which turned out to be an Alembic or Spector, or Chris Squires Ric etc...

[quote name='redstriper' post='1063120' date='Dec 18 2010, 04:34 PM']Or perhaps you would prefer a single State produced bass suitable for all - come the revolution [/quote] Not really into the polarized straw man/false dichotomy argument.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1063104' date='Dec 18 2010, 04:06 PM']Only the same tone if you ignore the influence of fingers there. Gear is all tone shaping, but the sound in the air is the tone, and fingers is a pretty big influence there.[/quote] The tone was identical as far as what could be bought.

I think people often confuse tone with playing and experience. When Jeff Berlin played my bass he got the exact same tone out of it that I did. I played it, handed it to him. Nothing changed, no knobs were turned no pickups were swapped for their slight edge in round transparency that can only be heard by lemurs. Yet it was a completely different experience. But the exact same tone. I think too often we confuse a great player with gear choices and attribute way too much to the gear and dismiss the performer. It's like attributing great basketball playing to the right shoes, which makes way more money than telling bass players they need the right gear. I've made most of my money in advertising, I can only share the way we think of this.

[quote name='redstriper' post='1063073' date='Dec 18 2010, 03:26 PM']So I'm a faith accepting egotistical chump programmed by marketing - blimey![/quote] The first step is admitting you have a problem

[quote name='jay249' post='1062844' date='Dec 18 2010, 11:43 AM']Timbre isn't the only aspect of music, but it's the only aspect throwing money at can affect for the better. I'm not qualified to state this as a fact but humans do seem to like the quick fix and tone can be "bought" and "owned".[/quote] I would change that to it's the only thing we think we can change by throwing money at. Sure you can argue all day that you can't deny one thing sounds different from the other but the overwhelming majority of these purchases are just attempts to buy validation. When I was starting out I had a Tokai PJ bass and massive gas for better tone. Then I had the opportunity to trade basses with Jeff berlin for a bit and found I sounded like crap on his bass and my bass was the one that sounded great when he played it. But when we traded back my bass no longer sounded great. I still collect gear because I love gear as toys but I no longer feel my tone is something I can save up for. Now I have 7 basses in gigging rotation and I can get a great tone on all of them in any situation.

[quote name='TimR' post='1062730' date='Dec 18 2010, 10:24 AM']There are things we know about human biology and psyche. We know that people see colours differently, people appreciate different paintings and women can discriminate more colours than men, some people are colour blind. We know people like different foods and have different tastes, some can stand very hot chillies others only like beef and Yorkshire pudding. We also know that people hear differently, some people have different levels of deafness, we all like different tunes, some people have perfect pitch and others are tone deaf. Women listen to the words/singer, men listen to the music. Drummers listen to the drums, bassists listen to the bass, the best musicians can hear the whole band at once. So why the obsession with 'my tone'? You are the only one who hears it that way. You can't describe it in words to a sound-man. No measuring equipment in the world can measure it to reproduce it. The environment plays a huge part in its reproduction so it doesn't matter how much you spend on your gear when you walk into that dodgy pub with the low beams it just won't work. Buy something that sounds good and concentrate on the notes. Or am I alone here.[/quote]I've been preaching this for years "My tone" is a marketing tool aimed at the ego. It's funny how many musicians swear that advertising plays no part in music gear sales and how the salesmen never tell fibs to sell gear. Some worship marketing in a desperate attempt to buy skill and an advantage. Almost all claims of tone discerning ability can be disproved easier than palm reading but the religious fervor which some cling to the myth prevents any logic from creeping in to the subject. Tone is for chumps! IMHO Learn just a little about science and biology and move past the hype. Unfortunately the average human ego responds to revelations that it's been tricked with anger. It's nearly impossible to show someone reality once they've accepted faith. We use this in advertising to make gobs of money. Thanks for the money

I left Los Angeles, which had a ton of musicians all wanting to be superstars, to San Francisco where music seemed to matter more. Since I wanted to play for fun and not fame it was a great move. I also like the city better and wouldn't have moved to a place I didn't like just for the music. I wanted to move for years but it was a drummer inviting me to play with her that triggered the move and I'm glad I did it.

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1062119' date='Dec 17 2010, 02:58 PM']I hate to see this thread turning into a Dingwall bashing. There is really no need for it, and you certainly don't gain anything by dissing them. As for that car, yes its ugly as sin, but if it had a 12V pots Supercharged 3 litre engine in it, and did 0 to 60 in under 6 seconds then of course I would give it a go! If at all possible, some of you should at least show some respect towards the luthier who actually makes this basses and takes his time to answer all kind of criticism while all the time maintaining a very polite and humble approach. Can you imagine Sterling Ball and his "Sig Heil!" Kingdom along with his contract killer moderators handling someone who says the Bongo is ugly and looks like a toilet seat? It doesn't bare thinking, I tell ya! Electric pliers and medieval torture awaits you, and when he's done with you, his fanbois vultures are called in to feast on your carcass! [/quote] No Dingwall bashing but we can compare Sterling & friends to the Nazis. Fanboiness is ugly from any side

[quote name='owen' post='1059163' date='Dec 14 2010, 03:43 PM']Here is a thread about a luthier making a 6.5 pound Jazz. [url="http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/169606-1960-jazzbass-build.html"]http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot...bass-build.html[/url][/quote] OMG, the science in this would make a creationist blush

Price has a powerful effect on our opinions though we don't like to admit it. Case in point would be '70's fenders that were crap for $300 but now that they are in the thousands the same bass is the holy grail of tone.

What are you going to do about a bigger 5 string neck with the 4 string bodies neck pocket? Your choice will be very limited in pickups if you want poles that line up with the strings. You may find you have to custom order some which will negate the savings of an off the shelf body. You could do what endorka did and have the routes enlarged a bit. It can hide pretty well if you paint the cavities black.

EMG's use the same shell and lug spacing, actually the same pickup, for 4 & 5 strings. Fender used a number of different sizes for 5's and can be a hassle to find the right one.

Advertising.

[quote name='thebrig' post='1059993' date='Dec 15 2010, 12:27 PM']I'd be interested to know whether anyone else out there has experienced the same thing.[/quote] Absolutely. I find tone and playability to be cheap, some of the most expensive basses I've played have been total crap in comparison. Some of my best basses only cost me $250. Of the basses I've owned over $1000 only the Ken Lawrence was of higher quality than my cheap Peavey, Tokai or Fernandes.

If you learn a tune they do and jump into it during warm up before someone calls a tune it's likely they'll follow giving you a first impression with something more prepared. I've used that little trick a few times. It's a nice confidence builder for the rest of the jam if you pull it off. Simply saying I've learned X could we start with that also works. Then just play roots the rest of the time

[quote name='noelk27' post='1050097' date='Dec 6 2010, 04:26 PM']using timbers which feel too new (unseasoned)[/quote] How does wood feel too new?

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='1048473' date='Dec 5 2010, 09:45 AM']You'll need to rip the S1 switching out.[/quote] Isn't it just a series / parallel switch? Should work fine.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1047946' date='Dec 4 2010, 05:38 PM']I do think the fanned fret thing is a bit "emperor's new clothes".[/quote] I agree completely, and after hearing a number of supposed benefits this "technique" offers it's odd to see the commercial only says it has better sustain.

[quote name='EddieG' post='1044016' date='Dec 1 2010, 08:50 AM']John Entwistle said of them[/quote] Who better to judge the subtlety of tone than a near deaf drug addict

A coupler of nut solutions, use baking soda or wood sawdust to mix with the glue. You can even use just glue but it takes a while to harden completely when it's thick. I like to cover the bottom of the slot with thick super glue, pack the slot with dust and then blow it out so just a layer remains. Then I soak it with thin superglue and give it an hour or so to dry. Superglues may not stick well to many plastics so this may fail. You could pull the nut and glue a piece of paper to the bottom side and trim it to shape and then when you put it back the slots will be raised. You can also make great nuts out of aluminum. Better than plastic any ways.

Will cutting the body change the tone? If you expect to hear a difference you will. No difference will be detectable in a proper double blind test. Look at the bright side, it may make it sound better You could also just get another cheap body for the Jazz and save the collectors value. If you later find out you love the midi thing cut into the original Fender body and enjoy it.

[quote name='simon1964' post='1038265' date='Nov 26 2010, 12:47 PM']I've got individual bridge pieces on my Shuker. I think the idea is that they allow the string to vibrate without any connection to the saddles for the other strings, supposedly giving a more defined sound. To be honest, while they look cool, I doubt they make any real difference to the sound.[/quote] I hear them referred to as "monorail" bridges. While they have advantages in being able to customize the string number and spacing the myths that they eliminate crosstalk and isolate one string from another can easily be debunked by a basic understanding of physics and advertising. If they did isolate one string from another they would also isolate the strings from the wood to achieve this amazing fix to a problem that never existed. They're all bolted to the same block of wood, there is no isolation beyond the faux appearance of isolation. So IMO buy them if you like them but don't expect any real world tone advantages.