karenon

I am an old git, and probably absolutely set in my ways, but I very seldom is impressed with new, expensive and shiny amps. Twentyfive years ago, I bought a £100 Marshall 50w bass head, and it has served me faithfully ever since. I have had lots of different cabs, but mostly I have used my Marshall jubilee 2x12, with an old Musicman bass-port 1x15 with a Celestion Sidewinder speaker refit thrown in for added stature and low end if needed. In most places, I use a DI-box to the PA anyway, but I have tried different riggs (I admit to being a valve nut), and I would have had to fork out something like £1000-2000 (Norway is expensive) to approach the kind of manly rock sound that I really like. Funk and soul works fine too. I have tried SWRs, and like them very much, and of course the classic Ampegs. I find, however, that 15 inch speaker comboes are a waste of time, and chugg happily along with my cheap, dinosaur, bastard outfit: The Marshall, which was built in '72 or 73, and has been rewired and gets new tubes if it (mis)behaves, was painted white in the early eighties. A good bass, strong fingers, good enough rig and a sympathetic sound guy is mostly what one needs. [attachment=24221:K_re_thor_tom_mini.jpg]

[attachment=24215:Skogn_85.jpg]After some days at home and on the chat, I renounce my norwegian shyness and say hello to You all. Great place. Love Your pictures of these beautyfull instruments we all love. As there normally (Spinal Tap excluded) are only one bass player in a band, it's a dark and lonely job, but someone has got to do it. It is fantastic to browse the forums for old loves: I saw some pictures of an Ovation Magnum, that brought me back 25 years, and also the Aria Pro II which was a serious effort in the pulling girls (look at this big black shiny instrument) area (worked so-so). Anyway, finally a place for bass obsessing. Cheers. [attachment=24212:MM_mini.JPG][attachment=24213:wwmini.JPG][attachment=24214:K_re_thor_tom_mini.jpg]

I used to have one too, bought new around '83-84. Fantastic rock bass, allthought it gave of a lot of click noise and didn't have that much of a punch (mine was passive). Got myself a white ESP/Kubicki/EMG P-jazz job instead (ah, the eighties). Sorry about the striped trousers. Love Your respectful rebuild. Great.

I got my Sterling during a trip to Toronto last year. £580 brand new. Definitively lighter on the shoulder than the Stingray I sold off to pay for this one. Seems like the preamp is tuned a bit up on this one, as it definitively is louder and with more deep end than my old Stingray and other Sterlings/Rays I tested (it also burns batteries quite a bit faster). I totally agree with the chap doing the rewiew. Great neck and very comfortable all around. Good looking too. I bought it to get some relief from my old Streamer, as that one gets a little bit too demanding sometimes (I have to practice to keep up my technique, or else it reveals what a lazy sod I am). The MM is a bit more forgiving, as it delivers that good old MM growl, and a little bit more ordinary sound with the selector in the back position. Great bass. Love it.

Thank You all. It is very nice knowing that one is not alone in ones experiences (allways a good thing). It's great finally finding somewhere I can be a real bass anorak. Otherwise: Would just mention that I just bought a real cheapo Epiphone Valve jr. stack (actually is for my 2 year old son, but daddy is breaking it in), and it is a really nice little practice set up with good valve tone for the price. High Wife Acceptance Factor too:-). Cheers.

A couple of years ago, I suddenly decided that the time was ripe for revisiting my youth, so I started looking for a Stingray or Sterling 4 string bass. I have had some experience in the matter, as I had a Stingray some 20 years ago, and my brother still has his, which he bought used around 1982. I have been playing since I was 13, and I turned 40 a couple of years ago, so I know something about basses. Anyway, I went to some big shops in New York during a trip there, and spent 2 days playing anything Ernie Ball. What I dicovered was this: For a make that puts a lot of weight on it being made in USA and on quality control, the variations were enourmous. Lead heavy dead bodies, pots without click points, buzzing electronics, some microphones/electronics without the musicman growl at all and necks with dead spots everywhere, and then: One or two fantastic basses with everything where it should be. I had in fact preordered a double humbucker sterling that was waiting for me, and that bass was frankly unplayable and had no real sound at all. Some months later, I had a similar experience in Toronto. On both occasions I ended up buying an item, one Stingray, which I later sold, and one Sterling, from which i am able to produce a real classic stingray tone, allthough the fretboard is rosewood. Neckwise is just a bit narrower than the stingray, and the body is lighter, so it is a more comfortable bass, a fantastic rock/slap bass with real growl, truly recommended. Back to my theme: I am not talking about ordinary individual variations as can be found in all instrument production lines, but the same kind of heavy wet wood horrible feeling You got from some early eighties Fender basses, and some electronics that does not sound musicman expensive basses at all. Does anybody else have similar experiences, or am I just being horribly over-sensitive. I have never had the same feeling of playing lotto trying out any other brands, at least not in the price range where Musicman basses live. Comments?

Off course I have felt the surge of envy which comes from seeing some stuck up brat playing on £5000 equipment, but the simple truth is this: Your stuff allways is only as good as You are, so the answer must be a resounding NO. If You playing or finger sound s**ks, nothing will help You. If You are good, you're good, and I am not talking some sort of classical training, conservatory, super slap, fastest there is sort of thing (allthough some, or a lot, of training is a good good thing). Bill Wyman described his job as "to just lay back and fatten the sound", and that is an example of good enough if that is what You are after. But, of course, good basses, amps, cabs, boxes are FUN, and being the bassman is, and will allways be, the best job there is.

At least my Streamer (1987 special double P) is very elegant and light Weight. However, while it has an awesome growl, the sustain and clarity of the tone comes out more than the attack, so if slap is the main thing, I would go for a Musicman Sterling (as they definitively are lighter than the classic Stingray). Be careful if buying a Musicman though; they vary wildly in tone and playability (and weight). I\ve spent days at Music stores in New York and Toronto testing these mothers before buying the one good instrument. The Warwick is a beautyful instrument, but can be a bit demanding, as everything You play comes out, wether You would want it to or not. I find that in my lazy periodes, I use my musicman, as it gives me that rocknroll response everytime, but when I pick up the Streamer, It is what I imagine a Stradivarius would feel like. Maybe I am very picky, but I have tried loads of Warwicks after I bought mine some 20 years ago, but I have never found one with the same slim body and Jazz type neck (maybe a little bit wider, but slim enough). I would really recommend looking around the second hand market for the older Warwicks, as the bodywork and tonality is fantastic, but If slap is your thing, maybe a bolt on neck with more attack than sustain would the better, as for instance the corvettes or similar.