Davo-London

Yeah but you didn't have to look!!!!

Davo

I know spoombung knows what this is ... but I think the rest of you should be eligible to guess:



Davo

I'm another for Nordstrand NJSEs - I have these in my CIJ Jaco Jazz and they are really sweet. I also have a pair of those see through pickups - the name of which i forget - which you can trial out if you like.

Davo

Yeah, I'm firmly from "if it ain't 60's I ain't interested" school.

Right now you can get fantastic CIJ Fenders in a whole range of colours and 62RI or 64RI etc and these represent great basses.

I would much, much rather collect/buy early 80's MIJ Fenders than 70's or later MIA Fenders.

Davo

I don't know how accurate the CIJ neck is, although I do find the CIJs generally very reliable. However, the real 60's Precisions necks are mostly less chunky than the 70's and later versions. The headstock to neck detail was also different in the 60's Ps. I would look at the reissues and a secondhand CIJ would be an excellent choice.

Davo

I can't - the bass is locked away in a shop.

Davo

I don't have a weight obsession, and so I don't know what it weighs.

Damn funny thing really - still the Kings Road Emporium will tell me when the owner gets well!!

Davo

I wouldn't take to heart Jaco's comment about playing a Precision neck. I think that's just what he was doing at the time. The video was recorded right at the end of his playing period; he was already becoming unreliable at that time. Anyway, the video is great - I don't mean to put you off. He also liked to preserve his fretless necks and so that may also be a factor for playing fretted. He had also lost most/all of his basses at the time of the video.

Davo

I think it does help your playing as you phrase things differently. Eventually that will rub off on your fretted playing.

Davo

Actually, the LP Junior is a lovely guitar. A friend of mine had a '59. It was my favourite in his collection as it was so simple but it sang and sang.

Davo

Still waiting to find out the weight of this bass. And whether someone has bought it.

Davo

I have an old '76 P-bass, and i've always thought that as well. I've tried lots of strings and wonder if it is the pickups or somehow the construction/woods that contributes to the final tone. A D and G all sound bright and the E string sounds like a flatwound string. Hmmm. Usual advice is to change your strings but I wonder if it isn't the PUs.

Davo

If you are sticking to the Fender hybrids I would go for:

Body: alder (light and mature) - Jazz shape
Colour: sonic blue with nitrocellulose finish with most of it taken off again.
Neck: Jazz maple neck with no skunk but a bit of flame - non-painted headstock.
Fingerboard: Brazilian rosewood slab aka '60-62 Fender production - this is of course illegal at the moment and so Hondurian rosewood would be fine. Something with a bit of colour variation in the grain. Dot inlay mother of pearl on fretboard and white/sonic blue LEDs on neck edge/ No binding. 34" scale. Medium width frets with smooth edges.
Nut: ebony
Scratchplate: none
PUs: Nordstrand NJSE in bridge and NP4 P-bass in neck position. Also built in midi PU under body.
Preamp: Audere pre 3 band EQ with quick change batteries in the back of bass.
Controls: P-bass controls: master vol/blend : Micro controls: treble/mid/bass (5 knobs)
Jack: On front of body. Midi connection on body side near the strap button.
Hardware: Hipshot ultralight bridge and tuners
Strings: DR Sunbeams 40-100

The bass would weigh about 7 lbs.

Dithering on: 4 or 5 strings.


Good game, was I specific enough?
Davo

Yeah don't overdo the lemoil - what you have done is fine.

Davo

I agree with 1/60 second, but it might only be showing a small part of its complete excursion distance depending on how hard the string was plucked, so I reackon it could 1/90 second as well.

Nerds r' us
Davo


Here's a P fretless

Surely if it is lined, then the dots are performing anoher function, which is where the notes are i.e. on a 4-string bass, they highlight the G, A, B, C# and E. Just like a fretted bass. Can't see the problem at all.

However an unlined neck with dot markers where they would be on a fretted bass. Well yes that's worth a rant and should stop any potential buyer from getting such a bass.

Davo

I don't understand the snobbery associated with using tuning aids on fretless.

Fretlord do cool and cheap flourescent dot markers. Try these for fun.

And as for using your ears. I played so many gigs where I can just about hear myself over all the other instruments. In that case using your ear is no help.

Davo

[quote name='yorks5stringer' post='636602' date='Oct 25 2009, 11:35 PM']You can get some dots you stick on yourself and then shine a special pen at them for a couple of minutes which gives 2 hours of glow..... so no modifications to your Bass.[/quote]

I got them and they actually work.

Davo

Is it sold yet and do you still have the Fender bridge?

Davo

No.

[quote name='Beedster' post='633979' date='Oct 22 2009, 10:56 PM']You might want to know that they were asking significantly more than that when I saw it, £1350 I believe. At £1000 I would have gone for it.
Chris[/quote]

Thanks Chris that's useful feedback.

Davo

Did you see it in the Kings Road store?

Davo

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='625015' date='Oct 13 2009, 02:29 PM']I am not a particularly expert in the mysteries of bass design but, having played one of the damn things for nearly 30 years (literally one of them, the same bass for over 23 of them), I struggle to see the value of spending vast sums of money on expensive custom jobs. There are only two legitimate reasons for doing this, in my eyes, one is for cosmetic reasons (like Gene Simmons 'axe' basses or the bloke from Slade's 'gun' bass, for instance) or for specific technical reasons like needing an 11-string to explore your muse. I see some lovely looking basses on here being custom designed and have glanced superficially at long posts about how it all comes together. It is all very exciting but, fundamentally, I struggle to see the point.

I have always struggled to understand why musicians can't be satisfied with 'off the peg' instruments. I get that this pick up is different from that one and a maple neck feels different to a rosewood one etc but, from where I am standing, none of these basses sound remarkable enough to have warranted the expense. Most of them sound like a bass. Brilliant. But why isn't a Jazz/Precision/Wal/Warwick/Alembic/whatever etc good enough?

Double bass players tend to get a bass and stick to it (Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Marc Johnson, Scott LaFaro, Mingus etc all played one bass through most of their careers and only replaced them if they were damaged or stolen). Same with sax players, trumpeters etc. Many pianists play a different instrument every night. So what's it all about, peeps?

Is it just vanity [/quote]

It's OK as long as ignorance is acceptable.

Usually we break off into a bedate on the pros and cons of lined versus unlined. I have basses with lined and unlined. I think the lined is easier to play and if recording really helps keeping intonation spot on. There's no right answer.

Peace
Davo

Apparently it is under reserve at the Kings Road store, so I wait to see if anything comes of that.

Thanks for the kind words about my bass.

Davo