4 Strings

The fingerboard material needs to be dense as it takes quite a pounding, especially from round wounds. Maple is a hard wood but not as dense as rosewood and less so than ebony - the only wood more dense than water. The string touches the fret and so slight differences in the density of the wood under the fret is going to have a very small influence on the sound especially when compared to the pickups, amps, speakers etc. Being less dense, why maple would sound brighter is beyond me and I have never been able to carry out an experiment with identical body, pickups etc to see if it really does. If it does, and there's plenty who say so, it must be marginal. I would suggest it LOOKS brighter and wonder if this influences the perceived sound. Maple fingerboards tend to be lacquered which gives them a different feel to bare wood. There is clearly a preference here, my own opinion goes for bare wood such as rosewood, but actually most of the contact from your finger is on the string, not the fingerboard. I would not deny the influence of the neck material on the sound, although, again, this must surely be marginal. A rosewood finger board would have to pass vibrations through the glued joint between the neck and fingerboard. These are usually pretty good joints, certainly better than the bolted Fender style neck to body joint. Few complain about those and, I would suggest, those bolt-on neck joints would have a greater influence on the sound than the fingerboard to neck joint. Many maple fingerboards are separate too and so would also have this joint. In terms of shape there is no reason why a rosewood fingerboard should have a slimmer cross-section than an all maple neck. In fact, the opposite would be more likely. A rosewood fingerboard are mostly rectangular and so a cross-section of the assembly would show a flat section at the sides of the fingerboard before the curve of the neck. Necks of basses I have with no separate fingerboard curve all the way to the edge of the finger board. The maple neck on my Musicman is very slim, one of the reasons I bought it. Placing the frets straight into the neck Fender style is the easiest and cheapest way as it cuts out the process of buying another type of wood and making a fretboard. With thousands of Fenders being made every week this economy is easily understood (although I recognise there's no price difference in the shops between the two). Should it become damaged or actually wear out, however, it can't be replaced like a separate fingerboard. Regarding looks, clearly that's up to each one of us. The maple fingerboards are lacquered to keep them looking clean. Anyone with an old one will see how quickly the wood under chips in the lacquer goes grimy. The grime doesn't penetrate the denser woods and can be scrubbed off. Choice for me, black 'n' maple every time!

[quote name='yorick' post='763073' date='Mar 3 2010, 04:05 PM']Is anyone welcome here? I had John build me a copy of a Warwick thumb in '93, basically because i couldn't afford the real thing, and John could build one to my specs at a third of the price. G'wan, it's a "proper" Jaydee. [/quote] Really? John would do a custom job cheaper than the real thing? Amazing! I wonder if he still does?

Not surprised after working at Monkey Biz. That's where I bought my Jaydee too, might have even been you who served me! Actually liked the shop, seemed to be a players' shop but also surrounded by tales of dodgy dealing etc. Stuff I got from there was great, still got the Jaydee, its still wonderful after ~25 years.

Its perfect, Slacker, get slappin' and a-ticklin'! I love the sound, not heard a new Jaydee to be able to compare, but its pretty unique. Hope its as easy to play as my old Roadie 1A

For bass mistakes here's one I posted elsewhere - Tears of a Clown; Bob Babbitt drops it on the entry to the last verse, about 2.08 in, after the words 'Just like..'. Keeps it going in time but is a tone out. (Check the 'UK' version of this otherwise you'' get Henderson's US version, such messy playing when compared). For other sorts of things you can hear Hendrix coughing and clearing his throat just before he starts singing Purple Haze For a drumming laugh, the during Baba O'Reilly on the 'Kids are Alright' Keith breaks into the 'Don't Cry' bit a bar early, then carried on too long into it (around 2.00 in). There's loads of Beatles clangers, for example Macca loses count completely in the playout of All You Need is Love, but then its all part of the show with that sort of thing. (Not forgetting the well documented 'Oh Sh*t' halfway through Louie Louie!)

Whoops, loads of good stuff there!

We all listen to the bass and I'm sure we all know things that other people don't. I'll start off 1. - Tears of a Clown Bob Babbitt drops it on the entry to the last verse, about 2.08 in, after the words 'Just like..'. Keeps it going in time but is a tone out. (Check the 'UK' version of this otherwise you'' get Henderson's US version, such messy playing when compared) Come on, let's hear all those clangers you know about. I have some more.

1973 Precision, black, maple neck. Traded in + some cash for an Aria SB. oh well. Bought it in '79 and had it 2-3 of years. Wanted to be a bit more modern, modern sound and the Arias looked fab. I was young.

[quote name='NJE' post='760448' date='Mar 1 2010, 09:23 AM']I remeber staying with my best friend who is a guitarist at his Uni house. We had a bit of a jam one night and had a few beers and then slumped over in drunkeness and he forgot to turn off his epiphone 335 and marshall. At about 3 in morning for some reason unknown to either of us his 335 suddenly decided to pick up radio clear as a bell. Now I have to mention at this point neither of us knew guitars could pick up radio and had never even heard of this happening. Unfortunately the guitar didn't pick up chill out music or radio 1, it was some American preacher screaming about debauchery, overindulgence and burning in hell for your sins etc. Basically we both sh*t ourselves as it was so loud and thought god was talking to us through his amplifier. Not fun after a night on the stella, but good times none the less.[/quote] Perhaps he was!

[quote name='pete.young' post='374605' date='Jan 8 2009, 11:13 PM']There's a scurrilous rumour going the rounds that the great Norm did indeed tune his bass up a semitone to play this. Anyone want to confirm? Personally I can't see it because it's as easy to play in Fm as it is in Em tuned up.[/quote] Get yourself to the Standard in London tonight and ask him!

[quote name='Doddy' post='757790' date='Feb 26 2010, 01:37 AM']Marcus Miller didn't play on Aja...... Walter Becker played on 'Deacon Blues' and the rest was Chuck Rainey. In fact,I don't think he played on any Steely Dan album-although he played on a few tracks on Donald Fagan's awesome 'Nightfly' album[/quote] As did one of my other faves, the joyous Abraham Laboriel. Love that man!

[quote name='MythSte' post='756543' date='Feb 24 2010, 09:56 PM']Im not bad at slapping in general, Its just a really odd rhythm in that section. We cover the song occasionally for fun and i can get through it without to much hassle but it'd be nice to play it right! I think doddy was right, i need to control my thumb bouncing perhaps![/quote] This might be of use: [url="http://www.lucaspickford.com/transpegbass.htm"]http://www.lucaspickford.com/transpegbass.htm[/url] I've heard the story about turning his back so no-one could see him slap from himself, Youtube I think.

Wilko Johnson is at the Standard in NE London on the 5th of March. Great chance to see Norman Watt-Roy. Am I allowed to recommend gigs like this? If so, worth it. If not, apologies.

I think MK is great, of course there's always an argument of the musical value of being machine gunned (similarly to shredding Les Pauls). But I regard him like an F1 racing car, lots of extreme technology etc some of which filters down to benefit 'normal' cars. Regardless of how talented Pop Powell is, it was MK who inspired me and kept the bar high. MK did plenty of other, more worthy stuff and loved the whole bass thing. (Despite seeing L42 plenty of times in the 80s the most memorable was a latter day version in a small club in Essex (with Gary Husband - worth the ticket price alone) where things were less serious and more up close. The guy is amazing!

Being an ancient bass player I was slapping before I realised anyone was any good at it and saw how to do it properly, so I'm thumb down and paying for the bad habit. In my opinion, its better to be thumbs parallel Larry Graham style. Next best is Mark King style (have to have a short strap for that though). Parallel eases the double thumb think I struggle with but also makes the 'pop' easiest. Thumb down has its limitations which, for me at least, are way short of those who wisely chose to go parallel or up. Here's a good example of parallel with double, or upward at least, thumb strokes. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMSq__vg7Gs&feature=fvw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMSq__vg7Gs&feature=fvw[/url]

Here's another, Sam Benjamin, playing at the moment with a gospel singer, Helen Yousaf. Absolute class. You know, that restrained, disciplined manner that lights up with the occasional firework. Inspiring. Band has a red hot guitarist too!

Boiling was the only alternative for me years ago, to the mirth of the other band members. Still do, still is. And, yes, no substitute for new strings but saves a fortune. There's a move to rediscover flats, with much worship of sounds used by Jamerson, McCartney which I remember trying avoid. (More of an Entwhistle sound for me) and so dull strings may be more relevant nowadays. However, you are braver than I in taking steel wool to the frets, even in your innovative manner. I just use a bit of metal polish (very little, they are, after all, very thin!) to take the muck off without scratching them. Its only aesthetic so I rarely bother.

Good choice not to make enemies, if the 'experienced' guy defaults in some way you're likely to be the first call (by which time they might have found a decent guitarist)

All positive responses, thanks all, Hipshot order on the way.

"Presumably all made at the same factory on the same jig with different electrics stuffed in depending on whose name's on the headstock/body that day" [/quote] Not quite, I believe this to be true of the Tanglewood and Hudson basses but the Cort basses are proper Curbow designs made from synthetic materials (for example, luthite for the body, whatever that is). The Tanglewood is completely redesigned to be of exotic woods (even an ebony fingerboard) with the resulting different manufacturing processes. They are honestly great basses, keep an eye on the dreaded ebay for cheap ones or make offers as they don't seem to be selling (I have no links!)

A low C-sharp for part of a song would be great, Hipshot would be brilliant, but can they extend more than the tone from E to D? If anyone has one, would you mind trying it out for me, please? (Also, are they accurate enough to snap down and up during a single song?) Very grateful, Greg

Don't know if anyone else has tried or even bought one of these Canyons, comments invited. A friend of mine has extremely expensive tastes and is very knowledgeable about feel, sound, construction etc, and he loved it. My lad is becoming obsessive with the thing, playing at every opportunity and becoming more and protective about it, he truly loves it. I can understand they aren't everyones cup of tea and are completely unfashionable and, as a result, can be seen going for a song but sound great and a real pleasure to play. Anyone else have any experiences?

This is a wonderful project, the neck look beautiful. You made it sound so easy! Is it wider than the usual Precision at the nut or is it just the way it looks without frets? It will be interesting to see how the surface survives round wounds over a period.

Saw the Hamsters a couple of years ago, in London somewhere, the Half Moon in Putney I think. As I understand it the bass player has a problem with his right hand which makes it difficult to play. If he makes it look effortless then he is all the more a Geezer! The Hamsters are just the sort of band, cheap and easy to go and see but top notch players. Great call, Hamster