EMG456

Period correct!

Noticed this on Amazon the other day and bought a copy. It's an interesting read for those of us who look fondly upon these rare instruments.

Nice one Roger. When the time comes (as it surely will) for me to thin my herd of basses, my original L2 will be the last to go - in fact I'll probably go first! Had a quick look at the TB thread. As someone there mentioned, the pickups were originally labelled SS. EMG renamed them to HB several years into production so if your bass is as early as 81, it's likely had replacement pickups for some reason.

Haven't been on here for a couple of weeks and hadn't heard this. Genuinely sad - he was an inspirational and influential player to me.

I'm late as usual... That's a lovely thing. Contrary to what you have suggested, it looks to me as if a previous owner has lavished a *lot* of care on this bass. As it stands, you have something way better than a stock fretless precision. The active circuit probably adds to it's versatility but if you don't want that, the EMGs will work perfectly well with a passive circuit - just make sure the pot values are correct. If it was me - new nut and strings and a careful setup. I wouldn't mess up that lovely board by having it fretted! If you feel that you're not great with fretless then let this be the start of your great fretless journey. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I'm a child of the prog rock era so I've always taken multiple instruments since the 70s. Back then it would be a Rick, a Precision and a Precision fretless... oh and bass pedals of course. These days it's whatever tonal colours I need to feed the music's requirements- usually a fretted, a fretless and a Chapman Stick. If we're stuck for space, the fretless will probably not come along.

I've got a Briefcase and a little Double Four. Most of my gigs now are loosely acoustic based and so the Briefcase comes out. Very small gigs I sometimes even use the Double Four - if there's going to be a PA of sorts it's often enough but I just did a gig to a small room of about 30 people (no mics, no PA) in a four piece band (cajon - no drum kit) and it coped well. Impressed with Phil Jones gear and service from the UK distributor is great too.

Interested to learn what actually made you think it's an overdub @NikNik? Looks to me as though it is very well synced with the video at all points. The bass part is different to the one on the original studio recording- more rhythmically constant in keeping with someone who's concentrating on getting the vocal right. He fluffs the G after the stop leading into the last verse - he's not even on screen for that one so if it was dubbed surely he would have taken the opportunity to fix it?

That whole Natalie Williams album (Kaleidoscope) which was produced by RM is a masterclass in bass, musicality and production not to mention singing lol! Cant recommend it highly enough.

Great stuff but what're you on about @bubinga5? Literally the first note he plays is the archetypical fretless "slide up and apply vibrato" I'm sure that like loads of us of a certain age, he was influenced even if only subconsciously by Jaco - just listen to the harmonic chords he throws in towards the middle - but he uses it well.

Huge influence, huge loss. Another one of the greats gone.

Why? It’ll rarely be exactly the same but certainly in the ball park. Not sure that rotundity makes much difference- ask me how I know. 😀

Ideally, your strap should hold the bass at roughly the same position on your body as it is when you sit on a chair and rest it on your knee to play. I think it's likely a combination of playing too hard and/or for too long at a time. If your fingers are sore then you've already overdone it. Short practise sessions often would be better. Check out the nickel thing as well- two of my basses are currently strung with nickel wound strings and I am experiencing what you describe when I play either of them for more than about an hour. Will be changing them over to Stainless Steel as soon as I get round to it.

That is interesting. Think if I’d had two pairs it would have been more viable but they were expensive in those days. Not an entirely dissimilar approach to the Phil Jones stuff.

Mmmm!

Interesting thread… my view on amplification has always been that it is generally there just to reproduce faithfully the sound of your instruments to whatever volume level is required. Once I find something I’m happy with I tend to lose all interest unless something breaks so here goes. mid 70s-young and looking for a sound Marshall 100w Solid State into two 1x15 homemade cabs- did a job but not great Maine (remember them?) 150w? Head into two Carlsbro folded horn + tweeter bins -still not there Acoustic 370/ 301 rig- now we’re talking! Only issue was the truncated top end- increasingly not bright enough for me I owned a pair of Bose 802 P.A. cabs and used to run the 370 through them on small quiet gigs -great sound but limited in volume. 1980s Trace Elliot AH150, 7band preamp, power side upgraded to 300w into two Traynor full range P.A. cabs- RCF 15s and Foster Horns This rig kept me happy for over a decade through my most prolific gigging period. Mid 1990s Down sized due to function band buying big stage monitor setup with everything going through P.A. Trace Elliot 1x10 Commando? Combo- the ones with the solid front with an open slot. It was awful! Ampeg SVP pro preamp into Peavey CS800 into 2x Acme Low B2s- awesome full range rig. Pre and power amp in case were back-breakingly heavy- this was pre widespread class D availability. 2000s PJB Briefcase for the house- started using it for small acoustic gigs Genz Benz ShuttleMax 12.2 into the LowB2s for bigger gigs PJB Double4 for carrying out to house rehearsals- even use it for the smallest of gigs. That’s where I am- I don’t see me buying another piece of bass amplification again barring irreparable failure of something.

Didn’t realise you were on here Kevin. Fantastic playing and feel as ever!

This thread has sent me down a rabbit hole of Ornette Coleman/ Chris Walker/ Al Jarreau so thanks for that. Watching the original video again I just noticed that Chris Walkers XL2 also has a TransTrem fitted- close up at 11:10.

Yes it’s an XM2 but also quite a rarity as it’s got the TransTrem bridge. You can see the whammy bar clearly around 22:30. So that made it officially an XM2T.

Some batches of GHS strings were known to be out of spec I think in the 90s or early 2000s but I never personally had an issue with any strings until very recently. Bought a few sets of Elites Stadium strings through eBay. Changed them at a rehearsal and the A and D couldn’t be brought up to pitch. Barry at the Bass Centre has taken the strings back and confirmed that they have been supplied a bad batch by the manufacturer. It’s confined to the .060 and .080 strings from the medium gauge stainless steel round wound sets (.040- .100) They’re organising a new production run and will be restocking as soon as possible. My Status which has the newer style individual bridge/ tuners had enough range to bring the faulty strings to pitch but three of my original Steinbergers couldn’t. Stellar service from the Bass Centre accepting liability especially bearing in mind I had a long gap between actually buying the strings and fitting them- bought them last August and only tried them a few weeks ago.

Phew. 😀

Too young to be thinking about giving up. Do you write / record? If not, now might be a good time to get into that- brilliant results can be had with little financial outlay. As others have suggested, expand your musical horizons with a different instrument. My personal suggestions would be Chapman Stick or Linnstrument. Either of these will give you plenty of food for thought and if mastered even to a not particularly virtuosic level will open musical doors you may not even have been aware we’re there. Music is like riding a bike- it’ll always be there ready to come to the fore. You can do it as little or as much as you want- there are no rules. Most of all, don’t overthink things. I’m sure you’ll sort it out.

Watched that video a few weeks ago and must admit it made me laugh. It’s Verdine White! He’s probably done more high profile/ pressure gigs and recordings than the commentator has had hot dinners. He’s a very groovy player. Was the part improvised? Partially/ probably. Was it a deliberate rhythmic choice? Almost certainly. The part is so up front and exposed there’s no way that he or the rest of the band or producer would have left something they weren’t happy with. What I find interesting is how tastes are changing. The same song got a hit from Scott’s Bass Lessons for being in the top 10 worst bass sounds on a record or something like that. Seems like the quest for uniformity trumps variety nowadays or am I just a bit grumpy tonight. Anyway, I think it sounds great and was played impeccably.

Still listen to the first album regularly today- brilliant fretless Wal- ing played with a pick too!

That's a cracker!