Jerry_B

Can anyone recommend a decent strap that can handle the T-40s weight?

[quote name='thunderbird13' post='777537' date='Mar 17 2010, 03:26 PM']One day someone will do research and discover what is it that makes the majority of people in bands behave like t**ts. Still at least[/quote] It's called the 'Bono Conjecture'.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='777392' date='Mar 17 2010, 01:49 PM']Mid 20s to Mid 30s. Not exactly teenagers.[/quote] Well, it ridiculous that they think you're old, in comparison to their age. Perhaps they think that if they all appear roughly in the same age group they'll get more groupies...? Send them to a Henry Rollins gig and dare them to shout 'Old man!' at him...

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='777346' date='Mar 17 2010, 01:25 PM']Sorry for psychiatrists couch moment...... been a bad week in bass land. I'm not the greatest player in the world - far from it. I've been playing for less that 10 years and now I've been told I'm "too old" too. Great.[/quote] How old are the rest of the band?

[quote name='Clarky' post='777371' date='Mar 17 2010, 01:37 PM']You mean too old to remember the notes? [/quote] That makes it Modern Jazz

Be great to play 'The Pink Room' from 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me'...

Probably induces bowel movements at 30 paces...

I like their EC series, especially the EC-104...

I used pure Tung oil on mine. After a few coats - and once it dries - it's a very good finish and tough too.

Here's mine. Well, not actually on the settee...

Seems to have the same sort of pups as my Spectrum DX...? If so, I bet it sounds great with two of them (and active extras?)...

[quote name='Clarky72' post='775637' date='Mar 15 2010, 08:25 PM']Maybe its a frankenstein then? It could have neck and body from two different Aria's?[/quote] The body shape is pretty darn similar to a Westone Spectrum DX - just slight differences in the length/pointyness of the horns. Not that I'm saying it's a DX body, but somtimes there seems to be design similarities across these different types. Pup shape is also similar, for example.

[quote name='Jigster' post='775684' date='Mar 15 2010, 09:01 PM']hey thanks for that, really kind offer - but i think referencing Jerry B's reply I think I should start with a lined fretless - i'm sure it's going to be a huge leap in my abilities so will need as much help as poss!!![/quote] I reckon it's best to jump in at the deep end and go with an unlined fretless. Otherwise you'll waste a tad too much time trying to get your brain to not recognise frets being there when they are, as such (on a lined fretless). An unlined also tends to make your ear and your intuitive sense of playing much sharper, and it's best to learn that from the get-go. It's not as scary as it looks! If anything it frees up your playing and after a while you don't think to much about the mechanics of playing as it becomes more of a gut feel/instinct.

Fretless Pbasses don't seem so common - unlined fretless Pbasses even less so. Are you after a lined or unlined fretless?

Well, I dunno about that. It is possible to find a bass that suits you as a player and you like how it sounds right across the board. This is why I'm sold on the T-40. I now don't need nor want any other basses apart from a fretless I have - but only because I can't get my hands (yet) on a fretless T-40...

I've always thought EB strings are a bit too rough.

Boss Heavy Metal HM-2. You can get some very sharp sounding distortion out of it.

Awhile I was going to buy one of those and bung in some Wizard pups (some Thumpers and a Hammer) to beef it up. It's a nice bass I reckon, but the pups are a bit lacking in oompf.

I'm 99% happy with my Peavey T-40. I'll be 100% happy once I have a truss rod key for it and can then get it's neck fixed just how I like. Apart from the fretless I have I don't need any other basses at all, as the T-40 suits all of my needs exactly. Which is nice.

But Jaco's stuff sounds dead to me. Sure, maybe it's technically good but to my ears it doesn't really set off any fireworks. So 'feel' is really always going to be relative to one's own tastes. I've heard fretless playing that gets my synapses zapping, and none of it's any of Jaco's stuff. Each to their own though.

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='770870' date='Mar 10 2010, 08:11 PM']I know this is always going to be SO subjective, but I'm of the opinion that "feel" really counts when all the other elements are not there - someone just holding down a really simple I V or a walking bass but making it sound just right and being "in the pocket. So far, it's the reggae examples (plus Zappa) that are doin it for me - not to take anything away from the groove based examples but perhaps in those cases the feel is not the key element.[/quote] I always see feel as the bass player chucking his all into what he's playing - be that riffs, or whatever. This is why I posted a Lightning Bolt tune - the bass player (the band is just him and a drummer) puts in 100%. Simple enough riffs perhaps, but it's the overall feel and drive that makes it work.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUHsBuCKSdI"]'I Will Refuse' - Pailhead[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNj7ZyZy7cw"]'Touch Me I'm Sick' - Mudhoney[/url]

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='770646' date='Mar 10 2010, 05:16 PM']I am eternally grateful that there are 'anti-Fender' people out there - everyone should have their own voice (+ it leaves more of the originals to fellas like me!).[/quote] Fenders are okay. I've yet to see 100% why they're better than anyone else, as such. Out of all the Fenders I've tried, I still like my MIJ one the most, even tho' I guess that's not a 'proper' Jazz. The T-40 beats all of them, I reckon...

[quote name='largo' post='770300' date='Mar 10 2010, 12:46 PM']IMO, it's smoke & mirrors.... If you look long enough you'll find a £500 Fender that's as good as the best vintage Fender. All this hunting around to find a good one is true, but that's the same for every bass guitar isn't it. The only reason for owning a vintage instrument is the "vintage" appeal and yes, I would love a 60's Precision for that reason alone. I don't ever imagine it'll play like butter, have a nice low action and a preamp that I can dial in a variety of tones. I don't expect it to have a 5th string, or a fancy wood top or even for it to be unmarked. It's a lump of wood with some metalic strings, creating a current through copper wire & magnets that's then fed through an amplifier. It's all in our heads, but we all love our bass guitars and so the appeal to some is owning a piece of Fender history ! Just my opinion of course [/quote] But if one compares it to - say, classical instruments, or cars, or various other things - the rules seems fairly similar. That is, what you're buying into is perhaps the build quality of any given era, a particular maker, and perhaps also some sort of historical context that it may fit into. Add to that the human imagination, and thus objects which are intrinsically fairly innocuous or simple have a value tagged to them. I don't think basses will dodge these factors any more than other 'vintage' objects.