Mrbigstuff

It's a good groove but it's built just using octaves and chromatic runs. Guy Pratt uses similar stuff in this song:

Yep! It’s an Overwater. There’s a lot of fretless on this thread, maybe they are easier to fall in love with?

Tough because I have two of sentimental value but this build is probably more so and a fantastic bass.

My issue with tapping is, in the main you lose a lot of tone, ie. it often sounds weak and timid.

Sitting here playing my P bass i agree with this although I do try and share the load of practice at home between my 3 but it basically comes down to: P bass 90% of the time, Fretless when I feel fancy and the jazz for when I'm learning a slap tune because it nails the MM tone.

I’m guessing it’s easy to take the arms off?

I have 20+ physical bass books and another 10 or so digital. I always seem to revert to standing in the shadows of James Jameson

I need to change my answer. Just seen Andy Baxter Bass post this 1964 Jazz 😍

1. Ken Smith BSR Black tiger 5 string 2. Warwick thumb NT 5 string 3. A decent 70’s jazz bass - either black or natural or LPB

They have a new thin line semi hollow body which you would think would be lighter. Not a conventional looking bass but I really like it. I can’t remember the body wood on my J4 but it is lighter than alder and they suggested it was a lighter price in their stockpile. Unfortunately I don’t have any scales. Edit: added a pic because I think it looks great.

Another happy Overwater customer here. I had a fretless J built for only a tad more than a standard Fender Jaco artist bass. It’s my second Overwater after I sold the J5 due to not getting on with 35” scale and needing the money. i think they drop so much in value due to the fact they are custom made to someone’s preferences.

Trying to remember exactly what I have used on that bass. I know I’ve used Overwater’s own strings on it, a set of D’addarios, Thomastik flats and I think there might have been a set of Dunlop’s. I haven’t used DR sunbeams on that bass but remember liking them on a different fretless.

So how’s everyone getting on? I’ve put the nickels through quite a bit of bedroom playing over lockdown and really enjoy the feel and vintage tone. There is a lot of warmth but also clarity and I would say they are more characterful than what I was using before. they’re still going for now but I reckon I’ll be buying again when they eventually die off.

Brilliant find. I’ve got terrible thumb gas atm but I’m still not in a position to get one

It’s likely to be a commission sale so I guess they’ll put it at what the seller wants + 20%. If it doesn’t sell then that’s the sellers problem not theirs.

This is what Chris Wolstenholme once said but I think that’s horseshit. Some people will buy a guitar to play every now and again and some people will play 350 shows a year. Some people will keep the guitar safe in a case away from radiators, others don’t mind a bit of wear.

You might be right about a straight neck actually so you can get the zingy sound. ive currently got a very aggressive setup on a squier VMJ to get Marcus Miller’s slap sound. It sounds killer in that setup for slap but really lacklustre for finger style. It’s got Dunlop steels.

I can’t see a blue bass....

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it but when thinking about the players listed above setup is hugely important for an aggressive tone. IME you need a bit of clatter for when the string smacks back against the fretboard, so a bit of relief is favourable. Also IME stainless steel strings are the way to go. When I had my Stingray (was in a flea faze) I had the GHS boomers and for the first week they were seriously aggressive. Almost punk sounding - which was a big influence on Flea as I’m sure most know. Now days I favour a clean sound on two of the basses so have my action a bit higher and flats/ nylon strings.

They are relatively easy to sell if you need cash quickly and don’t lose too much in value. That was my reasoning anyway.

Fantastic basses!

What’s the top on the right one?

It’s worth pointing out my Stingray was a 2006 3EQ. I don’t think this was a particularly good production period and the 3EQ wasn’t punchy compared to the newest classic and special models. I haven’t played an older one but the 80s/ 90s models with 2EQ are supposed to be aggressive. In fact that’s what I loved about the USA SUB basses.

Ken certainly sees it that Ken Smith basses are all down to the design and finish. I thought Vinny worked in Ken’s shop On the whole build but ken’s quoted here saying Vinny just did the carving separately. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/did-vinnie-fodera-backstabs-ken-smith.802514/

I’ve only owned a thumb and stingray. Out of those two the thumb was much more powerful across the board.