Chris2112

It's just a shame they don't make their 'Slapper' bass anymore, it was headless with a carbon fibre neck and Bartolini pickups IIRC. A very special bass indeed!

Ibanez SR basses popped straight to mind for their slim necks, small bodies and light weight. They're not a million miles away from what you're already enjoying.

This rings of "newbie bassist". The fact is, the bass that is best for you is what you should be taking, as the initial question is akin to "how long is a piece of string". That said, I'd take the jazz but it doesn't really matter as you won't really be able to tell what bass you're playing once you've got the requisite distortion ladled on.

I've always liked Roscoe basses, the combination of fine woods, and interesting body shape and Bartolini pickups is a cornerstone of American bass design! I can remember when Roscoe basses weren't widely available in the UK, but since they have become available over here their prices have started looking a tad unrealistic for me. They are very pricey and I think, as far as getting the best bang to buck goes, you can get a lot mire for your money. Either that or buy used, as their value really seems to plummet on the used market to a level more in line with other basses. It's fair to say few basses hold their value on the used market. Unless it's a special case bass like a Wal, a Fodera or a Ken Smith you'll always lose money.

I've never seen a cover band able to do a good version of 'You Can Call Me Al' by Paul Simon. It usually down to a number of factors, things like the keys sound never being bright enough and just sounding wrong. The guitarist never gets their sound right either. The drums are never played with enough punch or insistency. But the main failing is usually the bass, probably because I'm so familiar with what it should be like. The biggest problem is usually players using a fretted bass. It just sounds wrong from the off. And the bass solo is a massive stumbling block, but I'd rather see something than naff bands where the song stops and rather than have any bass solo the guitarist or the keyboard player fluffs out a bar of nonsense.

This sort of thing has always annoyed me. Usually I find it's bored keyboard players who are the worst for it. They'll whack on some big, fat, square wave bass sound and double up basslines with no feel or groove, meaning the whole song ends up sounding like some crap pub band. Luckily it hasn't happened very often, because I've been fortunate to avoid playing music with bellends most of the time.

Well, it just goes to show that everyone can have a bad day.

Get a Streamer or a Thumb. There are various Streamers that can be had for decent prices, mainly LX models but with a few Jazzman models in there too. I paid £590 for a bolt on Thumb two years ago, it was a 1999 model in mint condition; they are fantastic deals. I would avoid the Corvettes personally because I don't like the shape or the pickup placement. The best Warwick IMO is the Thumb, thats what Warwick is all about. I'd avoid any of the $$ models or any model which uses a lot of ash wood, like the ash bodied Corvette Standards. They just don't sound quite 'Warwick' to me!

Makes them sound better too!

[quote name='dc2009' post='1332973' date='Aug 8 2011, 11:38 PM']They found £90m for Somalia, which went out on the quiet, and sure enraged me enough, I'd hope they could find some for their own people.[/quote] We shouldn't be giving a penny to Somalia, we need the cash here.

They're fairly good basses. I've owned two of the jazz basses and found them quite enjoyable.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1332412' date='Aug 8 2011, 05:16 PM']We can't all have Chris2112's chops can we? [/quote] You know me Pete, always fumbling in the style of Mark King or Geddy Lee or whatever else takes my fancy!

Flatwounds. I can think of about one musical situation where I would want to use them and then after that, no.

[quote name='Conan' post='1331992' date='Aug 8 2011, 01:12 PM']Cool story Chris! It also looks very like the Status on the covers pics of Level 42's "A Physical Presence". Nice bass mate![/quote] And I reckon that bass is probably the one played in the video below, which looks superb.

[quote name='Roland Rock' post='1331998' date='Aug 8 2011, 01:17 PM']As opposed to not made? [/quote] Pardon me, I meant well made. I considered buying one when they were new.

My brother sent me a link to a video of a Status Graphite bass being played on youtube yesterday. He said "that looks good, like your bass". I told him I'd watched that video many times and I loved the bass and I'd always wanted to own one that looked like that! When I told my brother the serial number of my bass, #487, it transpired that my bass was the bass in the video! So now I know it's been to South America on tour, and spent most of it's life in storage, which explains how it's in such amazing condition!

I have to say, those TRB1006 basses always felt very made. Great deals!

[quote name='ossie' post='1331462' date='Aug 7 2011, 10:18 PM']shall we start one of these on Jonas Hellborg then? (I like his playing). [/quote] Well, Jonas has used a few basses over the years. Various Wal, Status, Warwick, Sound of Sweden basses etc etc. But I have to say that his Status signature model was the best sounding bass of the lot by a long shot. Absolutely incredible tone, and a massive influence on my sound.

I have long been saying that guitars are where graphite should be headed next. I wish Status would bring back their Series II shaped guitars!

[quote name='jacko' post='1331363' date='Aug 7 2011, 08:46 PM']I'm in a pub / wedding covers band and I only ever play alembics :-)[/quote] I've seen Alembics put to great use in Wedding bands. One bloke used to bring a nice Alembic Stanley Clarke to the hotel where I worked. Only ever brought the one bass, never fiddled with it's myriad controls and played with the bridge pickup soloed all night long. Sounded marvellous too! But even he described it as his 'posh bass', and I can quite agree! I'm not sure I'd want to play a £4000 bass at a pub either. I'm sure the good people of Basschat have plenty of stories about equipment and instruments being damaged whilst playing at pubs! Mind you, I'd have played my Alembic at a pub, but then it cost me £600 so I'd not have a heart attack if it suffered a small ding or whatever. If you head over to a jazz club and try and catch some electric fusion you can spy some amazing basses. I suppose there you're guaranteed a quiet, appreciative crowd who want to listen to the music, rather than just get drunk and dance (and to be fair, this crowd appears plenty at wedding and fucntion gigs too!). In such a setting, you'd no doubt feel much more comfortable playing an expensive bass.

[quote name='risingson' post='1331253' date='Aug 7 2011, 07:11 PM']The problem has less to do with this stupid and tired 'tatty gear' argument and more to do with the fact that you're unable to accept that for some people, that's the kind of gear that suits their music the best and can be the most functional for what they're doing.[/quote] You seem to be missing the point I'm making, which is, as I often say, [i]different vinegar strokes for different folks[/i]. If you play in an Indie band a Fodera will be wasted on you. If you're playing Mustang Sally at the Dog and Bollock, you're not going to need an Alembic Series II. So it's always best to choose whats best for you, and what suits you. Of course, that is not always going to suit my tastes...but then its not my bass and I'm not the one playing it. That said, risingson, I know how you like to throw yourself on the pyre and take issue with everything I say so I expect you to miss my point entirely. Indeed, if you understood it how would you ever complain?

[quote name='dc2009' post='1328445' date='Aug 5 2011, 11:02 AM']Post above is interesting. Trying to sell my bass on TB I've been told a couple of times it's overpriced, and yet on here I've been told it's a silly price to let it go for and that I'm mad letting it go for that price.... The sheer volume of extra bass players in the states sure brings down the market value and very much increases a) the number of boutqiue basses in circulation in the US, and the numbers of instruments sold each week/day/month etc.[/quote] I suppose thats Talkbass/the US for you though. Talkbass in general is very accepting of boutique basses and generally they are better received there than over here with the usual 'coffee table' comments. That said, I suppose there is a wider market for professional musicians there than there is here. We're in the grip of indie rock and the pub-banger scene is huge in the UK which often equates to tatty gear. As far as I can tell, the studio scene in the US is better and there is a massive Gospel scene too where boutique basses are par for the course. Not to mention a livelier fusion scene too. I think it's a concept that the Americans have had far more time to understand than we have. They've seen the boom of handmade basses over their since the late 70's/early 80's. At that time, the big luthiers of the UK like Status and Jaydee were associated with Mark King, for better at the time and probably for worse a few years later when Level 42 were seen as old hat. That said, we've had a few great luthiers over the years like Status, and Wal - who took over the 80's pop scene with their basses! But I suppose our British conservatism has seen old Fenders remain popular. Not to say that they're not popular in the US, just that in the US those who can appreciate the benefits of a custom bass have been better set to voice their opinion and spread the good word! I must have played shedloads of Fenders over the years but the fact has always been clear to me: for the same money as I could buy a Fender I can get a handmade bass that looks better, sounds better, feels better and is a bit special. I don't just love my handmade basses because they're awesome instruments, I love the fact that they're special and something a bit different.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1331158' date='Aug 7 2011, 06:16 PM']Only the albums sound different to me thats why I said live, When I have seen them bash out old tunes live wether he be playing on his Modulus or Jazz they sounded pretty close to the sound on the track from years before the only common factor, Flea [/quote] I suppose in the mess of a live situation you can lose that refinement that lets you tell one bass from another, especially if the sound guy is asleep at the board!

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1330795' date='Aug 7 2011, 11:44 AM']So, which stores here will order you a Metro 'new'? Eg one that's not been on the hanger for 9 months... I asked GuitarGuitar and I felt like they couldn't be bothered.[/quote] I think they'd probably be happier clearing one off the pegs rather than ordering you a new one. That said, they shouldn't grumble about ordering stuff in as a sale is a sale, and I've never had a problem when ordering an item in from them.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1330328' date='Aug 6 2011, 08:47 PM']Flea to my knowledge has used live Wal, Musicman 2 and 3 EQ versions, Modulus graphite neck basses and Fender Jazz basses, Sounds just like the record everytime [/quote] But even then he sounded different on each bass. His Wal didn't sound like his Alembic, which didn't sound like his Spector, which didn't sound like his Musicman, which didn't sound like his Modulus! Similarly, looking back over the basses I've had, my Kubicki didn't sound like my ACG, which didn't sound like my Spector, which didn't sound like my Warwick, which didn't sound like my Status (any of them!), which didn't sound like my Alembic etc etc. Though if you heard me playing it you'd know it was me every time. In that way, I think people can get confused with the sound of the music/playing and the sound of the actual instrument.