Chris2112

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' post='1323072' date='Aug 1 2011, 01:49 PM']surely you´d keep it wouldnt you??[/quote] When it looks as crap as that I suspect you'd give it away or burn it! That bass looks like a crappy fake to me.

What are the prices like? And does he do black hardware?

[quote name='stewblack' post='1324477' date='Aug 2 2011, 04:28 PM']BTW did Mr Taylor play an Aria back in the day or is that my old man's memory playing tricks?[/quote] He did. He has a Peavey signature model these days IIRC, and he was playing Kubicki Ex Factors for a while too. They sounded bloody great!

here's my old Alembic There'll be a new fretless coming soon too!

[quote name='fatboyslimfast' post='1321190' date='Jul 30 2011, 11:42 AM']Then buy a 2nd hand one off a local basschatter - he/she'll help you see what it can do, and you'll probably get a brew to boot![/quote] Indeed, and you'll get excellent value for money too. Look at that LAG going on here for £550! And when I bought my Alembic Epic for £600!

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1320664' date='Jul 29 2011, 05:18 PM']so why are they the best then?[/quote] Just listen to them play...!

The album is from the 'Groovemasters' series, which is typically just two acoustic guitarists playing off each other so an album of fretless bass and acoustic guitar is a bit of a break for the Groovemasters idea. The rest of the albums aren't so great but the Cullen/Manring one really is awesome. When Michael was actively using Talkbass I used to tell him all the time about how awesome it was!

[quote name='wombatboter' post='1320013' date='Jul 29 2011, 07:39 AM']I used to work in a music shop and I know what visitors do but it's part of the enthusiasm of certain players...You can't blame someone when he finally has the opportunity to play the bass of his dreams to unpack everything he's got..[/quote] This hits the nail right on the head. And with all due respect, I suspect aside from Mike Flynn that Geert is probably the best bassist on Basschat. If you've ever seen his youtube videos you'll know what I mean! So if he is ok with it...

[quote name='akabane' post='1319521' date='Jul 28 2011, 05:11 PM']I second Michael Manring. A seriously great musician, abusing his fretless.[/quote] Manring has always been one of my favourite fretless players. Today I was finally able to download his [i]Equilibre[/i] album with David Cullen. It's such a simple concept; Cullen plays a classical guitar and Manring accompanies with great fretless playing. He's left the weird tunings and tricks to one side (as great as they are) and just plays fretless bass like an absolute master. His tone, feel and phrasing is just incredible. The track below is the opener of the album, seriously cool with a great laid back vibe. The bass is really what ties it all together in the most amazing way. The bloke doing the bass cover isn't bad either. When I get my next fretless I'll be spending a lot of time on this album.

I don't see what the big deal is with some gratuitous slapping in a music shop. Especially the 16th note machine gun party trick stuff. For one thing, you're probably not going to have a drummer present and unless you're a regular performer of various classical pieces, graceful [i]sonatas[/i] and [i]etudes[/i] are likely to be beyond you, especially sitting there with a bass you're unfamiliar with on an amp that probably isn't as good as the one you've got at home. In lieu of a drummer giving it 4/4 and a band to back up, I don't see the problem with this sort of slap. It at least lets you test the threshold of the bass, namely that, should you ever be required to play some absurdly fast slap it'll perform. For example, if you pick up a Thunderbird and slap it'll sound like dung so you'll leave that bass at home when Mark King sprains his wrist and you get the call to fill in for him. I guess pretty much every bassist loves some music shop [i]game[/i], whether they admit to it or not. If you feel that you don't like it, you're likely drawn towards it at a subconcious level simply because someone who can slap with a high level of technical profficiency is entertaining and cool.

Amazing tune too!

[quote name='thodrik' post='1316203' date='Jul 25 2011, 08:24 PM']Personally, I can't don't like Warwick basses[/quote] Thodrik in 'some people don't like certain basses' shocker! As for loudandclear, he's 'clearly' pissed as he seems to be unable to use grammar or even read what people are posting!

[quote name='urb' post='1257142' date='Jun 5 2011, 09:56 AM']Something I posted earlier - hope you'll excuse the repost Cheers Mike[/quote] Awesome stuff Mike. Love the solo and your tone is great. I've seen that your old Thumb has come up for sale on the boards. I loved that bass, sounded awesome with the Schack preamp in it. Almost tempted to buy it myself!

[quote name='risingson' post='1315976' date='Jul 25 2011, 05:25 PM']Walter Becker for example: probably one of the biggest audiophiles in popular music and notoriously one of the most demanding people to work with. Sonic clarity and perfection mean everything in his music. You think he'd be okay taking average gear to the studio and to live performances? Something doesn't add up there.[/quote] But then you must consider that everyone doesn't like the same things. I love Status Graphite basses, I always have and I consider them 'the best' at what they do. On the other hand, there are plenty of people who dislike headless basses, dislike the graphite sound, dislike the image etc etc. So what works for me doesn't work for everyone else. However, I've played plenty of high end jazz basses though typically they are not what I'm after. Looking at it objectively, Sadowsky basses have always struck me as average as far as jazz basses go. Surely a case of different vinegar strokes for different folks, as Roger has had order books filled out for his basses over 20 years now. But they've never really impressed me.

[quote name='risingson' post='1315860' date='Jul 25 2011, 03:52 PM']As far as I'm aware (with the probable exception of Will Lee and Walter Becker) endorsements from Sadowsky don't really exist, which means that these very capable and longstanding pros are investing their money in a product that they like. Not liking a product is one thing, but I doubt anyone could argue that Sadowskys are an average product.[/quote] But then you could say the same of any high end bass builder; they are in business because people pay for their instruments. I feel there is a much more convincing case to be made for Sadowsky basses being average than simply saying you don't like them. They're not unplayable wrecks, but they're not spectacular either. As far as jazz basses go, they are a fairly average product. Very expensive and no better than the cheaper competition these days. Perhaps this was not the case 15 or 20 years ago, in fact I can quite imagine that was the case before the boutique jazz bass took off.

Well, it's not my fault Sadowsky makes an average product!

Never owned a Wal but I've played plenty and had a couple of loan from friends. On the other hand, I had the pleasure of owning an Alembic Epic fretless and I've played plenty of Series basses and a Stanley Clarke over the years. The Wals were probably the ones I preferred, based on sound alone. The Mk2 being my favourite of the Wal basses (though the Mk3 is great too and should have been more popular). As far as the filters go, I always found the Wal more tonally 'characteristic' than the Alembic. No matter how you twiddled it, it always sounded very much like a 'Wal'. I also loved the pick attack function. The Alembics on the other hand were a different matter. The controls I initially found a bit confusing, much like with my ACG. The wood working was somewhat more ornate, though in terms of fit and finish there was never a great gulf between the basses and I found the Wals to be very well made indeed. The Alembics tended to have a slimmer neck profile (the SC had that very slim 'Banjo' feeling that Stanley apparently loves) and some of the Wals have a distinctive 'V' to the neck. My Epic in particular had a wide, flat beck on the back that was very comfortable. Weight wise, there wasn't much in it. I never had problems with Alembics neck diving but I tend to wear my basses quite high. My Epic didn't come with any fancy filters but the woodworking was excellent, and it played beautifully. I don't think I've ever played another fretless bass with action so low that sounded so full and clean. It was a joy to own!

[quote name='Toasted' post='1314320' date='Jul 23 2011, 11:02 PM']You have to read chris's posts about Sadowsky basses whilst craning around the chip on his shoulder.[/quote] No, but you do have to be able to accept that I'm not going to join the fawning masses just because of the name on the headstock. An average jazz bass with massive price tag doesn't really make sense. I'm struggling to think of a Sandberg I've played that wasn't more impressive than a Sadowsky in almost every regard.