Chris2112

Simon would buzz and say "indulgent rubbish, jazz fusion should be left to the 1970's".

Those JD Thumbs are cool, got any pictures?

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='852806' date='May 31 2010, 06:24 PM']Dear Bass Agony Aunt I've been playing for some years in a covers bands, where we do a mixture of classic songs, mainly rock, pop and funk. Over the last few months I've found my playing getting busier and busier. It started with the odd finger pop and has now progressed to actual slapping in inappropriate numbers. I've been warned about this a few times by the other band members and am in danger of losing my place in the band. Please help.[/quote] Dear Pete, You have reached the level of playing ability where you are no longer content to merely plod on the root note. Get yourself some Level 42 records and start honing your chops, as you've ascended to a new tier of bassplaying.

1) My 1989 Kubicki Ex-Factor, #1659. I also used to have #1777, but I have to say I prefer this one by a small margin, so I won't include both (but I could). Incredible playability, great looks, fantastic technology, brilliant tone. The beginning and end of fretted basses for me. 2) My Alembic Epic fretless: quite frankly, this bass is ridiculously good. The most incredible wenge top I have ever seen, bolstered by a "no corners cut" design ethic. It just sings like no other bass, and I can't seem to put it down these days. Even the Kubicki can go a few days without a play with this baby around! 3) my Status Stealth 6 String: This was my first 6 string, and was an absolutely amazing bass. I sold it, but if I could get it back I would and I will definitely own a Status bass again at some point! 4) My 1999 Warwick Thumb BO: Got this for a steal in absolutely mint condition. It played well, it sounded amazing and it was my go to bass for nearly a year. I said I'd never let it go, but then I never thought I'd have the chance to trade it for a Kubicki either! 5) I wasn't sure if I should include this or my old Status Matrix bass, but it has to be this, simply because I will never forget how blown away I felt when I first played it. The sound was just beyond good and it played well too. In (another) moment of madness, I let it go pretty cheap. 6) And I really have to include this too, my Musicman Sabre "special", simply because it is so gorgeous I could look at it all day. And with a SD Musicman replacement tone circuit and pickup, it sounds beautiful. Fat but with a great burpy definition. Lovely bubinga body, 1980 Sabre neck, gold schaller tuners, ebony control knobs, brass hardware, Thuja burl top, African Kingwood fretboard...

I don't think I could be a session player simply because I like having a steady wage. However, stylistically, I'd like to think I'd give it a good go. I usually play jazz fusion and 1980's pop music, so I'd like to think my chops were held in reasonable condition and that I'd be able to give most things a shot.

[quote name='tarcher' post='852406' date='May 31 2010, 10:28 AM']Entwhistle was playing solos while Jaco was still in nappys.[/quote] They were of course dire, and without getting into [i]that[/i] argument, I reckon Jaco could have played John under the table when he was in nappies...

[quote name='Buzz' post='851918' date='May 30 2010, 04:51 PM']Part of the value of Entwistles' was due to his fame and popularity, Jaco simply doesn't have that and won't command the same price imo.[/quote] However, Jaco was much more talented and ten times cooler, so the price of the bass doesn't really matter! However, it's very, very cool of Rob to step in and sort this out.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='847097' date='May 25 2010, 01:43 AM']Who here is convinced that Vic Wooten cannot find better amplification than Hartke?[/quote] Well, they're certainly held in high regard. Stu Hamm got his best tone from them back in the day and has recently gone back to them, citing it as being something of a "homecoming" with his amps. So if Victor and Stu are playing through Hartke, and remembering they're two of the best bassists in the world, I'm inclined to believe they're pleased with the product.

Yes, this is the £600 Alembic! To be honest, I wasn't really thinking of getting a 5 string again as I'm more of a four player, but for £600 I couldn't afford to be too choosey! However, having a low B now is a nice addition, and it helps that it's as full and rich as a piano! I can live without a low B but it's always nice to have a low B available and the Alembic does it brilliantly. Usually I'd head straight for a 4 but I wouldn't change this bass for the world, it just feels "right" as it is. I once thought I had done well getting a Trace Elliot head and a Trace 4X10" cab for £350, but this feels like an even better deal! I didn't do too badly on the Sabre fretless either, that cost me £500, and I'm sure the parts alone are worth nearly that, if not more given the 1980 Sabre neck!

It's a Thuja top, according the luthier (our very own Shaggy), the most expensive top available at the dealer by some margin! Looks gorgeous though. The pictures bring out a bit of orange in it and saturate it, it looks "deeper" and slightly darker in person.

Usually when I have a Kubicki in my hand, they just feel "made for me", and if they are good enough for Stuart Hamm, they're good enough for me! I've been gutted ever since I got rid of my first one so its good to have another! EDIT: Said objects of affection:

I wouldn't go for a defretted bass. Unless the job has been done by the best, it never looks perfect IMO, and when there are so many nice fretless basses on the shelf already... I'm quite fortunate at the moment that I've managed to get two lovely fretless basses into my collection, my fretless Alembic Epic and a fretless Musicman Sabre "special" as I call it, due to it's custom roots. The Alembic is now my most played bass, and the Musicman is up for sale, but having a choice between two fretless basses is awesome. I used to play more fretted bass than fretless, but I guess now about 60-70% of my time is spent playing fretless! I absolutely love it too, its taken my bass playing to a whole new place these past few years. And here are some of the Alembic, I really need to take my own though...

Oh, I believe Stanley is the best upright player around, but I still don't dig it much! However, Ronald is a fierce drummer, I absolutely love him. He plays with such fire, like a young Jeff Sipe. Sounds like a bloody artillery battery on the kit!

Sadly, most of the tracks on the sampler sound pretty bland. However, I'm sure these 30 second clips are never a good way to judge a record. He'll have a hard job beating "The Toys of Men". He'll have to work even harder to do better than the Animal Logic records, they are just incredible.

Terrible shame this. Paul was always one of my favourite metal bassists. What a tone he used to get with those Thumbs! When "Slipknot" came out, it was never out of my CD player and it remains one of my favourite records to this day.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='847056' date='May 24 2010, 11:47 PM']#2 I've asked specifically in this thread about whether graphite necks can make dead spot problems completely go away, and this is the first response I've had. Dead spots are a big deal to me because I use a lot of effects and dead spots are quickly shown up by tracking effects like the ubiquitous Boss OC-2, rendering certain notes in certain positions useless. Do graphite necks eliminate this issue? Other graphite neck bass users seem less than keen to endorse this particular performance improvement.[/quote] Both the basses I had with graphite necks were headed, and both were free of dead spots. In fact, the Status Stealth, which was essentially a bass made of graphite, is without a doubt the most full and even sounding of all the basses I have ever owned.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='846706' date='May 24 2010, 06:03 PM']And I'm sure if the default neck material was carbon fibre everybody would be using carbon fibre. But it isn't. Why isn't it? Because wood doesn't need replacing.[/quote] I disagree. I think if all basses could come with graphite necks, they'd receive much wider praise. Of course though, its cost that stops this being possible. Just imagine all the cheapo basses that could have benefited from a nice graphite neck! If not just for the tone, for the stability and dead-spot-destroying effect they give!

[quote name='BigRedX' post='845855' date='May 23 2010, 04:36 PM']Why does it have to be wood [i]or[/i] graphite?[/quote] Well, there have been a few things like this in the past, namely Zon, Modulus and Status graphite leading the way with various hybrid necks and treaments for woods. However, I've always felt that if it's going to be a graphite neck, have a classic take on it like the Status woven fibre ones. Interestingly, I remember Fender32, a user of Talkbass, had a jazz bass with a GMT woven graphite neck. (Green Machine Technology, Rob's company prior to Status). The neck is an early one, I remember him describing the profile as quite square, which was the norm on the old Status stuff, and he also mentioned that you could make out the imperfections in the cloth weave too! Must have been a very cool thing to see in person, that bass!

I am very much "for" graphite necks, or at least high tech solutions and innovation in bass making! Hence my ownership of Status and Kubicki basses: My Status Stealth was "all graphite". I think its fair to say that out of all the basses I've owned, this one had the most even response across the tonal spectrum, and could give brightness that was too much even for me! However, it was sweetest with the bass and treble backed off just a bit and the mids singing through. It was also incredibly light, despite being a 6 string. This was the bass that absolutely "sold" me on graphite. I'd own an all graphite bass again in a shot! Which of course brings me onto Kubicki Ex Factors. I've had two of these, both 1989 models with the Fender Custom shop stamp, but made with Pre-Fender parts (the 18V preamp with the 6 way selector). The interesting thing was, when Phillip first designed these, he looked at graphite necks and decided against them as they were too expensive. For his needs at least, he could get similar strength, stablility and tone from making a neck of 34 maple laminates while avoiding paying a high price for graphite technology (which was very, very expensive back in the 80's!). This neck would then be bolted onto a maple body with an ebony fretboard attached and would produce a very bright, full and slightly compressed sounding tone, which gave Kubicki a sound very much of their own when connected to the Kubicki electronics. Of course, Phillip realised he was onto a winning solution with his own basses and kept going with the maple necks. Unlike some poorly finished graphite necks, the Kubicki necks could be finished to perfection and "felt like wood", which attracted a lot of players who might have otherwise been put off by such an exotic bass. However, I have also played and owned basses with incredibly finished graphite necks which were like glass. In short, I love this kind of thing.

This sounds good. "The Toys of Men" was a real return to form so I'm looking forward to this! Although I am pleased this is an all electric record, I'm worried when Stan says it is the last Electric stuff he'll be doing for a while. I guess I'll be switching off Stanley for a while then because DB playing really does bore me to tears.

You have PM, something that might interest you!