Chris2112

Just sold my Squier fretless jazz to Joe. Great to deal with, no problems! Great guy, had a good go of my basses when he came round, liked my Spector! Excellent guy to do business with, the highest recommendation I can give!

PJ seems like a great guy, I know he has given a lot of help and support to the Spector owners over at TB, inculding getting hold of some very limited edition models for them! Despite being a Spector player, I've never emailed him though. I might send him an email just to say that I think Spector basses are bloody brilliant!

There is a rather nice Fender Urge Standard bass for sale in on the forums that I owned for 6 days earlier this, prior to it's modifications!

[quote name='Ba55me15ter' post='174663' date='Apr 11 2008, 04:27 PM']My Kubicki Factor used to belong to some bloke who went on to play for George Michael amongst others. It also has a Willis Ramp fitted by the man himself while the previous owner was at B.I.T. (I believe!).[/quote] You didn't buy that off a guy named Jez who lives in Gosforth did you? He had that bass when I bought my Trace Elliot 4x10" cab off him. Coincidentally, I also had an Ex-Factor at the time!

[quote name='bremen' post='239828' date='Jul 15 2008, 10:52 AM']That's what the OP was complaining about, dropping in slapped bits here and there just to say 'look at meee!' to the audience.[/quote] Of course, taste and discretion must be exercised, do not misunderstand me. I mean, employ the technique for the benefit of the music, which will have a positive effect on the audience. If you're doing it to show off, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. A perfect example of what I mean would be the slap part played by Bakithi Kumalo in Paul Simon's [i]Diamonds on the soles of her shoes[/i]. It only lasts for a couple of bars and only comes round a couple of times, but is a nice contrast to the fingerstyle groove he plays. Of course, he isn't doing it to show off.

Yeah, I think a lot of the hate comes from people not being able to do it, so consequently, instead of working on it and getting better they spit their dummy out and mock it. Taste is very important. If you can drop in a slapped bar here or there, it will be much more apparent to your audience than if you have been hammering away with your thumb all night! However, if constantly slapping fits your gig, go for it (for example, if you're in Level 42).

[quote name='geilerbass' post='239501' date='Jul 14 2008, 08:42 PM'] No, it was the guy at college that I used for an example of unnecessary slapping. Truegeminis was also in my class and clearly knows who I'm talking about. I think Stuart Clayton might actually be on this forum - which should hopefully mean he hasn't turned to the darkside [/quote] I was gonna say, Stu is too much of a talent to stop playing bass!

Is it Stuart Clayton who is playing guitar now?

They sure are fine basses but I find them to be a bit non-descript and generic sounding. Not like say, when you hear an Alembic, a Status, a Kubicki, a Wal, you know exactly what you're hearing. Overwater basses seem a tad more generic, though that may not be a bad thing for some people. The 5 string I played had a B that was a bit lacking. It was there, but a bit quite and mushy sounding.

Everything in moderation. A good bit of slap work from the likes of Mark King and Stuart Hamm can be wildly satisfying. When it's overused and played out of context, it does sound bad. Similarly, fretless is not free from the cheese, and can sound as corny and out of place as an over-enthusiastic thumb.

Can't say I've played one of these but it looks like a great find for the price! I have a Hohner HZ fretless, basically a fretless jazz of excellent quality. I can vouch for Hohner being excellent instruments!

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='233398' date='Jul 5 2008, 11:52 PM']I was always of the impression that Jaco set things back acceptance wise for Electric bass and Jazz... he effectively got us relegated to Fusion.[/quote] And thank god he did! I know I'd certainly rather be playing fusion than traditional jazz. Perhaps more of a promotion than a relegation!

[quote name='Clarky' post='232884' date='Jul 4 2008, 07:49 PM']I had his signature strings on a P bass once - hated them. They're thick and inflexible and feel like transatlantic power cables. Dunno how he plays them, even if he doesn't pluck hard >>>[/quote] +1 I tried some on a fretless I had. Duff tone (but I'm not one for flatwounds much anyway), not pleasant on the left hand (they just feel...weird, and take some force to press down) and stiff on the right hand too. Not unplayable, but not great strings imo.

[quote name='Jase' post='233311' date='Jul 5 2008, 08:20 PM']I don't get the Jaco thing....I don't think he was that technical at all, talented in bass playing, choosing the right parts to play and writting but a tech whizz on the bass I'm not so sure.[/quote] He could fairly play when he wanted to. Some of his stuff like [i]Continuum[/i] or [i]Current Affairs[/i] is more about getting the feel right than performing any amazing technical feat, but then you can't forget the solo from [i]Havona[/i] and such... I think if you sit down and study, Jaco's stuff is playable. Other stuff like say, what Michael Manring does is basically undoable for pretty much everyone.

I agree with the Claypool and Wooten things. Wooten especially is an amazing bassist and a man I respect as a musician and a human being. He has his own musical identity and as far s integrity goes, I think he is top notch. He plays the way he plays and makes the music he wants to make. However, he understands that music comes before technique, which is why melody is woven through everything he does. If one does not have the melodic sophistication and sensibility of Vic, using the DT technique often produces dire results. I think part of it is also that Vic is the best around at the double thumbing thing. He has such control of it whereas a lot of his imitators don't. I think he is the new Jaco in the way that he is wildly unique and made a huge buzz and a new way of playing, but he will always be the master of it. Mark King is another one. Fantastic player, and I love his music. He has left us with a legacy of middle aged men playing Jaydee and Status basses (as well as the odd Alembic!), playing his trademark licks and lines, often with marvellous accuracy and attention to detail (and it's certainly a more pleasant listen than someone ripping off Flea or Claypool). However, they never seem to take what they have learned from Mark and put their own spin on things. There is nothing wrong with playing other people's tunes, but at least in England, for better or worse, Mark King is still remembered. In fact, not since the days of Entwistle, Bruce and McCartney has a British bassist made such a splash! I love Mark but I'm always wary of overplaying the machinegun 16th slap lines!

[quote name='Dave Dubya' post='231721' date='Jul 3 2008, 01:50 AM']Hopefully they've improved the build quality...I tried a couple of the Vintage basses a few years ago and it felt like bits were going to start falling off.[/quote] From what I've heard, those Vintage basses are pretty sound. I really like the look of those Squier Jazz basses though. I have high hopes for them since the VM series are so good!

The earliest record is me playing is probably a cassette I made of me, my brother and a friend of mine playing together. Me on my old Ibanez BTB405QM, my brother on his Epiphone Les Paul (he now swears he'll never touch another Les Paul because they're so poor) and a friend playing an awesome Takamine acoustic. It was all really naff instrumental stuff, for the most part. Songs by the Shadows, Gary Moore, Hotel California, Knights in White Satin and whatnot. But we also did a few cool tunes. Bad Moon Rising, a few Beatles numbers, Ein Kleine Nacht Musik, In the Hall Of The Mountain King. Despite the crapiness of some of the source material, I was really impressed when I listened to the tape last year. Very tight musically because we practiced it so much, and despite the fact we recorded it on a 4 track with a built in mic, the tones on the tape were awesome. There was also some free jamming on there, and the tape was rolling while we warmed up, so you can hear us all doing different things, playing different licks from what we were into at the time. A really good listen, I sadly lost the tape, and the one live performance we did (at a Shadows club, no less!) wasn't recorded. Shame, because I took my Kubicki to it!