Chris2112

[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!

Also try [i]Outbound[/i] by Stuart Hamm. It's a very "mature" piece of work from him but the entire album is filled with the most glorious licks, and the slap line to the Castro Hustle is a beast. And, and Jeff Berlin's [i]Champion[/i] might be worth a listen too...wait, that can't be right, a bassists solo album without a note of slap on it?

Shocking that I've left it seven years, I know, but I've been working on [i]Continuum[/i] by Jaco Pastorius

My basses. My Spector sounds completely different to my fretless Hohner jazz, which sounds completely different to my Squier VM fretless. The biggest change in my tone comes when I change basses.

[quote name='6stringbassist' post='230442' date='Jul 1 2008, 12:16 PM']My favourite is the first solo album by Mark King - Influences.[/quote] Surprisingly, I didn't think there was a great deal of slapping on there for it being a Mark King album...good record though! For a real slap fest, what about "Kings of Sleep" by Stuart Hamm (an absolutely beautiful record) or Level 42's self titled debut album? Elegant Punk by Jonas Hellborg also has a couple of AWESOME slapping tunes on it.

Wow, that really is stunning! It looks very elegant. IMO, Barts are the best pickups you can put in Warwicks, they just marry with the "woody Warwick tone" so well!

For a little while now I've been worshipping at the altar of Spector. Much searching has led me here. A Status Graphite Stealth 6 string and a 1989 Kubicki Ex-Factor have fallen by the wayside as I journeyed on looking for "the one". In February this year, while I was spending a week in Preston, I discovered a Spector Rebop DLX 4 string in Sound Control (probably not a good thing that my girlfriend's uni flat is a minute's walk from the shop, though it's now closed!). I knew I had to have it, after having an hour playing it in store. I went back the next day and bought it and lugged it home on the train (what a carry on). I fretted as I sat in York trainstation in the cold at night waiting for the Newcastle train. I have named this bass "PB-1", a tribute to Stuart Hamm's bass "OB1" (Orange Bass One). It stands for "Preston Bass One". It feels great (6 strings just wern't for me, maybe some other time!), and sounds amazing. Such a full, rich growl that never fails to be heard. Such harmonic presence. And it looks amazing and is nice and light. Now, things pad out other areas of my collection, I have a couple of nice fretless jazz basses, but I know if I could only take one bass to a gig I'd take my Spector!

I'm sure they will. This turnaround that we've seen from Squier, I could never have imagined this. All of a sudden they're making such quality products and providing by far the best bang to buck ratio for any new bass around!

If you look on Talkbass, look for posts by Bryan R. Tyler or contact him, he used to have at one time 4 Elricks, and has had a good few more come and go from his hands. What he doesn't know about them probably isn't worth knowing!

I remember that period not so long ago when T-40's were cheap and easy to find on Ebay! I'm surprised to see the price has gone up, but that is a nice example...

If you can afford it, go for it! You might interested to know that those custom pickups that Mike gets from Tobias are two split coils house in a soapbar case! Just an interesting tidbit, I thought!

[url="http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/37691"]http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/fl...roduct_id/37691[/url] want want want want want! Very cool indeed!

Indeed it did, though these days Roger is somewhat embarassed by his work on Miller's bass. He says that he was young and not as skilled as he is now, which is why he had to fit the bass with such a large scratch plate, to cover his handiwork!!

For me, the best is Status. I loved my Stealth 6 string, it was an awesome bass.

[quote name='bassman2790' post='227876' date='Jun 27 2008, 11:00 AM']Squier VM Jazz has THAT sound. Both pick-ups on full, then roll the neck pick-up back a touch et voila![/quote] It does have a bit of a honk, I'll admit, but it's a touch brighter than the classic, growling, honky jazz sound imo. (Pardon the Spector). However, this baby really honks and growls! It's a lot heavier than my Squier too, but I kind of like the extra weight! Probably the best £90 I've ever spent.