Leaderboard

I'm lucky enough to own a 1978 Pro ii, built out of Matsomoku factory. Its a dream to play. loads of mojo. Pups upgraded years ago to Dimazio pickups. Loads of punch and tone. Not sure of its value? but a keeper none the less.

Picked up one of these babies today and it's absolutely sweet !

I bought one about a week ago. A 2009 Musicman Stingray. 3 band EQ, single pickup. Candy red, rosewood fretboard I've only really had Fenders before, so I can only describe it relative to those... Build quality is great. Components seem excellent quality, and the fit and finish is great. If you've played fenders before, you'll find the neck is very much like a Precision. It's quite heavy, but not too heavy. Nice and solid. Sounds nice acoustically. The G string was a bit quieter than the others. I'm convinced it's because the pickup polepiece doesn't line up properly with the G string. This is apparently a common issue with Stingrays. I fixed it by raising the pickup at the treble side, and managed to get the string volumes balanced enough to where it isn't an issue. You'd think in an otherwise very well designed bass they would have fixed this years ago. But no. Apparently the new ones DO have the polepieces in the right place... but 2 grand's a lot to pay imo for that My takeaway from the G string polepiece issue is that it's pretty sensitive to how you have your pickup height set - so be aware of that Re the sound and having a single pickup. The most noticable thing is that the kinds of warm, vocal mids you might get from a precision are totally absent. And the second thing is that the low end is deep and tight. I heard the preamp has a high pass filter, and it sounds like it. There's loads of thick, punchy bass, but it somehow has a tightness to it. As if it rolls off quickly below 40hz. My main bass is/was a precision, and I use an SVT. So my go-to sound is that classic grindy rock tone (with a plectrum) with the SVT deep switch in, and a bit of mid scoop. Loads of low end, but it's more of a fat and woolly low end, and those precisiony, expressive mids. You can't get anything close to that with the Stingray. With a plectrum, you get LOADS of zingy top end, and that tight bass, with no real Fendery mids no matter what you do. It's very scooped, even when you goose the mids on the EQ For a punk or rock gig I would leave the Stingray at home and take the Precision, unless it was something modern like RATM or RHCP etc For a pop/funk/disco type gigs, the Stingray would be perfect. It seems to have been primarily intended for fingerstyle players. The frequencies that the pickup and preamp accentuate are ideal for a nice tight, modern fingerstyle sound. Lovely for fingerstyle The 3 band EQ is interesting. I tend to leave everything centered. Sounds best to me that way. The treble and bass tend to either let you take far too much off, or add far too much on. The middle isn't really a traditional mid frequency knob like on a fender amp, it's more like a knob that lets you make the sound go from fairly scooped to very scooped... whatever you do, there isn't much mids I heard someone say (and I agree) that a fender jazz (both pickups on) is more scooped than a precision, with deeper lows and higher mids. And that the Stingray is even more scooped - deeper lows and has even higher frequency mids. I think that's a good way of putting it. If there's a path from P to J, then the Stingray is the next step along I think no matter what you do it'll sound like a Stingray. But I think it has enough to make it a fantastic bass in the right context. It's certainly not a swiss army knife, and almost certainly the wrong bass for certain things I really do like mine. Got it off eBay for £900, and I'm glad I got it. Not sure I'd buy a new one for the prices they're asking now

My SB1000. Iconic, in my opinion. Nothing comes close

Any excuse to pop a picture of this 1981 SBR-150

I've had a small windfall - about the size of a new tip-top-notch bass as it happens - and I'm having serious GAS for a Stingray Classic 4 string. I buy a new bass about once a decade so it's a BIG decision for me and I need to know how many of you guys (possibly the greatest bass playing experts on the interweb so I trust you) rate this bass? How's the quality of build and is having a single humbucker a limitation? Has anyone bought one recently and are you pleased with it? Obviously I'm looking for encouragement but if there are any serious worries I'd probably rather know!

Hi my name is Alex and I have Dirt Pedal Adddiction Syndrome. I also have a great affection for envelope filters. I can't afford to buy new ones so mainly build DIY. So many pedals! I've been questing for the ultimate fuzz plus envelope filter tone. Bass - US G&L L-2000 made in 2000AD! In the UK, London, playing in a 90's rave band.

Funnily enough I’ve had basses built by both Martin at Sei and Jon at Shuker and both were fantastic experiences. If I had to choose though, Jon was the more approachable and much more open to working with me on my design and build. Both very high quality builders though & all fantastic basses. Proof of the pudding is I now own 2 Shuker Jazz basses (both shown on the Shuker web page you’ve linked to) and no Sei Jazz basses.

Hi guys, just wanted everyone who has replied to my original post to know; the transaction with Alex went absolutely seamlessly, despite my reservations. It was just such a different way of doing things. And a way in which I am totally unfamiliar, being from the UK lol!! It seems that this way of doing things is so normal in some EU countries other than UK, and I had no bed to worry. Thanks Alex, so glad you are so pleased with your purchase, wish you all the best. Timmynumbers 👍

OR... for £1169 you could buy very nearly thirteen used Trace Elliot combos and keep one at each venue. Saves carrying 'em.

Pure class, this. Lovely bass

I had a TH350 and it never wanted for more beans. Where will it all end? 'Markbass announce 2kW RMS @ 4ohms amp the size of a credit card - earplugs included'.

i ve asked my wife and she said defo fingering !

Started to knock the sharp corners off to match the vibe of the original carve. The light is starting to go but made a decent start with spokeshave and cabinet scrapers:

Which Mac?? Gary Mac!!

With regards to active/passive controls, a while ago I came to the realisation that what I'd really want is a passive tone control coupled to an active mids control with adjustable frequency centre, something like the John East module which covers 100Hz - 1000Hz (or 200Hz - 2000Hz, as it's got a switch for both ranges). I don't need a bass control, really. Treble? A passive control is sweeter, for my taste. What I want is to control what happens in the middle, and with a wide range like that, I can get punchy low mids, or hollow tones, or beautiful deep bass tones... For me the on-board EQ on active basses is merely to fine tune my sound and make some small adjustments for specific songs, but the basic sound comes from the amplifier's EQ. The small adjustments I want are all in the mid range or something that a passive treble cut is better suited for.

I can't help but to get a little giddy with excitement over Jon's headless basses! I think you are quite right to say you have your own template! I think your two have the most identifiable outline in the range surely!? (Don't change it for the next one, ok?)

and mine...

Just a quick note for anyone thinking about attending any of the Bass Bashes listed in this section - go! The Bass Bashes are informal get togethers of all things bass with people of all abilities with all types of gear. Don't be put off going if you think that they will be dominated by exceptionally talented folk continually slapping on boutique basses as that isn't the case (there will be boutique basses and a bit of slapping but there is more to the bashes). Folk turn up will all sorts of gear and its a great opportunity to try different kit and put faces to the names seen on here. I've met some great folks of all abilities at these and picked up lots of useful info. I've tried lots of basses I wouldn't normally get the opportunity to try and discovered I dislike some I've previously drooled over and really liked others I've dismissed!! For info, I don't play in a band, I'm not a particularly good bassist, I can't read music, I can't slap but I have a pretty decent amp and I make my own basses. If you're thinking about it, try to come along to one if you can. It's great that someone organises these and attendance will reward their efforts and ensure these events keep going. Hope to see you there! And there's usually cake too.....

Good luck with that. Our drummer dropped my bass the other day. Luckily it fell on the guitarist, who was dead drunk on the floor.

I think their chisel slipped as they were chopping off the barnacles.

I can't imagine why they only made 4 of them...

If you are prepared to shop around and buy second hand, Macs turn out to be very good value for money. The Mac Pro which I currently use to earn my living cost me £350 when I bought it 3 years ago. The model is actually 10 years old and for most purposes is plenty fast enough for my needs. I have added a better graphics card, but that's only because my work flow requires multiple monitors (I currently run 3 x 23"). It will be replaced soon, simply because the latest version of Adobe CC requires a newer OS than my machine is capable of supporting and I will need to share files with users on the latest version. If I didn't need to do this I could see my current Mac lasting me until it suffered some catastrophic hardware failure. However, when I do replace it I expect to pay less than £500 including any memory upgrades the new Mac might require.

Freddie wasn't diagnosed with Aids until well after Live Aid - that's the big one. It wasn't the big emotional reason for Live Aid performance being so epic...

Based solely on the response to Damon Albarn on here I've sought out the The Good, The Bad & The Queen album and am thoroughly enjoying it, some lovely reggae influenced bass lines running through it. I remember my Dad *spits* turning TOTP or the radio off when Bowie, Roxy Music or Sparks (there were more, it was quite an extensive list) came on, it was a clue to the music actually being interesting.

Please can you tell folks here who know less than you, what was out of sequence? Just a thought here: Is it possible that liberties had to be taken to keep the time down to 2 hours?

Well I thought I should do an unboxing video... and then I thought “No, no SBL-style ‘Look at this bad boy’ shenanigans” from me. I will try post some playing videos later as I’m planning to take it along to our church Worship Team practice on Thursday. It seemed unscathed by the journey all save the E string needs raised a bit for my tastes - it’s just too growly and snarly for me. I will need a touch more string height. Just on the E. Instead here are a few unboxing photos - it was certainly well wrapped. I’ve stowed the packing away for next time. In the flesh the bass is a lovely as I remember from the SE Bass Bash. There are things I would change, some places where there could be improvements but those are more or less polishing rather than problems. Anyone would be proud to have this bass slung around their necks.

My new arrival :

It exceeded my expectations and I even found it strangely emotional. The live aid section took me back. I remember watching it live on the TV and being blown away. Loved it.

My wife got me this for my birthday. A soldering and rework station. I have to say, I’m impressed. The ability to desolder smd ICs in a couple of seconds is fantastic!

Heres my Fender collection- 66 Jazz, 71 P, Custom Shop 5, 76 P 64 P, 70 P, 69 P

Here's my reason for unreservedly recommending Jon's work.

In a contrast to my earlier in-jest post, if I actually thought about it from scratch about what I wanted from a bass I`d be hard put to describe anything other than a Fender Precision, my only real points I`d put would be accurate tuners that held tuning, body chamfers to make it comfy, and no neck-dive. I do also like the idea of in-built tuner that has been mentioned.

Strings. Four of them.

If active with a passive option, a SEPARATE passive tone knob. The best implementation of this I’ve seen is the MTD Kingston Saratoga Deluxe preamp. Only the 3 band EQ works in active mode and when you switch to passive the EQ is bypassed and only the tone knob works. So at the flick of a switch you can instantly go from bright HiFi modern tones to subby tone-down thump. This system works better IMO than what a lot of other brands do, which is have the treble knob become the tone knob when switched to passive, meaning you have to keep changing the position of that knob if you want a really bright active sound vs a really dark passive sound, or vice versa.

Jon is an incredible Luthier. He has an attention to detail that is revered amongst his peers. His basses are beautiful and you aren’t alone with the dribbling that’s for sure. The Bass Players United page went in to overdrive when one of Jon’s Fretless Uberhorn basses was posted. Thousands upon thousands of likes and every single comment a positive one. Crazy! Anyway, from experience of lots of Jon’s basses, I’m afraid I have to tell you that you need to follow your heart, otherwise you’ll always wonder if....if.... Shuker is my bass brand of choice.

My friend worked on it and said that Sasha Baron Cohen left the project because the script was changed to leave out all the ‘finer details’ and to not offend Freddies family, so they went for a more bubble gum friendly film, leaving out the raw details. Sure it’ll still be fun to watch though.

Agreed That however I think that's quite a big statement! Blind test - would folk really hear any difference between a 1024/X and 2024/X? Don't they have essentially the same pups, electrics and design? What about the woods used, does that differ? So what else is actually different between the 1024/X and 2024/X other than a slightly nicer finish and the fact that you're paying for the privilege of it being put together by more expensive Japanese workers? I'm actually really interested to know, because if they were in a different league I'd have no hesitation, as a BBNE2 owner and a big fan of Yammy basses, upgrading my BB1025 to a BB2025. There's sometimes a lot of hype preached about non-US made, non-Japanese or non-Italian made goods. I'd just like to point out that some of the most "desirable" phones in the world, costing $1,000 apiece, have US design but are to a large extent "made in China". Hasn't stopped Apple selling large numbers and being (alongside Amazon) one of the two most valuable companies on the planet.

I've just bought the Talman TMB310 - it's truly awesome to play and looks amazing.

I found a good clip on tuner and a quick check for intonation on each note really helped

Here's an overview pic of the Emerald City BassCon last Sunday, held just south of Seattle. It originally started as a Talkbass oriented get together, but it definitely taken on a life of its own over the last decade or so.