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Is it Gwyneth Paltrow's head?

Delayed NBD - Maruszczyk Jake 4P 30" (Apologies for post length. tl;dr - After 35 years of playing bass I finally bought my first P bass, highly recommended) I actually got this about a month ago, only just getting around to posting about it! Never having owned anything vaguely resembling a P Bass since I started playing in the late 80's, I found myself increasingly feeling that it was a sound missing from my collection and started looking for something that would get me in the ballpark of the distinctive P sound. Getting a standard P bass was out of the question, I have osteoarthritis (in multiple places) and the Fender P body is too large and too heavy for me, complete non starter. I preferably wanted short scale, passive, and under my magic weight of 7.5lbs, so I started by looking a Mustangs, firstly because the Player series has a P pickup, but then down a rabbit hole with all the other models reasoning that split pickups are split pickups, but as it happened I couldn't find any Mustangs much below 8lbs so gave up on that idea, plus I really can't deal with humming pickups and I've read a fair few reports of noisy Mustangs so I pulled myself back to being set on something with a single P pickup. I was playing with the Sandberg configurator, toying with the idea of pushing the boat out a bit for a Lionel, and this is the look I came up with. Colours were exactly what I wanted, but these don't tend to come in much under £1800 once they get to the UK, and tbh I'm not entirely sold on the look of the Sandberg finishes. But then completely by chance, I found this rather attractive short scale Maruszczyk Jake on Bass Direct... Aha! Now that's more like it! Exactly the same colour scheme but with a nice bit of flamed maple!😍 30" scale, Haussel PB4 pickup, scaled down P shape alder body with flame maple top, 40mm nut, 19mm spacing at the bridge, gorgeous satin neck finish, 7lbs 7oz, and at £1250 probably a good £500 cheaper than a Lionel (also somehow cheaper than precisely the same config on Maruszczyk's own website), plus Bass Direct gave me a decent part ex price for a bass I was looking to move on to bring it down further - BD were excellent to deal with, as always. It's a fantastic little bass, very comfortable, lightweight and easy to play, hangs perfectly with no neck dive, satin neck finish is wonderful and the 40mm nut gives it a touch of P bass heft while remaining appropriate to the overall short scale dimensions. The colour in person glows, more turquoise/peacock blue than it looks on my laptop. And most importantly, to my ears it sounds like a P bass. Interesting to note the difference in pickup placement between the Lionel and the Jake... Obviously it looks like the Jake's pickup is closer to the neck than on a classic Fender P bass, however as far as I can make out, Maruszczyk have actually placed the pickup the same distance from the bridge that it would be on a standard 34" scale - about 5.5 inches from the bridge to the pickup centre line. Consensus from what I've read, is that Fender P pickups are located about 28.5 inches from the nut. So, 34 - 28.5 = 5.5. I don't know much about string physics but given the obvious differences that occur the closer the pickup gets to the bridge on any scale length, I'm guessing that possibly Sandberg went for the more traditional aesthetics of the look of the pickup location, whereas Maruszczyk sacrificed the traditional look to chase the classic P sound in what would be this bass' comparable sweet spot? Whatever, it's a pretty convincing take on it, short scale warmth notwithstanding. If you're looking for a short scale P style bass, can't recommend these enough. One slight word of warning though, I've never bought a bass that's required quite so much setup to get it to what I'm used to. I tried 5 sets of strings on it wondering why they all sounded awful before I realised quite how low the action was and quite how high the pickup was. It was only when multiple sets of strings sounded chorusy that I worked out what was going on, increased the action up to 6/64 and reduced the pickup height by a full 3mm. I read other people received Maruszczyk's with pickups set crazy-high but even so, it was nuts. Anyway, all sounds great now. Oh, and the tuners function well, but they do feel a step below the quality of the rest of the instrument. Stiffest tuners I've ever experienced on a new bass, had to smother the gears in lip salve (best thing I could think of) to lubricate them and get them working smoothly. Luckily they hold tune incredibly well so I don't need to use them much! Currently got short scale D'Addario 45-100's on it, which just happened to be the set No.5 on it at the time I adjusted the pickup height, and they've stayed on. I've been meaning to go back again and try some flats and Elixirs etc to see how it responds to different sets now it's adjusted correctly, but it just sounds so damn good with the D'Addarios on it I haven't been able to stop playing it for long enough to think about changing the strings. I don't think the Jake would replace my No.1 - my short scale USA Stingray (modded to be active with a John East preamp) which I bought from scrumpymike just over a year ago, but it does something completely different and complements the Stingray beautifully. If for some reason I had to get rid of most of my basses, it would be this and the Stingray that I'd keep (...and my Vox Starstream A1H, couldn't let that one go.) People like to say that P basses "sit in the mix" well. Actually I think my Stingray sits "in" the mix, in that it's tone naturally draws attention and sits smack bang in the centre of the mix for songs/genres where the bass needs a strong presence as a featured main instrument. In comparison I hear the Jake more as sitting "under" the mix, ever present and inconspicuously holding down the low end, doing it's very necessary job without hogging the attention. Maybe just a difference of terminology, but both fantastic basses in their own right with very distinct personalities.

Here is my Stingray 5 20th Anniversary. Great looking and sounding bass IMHO.

Reminds me of an incident in a big local working men’s club a few years ago. The resident band and compère/singer were doing their first set of the evening to warm the crowd up, before the bingo naturally. Singer tells the band to take a few solos in a song, and the band see him head towards the bar at the back of the concert room and presume he needed a beer rather urgently. After far too many solos they finish the song, singer-less. One of the band goes off to find him, check if he’s okay etc. As there’s no sign of him, he goes downstairs to check in the bar, and en route asks the doorman if he’s seen the singer, who replies ‘ Oh yeh, if you mean Dave I saw him getting into a taxi about ten minutes ago’. Great way to hand in your notice. 😆

I have had Mexican Fenders, Japanese ones, Korean ones, Chinese ones, Indonesian Squiers and even a few fake ones and the US ones are hands down the best. Better materials, production quality, finish, fit, playability and durability. I have owned HBs and gigged them and appreciate their quality, but when it comes down to what I want to play and something that I can trust to perform, got to be a US Fender. The recent Pro series stuff is really the top of the line for many years. People (i.e. me) have spent years buying and selling stuff. But the real magic comes when you get to know an instrument and play it almost exclusively for a long period of time. In may case, I've used the same guitar since buying it new for 5 years. Won't sell it or change it.

Bit late at the posting but a few pics have turned up from the weekend gig at The Peacock in Huddersfield last weekend. This was the first pub I played, as a dep at the time, with Glam Fever and it’s still one we look forward to.

Just a quick update, I've now had a chance to play with the amp at volume to check out what's what. For info, my set up is - MIJ 60's Jazz with almost dead rounds, (or 4003 with lively rounds which has a significantly higher output than the Jazz), EVOii 500, Barefaced 8Ohm 410. No effects/pedals etc. My previous approach was to crank up the gain until the meter moved somewhere just below (but often in) the red zone, dial in the valve drive around 2 O'clock and add volume as required plus a bit more to annoy the guitarist (ha ha). Ear plugs in cos we have an acoustic and loud drummist - and away... By reducing the gain from about 3 O'clock to12/1 so that the meter peaks are roughly vertical, valve drive still at 2 O'c, to my ears the nastiness has gone and I have that slightly gritty but very warm valvey sound I was looking for. So I was wrong and Dave was right. Another good school day for me. Cheers all, Darren.

We're all different. Peoples' attitudes to instruments range from purely functional/utilitarian - it's a tool to do a job - to aesthetic/personal - it's the instrument they feel at home with or the one they had built in exotic hardwoods that they've always dreamed of owning . Nowt wrong with that and we're all at our own particular point along that range of opinion. The original question - would you rather have 8 HBs or one high end bass - is a bit wide of the mark, in that it represents two extremes. Most of us are somewhere in the middle. We have one or two basses we really like and play most of the time, plus a beater or two that are handy for gigs in iffy circumstances or for when the kids want to mess around with them.

If I could afford to own a Wal I wouldn't need to gig the Dog and Duck on free beer night 👍

I trust the BC massive to put the kybosh on frivolity such as this. By the same token, I can sometimes be a meanie and a stickler when I offer my opinion on justifications and I appreciate the moderating force that they represent when I get a bit too "rule-y". The twisting and turning, the "generous" interpretations of the rules are all par for the course, and I find them all amusing. But it's not rocket science, you all know how it works, deep down, and this is as much an exercise in honesty as anything else. Never mind honesty with the BC collective, honesty with yourself. I'm out - I straight up reported it, no point in twisting around the whole "not bass specific" thing regarding the pedal I bought (don't get me wrong, the thought crossed my mind - but it would be supremely hypocritical of me as your opinionated thread watcher/tracker/dogsbody/gofer). I bought a pedal, I did buy it for a useful purpose (and to make my life easier) but I didn't have to buy it, I'm going to use it with basses (as I don't own any other instruments) ergo it's bass gear therefore I'm done. I've since gone wireless and already had huge fun with it at a gig, and I'm already making plans to shuffle my bass pack. It wasn't meant to be this year. Oh well, maybe next year! If someone wants to cheat, no-one can stop them, and maybe the only person who'll ever know is themselves. It's your life, you live it how you want to. As I've said countless times, it's just a bit of fun at the end of the day. The only prize on offer is your own sense of satisfaction that you made a promise and stuck to it, and the cash in your bank account that you didn't spend on gear. You'll have neither of those if you cheat, regardless of whether or not it's reported. You're all adults here, I'm not your mum!

Despite being a serial purveyor of bass and long-time BC member, I’ve not posted a NBD before! However, due to the scarcity of reviews for these basses I felt I should add to our collective record here… This appeared for sale in a local music shop here in South Wales, I stopped by to have a look and left with it. The info received so far is that it’s a 1984 Wilkes Savoy Deluxe, alder body, bolt-on maple neck with ebony board. Schaller 232 bassbucker pickups and 2-band (unknown) active eq with passive switching and passive tone control that only works in passive mode. It feels like a high quality instrument, the neck is particularly playable, a slim profile and lovely feeling finish on the back of the neck. Sonically, it’s got a nice resonance to it and very full and fat tone from the dual humbuckers. Lots of tonal options with the 3-way selector switch and a polite eq that works well. I’m looking forward to seeing how it sounds with the band. I’m surprised we don’t see hear more about these lovely instruments! I’d love to hear any others views / experiences about Wilkes basses. And yes, it looks very similar to a Jaydee. Cheers!

There fixed it for you, your welcome

I have a few nice basses and can confirm I am rubbish.

I don't know what you're moaning about, he/she had the courtesy to reply and to say thanks. That's a pretty good result, and they're not intending to waste your time either.

A box.

No. The phantom or external DC turns off the battery. If phantom power goes out, the battery kicks in. If powered externally by DC power, the DC connector must be unplugged for the battery to work.

Hurtsfall have a very late notice gig on Monday 10th June supporting US band Spotlights at The Bodega in Nottingham.

A single Rotosound string?

Actually if you are receiving songwriting royalties you get quite a lot (at least in the UK) for being on broadcast radio. Looking at my PRS statements a single play on 6 Music was worth approximately £13. You need to rack up an awful lot of streams even without a record label taking their excessive cut to match that.

I suffered a fault on my RipleyFall, and it was kicking around for a while amongst my spare pedals. Anyhoo, I decided to reach out to Jam pedals to see if they could do anything. So I just wanted to post and praise what for the most part is a rare example of outstanding customer support. They arranged transport to collect the Pedal, repaired it, returned it in good time at zero cost. Just thought I´d share here in gratitude. Happy daze

If we were to create a foot-operated device that took BC comments about purchases on this thead, and forced them through some sort of distortion, compression and other manipulation so that the purchase could conceivably be valid under these rules, would that be a pedant board?

Most of us are probably adults. We're all extremely thankful you're not our Mum. I mean - just imagine the press coverage 😲

Got a series of videos coming out over the next few months. Here's the first, just for fun. Audio mixed by me too.

If that box came from Amazon, I would have said a plectrum.

Jack

A friend of mine got a FI and hated it. I had assumed he sold it long ago... but no. He persevered and cleaned up his technique and muting. And now he's a monster on synth bass and his playing is better and more refined all round. He is not on here, but if he was I'd be tagging him to congratulate him on his progress. Well done Kirsty.

Tribute bands come in 3 flavours; 1) full authenticity and a theatrical experience, like the Abba, Fleetwood Mac and Beatles tributes, dressing in period correct clothes, wigs, gear, mannerisms and accents, 2) a bunch of guys playing the songs with the original arrangements, maybe using the authentic gear, 3) another bunch of guys just playing the songs and that's it. They can be good or bad, but they all have their place and audiences.

Pat Kelly, it’s a good day

Toaster

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1368176770519389 Such honesty is rare and deserves rewarding. Not by me, though.

Made me laugh

@zbd1960 It was good to see you. Sorry about the anxiety, not sure what we could do to help, but please let us know it we can do anything. The picture makes the village hall look like some medieval long hall which is nice. Thanks Rob

I know for a fact that back in the day, Pete and Wal took great pride in the fact that their basses were in the hands of "ordinary" working musicians and that they were out there doing pub gigs ect with the basses they had made. I expect they would be a bit bemused by their basses becoming too valuable to gig for some players. A big part of that company was that they were happy to service the basses, whether you bought them new or used. There was no need to treat a Wal bass with kid gloves. And they weren't anywhere near as expensive as nowadays anyway.

Word 👍

Sunday was maintenance day, I took it apart for a thorough cleaning, polishing and oiling of the fingerboard. Looks and plays almost like new now, except for some minor damages that won't buff out with just a rag and some guitar polish fluid. But I'm happy, and after all it is a 25 year old guitar - as it turns out it was made in 1998! (no, I didn't really get the action THAT low - this is what it came back to after putting the neck back on and restringing it. So either the neck wasn't properly seated into the neck pocket before, or I did something wrong when bolting it back together. There definitely was no shim prior to my work, and I didn't install one. I adjusted neck relief and saddle height to compensate, as you can tell from this pic the saddles were set very low. Adjustment was weird already when I bought it, with the neck set VERY concave. It adjusted right out with a few turns of the truss rod) Frets good as new! It also turns out it is, indeed, very purple! The stamp confirms it

I think Praxis Musical Instruments is only their "production partner" as they call it in their "About"-section, just like Cor-tek (Cort) is for many guitar brands (PRS SE series, the Indonesian Ibanez models and many, many more). But yes, you're absolutely right: the EBMM factory won't feel a thing from the demand for the SBMM SUB Joe Dart model. Their "cut out the middle man"-approach to selling these through their own channels is clever and helps raising demand by creating an air of exclusivity, since it won't be available through their regular dealer network.

I always wonder when buying a CD from Amazon for example how much £ actually goes to the artist. Can it be much more than streaming the album say 50 times? I only ask because I generally buy a CD or Vinyl of any albums I really like, mostly because it’s nice to have a booklet and physical copy

I never stream music, it's not great for artists. I use Bandcamp and although not strictly a streaming service you get the lovely feeling of directly supporting the artists and discovering lots of great underground bands

Just beware that this doesn't presage a slippery slope - "I had to buy a wireless as if I walked 10 metres from my amp with my 3 metre lead, I couldn't be heard".

Too many breakups to recall, over the years, but the best one went like this: Guitarist came up to me on stage just as we were about to start our set, eyes wide like dustbin lids. "I can't feel my hands" he mumbled. He couldn't feel his feet either, as it turned out, and stumbled around looking to get a stool to sit on. We started the set with the guitarist slouched limply on his stool but still making an admirable effort to play. While our completely improvised jazz-metal explorations sometimes worked, were engaging and listenable, this was not one of those nights. It was not a great night to be going through a bout of intense paranoia in a semi-sedated state, I discovered. As we lumbered on, banter between our singer and lads in the crowd was turning serious... and aggressive. Beer was spilled, insults were issued. The rest of us were unaware of this, however, struggling to move fingers and limbs while floundering in our own mental treacle. Singer walked off-stage, out the door of the venue and out of the band, halfway through a song, followed by a couple of lads looking for a confrontation. We didn't really notice, straight away and, after we did, finished the set, regardless. Afterwards, as we struggled manfully to pack up, I truly understood the sorrow of St. Hubbins when he said "Well, I'm sure I'd feel much worse if I weren't under such heavy sedation." Better than a whatsapp whinefest, any day.

In response to @Paddy Morris's question, there are a surprising number of upright bass players using LFSys cabs. Some of them are on Basschat, although none is a prolific poster, and might chime in if they catch this thread. You'll find some comments from a couple of DB players in the Events section of Basschat (South East Bass Bash and Big Fat South-West Bass Bash). Although LFSys cabs were designed specifically for bass guitar, I've discovered that they work very well with double bass, and DB players who have tried them have been enthusiastic. I agree that DB isn't easy to amplify. It's more critical than bass guitar, in my opinion, because not only is the frequency range wider (DB generates frequencies up to 9kHz) but the harmonic content is more complex. The amplification system also needs to be accurate because you have a ready reference for the original sound. There are several reasons why LFSys cabs work with DB. First, they all use a high-end compression driver and horn to reproduce the mid and high frequencies that are critical to reproducing the double bass accurately. This arrangement also means that the sound from the cab remains consistent no matter where you are listening - there is no off-axis midrange suckout to colour your sound. The cabs have been designed to be transparent, with a frequency response tailored to be flat - so there are no response peaks to induce feedback and the sound remains even as you move up and down the neck. The other factor that helps with DB is that the low end response is shaped to prevent boominess or 'bloom'. It extends low but doesn't try to impress by fattening up your sound. It stays tight, controlled and natural - even at loud volumes. All the upright bass players I have sold cabs to have chosen the Monza, which goes louder than your average DB player will ever need and has the benefit of being lightweight. To @Pirellithecat's question, the Monaco and Monza sound the same in terms of tonality, bass extension and overall performance. The difference between the two is in sensitivity and maximum SPL, which is what you'd expect from the difference in size. @Chienmortbb has already mentioned this. Despite its size, the Monza will handle bass duties for most bands playing pubs and clubs. If you're not concerned about the extra weight and want a one-cab solution, the Monaco offers extra headroom.