Rayman

Spector's a good choice actually, BIG tone, very punchy.

I'd just repeat what I've said before, you can play [i]any[/i] kind of music on [i]any[/i] model of bass. I've played slap funk on a Thunderbird, and heavy metal on a Marcus Miller jazz, it's all gravy. It's all a state of mind, if you need the bass to [i]look[/i] right for your band, which is a fair point, then playing a Hofner Beatle Bass might not be right for example. So a BC Rich or an excellent Ibanez 505 or similar would be great, just don't expect the new bass to transform your playing instantly. The funk's in the fingers, not the lump of wood they're holding.

A Precision Deluxe I had might be the type of sound you're after. Precision pickup, and a Humbucker at the bridge. Lots of stingray style zing, but with the low end thud from the P pickup. Alternatively a P/J configuration might be right for you. Trouble is, sound is so personal, only [i]you[/i] can decide the sound you want.

I love Tommy, and his old boss SRV too. Your HW1 jazz does a great Shannonesque style tone, cause I've played along to some SRV with it!

I had Warwick Black Labels on mine, great strings, and lasted very well too.

Best bass I've ever had, my old BB3000S, identical to yours, . That's a stunning collection you have there you lucky sod.

[quote name='jmanfunk' post='563796' date='Aug 8 2009, 09:15 PM']I'm in a similar predicament as you as I've owned a lot of basses in the last few years all which I've loved and were adequate but have fallen short in what I'd like in terms of playability and sound. Also, the more basses I've owned and more my playing has developed in a certain direction, it has become much clearer as to what I want in an instrument.[/quote] Ditto. I've been through dozens of basses over the last couple of years, two of which were second hand custom builds. The first one, an Overwater was truly beautiful, not built for me, but it felt like it when I owned it. Letting it go was a mistake. The second custom bass I've owned is the Kinal I now have. Again, second hand, but again it feels like it was made for me, and it maybe suits me even more than the Overwater did. There's something special about a custom made bass, something I've never quite felt from a mass produced brand, and having one built to your own spec by someone like Alan must be even more so I'd say, but as pointed out above, you need to have a pretty certain idea of what you want, that's why I've found buying second hand easier than having to choose woods and hardware etc.

Sure does, and that P bass suits you Peter, Wish I could've come.

Yeah very nice indeed, I like the last group shot. The Sei looks fab, as does the 'ray.

Cracking set up, love the Wal, I'll bet that lot sounds magnificent. What kind of stuff do you play?

I'm just fed up with being in bands full stop. I started back on bass after many years away from it about 10 years ago. The reason I started again was for my own enjoyment, playing along to CDs through headphones at home. I love to do that, and hadn't had a good couple of hours on my own at home for ages as band commitments had taken up most of my time. A few nights ago, I got the Tascam out again and spent a great hour or two grooving along to myself to some Cds, I loved every minute of it, and remembered why I'd picked the bass up in the first place, just for my [i]OWN[/i] pleasure. So, I'm thinking of jacking the band in and just going back to playing with myself again, so to speak . I fancy getting into writing and recording some stuff at home. It's less hassle, less stressful and more enjoyable to me, so why be in a band at all??

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='564151' date='Aug 9 2009, 02:14 PM']I've just done my 1st gig (ever)[/quote] How did it go Pete?

Well I've pimped my Tony Levin to within an inch of its life, and ended up with a bass that is [i]seriously[/i] superb. However that came at a cost. I had a brass nut, Musicman battery box, a Nordstrand 5.2 pickup and a John East, 3 band EQ fitted costing in excess of £400........yes.....I know, but I had my reasons. The East pre was an amazing improvement with the original pickup, but the addition of the Nordy has made it as good as any Stingray I ever heard, and I've heard/owned a few. If you go down the pimping route it'll be worse for you because you have two pickups to replace, so make sure you really like the bass in the first place, because you'll never recover the outlay if you sell it on. In my case mine was a gift from the Mrs, so it's a keeper anyway, and I wasn't worried about tarting it up. I'm down to two basses now, the Kinal which is my main bass, and the OLP, which is just as great to play, has a different but no less impressive range of tones, and was well worth the effort.

I'm 6'3" and 18st last time I looked, that's just horrendous. I've always been a large chap, but there's no excuse for the size of my belly currently. Believe it or not maybe 6-7 years ago I was fit as a fiddle. I used to go mountain biking and to the gym most nights of the week, but since the kids came along that all went out of the window. I played American football for many years too in the 90s, but that's just resulted in my knees being almost unusable these days, and another excuse for not going out on my bike which is gathering dust in the shed. To top it all, I'm almost certainly about to be confirmed as type 2 diabetic, which will mean a serious change in my diet. So I guess that'll get the weight down a bit.

Wow, that's seriously nice. I can't help you on the info you want, but I'd say it was a steal whatever it is.

Yeah I'm well into the DR Low Riders I have on my Kinal. I've used EB Super Slinkys for years, they're nice and punchy for quite a while, but I sweat like a glass blowers arse live and never wipe them down. I get maybe 3 months out of them before they go off. It remains to be seen if the DRs last any longer, but like CK says, they're expensive, and at the end of the day it might be worth changing cheaper strings more often to keep them bright. Like CK I wonder how much cobblers is spoken about strings. One of my favourite string finds of late turned out to be a rebranded version of a budget string, and they were great.

It's beautiful, and well worth a fettle.