jazzyvee

When I decided to have a serious attempt at adding bass to my skill set after playing guitar for years I decided to quench my lifelong yearning for an alembic short scale bass (30.75") and after saving up a lot of pennies from gigging and the day job I got one from the Bass Centre in Brum. As soon as I picked it up it felt much more natural and after guitar this felt just right transition for me and not much more of a stretch to play. Ive' done a lot of gigs with this bass and there is nothing I have found that I dislike about this bass. Yes it does have a bit of neck dive and sits differently to a regular bass but I've worked with the way the bass wants to behave and using the right posture and a good strap its now more comfortable. There is a sweetness in the tone that is so different to that of it's long scale siblings. As for the weight this is a solid body mahogany core and coco bolo top and back with the result being that it is heavier than my 4 string all maple bass and i think weighs in at just short of 11lbs. That said I have not, ( yet), experienced any problems with heavy basses. Cases I got a custom one made by Flightcase Warehouse and then a couple of years ago I bought a leather Harvest short scale bass gig bag case from a member of this forum which doubles as a gig bag for my guitar. I much prefer shorties for 4 string basses and 34 for 5 string basses and have to say I haven't noticed any speed differences because I don't really play a lot of fast stuff. I did have a few questions but i will fire off as a PM.

You could be drastic and move the bridge to get the correct distance between 12th fret and bridge. The problem then would be that the pickups would not be in the same position relative to the scale length of the bass and so the bass would sound different, better or worse would be dependent on your ears.

I'd recommend a PJB Briefcase. I use one with 4 and 5 string basses and they are great for home use and practice with quiet bands. I have gigged with it when I was in a band with acoustic guitarists vocalists and drummer and also on my own guitar playing gigs with both electric and acoustic guitars with great results.

I'm doing a jazz funk gig with my band Delano Mills NotStrictlyJazz Quartet at the Jam House in Birmingham. Covers of music by Stanley Clarke, Victor Bailey, Grover Washington Jr, Crusaders, Marcus Miller, Jeff Lorber. Should be a good night. [url="http://www.thejamhouse.com/birmingham/live-music/event/3872/jazzlines-presents--delano-mills-and-not-strictly-jazz--january-2016.htm"]http://www.thejamhou...anuary-2016.htm[/url]

I did that for a couple of years when I needed a bit of extra space. They all were in full aluminium and hexaboard flight cases with dense foam inside so pretty well insulated inside. I never had any problems with them whatever the weather/temperature was, never even had to adjust the neck even on the through neck ones which are supposedly more susceptible to environment changes.

[font="sans-serif"][color="#252525"]"Medieval Overture" from the Return to Forever album Romantic Warrior[/color][/font]

Personally I would say yes he is. Even though I like the stuff of his I've heard and I appreciate his contribution to and his influence on the development of bass playing I can't say I'm a Jaco fan.

[quote name='PlungerModerno' timestamp='1426685951' post='2720760'] Thanks for the feedback. After browsing the photo album showing off the gorgeous work of Mr. Eastwood, I was reminded of an alembic, like the Stanley Clarke arrangements: I guess the SWB-1 is using the short scale, reasonably light headstock and neck, broad and uncontoured body - and crucially, a fairly heavy bridge - a little like the alembic arrangement. Come to think of it the SWB-1 has a double cutaway body like the alembic - but unlike the alembic it has an extended upper horn - the strap button is a at least 3 frets closer to the headstock... Given the alembic has different woods and dimensions (The stanley clarke is usually 30.75" scale) the comparison isn't perfect. P.S. FWIW, I'd have the Kahler as a £200 ish custom order option - most customers will be happy with a simpler, cheaper, high mass bridge. Of course if you can find a great trem for £150 (or less!) that you'd be proud & confident to put into what is, after all, a bass with your name on it - well it's your call isn't it. I know nothing about bass trems so I'll let those who do discuss the specifics. I have only heard good things about that kalher unit however. Here's a nice vid I remember watching of a trem enthusiast who's a kahler fan: [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYfihKzF7j0"]https://www.youtube....h?v=aYfihKzF7j0[/url] [/quote] I'd say that's pretty much the ultimate tone monster if you have a hefty budget for a shorty.

If you have a hefty budget I can highly recommend a high end short scale from Alembic. http://www.alembic.com/prod/stanley.html

No, I tried it a couple of times and didn't like what it did for my sound. Now I control it all with my fingers, volume up and play with a light touch.

This is one of the basses Marcus was playing on his UK tour. It sounded good.

[quote name='fleabag' timestamp='1446652526' post='2901180'] Something which i suspect could be done with 2" of polystyrene slab Just mosey down to your local independant fridge/cooker/hoover leccy sales shop and ask them for some polystyrene packing from inside one of their fridge shipping boxes. Its usually free [/quote] Exactly what i use to decouple my speakers at home.

B'eat-Less

I've used them on guitar for as far back as I can remember. Great strings. I have been using d'addario pro steels on my basses for the past 3 years and recently am trying out some elixir's on the bass I use for reggae as I don't need that piano like tone for that.

Ron Carter & Tony Williams take some beating.

Great I just got back from my first straight ahead jazz gig on bass. Had a couple of rehearsals and got a set of chord charts last weekend. Nerve racking but worked out well.

Aston Barrett & Carlton Barret the power behind The Waliers and Bob Marley & The Wailers. Stanley Clarke & Lenny White.

[quote name='DavidMcKay' timestamp='1444757388' post='2885698'] Honestly - you can't spend 10 minutes on the Basses For Sale forum without someone posting an update about the latest Wal for sale and how the guitar is a 'stunning masterpiece', 'gorgeous beyond belief', and 'why did I ever sell my own one years ago?!?!' (Hint - you probably sold it because it wasn't worth keeping, or else you would still have it). 'Oh - but the intonation, the Wal growl, the tone - it is sublime!'. Eh..... this is a bit like full HD or 4K TV. Most mere mortals don't have the eyesight to discern the difference - and I would argue most listeners to Wal don't 'get' the nuances either. I also believe there is a 2 year waiting list for these (rolls eyes to ceiling). Seriously! Really! If you have too much money burning a great big hole in your pocket then go buy a couple of iWatches or something. Every - and I mean every - photo of a Wal that I have seen looks like an over-varnished by-product from a Prison Workshop. Bits of wood glued together (helps if the woods don't match - I think it is called [i]character[/i])), put in a vice, sanded and then varnished with a Bill Posters brush - multiple times. Not just the ones from the 80's - but the new ones as well! And don't get me started on Mick Karn and how he was the master of the fretless Wal. All Mick Karn ever did was play [u]as [/u]Mick Karn on the fretless Wal. Even where he was guesting as part of a 'super group' type of set up for the Princes Trust or whatever - he still sounded like Mick Karn [u]being [/u]Mick Karn playing a fretless [u]like[/u] Mick Karn. That's not a signature tune or sound - that is someone who was incapable of playing any other way. I will never be able to play like Mick Karn, I will never have enough money to own a Wal, and I will never feel about the Wal bass the way some of you do. But I am OK with that. Wal-lovers. I'm calling you out. Let's have some grown up critique (ooh - get me, after said rant above!) about the pros and cons of the Wal and not some knee-jerk fanboy reaction everytime someone posts an image or a for sale post. Honestly - if you want a Wal. Dip your bass in Cuprinol repeatedly for 8 weeks and you'll be there Thoughts?........ [/quote] LOL I know nothing about Wal's but this post was worth reading twice. :-)

If you want the ultimate low pass filter to give you the ultimate, natural sounding, cleanest, powerful, choose what you want to shake off the wall, filter for dub bass I can highly recommend the alembic SF-2 I've had one for about 12 years. It's awesome. Not cheap unfortunately but they come up now and again on ebay. [url="http://www.alembic.com/prod/sf2.html"]http://www.alembic.com/prod/sf2.html[/url]

Interesting question now you mention it. I haven't ever asked that question. One bass I did buy on-line I couldn't add any relief in the neck, the nuts were completely loose and the strings were so low as to be unplayable without buzzing. I was advised to get some higher tension strings ,RCocco, and that solved the problem. Great sounding strings but very rough to the touch when new.

I popped into my local music shop this afternoon looking for a replacement for my small rig head which is currently a Peavey Tour 450 which is great for reggae but I haven't found it hi-fi enough for my the other gigs where I need a full range clean sound. I tried out a used Genz Benz ShuttleMax 12.0 which is a Class D amp with a tube pre-amp channel and a solid state channel. I tried it alongside a Aguillar D751a nd an angular 4x10 cab which was only because it was there not that I'm after an angular rig . But I actually preferred the Genz benz to the Aguillar. It sounded much more hi-fi and cleaner and seemed to respond to the filter changes on my bass much better. Any views on it especially if you are using it for Jazz-funk, RnB, soul and funk gigs?

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1429286357' post='2750083'] Nothing in the instrument makes a single bit of difference to the tone other than pickups and electronics. [/quote] How is that possible when I've read the forum here many times that the tone is in the fingers???...... :-) I'll get my coat. :-)

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1429203118' post='2749223'] My thinking on this is that you want to keep as much of the string vibration stuck inside the strings for as long as possible if sustain is important to you - transmission of energy beyond the fixed ends of a vibrating string, at the nut into the headstock, and at the bridge saddles into the body are, from a physics point of view, just dumping energy into heatsinks. Effectively both nut and bridge should act as mirrors. Bridge rigidity is more important in this context than sheer mass. I also believe that neck rigidity has a big part to play in sustain. Again, all in my humble opinion. [/quote] I'm with you on that and that is pretty much Alembic's take on the subject of sustain hence the huge sustain block and machined brass bridge and nut.

I had a good gig last night with a Jazz big band even though, if you exclude number of family members and partners of band members, we outnumbered the audience. But we got them dancing and a good time was had by all.