LukeFRC

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1347652870' post='1803735'] McVie and Entwhisle aren't fancy players but played Alembic..but yeah, roots on a fancy top is a bit naff. The basses are a bit 'look at me' so you should have a bit of a trick or two...IMO. [/quote] BTW the bass I was looking at in the sales forum wasn't a Alembic, it was the ACG

1 MM 2 PJ 3 JJ

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1347628392' post='1803263'] I think people have very different ideas of what constitutes a "fancy" bass; to some people having a proper Fender is considered an extravagance, whereas to others having one of the more junior models in the Ken Smith or Alembic catalogue is seen as a utalitarian choice. In relation to your o.p , Alembic are an interesting point in case. I would consider them one of the more worthwhile fancy bass makers in so much as nothing else sounds quite like an Alembic- there is a significant end result to their design philosophy and their formiddable history as innovative guitar builders . The other side of the coin is the myryad of lesser bass builders nowadays who set out to make an exotic wood bass for the sake of it, on the basis that thats what fancy basses should look like because allegedly exotic wood yields an exotic tone and then if stick fancy bridge and pickups on their and then you have another fancy bass to compete with all the other fancy basses on the market. As a bass player in the audience watching other bass players , I would have to see which fancy bass they were playing, decide why they were playing it , and then make my decision on how ridiculous they might look. I have seen plenty of bass players who looked ridiculous with not- very -fancy basses, but that's a subject for another thread. In relation to your original question, I don't think you have to be a flamboyant player to have a more upmarket bass , and whats more, I don't think you have to have a fancy bass to be a flamboyant player. Look at what Billy Sheehan did on his old beat up Fender, or Jaco or Marcus Miller. [/quote] that's a good balanced answer there!

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1347631978' post='1803336'] uh? Surely if there's a vacuum inside it'll just suck the cones up against the magnets and they can only move forwards? What's the problem it's trying to solve? [/quote] no idea, i don't think the force will be that large though, it's sealed- so the force inwards is the airpressure on the cones from the outside. I guess it means that the back of the cones arn't moving anything so no need for porting or anything? No idea! intrigued now

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1347623824' post='1803182'] True, he was...basically an advance on the P bass...which I can see where that comes from. But, if he wanted a P bass but active, he failed and rather randomly created one of the best bass guitar tones known to man...sweetspot humbucker with the Ray EQ. The P to me sounds a hell of a lot warmer, less defined, it does get aggressive but it doesn't kick you in the face like a Stingray with the treble dialed up. [/quote] If you listen to where a P bass will typically sit in rock music mix, and then a Jazz bass. Then compare it to a ray- then the ray is very close to the feel of the P - in the mix. - but with added variety - I really really do not think that this was random chance - the fact that most ray copies can't really pull it off suggests the sound is the result of many things in the design, not a random fluke.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1347624472' post='1803199'] According to my (very rough) calculations filling an Ampeg 8x10 with Helium instead of air will make it approximately 350g lighter. [/quote] how much does the sealant weigh? did you factor that in too?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1347623242' post='1803154'] I only play what could probably be classed as 'fancy" basses - Gus, Overwater, Sei, Yamaha BJ 5B - and I mostly play fairly simple thing on them these days. Do I care? Do I f***! [/quote] I'm sure you've said elsewhere that image is an important part of music though.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1347622028' post='1803115'] My ACG isn't for particularly "fancy" music... atleast ever never heard death metal called "fancy" before. I play with a pick and I play it HARD! [/quote] do you have a pic of you playing it live at all?

unless the aim of the helium was to make it lighter and ive got the wrong end of the stick!

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1347621411' post='1803104'] It would be interesting to hear what effect the Helium would have considering sound travels faster through it then normal air. Even in a sealed cab it's got to make a difference I would imagine. [/quote]My parents have these Hi-fi speakers that are sealed and have a vacuum inside, at some point they will pop and stop working but it's an interesting speaker design idea.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1347622054' post='1803116'] Oh yes, but totally totally different sound [/quote] I dunno, it is utterly different - but I think he was aiming for the same thing musically.

There's a bass in the sale forum that's got my attention at the moment. It's got fancy wood tops, and backs a non traditional shape, (single cut) and looks... well not very much like a fender! In most cases it represents everything I dislike about bass design... except it's been done very very well. I also tried an alembic last year- which despite being as heavy as a heavy thing caused me to rethink a lot of my predujuces as... well it looked like a collision between a glue truck and a wood truck - but man did it play well - I found myself doing things I had never tried on a bass before - and this is trying somehting out in a shop. but at the moment, I'm not a fancy player, I don't play chords or tap, or slap much... my main bass is a warwick SS1 which looks a bit different to a fender style bass, but does look 'right'. And every youtube clip, (well 90% of them) of people playing single cuts, play sat down it seems..... and yeah, where do the rest of you play your more fancy basses? and do you have them and play gigs where you may just be playing root notes the whole time (cos that's what the music demands) (btw this isnt a "lets slag off the fancy basses, Leo got it right in 1957 so why change" type thread- more wondering where nad when folk play their stuff)

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1347617760' post='1803046'] nice one During my first year at university in this country, I had some coursework for the Ecology class that involved writing short essays a couple of pages long, as the answer to a number of points. These were done over a period of several weeks, so usually I'd do one at a time. I submitted the whole thing when asked, and when it came back, section 8 had a note from my teacher written at the top in red: "wrong language, I'm afraid, but I'm sure you are right anyway!" I had written that section in Spanish... and he still gave me full marks for it. [/quote] By the way Jose, I was thinking last night, did you ever get that pickup fixed? I think I had half a dream of you and loads and loads of wire everywhere. Why I was dreaming that I don't know!

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1347611608' post='1802959'] What are you listening through? What speakers or headphones? This may have something to do with the [i]perceived[/i] volume of the string. [/quote] I tried that one. Apparently I was wrong to ask the question.

been up a couple of days... I will have gone by now

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1347617513' post='1803044'] All the ones I've seen work the wrong way in that they lower the frets rather than raising the rest of the fretboard. [/quote] Why? surely you can play a fretless in a way that it's not that different sounding to a fretted. (except for slap)

but don't strip the wood!

[quote name='sblueplanet' timestamp='1347569051' post='1802665'] Haha! It's not that bad. Ive had the chance to play a bunch of US vintage Fender Jazz basses over the years and I noticed the same discrepancy in tone and weight between instruments. Some sounded amazing, others were just ok. I'd say it is just my ears to some extent and as Ive said when plugged in both are fine. Looking for a few tips to improve the acoustic response if thats possible? [/quote] I don't think it is, I think often it's just how they are. when i've done up old basses the tightness and fit of the neck joint is the main way to make something come to life

Relief of neck and how tight the truss rod is.... how tight the neck joint is. and you've shot yourself in the foot when you come to sell one of them! "oh is this the good one or the crap one?"

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1347562254' post='1802536'] You've got it the wrong way around. I don't play through an amp/cab. I play directly into the computer I have. The problem with the E string isn't just it's disproportionate volume. It's that the entire string just feels disproportionate: heavier, harder to play, higher than the action allows. I can't explain why this is other than the symptoms of a cheap bass. Playing on the low E is uncomfortable, possibly because the bass is heavy (it is) and perhaps unergonomic (ymmv), but even with it slung high (i don't like it that way, but it's impossible to play slung low), my hand is in an uncomfortable position when playing around and beyond the 12th fret on the E. No problem with the A, D or G. [/quote] Maybe I have got it the "wrong way around" but you have before said that it's not loud enough compared to the other strings. If I remember you claimed that it was down to the pickup being cheap. I don't believe this is the reason. There is logic behind asking what you are playing through in terms of how it recreates low frequencies, but I'll let you do your own reading as to why I might have asked that as I'm the wrong way around. You say the bass is too heavy and uncomfortable for you. No amount of setup, cack handed as you're doing it now or proffesional will make it lighter or change the body shape. Why do you not just sell the thing and pick up something else?

Odd thread this: "how do you get Jaco's tone" type one answer... it's all in the fingers, and rear pup type two answer... actually his 66 jazz bass can be heard between the tracks 4 and 5 on the weather report album as he knocked it... it had oval tuners which added to the sound....