Mastodon2
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I still have my Thumb. It was the first bass I bought and while I owned 'better' basses, I never owned one that felt or sounded as right to me as that one does. Still, probably sell it as I don't play it these days. Regarding the importance of all of the elements of the Thumb sound, particularly the insane growl the 5 strings have, to me, the most important part is the double J bars, slanted right up against the bridge. Different woods and neck-thru or bolt-on seem less important, they can offer some nuances, but IMO the sound comes from the instrument being a slab of hardwood with that unique pickup combination.
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NBD - Ken Smith Hadrien Feraud Burner 5 String
Mastodon2 replied to spacecowboy's topic in Bass Guitars
Ah, MXtabs, those were the days. Esp Griffyn here. -
Awesome bass. One of the models I wish I'd owned before I moved back to my rightful place playing electric guitar.
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Bump! Make me an offer, I want this gone because I have my eye on something else, isn't that always the case? 😂 -
I think this bass passed through the hands of @Chris2112 at one point. Nice instrument.
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It's a shame that happened, Mark's Jaydee tone simply isn't on the same level and he was by far their best and biggest name endorser. Chris and Alex aren't players in anywhere near the same league as Mark, but they would have had some brand pull. Well, maybe not Alex, who is like a nobody dep in a band with 9 members, who released their last good album 20 years ago. I would be surprised if anyone listened to Slipknot and then went out and bought a Status off the back of the endorsement. That said, I'm sure Alex is more valuable to the Fender corporation, who have Mick Thomson and Jim Root, with their signature guitars with Jackson and Fender respectively. They can give Alex a signature bass and the put some cheap import models out, or just give him a bass and put his face on their endorser list. I think Slipknot's listener demographic probably fits better with a black, pointy headstock bass for £800 a pop rather than a handbuilt £3500 bass. I'm surprised it took as long for FMIC to get Alex as it did, as FMIC have been very aggressive in recent years with buying off as many name musicians as they can across the metal genre. I remember the days when Jonas Hellborg played Status, even having a signature bass with them. What a boon that was, there was a guy that could add some real credibility to the brand. It was sad that Jonas moved onto Warwick as clearly he had ideas about this big semi-hollow bass kicking around for a while and Warwick made it for him, but his tone was nowhere near as good with the Warwick in comparison to his Status days. A shame too that Jonas seems to have lost his way after the death of Shawn Lane, releasing two more good albums and then doing nothing of any real note for the last 15 years. Has it really been 15 years since Art Metal?! Crazy how time flies. When I listen to Hellborg's stuff where he was using a Status, the tone is just awesome. That said, on the overall subject of losing endorsers and how it would affect the brand, I'm not sure it would have hurt Status too much. Mark has dabbled over the years but always came back to Status, but I think even if they cut all ties with their endorsers, they could still make the Kingbass and the core Status customers would still place orders. A blow on a personal level to Rob perhaps, but I doubt it would have spelled financial ruin for the company, or even moved the needle on their finances tbh.
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It's a shame for those who wanted a new one, I know my brother was looking to put an order down on a new Kingbass. I guess for Rob, he's leaving money on the table; it's hard to image a time when Status doesn't have a group of players that will always want one and his order book would be full forever more if he hadn't made the decision to stop, but for all of us, there comes a point when time becomes more important than money, particularly when you're in your late 60s and have had a cancer diagnosis. I said the same for the recent retirements of Mike Pedulla and the pending retirement of Patrice Vigier who is now clearing his build queue before shuttering his business. A lot of the old legendary brands are shutting down and frankly I don't see much of anything coming to replace them, particularly for a brand like Status who really never had an equal or even pretenders to their throne. Vigier moved away from carbon fibre necks and went with their 90/10 wood to carbon system a long time ago, Enfield would make a bass with a carbon wrap over the wood (so not a real carbon neck), Modulus seem to play to a different crowd. Schack and Bogart were in a similar vein to Status but were much more niche and let's be honest, Status were a niche company even in bass circles. I think of Status as being like the McLaren of the bass guitar world. Forward-thinking, innovative and at a time, they were the cutting edge. You could argue that the lack of innovations in bass construction since the advent of carbon fibre is testament to how good the material is and how good Status were at using it. For the kind of bass they wanted to make, there was no better material and no better construction method. While some other British brands continue pumping out hoary old dinosaurs for sky-rocketing prices, Status would make you a bass that really was unrivaled in many ways and they would do it for an exceptionally reasonable price. I looked at the price of a top of the line bass from their pricelist not that long ago, and my dream bass, all-options ticked kind of thing was only about £3500. Madness really, for something of that quality, made in the UK. We didn't know how good we had it. Will the basses continue, being built under a new team? Maybe. The wording of the statement is very open. The talk of the end of the "current" range, who knows what the future may hold etc. However, based on the tenures of staff Rob names in the statement, unless they started with Status from a young age, they probably aren't spring chickens either and without the main man at the helm, could they carry on without him, albeit under his supervision to a degree? Who knows. It would be really cool if they could take their knowledge and start a new brand to continue on the legacy. This all seems like such a shame because without anything else to take their place, Status are leaving a hole in the bass world that really isn't filled by any other brand. I would say though, that the time to buy a used Status is surely now, if you wanted one, before people start hoarding them and boosting prices because of Rob's retirement.
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Game over for anyone hoping to get a new Status bass. They had a good run.
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The Wal that’s in the Band Aid video… up for sale…
Mastodon2 replied to TrevorR's topic in Bass Guitars
Has this bloke had an unexpected brown letter from the HMRC or something? 😂 -
Jazz Musician Sucks at Metal (w/ Rob Scallon)
Mastodon2 replied to musicbassman's topic in General Discussion
I found the "Metal musician sucks at jazz" video to be quite amusing too. Adam has Rob play just about the most dusty, boring and old-fashioned jazz going 😂 -
They stopped taking orders in March 2022 but don't expect to clear the build queue until the end of 2023. Sounds like a lack of demand isn't an issue in the slightest. As Chris mentioned, I have a deposit down on the final Shawn Lane signature Excalibur in natural matte alder that will come from their workshop. When I spoke to their customer service guy in France he confirmed that they weren't taking new orders and once the current orders were fulfilled, they were closing down. Thankfully, this rather helpful chap was able to point me towards a retailer who had ordered a matte alder Lane model and from there I put a deposit down on it. I am expecting a superb instrument. I respect Patrice's decision to retire and not continue the brand. It would be a good retirement plan in some respects to let someone else carry on with it, but at the same time I'm sure he can just enjoy a stress-free existence once the company is shuttered.
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I understand not wanting to change strings before the gig, just use Fast Fret throughout the show and after the gig is done, throw the flats in the bin and put some rounds on.
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Selling something you may one day regret
Mastodon2 replied to thedontcarebear's topic in Bass Guitars
I recently pretty much quit bass guitar and returned to electric guitar (my true home), though I kept some bass gear for recording or jamming purposes. I'm in a fortunate position of not needing to sell gear to purchase more in terms of finances or space, but I do feel a degree of guilt in owning something that I don't use. When I decided recently to get a new guitar rig, I looked at my bass collection and decided to sell a lot of it. I didn't need to, but it seemed a shame to not let them be used. Of course, I miss them but I don't regret selling them at all. I'd only hold onto an instrument in the most extreme cases of sentimentality. I still own my Ibanez K-7, the first really nice guitar I bought myself, back when I was 17 or so - back when you could get a Presitge level, made in Japan Ibanez signature model in a sale for £850. That will be sent to a tech at some point for a total clean, fret job, new pickups etc. Before I quit guitar and sold all my gear a few years back I had some really cool guitars; Fender Jim Root Tele, Richie Kotzen Strat, an early Strandberg OS7 etc, but I knew selling them at the time was the right thing to do. I guess I always knew I was only taking a temporary break from guitar, but I never doubted for a second my decision to sell them and move on. -
In the ultra-conservative world of bass guitar, you're more likely to face snobbery if you're playing something high-end. More than 4 strings, exotic woods, luxury appointments etc, the more you have the more likely you'll be to draw the ire of the "P Bass is all you need" crowd.
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GuitarGuitar posted this on their Facebook yesterday. I've never seen a guitar age like this. Even famous Teles dragged around the road for years on end didn't age so harshly. I think with these sort of things, they get a "more is more" mentality and end up with something that looks totally unrealistic. That said, I don't mind a relic job when done right. These EVH Frankie replicas are incredible guitars for the price. In particular, whatever they did to age the neck is amazing. Based on the way the grain of the wood looks, I think it must have been some sort of oil finish over the raw maple with some dark additive in the oil. And yes, I wouldn't feel too badly about adding more dings to it, whereas I'd be gutted if I didn that to my other guitars that I keep pristine.
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A truly great bass - I hope it serves you well and you make a lot of cool music with it. 👌
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Harsh! 😂 To be fair, the mods made sense to me - the Attitude bass is something of a one-trick pony (but it's a very good trick!), but the J bar gives it a lot more versatility, plus the pickup switching allows it to run like a typical Attitude bass if you just want the woofer and P pickup. If it was standard however, I'd be asking for a lot more than I am, given it's in great condition. 😁
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I'd lend a bass to my brother because I know he'd look after it. Anyone else, nope, no matter how long we've been friends. I don't want my stuff getting damaged and if something did happen, it would just be an awkward situation to sort out and an annoyance I'd rather had not happened in the first place. If it was some random bloke coming from Italy, no chance. I wouldn't even lend my cheapest bass in such circumstances.
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Bassdirect have one in stock. Personally, it's not for me. I just don't use distortion enough to justify having it onboard in my bass.
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Hey guys, I am selling my Yamaha Attitude LTD II bass as I am now moving almost exclusively back to playing guitar and I just can't justify holding onto something I don't use, no matter how much I had wanted to own one for years. This is an Attitude LTD II from the Yamaha guys in Japan. The Japanese Yamaha guys are renowned for their fit, finish and overall attention to detail - this is a superbly made bass. It's an October 2005 bass (you can find the serial number system document on Yamaha's website, this one is numbered using the classification system "E #10". The bass is in great condition, having clearly not had a hard life prior to me owning it. There is some natural aging to the dark chrome parts of the instrument, but it looks to be very nicely aged overall. There aren't any dings or scratches, the gloss finish on the fretboard still has a mirrior shine to it. The frets are in great shape - unlike Billy, I never really bend strings on bass. The D-Tuner works perfectly, the neck is in good health too. Again, unlike Billy, I'm not a Yamaha endorser so I never tried the "neck bending" thing he does, as unlike Billy, I can't get a new bass for free if it goes wrong! The bass has been modified by it's previous owner. The Dimarzio Willpower P pickup was removed and a set of Lace Alumitone P and J pickups were added. The body was routed to add the J bar, but it was done very well with no damage to the finish on the visible edges of the routing whatsoever. The previous owner also changed the wiring so the controls are now a volume knob and a pickup selector that clicks through the woofer pickup, the P pickup solo, P and J combined and the J pickup solo. The original Dimarzio pickup, tone pot and the knob to fit on the outside of the body are included with the bass. I realise that as a modified bass, it isn't worth the same as an unmodified bass, but that is reflected in my asking price. However, I had always wanted an Attitude bass just because I loved watching Billy use his on Steve Vai's "Live at the Astoria" DVD, but I probably wouldn't have picked a standard one up, as I really can't make do with a P pickup on it's own. So if you're like me and really want to own an Attitude bass, but felt like the P pickup and woofer alone wouldn't give you the tonal range you need, this could be a great bass for you. Personally, I almost never plugged the woofer pickup in (the bass has two output sockets, one for the woofer and one for the PJ pickups) and ran the bass almost exclusively with the P and J pickups. The Lace Alumintones are hot and ballsy as hell. This bass probably isn't great if you're playing bass with a wedding band, trying to quietly pluck your way through jazz standards during dinner service. The bass comes with the fitted Yamaha hardcase. You are more than welcome to come and try the bass out at my house; I live in Bedlington, Northumberland, about 30 minutes from the city centre of Newcastle. Alternatively, we can meet up or I could deliver the bass to you within a reasonable radius of my location. I can also ship the bass via courier. Of course. this would need to be insured shipping, but I'm more than happy to work out a price for shipping based on quotes if the buyer wants the bass posted. For payment, I can take cash for an in-person handover. Bank transfer or PayPal are also options. If you have any questions, please give me a shout. Cheers, Dave
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SOLD Hey guys, I'm selling off my Darkglass Alpha Omega 900. This was bought new last summer and had only had light use at home. I'm selling because I just don't need it. As you'd expect for something which has seen little use, it's in excellent condition. The key points for the amp are as follows: * 900 watts power output * Alpha Omega distortion circuit * Built-in compressor based on the Darkglass Hyperluminal compressor * Headphone input * Built-in cabinet simulator for playing direct to a mixing desk or recording * 6 band EQ * Footswitch for the distortion This amp is a great, even if you never use the famous Darkglass overdrive or distortion, which I rarely ever did. There are "Bite" and "Growl" switches that function as filters to tweak your sound. The distortion circuit has an overall gain knob, to go from mild drive to raging distortion. The Alpha / Omega knob allows you to blend between two distortion sounds. Alpha is a tight, modern distortion sound and Omega is a fat, raw distortion, like you'd hear on an early 90s death metal record. I'd guess 90% of players use it exclusively on the Alpha setting because that is the sound that's in fashion. The footswtich is included which allows you to activate or deactivate distortion with a tap of the foot. The compressor is probably my favourite thing about this amp, it's one knob, roll it off to deactivate it, roll it up to tighten the squeeze. It has a really nice musical edge to it, even on the max setting it's not a harsh, crushing compression. I think of it as a "sound better" knob as it just makes everything sound nicer. The amp has built-in cab simulation, which changes the sound output when you're going direct to a mixing desk or recording. You can plug in via micro USB and modify these cab sims too, though I never did so the head will ship with the factory default sims. To be honest, I'm not a distortion guy and mostly used the amp clean. It sounds super punchy but not harsh or too bright. The 6 band EQ sliders give you a lot of tone shaping control. You're welcome to come and try the amp out at my house, I'm located in Bedlington about 30 minutes from Newcastle Central Station. Alternatively, I can ship the bass in the original box. If this is an option you're interested in, we can work out a shipping cost. It's a class D head so it's not big and it weighs less than 3kg. I can potentially deliver or meet to do a handover in person if its within a reasonable radius of where I live. I can take payment in cash if we handover in person, or alternatively bank transfer or PayPal are options. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch and I'll reply as quickly as I can. Thanks for looking! Dave -
They're not really better or worse, as long as you play with decent technique and have relaxed hands. If you like to let your thumb creep round the back of the neck or have tense hands, you might mind the longer stretches on the lower strings uncomfortable. The best thing to do would be to try one really. However, if you're thinking of buying one because it may potentially alleviate some issues you've been experiencing, then I'd suggest that addressing your technique would be a better plan. If your technique is causing you issues, they will probably follow you to any bass you play.
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They certainly won't ever replace traditional traditional single-scale instruments, bass players as a community are generally deeply rooted in nostalgia and conservatism. Guitarists are the same, to be fair. You can show them something with only positives and no negatives from an engineering perspective and they still won't adopt the idea if it strays too far from their accepted ideas or what they feel comfortable with. This is why things like headless instruments never really caught on in a big way. Bass guitar design is still based extremely heavily around Leo Fender's designs from more than half a century ago. Guitar is the same, though Gibson's designs have a bigger bearing there than they do in the bass guitar sphere. These iconic brands have become so intrinsically linked to the music scenes where they are popular, it's very difficult to see how any radical new idea could ever become accepted in the mainstream.
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Good morning Dutchwife, the bass is 4.4kg - it's solid maple so it would never be a featherweight, but the overall short dimensions and small body (compared to something traditional like a Fender) mean that it balances nicely when worn on a strap and is quite comfortable. My main bass is a Warwick Thumb and ergonomically, the Pedulla is a much more comfortable instrument. The controls are volume, pickup pan and tone. It's an active circuit, but with traditional style controls. The active circuit acts as a buffer to provide headroom for a clean, clear tone. -
SOLD - Pending Handover For sale here is my Sandberg Thinline Custom. This is a great bass, but I'm selling as I want to buy some more electric guitar stuff and I feel guilty about having stuff sat in cases not getting used. It's a 5 string fretless. The body is chambered, so it's light and really sings, it has a lot of "mwah". Specs are as follows: 34" scale Mahogany body Flamed maple top Maple neck Rosewood fretboard Delano X-Tender pickup 3 Band EQ The bass is strung with flats. The fretboard is in great condition, having only ever been strung with flats and having had little play time. I simply play fretted more and as such, the Sandberg doesn't come out much and it deserves to be owned by someone who will give it the use it deserves. The bass was sold as a B stock when I bought it, as it has a chip on the rear of the body that was filled with a small abalone plug by Sandberg before it left their factory. You can see it in the photo of the rear of the bass. The bass will come with the Sandberg gig bag. You are welcome to come and try the bass in person, I'm based in Bedlington, Northumberland, about 25 minutes north of Newcastle. I can ship the bass by courier at the buyer's expense. If I go down this route, the bag will be heavily packaged for protection and I will only ship with full insurance, for full protection for both of us. The price is £1400 but I'm open to offers. Not looking for trades at the moment. Thanks for looking, if you have any questions please give me a shout. Dave
