TJ Spicer

HAHA! What a great post! 😂 I'm rather taken with this bass! If you took the 'Made in Indonesia' sticker off (and painted the inside of the truss rod adjuster!) would struggle to tell you if it was MIJ or not... I still might have to get it painted white - though matte black is far more fetching than I'd anticipated - I'd never liked a black bass until today. I ended up doing a whole photoshoot with it - I really have a thing for BBs and photos. All my major photos have been with your gorgeous BBNE2, a legendary BB5000 and now this 735. I guess I have a thing for BB 5 strings - but I hope this one stays! Ready for a weekend of 3 shows in Devon and Manchester respectively (nice to be so conveniently located! 🤦‍♂️) and this chap will probably be with me on all of them! Gig shots and reports incoming for sure. Until then here are some snaps verifying the BB as 'The Photographers' Choice'... T

I was lucky enough to play on one of the stages in the middle of town. I love Cheltenham jazz so it was a real treat for me! Sadly had another gig that night so didn’t have time to hang. I guess British acts with big names that would please the non-jazz orientated locals was the notion behind the KM JM inclusion...

I wish ever Stingray was 2 band. Yet to find a 3 band Ray I get on with...

For rehearsal with over 35” of speaker you’ll be happy! T

It will be fine for this. I have the prototype from the show. There’s a tonne more volume if you run the EQ full open. It’s a passive cutting EQ, so as you turn them down the volume comes down - all down = no volume. Also depends on cabs of course. What cabs would you be using? I use BF so very efficient use of the 30w.

This is entirely my experience too. Even boost off it’s got something about it!

I’ve looked so many times haha! But I’m not an Ash Maple chap and my next Sadowsky will be a PJ5 (what almost every Nashville session player is using - I play on the modern U.K. country scene a lot). Always tempted though. Any 5 string Sadowsky coming up for sale always gets many visits from me on BC.

1. Fingers 2. Strings 3. Pickups 4. Wood choice 5. EQ However, EQ could overpower all of the others depending on how it were set. For me it’s about getting the natural tone you want and then slightly adjusting that with EQ pickups etc. That natural tone comes from the wood (and for me is generally alder, maple neck, maybe a cheeky maple top, and then fingerboard wood of choice).

Absolutely. It was between the BBNE or finding a Sadowsky 5. I was big on Nathan East (still am, I’m a studio player fan all day long) so was collecting the lot (had a bb5000, TRB) etc. However, that wasn’t right for me. I really should have gone for a Sadowsky 5. I have a UV70 and that’s coming up to 10 years with me, no other bass has managed that! But, that doesn’t answer the question. Why is is better for me? TONE CONTROL I need the tone control to get the treble where I want it. I didint like the cut on the high end from the BBNE2, whereas with a tone control I could have moved where that treble control was affecting. I also felt without the para engaged the bass was overly middy and edgy for my liking. It was most highly emphasised to me in recording. I brought the BBNE, used it on 3 tracks of a 5 track EP. It never sounded right in that setting and tbh, I don’t like having to EQ massively before I’ve started. I used the Sadowsky for one of the tracks and it was the best sounding track on the EP by a mile - as noted by everyone including the mastering engineer. For me the Sadowsky was a little more organic sounding and requires much less work. All I want to do is plug in, find the right amount of treble and cut for the gig and probably add some bottom end. The rest is about my hands and where I’m positioning them, as well as which pickup I’m favouring (always a little to the front, how much depends). The simplicity of the Sadowsky allows me to do that with tones of warm bottom end in a way the BBNE never could. I think it’s honestly the case that the BBNE2 could do too much for me. If I want a drastically different sound, I pick another bass. I didn’t get on with the TRB EQ either to be fair, so maybe Yamaha’s idea of EQ just isn’t for me... Give me a passive yammy any day and it’ll be a good gig 😉

Haha! 😂 Well, that’s actually one of the reasons you’re now in possession of a rather lovely BBNE2 😉 The Sadowsky pre is my fave for the following reasons: 1. I love boost only pres. Cant remember ever cutting bass on a preamp. 2. Pull to passive. Amazing option and sometimes it sounds right for a recording. 3. Battery. I’ve had my Sadowsky pre for 7 years, I think I’ve changed the battery once. It’s crazy! 4. TONE CONTROL. Please - all circuit builders - just give me a tone control with your active circuit any day. Literally the important thing to me. 5. That ‘Sadowsky magic’. Probably gonnna get hate for this one. The FET nature and perfect choice of EQ points kill for me. There’s something about the fets in the circuit that seem to do things I’ve not heard from any other active circuit. Any other tone shaping I do is simply between pickup selection and my hands. That makes the biggest difference to me and is the biggest ‘eq’ I find.

Sadowsky, Sadowsky, Sadowsky. Wish I could have it in all my active basses! Really should buy the outboard...

There’s never a gig that I wish I wasn’t playing a 5, but there are plenty of gigs with a 4 that I wish I was...

They had a Les Paul Signature in there too... I think someone just came in with their whole bass collection, or sadly passed away.

Give me all of their 80s catalogues with modern pickups and hardware, I'd probably buy all of them... 😂

All they need is some white paint for at least two sales... 🤔

Those BBs in white would being gigged with me in an instant....

Good news for everyone (be it monetarily or hating the aesthetic) is it probably won’t ever be produced... It can be added to my long list of basses from the Yamaha LA custom shop I wish I could own, along with Pattituci’s 2 semi-hollow basses... 😩😢

My Eich T900 is way more portable than my BH250 ever was simply because it doesn't have the massive rubber feet. Maybe the 300 or 500s are an option?

Tom bought my Ashdown BTA 200. He paid immediately and I delivered it to him the next day. A lovely chap, and yet another great basschatter!

I used to wear a metal Milanese loop band all the time, and that was occasionally noticeable for its dig-factor, but generally okay. This band gets most everyday wear now, mainly for not scratching up my laptop and being not too noticeable.

The first picture is where I end up on gigs when I’m on a jazz. You can clearly see it’s technically weaker, but the only way to make it comfortable. If I use the thumb behind technique (as in the P bass image) on the jazz it’s superemely uncomfortable after only a short while, but tonally sounds way better. I hope you find the answer!