Linus27

[quote name='Delberthot' post='988594' date='Oct 14 2010, 11:07 PM']I personally ignore it when people say that the Squier VM Jazz fretless is a good beginner bass. I;ve been playing for nigh on 23 years and the two best fretless basses I've ever played have been a 1995 Musicman Stingray and a Squier VM Jazz fretless. I kid you not, if I was still playing fretless then I would happily gig this every night[/quote] I've also been playing for around 23 years and there is no way a beginner can afford £3,000 for a Wal or should even consider spending that amount of money if they are just starting out on fretless. I would not even recommend they spend £1,000 on a Stingray or Warwick if they are getting their first ever fretless to try on. That is why a £150 - £250 Squire VMJ is a good beginner bass. Plus the fact that the quality of the Squire VMJ, despite being very good (yes I have one), is no way on par with basses like Stingray, Warwick and Wal's.

[quote name='webby' post='986960' date='Oct 13 2010, 02:08 PM']80's genius? Look no further than Crowded House. Awesome band. Tears For Fears are one of my faves, back then, and now. The 'Everybody Loves a Happy Ending' album of a few years back is great. Everybody Wants To Rule The World is one of my fave songs ever. I recall getting bored of some songs I liked back then, but I never got bored of that one, and I still don't. They were inspired by the bass line from Simple Minds' Waterfront and used it for Everybody Wants To Rule The World. Also, after not partaking in Live Aid, they contributed a sample of the drums from the The Hurting's title track to the Band Aid single. Listen and you can hear it at the beginning. Other top 80's bands, and faves of mine include Talk Talk, A-ha, Simple Minds, Simply Red's Picture Book was a cracking album, Del Amitri, FGTH, INXS, Propaganda, The The, Depeche Mode, and Talking Heads.[/quote] 80's music really was superb.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='985994' date='Oct 12 2010, 06:00 PM']I used to have a Squier VMJ fretless and whilst it was well put together I really longed for it to have a thicker sound with more midrange. It came off sounding a bit thin and clangy, but it was still very useable.[/quote] I tend to agree with this although recorded it sounds fantastic. I don't think there is a better bass if you are starting out on fretless and want to explore the whole world of playing fretless bass. Mine has served me beautifully but now its time to upgrade.

I started with a Squire VMJ fretless and it was excellent. I have since moved up to a Fender CIJ 62RI fretless Jazz which is wonderful. I do plan on eventually moving up to a Stringray Fretless. I am currently recording an album which is mostly fretless and I just love it. I find playing fretted quite hard and clumsy now. My Squire VMJ fretless will be up for sale very soon if you are interested.

[quote name='chris_b' post='984753' date='Oct 11 2010, 07:24 PM']The article has gone from Lakland's website, but it seems they were regularly bailed out by Dan Lakins dad.[/quote] Wow, never knew that. A real shame to be honest. I wonder if an original Lakland is worth holding on to or not.

[quote name='chris_b' post='982197' date='Oct 9 2010, 12:20 AM']Why should that be? If the new management make good basses then there is no problem. Leo Fender sold up so did Everett Hull and their companies carried on dominating their respective market places.[/quote] Maybe I read too much into it. I though Dan was very proud of his company and the name Lakland and so it was just a surprise that he's sold it on. I never got the impression they were struggling finacially but maybe he sold it to make it survive. Maybe the $$ offer was just to big to refuse. Everyone has a price as they say.

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='984701' date='Oct 11 2010, 06:42 PM']I see at the LOG that they weren't impressed with the complaint.[/quote] Do you have a link?

[quote name='Musicman20' post='982070' date='Oct 8 2010, 09:58 PM']They have been bought out so to speak, and are 'owned' by Hanson who make the strange shaped guitars! If you ask me, the whole concept of Lakland disappeared when Dan left,[/quote] Bloody hell, I never knew that. Is that not a bit of a let down to all the Lakland owners?

Did I read that right that Dan Lakland has left Lakland? If so, why did he leave and what is he up to now?

[quote name='Silent Fly' post='979316' date='Oct 6 2010, 12:42 PM']I agree but at the same time I think the 3EQ is an equally interesting bass. I suspect some people buy the 3EQ because [i]3 has to better than 2[/i] but a part from that, in some context the 3EQ version makes sense. Are you sure it is not available? I would give Alex @ Bass Gallery a ring just in case.[/quote] As far as I know its not and I did ask on the EB forum. Might be worth me asking Alex though.

Nice review. I have had two 3EQ Rays and currently own a 2EQ Ray and for me the 2EQ blows the two 3EQ's out of the water. I could never get a nice fat punchy tone out of either of the 3EQ Rays (10 years between owning both so different amps also) where as the 2EQ is fat, driving with the typical Stingray tone. I love it. I am just praying they release a Classic 2EQ fretless as my money would be ready for that.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='978112' date='Oct 5 2010, 11:20 AM']I have a dilemma you can all help me with. I want to form a tribute band to make loads of money and stay in hotels in Dubai but I can't afford any new gear so the question is, which bands have a bass player who uses a Wal fretless and has a big enough following to guarantee loads of gigs. I tried a Brand X tribute but it went nowhere. PS I look like Rolf Harris[/quote] Ah see the mistake you have made here. You are assuming that the general public are actually aware of what a bass player does, let alone notice that there is one in a band and even notice you. You need to remember the golden rule, the general public don't listen or even know what a bass player is or does. So, don't worry about the Wal, play what you like as nobody in the crowd will even notice you

[quote name='cetera' post='978184' date='Oct 5 2010, 12:03 PM']Linus, I make some 'pocket money' from it, that is all. I have a full time job... [/quote] OK cool thanks.

Thanks cetera. When you say semi pro, that means that you make a living out of it but not quite enough to be fully supportive and need another form of income yes???

My go, here is a picture of mine. I bought it in 1989 from Nova Guitar centre in Guildford. It has done hundreds of gigs and so has a few battle scars. It was also used to record on an album. I changed the pickups to Barts which improved the sound and is now one of the nicest sounding basses I own. I am currently having a fretless neck made for it. I went this route as I did not want to de-fret the original neck as they are impossible to replace if something went wrong.

Very nice and yes, you have the European headstock. From what I know, ESP at the time were making parts for Fender Japan so the neck could well had been used for a Fender or an ESP. Also, the bass is bassed on a 62 RI Fender and the neck is one of the thinest necks I have played. I think would should start a club, it would be so exclusive that we could get all the benifits for ourselves

Thanks Doddy, I might drop you a PM with a few more questions if thats ok. Anyone else care to answer a few questions.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='977244' date='Oct 4 2010, 03:39 PM']Hi Michael. We had a bit of a discussion here a little while ago. Although not exactly what your asking some good points were raised. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=103757"]Backing a tribute artist[/url][/quote] Thanks buddy Hope you are well, I will PM sometime soon to catch up.

To those who play in a tribute band, can you answer a couple of questions for me as its something I know very little about but could be interesting in doing. What band/artist do you cover? Are you pro or just for fun? How many gigs do you get a year? What type of gigs do you do – pubs, clubs, weddings, private parties, festivals etc? Are the gigs packed or various? Do you have an agent or do you manage yourselves? Do you act and dress the part or just play the songs? Its something I am thinking about in the future but don't really know anything about it apart from doing two depping gigs for a U2 tribute band. Any tips and advice very much appreciated. Thanks

OK, so taking this one step further (some of you are at this stage going, no please don't lets leave here now) is there a difference between playing in a covers band and a tribute band in terms of the types of gigs and the money you can earn from them? Would a tribute band be more of a touring band, setting up a whole bunch of dates where as a covers band is more of a case of playing in pubs and getting gigs where you can. I can't really imagine say an ABBA tribute band or a Prince tribute band playing down at the Miners Arms. So does a tribute band and covers band demand a different type of venue etc?

[quote name='Musicman20' post='976908' date='Oct 4 2010, 11:54 AM']I think it would be no problem, apart from a 3-4 month wait, to get a 2 band Stingray with Pau Ferro board, in exactly that colour. Porbbaly be around £1200 new unfortunately. I imagine they are pretty rare second hand. I am actually thinking about trying fretless, and an EBMM would be exactly what Im after (not sure which bass yet). Is it difficult to learn?[/quote] Is it difficult to learn is a very hard question to answer because its based on how good your ear is and how good your finger placing is. Personally, a lot of my bass lines were written as if they were played on a fretless (I blame my sisters for bringing me up on 80's music) and so the transition to play my style on a fretless was relatively natural. Thankfully, I also have a very good ear and so playing in tune was not a major issue for me. I find finger placing is just a case of practise and knowing your instrument. Playing along to all favourite songs or doing all your natural exercises on the fretless is the way to improve that. What I did was just buy a Squire VMJ fretless (for sale soon) and used that to practise on and see if fretless was for me. I very quickly out grew it and realised fretless was the way forward. Personally, playing fretless is the most enjoyable experience I have playing bass (along with fast punk pop to an audience of thousands as its so expresive and sounds wonderful. Give it a go but you might want to try something cheaper before taking the plunge on a fretless ray just in case its not for you. Unless its a tobacco sunburst and then I can buy it from you

[quote name='Musicman20' post='976875' date='Oct 4 2010, 11:35 AM']I think in this climate it will hold its value for a definite. With it being one of the last German-made cersions, I doubt you'd lose anything. If the bass market has a u-turn, you might make a little on it in a few years, but at the moment it is flooded. Is a Ray fretless on your list? [/quote] Cool, thanks for the info Gareth. I kind of suspected that and not really sure if the value will go up that much anyway. As you say, it will probably just stay stable. I would love a fretless ray. I've asked on the EBMM forum if they have any plans for a Classic fretless ray but nothing confirmed yet If I let my heart rule at the moment, I would sell all my fretted basses and get fretless ones but thankfully my head is a little stronger. I've just bought a wonderful Fender CIJ 62 RI fretless Jazz but I think long term, I would love a tobacco sunburst fretless ray, just like Pino has

I have a beautiful passive Warwick Corvette Standard in Ash. It is one of the last German made models before they shipped production to Korea. As Warwick no longer make the German standard Corvette, do you think that my bass will hold its value or even go up in value and become more sought after? I’m toying with the idea of selling it as I don’t need it but don’t want to sell it if it’s worth hanging onto.

[quote name='fede162162' post='975463' date='Oct 2 2010, 10:03 PM']I will poste some pictures soon, anyway mine has the fender-like headstock. Then my tone control is a mod. Quite interesting though, but I think I'll bring it back to the standard, I'm just too used like that. Great instrument, I had a Sadowsky before this ESP, the Sad is a wonderful axe, but it hasn't got the vintage grunt and vibe the ESP 400 has![/quote] Excellent, I really can't wait to see the pictures. If your one does have a headstock exactly like a Fender then you have one of the rarer ones that were only intended for the European and Japanese market. Mine also has this headstock and only two other people on here do also. I actually changed my pickups to Barts and it sounds incredible. My bass has seen a lot of action, gigs, tours, recording so its quiet roadworn but I will never part with it. Really look forward to seeing your pictures.

[quote name='bubinga5' post='974975' date='Oct 2 2010, 01:30 PM']what full frontal nude shots? [/quote] Don't think its wise I post them here but google is your friend