Linus27

So I am after a new amp and I have narrowed it down to three so far (happy to take on other suggestions). I only play fretless and I play either a fretless Stingray, Jazz or Precision. The Stingray and Jazz have rounds and the Precision have flats. Tonally I seek a rounded, balanced, warm tone but as I am a melodic player, it still has to be clean enough to be defined. I tend to run my amps flat and then on the Stingray dial off the mids and maybe boost the bass and treble depending on the room. The Jazz usually has the volumes and tones on full and the Precision is similar with maybe the tone dialed back a little. I like to express the fretless tone and some mwah but closer to a double bass or perhaps Jamerson on a fretless than the whole Jaco sound if that makes sense. I am more of a Giblin/Pino than the clean, honky, nasally Jaco sound. The amp will be run through a Barefaced Two10 which I guess is quite vintage sounding and I do use a chorus and an octave. At the moment I am using a very old Ashdown MiBass 550 which sounds lovely but old. Prior to that I used an Ampeg PF500 which was also lovely but very old and has seen hundreds of gigs. I've also used an EBS Reidmar many years back which I also loved but not sure its right for me these days, it might be a bit clean. So the three amps I have narrowed down to is an Ashdown Rootmaster 500/800, Ampeg PF800 or possibly an EBS Reidmar. I have no idea what the Ashdown Rootmasters are like so I'd be interested on thoughts on these. They may be woolly, un-dynamic or a great workhorse with great tone. Ampeg I know I like but I've never run my Stingray through one and the Ashdown might be a better or worse choice. The EBS is the outside runner as I know they are very clean amps which might be good but it might also be too clean. I guess the answer could be all of the amps are great and would work but as I'm in the market to buy a new amp I'd be interested in others thoughts. I've linked below songs which is more in-line with the tone I am similar to to give an idea.

Personally, I work in the exact same way as you, if its going to be done, then do it properly so no, you are not being unrealistic. You have your own objectives and goals which are not in-line with the singer and guitarists. So if this was me, I would stay put and enjoy the opportunity to play and learn but look for a band/other musicians who are more in-line which how you think and feel and when the time comes, leave the current band. Just remember, the longer you stay with them the more frustrating it will get and as the saying goes, when something is no longer fun, then either make a change or stop doing it. There are plenty of musicians out there who are like-minded but equally, there are a lot who are not. Life is too short on time wasters. Perhaps put an advert out outlining what you want to do and the level of commitment and see where it gets you. When you meet the other musicians, have a chat and make sure everyone is on the same page and is committed to the same level.

I'm quite happy to not sound like Jaco although having some mwah would be required, after all this is part of the voice and one of the reasons we play fretless right. Saying that, I'm not sure how much mwah is dependent on pickups. My Fender Jazz with ebony board and rounds has loads of mwah, especially if I dial back the neck pickup a little. However, my fretless Precision has a maple board and fully coated in high gloss with EB slinky cobalt flats and that also has loads of mwah and in the higher registers sings even more. I'll certainly add the EMJ's to the list to consider

Thank you, I think you are spot on here.

Watching Alanis Morissette concert and the bass amp caught my eye. It looks to be an Ashdown from the VU meter on the left hand side but I cant really recognise which one, especially as the right hand side looks quite plain. The bassist is also Chris Chaney I believe who usually uses Aguilar. Any ideas?

I've found that some Precision's I've owned and played have had a loud bark when running at full volume. It's like they are just a bit too hot and aggressive and just dialing back the volume a tad tames it. Not sure if that's an actual thing with Precision's but noticed it on a few over the years.

Yep enjoyed that, thanks for sharing. My guesses for which basses were Precision's is 1 and 3 although 4 also sounded very close and to be fair, they all did lol

Thank you, that worked. Certainly had that Vintage Jaco-esque tone 👍

Thanks Hellzero, looks interesting. For some reason your audio clip won't play.

That make me really sad then I never actually ordered a fretless neck for my Stingray let alone an entire bass.

This is the bass I would absolutely love, minus the LED's and as an unlined fretless. Sadly I don't think the bass exists as a fretless and unlikely I will ever get one made but it would be a thing of beauty.

Purchasing, inventory, procurement, management and engineering here. I can also play bass a bit which I'm sure helps 😎

Basschat group buy?

😲 Wow, sad times indeed but understandable considering and why not, life is too short so I don't blame him wanting to retire and enjoy life. I never did get myself a Status bass but would love an all black graphite headed fretless. It also looks unlikely I will ever get an unlined fretless neck for my Stingray either. Good luck to Rob and the team and all the best for the future. They are bass legends.

Thank you sir

Well I think the first white car is a Ford Mustang convertible, then I saw a dark blue Porsche 911 (996), a Lotus Elan in the red Sprint colour scheme, blue Merc convertible, orange Ford Mustang, white MG convertible, maybe a red Ferrari 355 although it looks like an MR2 with the Ferrari body kit, silver Dolorean, blue Escort mk1, turquoise Chevy, black Subaru Impreza WRX STi hatch, white Porsche 911, red Escort mk1, green MGB GT, red Mini, white Jaguaaaaaar, gold Capri, blue Mustang or possibly a Shelby Mustang, red MG Midget, grey Jaguaaaar F Type convertible, black Porsche 997, red Ford Mustang, grey Ford Mustang convertible, brown Austin Allegro, red Marco's maybe, red Jaguaaaar convertible, white Simitar maybe, red Lotus Elise S1 160, blue Merc, Orange Morgan maybe, burgundy Merc, yellow Triumph Stag convertible maybe or a Triumph TR6 convertible maybe, red Alfa I think, green Singer Chamois, blue VW camper, old black Jaguaaaar, old blue Jaguaaaar, green Porsche Cayman R, old grey Bentley or Rolls, white old Yank tank, grey old tank tank, green Bedford pickup maybe.

Just had a listen and their standard Jazz bass pickups sound lovely, much nicer even over their B.S J-Bass pickups. Will certainly consider them. Thank you.

Interested on recommendations for some Jazz pickups for my fretless Japanese Fender Jazz. I am after a smooth, warm, rounded tone that will compliment the fretless. I was considering just upgrading to a set of Fender Custom 60's Jazz pickups which might be just fine but open to other options that might be more suitable for the tone I am after. My other fretless Jazz has Barts which do sound lovely but there again, may be other options more suited for fretless.

This is exactly what we ended up doing after the second time it had happened. Some venues did actually confirm he had contacted them to try and cancel the gigs claiming various excuses. We also backed everything up with an email so they had our new email address, band name and details.

Oh it gets worse, we then turned up at some gigs to find out he's told the landlady that we were not a 5 piece any more and only a 4 piece so we should get paid less. He also created a fake email address similar to a venue's own email to then try to make out the venue had cancelled us. When we spoke to the person who booked us at the venue, he confirmed that he had not sent the email or cancelled the band and we worked out that the email was very similar to the original with just a digit different and it was fake. Plus he tried to ban us from travelling abroad despite having accommodation and gigs booked by withholding ferry tickets and telling us we were not allowed to be in the country the same time as him 😄

9. Band member who quit the band to form a new band thinks the remaining members of the band should not be allowed to continue without him despite telling us he hopes we continue so phones up all the venues to cancel all the gigs telling them the band has split up.

In the comments, In the comments he says he actually went back to the Barts.

Bought a Fender Jazz fretless neck from Nick. As always, super communication, speedy delivery, bomb proof packaging and an absolute joy to deal with. Cheers Nick.