Kiwi

Thats a horrific asking price. They're less than a quarter of that price usually.

How does through body stringing add brightness?

[quote name='4 Strings' post='801409' date='Apr 9 2010, 11:02 PM']Mahogany is a very hard wood compared to the usual woods used for bodes[/quote] The qualities of any species of wood can vary significantly even within the same tree. A piece taken near the root will be a lot denser and harsher than a piece taken near the crotch. Having said that, ash is typically a wood that is known for being brittle sounding. Maple is bright but too bright to be harsh, its clean sounding...almost glassy if super dense. If you have a look at any discussions on tonewood using Google, mahogany isn't generally selected by luthiers for brightness, its selected for warmth and midrange. In my experience its tended to be fairly soft. My Smith BSR5GN had a mahogany core and I could mark that with a fingernail. No way I could do that with any maple I've handled. The recordings could potentially vary but the differences between the attack in the instruments are pretty significant to my ears at least, and fairly authentic to my ears. I deliberately chose a fairly harsh sounding Jaydee in the clip I posted too. By comparison there are loads of Level 42 clips where Mark Kings bass is softer sounding even when chorus isn't used.

[quote name='JTUK' post='801371' date='Apr 9 2010, 11:21 PM']It may be that Lakaland are making better Jazzes than Fender atm...[/quote] In terms of sound, I've been far more impressed with Laklands than I have with the Fenders I've tried. Lakland have managed to nail a really nice, growly, warm, consistent sound from their instruments. I was seriously considering switching to Laklands before I spotted my beat up Celinder Update J ('Ol No. 2).

[quote name='bubinga5' post='801339' date='Apr 9 2010, 10:38 PM']im sure you know but i meant yourself as the player[/quote] Oh ok, I don't know that my playing is all that special. I'm a groove player mostly, thats where I get my satisfaction from. [quote name='bubinga5' post='801339' date='Apr 9 2010, 10:38 PM']....whats your top instrument at the moment CK...there are 2 basses i had soo bad gas for..one was the Meshell Celinder and the other was your old KS fretted...[/quote] Without question, the natural tint Spector NS5CR that I've modded. It now sounds like the Smith but with more midrange bite and the coil splits give it loads more versatility. I can get a Jaydee sound out of the bridge-most coil and it does a passable p-bass sound from the neck-most coil. With the outside coils on both pickups, it does Tobias and with the two inside coils I can get a passable (but not convincing) stingray sound. Something that at least will sit in the mix in the same way. The only thing I don't like is the small body but it still looks sexy. So I can't imagine changing to another main bass unless its one that I've designed myself.

that sounds yummy!

[quote name='bubinga5' post='801304' date='Apr 9 2010, 08:59 PM']Surely that specialness comes from the player.there only instruments no matter what you got....tis always great to be unique i know..[/quote] I bought my instruments because of their Fenderish sound but also because of their background, rather than who played them. Its easier to sell an interesting instrument with minimal depreciation in a sea of Fender basses if I ever need to. Also, when I buy a higher end instrument, to a certain degree I'm buying a piece of the person who made it. Surprisingly enough many luthiers outside the US don't realise the personal connection that customers look for when they make a decision to spend hard earned wonga on a hand crafted instrument. I tend to feel Fenders are pretty utilitarian, they do a job and they do it well (if you have a good one) but its not been enough yet to persuade me to buy one.

I recognise the need for Fender sounds in some situations but I don't really want to own a Fender. They lack something special for me because they're so widely used. Having said that I've been tempted by a preCBS jazz in the past and OBBM's jazz necked 78 p-bass was also giving me GAS at one point.

I'm not jealous.

He's in NZ at the moment with James Taylor. I was going to meet up with him in Christchurch yesterday but I couldn't get time away when he was available. Really professional guy and very sincere although he's a very straight talker too. I understand why he's a first call session bassist, he takes nothing for granted and really does give the job everything he's got. But by the same token, its a hard life if you have to play despite the effects of jetlag! Tonight he's in Auckland and then they fly out to Japan. He had 2 weeks to learn all of the songs for the James Taylor tour and it was doing his head in but he stuck with it. I'm not sure the band had much by way of rehearsals either so talk about being thrown into the deep end. He seems happy enough so far.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='800652' date='Apr 9 2010, 09:40 AM']I suddenly feel inadequate because mine don't flash[/quote] Dress your bass up in a dirty macintosh? Ok, its not the same but...

[quote name='green' post='800213' date='Apr 8 2010, 08:56 PM']well, should have thought about it myself: the funk unlimited / sonic hammer (which is its predecessor, right ?) could be the right choice... so, jaydees are not so good on the high end ? i mean, personal taste is different...[/quote] Compared to my Modulus Sonic Hammer, my Jaydee was warm and soft. But don't take my word for it. Modulus Flea: Jaydee Supernatural: Status Empathy Can't find a clip of a Parker Fly bass that doesn't have compression on it, unfortunately.

Chris, to use your own point but in a wider context, those people on here "who do take drugs", "hate the police" and "are bitter about things" also have other forums to go to if they want to vent excessively. Off Topic is intended to be for everyone and I'd suggest a balance needs to be maintained.

Oh yeah, good choice. I'd add the Modulus Sonic Hammer I owned was also brutally aggressive. And Rich was right about Status. Some (but not all) of the earlier Series II basses and some (but not all) of the Empathy basses (through necks) can sound very brittle. I'm surprised by the suggestion of a Jaydee. I played one for 12 years, mahogany isn't typically a bright wood and even though the pickups are single coil, they're also very flat response...

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=78081"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=78081[/url]

[quote name='green' post='799197' date='Apr 7 2010, 07:41 PM']the parker fly may be nice, but hard to test or buy one....[/quote] The Bass Centre couldn't sell theirs for love nor money when they still had a shop. Seriously brittle sounding bass.

There's one clear contender in my experience, the Parker Fly bass. So much high end it was uncomfortable to listen to, especially with the piezo.

If you go to 6:38 you can see a Pro4000 head and matching cab though. If any of you have Burman stories, particularly involving Gregg that he might not remember, feel free to share too.

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='790704' date='Mar 30 2010, 02:36 PM']As to the legendary 4x18 cab, the top of the door frame (fixed window type) had to be taken out to enable the cab to leave the shop - I'm sure it did actually gig at some point.[/quote] Howard, I asked Gregg about that cab and this was his reply which I felt compelled to share (with his permission): [b]So did you remember making that 4x18 cab for Bumper Brown? Did it ever get an airing at a gig? [/b] [i]Where do I start? We built it in our first workshop in Handyside arcade, no 59. It had a inch and a half front and the same for the back which was built like a safe door. We fitted the loudspeakers with the cab lying on the floor of the workshop and fitted the "safe door" back. We could feel the pressurised air in the cab hissing out as the back slowly seated in. We then realised that we couldn't lift it! We had to wait until the next day when 6 arcade workmen could help us lift it upright and then we tested it. We used a Burman SL100 powerpack, pre amp and a Fender Precision bass. We connected everything and I hit the bottom open E string and the whole system went dead. (Were the loudspeakers too much for the amp or what? The amp was still on so what was the problem?) Then we could all smell gas! The pressure of air escaping from the sealed cab had 'spat' the jack plug out of the socket on the back of the cab! I think we were then one of the first companies to use EP series XLR connectors to our big cabs. The high pressured stream of air had blown out an industrial gas fire about 8 feet away in one split second long, quarter inch wide jet of air. By the way, try and get a copy of 'The Nice' book, Keith Emerson's bass player mentions his 4x12 and 4x15 in 1 cab as well! The cab was his idea but I got the blame from their roadies! When they were on tour I would get calls in the middle of the night from Baz Ward (tour manager) obviously at the gig. The phone would ring, wake me up, and all he would say was "Burman, you're a bastard", and then he would hang up! Anyway, a local band called 'This Years Girl' wanted to try it so they took it to the Lacarno Ballroom in Sunderland for a gig. I gave strict instructions DO NOT SWITCH IT ON UNTIL I GET THERE! As I arrived the bass player had switched on the amp, plugged in his bass and was about to pluck the bottom E string. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!! Everything went slow motion as i moved towards him. He hit the string and all the glasses of the previous nights drinking just disappeared from the top of a grand piano. I don't mean vibrated off the top, they actually disappeared and smashed to the floor!! Light fittings in the ceiling fell out and crashed to the floor! Worse still, people standing by the bar at the back of the room looked like they were vomiting beer!! I turned from the stage area and ran towards these people. As i ran from the stage to the bar, an distance of about 20 yards, i could feel the air waves of low frequency going up and down my body which made me feel nauseous. At the bar, the bass was punching and hitting everyone including me in the throat! I discovered that the people at the bar weren't being sick as such, they were physically incapable of swallowing their beer! I managed to reach the main switch behind the bar and everthing came to an abrupt end. Of course the bass player turned round oblivious to the mayhem and destruction that had happened. To him the sound on stage had sounded normal but the cab was producing ultra low frequency that is unaudible to the human ear but can destroy your internal organs at high volumes! I can't remember Bumper Brown taking delivery of the cab! In fact I can't remember much at all after that episode - it's a blank.[/i]