Kiwi

Live if possible. But the music I listen to most is rarely performed live. However I have about 80 concert DVDs in my collection of other genres. No metal, country or opera but have pretty much everything else from Avril Lavigne through to Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea.

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.