Kiwi

Save up for the Roscoe?

[quote name='BassAgent' post='629547' date='Oct 18 2009, 03:45 PM']You are right about that... It looks good like this, but I think it's rather boring and I think it would look even better with a translucent colour...[/quote] Get Chris to make you another body then. He's got loads of them.

Personally I do, but Meshell is on a journey... If you've ever listened to Roy Ayers, you'll see where Meshell got a lot of her inspiration for the first two albums.

Please please please I beg you don't refinish it, it'll suck some mojo away

[quote name='Lew-Bass' post='624113' date='Oct 12 2009, 04:08 PM']What was your view on the GK then, did you like it? I know it's the older model you owned but no doubt it's obviously very similar In reference to bright sounding basses, I tend to like a warm, defined fairly clean tone so I don't think that that will be a problem[/quote] It was the Mk II, I had two 1x15 combos. It was a great amp, certainly capable of delivering a warm and clean tone but like I mentioned in my earlier post, it can be aggressive. I ended up having to decide what to subtract from my sound rather than figure out what to add.

'Ave it!

I can't speak for the standard approach to playing Gospel although if I ended up sinking into a mire of easy listening praise music, I'd probably feel inclined to crucify myself on the spot. The interesting thing about gospel is that its possible to nail the roots but there's room to light up some of the chordal inversions with tasty fills sometimes. If you can nail the roots and use them to illustrate how the chords are changing in a melodic but groovy way so much the better. Very much a case of learning the ropes, then forgetting it and going with your heart once you've totally understood the song. I'm not going to make any apologies for yet again posting this clip of Sharay Reed because he completely does my head in. Seems like there are a few more bits of his work on youtube in the last 6 months so I'm going to go and watch them too. Its not necessarily something that can be taught but something you feel. If you can't feel Sharay then there's something wrong somewhere. He's managing to totally nail the groove of the song and yet still expand his playing harmonically. This vid is an absolute master class in bass playing IMO.

Maybe you'd better try both before reaching a decision, assuming you haven't already? I used to own a GK RB700 and its a much more aggressive amp than the Hartke. Not necessarily worse for that but if you pair bright sounding basses to it, your ears may end up bleeding.

Maybe look at one of the Hartke 3500 or 5500 heads? Very punchy like the Trace but less brittle. Also cheap as chips now.

Technically you can pile on layer after layer of polyeurathane and have a very very tough finish. Pedulla use the same finish on their buzz bass fingerboards as they do on the rest of the instrument only its substantially thicker. However there's a downside with thick finishes in that they tend to choke the instrument a bit meaning less warmth. Of course this is just one variable in a myriad for any instrument. I remember being very impressed with how durable my Warwick Rockbass was from knocks but it wasn't a warm instrument (not helped by the pine body probably either). Alternatively there are indeed oil finishes and these have the advantage of being sandable in the event of light indentations. But if they're protecting a soft wood then expect even the lightest taps to leave a mark. I had this happen with my fretted Smith BSR5GN. Even fingernails would leave a mark. IMO the best finish is probably a satin finished, thin poly finish because you can get it resprayed and flatted back to match the rest of the instrument a hell of a lot more easily than if it was gloss finished because there's less sanding involved. Plus its durable enough to take light knocks without too much trouble. EDIT: Technically a pre-relicked instrument could be more durable in taking all the knocks you could throw at it and it would probably look better.

Good to see everyone having fun, wish I could have been there as well.

[quote name='bubinga5' post='622280' date='Oct 10 2009, 09:40 AM']i guess CK, that at a certain level, certain basses come down to a purely subjective sense of what ergonomics you like..., for me i want an instrument i would like to keep for the rest of my bass playing days...[/quote] In which case it might be better if you avoid anything that is currently fashionable and go for something that will still be worth the same when the rest of your bass playing days are finished. [quote name='bubinga5' post='622280' date='Oct 10 2009, 09:40 AM']do i really need another bass..erm..no....but i have gas for a super jazz, and im guessing Celinder is about as super as they come..[/quote] Of course its subjective but make sure you try other basses first and be clear on where the value of a jazz is for YOU. Is it the sound? You don't need a Celinder for that. If its the playability, then Celinders are up there with the best but will they give you 100% satisfaction? If so, for how long? Are your tastes still changing as well? Are you buying a Celinder for the brand? Hell, why not! But if your tastes change later on, whats the plan going to be? A Celinder with standard pickup casings and control layout might be a good solution as well, you could swap out the Fralins and Aguilar pre for Lollars and passive circuitry if you fancy a warmer sound later on in your career. Alternatively there are plenty of good jazz basses out there for £800 which could offer the same flexibility. I didn't buy my Celinders for anywhere near £4k and would still be reluctant to do that even now after owning three. For me it's all down to the qualities of the wood and playability at the end of the day for standard Fender type designs. Anything else can be swapped or upgraded with relatively predictable results. The well known brands don't have a monopoly on good wood necessarily either, but they do tend to be more consistent. Personally I would probably have gone with a Nash or Alan Knight road rashed PJ 5 or even a Lakland if I didn't have the Celinders. Also, if you find a bass that isn't a Celinder that still makes you go 'wow, this is really nice' then go with your impulse. I remember trying my Spector out at a National Bass Bash when Al still owned it and thinking 'wow' and missing at least two opportunities to buy it through BC. Also the same wow-thing happened with a Class D amp when I first tried a Peavey Databass combo way back in 1988. I should have trusted my instincts in both cases.

In terms of sound its much of a muchness. I've heard anonymous samples of a Bacchus with Nordies and an Avella and been hard pressed to tell which was better quality. My own personal view is that it probably comes down to feel and playability more than anything.

If you want control over a filthy sounding amp then the Trace V8 is probably going to be of some interest. Channel switching between clean and dirty plus compressor. The dirty can be cleaned up as much as you want. Alternatively there's the EBS Microbass II pedal into your SVT. Offers near identical channel switching plus active eq with sweepable mids, twin inputs, headphone out, effects loop, etc.

[url="http://www.thebassgallery.com/kensmithbsr5.html"]http://www.thebassgallery.com/kensmithbsr5.html[/url] My old fretless is back there. Ex-Randy Hope Taylor. Can you spot the difference?

Footnote: I've asked Andy to wind a set to replace the Delano SBC's in my Shuker, plus another set for the second NS5CR and I'll be talking to him about a set to replace the Alembics in the Pentabuzz at some point as well. Would be really curious to hear a set in a Status at some point as well...if only I had the readies to pay for that Empathy 5 in the classifieds...

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='619933' date='Oct 7 2009, 08:14 PM']Having owned a Tonepump Euro 4 and played Alan's (NGH) Euro 5 I'd say that the bulk of the 'rawk' (not all of it) is born in the Tonepump Pre.[/quote] I swapped out the Euro 6 tone pump and replaced it with a U-retro and didn't notice a significant change apart from a slightly flatter response. The mids weren't as well defined as in the XL's I'd tried either. This is what led me to swap the pickups in the NS5CR. Plus inspite of being an all maple instrument it was pretty warm and I liked the midrange and compressed highs a lot but wanted yet MORE warmth, something approaching that I had in the Smiths. So asked Andy to wind me some pickups that put out as much warmth and mids as possible without sacrificing clarity which he did admirably. The difference then was profound, particularly in the treble response. Clean and crisp yet ballsy in the lows and mids. Plus there's a sort of synergy going on between the maple, the pickups and the U-retro which allows me to very precisely dial in the mids around the growlier frequencies and, boomshanka, sonic nirvana. [quote name='GreeneKing' post='619933' date='Oct 7 2009, 08:14 PM']I don't know if that helps. I'd love to A/B the two especially as NZ is most definitely the closest I've come to Nirvana on this planet but I don't expect you'll cough up BA Business Class?[/quote] I'll see if I can rack up a few more air miles.

Cass is a Cutlass collector, he has managed to acquire quite a few in his time.

[quote name='cetera' post='605664' date='Sep 22 2009, 02:17 PM']Both are great... and most of the differences have been outlined above. The NS is a stunner but not worth twice the money.... and I personally believe that the original pre-Kramer ones are even nicer! When it comes to value for money/best bang for the buck then the Euro wins every time.... however, if you've got a large wad available then an NS wins out just because it can! lol![/quote] I've not owned both but I've been in the same position in having to choose, played a couple of NS's and owned a Euro 6 for a while then settled on neither. Well, technically I went with the Euro but one of the older NS5CR basses where the spec was virtually the same as the NS of that time apart from the preamp. My main gripes with Spectors (EMG's and the preamp) have been addressed with replacements and I believe I have a bass now that is better than any other I've ever tried (including the NS, my Smiths, Alembic yada yada). So another NS5CR is on its way to me in NZ plus I got lucky and paid about 10-15% of what a new NS5XL might cost. If I was able to, I'd be quite happy to do an A/B with anyone's NS5XL simply out of personal curiosity. My natural Spector doesn't sound like a Spector now either but it sort of sounds like all the best bits of Alembic and Smith rolled into one instrument. Less rawk and more funk, which is exactly what I was looking for.

Im waiting for them to reply to my email as well. Any chance you could send me the email address you've been using?

Spectors can tend to have high output in my experience because both the pickups and the preamp have their own gain stages. I couldn't see mention of it before but...you've replaced batteries already, yes?