Kiwi

[quote name='NJE' post='420997' date='Feb 27 2009, 03:21 PM']and Paul Turner plays one so thats me convinced![/quote] Yeah but you might also want to ask WHY is Paul Turner playing one?

[quote]I was about to ask you how you where getting on with the Delanos mate, sorry to hear they\'re not quite your thing Jon's pre is pretty transparent when set flat, so getting the pickups right should be your first point of call.[/quote] I think they'd work well in a warmer bass but the maple Jon uses is super dense and the neck is super rigid. I can hear the bass unamplified and there's not a lot of difference between it and other basses so I think the pickups are probably the place to start. [quote]Maybe some custom made pickups by the Wizard might be the way to go, I reckon some overwound Jazz style pickups would match up very nicely with the pre.[/quote] I do like the sound of parallel wired coils in humbuckers though. Originally Jon and I discussed quad coil SBCs to allow me to switch between single coil and humbucker because the single coil mode sounded pretty good on the neck pickup. I went for SBC's because the Delano site claimed the following: [i]The DELANO SBC6 HE/S-4 is a no compromise, strictly highend quad-coil humbucking pickup, that offers you great, classy sixstring bass tone throughout the entire range of your instrument and beyond. We were pretty happy with the performance of our standard SBC6 HE/S, but we wanted to integrate the option of an additional single coil style string sensing pattern, with no hum, off course. But what you get is far more. When properly positioned, you can get for example two different JB type™ (60ies or 70ies)single coil voicings out of the very same SBC6 HE/S-4 bridge pickup, on top of our dead-on humbucker sound. Can you imagine what a pair of DELANOs might do for your tone?[/i] [quote]I think the 18V option does make a difference too though. With my six string, I just solo the front pickup, notch the bass up a bit, and back the treble off slightly and it sounds huge! That is with EMG DC's though... Newtone will definitely be able to hook you up with anything you want string-wise too.[/quote] I\'d agree about the 18v and I could hear the difference quite clearly myself. If a third battery is installed, Jon just has to find somewhere else to put the battery powering the neck LED's! Newtone seem to be a very special and small scale operation offering some eye opening bespoke options. Custom strings for less than Elixirs or DRs!! [quote]That's a shame CK. Pickups are difficult things, you just can't tell what they're going to be like until they're in the bass. And with a custom job that makes things a tad irritating. Perhaps speak to Delano about what you're looking for and see if they have any suggestions?[/quote] Well yeah but its probably unreasonable to expect everything to be perfect first time on a custom instrument and part of the price of going custom is about the service. Especially when Jon's operating outside his comfort zone. I'm sure Jon will talk to Delano but the limitation is that we can't use different pickup covers now the routing has been done. [quote]Do you have series/parallel/single coil possibilities for these? My apologies if you've already mentioned this. I just find that the parallel setting on my Kent Armstrongs when both set to centre have a really Ken Smith-esque scoop to the sound, which is nice, but the series setting sits soooo much better in the mix without any eqing. Maybe look at that?[/quote] Absolutely, this was one of the things I discussed with Jon on a number of occasions but the quad coils weren't fitted to the bass in the end. Jon seemed a little confused by the quad coil thing as I think he wasn't clear on the difference between the pickups he'd fitted (which have 2 pairs of coils in each side of the humbucker) and the quad coil SBC. Make no mistake, I think the bass definitely has potential in terms of the midrange and treble response but it just needs more guts in the lows and lower mids. I'm after that Smith-ness.

Jordan?

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='420520' date='Feb 26 2009, 11:53 PM']recycle old tudor furniture as basses, anything prewar really will have been better seasoned.... double bass, violin, accoustic guitar yeah i can see its worth it but otherwise it baffels me. having said that I bet they are lovely things to play.[/quote] Or 32,000 year old reclaimed cypress? Or 35,000 year old reclaimed swamp kauri that my parents have a complete dining room set made from? How old is old enough?

[quote name='Leowasright' post='420359' date='Feb 26 2009, 08:16 PM']A Cliff Williams MM Stingray!!!!! Of course, in tobacco sunburst and maple neck/board. Or Fender could replicate his approx. '62 sunburst Precision with repaired scratchplate (the controls and jack are on an added metal plate). I wish he could have a Jazz, but I've only seen him with one once in footage from about 1981.[/quote] I sold one of his basses through The Gallery recently. It wasn't a Stingray though.

OK update. Now the post-coital glow has subsided, I've decided that even though the bass might have a little settling in to do, I'm not all that happy with the sound of the Delano SBC's. I'm not saying there's anything necessarily wrong with them but I wanted warm pickups and these babies just aren't delivering. The bass doesn't sound solid enough to me. In fact the only time I've had a satisfactory sound out of the pickups is when I've recentred the mid sweep as low as possible and boosted both the mids and bass to the maximum on the bass. Then it started to sound quite nice. I've spoken to Jon about it and discussed the possibility of Andy at Wizard rewinding the neck pickup to give the bass more oomph. There's also too much mid scoop in the sound when both pickups are on (perhaps because the pickups are so similar in voicing) so I'm hoping that tweaking the neck pickup might reduce the scoopy character a little more. I'm also aware that the Shuker preamp is only being fed by 9v at the moment, because Jon didn't have enough space to put the other 9v battery. Normally I might feel a bit guilty about being demanding but after waiting this long for it, I feel like I have a right to satisfaction. Jon said he's going to talk to both Wizard and also to Newtone about some custom PSD strings for the bass while we wait for the piezo saddles to be redesigned with larger transducers so better string contact is possible.

I just measured the scale on this thing tonight. 35.5"! Half an inch extra free of charge.

the Ampeg probably won't pack the same punch as the Hartke, its a different beast altogether. I'm not going to make a recommendation though, you should really get out there and try stuff. Tag along to the next Bass Bash in Bristol.

[quote name='fusionbassist1' post='420284' date='Feb 26 2009, 06:20 PM']So first port of call should be to ring Wizards themselves to see what they suggest?[/quote] Definitely. I can't speak highly enough of him.

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='420273' date='Feb 26 2009, 06:12 PM']thats what I did! honestly whats the point? I couldn't make the prices bit open but I bet it was a good deal more than I spent on my JV. I have worked with wood a lot and honestly get what they are saying about using properly seasoned wood, but really on an electronic instrument does it make that much difference? The only massive difference in feel between my JV and these are real lacquer rather than poly, but thats not really going to change the world is it. It strikes me the ethos of production of these is quite differnt to Leo making planks with strings on in the 1950's...[/quote] Oh I think it does make some difference but its important to see through the smoke and mirrors. Anyone who thinks old wood is key to what they want should weigh up their options and make a choice. Its also possible to source (albeit rarely because its usually so bloody wormy) salvaged wood from architectural recycling yards and take it to a luthier such as Mr Shuker to have it made into a bass. Will that deliver The Sound? Hmmmmmm caveat emptor, silk purses and sow's ears etc. The best thing about old wood is that its been in a bass for a long time. The wood is used to string tension and the fingerboard can be shaped at each refret to take into account any variations in how the neck wood has seasoned. Being looked after and well maintained is what makes older basses so good - just like any car.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='420271' date='Feb 26 2009, 06:09 PM']Sounds to me like a set of flats is required. failing that, ask Andy to overwind your current pups. More mids, less sizzle.[/quote] +1 Andy is one of the most accommodating suppliers I know. Definitely talk to him first, he really is a a wizard with pickups. If it can be done, he will know of a way to do it. He might even suggest under winding the pickup to increase the lows by reducing the impedance.

The wood is aged for a long time, a bit like fodera. What this means in terms of sound is up to you. If course, you COULD buy an 80's Squier Jv and have pretty much the same thing with some upgraded hardware and pickups. But it wouldn't be an Avella and it probably wouldn't have the same attention to detail. BUT, if its old wood you're after there's plenty of it out there...

is it possible to be a Funk Geek?

[quote name='51m0n' post='419992' date='Feb 26 2009, 12:05 PM']And you right nothing like Bootsy & James either, but damn funky nevertheless.[/quote] The real innovation that James Brown brought in more or less, grounding funk as an accepted musical style initiated by Little Richard, was transforming every instrument in his band into a rhythm instrument. The rest of it was mostly his attitude, which more or less carried a lot of the arrangements that he created as a band leader. There's a really strong and interesting relationship between funk and black social history too. In more recent times its fair to say the black consciousness baton has been picked up musically in Hip Hop (NWA, De La Soul etc.).

[quote name='51m0n' post='419970' date='Feb 26 2009, 11:35 AM']Oh, did I say, the one is everything.[/quote] Funk's moved on a bit since Bootsy and James Brown, thankfully.

Welcome Raef, are you near Chamonix? I have a friend who lives in Courmayeur. EDIT: just did a look up on Google - close but not that close!

I have a bass tone I like if I can get it (growly, clean and solid - bit like a Smith but with more Spector) but sometimes having the right sound for the song is more important to me.

Like many forms of music, funk is mostly about attitude. The more laid back you can play without falling out of 'the pocket' (ie. the timing gap around the beat you can play within and still be considered as playing in time) then the funkier it sounds. However you need a drummer who can pin things down for you and play in the same pocket. Funk is as much about the relationship between bass and drums as it is about just the bass. Ideally you need to understand the difference btween playing in front and behind the beat and the further behind the drummer you can play, the better. Its not something you can think about because the timing is so minute. Thats why its about feel. Play like you're stoned.

Real Men(tm) don't play 'em. Bit like wearing pink business shirts to the office.

I think headless basses might be the bass equivalent of quiche. [quote name='4000' post='419438' date='Feb 25 2009, 05:29 PM']Be careful though, because as I always say, different examples can vary so much, and your taste may not be what another player's is. For instance, CrazyKiwi loved the black Sei 4 Original in the Gallery, but after trying it myself it's one on my least favourite Seis that I've played (although the lack of weight was fabulous).[/quote] +1 to that, but what wasn't to like about that bass? It was sex on a stick! Low action, loads of growl, very supple and playable.

Personally, I have no time for debates like this. At most you'll get an idea of how diverse everyone's opinion is. Decide what is important to you and find someone who can make a bass along those lines, or someone who is accommodating if things don't go to plan initially. What is very important is that you know what you want. If you don't and you still go to a custom maker, you'll probably end up disappointed.