SlapbassSteve

Cheers folks! Some very interesting stuff there indeed, Hofner is the absolute last company in the world I'd have expected to have done something as forward-thinking as that from so early on- especially like the built-in fuzz and wahwah. Interesting as well that they phased it out in the eighties and decided to stick with passive... I need to read into Alembic a bit more.

In case anyone's interested vaguely interested in what four ukuleles, five vocals, logarhythm and a 1983 Westone Quantum bass sound like playing covers of Mumford & Sons and R. Kelly songs, here you go! We've been getting a great response live and recently played at the Grand National, these are the first two parts of our demo... [url="https://soundcloud.com/uke-hunters"]https://soundcloud.com/uke-hunters[/url]

Great tone there! Those the stock pups..?

Just been working on my dissertation on the evolution of bass guitar role and tone since 1960, and it's got me thinking- what was the first commercially available active bass guitar? Am I right in thinking it was the original MusicMan Stingray or am I overlooking something?

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1365015362' post='2034228'] I might be wrong but I don't think he played on Somebody Else's Guy. [/quote] I wasn't 100% myself, didn't sound much like him... or a precision for that matter!

If this kind of practice is acceptable I might just go into business, I've a bright pink westfield I paid £30 for and put a blag Fender 70's decal on(strictly for a music video appearance you understand) and which is coming soon to eBay at the bargain price of £600-ish...

There's an almost identical genuine 1966-ish Fender Jazz with matching red headstock in Curly Music Liverpool, and I'm pretty sure it's not a whole lot more expensive then that. ...Also is it just me or does it look like someone's been tunnelling under the bridge? I'd be worried about taking it off and finding a bunch of foreign miners trapped beneath.

LEGENDARY!

Besides the really obvious one(Forget Me Nots in case it isn't really obvious), what other noteworthy songs did Freddie Washington play bass on? I heard a song on the radio over the weekend and recognised his slap tone instantly(exact same sound as FMN's) but had no idea what song it was, and just read somewhere he played on Somebody Else's Guy.. are there many other hidden P bass tone gems out there with his stamp on them?

This suits me down to the ground, I've a skilled player with lead and backing vocals to my name... However the end of April/May is a little too soon for me as I've one or two other commitments to honour first(such as the last week or two of a three-year university course...) if anything else comes up of this nature let me know, in the meantime I'll try and put some promo stuff together as the only real videos of my playing and singing are grainy phone videos of me singing Gay Bar for my ex- covers band([url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SHZK3i1x-k&feature=youtu.be"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SHZK3i1x-k&feature=youtu.be[/url]), or fan videos of my ukulele band where I don't sing very much ([url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkDHVYPya08"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkDHVYPya08[/url])

Blimey this thread takes me back! [quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1364761001' post='2030637'] Just been searching for info on pickup height and came across this thread. Thought I might add that the Dimarzio model P does sound a bit muddy and dark if you just drop the pup in. You need to change the vol and tone pots to 500k's from the stock 250k pots to get the growl and bite that they are capable of. Brightens things up. Dimarzio actually recommends this. Just saying incase someone finds this thread in a search and gets put off. Dimarzios rock! [/quote] Forgot to update that after a couple of weeks of tweaking with polepiece heights I got a really nice sound out of them, it's been my main gigging bass since! Had no idea about the pot swap thing though, cheers for the heads up, will grab some off ebay now -even more bite/growl ain't something I'm going to turn down!

I remember years ago wondering if it was viable to convert a cheap guitar to a short-scale bass. Didn't end well... [size=4] [/size] In this case I'll hazard a guess the neck on a baritone wouldn't be able to handle it- girthwise if nothing else because of how thick ubass strings are. I've played a U-Bass a few times now and personally can't stand playing it, absolutely no tension on a floppy set of rubber strings... however its very portable and has a nice upright bass-ish sound. I'd be be more inclined to tune a regular baritone with regular strings like a bass, and put it through an octave pedal... or just get a cheapo acoustic bass... depends what you need it for!

In my experience of Westfields(I've owned four), it's probably good enough as it is, they're incredibly well made for the price tag. Westfield appreciation aside, good strings would really help depending on the sound you're after, but to get better pickups and bridge then you have in it already you'd be spending easily more then the bass is worth! Just keep it stock and unless you use a silly amount of FX pedals don't worry about an amp and just DI it [size=4] If you've got money really burning a hole it'll probably benefit more from a setup. Having pickups set the right height can improve a bass overall a massive amount.[/size] [size=4]For the price of a new set of pickups and bridge for a Thunderbird that are any good(ie better then Westfield use) you'd easily be talking £200+, and when you can have an Epi Thunderbird for abar £120 second hand these days it'd be silly to not just buy one of them if that's the sound you're after.[/size]

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1363282358' post='2011036'] It's just like all those people who wear cheap TAG fake watches. They think they look sophisticated, but the Nike trainers, tracksuit and fags give it away. Take some pride in yourselves people. Don't give your wife a fake Cartier watch from down the market. It means that you don't value her. [b]Don't buy yourself a copy bass guitar, it shows that you consider yourself to be of low value.[/b] There are plenty of affordable alternatives out there without demeaning yourself. Or ..... you could chose a licenced copy. Then you wouldn't be so seedy. [/quote] ...So, taking this in another direction, what about all the people forking out for the likes of Sandberg and Nordstrand that make copy Jazz and Precision basses, but to unquestionably higher standards then Fender themselves..?

It's interesting the point about 'no company should be allowed to copy another's bass' -I for one would never have been able to take up the instrument were it not for an absolute wreck of a Boston P-Bass copy that was the best I could afford at 16. How many of us here began playing on a Precision or Jazz style bass? Frankly in my experience the people who's parents paid out the £500+ for a new Fender are usually the ones that give up playing after five minutes of posing in the mirror rather then playing the damn thing... rant over haha It just seems overall the reason for this rickstapo attitude is insecurity over quality control, they need to protect the brand because the guitars themselves are overpriced by roughly 180% for what they are... for the £2k-ish price tag(and 8 month waiting list) of a new 4003 you could have a pro luthier build you a custom bass out of your choice of woods and hardware. [size=2] [/size][size=2] [/size] [size=1](I must admit though, the 4003 in fireglo is still one of the most beautiful basses I've ever seen, much prefer the look to one of those exotic wood custom jobbies I was just on about... )[/size]

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1363203540' post='2009818'] I had the money in my bank to buy my first Rickenbacker about 2 weeks before they started their pathetic policing of this forum and others. Needless to say that money went elsewhere and they will never, ever get my money. They should put their energy into making instruments and a brand that people value and feel is worth buying and marketing them properly so that people put faith into their brand and heritage over a copy. Next they'll be shutting down Fender and Gibson for having 4 string basses that might offer competition... Truly pathetic, childish and downright petty behaviour IMO. [/quote] I've been there too, had the money almost completely saved up to buy my dream fireglo 4003 but as soon as I heard about the way the company was acting(and tbh more importantly the effect this was then having on the resale prices of real ricks, which curiously went through the floor as soon as Mr Hall started all this rickstapo nonsense) I put the money into a Markbass rig and a battered Hondo II copy instead. Money well spent [size=4] [/size]

Awesome playing though! Love all this stuff [size=4] [/size]

I'm struggling to work out what bass whoever it is is using... it's definitely not a Musicman, Jazz or Precision as far as I can hear... sounds active...or at least EQ'd like mad...

Starting price of £300 sounds about right for one of these but I've definitely seen them go for less... I'd love to try one, they look like great value. Where were they made, Japan?

For function work I'd recommend a Markbass CMD of some description. Personally I use a 121P (http://www.gak.co.uk/en/mark-bass-mini-combo-cmd-121-p/4276) with an extension cab but 151P, 121H or 102P models are excellent too, just depends whether you'd prefer a 15" speaker, horn tweeter or a pair of 12's. Either way MB stuff is practically weightless compared to other amps with similar output, and very compact, also great at sitting in the right place in the mix... I'm starting to sound like an advert...

Filthy cheap... why do all these bargains only appear when I'm skint?