peteb

I think the point is that Roger built his brand on the custom of top players who do know the difference, which was the test for his opinions about wood and how to build a bass in general. I suspect that these days the big majority of his custom will come from the PMABs, who want to own the same bass as the top players and are prepared to pay to do so. I would agree that wood is just one component of what determines the sound of a bass. I would say that all of these components on their own are pretty marginal in isolation, but if you get a lot of marginal gains in the same instrument then you get a good bass. Whether you really need to pay Sadowsky prices is another thing entirely.

A friend of mine is a pro who is paid by a company to endorse a couple of brands of basses that costs around the £400 mark and he constantly tells people / posts on social media that these basses are just as good as expensive brands / best he's ever played, etc. A couple of times I have picked up one of his basses (a jazz bass copy) having just played my Xotic bass (a jazz bass copy that I paid £1.6k for secondhand - about £2.3k new). Are his basses as good as mine? Nowhere close! My basses are streets ahead in terms of sound, playability and construction. When he plays his basses they sound OK because he is a decent player and I am sure that I could play one on a gig if I had to, but mine are just so much nicer to play and sound far better. Is my bass four times as good as his? Probably not, but you pay a bit more for a better instrument and you can tell the difference.

I suppose that you could make more of a case to say that about ACG, Overwater and the like (although whether that would be justified is another thing). You have to look at how Roger Sadowsky built his business, i.e. by becoming the go-to guy for NYC session players for repairs and customising their Fender basses. He then started building basses for this same client group that would be like souped up Fenders (but nether less still sounded basically like a Fender). He mainly used relatively mundane woods like ash and alder, rather than fancy exotic woods (not including those used for tops, which are purely for aesthetic reasons). As far as woods having different sounds, I have a few basses made of ash that sound more or less similar when you play them unplugged. However, I have also had a couple of Warwick Streamers with solid maple bodies. When you play them unamplified, they sound completely different to the ash bodied basses. Therefore, I would suggest that different woods must have some influence on the sound of a bass. As with everything, any one factor is pretty marginal when you play through an amp / PA, but enough marginal gains will make a better instrument (or at at the very least, a different sounding one).

If you are talking to Leszek, remember that English is not his first language and he can sometimes come across as a bit abrupt (which he will later apologise for after he has shown the email to his son). Good luck.

@Al Krow even though I agree with much of what Mr 4000 says, I think that he has a different motivation to the likes of you and me. I like playing live with decent musicians and entertaining an audience. To be frank, I'm not too bothered if it is original music, a tribute or covers (and I've done all three recently) - if I'm playing music that I like with a decent band and there is an audience that appreciates it, then I'm happy.

Or was it because he started scat singing over a bass solo?

You do undoubtedly have a point - it is for the artist to bring their vision to the masses, who may or may not like it. The better artists (including Ms Bush) to so in such a way that their audience will still be able to engage with it.

To be fair, I don't think that is quite what he means...

Absolutely, all great artists are aware of how their art will be perceived by their audience. Indeed, the whole point of art is to get an emotional response from the punter. Equally, most great musicians are aware of an element of performance to their art – from Mozart to Louis Armstrong to Jimi Hendrix. This doesn’t necessarily mean just ‘giving the audience what they want’, but you should be looking at the way that your music affects the audience. Unfortunately, here on good old Basschat, there seem to be people (on both sides) that think these two elements of being a musician are mutually exclusive. Any musician, even a “mediocre covers bass player”, should aspire to be an artist to at least some extent. Playing covers is a perfectly legitimate thing for any musician (be it playing the sexy fire song at the Dog & Duck or Beethoven’s fifth for the London Philharmonic). The art comes in how you curate your covers set and how you present your performance, of which a small part is how you develop your own tone.

You might get bored, but plenty of other people don't. There is something in the human psyche that makes them want to be impressed by other people doing something that they can't, especially something artistic. Of course, this has to be terms that they can readily appreciate and they will become bored as soon as the effect has worn off. To put it in rock and roll terms, when Van Halen came out Eddie playing Eruption live was one of the highlights of the show. Many people were astounded by his virtuosity, the fresh approach and that the solo was flash yet musical and didn't go on for too long. Years later, as his solos got longer and more developed, people applauded the demonstration from Eddie Van Halen, the renowned guitar player. But I don't think that they enjoyed them as much.

A point that some people here do not seem to be able to grasp.

Why? The audience are there voluntarily, because they are anticipating that the band are going to be good. The cheer when they come on is in anticipation, or even (hopefully) excitement. If the band are cr*p, then they can always walk out, boo, throw things, post cutting negative comments on internet forums, etc. But the reason that punters have paid money / gone to the trouble to go to the gig is in the hope that they are going to actually enjoy the band!

I wouldn't assume that Basschat is representative of bass players in general

Yes I agree, but whether you prefer the tone or not (or even if you think that it is important) is down to the player. However, you should be able to notice the difference if you A/B a bass with a BBOT and then with a high mass bridge fitted. If you are really chasing a pure vintage tone then I would have thought that a high mass bridge is not the way to go. Old Fenders, etc all had the original, rather flimsy BBOTs fitted.

If you want to keep it simple, does anyone know anything about the new Aguilar DB599 micro two knob compressor??

Rig from last night, at a very cool venue in the Wirral

I've got a pretty similar story to WoT's - last year I was reunited with the 78 P bass that I bought as a teenager and rashly sold in my mid-twenties when I discovered active basses. Never found a P bass that lived up to my original bass and last year got the chance to buy it back (for five times what I sold it for)! Picture from last night's gig.

I hope that this link works! The end of the final song of the final Storyteller's Night (Magnum tribute) gig in Newcastle, just before lockdown in March last year: https://www.facebook.com/raymond.dodds.3/videos/3317836648243322

He still is... and as mad as a box of frogs! No shame in being Phil Chen's dep...!

All that says to me is that you were good enough to be Phil Chen's replacement in a band, albeit temporarily!

That's one of those with the 'transition' bridge (or that's what I was told it was known as) i.e. the old style bridge but without the damping felts. I had a black 95 Ray with the same type of bridge a fair few years back.

Indeed they do! A really good singer that I play in a couple of bands with asked me about a guitarist he was thinking about for a cover band project, who I had played with 25 years before. I told him that the guy was a decent player with great BVs, but was a nightmare to work with and he had screwed me over somewhat. The singer went and got somebody else to play guitar for him...

I have seen that happen on more than one occasion...!

I think that you have your reason there. To be fair, it is a legitimate reason for them to find someone else who is a better fit. It's no reflection on you and there could well be another band around the corner that is more suitable for you.

Anyone know when did they changed from 44mm to 41mm? I actually prefer the later (41mm) P bass neck to jazz necks, but I had a 57RI P bass with the wider neck that was a bit too much for me.