White Cloud

The whole point of playing an instrument is to make music. This is most often done in collaboration with other musicians who play different instruments in what becomes a collaborative, complimentary symbiosis of sound. The combination of the musicians become the "senders." The over riding purpose of this is generally for the enjoyment of the listener...the "receivers" The simple truth is this; the average listener (receiver) of music could not give a stinky poo what bass is being used by the sender - and would never be able to tell the difference between basses even if they tried. In fact almost every other musician in the group of senders could not give a stinky poo what bass (brand/age/style) the bassist is using. The only one who really cares will often be the bassist. Its all about the music...and yes, I do realise that I am arguing against the very existence of websites like this

You my friend are not a fool...you are a one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind. You therefore are not missing anything and understand completely. You have sighted the unseen but obvious. It is all of the above and more...myth, marketing ploy, people strutting about with the most expensive/rare items...human nature my friend

I'm interested to know how it plays?

And that my good fellow is what keeps the world turning! ...subjective experience and subsequent preferences. Religion and the emotional defence of ones own preferred brand of bass guitar - the source of almost every human conflict since grass has been growing and strings have been plucked lol.

I have owned 3 Ricks and a couple of Spectors over the years. Here is my honest, objective observations; Spector - modern, ergonomic design, comfortable, flexible powerful pickups, great range of tones, small bodied, great hardware, easy to adjust, light weight (ish) Rick - none of the above :-) The Rick has one sound and it does it well. I personally think a lot of people play them because a lot of people played them. Logic would say there is absolutely no contest and the Spector is the obvious decision all day every day...then again logic often goes out the window when it comes to the performing arts.

This - get ready, it is just the beginning...

Thanks for sharing your experience with that eclectic little collection of basses. Funny that you should mention Warwick...they make fabulous, growly fretless basses and are available second hand for a snip.

There is no too old to play bass.

Very cool indeed...I have to say that I love Dad's just that little bit more!

Without taking anything away from Jaco (I am a big fan and adore his Weather Report era) I actually do find it very annoying that nobody ever wants to mention the contribution that the Welshman Percy Jones made during the same era with his fretless bass playing. His playing on Brian Eno's "Another green world" from 1975 is astounding, groundbreaking and it is blatantly obvious that he had a big impact upon the subsequent work of Mick Karn. In many ways his playing was in many ways more expansive and exploratory than Jaco ever was. Jaco stumbled across Percy in person once in the states (what are the odds?) and overheard him practicing...and was apparently completely blown away by his playing I remember the affect Percy's astounding bass work on the Brand X LP "Masques" had on me as a young player. As a British bassist he is criminally underrated in my opinion.

Brand X Masques - expansive outing from the UK's greatest fusion band - featuring truly astounding fretless bass from the most underrated Bassist ever...Percy Jones (I mean, come on this guy was doing that stinky poo with Eno way before Jaco ...and wwwway before Mick Karn). Rush - Moving Pictures Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind

I have not tried any of those - but Jeff Berlin is not only an exceptional player but an exceptional teacher. It's got to be worth a try!

This. Sting is great in my opinion, seem him live several times - very influential.

Music is the art of sound and art is subjective...thus there are no rules. Some say that variety is the spice of life. This thread is akin to me declaring that my favourite dinner is fish and chips and that I hate Chicken tikka masala - then pointlessly debating with everyone else out there in basschatland who loves Indian food. Pointless.

In my experience many Warwick fretless basses tend to have a very "woody" organic tone - granted that is a bit of a generalisation, but I love the sound of double basses so it does go some way towards ticking my fretless boxes! It is of course all about personal preference. I've also heard great things about the Ibaznez Portamento in that respect.

I have a Warwick Corvette unlined fretless and it is a phenomenal instrument. I've owned many, many fretless basses over the years...some very good ones - but the Warwick bass is the best I have owned.

Low action is great for me...I play fast fingerstyle with a light touch. Neck stability is also very important - I'm a bit paranoid about that since a Jaydee supernatural that I owned back in the day developed a terminal back bow. I think JD had received a rogue batch of mahogany at that time and I was one of the unlucky ones.

Thanks BassBus...very helpful

Brilliant reply...I really appreciate your input and the kind offer. Very helpful indeed.

I've recently found myself being drawn towards Status basses, in particular the headless variety. I had the chance to buy the all graphite (series 2000?) version back in the 80's on a couple of occasions...but instead opted for a Wal and Vigier respectively. I'm currently at the stage of seriously considering ordering a 5 string S2-Classic (bolt on neck); I really love the visual combination of wood and graphite. I am unable to get "hands on" - so Status bass owners what can I expect as a Status owner? Any opinions gratefully appreciated as in fairness they are not exactly inexpensive instruments.

Oh good, yet more Fender signature models...oh good...

Oh man, I hate it when this happens. I had a Jaydee Supernatural back in the day - the neck developed a terminal back bow of considerable proportions. Heartbreaking. Sadly this is the perils of wood...you just never know how it will behave regardless of how well seasoned.