molan

Based on my experience of Guitar Center in the US I'd go for small specialist retailers every time. Never found one with a decent bass person and I've visited quite a few. I must admit that I never go to regular guitar shops any more as I usually find them a waste of time/space. I only ever visit places like the Gallery in London or BassGear in Harrogate as they only stock bass stuff, the people are helpful & they know what they are talking about. I really don't begrudge them a penny of their actual sales price (which is often less than list for larger ticket items because they know everyone likes a deal) because they offer a service the large chains can't compete with.

I'm not sure the mark ups charged by UK Bass Retailers are really that crazy for new stock. I've never met one who seems to be making much more than a basic living out of running his business. We'd be really screwed if they all cut their margins down to 10% and then promptly went bust. They have all getting hammered by online only distributors for a few years now and what would we all do if there was nowhere to go and actually try anything out (other than our wonderfully organised BC Bass Bashes of course!).

I tried this recently and thought it was a bit of a monster: [url="http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/bag-end1/bag-end-pd10bx-d-powered-low-bass-double-10-ax-hi-drive/"]http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/ba...10-ax-hi-drive/[/url] I used a SansAmp Bass driver deluxe in front of it and had the flexibility of a 100w powered cab with three footswitchable programmable pre-sets from the SansAmp - great fun

[quote name='peteb' post='1243638' date='May 24 2011, 11:00 PM']It could well have made all the difference if it had a set of steel 45-105s on and I could have got the action down a fair bit (it was the red 4 BTW) Would love to have tried out those three basses when I was looking for a jazz bass - I would imagine that there wouldn't be much between them and you would pick the one that just clicked with you for some unidentifiable reason I really liked the look of the Will Lee Sadowsky but it was way over my budget…. BTW have you ever tried a John East active circuit? A phenomenal piece of kit that really gives you a great active jazz sound with loads of clout[/quote] It was that same red one that I used for the test To be honest it marginally won overall but there was some bias in my 'sample' as the other two people preferred a much brighter sound than me & the Fodera really nailed an aggressive rock tone for one guy Funnily enough I have a real problems with the J East pre-amp. I just don't get on with them at all. I've had a few basses with them and they seemed fine if you just left everything well alone but I didn't like them once I started to 'tune' them :9 Just goes to show - horses for courses, lol.

[quote name='peteb' post='1243574' date='May 24 2011, 10:14 PM']It was quite recently (in Bass Gear in Harrogate) so I assume that it was quite a recent model It was a stunning looking instrument (probably the prettiest looking jazz bass that I have ever seen) and I am a big Fodera fan so I really wanted to like it, but it didn't really do it for me! Perhaps if I had 30 minutes with an allen key and a heavier gauge set of strings it might have been different Unfortunately I have never played a US Sadowsky, so I can’t compare it directly. Would definitely love to try one out properly as I imagine it is probably what I had in mind when I was looking for a ‘super jazz’ (which ended up being the Mayones with the East preamp)![/quote] All of Phil's basses are the newer models - I've had a go on all three of them Was the one you tried the red 4 or the natural 5? Your theory about strings and set up is really interesting. Most Foderas come with 40-100 nickels and a vaguely medium height set up. I helped Phil at the London bass show this year and we literally had two people in a row that tried one of the NYC's and one said the action needed drastically lowering and that he was surprised that Foderas weren't set up with a super low action. The very next person said he couldn't get a proper feel for it with the light gauge strings and such a low, 'unplayable', action! Just goes to show you can't please all of the people all of the time, lol. I know that I've seen basses 'transformed' with a different set of strings and a set up that suits me. Just changing something as simple as this makes them feel totally different and this improved playability makes them actually 'sound' better to me as well - all totally subjective of course! Speaking of which - I once ran a little test at my place with three different people and a Sadowsky Will Lee NYC, a Celinder J Update and a Fodera NYC. Each person chose a different one as their favourite!

Is it the same as this one at BassGear? [url="http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/accessories/tech-21/sansamp-1-u-rackmount-bass-preamp/"]http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/ac...nt-bass-preamp/[/url] If so then Phil has them in stock at £269

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='1242469' date='May 23 2011, 11:43 PM']so with the preamp in, aye it wasnae bad, but with it off.... awful. I wouldnae buy one[/quote] I must admit that it's the active pre-amp in a Sad that really does it for me. Not when it's whacked up full mind I always think the passive option is just there for when your batteries fail on a gig, lol.

[quote name='peteb' post='1242452' date='May 23 2011, 11:20 PM']Yes I have and TBH was a little disappointed! Truly beautiful looking bass but nothing special to me in both tone and playability – I recently bought a passive Mayones jazz and dropped a John East preamp in it and the Mayones is a nicer instrument to play and sounds much better IME and costs more than £1.5k less! Honestly, I really wanted to like it – especially as by far the best bass I have ever played is a top of the range Fodera![/quote] How old was the one you tried? They've really improved over the last 18 months or so. I'd definitely rate them up with an NYC Sadowsky now.

By the way - as I'm here and talking about NYC's - has anyone tried the Fodera NYC range? I'm obviously biased as I'm a bit of a Fodera nut but I think the recent ones are every bit as good as the Sadowsky NYC. I've got a sunburst PJ4 sitting next to me right now & it's great - gorgeous neck and feels like it has more tonal options than a Sadowsky does. Price seems to sit bang in the middle of a Metro & an NYC Sadowsky. This kinda makes sense as the wood comes from USA, is cut by hand in Japan & then sent back to USA for assembly so I guess they are a 50/50 construction

[quote name='BB3000S' post='1242326' date='May 23 2011, 09:52 PM']Oh man, I feel a bit of Metro GAS setting in - would love a B&B Metro... What about the NYC chambering and the Metro lack thereof? Played an amazing Metro at a friends' the other week, would an NYC have been as nice? My friend thinks No Way. Me, I absolutely love everything about my supposedly routed NYC. Anyway, where's the best place to look for Metros in UK? [/quote] The older NYC's aren't chambered but are still as light - apparently it was easier to get quality lighter weight tonewoods but they struggle to obtain these now. I must admit that I do prefer the NYC's but, as others have said, I think it's mostly in the fancy woods & some of the birdseye necks that you can really see any difference. Guitar Guitar seem to be about the only place with a decent actual stock of Metros.

[quote name='CHRISDABASS' post='1241682' date='May 23 2011, 02:52 PM']Thanks mate!! I was waiting for a buyer [/quote] It's an NYC

I've just agreed to buy another one!

As a near uncontrollable buyer and seller I can say that used Sadowsky basses have always been easiest for me to sell to sell here on BC. My most recent one sold before I even put it up for sale here!

You really need to find out how many words are required - makes a huge difference to how you approach anything like this.

I know this isn't what you were looking for but it makes fascinating listening if you're playing Superstition - some original mixes of the song showing how it was put together [url="http://homerecording.about.com/od/mixingyourmusic/a/mixing_superstition.htm"]http://homerecording.about.com/od/mixingyo...uperstition.htm[/url]

[quote name='Robert Manning' post='1224544' date='May 8 2011, 09:20 PM']I love think theres anything cooler than a jetglow ricky 4003, or a sunburst blinged up 70's Jazz. What do you guys think! Just a bit of fun really![/quote] I've always liked the look of the earlier Jet-Glo 4001 with checkerboard binding Sunburst really doesn't 'work' for me on a 70's J though, in fact it's just about the only colour I really don't like

[quote name='KK Jale' post='1224396' date='May 8 2011, 07:23 PM']Cool semi! That's an Old Kraftsman, basically a re-badged Kay.[/quote] Cheers KK - it sounded great! Dave alternated between the Kraftsman & the P bass all evening and got just the perfect sound for each song. Even my wife mentioned how great the bass tone was and said she could actually hear the difference between each bass

Founds some pics of Dave - can anyone identify the semi & also work out if that's a Pino he's playing?

Went to see Lucinda last night at House of Blues in New Orleans. Great little venue with a seriously good house sound system. Second time I've been there and sound was really good lasttime as well (Thievery Corporation a few years back). Her bass player was a guy called Dave Sutton who I've never really noticed or heard of before. Last time I saw Lucinda he was buried in a wall of mud at Shepherds Bush However last night his out front sound was to die for. Rich round notes cutting through a, very sharp crisp mix, with amazing definition and clarity. Really one of the very best live sounds I've ever heard! And what was he using to achieve this? Good old Fender P with a classic Ampeg head and what looked like a 6x10 (do Ampeg make one of these?). Couldn't tell if it was an original old P bass or maybe something like a Pino signature - whatever it sounded killer. He also used an upright and some sort of very funky semi acoustic. I'm on a phone now so can't post pic links easily. If you look at his MySpace page you'll see pics of all three basses

[quote name='chris_b' post='1219585' date='May 4 2011, 09:15 AM']Hey Barrie, can you get me a copy of the Dumpstaphunk CD? They only sell them at the gigs. Please..................[/quote] Local shop has 2 for sale - Listen Hear at $11 and Want Sum at $17 First one may be either an EP or an album with a few long tracks!

[quote name='chris_b' post='1219636' date='May 4 2011, 10:59 AM']Dumpstaphunk uses 2 bass players, Tony Hall and Nick Daniels, both ex Neville Brothers. You probably already know this, but on the 5th May they are at the Contemporary Arts Centre with Soulive and Lettuce. 3 birds with 1 stone![/quote] That's the gig I saw - it's actually all of the bands in my title post! Bit of confused info flying around locally though - some places say it's 2 gigs on the same night. Others suggesting it's a post Jazz Fest thing so won't start until really late at night

I'm in N'Awlins at the moment and checking the local gigs. Already have tickets for Lucinda Williams on Friday and thinking about Greg Allman tomorrow. Just spotted a 'funk night' full of bands that I know a little bit about but not a huge amount. Anyone know much about all of these? A local guy told me Dumpstaphunk were 'the nuts'