molan

I had Optima Gold strings on a Warwick for a while (the bass arrived with them fitted). They chewed up my fingers like no other strings I've ever played! I am mildly allergic to gold though, lol.

I've only ever played one Metro Sadowsky and didn't like it at all. Not in the same league as the NYC's I've owned. Could have been a 'one-off' though - after all, it was in Denmark Street & they are notorious for having an ability to end up with 'Friday' basses. . .

Obviously the most famous versions are the original Theme from Shaft by Isaac Hayes & then the 'response' called Son of Shaft by the BayKays. The original album version is a fair bit longer than the single but I don't have the album any more to check. I know Joe Bataan did a faster version as well and there's a couple of slower reggae takes on it as well but none that I can think of with slap bass on. Love Unlimited Orch did a rather cheesy version that has the odd 'pop' here and there if memory serves me well. I saw the guy who played the original guitar part once - Charles Pitts. He was in a a house band on a big soul night & kept dropping in the Shaft riff at every opportunity - it was funny at the time but I wondered how the poor guy felt living off this one riff. [i]Edit - just listened to the Eddy C song & there's a lot of slap all the way through so maybe that's the version you're after [/i]

Get some serious strapping on that thumb! If you can get your style to work with it then try to play a lot more gently with your right hand & your left ought to feel less 'stressed'. This will mean you don't have to grip with your left thumb quite as hard Maybe just jack the volume up a bit on the amp to start with & this might make you back off a little. It could make a difference in your 'feel' for the bass but better than knackering your poor old thumb, lol.

My old covers band was a big 13 piece soul outfit. At the 'core' of this we had a nucleus of 4 of us who often played a s small 70's / 80's rock band (we even supported ourselves a few times, lol). Our names were: Big Soul Little Rock

Ok so I'm something of a bass whore & keep swapping things in and out but at the moment I'm somewhat surprised to say that the Fodera I have on 'trial' quite simply stuffs just about everything else I've tried. The reason I'm 'surprised' is that I thought that maybe Foderas were very hyped up & the only person I've heard much playing one was Vic Wooten &, whilst admiring his technique he's not really someone I'd listened to much. However the sheer playability of this bass means I can attempt things I never would on any other bass & I just sound so much more fluid when playing it. Core sounds is great & it responds well to both dynamics in playing but also to small adjustments of the onboard Mike Pope pre-amp and/or amp tweaking. I'm in the process of putting just about every other bass I own up for sale to be able to afford it. . .

[quote name='NJE' post='913520' date='Aug 3 2010, 09:41 AM']You are a star for posting this, I would never have heard about it otherwise. Incognito and Brand New Heavies on the same bill, just brilliant. Got to think of a way to get the missus interested now![/quote] Yolanda Charles is a very good bass player as well - don't know much about this band of hers but ought to be pretty good: [url="http://www.myspace.com/yolandacharles"]http://www.myspace.com/yolandacharles[/url]

Now that's a funky line up for a Bank Holiday Monday! [url="http://www.hamptoncourtbeerandjazz.com/bands.htm"]http://www.hamptoncourtbeerandjazz.com/bands.htm[/url] Size Nine, Snowboy & JTQ on the Friday as well if that's your thang

Just sold a Mesa Combo to Sean (my second deal with him). Had a great natter about all sorts of bass related stuff & he was kind enough to bring round one of his basses to compare against one of mine that I've had some pre-amp issues with. Great communications throughout the process and effortless electronic payment that arrived super fast. An absolute pleasure to deal with

[quote name='alanbass1' post='912929' date='Aug 2 2010, 04:14 PM']Maybe I should look out for another Celiner but 'lighter'....[/quote] This one is nice [url="http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/pre-owned/celinder-j-update-4-pre-owned/"]http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/pr...te-4-pre-owned/[/url]

[quote name='Toasted' post='912878' date='Aug 2 2010, 03:03 PM']We should have let Rich play my Celinder... They're 47 68 80 107 ![/quote] Damn - wish I'd known, that really would be a killer test!

So there we were on Saturday at the home of Bassgear with an array of lovely basses to try out - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=97113"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=97113[/url] OTPJ has been letting us try his Status and we'd been talking about how light the string gauge was (a set of Satus Hotwires with a 30 G string) when he picked up the stunning Fodera Victor Wooten Monarch. I said to OTPJ that the Monarch strings were quite light as well and, in the blink of an eye, he ran his fingers over each string in turn and correctly identified the guage of every single one. Now this might not sound that impressive but the bass was wearing a set of Fodera Victor Wooten Signature strings which come in at 40 / 55 / 75 / 95. I've not seen another hybrid set with these guages & there's no way I'd ever have been able to identify them like this. Very impressed with Rich's ability to do this

I think part of the difference when switching from active to passive and back again is that active basses are often more 'immediate' in sound (and those first impressions often count for a lot). In some ways it's almost like a loudness control on a car stereo or some home hi-fi systems. When you switch the loudness circuit in for a while & then switch back the 'passive' sound comes across as being a bit 'thin'. However, over a longer period of time you might find the loudness contour to be a bit tiring on the ears and the passive tone is actually sweter & easier to listen to. A good active pre on a bass shouldn't be anywhere near as drastic as this but I know that some are &, in extreme cases, can sound very 'un-musical'. My general view is that active gives you the option to control more things more easily than passive so I'd generally prefer to have the option

[quote name='alanbass1' post='912293' date='Aug 1 2010, 09:54 PM']I traded my J Update with Molan. It was a very good bass and I bought it over a couple of Sadowsky Metro's and a Mike Lull that was in the Gallery at the same time. However, I found it a little heavy and a little 'clinical' for me. Some people will love this in a bass but just not what I was looking for in a J bass so my search continues.[/quote] It's certainly no lightweight (the blue one is a good 1lb / 1.5lbs or so lighter). I know what you mean about the clinical sound but I find simply rolling treble off works fine for me. I tried it out against a pass '70's J bass and I found that very 'dead' sounding compared to the Celinder - just 'horses for courses' I guess, lol. You would definitely have preferred the blue one as it's definitely a smoother mellower sound & a fair bit lighter

[quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='912331' date='Aug 1 2010, 10:48 PM']This is [i]that [/i]beard in January this year, at NAMM.[/quote] Best beard in rock (IMHO)

So I missed this thread first time around but thought I'd chuck in my thoughts anyway I absolutely love my J Update & it's just about my favourite J shaped bass of the many different ones I've tried. It's absolutely my 'go to' bass whenever I want to work on a new song or try an amp or cab etc. It's really hard to put my finger on what makes it different from anything else but it just seems to 'work' really, really well for me The 'killer' control is that lovely passive treble pot - I generally set it bang in the middle of its range & then gently tweak it depending on the core sound I'm after for any particular song. Everything else just stays full on with the active bass also in the centre position. I currently have two & recently tried another and the level of consistency in build quality and sound of each one is amazing really. I decided to put my blue one up for sale but purely because I have a marginal preference in colour to my red one & I can't really justify owning a pair of these. The blue one has a slightly older version of the Greengrove pre-amp without the dip switches and is a fraction mellower than the red one. If anyone fancies trying it out then it's sitting up at Bassgear in Harrogate at the moment [url="http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/pre-owned/celinder-j-update-4-pre-owned/"]http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/pr...te-4-pre-owned/[/url]

[i]Well, the first thing I wanna say is Mandate My Ass:[/i] Same groove for about 8 minutes but I just love it!

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='911672' date='Aug 1 2010, 09:06 AM']Thanks, Barrie. The final contest of the tour was a great evening. I suppose the band gets pretty slick when you've done the show forty times since March! Len Goodman was on top form, btw - SEVEN!!![/quote] Nice one Rich - sounds like fun

[quote name='mashup' post='911699' date='Aug 1 2010, 09:52 AM']You dont even know me, yet you offer to lend me a bass for the gig. Unparalled kindness that proves that there really are some very nice people out there, with good Karma coming their way. I am trying to borrow a bass off of my drummers brother, so hopefully, i should be alright on that front, but i will take you up on your ionsanely kind offer, should i really have no other option.[/quote] There's plenty of people here who will lend a hand to a bass 'brother' in need, lol. I think there's a few people nearer to you who might be able to help but the offer absolutely stands if you want the Nash - it already looks like it's been through a few wars so less obviously prone to wear & tear marks Zap me a Pm if you want to pop over