molan

Gold looks great on some basses and not so good on others. Chrome looks great on some basses and not so good on others. Black looks great on some basses and not so good on others. Are there other colours? If so they look great on some basses and not so good on others. . .

Nothing really beats the Lehle. Used by lots of serious pro players as an integral part of their pedal board.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1394045652' post='2387369'] Ah , you must mean the Randy Jackson Alchemy strings. I noticed them because I used to use them , and they are intriguing strings in many ways, with a unique sound. It's a shame the Dean Markley discontinued them , but I don't think many bass players were willing to fork out that kind of money for them , and after RJ jumped ship then that was probably the death knell for them. Those strings had a lot of good points and a nice, sophisticated sound, but I found that the gold coating came off and they died pretty quickly. However, when they were dead they had a really unusual sound a bit like half rounds or even flat wounds that was quite fun to play with. I would venture that this retailer has done a deal with Dean Markley, either in the U.K or in the States, for their remaining stock. I noticed in a branch of Guitar Centre somewhere or other in the States a couple of years ago that they were selling them off cheap, and probably were doing so nationwide. . [/quote] You are correct and win the official detective prize My friend has them on a stunning Alembic and they look very cool. I think he's ordered a batch of them before they all sell out!

I'm also still really impressed that Ernie McKone was working on Andy Baxter's stand all day on Saturday - he's a real legend amongst UK funk players & a super-nice bloke. Can't believe he was simply standing there and covering Andy's stand! Here's a recent recording of him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLtj24m9B-g#t=43

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1394025555' post='2387029'] I had a PF-500 (Lozz's first one) and used it for a year 2 or 3 nights a week at gig levels and never let me down. Even survived being dropped into a concrete floor from waist height! Such a shame they're so poorly regarded in the reliability stakes; great sounding heads, good weight, they look sexy and they're well constructed (if poorly designed!). It would be interesting to see exactly how many have failed. Truckstop [/quote] I know someone who went through 3 in two weeks. He's a pro player and used them for his smaller, quieter gigs so they weren't driven hard. One of them expired as soon as it was turned on - just went bang when he first plugged it in I'm definitely with Chris B in terms of not having the confidence to gig one week in, week out. I'm sure they are a lot better now but it would worry me and I'd always have my Sansamp ready to plug into the house PA if I had to gig with one. Of course, I always have this with me anyway but I never approach a gig worrying that my amp is going to fail and I think that's the mind-set I'd have with a PF500. It does rather feel that Ampeg used the general public as a test bed for earlier editions and this is probably what's caused so much ill-feeling. I guess we get used to it from software and PC builders but not from big amp companies who make stuff for performing musicians. Let's hope the latest batch are really sorted because the core concept of these is really good

This is how I always think of TM Stevens - killer bass line and I think he co-wrote the song too - if you don't want to listen to the whole song then check the bass solo part from 3:00 onwards. This used to pack dance floors when it came out in '79. At the time there was only really Bernard Edwards & Chic that had quite such a prominent bass line in 'mainstream' disco (of course there were loads of other great players around but not many had the level of omnipresence in every club in town!). http://youtu.be/R1H7P8XJZqE There is a promo vid with Randy Jackson playing the part but I've always understood TM actually played it on the record

Good quality cheaper strings. Quite a few bass builders use them as standard fit, I remember when Wood & Tronics swapped over to them a while back. Paul Turner has just swapped over from DR (which he's used for years) to Dunlop steels and he's very, very picky about his strings! Personally I like the nickels and my only criticism is that they seemed to die a little earlier than the Fodera string I usually use.

The strings aren't for me, lol. I have a good friend in the USA who's been looking a discontinued line of Dean Markley strings. There's an odd shop that stocks them but they are all huge money. Strings.ie not only have them but they are half the price of anywhere else. Reason for asking questions about them was just that it's odd they are so cheap

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1393933948' post='2385914'] Is this more likely to happen to me if I buy a Fodera? If so I'm in.... [/quote] Ask Dave Swift - it's his bass I think, in his case, the answer is probably a resounding yes

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1393920067' post='2385717'] I go through periods of thinking I'd quite like one... Then I see something like the single cut they had on the bass gear stand at the weekend and I come to my senses. God that thing was ugly, looked like an expensive ironing board with strings. [/quote] Was that the six string or the five? I used to think the six, which is an Anthony Jackson model, wasn't the most attractive thing around until I played it. May sound crazy but my opinion of its looks totally changed after spending half an hour with it. Maybe it's a bit like having wonderful sex with a woman you thought wasn't very attractive - once you've experienced it you have to keep going back for more I should say "as your local Fodera dealer" (referenced in my initial comment on this thread just in case anyone thinks this is in any way misleading), we can't actually sell these models. They are so complicated to build that Fodera only take direct orders.

I've seen some strings that are really hard to get hold of but I've not heard of them before and just wondered if anyone has ever bought from them? http://www.strings.ie/

[quote name='ern500evo' timestamp='1393890506' post='2385633'] Yes he did say that a used or ex demo model wouldn't have the same restrictions, so that's another option. They do have quite a few used MM basses on their website, so maybe I'll just have to keep checking to see what they've got. [/quote] Check eBay as well. Quite a lot of US dealers sell on eBay and will happily ship ex-demo stock to the UK. Promenade in the UK sometimes have good prices on Used or ex-demo stock too. I won't go into MusicMan pricing over here in the UK but it's not a 'dealer margin' issue. The base price charged to UK dealers is really high compared to USA.

[quote name='HartkeUK' timestamp='1393852713' post='2384986'] Not sure where the "management got involved" came from cause they certainly never mentioned anything to me or the other guys as far as I know. [/quote] I think it was when the Eden guy challenged the two players on the Hartke stand to a slap battle and volume war. They played louder and louder and louder (and one of the buggers was out of tune which made it even worse). You could literally see the Eden guy pushing them to play louder and retaliating by turning his rig up. People were physically wincing and putting their hands over their ears (luckily I found my earplugs but even then I had to leave our stand because the noise was intolerable). I then saw someone disappear to get help because it was so objectionable and saw him heading back to the stands with an organiser. Two minutes later the noise war stopped so I can only assume the organiser got them to shut up and show a bit of respect to both other stands and the show visitors. The Hartke players weren't on the stand at any other time so I think they must have been visitors and not official Hartke people. The Eden guy was definitely one of their demo players. He repeatedly played nasty clicky clacky bass off and on throughout the Sunday sessions. Even his finger style play was very percussive and, at the volumes he was using, was really unpleasant to hear.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1393860160' post='2385125'] No, that was my first recommendation and I did name check you..! Barrie (Merton) had been talking to someone about the Star Bass and as he's tried mine mentioned me and how I was knocking around. Just after I then went over to Bassgear to say my cherios and Barrie ran after the guy, brought him back and then we had our chat, my second Warwick Star Bass endorsing session of the day. Actually, I could not help mentioning to Lee Sklar that I had a Star Bass too.... (forgot to mention it was a cheapy mind) [/quote] It was Sibob Actually I think I deserve the commission payment given that I chased after him and tracked him down at the coffee stand in order to recommend a brand that BassGear don't sell

Look out for a used one in the US. If there's a dealer with a used or ex-demo one then they can ship outside of US.

The noise levels were a bit strange this year. For much of the day on Saturday they were kept really manageable, certainly down in our corner of the show anyway. We had a fairly simple policy of not ever turning up loud and asking people to be respectful of others. Maybe more importantly we asked players to be respectful of some of the instruments we had on display because they were owned by customers and for display or gentle playing only. Anyone that slapped like an idiot was imply turned right down on the amp and asked to stop playing because he might mark the bass. I totally accept that some people feel they can only get a feel for a bass if they slap the living daylights out of it but we weren't able to accept that given the venue constraints and the instruments we chose to display this year. I wasn't aware of any problems from any of our customers and, on Saturday certainly, we had a lot of nice players actually playing nice chordal and harmony driven stuff. The volume near us only really started to rise on Sunday. The biggest culprits in our corner were Eden. They had some demo players on Sunday who just played the same dull slap riffs over & over again at ever increasing volumes. At one point they were nastily out of tune too, we wanted to loan them our little digital tuner. . . Then two guys on the Hartke stand (not anyone we knew) decided to have a huge volume slap-fest duel with them. It actually could have been fun had they not decided to continually turn their amps up higher & higher. Eventually someone complained and they were told to stop by the organisers. In the main this was awfully policed though. At one point we had one guy playing some quite nice stuff, not very loud, just after the horn had sounded to cut volume. We instantly turned him off and gave him headphones. Approx 5 seconds later the Eden stand plugged in and played at a roaring volume and the organiser just walked away and left them to it! I must say that the single loudest thing I heard all day was from Bernie's stand. I was chatting to someone on the Sims stand when a GB player slapped an open E and popped something higher and it nearly took my head off. Literally hurt my ears badly and made me wince. I sense a bit of 'competitive' noise going on & left immediately In terms of stand layout it's not really much to do with the organisers. Each attendee gets to choose their own position. We, very purposefully, went for a corner that seems to be a decent distance from anyone other than, our good friend, Andy Baxter who we know to be a sensible guy. We hadn't allowed for Eden but at least they were Ok for most of Saturday & a chunk of Sunday. The big trick for anyone who seriously wants to try anything out is to wait until there's a big act on the performance stage - the main hall empties right out and the 'noise merchants' tend not to bother playing much because there's no crowd to show off to

[quote name='Geddys nose' timestamp='1393839344' post='2384749'] They always reply promptly to emails and have good stocks. I called in the last time I was in Florida and was surprised how small the shop was but the guys inside were super friendly and let me try anything. [/quote] It's amazing how much high end stock they sell. I believe they are the biggest retailer of both Fodera and Alembic instruments.

As your friendly local Fodera dealer I thought I'd better chip in here with a few thoughts as well. In no particular order: These Fodera Standards hold their value extremely well. If you consider that your one dropped just 15% from the new price as a used bass and something like an 'off the shelf' Fender standard J would fall 30% then you get an idea. Once that first dip of depreciation has gone they pretty much hold value and don't go any further. In fact there's a private sale one here on BC at £3,400 right now. The black finish on the YY basses can get marked because it doesn't have a thick coat of high gloss over it. Because these basses are closely associated with Vic Wooten (he keeps his one at his Bass Camp) you find they are often slapped and played quite hard. I've seen one of Vic's basses up really close and they are covered in dings and marks. He's very tough on instruments and all of his are heavily worn. The YY basses really are 'player's instruments' - they do look amazing but they are very much designed to be used and not just hung on a wall. From a personal point of view they are my favourite sounding if the Standard range and have loads of tonal flexibility. The key to 'understanding' a Fodera is to really get your head round that Mike Pope designed pre-amp. The active controls combined with the lovely smooth passive treble roll off give loads of different tonal options. I was very much a J only player until I got my first Fodera with a PJ setup. Cut a little bass, boost the mids a shade, roll back the balance towards the bridge and there's some cracking J tones. Roll the passive treble right back, maybe boost bass a bit and bias toward the P and there's a great old school P bass rock/funk tone available. I tend to hold the pass treble cut mid way and use it whilst gigging to fine tune my sound - it really is a killer little device. The YY series particularly comes to life at stage volume. Again, it really is a proper gigging bass and can cut through a live band mix really well or sit back and hold a groove depending on how you set the pre-amp (obviously your fingers and amplification are going to have a lot of effect too!). Personally I wouldn't re-rout one if you're worried about future value. People expect these basses to be 'played', at least that's very much our experience in the shop, but they also expect them to have the original spec pickups and electronics. The only exception to this rule might be if Fodera bring out new pickup or pre options in the future but I think this is highly unlikely with the Standard range for a long while. If it were mine I'd really work that pre-amp for a while and try to get it out with your band and see how it sounds live. Any problems at all just zap us a message or call the shop and we'll be happy to help PS - Apologies if I'm biased about these basses but I just bought a new one at the weekend as well and have had a ludicrous grin from ear to ear ever since. I just love playing them, absolutely my favourite basses ever (and I get to play a lot!).

I have and they are great! The main guy is Beaver Felton - he was an excellent player and responsible for an influential series of instructional series of videos call Superchops. Unfortunately he was involved in a car accident and paralysed from the waist down many years ago. They don't always update their website when gear is sold so be sure to check what's in stock. Shipping will be between $125 and $250 and duties us Vat should be about 23% of the total including shipping.

[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1393807856' post='2384631'] Oh and before you ask, no I didn't buy the Fodera [/quote] I did though

Thoroughly enjoyed today. Working alongside Joey Lauricella and Jason DeSalvo from Fodera was an inspiration. These guys just know so much about building basses and are so full of enthusiasm for all things bass Also enjoyed a stint covering on Andy Baxter's stand. Some amazing vintage instruments on display and working alongside the wonderful Ernie McKone was fun too. Every time things were quiet he couldn't resist a quick blast on the odd vintage Fender or two (especially a cracking '66 transition era Jazz with binding, dots and lollipop tuners). I even managed to sell him an Eat bass, Sleep bass, play bass T shirt Waiting to see if he wears it when playing for 6 Music's Fantasy Funk Band next weekend. For anyone who's coming along tomorrow, make sure you say hi to us all on stand C1A