Dingus

Back in the 70s slapping and other percussive styles of playing were far less standardised as a technique and so players developed lots of improvised and individualised versions of the style on their own . It's important to remember that this was an era before the information overload we all enjoy nowadays where you can get on the internet and find out anything . There weren't any bass magazines ect , or indeed much music on t.v so it was much harder to understand and copy what was going on when your favourite player was slapping . Nowadays you can go to Youtube and have a private lesson with Victor Wooten . There was a technique some bass players used back in the 70s that was similar to chucking but used a rigidly-held thumb to pick " through" the strings similar to Victor Wootens double thump . Jerry Barnes demonstrates the technique on his Lick Samples video and it sounds really good but I can't really get the hang of it myself !

Sounds great to me . These Skylines sound just as good as the handmade USA Laklands . Looks good in natural ash too.

I also love Duncan 1/4 Pounders or SBP1 .

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1355773130' post='1902609'] Yes they are the LH3's. There's certainly no lack of bottom end on these pickups in use with my proper rig. I have to tame the lows in fact. [/quote] I am sure that is the case - I have never played any Lakland that lacked low end . I used to have a bass with LH3s on and they are fantastic sounding pickups , especially with that preamp .

For me , it's a great track but is forever tainted by this I'm afraid : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf4NPn2z7x8 Football records - why do they do it ? Great sounding bass though , although the limitations of the audio on the vid dosen't t do the bottom end justice and it sounds a bit light and bright as a result . Might be better with headphiones on - I know when I record my bass onto my p.c the bottom end doesn't come out on the speakers half as well as it does on the cans . Are they the LH3 pickups ? Certainly sounds like it .

Looking forward to seeing the vid.

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1355767865' post='1902505'] My Vigier is 17 years old, and its zero fret shows no real signs of wear at all. Perhaps because they use [i]hardened[/i] zero frets? (As do some other manufacturers) [/quote] That would be [i]why[/i] they use hardened zero frets . Unfortunately my experience suggests that some other manufacturers do not , or if they do they aren't hard enough .

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1355762860' post='1902373'] If your bass lines only consist of open EADG and you like heaps of sustain then a brass nut would be the way to go. However, I would defy anyone to tell the difference beteween the aforementioned 'cheese' nut and a brass nut on a fretted string. If you are an open EADG merchant, then I would suggest the cut of a nut is more critical than the material... a well cut plastic nut could well offer more sustain than a poorly cut brass nut For me, nut material makes bugger-all difference. The only time I would play an open string (on a 4 string) is when I need the low E. I always fret the ADG notes.. [/quote] Exactly . The open strings don't need any help to sustain . Brass nuts began to proliferate in the late 70s/early 1980s , when fashionable thinking to do with bridges and hardware in general was that the heavier and denser the better . Brass everything was order of the day , to the extent of things like the brass sustain blocks on Alembic basses ( also appropriated by JD) that the brass bridge anchors onto , as if that wasn't enough brass on it's own .

[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1355760205' post='1902302'] I have had a couple of basses with brass nuts and I do notice a difference. There is a little more zing when playing an open note and balances quite nicely between the fretted notes. I have always considered with a brass nut the string resonance transfers to the neck in the same as the saddles/bridge does to the body. Well, in my world it makes sense otherwise bridges would be made of plastic. The zero fret on my old MTD 535 gave a similar result, but I really struggled to get a usable low action on that bass. Dunno if it was because of the zero fret or not. [/quote] The difference between metal bridges and a metal nut is that the bridge is in contant contact with the speaking lenghth of the string , whereas once you fret a note the nut is in effect redundant .

The problem I have found with zero frets is that they very quickly developed serious wear , with grooves rapidly developing in the zero fret where it is under constant pressure from the point of contact of the string Warwick got the idea from the JustANut from Alembic , who had developed their own adjustable nut in response to John Entwistle complaining that the brass nuts on his Alembic basses were frequently needing replacing because the slots were worn down so quickly by the serrations of his Rotosound strings passing through them . Alembic made an adjustable nut for John so his tech could just raise the nut when it had worn down .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IdEhvuNxV8

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1355755925' post='1902215'] Ask John in advance; he won't try to convince of something he doesn't believe in himself - and might even have one in with one already on it for you to try out. [/quote] +1 on this . John Diggins is a master guitar builder up there with the very best and will give you the benefit of his expertise . My own two pence worth would be that brass nuts have certain disadvantages , most notably that they are more susceptible than you might think to being worn down by the abrasion of roundwound strings . Also , they do not in any way make open strings sound more like fretted notes . Open strings tend to sound louder and more prominent anyway , and a brass nut will only accentuate that , if indeeed it makes any difference at all . If you really wanted open strings to sound like fretted notes then you would actually try to make them slightly more muted . Plastic and graphite nuts sound perfectly fine and are easily maintained and replaced , and as others have stated , the nut makes no difference to the sound of the fretted notes .

It's Donna Summer .

What is that first riff ? I want to say ABBA , but that can't be right .

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1355607834' post='1900621'] Yes, I currently have a 55-02, which is another great bass. However, it'll be up for sale very soon, as it was another attempt to get used to 5 stringers, and I have found that I still don't get on with them. As for the tones, I know virtually everyone else seems to like the "02" series LH3 pickups and preamps better than the barts in the "01" series. However, just to be different I actually prefer the throatiness of the 01 series more. Just me, I guess I'm a bit odd. [/quote] I can empathise with you over the 5 string thing . I can't stand any 35inch scale bass , for a start, and have never found any 5er that I like enough to buy . If you like the Bartolini pickups then fair enough .

[quote name='leroydiamond' timestamp='1355655286' post='1900902'] Got a linn Turntable and Primare CD. My Hi Fi sounds at its best when playing an album called "Live in London" (Ace Records) on vinyl recorded in Dublin castle,London back in the 80's. Recorded directly on to 2 tracks. Sounds stunning!. No fancy production techniques, low budget and really top class sound. [/quote] Direct to two track recordings can sound very good in hifi terms ; a lot of jazz albums from the 50s and early 60s were recorded that way and because of the tracks are allotted a very wide aperture of analogue tape seeing as there are only two tracks to accomodate you get a very good and musically- pleasing sound quality as a result .

The Indonesian ones are just as good as the Korean ones , but are less likely to be heavy . They are made in a state -of-the-art factory belonging to Cortec , the same company that made them in Korea . If you like the 4401 so much , have you tried any of the other Laklands?

The orange one was called Capri Orange . It could conceivably fade to pink , or be mistaken for it . I think Fender made these colours between about 1979 and 1981 , presumably to woo the punk/ new wave players of the day with their radical and uncompromising colour schemes . The colours you describe were indeed the Fender International range. They were for the most part , monumentally awful instruments . Fender offered special incentives for dealers to stock them at the time . In retrospect , the colours were beautiful but the quality of Fenders at this time was at an all time low , just before the management buy-out , if I remember rightly .

The Reggie 5 is still in production according to the Fender CS website , so it's still a current model I would presume . USA Fender basses , especially Custom Shop ones , are just about the best "investment " basses you can get in terms of long-term resale value , and if you aren't desperate for the money I would make selling a low-priority side project . Advertise it at a price that reflects it's rarity and desirability , and if no one meets your asking price you have lost nothing and still have an asset that is more likeley to appreciate than depreciate .

Just to reiterate what some other folks have said , Status' workmanship is absolutely first class , and the fretwork ect . on these necks will be as good as it gets . I played one of the EBMM NAMM basses with a Status graphite neck in a shop and it was so punchy and had so much clarity that it really was something special if you are a Stingray lover . Get a good used EBMM Stingray and have Status fit one of these necks and you have got a bass that will perform like a £2500 + boutique instrument in terms of sound and playability . I wish Status would make a graphite neck for the Bongo . A Bongo with a graphite neck would be lethal .

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1355574630' post='1900071'] I'm not so sure now because it weighs 9lb 4oz which is lighter than my Sterling, plus it has two batteries, one for the pre-amp and one for the side LEDs. Anyone got the weight of a stock single pick-up SR5 as a comparison? [/quote] Single pickup EBMM SR5 usually in the region of 10 pounds , sometimes up to half a pound lighter or up to a pound heavier . Any SR5 under 9.5 pounds is exceptionally light and a keeper !

That is a very tasty bass . They have got the sunburst one ( which would probably be slightly more expensive than the black one ) on Thomann for £2079 , but if it was my bass I would be looking to get not too far from that retail price by virtue of the fact that it is a relatively rare and very desirable model , and this would be a chance for someone to get their hands on a bass that could well become sought after and collectable in future . Putting it somewhere like The Gallery would probably be be a good idea- it's the kind of exotica that people go there looking for . On Basschat I would be looking to get over £1500 myself , or I would keep it . Fenders sell , they never go out of fashion and they have never been more fashionable than now . Add the fact that this is Custom Shop , and a very useful model suitable for just about any musical situation and I would say that this is a bass you should look to get a very respectabe price for or else keep it until someone offers you what you want for it . Sooner or later they will .

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1355566707' post='1899939'] Just a quick dressing gown update for Dingus. It seems to be homemade by my mum. [/quote] In that case I hope you will use some of the funds from the impending sale of your Warwick to get your mum something really nice . Best of luck with the sale - I hope you get a good price for a very desirable bass . This video should certainly help .( Why don't more people do this ? ) I completely understand about feeling more comfortable with the Lakland , and you could always upgrade the 4401 with Nordstrand Big Singles . That would bring it up to a similar level to the Warwick in terms of sound .

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1355510933' post='1899537'] Aye, obviously RIAA implementation is in the eye of the product designer! I tried a number by the likes of Tom Evans, Whest, Sutherland, Lehmann, Brinkmann and EAR. The EAR valve one won for me... [/quote] When I used to play a lot of vinyl back in the 90s I had a Linn Axis / Akito /K9 turntable and the sound came on considerably when I upgraded from an Arcam Alpha 6 to an Audiolab 8000A that had a first-rate phono stage considering it was a fairly humble integrated amp . I heard the Linn Linto phono stage in a Linn LP12 system at a local shop and it was amazing . A top class phono amp is another cost to factor a really good vinyl setup .

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1355508693' post='1899497'] The output from a phono stage is line level (give or take, depending on the phono stage). All the phonostage does is take a low level signal from a cartridge, boost it to line level and apply (hopefully) accurate RIAA equalisation. Some phono stages have variable input impedance to better match cart types, but otherwise it gives out an analogue signal at about the same level as the analogue output of a DAC. It's not like a graphic equaliser with variable frequency adjustments - though you can buy phono stages with variable (fixed) RIAA equalisation to match older standards. An active bass has boost and cut available, whereas a passive one only has cut... And talking of decent DACs, mine's an Advantage; they don't exist any more, but check out Bladelius hifi to find out what it's like - same designer. It sounds better than a Wadia 861 if that means owt! Even though it sounds excellent there's still a tiny bit (subjectively!) missing compared to vinyl - at least to my jaded and no doubt deafened ears. [/quote] My experience has been that some phono stages sound much better than others . Just like any other dedicated audio component , phono stages can sound radically different to one another depending on the design . Hence the importance of a thoughtfully selected phono stage in any serious vinyl-based system .