Dingus

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1386192638' post='2297133'] That conjured up a comical image of a load of Rastas invading modern day Poland and having a massive Rave with all those fit Polish birds. [/quote] The workings of your mind are , as always, an enigma to me. All the fit women in Poland? Do you mean the same Poland as the rest of us i.e the Poland next to Germany but before you get to Russia ? Not the first place that comes to mind when it comes to sex tourism ,to be honest with you, but what do I know? Maybe it's because I grew up in the era of Soviet -enforced Communism and the Eastern Block , but I cannot equate anything sexy with Eastern Europe. That fellow from Solidarity , Lech Walesa ( yes , I had to look up how to spell that) , had a lovely moustache, but we better not go there...

Sunburst '74 Jazz Bass, maple board, blocked and bound ? You had better book yourself a one-way ticket to Funk City young man! That looks like a keeper. I had a very similar Jazz Bass back in the late '80's and it was a pretty hot property. Even back in those days other bass players used to see me playing it and hassle me to sell it to them . Eventually I did. Because I am an idiot.

The only records my Dad listened to were Harry Belafonte's Greatest Hits and a Music For Pleasure compilation album of Big War Film Movie Themes. Maybe being exposed to that music as a child explains why I have grown up with a love of reggae and compulsion to invade Poland.

Bassdirect probably have the best stock in the U.K, Gareth. - they probably have the only stock of new USA models in the UK , in fact - but even then, don't expect to be overwhelmed with choice. They have never had mass-appeal or major mainstream marketing in the U.K, but they are excellent basses nevertheless. G&L have always been a slightly periphoral brand, even in America, but they are really excellent quality basses designed for use in the real world. [u]Very [/u]powerful sound. Have you seen the new Tom Hamilton signature model? It's Telecaster -shaped, made out of Sugar Pine to be extremely lightweight and comes in a selection of very bling finishes. Might appeal to you , Gareth.

Ric 4003 - beautiful, but awkward. If you are used to a Fender/ Musicman these can be very difficult to get along with. No taper to the neck , strings tend to hit the pole pieces if you play agressively, pickup cover gets in the way ect. All sorts of other niggles. Not that suitable for modern styles such as slapping. Great tone, though . Gibson Thunderbird- another remarkable and unique sounding bass that looks fantastic... but try playing one standing up with a strap. They are incredibly prone to neck dive and general feel extremely ungainly due the the abscence of a tophorn in the body shape, hence making the neck feel like it is very long and making the first fret feel as if it is right at the very end of your reach. A very difficult bass to play. Gibson offered to give me one very cheap when I was in a band where the guitarist had a deal with Gibson. and I gave them it back . You couldn't get the action low enough on it for my tastes , either . 2014 EB14 - never played one , but looks to be a sensible design . To my tastes though, those MM-style humbuckers with the big pole pieces just don't look right on a Gibson Bass. It wiould look moch better with chrome shells. G&L 2500- I used to play a G&L , and they are great basses. Amazingly powerful and versatile sound, very well-made and generally excellent design . Have lots of great sounds, but generally can be described as being like a perfect blend of the Fender and Music Man tones in one new and unique sound of it's own. Strongly recommended.

[quote name='witterth' timestamp='1386146989' post='2296280'] A band I was in in the 90's were supporting the New fast automatic daffodils ( some minor success around that time) and I got to the sound check to see their bass player using my stingray as there was a "problem" with his battered ( & frankly shyite Jazz) the tour manager said it was ok "forgetting " to as me!! I was FU**IN' Furious!! he took me to another room to calm me down. what's worse we'd done a few other gigs with them as part of a tour and their bass player (I use the term loosely ) Justin, never said a single word to me (I don't care about name and shame) not a single word. tos*er. it was only Icarus the percussion player who was apologetic and bought me a few "Calm Down" beers at the end of the night. I'm still angry about it to this day (I know..but I am!) [/quote] It's O.K to still be angry, my friend. I would be, too. Use that anger to motivate you into making vindictive and petty acts of vengence, even if it is on people who had nothing to do with the original incident. I am still angry about someone who chipped the finish on my Jazz Bass in 1984 when I had left it at the guitarists house I was rehearsing with , and then lied about it , so I share your pain. If and when I run into the fella again , I will be bringing the subject up in a very forthright and aggressive manner, regardless of the consequences.

I've heard them . They sound great, but I couldn't say that they sounded so remarkable that I was convinced that they were any better than any of the other excellent-sounding Jazz Bass pickups that are on the market nowadays. As I alluded to in the other thread about the Fodera , they certainly don't sound so good that I would replace another perfectly good-sounding set of Jazz Bass pickups with them for the sake of it. Anyhow, that said, I don't know if you have seen this video, but the audio is pretty good quality and with headphones on you should at least get some impression of how the Aguilars sound in a Jazz Bass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2hVC7pkBqI

[quote name='thebassist' timestamp='1386147271' post='2296283'] I And I played brand new 2013 Fender American Standard Jazz/Precision Basses yesterday. While I did quite like the Precision, it didn't really do it for me but I was really impressed with the Jazz - I've always liked J-style basses but I think the revamped post-2012 Fender model is a pretty incredible instrument. So I'm considering one of those with pickup replacements - maybe the Aguilar AG 4J-HC if I can get some opinions on them. [/quote] I think the post -2012 Fender Am St Jazz is a great bass too , and I wouldn't be in any rush to replace the pickups either. Those Fender Custom Shop Vintage 60's that come as standard in that bass now are slightly overwound and sound very fat and beefy, but still have all the delicate nuances of a single coil pickup. I think they are just as good as the Aguilar 4J-HC , or anything else on the market, for that matter. I really don't see any need to change them , or at least give them a bit of a chance before you do so !

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1386092668' post='2295645'] Thank you for a most enlightening and entertaining blog post. Nice work, Sir. As for guitar trashing, I'm not opposed in principle - people can do whatever they like with their own property and after all, it's only a bit of wood and metal. As for destructive onstage mayhem, few have surpassed the late Ms Wendy O Williams (NSFW) [size=3]Rare 'not topless' performance: Wendy chainsaws an Explorer[/size] [/quote] [quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1386103422' post='2295915'] They used to mic up the chainsaw when she was doing it too as far as I can recall. [/quote] Never mind the guitar and the chainsaw, keep your eyes on the ping pong balls...

Hi Dennis I don't know anything about the Reverend basses I'm afraid, but regarding the sticky finish on the back of the neck on the Squier, it is a fairly easy job to sand it off a bit yourself to de-laquer it, and with a relatively inexpensive bass like that it isn't such a big decision whether to set about altering it to suit you. The American Special Precision looks O.K , but the problem is that the American Standard doesn't cost that much more and is a much better bass, on balance. Another bass to check out in the American Special price range would be the Yamaha BB1024( or 1024x if you want a scratchplate and metal knobs on it. ) . It's a killer P bass in it's own right , with its' own unique sound and a lot to recommend it in terms of versatility of tone and construction.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' timestamp='1386097266' post='2295773'] About as much as you do about football apparently.... [/quote] Thanks ,Wayne! One day I hope to be able to match your own level of sports punditry , which so far has included such brilliant insights as " Alex Ferguson - he's a winner !" Obviously, you must have had some kind of professional training to come up with those kind of acute observations, and I can only hope that one day my own clumsy, amateurish attempts to make sense of The Beautiful Game will one day be able to match your own startling originality.

Youi could have an ebony board fretted, no problem at all. It is a wood that is slightly more prone to chipping than rosewood, but to any half-decent luthier that won't be too much of a challenge. I have seen previously fretless ebony fingerboards that were fretted expertly and perfectly by Martin Peterson at The Gallery in Camden , so maybe he would be a safe option. I think Martin charges somewhere around two hundred quid for doing that job , and his work is top-notch. .

Once a young man who I was giving some bass lessons to asked me in all seriousness what was the best way to set his guitar on fire. He was heavily into pyro -orientated hair metal bands and thought that burning his instrument in the right manner was just as important as the actual notes. A nice lad, but not the brightest . I bumped into him in town one afternoon about fifteen years ago, having not seen him for a few years , and he had two amazingly attractive Scandanavian women with him and he told me his band were big in Denmark. , so what do I know about music?

What would be really radical would be to [i]build [/i]a guitar on stage as part of the performance... then sell it!

Quite a lot of these folks are smashing factory seconds and guitars and drums ect asembled from the remaining parts of what was smashed the night before. But some are just vandals wantonly breaking stuff for the sheer hell of it. If they are daft enough, let them do it . Ultimately, they will have to foot the bill , so they are not hurting anyone except themselves. Yes, they could give that equipment to underprivelliged kids to start a band with, but let's face it , they would probably end up being crap ,like most bands are , and smashing stuff is much more of a spectacle than conspicuous altruism.

On this theme/debate/impending row over whether very high-end basses are worth the premium over more mainstream but still very respectable quality bases like the O.P lists as the alternatives to the Fodera, there really is no easy answer. I have owned in the past and do own now esoteric custom -made basses and they are wonderful things , but are they more fun to play than an off-the-shelf production bass? No , not really. Do I play better on them ? No, definitely not. For my own tastes , I can get just as good a sound and just as much pleasure from playing a nice standard Fender bass as I can from playing a custom bass that costs three or four times as much. Most really expensive basses are just different to good quality production instruments, not neccesarilly better in practical terms , and I say that from the perspective of someone who is in a position to play any bass he wants., be it a Fodera or whatever. I would suggest that when shopping for any bass at any price ( but especially spending this kind of money) that you look for as much what it doesn't do wrong as much as what it does do right . By that I mean that you want to be sure there is no annoying little peculiarities on any given instrument that will end up driving you to distraction in the long-term , because whether it is a Fender bass that cost a grand or a Fodera that four times that, those are the things that can ruin it for you and make it a miserable purchase that you bitterly regret. That said , if you like that style of bass and that kind of a sound, there is every chance that a Fodera will be some of the best money you will spend in your life and something you could get a lifetime of pleasure and fulfilment from. What you are paying for on a Fodera is the amount of time, expert skill and care that goes into every single bass they send out of that workshop. Every small detail is taken seriously . That is why they are so expensive, but if those things are important to you then they are worth paying for. I hope you have a great day at Bassgear. I wish I was coming, too.

[quote name='roonjuice' timestamp='1386035271' post='2294949'] My gig last night:- The band before us asked to borrow my bass amp. I obliged as the chap was supposedly a sound engineer and i am easy going i explained that the head was massively overrated for the 2x10, (GB9.0 at 4ohms) i then found out he just didnt want to lug his TE rig up the stairs (after i said he could use my rig......) he thrashed it then the band didn't even stick around to watch us. what would u guys do? r [/quote] I am furious on your behalf. The old adage that " no good deed goes unpunished" springs to mind immidiately. Yes, with the balance of hindsight, if you were going to be generous enough to let the guy use your rig and the head is overpowered for the cab then you should have strictly overseen the levels this chap was using, but that can be easier said than done in reality, and hindsight is a wonderful thing anyway , as we all know. Did the guy know he had blown your cab when he left? That is one very pertinent question . If he did know, maybe that's why they left so abruptly, and if that is the case then it doesn't bode well for getting this lad to act responsibly and pay for the damage. In reality, you can try tracking him down and ask him to pay, but you will be relying on his sense of decency rather than any right to legal redress. A small claims court procedure or getting a soloicitor involved may well end up being more trouble than it is worth, unfortunately. I [u]never[/u] lend gear out , and if people ever ask me I enjoy telling them "no". If they say I am an unpleasant person because of that, I agree with them .When I have done gigs where there is a shared backline by neccessity , I make a big point of treating the shared amp with respect . I behave that way borne out of bitter experience, because on one of my first ever gigs I blew someone else's bass amp by accident by using my active electronics a bit to liberally ( it was the 1980's) . Needless to say, I paid for the repair job, and learnt a lesson. I am very sorry to say that, unless this bloke his some integrity to him , in reality you may well find yourself having to foot the bill and put it down to experience .

If you are just going to use it as a regular P Bass , I would go with the Fralins. That said, why throw an indeterminate amount money into modding the Squier when you could sell it and use that money and the mod money towards an altogether better bass?

[quote name='thebassist' timestamp='1385976091' post='2294138'] I don't want or intend this thread to get into any kind of debate about whether a Fodera is value for money, etc. but I'd appreciate some opinions from people. My budget will enable me to purchase either: 1. A Fodera Monarch 4 Standard ...or... 2. A combination of these: Fender American Deluxe Precision Fender American Standard Jazz Fender American Standard Precision Music Man Stingray Music Man Sterling Suggestions? I've never bought a bass without playing it first and unfortunately I wouldn't be able to try the Fodera before actually buying it so it's a bit of a gamble if I went that route. That is my biggest concern with the Fodera - A LOT of cash on a bass I can't play before buying. [/quote] I've tried all of those basses, and I still couldn't tell you which to buy . So much depends on what you want for your money, for a start. What is it that makes you aspire to the Fodera rather than another high-end bass of similar repute, and why is the alternative the basses you list? There are so many things to consider, including do you actually want to own and therefore have the burden of looking after such a rare and expensive bass as the Fodera? All your eggs would be in one expensive basket, so to speak. I am not one of those people who thinks Foderas are overpriced,but at the same time they do cost [i]a lot[/i] of money . If you live in the U.K and want to invest in a high quality to bass to use and enjoy then a Fodera is not neccesarilly the most logical or practical choice and there are a lot of alternatives if you have that kind of cash to spend . That said, you are not under any onus to make a logical or practical choice if you are spending your own money on your heart's desire, and if you want a Fodera and can afford it then you should buy one . Give us a bit more background info and we might be better able to help/ confuse you even further.

[quote name='pst62' timestamp='1385970271' post='2294092'] Saw Blizzard of Ozz at Middlesbrough Town Hall back in 1980, Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake were the rhythm section though, fantastic gig! \m/ \m/ [media]http://youtu.be/CfkATcv-dVY[/media] [/quote] I saw them on the same U.K tour, and they were indeed on fine form. I got to meet Ozzy and Sharon(very briefly ) afterwards , too. I also remember having to get up for school the next day.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1385930402' post='2293812'] I remember exactly what it was. They were crap. [/quote] As ever, I am impressed by your scientific analysis of the problem . I could never stand the way the curly leads would hover at mid-thigh level under tension into the amp. Not a good look.

I think it would be a bit weird seeing a band all using curly leads again nowadays. That would be proper retro. On the subject of curly leads, there must have been a good reason why people stopped using them by the late 1980's , even if no one nowadays can remember exactly what it was. .

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1385928190' post='2293772'] You must be correct: [/quote] I really wish Ibanez still made beautiful basses like this and the other great designs they had back in the 1980's such as the Roadstar. They were superb instruments at sensible prices, looking back now.