Dingus

These were lovely basses. I had one at the time , and it sounded epic. For years before I got one , they were one of the basses I really longed for . They weighed a lot, but no one was bothered by that back in those days, from what I remember.

It's an Ibanez Musician Bass in Polar White , the model from the era of these basses between 1982 and 1986.

Bass has never really been that high-profile an instrument , in the scheme of things. It has always been slightly mysterious to most people, and that is indeed, if they are interested at all. The biggest hurdle, if you are at all slightly bothered by what other people think , is to convinvce people that you are not a failed guitarist and that playing the bass is not dead easy because it only has four strings. I don't mix with a lot of younger people nowadays- this electronic tag has put paid to that, and besides which , Mrs Dingus says they might find my wig a bit disturbing- but the impression I get is that playing the bass is about as appealing as it ever was, it's just that what it means to be a bass player has changed over the years. Maybe when Pete Academy and I were starting out , trends in bass playing dictated that more people strived to actually being able to play a bit, as opposed to nowadays when there is a big trend towards a kind of retro simplicity and also a rejection of aspirational ideals . In light of that , maybe more kids think that they don't need lessons. If all they want to do is get some tattoos and be in a punk rock group( how quaint!) then they may well be right.

[quote name='JuliusGroove' timestamp='1385893000' post='2293154'] My lecturer has recommended me the Lindy Fralin Jazz Pick-ups for my Jazz.. Thoughts? [/quote] Lindy Fralins are great -sounding pickups , especially if you want a nice vintage-style sound for your Jazz Bass. They have got a warm , balanced sound with plenty of everything , and maybe a touch more bottom end than an authentic vintage Jazz Bass pickup. However , is there a particular reason for changing the existing pickups in your Fender ? Which model is it ( USA? Mexico? ect ) and you know which pickups it has already ( presumably the stock ones ) ? If you are just changing the pickups out of idle curiosity rather than a real perceived need to change them then it could lead to some rather expensive and needless dissappointment. A lot of stock Fender pickups sound perfectly fine in their own right, and many expensive boutique pickups don't actually sound that much better or even different , in my experience. You would be crazy to swap the Music Man pickup for a Bartolini , too, unless you don;t want the bass to sound like a Stingray any more. The Bartolini is a fine pickup in its' own right but it has a markedly different tone to an authentic Stingray pickup, even if it does have a lot of that characteristic sound in it. The Seymour Duncan MM- style pickup is much more faithful , as is the Nordstrand, but there is no real reason to change the excellent EBMM design you already have. My experience of Bartolini pickups as a whole is that , generally speaking, they are primarily designed to work at their best with a preamp. Bartolinis would never be my automatic first choice for a passive Fender-style bass, that is for sure.

Curly leads! Whatever happened to curly leads ? They used to be the "in thing" when I first started playing. When I think about it, it seems like no one has used them in a [i]very[/i] long time. I just presumed that Mankind had abandoned the idea in favour of wireless systems and tripping over conventional guitar leads on the floor.

I went to see Pearl Jam when they were just starting out, and I remember it vividly . At that time , they seemed to have a great future ahead of them and there was a big buzz about them . Unfortunately, they never really delivered on that early promise for numerous reasons, not least of all because in the cold light of day they weren't actually as good as people hoped they were at that time. They have, however, carved out a niche for themselves and have a massive and devoted following despite churning out rather dissappointing records for most of their career. Eddie Vedder has got great hair, too. I always thought their second album , Versus, was their best. Like a lot of bands, they made the mistake of eschewing commerciality in their music in favour of pursuing their own ideas and interests , when the reality was that it was when they were at their most accessible that they were in fact at their best. They have sold millions of records, but have never really made a great album , which is a terrible shame because they had such potential..

That looks amazing. I would buy a bass in that colour if Fender offered it as an option nowadays. You may or (more likely ) may not be interested to know, back in the 1970'S , Ford made a special run of Capri's for the U.K market in an almost identical shade of orange to this bass: ( I would buy a Capri in that colour, too.)

I remember playing these basses from the era you mention , and just as Oliver says, the preamp was dull and uninteresting, at best, and I remember clearly that the low B was absolutely crap , to be perfectly frank with you . They had one in a shop local to me at the time, and I played it a few times and was always struck by how poor that bottom string was, especially compared to the Stingray 5 string that was hung on the wall next to it. Unless this bass is going for a very good price, I would be extremely dubious about buying sight unseen . The best thing about these basses was that they tended to be fairly light in weight, but everything else was very so-so. Even the 2010 onwards models of the Am Deluxe are not that great, in my opinion . That new preamp is still poor compared to the competition , and there have been persistant stories about shilelding issues with these basses. The pickupos are also nothing special. I would be much more inclined towards looking at the passive five string Am Standard Jazz Bass and adding an external preamp ( or East J Retro) if you want an affordable five string Fender to do the active Jazz Bass thing.

[quote name='agreensall' timestamp='1385585880' post='2290065'] Hi Everyone [b][font=Calibri, sans-serif]As you can see they are offering to make a new neck without any quibble .[/font][/b] [font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif][color=#000000]Sandberg has always prided themselves on great customer service and will go beyond any other manufacturer I have known (and I have controlled over 30 brands in my 35 years, big and small) to make sure the customer comes first.[/color][/font] [font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif][color=#000000]I would not loose confidence in Sandberg's quality control at all, as this is only the 2nd incidence in my 9 years of handling Sandberg basses. Wood is a living thing and problems like this can occur, even with the most expensive of products. The key thing is that Sandberg will make it good. They are the nicest guys to deal with (bar non) and have developed a reputation for making basses of quality.[/color][/font] [/quote] I would agree 100% that even the highest quality buiders can have unforseeable problems with wood and how it behaves once you make a bass neck out of it . It's impossible to tell if there is a knot or defect of some kind inside the wood that is invisible to the eye but likely to cause problems with stability ect. In the past , on two occasions I have had had necks that went bit wonky on very high-end and otherwise well-made basses , but luckily in both instances the manufacturer put the problem right for me and all was well. It sounds like the good news here is that , one way or another, Sandberg are going to take care of their customer and John is going to get his bass made perfect .

If the neck warped so soon after purchase on a brand new bass then the goods were never of a marketable quality ( to use the legal term) , considering their retail price, and therefore the manufacturer has broken their contract with the consumer . If they cannot or will not repair the goods satisfactorily then you are entitled to a full refund . The only thing that could be said in mitigation for Sandberg is that maybe( maybe) there was some kind of a miscommunication somewhere along the line and they got the wrong message about what was expected of them with the neck on this bass.

[quote name='John Cellario' timestamp='1385570939' post='2289796'] [b] My 6 month old California has just been returned from Germany where it had to be returned due to the neck warping. It was to have a new neck fitted as the 'warp' could not be solved with truss rod adjustment. However, it still has the same neck and Sandberg seem to have simply straightened the neck with a 'fret dressing'. It still has minor warping issues. The guitar tech at the dealer was not happy with what had been done, so once more, it goes back to Germany. Sandberg were quick to return the bass (3 weeks), but have not corrected the original fault. Sorry to say I'm losing faith and confidence in Sandberg and my 'dream' bass.[/b] PS. Have a look at this 16 year old girls playing on a six string. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu1wazW17qA&list=RDNoIBY8qtuG8[/media] [/quote] When this problem occurred I said to judge Sandberg by what they did to put it right. Unfortunately , they have done nothing except piss you about , by the sound of it. Get a new neck or get a refund and kick Sandberg into touch.

[quote name='Damonjames' timestamp='1385564890' post='2289704'] No offence taking Mr Digus (did you notice the ) I was just suggesting that like any bass, it is capable off my different sounds, a small tweak here or there may of got our dear friend off the hook with the singer. I am in a Seattle tribute band, and I am changing my tone and vols pots, hand position and right hand finger technique constantly to try and nail the sound of the original. But seriously, how good is Bern?? Come on OP, how was the gig? [/quote] Your Emoticons are broken , mate! They aren't coming out on your posts. And yes, Bernard is still the man. What a stylish player. I like the sound of that Seattle tribute band , by the way. I've never heard of another tribute act on that theme, and thinking about it, I can see how it could be really popular. Why didn't I think of that?

The Special has allegedly got a slightly slimmer neck profile that the Americamnn Standard, too, if that matters to you. I like the more substantial hardware , build and better pickups on the post 2012 Am St basses , but I've never tried an Am Special to compare it , so can't say how good value they are by comparision . What I can say is that a good post-2012 Am St Jazz Bass sounds and plays as good as a lot of boutique Jazz Basses costing twice the price or more , so in that respect is a great purchase that you could enjoy for the rest of you bass playing days. In light of that, it is probably worth the extra money. The Am Special is Fender's attempt to give the recession- hit market an American-made bass at a more affordable price, but to do so certain cost-cutting compromises in construction will have to have been made..

[quote name='Damonjames' timestamp='1385504129' post='2289164'] I'm not disputing the tonal variety or quality of the instrument in question , all I was trying to suggest is a slight tweak of the onboard eq may remove some of the "clean" sound the singer is referring to. That's the trouble with songs where an instrument is really prominent in te mix like bass in most chic tracks. People know how it sounds on the record and use that as a benchmark. I'd fancy there is NOTHING wrong with the OP's playing at all, he/she sounds far too aware of what they are trying to do to be too far off the mark. The likely culprit is the guitarist not being in time with the rythm section. I hope the rehearsal/gig goes well! [/quote] My comments are not at all directed at you , my friend , more so at this singer and her expert knowledge of reverb ( ahem) . I just wanted to make the point that , whatever the problem may or may not be, that is a great sounding bass that will do just about any job for you tone wise , including paying tribute to the late, great Bernie Edwards, in fact [i]especially [/i]paying tribute to Bernard.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1385486635' post='2288861'] Thought this old f**t would be posting the old stuff but I like this, it has the correct ratio of drums to bass too. Nothing earth shattering but rather nice. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4EWfdEyoLs[/media] [/quote] I like this group , too , so great choice , but how 1980's does this track sound ? Is it a coincidence then ,in light of that aesthetic , that the bass is up front in the overall arrangement?

I always like Meddle . Gets overshadowed by Dark Side Of The Moon , for obvious reasons, but it's the record where the Floyd first showed they had what it takes to be something special , in my opinion .

In terms of chart music , bass used to be better, on the whole . Take a listen to the records that were in the chart this week in 1983 and compare them to now and the bass guitar was featured much more prominently on far more records back then . It was the golden age of the bass guitar, and a great time for music , even thoough we never realised it at the time due to the preponderance of Stock , Aitkin and Waterman records that came to dominate the airwaves by the end of the decade. What no one has mentioned yet is that so much of the trends in how the bass guitar is played and the manner in which it is used in pop music have always been dictated by trends in black American music, going right back to the inception of the instrument . If you want to know why bass playing has changed and evolved in certtain ways then look at how black music has changed and what the current zeitgeist is . Hip Hop has proliferated since the late 1980's, and that music requires far more simple bass parts than the soul and funk music of the era through the Sixties , Seventies and Eighties that was so fertile for bass players . That trend towards simplicity and synthetic bass lines has permeated pop music as a whole, and you can hear it in a whole host of different genres of contemporary music. .

I used to play a G&L and they are one of the best sounding basses out there , and easy to get a great sound in just about any musical situation I can think of . Whatever the problem is, if indeed there is in fact any real problem , there is certainly nothing wrong with the sound of the O.Ps bass, because the L2000 is a tone machine[i] par excellence[/i].

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1385412957' post='2288049'] I feel your pain Dingus. Mrs Cameltoe had a lovely pair of 'Christian Louboutin' shoes for her 30th birthday present. The price? Roughly what I'd expect to pay for a nice example of an MIJ/CIJ Precision. [/quote] Have these women never heard of Millets?

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1385400361' post='2287788'] Dingus, haven't you got some shelves to put up or something ? (pokes tongue out) [/quote] I do indeed need to put some more shelves up ,Shelly, in order for Mrs Dingus to display her impressive and painfully expensive shoe collection . I don't know who this Jimmy Choo guy is , but I wish he would bugger off and make something else for a living before I go bankrupt !

[quote name='bassist_lewis' timestamp='1385407973' post='2287950'] So these days, as I've heard many a more experienced gentleman claim, music is a bit simpler and the bass lines aren't as good, and back in the 60s, 70s and 80s (people aren't quite nostalgic about the 90s yet) bass lines were - or could be - more interesting and a more prominent part of the song. Yet, these days there seem to be legions of bass players shredding through changes and slapping the s@@t out of there basses, and back in said nostalgic decades there seem to have only been a few such monster players. Now, I'm only 24 so maybe it's just how it seems looking back now... but why is it that in an era where music is predominantly dead simple and focused entirely on the singer there are lots of super techy shreddy bass players, and back when basslines were more prominent and generally more interesting there were comparatively few mental slippers? Discuss slappers... not into slippers... [/quote] I had never thought about it this way , but you are quite right! There are loads of fancy Dan bass players about nowadays , but flamboyant or prominent bass guitar playing on mainstream rock and pop records is rare , especially in comparison to the era from the early 1970's to the early 1990's. However , you are slightly confusing a few things , most notably trends in bass playing and trends in music . It's all well and good loads of aspiring young players shredding like Victor Wooten , but who would put that kind of playing on a track ? What kind of music would it serve? None of these new virtuoso guys - Hadrian Feraud, Mathew Garrison et al- have what it takes to be an World-class accompanist., and if they don't then their slew of third-rate You Tube immitators certainly don't have what it takes either. There is a whole new genre of bass playing that has developed that has no real application beyond the self-indulgent , self-serving and pointless twiddling of its' creators. Back in the day, basslines had to serve the song as well as enhance the music overall , and most of these new bass players could do neither . They lack both the taste and the judgement . There are notable exceptions, of course, but for the most part there are more very flashy but very average bass players about nowadays, not neccesarilly a whole lot more good ones. than there were back in the olden days.