solo4652

The "aha" moment for me was when I swapped basses with somebody recently. He played my cheap back-up bass and I played his expensive gig bass. He's a better player than me, and sounded damned good on my cheapie. On his expensive bass, I sounded like I always do. The reality struck - "If you want to sound better, you need to practise more". Of course, there are reasons other than "sounding better" for changing your kit. If GAS gives you pleasure and you can afford the time and money involved, then rock on and enjoy it all.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/vintage-musician-copy-bass-in-the-corner-of-my-spare-room-for-the-last-decade-time-to-go-/1210611434

The MIJ arrived this morning. First impressions from playing in the dining room through my small practice combo; The Mustang neck is certainly narrower than the 42mm neck on my Harley Benton Shorty. Not only that, the Mustang neck is thinner front-to-back. Overall, it's a distinctly skinnier neck on the Mustang. I've played about 10 songs on it, and I've been pleasantly surprised how quickly I seem to have adapted. Slightly sticky gloss finish to back of neck. Might have to very gently wire-wool it at some point. No biggie. No body contours on the Mustang. An unexpected bonus is that the bass doesn't sit as close to me. The neck is pushed away from me a little, meaning I don't have to turn my head so far to the left to see the frets. Less neck strain fro me. Too early to say whether the lack of a forearm contour is going to be less comfy for my right wrist. We'll see. Bass hangs well. No neck dive at all with a wide suede-backed strap. Compared to my HBS that has Entwistle PBXN pickups, the Mustang sounds very different. The PBXN pickups in the HBS are very hot so, unsurprisingly, the Mustang sounds more refined and quieter. I was not expecting the toppy tone of the Mustang - it's one of the very few basses I find myself turning down the tone pot. Not a traditional P-bass tone. Nowhere near as thumpy and bass-y as the HBS. Will need quite a different EQ set-up on my gig rig when I get that out. UK_lefty (post no. 4) was right to ask whether a Mustang needs brightening with a J pickup - quite the reverse, if anything. I just hope it won't sound a bit too twangy in a band setting - this is the biggest question mark for me, and one I had not foreseen at all. And that's with Status half-rounds on the Mustang (and, indeed, on the HBS). Fit and finish seems all-round good. All screws tight, unmarked creamy body colour nicely set-off by tortie pickguard. Pots, jack socket all quiet in operation. Slightly cheap-feeling plastic knobs. I have some chrome ones upstairs that will probably fit. No electronics hum. I'd read that some people had had problems there but, so far, this one's behaving itself. I'm not feeling the need (yet) to investigate cavity shielding. So - a good first couple of hours with the Mustang. Band practice on Saturday, so we'll get a clearer idea of how the toppy tone sits in a band mix. Work in progress. I'll report back after a couple of band sessions.

No bids. Relisted.

[quote name='Trueno' timestamp='1484309851' post='3214541'] I'm tempted to get the mij one right now... my japanese Mustang (in fiesta red) was truly the one that got away... I should never have sold it. Never tried the mim, but I don't like the j pup or the bbos bridge. [/quote] They're very thin on the ground now. A lot of net surfing yesterday uncovered just three new ones in the UK. I bought the one from Soundpad in Barnstaple. Music Warehouse in Norwich are showing two on their website: https://musicwarehouse.co.uk/products/fender-fsr-japan-mustang-bass-vintage-white

Eeeek - Just bought the MIJ. That means I'll need to sell my Yamaha BB1024 to make room.

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1484226181' post='3213688'] The MIM doesn't actually have a wider neck, it's an error in the specs. it's jazz width [/quote] Hi Mel! Really!? All the shop websites report the MIM nut width as 42mm. I'll see if I can find out more via Fender's website. Edit: Quite a bit on Talkbass about this. See Post number 210, complete with steel ruler in place showing 1.5". https://www.talkbass.com/threads/new-pj-mustang-at-summer-namm.1230121/page-11

I'm trying to decide between these two Mustangs. Possibly leaning towards the MIM because it's PJ, and has a wider neck. Has anybody played both? http://www.richtonemusic.co.uk/products/fender_mustang_bass_pj_olympic_white.asp?gclid=CIKyxML3utECFQ2eGwodZmcGNw http://www.soundpad.co.uk/guitar/bass-guitars/fender/fender-japan-fsr-mustang-bass

[quote name='mike257' timestamp='1483919877' post='3211202'] Fixed that quote for you. I'm sure it sounds massive in his living room, filling that broad sonic space, but it's clearly not right for a band mix. He either isn't experienced enough to grasp this without a nudge in the right direction, or he plain old doesn't give a crap. If it's the former, you can diplomatically address it and all move forward together. If it's the latter, I'd be looking for your next band! [/quote] He's an experienced band member, and played for many years in good function bands until 3 years ago. Since then he's been playing mainly acoustic sets on his own, using the bass combo to deepen his tone. I've pointed out to him that he has a bassist to do that now. He is struggling to stop being a one-man band.

[quote name='darkandrew' timestamp='1483833559' post='3210554'] Or perhaps, for those couple of songs, you could have some fun playing up at the dusty end? Don't think of it so much as treading on each others' toes - more playing off of each other. [/quote] Well, I'm always up for a bit of artistic collaboration, but a guitarist playing through a bass amp "to thicken up the sound" while a bassist noodles melodically up the dusty end seems a bit contrary to me.

I asked him that. He said; "Because it sounds really good."

Folks - can you please help me to think this through, because I'm not sure how to approach the situation. Guitarist turns up to rehearsal with his acoustic guitar and played it through a 200W Fender Rumble bass amp. He normally plays through a Crate power amp into the desk, and that has been fine. Today, it was a bit of a sonic mess. I thought he was too loud and I suggested he could turn down so we could hear the vocals better. Also, I was finding it hard to play bass, possibly because he was playing through a bass amp. On one song, I asked him to noy play through the bass amp, but to revert to his Crate + PA. Result was a much clearer, cleaner, quieter sound mix, with my bass being much more present in the mix. I suggested the guitarist should stay with his Crate + PA setup and leave the bass frequencies to me. "That's why I'm here", I said, perhaps a little tetchily. Guitarist scowled and stuck his bottom lip out. It's his band, and he likes to play his well-rehearsed songs in his own way. He finds it hard to change what he does to accommodate the newly-recruited rhythm section of myself and drummer. There is a good band here, and I'd like to continue with them. However, I am finding it hard to fit my playing around the guitarist all the time. I've said a few things to him, but the same issues crop up again and again. He's band leader. Any thoughts, folks?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Modern-Player-Short-scale-Jazz-Bass-white-Blonde-Super-Rare-/302188394530?hash=item465bd4f822:g:FbUAAOSwjDZYbrXj

Seller says he bought it new 11 or 12 years ago off Ebay from the person who makes them. Seller's going to weigh it and send me more photos of the back of the body and neck. Intriguing, really. Only 45 mins drive from me...

I've just emailed them to ask if they could do a short scale Jazz or PJ. The Telecasters look interesting, but no body contours, and you'd have to worry about neck-dive.

Quick look around the web; 34" scale, and not an especially expensive Spector.

Long, medium or short scale? Any way of telling from the photos?

No! I don't really want to buy a back up amp and then cart it around without ever using it. I'd always thought of the BDI21 as a tone-shaping thingy. Since the only tone-shaping I do is via the tone pot and/or pickup selector on my basses, I've never needed or used the BDI21. However, if it can serve as an emergency DI box into the powered desk if my GKMB500 goes down, that would be great. I'll try it at next rehearsal. BTW - the two basses of mine that you very kindly sorted out are both going great guns. Thank you.

BassBunny - Thanks! That means I won't have to buy a seperate back up amp, then?!

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1474445942' post='3138016'] A BDI21 through the PA saved my bacon on one occasion. You might also want to ask yourself why you need an effects loop. These are intended for line level devices and most stomp boxes are instrument level devices. If you do need a loop it needs to match your main amp for serial or parallel, otherwise it may not do what you expect. Knowing that you run EBS cabs I would suggest a Reidmar. [/quote] Can I check this, please. I have a BDI21 which I've never used. Don't really know why I've got it. Could I use it as an emergency back-up amp in some way, if my main amp goes pop? Our PA uses a powered mixing desk, so would passive bass>BDI21>powered mixing desk>PA speakers get me home safely? Enough amplification for a bass in that chain?

Now £199 https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/WTX264/bass-amp-heads/eden-wtx264-260w-mini-bass-amp-head Very tempted to get one as a backup - should be loud enough through two Tecamp 112's for my 4-piece semi-acoustic jazz/swing/pop crew. Shouldn't it?

Five rehearsals in, and it's going well. However...guitarist wants to do an acoustic version of Wish you were here. At the start, he wants to use a looper to record the 12-string picky guitar bit so he can then play Gilmour's resonator/bluesy bit over the top. Looper gets turned off before the verse, and myself and drummer come in towards the end of the first verse, as per the original song. I've thought about this, and I've said that I'm not happy with a looper being used, for three reasons; In this song, I can play some of the 12-string guitar part on the bass - enough for the guitarist to do the bluesy stuff over the top. In other words, I think we can do the song justice without a looper. My choice would be to keep things simple and not risk timing and technology cockups from using a looper. My personal opinion is that a live band means exactly that - what the audience is listening to is what's being played in real time by the musicians in front of them. What do you think, folks? Make a stand, or go with the guitarist's flow?

As I suggested above, give the "Frontman"/MC/entertainer role to whoever in the band has the natural vitality, personality and motivation to deliver it, regardless of which instrument they play.

So this is an acoustic band, then? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAVt9Y-4XRs I like the music and song treatment. Just can't convince myself that this is an acoustic band.