thepurpleblob

[quote name='Stacker' post='849117' date='May 27 2010, 07:35 AM']The controls on that thing are just overkill; there's no need to build a bass with such complex switching. I mean, look what Warwick did, all those years ago: you need to go passive? Simple, just pull up the volume pot.[/quote] It's a "look" I suppose. In theory you don't need any controls at all. The ones on your amp do the job !

Oooh... blacker than a black thing in a black room with the lights out. Nice Seems a shame they didn't go the whole way and put an ebony board on it.

That's Rick Kemp on the bass I think. He's about 70! There's hope for me yet

My only brush with an originals band had a guitarist / writer who also turned out to be a way better bass player than me. He had some fabulous lines. I learned a lot very quickly. Unfortunately, not quickly enough because I got the boot (although to be fair, the guy was too much of a wimpoid to tell me why - it was probably just my grumpy attitude!!). I'm always willing to admit that I don't know best. In fact, come to think of it, I almost never know best!!

Sometimes we get to lead and sometimes we get to follow - it's all good. I played in a country-esque band for about 5 minutes and while it was all root-fifth it was still surprisingly challenging to nail the feel absolutely spot on. If the line is basically simple then you get to concentrate on your feel and dynamics rather than packing 50 notes into the bar - something like that

[quote name='Zach' post='844755' date='May 22 2010, 12:04 AM']correct me if i'm wrong, but surely the nut only effects the open strings? in which case wouldn't the ultimate nut be made of the same material as the fretboard, so that you get the same tone between open and fretted notes?[/quote] It only affects open strings but the characteristic fretless sound is partly to do with a vague, squashy finger pressing the string against a bit of wood. The open strings and the nut will have much the same sound as a fretted.

[quote name='Hoppo75' post='841398' date='May 18 2010, 09:10 PM']Hiya all, Played a gig on Saturday night and noticed some feedback coming from my cab. Never had this before and it was very faint so just thought that I was picking up a dodgy light somewhere, but I have since found that the slight feedback noise is still there in the house and that I also have a bit of a crackle from the blend pot on my Frankenjazz. I'm running a Harke 3500a with a pro series 2x12 cab. All of my leads are really good quality, and as suspected after trying some others, the problem still exists. The other thing I noticed which may sound a bit bonkers, is that when my wedding ring touches a string I can hear a crackle, almost exactly the same sound the blend pot is making. I'm still here to type this message, so I'm guessing that the thing wasn't live, but it does have me worried. Can anyone help with ideas/advice? Thanks in advance.[/quote] Eliminate first.... try a different bass/amp/lead to establish where the fault lies. Go from there...

[quote name='Mr Rabble' post='843897' date='May 21 2010, 10:23 AM']Being the owner of both a Japanese and an American Precision I need my head to be seriously examinated, because I hear and feel a huge difference[/quote] Me too... The MIA is twice the weight

[quote name='bassbluestew' post='823225' date='Apr 29 2010, 05:36 PM']I have a 2008 Perception and although a hi fi sounding bass the eq has plenty of punch.[/quote] I had the same 2008 Perception and I couldn't get on with the sound at all. I much prefer the "bull in a china shop" school of bass bottom end and the OW was much too ladylike. I can see it being great for funky stuff and playing up the dusty end though. Horses for courses

Oooh.... that's nice. It'll need to have a more sensible street price though. Is it just me (or the perspective of the photos) or is the headstock smaller than usual?? Also, when will manufacturers who put on 50 knobs and buttons finally devise some means of marking what they do. I'm sure they can come up with something more desirable than dymo-tape if they try, but nothing isn't really acceptable.

[quote name='Starless' post='843802' date='May 21 2010, 08:18 AM']The Fender Japan stuff is still almost the guitar/bass world's best kept secret. They will not lose value - especially as they are now getting much harder to acquire (and the prices are rising). Have played many Mex/Jap/US and there is no contest. There may be 'iffy' Mex's and US's, but never an iffy Jap. Rock-solid reliable and beautifully made (as you would expect). Anyone happy to pay hundreds more for a 'Made in USA' decal on the headstock (that's the only difference) needs their head examined (IMO).[/quote] Even with Japanese instruments - where all manufacturing was outsourced by Fender - there are some divisions. Before the mid nineties they are marked "Made in Japan". After then (and a change in manufacturing contract) they are marked "Crafted in Japan". No doubt the cognoscenti have an opinion as to which is "the one to have"

[quote name='dlloyd' post='843260' date='May 20 2010, 04:22 PM']...it's probably worth mentioning that trans Orange is not one of the most common colours and the OP might have difficulty finding one in the UK. Transatlantic sales aren't as attractive as they were a couple of years ago either.[/quote] Sure you wouldn't like a 5..... [url="http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars_detail.asp?stock=10021511324431"]http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars...=10021511324431[/url] Not as pretty somehow. There's a few trans-red 4s doing the rounds. Also very easy on the eye.http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars_detail.asp?stock=10021511324431

[quote name='Cygnus x-1' post='843193' date='May 20 2010, 03:17 PM']I've had a Squier VMJ fretless, liked it but sold it to raise some funds, I notice that most people selling Squiers or Vintage Icon's say they like fretless so much they fancy something a bit better. So my question is this, what is better? say up to max £500. I don't want more than four strings, Ibanez only do a five string to my knowledge, I can't find much else except Mexican Fender jazzes but are they any better and worth the price jump than the VMJ I had? By the way regarding the VMJ & Icon's, i'm not overly keen on sunburst. Confussed, yes. Any advice apreciated. Nick. (p.s. perhaps a white CV jazz wth a fretless neck would do me, hint, hint Squier?)[/quote] Those Squiers are supposed to be very good. At a glance there's a few things on here that look good...... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=67754"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=67754[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=84770"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=84770[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=88081"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=88081[/url] The last one is a little over your budget, but £600 for a trans-red MM Sterling fretless?? Got to be a bargain and one of the nicest colours.

The only thing I would add is that the 3 band eq isn't better than the 2 - it's just different. You are best to have a go with both and see which you prefer. I can reiterate that you won't go far wrong with a StingRay. I've tried all sorts of stuff but pretty much come to the conclusion that there isn't anything else. They're not perfect though.... on all that I have tried the overall output is surprisingly low (I simply cannot light the peak light on either of my amps whatever I do) although it doesn't really matter unless you swap basses around. The "quiet G string" is no myth but I think it's more a function of the overall sound of the bass than a fault per se. They are much more about frightening small children with low-end grunt and the higher strings get a bit lost. The SR5 is, strangely, much better in this respect.

[quote name='merello' post='841800' date='May 19 2010, 10:25 AM']Get searching on here! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=88247"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=88247[/url] £350![/quote] Just to note that the OP is talking about an MIJ not a MIM. The snob-o-meter seems to put them somewhere in the middle I think. Money-wise about the same as MIM just harder to find. Having said that, the bass you point out looks like a bit of a bargain if you like all the extra knobbery (can you say that on here?)

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='841266' date='May 18 2010, 07:19 PM']Same here. Love playing that song.[/quote] An order of magnitude beyond my technical ability...

[quote name='Bilbo' post='840827' date='May 18 2010, 01:34 PM']Purple Bob? Are they related? [/quote] It's my crazy uncle....

It depends what you need it for - of course. I've found out the hard way that more esoteric basses seem not to be aimed at plodding rock band players like me. They sound (and often look) all wrong. As has been said, unless you *know* that you need something fancier, a MusicMan or USA Fender product will get the job done with room to spare. And leave you some change in some cases.

[quote name='No1skewenjack' post='840748' date='May 18 2010, 12:32 PM']Im about to buy my first semi expensive bass. Im currently using a cheap 'Black' bass which I bought for £80 bargin but time for a upgrade. I've tried a few and feel that a Fender P bass japanese 1995 for £495 and wondering will it keep its value well?[/quote] Seems a tad expensive to me unless it is very minty or otherwise special. However, I've got one (a 1996) and I'm very pleased with it. It's ridiculously light, sounds the part and isn't so special that I can't take it anywhere. Regarding keeping its value - after 15 years, I don't think it's ever going to worth much less than it's actually worth now but, as I say, that sounds about 100 quid too expensive in the first place.

passive MM pickup at the bridge.

[quote name='davidmpires' post='840771' date='May 18 2010, 12:51 PM']Hi everyone Now that I’m band less I thought I could use some of my free time. Not much as I have an exam coming up, a wedding and just joined the gym, but what’s left could be used to practice. So I’ve joined Marlowedk website www.playbassnow.com and donated £10 and got some transcriptions so I plan on working through them. I have some software in my pc to help me learn more. Guitar pro 5 which I use only to open tabs Transcribe which I use to loop and slow down parts. I have some hardware to help me practice such as a Jamman looper courtesy of Davo London, a Zoom H4 and a Tascam with the cd thing. Now up until now I put the songs on my pc and have to use two headphones to hear the bass on one coming from the amp and another one coming from my pc with the song I’m learning. Now I want to be able to use just one, what’s the best way to do it? And cheaper way. I want to be able to mix my bass with my pc so I only need one set of headphones and stop disturbing my OH with the sound of the amp. Any suggestions? Cheers David[/quote] I don't think it can be described as cheap but I use a Line 6 Bass Pod XT for just that. It connects to the PC with via USB and latency is very low (unlike some cheapy usb outputs I have tried). You can use it for recording too. Has headphone output, handy tuner and can plug into your amp and desk too. Slight overkill, but if you can find one used and cheap it works well.

[quote name='dub_junkie' post='839843' date='May 17 2010, 03:53 PM']A lot more hi-fi sounding with more extreme EQ. plugging in the SR5 after the Bongo it feels like a fair bit of tone and volume just dropped out -[u][b] but[/b][/u] a couple of minutes with the stingray and I know why I like that bass so much. theres no messing about with it. just a great solid tone without fiddling about with EQ. I can never settle on EQ with the Bongo - I'm always fiddling with the hi and low mids. It was hard work settling on a tone the few times I gigged it but I love it for recording. Mine is an HH and imo none of the settings sound like the classic MM tone. Although It sounds great and is a lot more versatile I prefer the SR5 just because its an unfussy plug in and play bass I'm only down the road and starting rehearsing with my new band up in glasgow in the next couple of weeks.If you ever want to audition the Bongo just give me a shout.[/quote] Cheers.... I doubt one will be on the shopping list in the near future. Although one of each MusicMan products would be nice to have. So, which band are you playing with then?

[quote name='dub_junkie' post='839758' date='May 17 2010, 01:46 PM']I love the tone of the 5. a bit more polite/subdued with less sizzle compared to the 4 . but works better from my experience with both[/quote] Seeing as you have one... where does the Bongo sit in all this?

Just throwing in something irrelevant.... it's surprising how big a difference in sound there is between my StingRay 5 and StingRay 4, never mind between them and the G&L. Fair cop though, they all possess that distinctive "big humbucker" sound. Hence owning a couple of P-Basses for a bit of contrast. I should probably add a Jazz but I never really got on with them

I currently have a StingRay 4 and a 5 and used to have a Tribute L2500 - in fact the blue one that is for sale at the moment. I have to say it's tricky. There's nothing wrong with any of them and there's definitely a certain similarity between the L2500 and the StingRay 5. The big difference is the electronics - the G&L has a lot more switches and is a bit more versatile (but not so much as you might think). It has an outrageous output compared to the MMs rather weedy preamp but it can get away from you a bit if you're not careful (some farty B string noises are easily achieved). Bottom line... it could be deeply subliminal but the MM is just that bit nicer somehow and it's almost impossible to get a bad sound (just can't go wrong really), which is why the L2500 got sold. However, there's a hell of a price difference. If I only had 300 quid to spend and needed something as my main bass I would get that Tribby without a moments hesitation. I have never played a USA G&L - now that would be *very* interesting.