4000

Very good. Not. 🙄 Once again, different points are being argued. If I’m recording an instrument, I want it to sound as near to what’s in my head as possible, within the context of the track. Whether it makes any difference to anyone else is not in the slightest bit important to me. I’m creating something, and I want it to be as right as possible. Of course it never is 100% how you want it, but that’s not the point either. Do you really not care how things are when you’re creating something?

To me, they sound noticeably different, and it could well make a difference in a band situation, certainly when recorded. The whole “well, it’s all in the ballpark so what does it matter” argument makes no sense to me, and not just when it comes to the sound of instruments. If I’m painting a landscape I don’t just think “well it’s green, that’ll do”. You’re surely aiming at specific shades, even if no one other than you cares.

I think based on experience, the only thing I can say is that the different pieces of wood used in one instrument as opposed to another appear to sound different, which it being organic and therefore variable in nature I would expect. I do tend to feel different species may impart certain sonic textures but I wouldn’t like to try and prove it.

You’d be surprised. Many luthiers tend to have built in preconceptions too.

This is why I always pay more attention to what basses sound like acoustically, and why it’s interesting to swap all the other variables between instruments (hardware, electronics) to see how that affects things.

Problem is, as I mentioned before, all the Ricks I’ve owned have sounded easily as different as those basses (some far more so) and they were all maple, so that doesn’t really prove much in itself. At the very least you’d need a number of basses made from each wood type to see whether the differences are consistent across the board.

Somewhere I have interview with John Giblin (from the ‘90s, or maybe a bit later?) where I’m sure he says he mainly used a fretless P Bass. At some point I’ll try and dig it out.

Crikey, wouldn’t fancy re-wrapping an Integrale that often!

I think most Overwaters I’ve played have been pretty subtle sound-wise. Which is by design, but what might not be what the individual is after.

I watched someone do this with a Lancia Delta Integrale on the telly the other week. My first thought was wondering how long it lasts.

This, 100%. Not quite the OP, but I was wondering the other day why Laurel and Hardy never get shown on the telly.

I had a B20 like that but in a metallic burgundy finish. It sounded very good. However the neck had a slight twist, so I bought a new neck, which developed exactly the same issue once set up. I sold it soon after.

Great job. Is that fingerboard flatter than the original? It looks very flat.

I played a Kramer one in the ‘80s with the aluminium neck. It was great.

Our mandolin player occasionally uses distortion. It’s a bit of an acquired taste but it’s useable for some things.

I just found out that the album Producer 'Andrew Powell' actually wrote AND played the bass part on 'Wuthering Heights', much to David Paton's chagrin.... Yep, Andrew Powell on Wuthering (originally recorded on Paton’s Rick I believe, then went back and re-recorded it on a Jazz), everything else on the first album David Paton except for Saxophone Song (Bruce Lynch). I can only suspect many here don’t own the album as it’s in the notes for each song. John (who is possibly my favourite fretless player, along with Mick Karn) didn’t appear on a KB album until Never For Ever. I believe John played on the Before The Dawn gigs, which I couldn’t get tickets for and which haunts me to this day, as KB is without question one of my absolute favourite artists and I’d have given almost anything to see one of those gigs. A friend managed to go and he said it was the best thing he’s ever seen.

I believe that the particular pieces of wood in an instrument make a difference, and tend to feel that certain woods may indeed have certain characteristics, but the danger with the above is the sample size. I’ve had a couple of dozen Rickenbackers, all made of maple, and every single one has sounded different. So I don’t feel you can really safely say, based on a small sample of instruments, that the difference in sound is necessarily down to the species of wood. It may be, but I think it’s far too limited a test to make too much of it.

Better than Joey? The King of Metal? How very dare you! As for the second bit......er......was that one of the many guitarists? It rings a bell.

Wow. Womanowar. 🤟😁

I play mostly pick and naturally play sooooooo much lighter than most (all?) of the players posted, except when I’m purposefully hitting harder. Speed is absolutely the easiest thing to achieve if you play lightly. Look at most shred guitarists; they’re no different physically, so you should absolutely be able to achieve that level of picking technique and control - allowing for heavier strings and greater distances to travel - if you practice.

I’ve owned one of each of the first two; I’d also go for the third one nowadays. Or possibly the GA24.

So you don’t use the fingers of your fretting hand for the lower strings? Then how do you fret the notes on those? 😉

I’ve had multiple examples of the same bass at the same time. They all sounded noticeably different, both acoustically and plugged in. I’ve amused myself on occasion by swapping everything between basses; hardware, electronics, even strings, and then setting them up as close as is humanly possible, to see what happens, with no preconceptions. They still sounded noticeably different, both acoustically and plugged in. So my experience is that the specific pieces of wood in a given instrument must make a difference. However, as per my previous post, not everyone will necessarily hear that difference, because we all hear things differently. A friend who is a good player with decent ears played a couple of my basses (now long gone) back to back once and he thought they sounded exactly the same. I thought they sounded completely different. YMMV.

This is a dilemma. I’ve had instruments built for me by some of the best luthiers out there, but they’ve never (so far at least) hit the mark. Tony Levin once said the only way he can tell you if he likes a bass is by playing it. I suspect I’m the same. Even with a specific template (woods, hardware, electronics), there are too many variables.

My main Rick cost me £490 in 1993. It’s now probably worth not far off 10 times that. I think my old Wal Custom was £895 in around ‘95. Now it’d be worth around £5k.