Misdee

I've got one of these, and yes they are amazingly good for £400. I wish there were basses as good as these for the equivalent money when I was starting out. They really do sound like a vintage Stingray. Mine weighs 9 pounds three ounces, which would be pretty light for a vintage Stingray. If you want to shave some weight off there are some lightweight tuners (Gotoh?) that are a direct retrofit. I thought about getting some myself but can't really be arsed. For £400 I'm not too fussy.

Fair enough! 🙂 I'm not very handy with electronics so swapping the preamp is a bit (a lot) beyond my capabilities anyhow. I only make subtle use of the EQ in any of active my basses, and if by "dimed" you mean everything on full, that's just not me. One question though. Why get a HAZ clone? Why not get a HAZ? Will they not sell them? Talking of attack, wasn't the problem with the TonePump that it had a bit too much enthusiasm in that respect?

Thanks for posting that. It is indeed very interesting, especially if, like me, you've got a Spector with a Legacy preamp. I am not particularly tormented by the potential differences between a HAZ preamp and the Legacy- I've never compared them side by side but what I can say is that my CST with the Legacy in it is a terrific-sounding bass. I'm perfectly willing to believe the authentic HAZ is better, but at the same time, experience has taught me that differentiating between better and different can be very subjective, especially when it comes to sound. A couple of observations though. The elephant in the room is that the chap who has produced the video has a vested financial interest in sewing the seeds of dissatisfaction with the Darkglass Legacy preamp, despite his stance of scientific neutrality. If it becomes received wisdom that the Legacy preamp is so good that it's not worth changing to a HAZ clone then his sales will inevitable drop-off. If Spector or indeed Darkglass had done their own comparison their presentation of the findings would probably have been very different. Also, it would be interesting if HAZ Labs did their own critique of the clones this chap is selling and how close it sounds to the original in their estimation. He is presenting himself as an authority. If the goal is authenticity, they might have a few things to say about that. Unqualified, whatever this chap has to say is a classic example of the old maxim that in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Readings on a graph are one thing but would we actually hear those differences in that way if someone played a Spector bass with the respective preamps in? That is what we need to know next. Hopefully someone will oblige sooner or later.

Allegedly this bass is supposed to be inspired by Steve's main bass pre-modification, like he was playing 50 years ago. I suppose I can see their reasoning, but as others have pointed out, at least put the proper decal on ect. They have retained the maple body, but that also makes the bass very heavy, which will put a lot of folks off. It's a lot of money for a pretty unremarkable Mexican P Bass that weighs a ton. I'm pretty sceptical about "special" boutique P Basses on the whole - they usually end up sounding like a P Bass, surprisingly enough- but this one doesn't even seem to be trying to be special except that it says Steve Harris on it. He is a special bass player though, no doubt about that.

My experience is that when it comes to basses, at whatever price point, Yamaha don't make rubbish. They're always well-designed and as good or better than anything else for that money, be it a budget bass or a high-end one. I remember those RBX basses as fairly decent budget PJ basses. What I also remember is that they were nice and light, which is never a bad thing.

That's the point I'm trying to make in a round-about way; there's a slew of bass players now who are famous for being influencers on YouTube, not playing on records that you hear on the radio or doing gigs ect. They may or may not make recordings and do gigs, but if they do then not with successful bands or artists that most folks have heard of or enjoy. Some of them are very good players, some of them are pretty average players but good at YouTube. Jaco Pastorius burst onto the world stage just short of fifty years ago because of his playing with Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell, Weather Report and as a solo artist on his self-titled debut. That's some entrance. Contrast that with today. There's high profile bass influencers who have their own signature basses from high-end manufacturers, their own signature strings, merchandise ect. They've never played on a hit record, been in a successful band or done very much except having a social media profile. It's a lot easier to wow fourteen year old kids watching YouTube than it is to impress Joe Zawinul, let me put it to you that way.

I think Danny Sapko is a very decent bass player, and his YT content is okay too. I agree with him quite often. I like his irreverent attitude and Yorkshire sense of humour. How he got voted Bass Player Of The Year is beyond me but I'm old fashioned and think that such awards are for people who make records and do gigs ect. Good for Danny, anyway. You get what you pay for though, and the internet is mainly free so don't be surprised if you have to sift through lots and lots of rubbish to get to the nuggets of gold. Once these guys start doing YT for a living they have to churn out content whether it's worth putting out or not just to have an income. That's usually when things start to go awry. I don't blame Danny or anyone else for giving it a go though; you see so many dismal options when it comes to employment nowadays that I know I would prefer being on YouTube talking about something I love than on a zero hours contract at Spud U Like. Were it not for the restrictions placed on me by my haemorrhoids (and the terms of my probation) I would have probably started my own Only Fans channel before now. I hope that one day Danny's channel is successful enough that he gets to live out the ultimate fantasy for most people from Bradford, i.e to get enough money to move to Leeds. He will need to learn how to dress himself properly first, though.

There's a good reason why this is a one-off.

That is indeed a very nice Jazz Bass. The sunburst on it is beautiful, nice and dark contrast with just the right amount of red. May you have a lot of fun playing it.

I seem to remember the late, great John Wetton (King Crimson, Asia, Roxy Music, Uriah Heep, U.K ect) used to live in Farnham back in the late '80's/ early '90's. There's always been loads of musos in that neck of the woods. I expect a lot of Guitar Village's customers are more likely to be investment bankers, though, also in abundance in that part of Surrey.

EBMM hired a creative design consultancy called DreamWorks to help design the Bongo. DreamWorks are owned by BMW and part of their design team.

You should have gone the whole hog and faked a Scouse accent.

It's still hard to believe. Something about life I have learned the hard way is that far too often the worst things seem to happen to the best people. Mani always seemed like a very warm and friendly chap and his bass playing was so perfect for whatever music he was making. You can hear him progress as a player from the catchy riffs and grooves on the first album to The Second Coming. Songs like Love Spreads have got really busy bass parts with lots of hooks and turnarounds that drive the music along. Everything in life is a time and a place, and, at a certain time in a particular place, for a while the Stone Roses were the most important band in the world. Mani was a big part of that.

Seriously, some of those basses are so heavy (upwards of 12 pounds) they are painful to play even sitting down. They hurt your leg and cut off the circulation! The reissue Gibson did a few years ago was a bit of a travesty. The only thing it had in common with the original basses was the overall shape. Not surprising considering what a major undertaking it would be for Gibson to try recreate the Moog electronics ect.

I remember going in there back in must be the early 1990's and they had some lovely stuff in stock back then, Wal basses ect. Friendly and knowledgeable staff, and a very upmarket home counties vibe. I expect it's still pretty much the same. Long may they prosper.

To me, it's a lot of money for something that's a lot of unsatisfactory compromises. My philosophy is that if you have to think about it that hard you don't really want it.

That bass was Gibson's attempt to take on the increasingly sophisticated bass designs that were emerging by the mid-to-late '70's. They did a good job in so many ways, as the sublime tone of those basses proves. It's one of the best sounds for heavy rock/ alternative music ever in my opinion. However, as was not at all uncommon at that time, comfort and playability for the poor sod who had shelled out all that money were not really considered at any stage of the design process. So you ended up with a bass where the reach to the first fret was so far away it was in another post code and you needed the services of an orthopedic surgeon after playing a 45 minute set standing up with it.

Regarding the Jazz Bass with a single rear pickup, I think you might be thinking of early-2000's era Dan Glenn. He was/is(?) and L.A-based fretless player who had a beard, looked a bit like Mo Foster and played a fretless Modulus Jazz that had one rear pickup. Could it be you have got the two a bit mixed up/ mixed together?

I can only think of Mo Foster, who had a double bass fingerboard grafted on to his Jazz Bass when he had it made fretless, but I'm pretty sure that bass had both pickups on it. Probably not what you are thinking of.

Jack Bruce was one of those players that sounded like himself regardless of what bass he played. I don't think the difference between a Spector and Warwick would be that apparent. He just dug into those strings and did his thing.

Those RD Artists sound amazing but weigh a ton and are a bit ungainly to play. I remember when they were new in the shops around the time I started playing and they were ridiculously expensive, much more than a Fender or Rickenbacker, none of which I could afford.

I very strongly disagree with this version of history. If you or anybody else enjoys Hooky's playing and find it inspiring for whatever reason then good luck to you, nothing wrong with that. If you like and enjoy his style that's good enough reason. But that doesn't mean that objectively he is an accomplished musician or indeed qualified in any way to judge other exponents of the bass. He's just someone who people who don't play the bass think must be important because they've heard of him .Whenever I hear him interviewed about playing the bass he seems to be full of self-regard, mainly for his own lack of ability, something which he mistakenly sees as a great asset. That's why I think he is a conspicuously bad choice to present this series. I was passionately interested in music in 1979, just like you were, and in playing the bass. I thought Peter Hook was a crap bass player then, and I've heard nothing to change my mind in the interim period. Listening to him thrashing away was depressing back then, and it takes me right back whenever I hear it now. Lots of kids played like that in those days, I think that Hooky was just the one who ended up being famous. In the early ,1980's most bass players not playing slap or fretless were not influenced by his style. He still wasn't that well-known by then, and there were plenty of other role models. For post-punk bass players in the early '80's (and I know because I was one of them) bassists like Sting, Bruce Foxton Horace Panter and JJ Burnel were far more influential than Peter Hook. The idea that Joy Division were such an important band at that time is a classic example of a tale told in the telling. They had a cult following and a certain profile in the music press, but their "legend" is something which has been created subsequently by people with an agenda which necessitates rewriting history to their own ends. When they were together they were a moderately well-known post-punk band from Manchester. Nothing more than that. And regarding any equivalence between Mick Karn and Peter Hook, there isn't any. The crucial difference between the two is that Mick Karn's style is defined by his imagination, not by his limitations. It's also wrong to claim that Mick Karn wasn't a trained musician when he had a background in playing the oboe in orchestras ect. I know he claimed to have no knowledge of scales and chords ect, but in practise he clearly did. His facility on the instrument is in a different stratosphere to Peter Hook (and most other bass players, for that matter). That should be obvious to anyone who listens.

Kim Jong Un, maybe. Make sure you wash your hands after touching those strings.

Great basslines can also be one-off phenomena, like Slave To The Rhythm by Grace Jones, played by Luis Jardim (RIP). You couldn't really point out much of a body of recorded work as a bass player for multi-instrumentalist Luis, but he was obviously a terrific player and that track alone must be one of the standout bass parts of the 1980's, and that was the decade of the standout bass part. Players like that will most likely be overlooked, as will session musicians who were guitar and bass doublers, like the late great Tommy Cogbill. But like I keep saying, I'll be watching avidly and enjoying whatever crumbs of comfort and inspiration this series has to offer. Bear in mind I regularly spend an hour or more watching brain dead British couples deciding if they want to sell their pre-war semi in Slough and move to Post-war semi in Swindon with a bigger garden and sufficient room to add an incontinence-themed extension ( pending planning permission). I'm sure I'll be glued to this bass fest.