Misdee

I went to see Jamiroquai live in early 1993 when they were a new act. They were really, really good. It was refreshing to hear a band with those kinds of influences at that time. To my taste, it's been downhill from there for them. They just seem to be doing the same thing over and over again in a more and more stultified manner. After Travelling Without Moving it was all over as far as I'm concerned. Regarding the bass playing, Stuart Zender was (and I suspect still is) just one of those people who is a naturally gifted player. That's to take nothing away from him, but he learnt by doing it rather than studying the instrument in a more formal manner. That's probably why his playing sounds so fresh, energetic and spontaneous. For me, neither of the bass players who have followed him in that band (both superb musicians) have had anything like the same level of originality or personality in their playing.

Yes, nothing wrong with the Stingray Special neck profile, (I've got one myself, lovely bass for sure) but in my estimation it's got much more depth front-to-back than a pre-EBMM Stingray. As a point of reference, The Lakland 44-94 and Skyline 44-02 version thereof to has got a neck profile much closer to the old MM basses. I believe they copied the neck profile of Dan Lakin's favourite vintage MM Stingray. I had an 82/83 Stingray that had exactly that shallow neck profile.

That's the real deal right there. The chances of finding a light one from this era are pretty remote, so well done you! The necks on these vintage Stingrays is like a very shallow capital "D". I was playing a Stingray Special the other day and the neck profile bears little or no relation to the original Stingrays. Not that the newer profile isn't very playable, it's just that I expect most folks would prefer the original slimmer profile, given the choice. I'd be very interested to know what this bass actually weighs, and whether you plan to put rounds or flats on it. Either way, may you get much pleasure from this beautiful bass.

I am a bit mystified why anyone would seek out this chap to build a bass for them. Even if he actually made and delivered the basses as agreed. I can only surmise from his support for Reform UK that, in some way only he knows, it's overweight workshy transgender violent criminals on benefits who arrived illegally in this country by boat that are retarding his progress in building basses and fulfilling his obligations. I'd value one of his instruments at about £200. And that's £200 of someone else's money, it certainly wouldn't be mine.

Someone in retail told me that when it comes to new models,Yamaha work in cycles. The previous BB range was in production for seven years. The current range which replaced it has now been in production well over seven years. Also, the fact that Yamaha has introduced new colours for the P34 suggests they want to get rid of their stockpile of parts for that model in preparation for it being discontinued. Nothing that definite, it must be said, that's why I said it's just a whisper. However, this chap is in regular contact with the Yamaha reps ect, so he might know more than he's letting on. He has always known what he is talking about in the past. Regarding new models, I would love to see a BB3000 but with the pickups and bridge from the BB2024. That would be a mouth-watering prospect. Very unlikely to happen though, unless Yamaha is tapping into my imagination.

These were top basses back in the day. I used oggle the adverts in Guitar Player magazine, back before there was such a thing as Bass Player magazine ect. Back in the mid-'80s the Guild Pilot Bass was very much in vogue. I remember Tom Hamilton from Aerosmith and the chap from Bon Jovi playing them, among many others. Always seemed more popular (or maybe just more available) in the USA than Europe back then. Anyhow, would have loved to get my hands on one at the time, and it still looks like a very useful and enjoyable design now after all these years.

As for an all-time favourite Geezer bassline, I love playing Lady Evil, and I'm still trying to get Children Of The Sea and Slipping Away right. I think War Pigs might be my favourite, though.

I'm sure these are top quality basses but I don't think I could live with that headstock shape.

The EMG Geezer model is an undeniably great-sounding P pickup, regardless of genre. It'll do a great job for any style of music Totally agree with what others have said about Geezer effectively disappearing into a mysterious sludge for a few albums following Paranoid. Starts to resurface on Sabotage but quite not enough. Technical Ecstasy is a bit better, as is Never Say Die, but Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules are the benchmark albums when it comes to bass tone and Geezer's playing. Absolute perfection, for my taste anyway. I got to meet Sabbath on the Heaven and Hell tour and it was pretty awe-inspiring. I remember they were all deeply tanned with leathery-looking skin. Geezer had a perm and moustache that wouldn't have looked out of place on a Bayern Munich midfielder of that era, or a male porn performer from around that time.

A Sire V5, new or second hand, would be ideal, it seems to me. I've seen them that are a reasonable weight, too. Failing that, as others have pointed out, this is Basschat! There's an endless supply of quality used basses on the market, with bargains to be had in every price range. If it were my daughter that's where I would be looking for a bass (after the initial shock of finding out I had a daughter wore off and DNA test results ect). I'm sure you can find a cracking bass with a Jazz neck for the kind of money you want to spend, and if for some reason it doesn't suit in the longer term then you can get your money back out of it and start again.

I've heard some whispers that Yamaha might be bringing out a new range next year.

I know what you mean. It sounds like new Rotosound strings played with a pick and a bit of overdrive on the top end. And compression. Pete's a terrific player within his chosen idiom though, it must be said, and that always helps. Like so many accomplished musicians, it's probably more the attitude with which he plays rather than the minutiae of the gear he's using.

I wish someone would resume production of the classic Steinberger models at the quality level of the originals, like Ernie Ball did with Musicman. I've got a Status Graphite Streamline, but it's a very different sound to the Steinberger L2. That was a unique tone, and I've always loved it.

Pete played an Aria around the time of the Fugazi album(1984), and did indeed get a great sound with it. Whether he played it on that all or any of the tracks on that album I really don't know. A lot of it sounds like it could be a Rickenbacker, but equally it could be the SB1000 with a strident EQ setting. Anyhow, I would assume that is the era the O.P was referring to.

You might well be right, but my recollection is that the narrow spacing basses had dot markers, the wider spaced ones fancy oval inlays and were the deluxe model, the opposite of what you describe. I remember oggling SB1000's in my local music shop when they were brand new. They were beautiful.Jack Bruce had one, Neil Murray had one, all the reviews said they were great, I wanted one. Ended up getting an Ibanez Musician Bass instead, which, ironically enough,according to his autobiography, is the bass John Taylor was after until he encountered the Aria.

. The SB100O was an iconic bass in it's heyday (the early 1980's) that really captured the zeitgeist of the time. They had a unique sound, and I can't really think of anything else that replicates it, regardless of price.I've always loved that sound, but they're not necessarily the most practical choice nowadays if the pickups are prone to failure and there's no easy replacement. Also, they are indeed pretty heavy by today's standards. Back in the olden days no one really bothered about how much basses weighed. Alembics were heavy, so that meant their disciples could be too. Regarding the string spacing and neck dimensions ect, I've got some vague recollection that Aria made two versions, one for the Asian market with more slender dimensions and another for ham-fisted westerners like us. I could be mistaken, it's a long time ago, but then again I don't think I am.

These are stunning basses. Arguably the best-sounding Stingray 5 ever. Beautiful finish,too.

I remember going to The Bass Centre at Wapping back in the 1980's and they invariably had a a selection of used pre-EBMM Stingrays. They were always £495, and if you went back to the shop a fortnight later they were all sold and different ones had replaced them. I've no idea where they all came from. Back in those days I had a sunburst/maple 1983 Stingray that was very lightweight. What I remember clearly about that bass was that it sounded distinctly different to the new EBMM basses that were in the shops at the time. It was much more "scooped" than the newer bass, lots of bass and slicing treble with not much in-between. I actually thought the EBMM basses were much better. I preferred the tone and they were much better made. Nowadays I've got a Stingray Special and it's a great bass in it's own right, but it's definitely an evolution of the Stingray sound. It's unmistakably a Stingray tone, but with a new twist. A subtle but tangible difference, and it seems like they've nailed perceived weakness on the G string with the new neodymium pickup. The ergonomics are so much better than before. The only thing I miss from the older Stingray basses is the big bridge with mutes. I never used the mutes, but it looked great and was a characteristic feature of those basses.

Lovely bass. EBMM make such good instruments. Quality American-made guitars. May you get much pleasure from owning it. Personally, I prefer the original knurled chrome knobs; it's part of the Music Man livery and they match the chrome hardware.

I've been looking at these '66 reissues since they came out but I've never found one that's a reasonable weight. They tend to be the wrong side of 9 pounds, and I can't abide a heavy Jazz Bass. Probably because of the offset body shape, to me a weighty J Bass feels particularly ungainly, more so than some other styles of bass. It's a shame because I really fancy the green one, albeit that I would have to swap the tort scratch plate for an off-white one. Fender are in a bit of a cleft stick when it comes to reissues (and all their other American-made guitars and basses) because they don't want to make them so appealing that they are taking business away from their own Custom Shop. So when Fender seemingly detract from what could be a much more attractive design it's usually a deliberate decision to do with stratifying their range of instruments.

The only difference is the colour choices.

We've all got our own preoccupations, and some folks get hung up on dead spots, particularly on Fender basses. (Quiet G strings on MM Stingray basses is another pit some people fall into.) I've got plenty of neurotic obsessions of my own regarding basses, many of which have tormented me for decades, but dead spots haven't been one of them, except on my old Status Empathy. Got rid and bought a Zon. The Zon didn't have dead spots, but it did have bad karma so I sold it. And so it goes on...

A reverse P pickup would have made all the difference for me. I like everything else about it apart from the colour. A Spector rock bass with that overall styling has great potential, but, for my taste, they needed to do something to give it some uniquely-Spector DNA.

The worst problem I ever had with dead spots was on a Status Graphite bass, which theoretically is immune to such problems. With Fender basses I've never had deadspot a problem either, and I've had loads. Maybe with Fenders it's just part of the sound. If everything was even and consistent, it wouldn't sound like a Fender.