Misdee

Back in 1985 I was listening to Sting, Thomas Dolby, the Smiths, Prefab Sprout, Tears For Fears and whatever else was in the charts and on Radio 1. That's all there was in those days. I was also listening to a lot of old music from the 1960s and 1970s, it has to be said. Like Robert Palmer, Joni Mitchell, Steve Hillage, Frank Zappa, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Stanley Clarke. I've always had very middle-aged taste, looking back now.

Mid-1980s Saxon. Wow. The unacceptable use of spandex, lycra and hairspray by men who were way too old and way too northern for it to be legal. It's still not too late for the culprits to be brought to justice.

An Explorer makes perfect sense then...

As for mid-life crises, this bass is definitely a cost-effective option compared to a divorce, a blonde and a sports car. I would love to know what genre of contemporary music you are performing for this bass to be an appropriate choice. Looks great though, and I hope you have lots of fun playing it.

I recently tried a set of Dunlop flats and they are indeed rather splendid. They've got some of the raspy midrange of La Bellas combined with some of the clarity and articulation of Thomastiks, my usual flatwounds of choice. Overall I would describe the Dunlop flats as having a thick chewy sound that most players would probably find very satisfying. I really like these strings.

Yes thanks, I was looking at the white one in Peach Guitars just the other day. It's just that bit too heavy. I'm holding out for a good example at the right weight. I think I will be lucky to find one, though. Nowadays 9.5 pounds is my cut-off point for the weight of any bass. I know from experience if it weighs more than that I just won't want to get it out and play it. I'm getting to an age where I've got enough aches and pains without uneccessarily giving myself anymore.

My BB P34 weighed 9.5 pounds. I've seen them a little bit lighter and a bit heavier than that. If I saw a Vintage White P34 around 9 pounds I would buy it.

I would have to credit Sadowsky with the whole Jazz Bass with a preamp trend that had become so prevalent by the early 2000's. It was Roger that put a preamp in Marcus Miller's bass in 1979 and he is synonymous with excellence in that style of bass. Where Fender have consistently fallen short is in developing their own preamp that can challenge the best on the market, like Sadowsky and John East ect. The Fender Victor Bailey was a tweaked version of the standard American Deluxe preamp of the era that I am well familiar with seeing as I had that bass back at that time. That preamp was okay but nothing special, from what I remember. The VB may be a different proposition, maybe someone out there has done a comparison, but I would contend that the Sadowsky preamp is a class above anything Fender have produced.

EVH didn't just have the chops,he had the tone and feel as well. I remember reading an interview in Guitar Player magazine a very very long time ago in which Eddie was expressing his admiration for guitarists like Brian May and Eric Clapton because of the richness of their sound. He had the same warmth in his tone, and it was a big part of what made his virtuosity so enjoyable . That first VH album was the biggest game changer in rock guitar since Hendrix more than a decade earlier. Michael Anthony is a good bass player too. I've heard some people put him down but I really can't see why. He's obviously a very capable player and he did a great job in Van Halen.

I got a chance to see the footage yesterday and it made me hanker for the world as it was back in those days. VH were at the peak of their powers and going through the gears with ease. It's an era that's long gone, and instead nowadays we have got an array of bedwetters doing the festival circuit trying to outdo each other with competitive virtue signalling. I don't remember Van Halen bleating about environmental issues, gender equality and Third World debt. They just got up there and did their thing.

I've had loads of simple songs that turned out not so simple after all. Anyone who is dismissive of so-called three chord songs and so-called three chord bands should try playing the songs in question and making them sound good. A classic example would be Status Quo and AC/DC. The songs aren't as simple as some folks presume, and making it swing like those respective bands do is another thing altogether.

I can't believe you are all so negative about these new offerings from Fender CS. I would draw your attention to the fact that one of these basses is genuine Himalayan Cedar, for heavens sake. I am presuming the harvested log was carried to the Fender Custom Shop by a phalanx of sherpas with Buddhist monks chanting and tinkling bells clearing the way in front of them. All those fellas are gonna want paying. And then there is the meditative qualities such a bass will bring to your playing to consider. How do you put a price on that? It's easy to dismiss these basses as a cynical attempt by Fender to exploit half-baked environmentalism and cultural stereotypes. But so many cheap basses end up as landfill, or even worse, as cheap basses. As of right now I am cutting back on my aromatherapy sessions and saving for one of these beauties. For me the question is not how can I afford one so much as how could anybody afford not to.

They probably play better than the old Ibanez basses, but to me they lack the personality of the vintage basses. Those Ibanez basses you refer to look and sound like generic 1990s-era modern basses with little to recommend them. Others may have a different sensibility and that is okay with me. I'm not trying to rubbish modern Ibanez. It's just that everything was better back in the old days, including modernity.

Carlsboro Stingray combo! Those were the days! I seem to remember the bright switch gave most basses an ear-splitting clang that nowadays would carry a health warning. The more modest Carlsboro Cobra combo was the height of my amp ambition during that era.😄 I'm sure the reason I am a chronic migraine suffer has a lot to do with over exposure to such amps in my formative years. I had an old seventies valve amp, considered antiquated in those days. Nowadays I could probably sell it for silly money to a hipster to play his late 1960s Tesco short scale bass strung with tape wound strings through. The modern sound was what it was all about in those days. Out with the old and in with the new. Folks were ditching their Fenders to get Aria and Ibanez ect. Crazy as that may sound today when everything is retro. I remember my bass teacher in those days who was a local pro player had a 1962 P bass but he had to buy an Aria SB 1000 he didn't really want because his session work for TV ect demanded it. (He was wise enough to keep the P bass, thankfully)

Am I right in thinking that very few of their basses are made in Japan nowadays, though? Just like with Yamaha, I hanker for the days when they were all built in Japan. Even though at that time, people still looked down on instruments made in Japan as being inherently less desirable than British and American made ones. With the benefit of hindsight, that was completely wrong.

I remember when those Roadster's came out. They sounded superb, with a very gutsy sound. I seem to remember the neck profile being a shallow D profile similar to a vintage Stingray, very different to the Musician Bass neck shape. As others have mentioned, those Ibanez pickups that were essentially DiMarzio copies were absolutely brutal!

Regardless of the gauges, the Thomastiks are very supple-feeling. I've never tried a five string set, but the four string set is very elastic. I expect the B string is consistent with that feel. I think the NE2 would sound superb with flatwounds on. If you want a slightly more clunky tone than the Thomastiks then have a look at La Bella Low Tension flats. They have a 110 B.

Ibanez were making some lovely stuff back in the day. Some of the signature model guitars were exquisite, like the Joni Mitchell and George Benson semi acoustic models, also the Bob Wier and I remember a Paul Stanley model that a local music shop had on display in the window sometime around 1980. My MC924 was my first high-end bass, having previously owned a JV Squire that I part-exchanged on the Ibanez. Nowadays I'd probably be able to sell the JV Squire for more than the Ibanez if I still had them both. .

If anyone has a more contemporary Ibanez bass that they enjoy then I've certainly no wish to denigrate that. It's just that back in the late 1970s and up to the late 1980s Ibanez were making some world class high-end instruments. Looking back it was a Golden Age for Japanese-made equipment, and not just guitar equipment, either. Japanese hifi, photographic equipment, electronics ect were all taking over the top end of the market.

Much better than modern Ibanez. I played and owned a couple of vintage Ibanez basses when they were new Ibanez basses. Lots of other top players used them in those days, too. I still remember the glossy adverts in guitar magazines. I was so excited when I got my brand new Musician Bass that I didn't sleep properly for two nights. I had wanted one for years. One of my happiest memories. It was epic at the time, but I think I would appreciate it even more if I had it back now. I would be able to set it up to play better, too.

The great thing about the Steinberger is it's not trying to sound like a conventional bass. It's a tone all of its own. I remember trying them out them in shops and being surprised by the substantial sound and feel of them. The Streamline is excellent in its own way, and has certain advantages, but the Steinberger will always be the ultimate graphite bass to me. What you need now is a GK 800RB amp and Hartke 4x10 XL cabinet to play this bass through for the full 1980s experience.

You are a man after my own heart, Rodger. The only bass that I have never owned that torments me to this day. The Steinberger XL is still the best sounding graphite bass ever made in my opinion, and such an elegant and beautiful design concept. I longed for one back in the 1980s but they were way beyond my pocket at the time. I even had the Steinberger catalogue, I seem to remember. I've got a Status Streamline now as a substitute, and I'd be very interested to hear how you think they compare tonally and otherwise. The Status is a wonderful instrument that sounds great and a very ergonomic design, but to me the Steinberger has a tone that is unbeatable.