project_c

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1495616959' post='3305254'] Opposite experience with my 75 Jazz, which is a proper boat anchor (5.5kg!), but is the most resonant, lively-sounding Jazz Bass I've played...Seriously hit or miss period for wood quality, as many others will surely attest! Mine came with microphonic pickups which, by the sound of it, is the case with the one you've tried. Sounded great when I tried it out (and subsequently bought it!), but squealed like a banshee through a loud amp before I'd even added any additional gain...Stuck some Bare Knuckle PE pickups in it, and now it's just perfect! I'd never sell it. [/quote] Interesting, I didn't think microphonic pickups sounded like that but I've not come across many of them to be fair. Could you describe what happens tonally when they become microphonic?

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1495574508' post='3305062'] I've taken to gigging my '66 Precision. I purposefully went looking for a non-pristine item as I felt that having been played a lot it would hopefully/probably be a good'un. As such I feel it needs to be played (as it clearly has been all its life). [/quote] I think you're right about looking for a non-pristine one. Here's a pic of the one I'm talking about, whilst it's not pristine it's definitely all original, but there's discolouring on the wood, chips on the headstock and body, hairline cracks in the binding, and the pickguard is pretty warped. The neck is straight enough but the action definitely needs to come down a bit, and I couldn't really gauge the state of the saddles and bridge because of the cover. But as it is all original, and sat in a posh shop, it has an almost 3K price tag which I can't justify. However if these mid 70's jazzes really sound this good, I think it would make more sense to look for a refinished one instead, because it seems like a refin reduces the price by almost half. Someone suggested that the the tone I'm after is a result of the 70's electronics as well as the pickup configuration, and they said that a lot of 70's jazzes don't have the typical mid scoop with both volumes up full, they're really focussed on the mid-range. I don't know if this is true or not but I'm going to try a few 70s jazzes and see if that characteristic is there in all of them. If it's not then this bass is a one off.

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1495566801' post='3304951'] If you think outside the box then a Sadowsky Metro UV70 is a possible alternative. [/quote] I had a Sadowsky Metro, looked beautiful, played really well, but I hated the tone. The polar opposite of what I look for tonally. Wanted to love it but just couldn't handle the lack of mids.

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1495554940' post='3304758'] £3k? Wow, that's high. You could get a refinished one for much less than a regular asking price too. That'd help scratch the itch. What's your budget? [/quote] It's certainly not 3 grand, that's for sure. The bass is not worth that much, but it's a shop in London so their prices are not going to be too reasonable. I went back and had another play just now and tried to listen as analytically as possible to see what it was I like so much about it. I actually played a late 90s usa jazz to compare the 2 and it was night and day. The 90s one was neck heavy, hard to play despite having lower action than the 75, and it sounded dead. The 75 has a skinnier neck, and having listened to the tone again, I think what makes it so good is that the pickups are so hot that the bass almost sounds slightly over-driven, even without digging in. There's loads of energy to the tone even with it rolled all the way off, I could not get a dead sound out of it, no matter what I did. I could get it into normal j territory by turning up the tone to fully open, but rolling it back a bit made the bass come to life. I know these things usually sound scooped but this one is really focused on the high-mids, not much scoop going on at all. Don't know.. could even be some slightly faulty pickups, who knows..

Ugh, hate this guy and his attention-seeking clickbait channel. I'm sure he's great, but he comes up on every bass related search on YT, and it's always some awful novelty party trick, he creeps me out massively.

Thanks for the replies. So let's say I want to get as close to that tone as humanly possible, but without spending 3 grand on a bass that's too valuable to leave the house.. Would an ash / maple 70's spacing jazz with single coils get me there? I've played a few more recent Fender USA Jazzes, which were nice but none of them had a tone that matched this one in terms of 'airy-ness' - not quite sure how else to describe it, aggressive but woolly, not harsh, and no hollowness on the front pickup or upper-mid honk on the back with the tone rolled off. I have a Tony Franklin P and the bridge pickup on that bass also has the same qualities so I know it's potentially doable.

Played an all original '75 Jazz today, way too heavy and far too expensive but the tone was amazing, it sounded ridiculously good. Punchy, responsive, full of character and life, I rolled the tone back a bit and it sounded great in every position, tone perfection. How come these things sound so good? I'm not a big believer in vintage anything but I was really surprised by this bass, I'm trying to work out if it's the pickups, or the old wood or if it's just all in my head. I listened through my usual headphone amp and using my usual headphones so I can't even blame the amp or room acoustics, that tone was coming out of the bass itself.

Checking with rounds (or any unwrapped strings) will at least eliminate that as an issue. I have 3 Precisions strung with tapes, and some of them suffer from it more than others so I'm familiar with this problem, although I have to say for me the problems are caused by a dimmer switch downstairs, and when it's turned off, the hum is gone. The fact that only one side of your pickups is doing this suggests that it could be an issue with the pickup though, so it may be worth trying different pickups in there. But personally, I would just buy a cheap set of rounds for under a tenner and do a quick test before splashing out on new pickups.

Just been reading about the One Control Sonic Silver Peg, which does a really good driven Ampeg impression, not sure who sells these but they look and sound nice: http://www.one-control.com/sonic-silver-peg.html

[quote name='Jerry_B' timestamp='1495037039' post='3300760'] Hmm - I'm not so sure. I have tapewounds on another pbass and there are no issues with them at all WRT noise. In fact, this bass I'm asking about has had tapewounds on it but with some older electrics inside and there was no hum then either. [/quote] Put some rounds on the bass and see if it makes any difference

you're getting hum because of the tapewound strings. this is a known thing and it happens under certain conditions, dimmer switches are a big contributor but other things can cause it too, computer monitors etc. Same with almost any other coated string, its something you need to take into consideration when using coated strings.

I don't know guitarpro but depending on what you want to learn, and how you like to study, BassGuru is pretty good for short lessons which are packed full of material. I came across the site whilst looking for Tom Kennedy instructional material, and I bought the Tom Kennedy packs, and initially I thought the videos were too short, but with the attached practice material they cover so much ground that after 2 weeks I've still not got past the first video. So it depends on what works best for you, if you need everything clearly spelled out and shown in minute detail, it may not be ideal, but if you want something compact that covers a great deal in a short burst, I can recommend it.

To be fair those guys are playing at an industry event, which usually tends to be all about virtuoso show off playing. They're not in a romantic candle lit wine bar, they're showing off chops at an equipment stand. MonoNeon - the guy is a genius, his playing is completely insane. Eccentric perhaps but a genius musician nevertheless. And Eric Gales is a pretty crazy character, another musical genius but with a really harsh past. Don't judge these guys by a trade show video, there's much more to them.

The American Standards are around a grand at the moment, which is a much better price than the Pro. The biggest differences are: the Pro gives you higher frets - not a good thing for me personally - and the new shape tuning posts, which are nice but they address a bit of a non-issue. There's also a different pickup in them which to me doesn't sound better than the Custom Shop pickups in the AmStd, but that's a matter of personal preference. In terms of playability and build quality there is no real difference. Both are excellent.

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1494324229' post='3294931'] I've had ringing in my ears for almost as long as I can remember, and worn earplugs when playing from pretty early on. I don't even like to play particularly loud, but sometimes play with others that do! My meds, the caffeine, the booze, and the... well let's just admit to those three, are all known to exacerbate the ringing, so I'm not exactly helping myself internally, but I've worn plugs religiously to the point that people make a joke of it! Most of the time I think of it like tape hiss- so long as there are some other sounds it's fairly well covered, but when the album's done and the cassette needs to run to the end, there it is. It seems to be the only well known affliction where the recommended remedy is just to pretend it's not there! Ignore it and you won't notice it so much. Works to a degree, and thinking about it can wind it up to quite a roar. Probably not appropriate to mention it in such a thread, but there is a certain black-humoured pun in that his wife said he'd 'suffered in silence' all these years. With that in mind, I do wonder whether I've ever experienced actual silence. [/quote] I knew about the caffeine and booze, but i didn't know about the other "things". I didn't think any other stimulants had much of an impact on tinnitus. Definitely true about the rest though, something that helped me a lot was cutting out caffeine, coffee in the evenings particularly. This not only reduced the effects of tinnitus but it also meant i slept better. And better sleep reduced the symptoms further. And weirdly, organic chamomile tea also helped, possibly because it helped me sleep better. I still drink it after loud nights and it seems to help.

It's a symptom of cubital tunnel syndrome. I get it in my little finger sometimes during repetitive songs, especially if i'm a bit tense during a gig. Relaxing my neck and shoulders and playing the repetitive part in a different position on the neck usually helps, but it's a weird feeling, i didn't like it at all when it first happened. Pressing down less hard with fretting hand also helps.

Vine Yard studios in Borough, very nice rooms, good acoustics, brand new Markbass amps in every room, guy who runs it can come across as a bit grumpy but it's just his mannerism, he's ok.

I have an 80s Columbus strat which i got in a junk shop in brighton for £20 about 15 yeas ago. It beats any US Fender by a mile. Just kidding.. it's pretty bad. I picked it up a while ago and played a couple of chords, and the bridge just kind of collapsed and flew out of the guitar. Also one of the pickups hums so much it's not useable. i'm not much of a guitar player so i can't justify buying a 'proper' one, so i decided to fix it as much as I could, and once I put a new bridge on it and set it up with new strings, it was absolutely fine. Weirdly lots of guitar guys are commenting on how good the front pickup sounds in it, I've had offers to sell the pickup. So with a bit of tlc i'm sure these old cheap instruments can become useable.

[quote name='Earbrass' timestamp='1493802525' post='3290711'] Like the printing press, putting all those scribes and itinerant storytellers out of business. [/quote] If you think that, why even play bass? Playing an instrument is not necessary any more. Just make music using a free app on your phone. Better still, get an app that does it for you. Then you can just sit there and eat pies and stare while an algorithm does everything for you. And that frees up time so you can carry on stacking shelves at Poundland so you can feed your kids. You have a pretty sheltered view of the world if you think all technological advancement is great, and questioning it makes you a luddite. Can't believe i even have to mention this to a person posting in a forum that's dedicated to instruments made in the 1950's, based on instruments played in the 1930's.

[quote name='crompers' timestamp='1493546889' post='3289004'] Some of my favourites are: Elder, Truck fighters, Conan, Conjurer, Torche, YOB, Sleep, Red Fang, Wo Fat, Teeth of the Sea, Amenra and many more. In terms of the artwork scene stuff like: www.behance.net www.pyreclimber.com [/quote] Thanks for the band suggestions, i'll check them out! re. Behance - can you be more specific? Everyone and their mum is on Behance, it's a bit like saying 'Bandcamp'. I'm curious what artists are making a proper living from doing artwork connected to the music scene you're into.

I use a Seymour Duncan Studio Bass compressor at home to stop clipping and because it makes my dry signal sound better. I plug into a mac and practice using headphones so getting a decent dry signal is really important to the way i play. I also took the pedal to a gig last week for the first time, mainly because during our last gig I found that I was not loud enough during some songs and too loud during others. It definitely helped sort that out, I could play soft during mellow tunes and dig in during solos, but my volume stayed more or less in the same place.

The configurator is a GAS factory. When the P body shape gets on there it's going to be hard to resist.

[quote name='crompers' timestamp='1493506818' post='3288888'] project_c I'm afraid I don't find your assertions to be true, certainly in the genres I am interested in. It may not be your bag but have a look the stoner/doom scene. There are more bands than ever, plenty of people making money from posters, artwork etc and definitely plenty of people buying records. The bands in this scene most definitely have to tour pretty much constantly to make enough money but for me that's great, I get to see a lot of bands I like. We obviously have different experiences of the modern underground music scene. But from my point of view it is thriving. [/quote] That's good to hear, can you point me in the direction of some of the more successful musicians and artists of this scene? I'll check it out. Definitely not my bag now but in my early teens I was a big fan of very angry noisy bands so I'm sure it won't baffle me too much.

[quote name='crompers' timestamp='1493470543' post='3288593'] I respectfully disagree with these points of view, the industry is changing but not dying. Nowadays bands can record a track, get it up on youtube/spotify and have people listening to it immediately. Generally if the music is good, people will listen. In the 'good old days' you would have to play the club circuit, hope an A&R guy recognised you and then you might get a deal if the industry considered what you were doing to be marketable. Technology has completely democratised the process and as a result we have a lot more music available to us and genres are splitting into sub-genres etc at an incredible rate as creativity is abound. Personally I go to a lot of gigs, seeing bands of various levels of levels of popularity, but generally rather than wandering into a bar and catching an act I have not heard of I will get into the band and then go and see them when/if they come to my city. There are very few acts nowadays that can hope to get rich from music but then if you love something should you not be prepared to do it for the same wage as someone doing your average job? People will always want to listen to or make music, the industry will never die, it will just evolve. [/quote] All of the above is of course great, but the things that have been lost in the process are significant. Nobody buys music any more. It doesn't matter how democratically you can record and publish your music if you still have to stack shelves in Asda during the day. In the UK, there used to be a whole mini-industry around various musical subcultures which was totally free of mainstream dependancy, and which kept huge numbers of people in work. Look at how huge the indie scenes and dance scenes were in the late 80's and throughout the 90's. Those bands and artists made a fairly decent living from playing original and often pretty weird music. Most didn't cash in, but they made enough to pay the rent or mortgage, and feed a family. And there was a whole chain connected to that: Independent record labels employed loads of people, the records were sent out to distributors who also employed loads of people, the record shops were making money and were central meeting points for people, the venues were full of people seeing the bands, independent magazines were writing about the music and employing loads of people too, people had their own clothing labels that were connected to various music scenes, the list is long. I personally made loads of money from making artwork and flyers for record labels and club nights. And the key is that there was not much mainstream money in any of this, it was all self-sufficient, no google, no youtube, no major label, no sucking up to the lowest common denominator for clicks and likes - just people into music making things happen. And that as a whole industry is 100% dead, so for me I can't see how things are better now just because we have a few plugins and somewhere free to post clickbait videos.

The D'Addario tapewounds are perfect on a PJ, they go really well with that pickup configuration for some reason. I have them on my normal Precisions as well, but on a PJ they are particularly good. More so than flats, for me anyway.