project_c

It's just other sounds filling the space in those frequencies. Mixing music and getting it to sound balanced is hard. If you have a DAW, it's worth recording a bass line to a click track in isolation, and then adding other instruments one by one to see how they affect the bass tone. It's one of the reasons engineering requires such skill. It's amazing how bad unmixed tracks can sound. Also engineering and recording technology has come a long way since those old tracks were recorded, in a modern recording situation those mistakes would be a lot more noticeable. (And would probably be edited out).

Squier Precision Special is a Precision with J pickups. Sorry about crap link, posting from phone. http://en.m.audiofanzine.com/misc-electric-bass/squier/standard-p-bass-special-v/medias/pictures/a.play,m.649587.html

[quote name='MonkeyTrick' timestamp='1491124415' post='3270597'] He addresses not being a 'bass players bass player' in this video. Pretty interesting https://youtu.be/EVmdh8Utdn0 [/quote] Yeah, it's just not his thing and I completely get why. I know quite a few working bass players (with serious chops too) who couldn't care less about the 'bass community', they like the music in the bands they play in so their focus is on writing and playing songs.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1491111594' post='3270527'] 64, I watched the YouTube clip. Sorry, if he's the new thing, I don't get it. Blue [/quote] It's a jam over a Stevie Wonder song, posted in response to someone saying something about him not being a proper bass player. Which bit don't you get?

[quote name='fftc' timestamp='1491034052' post='3269957'] I've no doubt the guy is incredibly talented, but it's not bass IMHO. If that is what it takes for bass to be relevant then I'll be happy with obscurity. And I'm 43, so no baby boomer. Obviously YMMV and all that. [/quote] Watch this video for an example of him playing a groove and a solo during a jam. Looks and sounds an awful lot like bass to me. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo7LCKpLZW4"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo7LCKpLZW4[/url] He also happens to sing, compose and collaborate with other musicians as well, so his focus is on the music as a whole rather than just the bass in isolation. I see that as a good thing, because that is how he attracts a big following of 'normal' people who go to festivals etc, rather than just playing to a small room in Slough full of middle-aged bass players with GAS (and gas). Not that there's anything wrong with that, but the point I'm making is that for bass to continue to be popular, we need high profile players who have a different take on it, and still appeal to a young and fresh audience.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1491000074' post='3269842'] 64, Agreed ,to an extent. However I'm not personally going to let younger guys define bass players for me. Blue [/quote] That's ok, your generation had its' bass heroes, which the old guys of your youth also didn't get. Allow young people to have their own heroes, and get comfortable with the fact that just because you don't get it, it doesn't mean it's crap, it just means you're not the target audience.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1490973297' post='3269543'] To me the Fender sounded more mushy in the ringing (or not) of the notes. The Moollon rang clearer. But then, that matters to me as I play solo. If you're playing in a band, it probably doesn't matter too much really, does it? [/quote] That's most likely down to the Quarter Pounders, they have such a beefy sound compared to regular Fender style pickups. I have a P with them and a couple with Fender pickups, and for me in a recording situation the QP's sound perfect, but live they can sound really harsh, especially in a boomy room or through a crap amp. Fender pickups sound less ballsy for recording but they can cope with bad rooms and amps much better than the QPs. As an aside, for anyone finding QPs a bit much, backing off the volume on the bass gets it really close to sounding like a regular Fender pickup, both in terms of tone and volume.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1490951366' post='3269277'] It moves in cycles. At some point, the next Oasis or Nirvana (whether we like them or not) will come crashing out of the blandness, and there'll be a bump in kids picking up guitars and basses. [/quote] Well, there's a lot of talk at the moment about how the current state of politics is responsible for a rise in anger fuelled protest music, and whenever that's happened, we ended up with some new musical movements. So yeah maybe the current carcrash that is global politics will inspire some musical creativity.

Yeah if you're in your early to mid 40's now I think that's Gen X, but I'm not sure where the boundaries actually are. But that's good to hear anyway, long may it continue. Let's hope some of them become massive music legends and turn bass playing into something that's relevant to their generation.

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1490794976' post='3268073'] Watched him on the catchup last night...virtuoso playing, but his voice just isn't strong enough to lead IMHO. While he clearly doesn't struggle multitasking both, who knows how much more he might do not having to sing... Not sure electric bass is as doomed as you might suggest, though...gotta love these 'millennials' and their dismissal of anything over 20 years old... [/quote] Less of the millennial! I'm 43 and play jazz on a p-bass with dead strings but I hope you're right, i do spend a lot of time amongst people in their early 20s (I teach at a university) and there's less of them forming bands or playing instruments every year. I know that's down to a number of things but they don't have many people of their own generation that have take ownership of the bass and are doing interesting things with it. I'm not a giant Thundercat fan but I do think he manages to be a legit bassist and still play fresh music which your average festival-going pill-popping hipster millennial can relate to.

I posted about Thundercat here a while ago and got shouted down by some old people who thought he was crap. Gotta love those ageing 'baby boomers' and their distrust of anything that's less than 65 years old.. Thundercat is a one-off, he is a legit virtuoso but he also appeals to a whole other demographic who are into electronic music etc. We need many more like him if we want the electric bass to have a role in music in the future. When people talk about the value of old instruments, it's easy to forget that those old Fenders are only valuable because they link to an era of music that had a big impact on people. Without lots of new guys like Thundercat, the bass will fade into insignificance very quickly. So in terms of electric bass he is more important than many people think.

Off topic slightly but I use a Genz Shuttle 8 combo for jazz gigs and it's more than capable of keeping up with drums, electric piano and 2 horns. If the Markbass doesn't cut it it could be another option. Sounds really nice too.

[quote name='bazztard' timestamp='1490590605' post='3266119'] even better, a cheap battery powered toothbrush, one of those Colgate ones cleaned my fretboard quicksmart ! [/quote] This is a great idea, I have an old brush I was just about to get rid of, do you just use a bit of soap and water with it? I've just been playing my old Precision which I haven't touched in a few months, then I went to stroke my cat, and she took one sniff and turned away in disgust. I looked at my bass and to be fair to the cat it is pretty grim, the whole high end is a bit of a health hazard.

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1490114889' post='3262297'] Tasty, very Geddy Lee. Re: pickup positions, Adrian will make sure that they are in the relative sweet spots. When I had my 33" fretless made, I asked for the MM pickup to be in the Stingray position, Adrian came straight back saying that it would have to be moved slightly to accommodate the shorter scale for the 'correct' tone. I don't think you have anything to worry about, especially if you mention it in your email to him. [/quote] Apparently not going to be possible in the sweet spot - the above design is doable but I'm not gonna get the pickups where I want them, which means I won't get the tone I'm after. I actually think with a setup like this it will sound closer to a Jaguar, which is not what I'm going for. Might need to have a bit of a rethink. I like the 22 frets on the Elwood shape, but I want a p-bass tone.. back to the drawing board.

One of the drummers I play with has really bad tinnitus, which makes him play with great care and restraint, he can play drums at living room volume all night. The pain of tinnitus has trained him to be a great drummer.

What's with the hollow and nasal tone on all the demos? I quite like the way these basses look but I can't get over that tone. Maybe it's just the guy doing the demos, I don't know.

[quote name='sk8' timestamp='1490180801' post='3262882'] Yes I think I am. Probably best summed up by a friend that said you notice it gone more than you notice it there! I think there are other products out there that can do the same or similar but I sum it up as follows Is it worth the cost to put a tube in my signal chain? Probably not. Is it worth the cost as a DI? Probably not Is it worth the cost as a power supply? Probably not BUT The sum of all these makes this a very desirable box IMO. I'm really warming (see what I did there?! ) to it as a functional piece of kit. Makes it very easy to power the pedals, has a great eq and volume I can control at my feet, gives a great DI signal of my sound and sends some colouration to the amp if required. I also put it through the effects return and it sounded great. I did take it off my board for this Saturdays gig as I'm using the Bugera which is all valve but then decided to put it back on for flexibility. You can never have too many tubes Now we could just say I'm justifying a 1k investment but the more I use this box the more I'm liking it. My sound, consistently. I've gone through a lot of Preamps and was struggling to gel with this one but I think I finally get it. Is it worth it? That's like the Mac vs PC debate! [/quote] None of the 'premium' DI boxes are worth the money we pay for them really, they are all outrageously expensive for what they do, but it's like other expensive boutique studio equipment, they are not essential for functionality but add something unique that is very difficult to achieve otherwise. It's similar to a CS Fender, you'll end up with an amazing bass that's way overpriced for the small difference it makes compared to a normal Fender, but most of us would still jump at the chance of owning one regardless. It's never going to be great value for money but it's a great thing to play music with regardless. The same can be said for nice cars, specialist custom built bike frames, expensive wine, designer shoes, anything that's a 'niche' product. None of it is great value for money, but great regardless of that if you can justify it.

I've made a Photoshop mockup of the kind of thing I have in mind. One potential issue I can see with this is that the P pickup is not in the correct P position, which may have a detrimental effect on the tone, in which case the Jake body might make more sense. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Bad idea / good idea?

[quote name='burno70' timestamp='1490102648' post='3262163'] The Marusczczyk stock pick ups sound like a regular jazz pick up to me. Warmer with the neck pick up and Jaco-like with the bridge pups. They sound really nice to me but I've never actually owned a Fender Jazz so I'm probably not the best person to ask. [/quote] Ok good to know. I'm starting to form an idea for a potential order, I was set on a short scale P but that squashed J body on the Elwood makes a lot of sense in terms of reach and upper register access. I'm thinking a 4 string passive black/maple Elwood with a PJ configuration instead of JJ would be great.

[quote name='burno70' timestamp='1490043384' post='3261757'] I got a short scale Elwood just before Christmas and totally love it. It took all my will power not to order another one straight away! It was a stock bass and the workmanship, fit and finish is 10/10. It's light weight, well balanced , looks lovely, and most importantly it's fantastic to play. I will be getting another one but will wait until later on in the year. [/quote] They do look v nice. How's the tone when compared to a normal Fender Jazz? Sounds a bit beefier than a usual J in the demos I've seen but that could just be processing.

Does anyone here own a Maruszczyk short scale? I'm interested in the shortie versions of the Elwood and Jake models in particular, wondering about feel / playability / balance etc.

There's a sunburst one on sale on Gumtree today in Bournemouth. (no affiliation, just spotted randomly)

Has anyone seen Janek Gwizdala talk about string height? He likes his action crazy high, as does Patitucci, and of course Jamerson was famous for it. JG was saying he gets a better sound and better feel with high action, but he doesn't elaborate much on how. I'm guessing you can dig in more without hitting frets, but i'm not sure how your actual tone would improve. Maybe less boomy if you're further away from the pickups, but then you could always lower them too. Maybe playing upright gives you a different perspective on all this, but I still don't get how these guys can play at that level with such high action.