project_c

Thanks for the replies, very tempted to go for it. Any idea on current prices on these? How much would be too much? [quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1446503460' post='2899943'] The Fenders of the same era are generally not quite as good as the Ibanez Roadstars IMO. [/quote] I do have an '83 Fender which is as heavy as a boat anchor, and isn't the easiest bass to play because of the wide neck, but the tone is deeper and punchier than any other bass I've ever owned, it's the one I always end up taking out with me..

Always liked the look of the old Roadstar ii basses, especially the simple precision style ones, but never had a chance to play one. Those of you that know your p-basses - how would it compare to a real USA Precision from the same-ish era (80s I guess)? The price is obviously very different, so what, if anything, is worse? Feel of the neck? Action? Weight? Weak pickups? Hardware? Tempted to pull the trigger on one anyway but would be good to hear some views.

I have a possible fault with a noisy preamp pedal (high pitched noise when running off mains, but I don't think it's a ground loop issue). Do you guys know of anyone who fixes faulty pedals in or around London?

surely http://youtu.be/J1i1RJeUw70

.. then you might find this plug-in very useful, it's a graphic EQ for Chrome, so you can EQ out the bass from anything playing through the browser. I'm not affiliated with this in any way, just thought i'd share because it's free and very handy for the way I practice. [url="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDUQFjACahUKEwjKl4-A-7XIAhXIOBoKHfILDro&url=https%3A%2F%2Fchrome.google.com%2Fwebstore%2Fdetail%2Faudio-eq%2Flfafdlnjaliaghpjdajmlcnnblkgcefh%3Fhl%3Den&usg=AFQjCNHZe88N8tBGX-jI5xaA0nd4j37JRQ&sig2=CbXh-3lyP7u5vx-7jToINw"]Audio EQ - Chrome Web Store - Google[/url]

They sorted out the neck and frets on my knackered 83 black / maple precision a long time ago, it hasn't needed a setup since. I moved out of North London so I don't get to go as often as I used to, but I don't think I trust any other place with setups, I just wouldn't take my basses anywhere else. They're excellent.

[quote name='Jabba The Hutt' timestamp='1443819279' post='2878032'] My new beauty! awesome :-)[attachment=201891:XP4Front.jpg][attachment=201890:2032_XP_1T_4str_Natural_Body.jpg] [/quote] awesome. would love to hear some clips. their pbasses are crazy good.

Very sad to hear about this, one of my favourite bassists. The 2nd Crusade LP has some great examples of his playing. He plays a p with flats and the lines are confident, melodic and funky. I learnt every song on that album, probably the reason why I've ended up playing a precision. R.I.P

low action, both on p with tapes and j with rounds. I love a bit of fret buzz when I dig in, doesn't bother me in the slightest. I play jazz mostly, finger style only.

[quote name='Thunderpaws' timestamp='1442990692' post='2871102'] [media]http://youtu.be/Md0y36zWd4Y[/media] [/quote] These demos are terrible! The amps look great and I'm sure they will sound great too, but these demos look like they were recorded with a phone, which makes the amps sound horrible. How hard can it be to put a bit of effort into getting a better recorded sound? Especially when you're demonstrating an amp designed primarily for studio use.

Here's something you'll all enjoy, the entire gig in high quality, alongside some previously unseen footage of Miles Davis, Jaco and many others. A goldmine if you're into jazz recordings, recently donated to the Quebec National Archives by the Montreal Jazz Festival: http://www.banq.qc.ca/collections/collection_numerique/fijm/index.html?language_id=1

I'm going to chime in here to mention that the bassist is in fact a guy called Tom Warrington - an absolutely amazing bassist and a great example of someone who plays Jazz on electric bass with total authenticity. You should watch the rest of this gig before judging him, he plays a fretless precision through an Ampeg and his tone and playing is incredible. He's still playing jazz and teaching in LA as far as I know.

There's something about Quarter Pounders and Nylon tape wound strings that works really well, I don't know much about Status basses but I have QP's in my Fender P, and since putting XL tapes on there sometime last year, I've used nothing else. I also have them on my fretless Precision that has CS62 pickups in it, they sound really good on that too. The lower tension just allows for more snap, and that gives you more of a tonal range between playing mellow and digging in, so I see that as a good thing.

[quote name='TheKcrimsonKing' timestamp='1441580831' post='2860080'] I wasn't even aware they existed until I saw Squarepusher play one, what are they like? [/quote] My experience of them is 100% positive, the one I currently own is very light, the pickups sound amazing, the preamp is versatile, the neck is nice, and it's pretty easy to play, I barely have to dig in if I want dynamics. The body shape is very comfortable and it balances perfectly. I'd personally change the headstock shape if I could, but it's not something that bothers me massively. There are people here on BC with much nicer Zoot basses than mine, there was a thread many years ago with lots of different examples, i'll dig it out at some point. [quote name='Bearfist' timestamp='1441609879' post='2860117'] They are still there, Mike lives a few minutes drive from me and does any work on my gear I need doing, see him every few months usually and he always has a few new builds hanging around in the work shop for people, he also built me a new neck recently for a project I was working on. From talking to him I think he is just happy taking on as much as suits him and the stuff he finds interesting. He has a ton of amp builds going on, plenty of people like me getting work done on basses and as i said there is always a Zoot or 3 in various stages of completion. The site isn't the most up to date but drop him an email and he will get strait back to anyone looking for a bass or some work, still top quality as you would expect too. [/quote] Good to hear.

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1441497428' post='2859362'] Mine is for sale here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/249351-will-now-post-iceni-zoot-active-and-with-hipshot-detuner/page__gopid__2859361#entry2859361"]http://basschat.co.u...61#entry2859361[/url] [/quote] Very nice bass, I did see that. If I had more room in my studio, I would buy every Zoot out there. London home = limited space = strict one in / one out policy. Otherwise I would have already bought it off you. [quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1441496274' post='2859356'] Not sure why they aren't so popular, but they do still exist! [url="http://www.purple-chili.com/iceni-zoot/"]http://www.purple-ch...com/iceni-zoot/[/url] [/quote] Looks like that site hasn't been touched in 5 years, it could really do with a re-design.. That chilli logo looks very dated. And the online shop is ..offline. Maybe that's all it is, people search for Zoot and it all looks a bit neglected. Perhaps I should offer to re-design it for him.

Got my Zoot Performer bass out tonight and couldn't put it down for about 4 hours, it's an active ash / rosewood 4 string with a double-j pickup at the bridge, very light, loads of snap and dynamics, great sounding preamp, I could not get a bad tone out of it. It made me wonder what happened to this brand, lots of people were loving them a few years ago, and you hear nothing about them these days.

Missed the London gig this time, but seen him a few times over the past few years. Love Watt and his music, the solo stuff as well as the collaborations, and his radio show, he's one of my bass heroes for sure.

Wunjo's might, but you won't have many options there either. I recently moved to south london and found a place called Red Dog Music in Clapham, you may be able to try stuff there as long as it's in stock in any of their stores, they were really helpful when I was looking for a bass but I don't know what they'd be willing to drag out of storage for just a trial run when it comes to amps.. Maybe GAK in Brighton, if you feel like a trip to the beach? They had a whole bunch of amps in there last time I was there.

Bass Gallery in Camden is always a good bet, also Wembley Guitar Centre had some Ampeg bits a while back, but they are in a really depressing location in the arse end of nw ldn.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1440444101' post='2850819'] Well I like the guy in the wig... but I'm not that impressed with solo/virtuoso party-piece type bass playing. Yes, it's probably just jealousy as I'm not a virtuoso bass player myself, before anyone else says it... [/quote] If you mean the guy in the crazy yellow outfit, that's MonoNeon, he is an amazingly talented bassist, pretty much a virtuoso, check out his channel. I agree with the party piece comment, lots of talented people out there, but I've never understood the obsession with speed, literally nobody apart from a handful of blokes with ocd will ever care about how fast you can play, and fast slap bass is actually positively despised in most musical situations, in a similar way to poodle haired guitar shredding. The concept of being 'the best' is completely weird in a musical context, people confuse music with sport sometimes. Having said that, with most of these guys, their chops are a product of deep musical knowledge, and those chops come from a genuine place rather than as a one off party trick.

just spotted this, £650 for a brand new sunburst fender precision, I'd grab it if I hadn't just bought a precision recently. no affiliation whatsoever, just thought it was a v good price! someone snap it up quick.. www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/fender-standard-usa-precision-bass-as-new/1127534955

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1438375639' post='2834151'] Evening Rich, I think I would be going for a Fender 60's pup. [/quote] +1, I put Fender CS60's in a P recently, very happy with them. Classic precision tone, dynamic and responsive.

I'm not an fx guy at all, but I almost always have the Boss LMB3 limiter on when practicing / going direct to an audio interface, it's the only pedal I've used for years. It stops my signal from clipping and allows me to play dynamically without worrying about huge jumps in volume. This pedal has a weird reputation, and people are usually not very nice about it. The fact is it's a utility rather than a special effect, so people who don't know what it does are normally disappointed by it. It won't make your bass sound better or worse in any way, it will just bring the jumpy dynamics under control. The 'Enhance' function gets the most complaints, it's a high-freq boost / exciter, so at the highest settings it adds some hiss to the signal, but that's just what happens when you boost those frequencies. At medium settings it's pretty nice. I normally just leave it on zero. Probably the least sexy pedal Boss has ever come up with, but for me it's invaluable, and it cost me about £25 used.

[quote name='Me And My Bass' timestamp='1437914353' post='2829909'] On closer inspection (taking it apart) I think the Jazz pup was defo an addition . . BUT . . The wiring harness, pickups are all matched & original looking + it doesn't look like the Jazz pup space was cut at a different time (change of finish etc). I am leaning towards thinking Ibanez took a stock Blazer in the factory and made the addition. Again I could be wrong!! LoL I giged it last night and enjoyed it, but I think it could possible be getting moved on in the classifieds shortly. I am not 100% sold on the headstock shape. [/quote] I was about to comment on how nice the headstock was, I personally love the headstock shape and design on these. I'm also curious about that 70s precision tone, I know these basses have a nice crunchy aggressive p tone sometimes.