project_c

Thanks guys, would prefer a bass specialist as it's a fretless, but I'll keep Feline in mind, they look ok!

Ok, looks like same day might not be realistic, in which case I may just make a detour and take it to my usual place, the Gallery. It's a fretless so could probably do with being set up by a bass specialist anyway. Nobody who specializes in bass south of the river then?

[quote name='Byo' timestamp='1433371046' post='2790616'] Never had work done by him, but Graham Parker is based in SE London and on his website there is some really good work. [/quote] Thanks, yep, he came up on a Google search and looks like a good option.

anyone know of a reliable place for setups in s.e London? Preferably same day.. thanks!

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1433197372' post='2788919'] 500 is fair, then when you're bored of it...speak to me 😉 [/quote] thanks! at least I know I'm not completely off the mark..

I'm looking into buying a mid-90s Fender Precision, it's a fretless (I think they're relatively rare) in good condition, no mods, original case etc, and trying to figure out what a reasonable price would be to make an offer. I'm thinking £500, def. no more than £550, but I could be wrong, anyone have any idea? I've seen normal 90's precisions go for around £450, but I'm not sure.

thanks for the replies, I guess if there's nowhere better for them to go i'll have to scrap them. they're not rusty, in fact i'm sure most of them have plenty of life left in them. I used to like keeping my strings new and fresh but since i play jazz 99% of the time these days, i prefer dead strings so i never change strings any more.

I'm sure this has come up before but does anyone know if old strings can be recycled anywhere? (in London, if possible). I have to move house and I have a giant binbag full of old strings which I don't want to lug around any more. I don't want money for them, I just feel bad throwing them out, so I'd like to at least recycle them if possible. Alternatively if by any chance anyone here on BC wants them, they're yours if you're willing to come and get them from NW8 sometime over the next 10 days. Lots of old DR's, Roto's, some Elixirs, Dean Markley Blue Steels etc, all for 4 string basses, in their original boxes.

Ming bought my Sadowsky a while back, everything went according to plan, he was reliable and trustworthy, highly recommended.

Thanks Bilbo. Can you expand a bit on how you differentiate between internalising something and learning something, when it comes to applying it to a daily practice routine? I understand the thinking behind it, but apart from loads of repetition and paying close attention to the tune, I'm wondering if there's anything else I can do to internalise it. I spend quite a lot of time just improvising around the tune, which I think is helping with this, but I'm curious to see if you have any better methods. ps. I made a typo above, it should actually say "i'm NOT at a stage where I can comfortably take a solo", which is why i'll be taking a back seat from that..

Need a bit of advice from those who have a bit of jazz experience. I'm going to a jazz practice group in just under a month, it's going to be my first time playing jazz with other people, and they will all be more experienced than me, some of them quite a lot more experienced, so I want to do a decent job and try to not make a complete ass of myself, if at all possible... I'm going to try to prepare for it as much as I can, but I would love a few words of wisdom and advice. Here's how I'm preparing at the moment: - I know the tune we'll be playing, I've learnt learn the melody and I can walk around the tune relatively ok, and I'm also in the process of transcribing a few basslines to add a bit of colour to my slightly sketchy improvised lines. - I'm at a stage where I can comfortably take a solo, so I may well take a backseat but if there's time, I'm also going to find a good solo and learn that, and if I feel brave on the day I might play it. - I'm also studying walking around minor II-V-I's because the tune is in C minor, and my knowledge on minor keys is pretty basic at the moment - Apart from that, I have a regular routine of playing the jazz blues in all keys as part of my practice so I should be ok with that if it comes up. - I'm practicing with iRealB, as well as with a few versions of the actual tune. Does this sound about right? Am I missing anything, and is there anything else I should be preparing for? Any general words of advice or things I should avoid? thanks for you help!

nobody's mentioned Musescore yet, desktop as well as iOS/android, very easy to pick up and figure out.

Does anyone know how much the additional import cost and tax would be on these? The cost of the bass itself isn't too bad, it's under £500.

Yeah, that makes sense, thanks for your input. I'm definitely going to try to search one out. I'm also looking at the pawn shop Mustang, which does have more of a midrange grunt because of that massive humbucker, and it's available everywhere, but aesthetically it's nowhere near as nice as the Bullet with the maple neck, tele headstock and precision body. Quite surprised Fender only had such a short run of these.

That looks great, Ash, love the colour too. If you had to compare the tone to a Precision, what would you say the main differences are? Any compromises or things you miss when playing the Bullet?

I've just found out that Fender used to make these back in the 80's, they're essentially a short scale Precision from what I can tell. Does anyone here have one? I would love to know general opinions & what they sound like in comparison to a Precision, the pickups look the same as a Mustang so I'm guessing they sound closer to those, but if the short scale version can get the midrange and grit of a p-bass, I will need to hunt one down. Photo is not mine, this one apparently sold only a few days ago, it was pretty cheap for a USA Fender, I think it was under £400. Not sure if it was the 30 or 34 scale though. I hear the Japanese version was also very nice, there are a few knocking around in the USA, none over here from what I can see.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1393083469' post='2376027'] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUHUNbzhPQI#t=104 [/quote] That's Pops Powell on bass! Here he is jamming in the living room.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhfNFm3QxMQ

Looks amazing! Congratulations.

Funny you should say that! In the meantime I went and tried a bunch of different guitars today, and ended up buying an Ibanez AS73 for a pretty good price. It's set up well and it sounds good. I think it will be spot on for what I need it to do. [attachment=155692:ibanez.JPG]

Thanks for the advice - I'm looking at a Tokai Les Paul copy in a couple of days, do you know much about those? Seller wants around £300, it's a sunburst Love Rock, looks pretty nice.

I've been teaching myself guitar on the side, mainly playing jazz / funk, just chords, nothing fancy, just accompaniment for my bass playing. I've been happily learning on a knackered old Columbus strat, which has a nice sounding humbucker at the bridge, and 2 other pickups which sound diabolical. It's not a great guitar, but I bought it for £20 in the 90's, and it's served me well up until now. However, unfortunately and unexpectedly tonight it exploded. I heard a wood-cracking sound, and the bridge was suddenly leaning out of the bass at a jaunty angle. I'll get it repaired, but I'm now thinking I may look into buying something new. The problem is, I know very little about guitars, but I do know that a strat is probably the least suitable guitar for jazz. So here are some questions: - Would a cheaper archtop (something like an Ibanez Artcore) be suited to playing genres other than traditional jazz? The one I'm looking at has 2 pickups. - Would a Les Paul copy around £300 be suitable for funk / jazz? Or is it mainly used for rock / blues? - What would you recommend for around £300? thanks!

[quote name='such' timestamp='1390491155' post='2345986'] the longer video is up now. Unfortunately, the most obvious effect that can be heard is that the processed signal is much louder than the bypassed one. Sure, I hear some EQ too, but I'd rather hear the mid sweep etc with some sort of unity gain tweaked. As much as I like MXR (have had quite a few of their pedal, kept two and have another two on their way), I think they fished on the fact that for most people the louder signal will sound better. Again, I understand that boosting is one of the main jobs of a preamp pedal. Another complaint is that the Bass control is centred at 40Hz. Everybody seems to be doing that, I think it's too low. Still, I look forward to trying this thing, although I don't see myself buying it. Love the colour. [/quote] Totally agree with all of this. The pedal does sound good but the volume difference is huge, and apart from that the bass already sounds good without it. It would be great to hear it how it compares with the raw signal with the volume kept in check, and in use with some drums. I think the 40Hz boost that's popular right now is an attempt to keep up with subs you hear in electronic music, it's an attempt to keep things contemporary. In a live setting it's probably more useful that in the studio. I would compare this to something like the Tri-Logic Bass Preamp, which more or less does the same thing, but it doesn't have the DI, and there are 2 different mid settings, instead of the sweep. I use the Tri-Logic all the time and I love what it does, I wonder how much (or how little) character this pedal adds to a clean signal in comparison.

Same bass is now back on for £800! I think that's perhaps a little over-ambitious. http://www.intone8.co.uk/shergold-marathon-bass-guitar-rare/