Cato

I tend to think of the seemingly infinite amount of modern subgenres as a a sort emperors new clothes/gatekeeper thing. There's a relatively tiny number of music fans having conversations and arguments amongst themselves about how exactly to label and file every music act on the planet. Meanwhile the rest of the world just listens to stuff they like.

I've been thinking about getting one of these for a couple of years, mainly because I really like the aesthetics and the idea of a Thunderbird in a more compact package also appealed Anyway a couple of days ago I gave in and ordered this from Gear 4 Music. When the courier handed the box over I was immediately struck by how little it weighed. Intrigued (and half wondering if I'd been sent the right instrument) I eventually got my new Epiphone Embassy out of the packaging and again was struck by how light it was. I'm fortunate not to suffer with problems that mean that I usually worry too much about a basses weight but I had to find out how much or rather little this thing weighed. Using the with/without bathroom scales method and after double checking a couple of times I got my answer. 7.2 lbs. I've got a thinline Tele skinny stringer that weighs about a pound more. What doesn't really come across when you see these in pictures is firstly that the body is smaller than either a P or J and the overall length of the bass is 2-3 inches shorter, largely due to the 2+2 headstock. Secondly and I suspect this is where most of the weight difference is, the body is significantly thinner. Enough about the weight. It's early days and I've only had it a few hours, but so far I'm happy. Unlike the body, the tone is far from thin, it's a lovely warm tone, full of bass and mids, it lacks some of the higher frequencies I get from my PJ and J basses but I don't think it's a bad thing to have something a bit different. The bridge pickup solo'd is a bit of a revelation, it's got far more body to it than my single coil basses which makes for a very usable tone. As I say, early days, but very much looking forwards to spending a lot more time with it.

Just goes to show I suppose that even when a career has reached a point where they really don't need the money that's no reason to turn it down. Apparently Snoop Dogg and Katie Perry got $5 million apiece for their Just Eat ads. Considering how much big brands are willing to spend on Christmas ads I wouldn't be suprised if Buble's paycheck for Asda was in the same ballpark. Not bad for a few days work.

Might seem slightly odd from someone who's spent a fair chunk of my life both playing with guitarists and as a guitar player myself but a while ago I came to the conclusion that there's only really two guitarists I genuinely enjoy hearing solo for more than about 30 seconds. Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd and J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. Very different players and probably not the most technically profficient but in terms of listenability and 'playing for the song' for me no one else gets close.

Dave Mustaine has about 30 picks taped to his mic stand. If you don't have a mic stand maybe you could tape them on a nearby band member instead?

My dad was into Lonnie Donegan and a very narrow field of 4 or 5 country artists. Never liked the country stuff, but I have wondered if the skiffle had a subliminal effect on my guitar playing. My default strumming pattern definitely has an element of the Skiffle almost percussive rhythm guitar thing going on.

I'm a sucker for that unconventional body shape retro thing. That's a beauty.

Sounds like 'Heavy Weather' era Weather Report. Not everyone's cup of tea but I wouldn't say it's all that odd for a bass player to take inspiration from that particular band.

Slight tangent but I have a Bass VI with three single coils including one close up to the fingerboard, I've never had a bass with a pickup in that position before. One of the things that suprised me about the bass was that neck pickup has almost no punch to it at all, as described by @Beedster above it's actually quite boomy, in a sort quote mild and mellow way with little definition, kind of nearly all bass with very little of the midrange that actually gets you a 'punchy', more percussive sound. it's great in combination with either or both of the other pickups but on it's oen I'm not sure how usable it would be in a band situation.

Generally when I've seen clips of people using basses with more than 6 strings they tend to be doing the two hand tapping quasi classical music thing that in some ways has more in common with playing a piano than a guitar.

Index and middle. Being completely self taught I suspect I was copying what people in music videos seemed to be doing. I'm quite envious of people I sometimes see playing bass in a more classical guitar style, with the thumb and all fingers, it seems like a really useful skill to have for phrasing things in a way that I can't really do with just the two.

Yay! the floater has gone! Thanks guys.

Has anyone worked out how to get rid of the little orange privacy box yet? I don't know why I find such a small thing so irritating and distracting, but I do.

It's definitely a one trick pony. But it's also very beautiful and I don't currently own any ponies that do that particular trick.

It's in the same price bracket as other recent Gibson Custom Shop models. Also I don't think this is even necessarily aimed at bass players. Kiss have an exceptionally devoted following, especially in the US, many of them pretty affluent. The top tier Kiss memorabilia collectors will want this whether they can actually play the thing or not.

Do the "two in charge" have much previous gigging form? The situation you're describing sounds like one of those projects that never really gets off the ground because some members like the idea of being in a band more than the reality of actually commiting the time and effort to make it happen.

Given the information on the page about how much the original was hacked about I wonder how "authentic" this recreation is? Is there an additional pickup cavity under the scratch plate up by the neck in the original position? Filler/drill holes in the body where the three point bridge was taken out and replaced with a high mass? For 7k I'd want Mr Simmons breaking out into a sweat if someone challenged him to a game of 'find the lady' with 2 of these and his original being swapped around.

Based on the current top line MiM sig models like the Mike Kerr and JMJ Mustang I was expecting the new Vinteras to come in between £1200-£1500. So it's actually better than I thought, not much better, but still.

Not really a Kiss fan but that's a nice looking bass. Not 7 grand nice though. The current Gibson business model seems to involve a big increase in output of their Custom Shop/Murphy labs range. An Epiphone model would be cool, but again Epiphone seem to be expanding their top tier models into £1k+ territory on the skinny string side, can't be long before they find a reason to put out a bass in the same price range.

The green Telebass is gorgeous. I'm interested in the Bass VIs too, but the colour choice of red or blue doesn't really thrill me.

A lot of it's not in yet but the Sea Foam Green Telebass is showing as 'in stock'. https://www.andertons.co.uk/fender/vintera-series/fender-vintera-ii-70s-telecaster-bass-mn-seafoam-green I wonder how long that will last?

Outstanding work sir.

I don't think I've seen anything quite like that bridge/tailpiece arrangement. I reckon the whole bass is likely a home made job.

I don't know what Squire intended with these basses but traditionally the blonde finish on Fender Telecasters is always translucent. This is my Baja Tele Agree with the case above that body should've have been designated for a solid finish.

Oops wrong thread, doh.