Doctor J

Having ordered a custom bass in the past and found it wasn't quite what I wanted after all, all I can say is that it seemed like a great idea at the time and I'm delighted with myself for having had the vision to look beyond stock in the first place. It didn't work out, but so what? You've got to try new things. Better to try and fail than to never try at all. I still have it and I still use it but, in all honestly, I now realise I couldn't be satisfied with just one bass. I'm in the middle of defretting it and restringing tuned to E-A-D-G-C and, now that you can't get Q-tuners anymore, I'm glad I ordered it when I did. I've started the long, long haul of saving with a Wal in mind. Will it be the one? No, it'll just be different to what I have and what I can get out of the shops over here, which are largely just P and J variations anyway.

Well? Why didn't you?

It's a Bacchus Standard 5.

It's pretty simple, just some MDF and curtains, really There's a slab of 12mm MDF at the top which I cut the slots for the bass necks to fit into, I think each slot is about 45mm wide and maybe 15cm deep. There's one slot for every 100mm so I can fit 10 basses into a 1m space. I used draft excluding foam, you know, the sticky backed stuff you'd use in a door arch, running along the entire leading edge to stop any dings in the neck. I used 6mm MDF for the vertical panels and they're fixed into the top panel. That entire structure is covered in fairly thick green curtain the missus had lying around for more impact protection and it's resting on two 1" diameter pieces of wood, think broom handle type of thing, you can buy it in 3m lengths and cut to size. I used pipe insulation foam to wrap around that and so the weight of the basses is supported by them, there is no real pressure on the necks at all, the slots really just keep the basses balanced upright. The only fixture into the wardrobe is a small piece of MDF on either side into which the two broom handley bits sit, so it can all come out quickly and without permanent damage when the missus finally comes to her senses. The cases go in the attc, I can grab one when needed and they're out of the way the rest of the time.

Bassdrobe, the [i]real[/i] one Keeps them out of harm's way while being easily accessible too. Lots of basses in a small space means I don't hear about it from the missus too.

If you're running the input gain low so the signal is as hot as the amp can take then it'll be no different than if you run a low powered bass and boost the input gain. The pre-amp is still sending the same level to the power amp.

Wild & Peaceful by Kool And The Gang, the album. Everything you need is contained within.

These are worth reading [url="http://www.fralinpickups.com/choose.asp"]http://www.fralinpickups.com/choose.asp[/url] [url="http://www.fralinpickups.com/Guitars_Pickups.asp"]http://www.fralinpickups.com/Guitars_Pickups.asp[/url] Bear in mind that super high output is a fairly recent trend, the "vintage" tone that people spend absurd amounts of money on is primarily based around quite low output pickups.

They're also entirely sympathetic to the accompanying vocals and instrumentation.

All of those basslines leave room and, in truth, are fairly repetative. What pretty much everyone has said is play for the song. This doesn't mean play root 1/4 notes every time, it means play a bassline which fits in [i]musically[/i] with what the other musicians are doing. [quote]IMO Basslines are as important (possibly more so today in the era of D& as the chord progressions - so shouldn't just be treated as part of the backing track for guitarists..[/quote] No one will disagree with you. This still doesn't mean every song requires an example of all of your chops. The right bassline in the right context.

It's not about keeping it simple or trying to be clever, it's about the right bassline at the right time. As mentioned, some low end pyrotechnics will destroy the likes of an AC/DC number (I've seen it done) and my mind is forever scarred by a Stingray player I saw a long time ago who thought his popping and slapping through even the most tender of ballads was acceptable. Depending on your drummer and how your guitarist plays there can be a need for the bass to be a bit more expansive, but it has to fit in with how your band mates play. I, for one, feel physically ill every time I'm exposed to the combination of 'mediocre drummer-flashy bass player' - don't these people listen to their band mates? There is, perhaps, a self-imposed pressure to leave the punters under no doubt that one is capable of more than just some decent basslines, that a bassist can do widdly widdly and tapping too but remember this, Adam Clayton is richer and has [i]pl[/i]ucked more beautiful women than all of us put together so who, I ask, can really say what is right or wrong?

30 years have passed, therefore they are good. You'll find early 80's Fender basses are also good now. Mid 80's, not yet.

I find it hard to spend time on TB without wanting to put my fist through my monitor these days and threads like that are one of the reasons why.

Going on the sounds you like I'd say try a Warwick Corvette $$ (Double-Buck). I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The seem to have overlooked the humble blend pot, which might also offer a gajillion other tonal change possibilities.

Probably this Ibby SR - Paduak sandwiching a mahogany core, with a 5 piece wenge and bubinga neck As for something beyond my means, got to be the good folks at STR in Japan

I don't know why but I like the look of that new Ibby.

[quote]"it'll really change the sound, much more than the pickups do or the electronics"[/quote] So how come an ash bodied, maple fretboarded Stingray doesn't sound like an ash bodied, maple fretboarded P which doesn't sound like an ash bodied, maple fretboarded J? Is the bad man lying?

The P sound comes from the P pickup. Anything I've ever played with a P pickup in the P position, regardless of neck size, body material or size, has sounded like a P.

If you're surrounded by dudes talking about your technique after a gig rather than the ladies, you're doing something very, very wrong.

He bought this from you in the UK and now all this crops up now he's back in Argentina? Tell him to sod off. If he had any issues he should have notified you before he exported it. Caveat Emptor. Edit -> Just looking at the pics, it certainly doesn't bear any of the usual signs of forgery that appear on a lot of the Chinese fakes doing the rounds at the moment, for example correct 2 screw truss cover, frets which are finished within the binding, usually the fakes have frets which go over the binding. If it is a fake, it would appear to be a very good one. If this guy has issues they're his problem, I reckon. I call a scammer.

[quote name='Fat Rich' post='1089437' date='Jan 14 2011, 03:21 PM']Much thicker and slightly stiffer neck on the P bass probably makes most of the sound difference since the theory with graphite necks is that they make the biggest variable in the guitars tone consistent.[/quote] So the P pickup on this yoke will sound like a J, given there's a J neck on it?

Have you got pictures of the guitar in question, plus can you provide what he suggests what makes it a fake? Even fakes usually have serial numbers, so it's no evidence one way or the other.

I shall show them disregard for their disrespect of laws of physics by boycotting their instruments!

[quote name='chris_b' post='1088952' date='Jan 14 2011, 09:20 AM']Yes! Check out 3:00. Fender thinks that the wood makes more of a difference to the tone than the pickups!!!![/quote] How come P basses and J basses made from the same wood sound different then?