Russ

I came here expecting to see a nice Emerald acoustic bass, or perhaps an old Chris Larkin. What I have now seen cannot be unseen.

I've played one. It's quite nice. It is neck-heavy, but plays easily, is quite light, sounds big and tubby (very much that old Gibson vibe) and, if you like that sort of thing, is a rather good instrument. I'd suspect most Queen-loving bass players would rather opt for a Deacy-style Precision or Stingray though. He's actually got a whole range of instruments, including the bass, various versions of the Red Special, an acoustic and a ukulele! https://shop.brianmayguitars.co.uk/brian-may-guitars.html

Play this for anyone who claims that Westone Thunder basses were rubbish. I'd forgotten how good he actually was.

Saw this a while back. Trevor Horn has an immense bass tone. He's playing very lightly too. Any idea what the bass is? Can't read the headstock decal. Looks Sadowsky-ish (but isn't), with EMGs.

I had an SVT-7 that died during the first song of a gig. Sent it back, got it fixed, and immediately sold it on. Bought an Ashdown Rootmaster RM-800 instead which was utterly reliable and somewhat similar in character. Shame - when it worked, it sounded fantastic, but they've been plagued by problems ever since they came out. Supposedly Ampeg have a handle on it now, but I still can't bring myself to buy another one. I can't trust them anymore. I'm using a Mesa Subway WD-800 now that gives me that valve preamp tone that I loved in the Ampeg, and it hasn't failed me yet.

Orangewood made a mini acoustic bass called the Oliver Jr that was very good - loud, easy to play, decent pickup, and it was cheap in comparison to some of the others ($350 US). I think they've stopped making them now, but it might be worth looking for a used one out there or contacting Orangewood to see if they might still have some in stock somewhere.

Already have done. I've had several custom Seis over the years and I'm planning on getting two more soon. I've always been quite fond of Jaydee's electronics though - they have a particular midrange "snarl" that you don't really hear elsewhere. It's quite an "1980s" sound, hence probably quite unfashionable amongst many these days. Probably a combination of their pickups/circuit and the largely mahogany construction. As I alluded to, I'd ideally like something lighter and better balanced. Every Jaydee I've ever played has been over 10lbs, with chronic neck dive. My ageing back can't support basses like that anymore! As for Status, I think all the changes they've made are for the better. And the S2-Classic is more or less exactly the same outline as the originals, with slightly different body contouring.

Think You mean the Celeste not the Calibas. But as others have said it's a small workshop not a factory they are fully busy already. Yes, you're right. Getting my model names mixed up. I'm talking mostly from my perspective - the first high-end custom bass I ever played was a Supernatural, and I have a lot of affection for them. But my needs as a player are different these days, and it'd be nice to think that Jaydee might have something that would fit my needs. Unfortunately, right now they don't. I just wish they did.

I think the Calibas (the regular one, not the Supernatural) is one of the designs that should be revisited - a modern take on the Calibas could make a big dent in the market for Jazz-style custom instruments if done right.

No, but they could add some new designs to the mix. I'm not suggesting Jaydee do away with the Supernatural range at all. As I'd never suggest Wal ditch the Mk1/2/3 or Status ditch their classic designs, and so on. The world of custom basses has moved on a bit in the past 30 years since Jaydee last launched a new design. People want better balance, lighter instruments, prettier woods and more tonal options these days. Even Alembic, who Jaydee obviously took some early inspiration from, have released the Balance-K bodystyle, refined their electronics and started offering chambered or more lightweight instruments, while still providing all their traditional options.

I love that MK has brought them back out into the spotlight again. Not my favourite L42 bass tone (that'll be the Alembics) but great for all the purists out there who want MK to sound like he did way back when. Like I said earlier in this topic, I still maintain that they need something new and a bit more modern, so they don't just get seen as an 80s throwback brand. I wonder what Rob Green at Status thinks about his switch back over to Jaydees, given that he has an entire range of signature basses with them?

There's actually a Delta rig up on Reverb right now. Looks like the same config you had. And they're not selling it cheap! https://reverb.com/item/10575908-flight-cased-rare-delta-300-pro-bass-rig Not sure if it sold, it says "the seller is away". Seeing threads I wrote in 14 years ago just makes me feel old now.

Nice score. I've got three Bongos (fretted and fretless 5's and a six) and they're just phenomenal instruments. Some people complain that they look weird, or are heavy (older ones are - they upgraded them all to aluminium hardware and lightweight tuners a few years back), but then they hear what they sound like and, all of a sudden, they want to buy one. The Bongo is basically EB's testbed instrument - they try stuff out in the Bongo range before adding it to their more mainstream instruments. The 4-band EQ on the Reflex is the same one that was in the Bongo several years earlier, and the lightweight hardware on the new Stingrays was also first used on the Bongo.

I wish they'd picked a better venue in London than Wembley Arena. I hate it, it's such an ugly, giant concrete shed of a place. Several nights at the Albert Hall would have seemed more appropriate to me, and it's become a bit of a venue of choice amongst the prog fraternity.

Sycamore is a reasonable locally-grown alternative to maple. The colour is slightly darker but has a similar grain, and can carry flame and quilt figuring. Hornbeam is also a good alternative to walnut. Ash also grows in the UK, along with cherry and various grades of oak, all of which can be used in guitar building (although oak is notoriously heavy). There's quite a few companies in Germany producing guitar hardware, although I'm sure they're a lot more expensive than Far Eastern suppliers.

Steven Wilson plays some PT songs in his solo set, and Beggsy nails Colin's lines. He's a very different onstage presence though. He's also adapted some of the bass parts for Stick, and throws in a lot of good backing vocals.

I'm sure it'll end up being Beggsy playing live during next year's shows if Colin's not interested in doing it. No bad thing, Beggs is fantastic and he can technically do everything that Colin can. But there's something about Colin's chilled demeanour and slinky style that really worked in PT. As for the single, the playing style sounds like Beggs, but the tone doesn't sound quite right.

Oo. Does that mean we might finally be able to get a 5-string Vantage?

Chase - PM'd you.

I had a little Chrysler Ypsilon a few years back. Closely related to the Fiat 500, but with rear doors! It had a little 800cc 2-cylinder petrol engine (I think they called it as a "Twinair" engine) with a semi-auto gearbox, got 50+mpg and qualified for £0 road tax, and, with the back seats down, I was able to fit a Markbass 6x10", two flightcased basses, an SVT-7 head and a couple of bags. I rolled up to one of the Bass Bashes back in 2014 (I think) in it, with all my gear, as well as Mike Flynn and some of his. Nice enough little car. Bumpy suspension though, and typical Fiat build quality (ie, crappy plastics, always felt like bits were going to fall off, not the most comfortable seats, etc). Good value used.

Yep, same here. My current band plays in C#, and I'm using a .105 E. It's fine as long as you're not thrashing the cr@p out of the bass. That's drop-C#, like drop-D down a half-step (C#, G#, C#, F#).

Glad to hear that it seems the QA issues have got sorted. All they have to do now is fix the ugly headstock decals.

I miss Marshall's bass gear. They made a lot of cr@p over the years, but, when they made something good, it was VERY good. The DBS and VBA ranges were amazing, and the MB range wasn't bad, but had a few reliability issues.

I replaced the SVT-7 with an Ashdown RM-800, which was bulletproof and survived gigs, two tours and an international move without missing a beat. I've recently replaced it with a Mesa Subway WD-800 as I like the tone a bit better (valve preamp!), but the Ashdown served me very well.

I had an SVT-7 die on me mid-gig back in 2015. I love the tone of Ampeg gear. But I'm not likely to ever own another due to their recent reliability issues. Supposedly they've addressed it more recently, but once bitten and all that.