knirirr

I'll be there around the same time, then. Unfortunately, it will be for work.

Thanks for the useful info. Looks like I’ll have to stick with a practice amp - no room at home for a DB, even if I fancied one, unfortunately.

Is it loud enough to be heard against, for example, a couple of acoustic guitars, or would it need amplification even for that? Presumably it would be a bit too quiet, particularly if played fingerstyle with nylon strings on.

Indeed. As a result of seeing one at a gig I ended up playing an EUB for a time, which I ought not perhaps to have done as it was expensive, not as comfortable to play as a BG and a faff to transport. Looked and sounded good, though.

MIJ Fender Jazz: Rotosound Jazz Bass 77 flatwounds, medium. Fretless Jazz from various non-Fender parts: Labella copper white nylon, light. These strings feel and sound quite different but each seems to suit the instrument on which they are fitted. I am particularly pleased with the nylon ones - I only heard about such things recently and was initially unsure but they work well on the fretless bass.

The OH (brass player) and I have a fun pastime where, when listening to some jazz, I will ask whether she thinks it's a bass guitar or double bass on this particular track. She will then give the traditional reply of "how am I supposed to know, they sound pretty much the same!" before making the wrong guess. I have, of course, cheated by looking the answer up.

Just received this via the marketplace here.

Just received a fretless Jazz from Gareth - a very pleasant transaction indeed, excellent communication.

Recently, I managed to get hold of a copy of Monk Montgomery's bass method book. In this he recommends medium gauge flatwounds, which is what I had planned to put on my Jazz anyway. Presumably that's what he's using here: https://electricjive.blogspot.com/2012/01/monk-montgomery-live-in-soweto-1974.html

Seller : "I have emails that authenticate the Jaco connection if that's important." https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Jazz-Bass-1962-Natural-Finish-Played-by-Jaco-himself/183408427327?hash=item2ab3fe813f:g:CLcAAOSwDehbiStE

This seemed amusing at the time, though there's nothing particularly witty here. Anyway, the singer I mentioned in my post in the worst gig thread joined a proper metal band afterwards - no-one in the previous band was keen to appear again under that name anyway. A couple of us went to see his new band, at a different venue, unfortunately arriving as the last song was underway. They seemed to perform it well enough but as it finished there was the merest scattering of applause and shouts from the singer of "What was that? What did you say?" On listening carefully we were able to hear the apparently traditional cries from the crowd of "f*****g p**f!" which he got at the last gig. The next band up were met with complete silence after their first number, other than a cry of "f*****g s***e", to which their singer responded with a hearty "f**k you" through the PA before moving on to the next one.

As the topic of "Moondance" has come up... https://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/2018/07/01/johnny-scott-communication-1967-emi/

This used to be quite common when piping as well. Usually people would approach whilst I was playing and bellow "CAN YOU DO FLOWER OF SCOTLAND?" into my ear.

I mentioned this one to the OH, who said that it once happened to her brass band, the principal euphonium taking the top prize.

This is not particularly bad compared with some of the tales above, but I recall it as the worst, even compared with the jazz gigs where drunken audience members would accost the band and demand a go on our instruments, whilst we were playing. Anyway, some time ago I was roped in to play a single gig with what was essentially a scratch band on the grounds that they needed another guitarist for a local pub gig that was already booked, and as a jazz man who could play the guitar, surely playing along with a rock band shouldn't be too hard for me? The material was a bit dodgy (e.g. Cliff Richard's "Move It" with the lyrics changed to be about devil worship), the singer & musicians a mix of styles (metal, reggae, rockabilly, jazz) with no effort made to blend with each other, and everything badly played due to insufficient rehearsal. At various points the BL made announcements such as "we're now going to play such-and-such a song, but I've forgotten the chords so the other guitarist will have to play it" and "we've run out of material so we'll have to play such-and-such a song again". A certain segment of the audience were keen on heckling us throughout, particularly the singer who they considered to be a "f*****g p**f". Eventually the drummer, via the singer's mic, threatened to come down from the stage and fill them in unless they stopped, as it was putting him off. We did at least get paid around £5 each from door fees.

I listened to it a little before taking up the bass or guitar. I recall getting the initial impression that various albums I heard were actually contemporary rather than from 20-30 years earlier as the music sounded somehow "modern" in comparison to the sort thing I'd been hearing until then (rock and roll, pop etc. of a similar period to the jazz).

Yes; it is all that I play bass for and the predominant type of music to which I listen. I'm willing to listen to most types of jazz, though most of it ends up being of the 50s-70s era. Here's a long-time favourite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv9NSR-2DwM

Not Mingus, but I find this a rather good opening as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSR1sfaSQE8

I did: Highland bagpipe -> guitar -> fretless bass -> EUB -> fretted bass. All jazz, except the bagpipe, though I note that it has been done (around 3:17): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjRDIy16HcM&index=7&list=PLwKj0ZY4gojIHNjnZeIfHNdgABoPVkiWU

Mine just arrived - looking forward to finding time to have a go at it.

MIJ Fender Jazz, c. 2004:

Encore E83 - an unlined fretless precision copy, black with white pickguard, probably around 1993-4. I recall it being nice to play, and sounding OK but not great (probably the pickups). It was eventually sold to help fund an an EUB purchase.