Soliloquy

Save your money for a bit. They'll soon drop their prices when no one's buying the stuff.

I bought an old TE head last year, I unfortunately had to sell it due to the weight. I amazed though at how quiet the fans were compared to modern amps. The build quality was superb, how many are still working fine today ? I wonder how many of the new amps will be working still in 30 years time.

You're what, an hour or so from London ? Try Steve Lawson.

I can't believe that there are 16 postings on this thread, and no one has piped up " I never use one, don't see the point, annoying ticking noise would drive me mad". Do a search and you'll see quite a few threads like that lol. I have 3, an old large clockwork one that I've had for years. I have a nice small 'Witner' one, which is nice. I tend to use that most days. I also have a digital one, that's really accurate, and you can set various rhythms etc. You can also adjust the output volume which is really good. I don't use the large one because the 'ticks' are very loud and quite annoying.

[quote name='ziggydolphinboy' post='1070621' date='Dec 27 2010, 10:52 PM']thought id put my trace gear up , i now have two ah400s that hopefully i will run together in the new year , the bass cab being clean and the top cabs being effects channel sound!! hope you all like!![/quote] Can I ask what that weighs ? It's an amazing looking rig .

I use the Status ones, very good. Nice tension and sound.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1073942' date='Dec 31 2010, 07:06 PM']Looks like something inside you wants you to like them, Horses for courses and all that I have tried every Ric I get close to but cant love them the same way my eyes do, That said I have never bought 5 of them! If its the feel of them then maybe a pre EB with a glossy neck might suit you better, My 82' has the fastest neck of all my 3 Rays and plays real nice. The sound is all subjective but to my ears its smoother and punchier but doesnt have the glassy top of the EBMM which looking at your stuff might not suit your taste? A pre EB with a modern pre amp hybrid might be your only way to MM happiness![/quote] You are very right. A friend of mine has a very old one, (can't remember how old, but I think it's 70's) Stingray. I've heard him playing it, and it sounds great. They just don't work for me though .

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1073912' date='Dec 31 2010, 06:17 PM']Why did you buy in total 5 Stingrays after the first one was so bad then the second etc until owning 5 of them? My post was meant to be kind of sarcastic/funny by the way I actually like lots of basses for slap (and all styles) and get made out to be some kind of stingray drug pusher from my user name but if you look in my signature I have P and J basses also.[/quote] I had bought the first one about 10 years ago and sold it. It had a rosewood board and sunburst finish body. I then bought another this year, just to try again , thinking it was maybe just me. That was maple/maple, I didn't get on with the sound, so I traded it for one with a rosewood board. The five's were the same. It's probably just me .

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1073883' date='Dec 31 2010, 05:54 PM']Well if you want to take the advice usually given it goes like this, You ask the slapper question, Done. We suggest everything and the answer usually comes down to a Stingray from most parties which obviously is the correct answer then the OP ignores all the advice and buys something else maybe a T Bird or something then 6 months later the OP reappears saying "bloody hell I had a blast on a mates Stingray last night and its amazing for slap I must have one" we all say I told you so and one or two people usually say get a Bongo instead which leads to an arguement about toilet seats and the thread is repeated a few weeks later with a new OP. Did I miss anything?[/quote] See my previous reply, there's only Flea in my list of players who uses (sometimes) a Stingray. You need to try the basses yourself and see what works for you. I've owned 3 Stingray 4 strings, and 2 Stingray 5's, I hated all of them, they simply didn't work for me, and the number that come up for sale suggests that the same applies for others too.

I suggest listening to you favourite 'slap' player. Mark King doesn't sound like Marcus, who doesn't sound like Stanley, who in turn doesn't sound like Victor who doesn't sound like Flea. Identify what (beyond the player), makes that particular player sound like they do. Mark King uses (now) Status basses, Marcus uses (mostly) Fender Jazz basses, Stanley uses Alembics, Victor Fodera and Flea a Stingray (amongst others). Each bass does have it's own inherent tone.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1072027' date='Dec 29 2010, 07:20 PM']I know that a Jaydee can be as versatile as any other bass when you start tweaking knobs and fiddling with your amp. But in essence, why should you? So a Jaydee sounds like a Jaydee? Why make it sound like a Jazz or P bass? You can still play all the same songs, just you'll get that lovely Jaydee tone coming through. Listen to how the Jaydee tone fits into this song perfectly and sounds incredible. I think there is too much focus on basses being versatile rather than just sounding excellent off the bat, which Jaydee basses certainly do. If you want something that sounds middle of the road, buy something middle of the road![/quote] That's what I was saying to a friend of mine earlier. I think it's how you 'play it', that's what's important. If you play like Mark King, then you'll sound like Mark King (tone wise anyway ). My friend is a great bass player, he plays with Martin Taylors 'Spirit of Django' band. He uses an old Aria semi acoustic bass for that particular gig. He 'thinks' of deep and woolly sounds, and imagines that he's playing an upright whilst playing. There's a lot of nonsense spoken and written about particular basses being suited for certain types of music.

[quote name='4000' post='1071343' date='Dec 28 2010, 10:37 PM']BTW, that's gorgeous. Aways wanted a Starchild JD; never got one. Now my back sadly couldn't cope unless it was made of balsa![/quote] I have to say, it's not light by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe that's where it gets its big sound from.

I'm after a series 1 in red, preferably with the planet inlays, if anyone has one please get in touch .

Here's mine. The one photo was taken by John about a month ago, just before it was finished. The othe rphoto shows what it look like now.

[quote name='Rich' post='1061269' date='Dec 17 2010, 07:50 AM']As a Status player and former Jaydee owner, I'd say Status every time. Jaydees are fun but too much of a one-trick pony IME.[/quote] Got to disagree with this, though I can see possibly why you say that, especially with the Mark King thing. I used my Series 3 Mark King bass on a session this afternoon. It was with a great Midlands singer called Judy Duff. We did 6 songs, all kind of jazz standards, 'L.O.V.E', 'New York, New York', 'Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps', 'Summertime', 'The lady is a tramp' and 'Almost like being in love'. The Jaydee performed amazingly on all the songs. The active tone circuit is very, very versatile, as good as any other.