Beer of the Bass

As it happens, I was rummaging through a drawer, and realised I still had the old set of Chromes I'd used a couple of years ago. I wasn't blown away by them when I had them on before (they were last on my fretless), but they're pretty good on my fretted bass. The feel is exactly what I'm looking for, and they're thick and meaty sounding with a bit of definition. I'm reserving judgement until I've used them with my band though - I always find it hard to judge how a sound will work live when I'm playing at home.

Hi Dave, what's the input impedance on the small DI-EQ? If it's high enough to sound good with a piezo (1Mohm or greater), it'd be really useful to me and I'd be interested in one. Will they have the usual crazy paintjob? I'd be happy if it did...

That Queen Street pawn shop does have a funky looking well-worn EB3 with added Precision pickup at the moment - I couldn't make out the tag (tiny print!), but I'd guess it'll be ambitiously priced...

Hmm, so many choices! Thanks for the input. I'm enjoying the Thomastiks at home, but just know that with the band I'll end up digging in too hard and getting that lovely rubber band effect. I've used Rotosounds, Chromes and Ernie ball flats in the past, but all on different (and fretless) basses, so it's hard to equate that to how they might sound on my fretted bass. I reckon I'm not quite ready to spring for the full Jamerson sound (foam mute plus well matured flats?), although that can be great in context. But with my bright sounding bass (heavy walnut body plus Darkstar pickup), I guess I can keep reasonable definition as long as there's some sustain there.

Are rotosounds still as rough feeling as they used to be? I had a set on my fretless about 10 years ago, and the roughness is all I can remember about them. I might give Chromes a try - if I like them I'll swap the TIs back to my fretless. Are things like LaBellas and pyramids at the thumpier end of the spectrum?

Ooh yes, I've been eyeing that up too, but can't really justify spending that amount. Looks nice though, and they do seem like decent folk in that shop...

I'm not going to name any names, but I reckon you haven't properly encountered condescending, elitist shop staff until you've checked out certain classical string instrument shops! Even the surliest guitar salesman can only aspire to that sort of attitude...

On a whim, I decided to try out the Thomastik jazz flats that I use on my fretless on my fretted bass. I'm really digging the sound, but I can't quite get on with the low tension on this bass. I like the Thomastiks because they're nice and mellow sounding, with a distinct flatwound sound to the attack, but not too dead and thumpy. Are there any flats that have these properties with a little more tension? Or should I just stick with them for a while and see if I get used to it?

Re. the Ibby pickups, I had the mudbucker lookalike from my old, dead Ibanez on my home-built bass for several years (then changed to a Dimarzio, then a Darkstar). The sound was kind of cool - very lively, characterful and clanky, but maybe a bit lean in the bottom end. Pretty aggressive sounding with a set of new Rotosounds! I think the coil and magnets were identical to the smaller bridge pickup, but with a different polepiece arrangement.

That crack in the back of the Ibanez will be the neck slowly creeping forwards due to the pickup cavity being too close to the end of the fingerboard. As it creeps, the neck angle will be changing and the action getting higher and higher. It happened to one I used to own - there just isn't much gluing surface with that huge pickup rout there. And the pickup on mine was a skinny little single coil under the cover anyway - what were they thinking when they chose that pickup for this bass?

Just did a wee trade with Andy for a mexican p-bass pickup - very quick and easy, would deal with him again.

A while back, the drummer I played with in my first band gave me a cassette with an old live recording of this song on. The bassline on that version was much more stripped down - no slappy bits, just really solid and driving. As good as this version is, I think I preferred it that way. Quite cool to see a pointy bass like that outside of a hair metal band though!

Can you mix and match types in a bulk order? I'd chip in for a couple of sets of flatwounds if you're including any in the order...

Isn't the medium action/Fender association more of a stylistic thing? i.e. a slightly higher action may suit the kind of playing styles that people tend to use those basses for? Of course, it's a massive generalisation, but there could be something in it!

Great idea! Do you think I can get my double bass on one? It would be a bit of a squeeze getting it in the lift to my flat though...

Just measured the string height on my electric bass out of curiosity. 4mm on the E, and 3.5mm on the G, and I'd always thought it was quite low! I think double bass might have warped my perception of these things. So perversely, I'm going to try lowering it a bit...

I find a gigbag on the back is a bit of a nightmare for cycling - I can barely see behind myself and the centre of gravity is a bit high. If I'm nipping across town with a bass guitar, I'll put my gig bag in a rear pannier on one side, with a couple of bungee cords around it. The body fits neatly in to the pannier, with the neck sticking up to somewhere well below shoulder level. Much better visibility and balance.

Cheers for pointing those out Pablo. Dave Holland is always worth hearing.

Interesting - I've never seen one of those. Do you mean the top of the bridge is scalloped in between where the strings rest? I wonder if it's done to reduce the mass without thinning the bridge too much?

I've also seen an article by Dan Erlewine from a couple of years back [url="http://www.bassplayer.com/article/superglue-savior/jun-06/20674"]here[/url]. I've thought about trying it on my Westone fretless, but never got around to it...

It's interesting seeing the sort of values assigned to these old German flatbacks. My own bass is one, though with plain maple back and sides and devalued by a rather ugly coat of varnish. I have an insurance valuation of £2750 from a few years ago, it was tagged in the shop at about £1700 (If I recall correctly), and after some negotiation I took it away for £750! I've since put in a further £500 for a new fingerboard, bridge, soundpost etc, but I can't help but feel that I did OK.

Dunno if this is relevant, but I had Thomastik Dominants on my last bass. They're a nylon cored string which keeps some of the feel of the spirocores (i.e. not floppy), bow more easily than the spiros and still have decent growliness and sustain for pizz. The only downside is their tendency to sudden breakage, though some people reckon you can avoid that with careful installation. They sounded good on that bass, but I've stuck with spirocores on the current bass as it came with them and sounded great. Dominants could definitely be worth a shot for mixed arco/pizz duties.

I'm not one for casting aspersions, but one of his two feedback ratings is for purchasing a miniature set of digital scales. Is this a clue as to the guys occupation?