OutToPlayJazz

Your Kramer 450b makes me want to don a curly wig & do an Alan Lancaster impression! Cool bass

Ah, soundman eh? So apart from any small gear/eq problems you may have, perhaps a short sharp talking to the pillock who's dicking around with your sound from the back of the room may be in order Let me guess... Does he ever say something like, "You should feel bass, not hear it!" Bet he does, LOL!

Awesome place, yes. Obviously with the current financial climate as it is, the current stock isn't that exotic, but yes, it's a bass player's toy shop as always!

[b]Dog chewed it, eh? Any excuse, boy! See me after school!!![/b]

I was thinking (have passed this past Dave Ryan's nose as well) of a clinic at Electro Music in Doncaster in the new year. Where we don't just show off our gear & chat, but we get to share experiences & technical knowhow with no pressure from "known" celeb players or anything. How does that sound? Rich.

Sounds as if your nails/fingertips are brushing the polepieces on the pickups. Common problem with Fenders/Fender clones.

You will naturally get a little less output with slap playing, but it shouldn't be that much. Try running the mids on the amp flat (centered) with lots of treble & bass. Also, make sure you have enough volume for the slap sound before you start. That way you can ease off on the strength you put into your fingerstyle playing. I notice also that you're playing a Warwick $$. Make sure that the strings are exactly centered over the pole pieces on the pickups or you lose a lot of volume on a $$. Had that experience myself. Rich.

Choices, choices... Which one? Or perhaps you'd like to pick me one off the Status stock pages...?

Wow! You need to play some Larry Graham lines on that baby now. It's just crying out for some 70's funk!

£733 at SoundsLive. Looks like a BB NE 5 with the Nathan East quotent removed Looks really good value if it has all the same electronics. You should get an excellent sound with the p & j's as well.

+1 Chris! The latest Squiers are in some cases better than the Fenders. Have you ever heard anyone going on about a bad vintage modified 70's jazz? Didn't think so! The current classic vibe range are excellent as well, by all accounts! Rich.

[quote name='fretmeister' post='341805' date='Dec 1 2008, 12:33 PM']I'm very simple. If it doesn't say "Status Graphite" on the headstock (or on the body!) then I won't buy it.[/quote] Took the words right out of my mouth!! But seriously, I do buy other brands of bass as well. As others have said, go for what feels right to you. If it feels like an uphill struggle to play, put it down. The "right instrument for you" will "play itself" in your hands. The least effort you need to make a pleasing sound is the best instrument for you. Alternatively, you can often find that many basses will feel so much better with just a new set of your preferred strings added into the mix. You never can tell! I also go for the sound I like... Make sure that you're trying basses through a good rig that you like the sound of & set the eq how you'd have it for a gig. Too many dealers will by default hand you a £2k bass to try through a 50 quid amplifier! Best of luck with it & take your time. The first professional bass I bought (yep, a Status), I played for 16 years almost exclusively. Rich.

As said earlier in the thread, the BB614 is excellent. I bought a lovely one from King Tut the other week & I've just set it up on light strings & sold it to a pupil. Where else do you get this kind of quality with three-band active eq for this kind of money?? Rich.

I played a new Lakland JO 4-stringer the other week. Lovely bass with through body stringing, etc., but it had very narrow string spacing. Definitely not 19mm. Is this normal on Lakland jazz models?

There're a couple of nice Squier VMJ basses on here for about £150 or thereabouts. The most important thing is to have a good amp at this stage, I think. Someone mentioned a Roland Bass Cube 30 for sale on the forum. They punch well above their weight & sound fantastic. If you can get something like this combination you're onto a winner of a start. Rich.

Lovely looking bass you've got there, Karl. I was just thinking that the closest thing you could get Fender-wise at the money would be a passive Mex Jazz V. Good score! Has it got the tone pump active on board? Rich.

Just take your time, change one at a time so you keep the neck tension roughly the same. Make sure you wind the strings from top to bottom on each post, holding the string down to the surface of the headstock near the post as you wind, in order to ensure the best string tension. No need to cut strings really, unless you have a short scale like a 30" Hofner.

[quote]I always get introduced as the Baldest man on stage......[/quote] Hey Jay! We have the running joke that it's the drummer's turn for the wig this evening, as both Paul and I are severely folically challenged!

Banning people from the forum should be left to the moderators. Otherwise we would have mob rule. Simple as that.

Hmmm... As Bilbo says, it's an easy way to come unstuck. You need some playing experience first in the field. By all means get out there and do some playing, but I don't think they'll consent if they're top of the bill. After all, they're being paid as a known organ trio. QED?

Yes, Warwick & Spector give you a big growl. I really like my Warwick for thatr very reason. But the most gutteral growl is from the graphite neck of a Status. Nothing sounds like it and nothing cuts through the mix like it. On the subject of getting growl out of an existing bass, you need a good balance between the pickups, play midway between the two & make sure you have plenty of treble and bass eq'd in either on the bass or the amp. Bright new strings help, too. As strings age, they become smoother, more like flats. You'll get a bigger growl with rougher strings. (The cheaper option to try!) Rich.

Try the Status hotwires. They seem to last a long time for me & I play live a lot. I've also tried the DR Marcus Miller FatBeams. They seem to be a lovely soft string with amazing tone as well. Especially good for Fenders. Rich.

That SEi is lovely! Nice Status, too. Glad you kept it in the end?

Thanks first of all to Jakesbass & Bilbo for some excellent wisdom on this topic... Something Bilbo mentioned about what you play being important struck a chord with me. I'm now at the point of time-poverty with all the daytime music teaching work I do & all the playing as well. I really love the jazz work I do & it's a real pity the private functions business has dried up do to financial situations, etc. Only the bigger corporate stuff is still coming in at the moment. It is unfortunate that I have to go out and play in a rock trio & with a big tribute band, because I know I'm only doing that playing for the money, as opposed to for my personal satisfaction. Given the time I'd set up my Flecktones-style band with piano, bass, drums, electric violin, soprano sax & tuned percussion. But for the time being I have to grin and bear classic rock & cheesy 80's pop. Ah well Rich.