OutToPlayJazz

I've been eyeing up these for 3 years & if my Hofner sells, I may get one. Love the cherry red finish & if your new Hipshot bridge sounds as good as it looks, you're onto a winner there!

I played a TRB1004 the other day at a friend's shop... Yes, they are inferior to the older Japanese TRB II's. The comments MACHINES made about the wood are correct - It is a cheaper wood body with a maple cap. It felt fine quality-wise & had huge presence, but felt like a bass relying on it's electronics, rather than the wood. My own TRB-6 II has a much more centred sound and is a lot sweeter. The new 1004 I played was very harsh sounding. Definitely cheaper, but worth a go all the same. My advice would be to go for the Japanese one from GAK, although make sure it's not the last one - I've been eyeing those up myself!

I read with great interest the Mike Brooks review of the new Ibanez SR300 in this month's edition of BGM. Has anyone tried one of these & can a sub £250 bass really be that good??

I've always thought it to be the distance from fingers to thumb (neck thickness?) If I play a musicman or a particularly thick necked Precision, I get hand cramps as well. String spacing only affects accuracy in playing. If you're supremely accurate, 16.5mm spacing is no problem for great speed in playing, but I usually find 19mm is more comfortable and natural feeling. Do you change your hand shape/angle to play on different strings? I always tell pupils to think in terms of the left hand coming up from under the neck (as opposed to from behind), and that the thumb should always be behind the neck, never on top or hooked over, but behind the middle finger. The hand should not move or change shape to play on different strings, either. I find my thinner necked basses are the easist to play, but my recent MIA S1 Jazz was a really comfortable neck, even though it was thicker than my previous Geddy Lee.

I've got one in the for sale forum at the moment. I'd keep it, but I'm going totally Status (apart from my TRB-6!) Awsome bass, as the others have said, amazing versatility, huge punch & not much not to like.

I won't comment here on the Modulus necks, as I've never played one, although they seem to have plenty of fans on here. One thing that will make a difference, especially on the Status through-necks is the fact that they lacquer the whole body/neck join with the same resin they originally bind the necks with. This makes the whole instrument resonate as one unit (to a certain extent). As for some of the graphite necks warping... I know Rob added trussrods some time ago, but my original 1988 series II had one of the original solid necks. In 16 years of hard playing it never budged at all or caused any issues. This bass was left in car boots in severe sub-zero temperatures, toured in Canada in the winter, toured in the Middle East, etc. Never had a single problem with any form of neck warping. I did, however, see a prototype Status neck at a place called Northworthy Guitars in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, which had gone slightly wrong & had bent into all sorts of weird angles! This was one of the really old necks from when Rob was outsourcing the graphite moulding, basically before Status made their own graphite necks.

Re. the original video... An excellent copyist with great technique! Lovely sound as well from that JV Squier! I'm surprised some of you haven't discovered Lydia yet. Her L42 tribute "Heathrow" is very good as well. Favourite Lydia vid? Lydia on bass 5. You'll see why straight away! [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Mam6qsF3M"]She's here![/url]

I always thought Thomann had a 28 day returns policy? Sure I've seen it on the website somewhere...

[quote name='Sibob' post='176613' date='Apr 14 2008, 08:10 PM']My year of birth dontcha know [/quote] Gawd, I feel ooooold!

Congrats Chris... You seem to be addicted to Precisions in the same way as I'm addicted to Statiis!

Hmmm... Cool in a heavy metal sorta way... [i]"... Jonas the bass-maker didn't do smooth curves - He was ill on that particular week of Luthier school!"[/i]

Seriously cool with the black guard!

Fabulous collection! Love the Alembic - Drop me a PM anytime you fancy parting with it! I think Rob called your KingBass an Artist, as it's a standard with a special order gloss coloured finish. Yes, artists usually have the through neck, but yours is a sort of cross-hybrid between the two An "Art" or an "Ist"??

Hugely versatile bass! Great sound with both pickups on full. Almost biblical

I've played Spectors & have liked them, but they're a bit of a leaden tool, rather like a Precision. Huge thumpy sound & presence, but I much prefer the TRB. More of a hifi bass (not surprisingly) more like a wooden Status. The newer ones with the piezo in the bridge sound absolutely amazing. I'd like the new TRB-6P myself! Again, depends which one fits you best & which one you like the sound of the most. Perhaps also, the type of music you play. The TRB will do almost everything, and the Spector is mainly a rock bass with it's aforementioned punch. Homer, liked your interview in BGM this month!

I did a dep job this weekend, possibly the strangest of my life! (Apart from the one at the nudist colony some years ago!) Played this week for the "Ancholme Riverside Jazz Band." Nothing strange there I hear you say, but then think on the lines that all the members of this excellent dixieland band were a minimum of 30 years older than me! The drummer was easily 80 & still grooving away, the trombonist & trumpet player were in their early 70's & the sax player (who was absolutely awsome!) was 85 if he was a day! The moral of the story? Keep on playing no matter what! Age doesn't matter. These guys were an inspiation!

One of the schools I work at has an electric piano that was toured by Elton John. I'll get a picture of it this week, but other than that, no interesting celebrity instruments that I know of.

No matter how many strings you start out with, get a decent beginner double bass method book, like "Strictly Strings" or "Team Strings." Learn to read notation, then the world's your oyster! Also start figuring out lines by ear early on (from your favourite recordings.)

[quote name='MB1' post='175611' date='Apr 13 2008, 01:07 PM']MB1. Theres a lot to be said for the Hardcase!......Great for keeping your bass safe!.....sh*t for skateboarding with! [/quote] Not so sure there, Martin... If you land in the drink with your skateboard, you can always use the hardcase as a paddle!