OutToPlayJazz

I use both... Wooden necked basses for 60's stuff & jazz. For rock/funk, etc., it's graphite all the way. It just cuts through so much better. Still want a wooden Fodera, though!

Yes, MIM is made more cheaply in Mexico, but you really have to try a few before you make your decision. I've played a lot of MIA turkeys, badly made and finished and some great to play & excellently made MIMs. Took me a long time to find a really good MIA, but the effort was worth it. Lovely bass. You can never tell. Just play them and buy the one you like the sound and feel of best!

You go for it! Hope you'll have many happy hours playing it

As the guy said, the Lakland does a pretty convincing clone job of the three basses, but it sounded a little tinny to me compared to the old jazz which had a lot more body & depth to it. Should they have stuck with the barts? Edit: Just listened to it again through a much better speaker system & I still think the Fenders sounded a lot fuller & creamier, but the Lakland did eat the MusicMan for breakfast. Much nicer hifi sound. Perhaps it wasn't a particularly good example of a MusicMan?

Difficult one to explain, this one... The output on my Geddy Lee (and previously Mex Jazz V) was rather weak. Yes, you can turn up the input gain on your rig, but the lovely sweet hifi sound you get at low volumes (or on smaller practice amps) suddenly becomes very harsh when the gain is raised. I can filter some of this out with the preshape filter on my MarkBass amp, but it's very noticable with passive basses. The weaker the output on the instrument, the more gain you're going to have to add & the harsher it's going to get. My active basses are much more even in this respect, ie. no particular loss of quality, possibly because you need a lot less gain to get the same volume - Ie., sweeter! Funny the difference it makes... I was at Mart's house yesterday & we compared his Lakland DJ5, Fender Precision USA, Lakland Bob Glaub with Villex mods & my USA S1 Jazz all through the same practice amp with no changes in settings. There was a massive difference in quantity of outputs between the four. So all in all, if you have a passive bass, it does make a difference, but to a lesser extent on an active bass.

I've played an MM22 a couple of times (the Sterling version with active preamp & twin humbuckers) against a lot more expensive basses at Electro music. I'm talking high Sandbergs, Laklands, Fenders, etc., and the damned thing played better and sounded better than the lot of them. I had to really stop myself from buying it, as it's an amazing bass for the money. I'll agree the passive OLP's are a little weak on output, but this MM22 is an absolute monster!

Having played all three today, I'd say you have a nice little brace there, Mart! Was particularly taken by the DJ5. Simple, not a massive output, but a really nice sounding bass & great to play, too!

For the nicest, least harsh slap tone, I follow the following... On the bass, make sure both pickups are turned full up, so you have equal volume between them. (Or if you have a pickup balance control, leave it in the centre detent.) Turn treble & bass to full (might want to drop the bass frequency off just a little, depending on how powerful your preamp is!) If you have an on-board mid control, leave it in the middle. If you have a mid boost/slap switch, find the "cut" position. Too much mid just makes the bass sound harsh and unforgiving. On the amp, it's a similar story - Treble turned to max, bass to about 2 o'clock (depending on how 'bassy' your instrument is), and all mid frequencies bang in the middle. Just one more thing... Make sure you have clean strings. Dirty old strings don't ring well, and you need that clean, zingy sound for slap. Enjoy!!!

Awww, I really wanted to come & do this one! Nottingham is my old stomping ground, bandwise. Played for years with Don Johnson, Phil Tanner, Barry Turner, Mick Rutherford, etc. In fact, the rest of my band (The PHD) come from the area. (Paul Dunn & Brett Hallam) Why do all bashes have to be on Sunday? I play at the Sands Venue at Gainsborough on Sunday lunchtimes & teach around that job all morning & all afternoon. Hoping to get to a bash sometime in the future, though. JohnGH will have to keep the Status end up, as it were

I prefer my fours for fast funk playing, but my TRB-6 has definitely found it's place. It's great for jazz noodling, or playing in big bands/musical theatre where there are a lot of awkward keys to get around (due to the wind & brass) you can work across the board with more strings to play with, instead of sliding up and down the neck so much. I've also found it's a great alternative to my Triumph upright or any of my double basses. With a completely different tonal pallette and huge extra range. Whereas every 5 I've owned has been sold, I love my 6! Just makes perfect sense... To me, anyway!

Like the look of your Modulus as well. Never played one, but always fancied a go! Did your Precision arrive yet?

Thomann have them in stock in white [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/epiphone_thunderbird_iv_ltd_edition_aw.htm"]here[/url]!

Have a look on the lessons section on www.victorwooten.com The first page of the Classical Thump is the last section of the "Open hammer pluck" lessons. Took me a while, but I can get through the first 2 and a half pages of the damned thing now! (I ended up buying the book!)

*Grins* I knew Merton would pick up on your Retroactive! They're lovely basses, the pair of them! Remember that even if you don't like your new Fender neck, uncle Rob of Colchester can always make you a better one for the Precision Many thanks for the extra pics. Always great to meet another Status player!

If you shop around, you can get the Deluxe Squier jazz active V for only a little over £200. Like [url="http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product.asp?id=6021"]this[/url] one!

As Deep Thought said, the S1 switch on the jazz is very good, but not quite as effective on the precision. Not really any point in a badass bridge for American Fenders, as they all have through body stringing, which gives a better sound anyway. When you're through body stringing, there's so little string touching the bridge that a badass makes little or no difference. If however you're going to string via the bridge, the badass is a great idea. Best of luck with the Precision, anyway. I changed my Jap Geddy Lee for an S1 jazz & haven't been disappointed. Rich. Love the look of your Status Retroactive, btw... Got any better pics of it?

Yes, I saw this ad on ebay, too. Very confusing how they're advertising a new American Standard but showing the pics of an S1 model from the shop floor. Did you call them & check which one it actually is? If it is an American Standard, you could be the first on this server to have one! Do us a good review with pics! Rich.