OutToPlayJazz

[quote]Really? - I thought Status had their parts manufactured in somewhere like Japan. Could be wrong i suppose! lol[/quote] No, I remember Dawn telling me about it , as it was touch and go whether I was going to get shiny "bling" hardware on my Series 2 last year. Hopefully my new KingBass will be just as bling this Thursday when I pick it up

Although I love my 5-string double bass (I treat it as a full five as opposed to a 4 with an extra string, mentally-wise), I've never got on with any of my electric 5's. It somehow feels unbalanced to me & seems to slow me down - Perhaps not a bad thing in some eyes, LOL! Which brings me to my Yamaha TRB-6 which I adore! 6-strings seems to make more sense mentally & gives me the extra low end range I need and more soloing possibilities at the top end. As the others have said, the 35" scale gives an unrivalled tone. I suppose that it's having transferred double bass technique across to electric, I haven't had any problems with the 35" scale hand-wise, either. Looking forward to getting back into 32" scale this week with my new KingBass as well! Oh, and resting the thumb on the B-string does help, especially with stopping the B booming along with your playing all on its's own!

Was that the company where the guy died suddenly? If it is, it's caused supply problems for shiny gold hardware at Status-Graphite.

I liked the slide technique, but the lack of any LH technique or basic intonation ruined it a little... Interesting take on bass playing, but murder on the ears, LOL Perhaps the video title of "Wishbass" has some relevance?

Welcome back, Chris! You'll be needing those fingers for the creation of deep booming sounds - Careful mate!

After three weeks of shows & an excellent week at the end of the period playing "Spend Spend Spend" on my cello, followed by a nice and easy jazz gig at the Sands Venue in Gainsborough, there had to be a payback somewhere along the line... Played this Saturday with "The 3 Beats" at a WMC in Hucknall, Nottingham. Boring 60's stuff (had to play my Hofner!), boring but big audience (who were only interested in the bingo) & very reasonable pay. The verdict? Soul destroying yet rather profitable! Remember the much repeated scene in Phoenix Nights where the two uninterested old ladies tap one hand on the table in time to the band while waiting for bingo? I was there!!! Welcome to my life. F**k, I hate clubland!

Yes, it looks like a higher spec S1. Could also be an Energy Artist, but they usually only had the three controls (only a tone boost & no little switch.) Just looked through the brochures on Statii.com. It's definitely a Series I (made at about the same period as the Empathy. It has an identical body shape to the Series 2/Empathy but with bolt on, graphite re-enforced wooden neck & 2-band eq. Value as the others said, up to £450 if it's a nice one.

I've come to the point where anything I buy has to make me money and so therefore has to have a specific job to do. But then I am picking up my second new Status bass in three months within a week or so! Hmmm... The theory is failing already!

[quote name='dub_junkie' post='145549' date='Feb 23 2008, 12:40 PM']just seen the pics - in the top and bottom ones the colour looks a bit like the MIM 5 string you had - and in the middle one more like chrome red or candy apple red,very nice with the maple board. I like it[/quote] [b]Yes mate, it does look very different in various light sources. Looks more Candy/Chrome red in artificial light, but in natural light you can see it's the Candy Cola one straight away. Not as dark as my midnight wine 5-er.[/b] [quote]Nice Bass Rich. I also had a long 'hate' relationship with MIA Fender. Always felt they were lightweight compared with MM and a bit overpriced. However second hand they make a good deal. The S1 2004 Precision I've got is a keeper and has replaced my Thumb BO4 as my main gigging bass, mainly because it's got that old-school vibe and balances much better (doesn't compare for slap/pop tho lol).[/quote] [b]Thanks, Mart! It certainly has taken a while to find a good one! BTW, Sound Control have bought up the last batches of S1 basses & they're selling them at £699. Jump in while they're there![/b]

I've just traded my CIJ Geddy Lee signature for an end of run MIA S1 Jazz. Quality on the CIJ really was fantastic, but I prefer the neck on my MIA with the stability of the "posiflex" graphite rods & the slightly thicker profile. I think it's fair to say that there are good and bad in all the Fender ranges. I've played some fantastic MIM models & some really awful & badly finished MIA's over the years. Just go with the one that feels best at the shop

Pics now added:)

PsychoAndy's beautiful GB

Yes, I love the deep punch with the pickups in parallel setting! It was real surprise, as all the USAs I'd played in the last few months had been truly awful, so it's been great to find a really great quality one. Quality & fit/finish is on a par with the Geddy. Why did the Geddy have to go? Well, no matter what I did or who tried to set it up, it never gave the sound/output I was looking for from a jazz & the neck flex was truly terrible! Lovely fast neck to play, but so thin that it was forever changing shape & profile with the seasons. Additional note... If you lean backwards on stage while playing a Geddy, you raise the pitch of the whole bass by a quarter-tone just with the neck flexing! Pictures will be added to the original post as soon as I'm at home for long enough. Doing a week of Spend Spend Spend on my cello, so working even more hours than usual! BTW, just got a call from Dawn at Status... Need to do another trip to Colchester to pick up my new KingBass in the next couple of weeks )

Okay, so I retract my comments about the USA Fender basses... I finally found one I like & traded my Geddy Lee signature for it. Found a new S1 Jazz in Candy Cola with maple board that took my fancy. Biggest changes (for me) are the slightly thicker & hopefully more stable neck & a much higher output. (The Geddy was quiet in the extreme!) Just need to add a badass II now & it'll be up there with the best Pics to follow when I get a moment to take some! Edit: Hang on - The Badass II doesn't cater for through-body stringing, does it?

Lovely restoration job there by Mr.Diggins & a bass with a real history

That's an Allen Woody RumbleKat, isn't it? Nice looking bass. I looked at these ages ago & Epiphone or someone out there had sound samples on a website. Sounded really cool, rather like a bassier Hofner VB.

Hmmm... I know this sounds a little too obvious, but how about an Epiphone Thunderbird?

Hi John, Was just looking at your pics again & wondered if you left me enough "bling" gold hardware for my new KingBass? Rich.

[quote name='setekh' post='133920' date='Feb 4 2008, 09:49 PM']on a different note - does anyone know of similar (cool) basses with a price tag of under €1000? [/quote] Try the Epiphone Jack Casady... Lovely looking bass with a real distinctive sound as well.

My late Mother was once escorted home after a Cliff Richard gig by one Hank Marvin - What could have been, eh?

Oh, and while we're on the subject of ranting, call me anally retentive if you like, but would people pleeeaaase stop calling our much reverred instrument a bloody "GUITAR!!!" The electric bass was originally conceived as a handily portable alternative to a double bass (with the same tuning, basic technique, etc.) Any similarity in shape to the guitar is purely for convenience. It's a Bass & quite proudly so

Is this the five minute argument, or the full half hour?! I understand where ARGH is coming from in a way. I'm on a permanent mission to improve my playing and learn new techniques. But always remember that there will always be a place for the "simple plodder" with the P-bass at the back of the stage as well. I HATE playing classic rock, 60's, etc., but it's where the money is - The baby boomers love it and lap it up (and have all the disposable money!). We have to do it sometimes, otherwise the term "starving musician" would be more commonplace when we're done shoving our heads up our avantgarde arses

One of the drummers I work with has a new Mapex Kit made from thousands of years old wood dredged from a Peruvian lake. He hates it - It sustains and booms like a b*****d!

Nice bass, Nash. Will you do a review of this Vintage Modified Precision?

I know what you mean when questioning the lack of bottom end on a jazz... Or is it just plain output? I'm seriously falling out with my Geddy Lee in this respect. I love the sound of the bass in isolation, but in a band situation it just lacks any balls. Compared to my active basses (Status, Warwick, Yamaha, etc) I have to increase the input stage by 25% & the bass frequency by about 10%. The jazz just ends up sounding harsh to me. Rob Green at Status has offered to rout out some cavities in it & make it active with T-Bass electronics & I'm sorely tempted