OutToPlayJazz

Did you know you can now get a pre-aged Vintage "Icon Series" jazz copy? Have a look here... [url="http://www.jhs.co.uk/vintagebass.html"]http://www.jhs.co.uk/vintagebass.html[/url]

QUOTE Will anyone give me £200 for my Johnson P bass? No, its got the wrong name on the headstock, but you have no idea how it plays or sounds. Consequently, manufactureres must keep shooting out products that appear to have a premium value in future, especially considereing its not a consumable product, they are pretty much around forever. I know exactly what you mean... I picked up a couple of cheap Boston P-bass packages for rental & doubled the value of one by putting decent strings on it and setting it up! Okay, so it's not in the league of my other instruments, but it's as good as many p-basses you'll play. I've also been very impressed by the Crafter Cruiser series... Impecable build quality and great feel/sound. Remember, if it plays like a bag of sh*te, it probably is a bag of sh*te... The badge really is meaningless!

[quote name='lowdown' post='55745' date='Sep 5 2007, 09:48 AM']Did a tour show with him...and he was a very clever comic.... In fact to clever...half the time the audiance did not know what he was going on about...i thought he was great... Hey 'out toplayjazz'....do you know a drummer from your area called 'Bill Hayton'....?? Garry[/quote] Name rings a bell... But I've only been in the area for about 3 years, so not that well connected around here yet. Drummers we use are Dave Armshaw, Brett Hallam & Clive Loveday. Regards, Rich.

Just looked at the site... Finishes are beautiful... Don't know anyone who plays one, but they certainly look fantastic for the relatively modest price.

Yes indeedy... The Fender custom shop prices beggar belief! I could never justify a CS jazz when I could have another fully loaded custom made Status or Alembic (well, almost!) for the same money! Quite often there are some gems to be found in the lower ranges as well. I've played stock MIM Jazzes which seriously outshone supposedly superior USA models! In fact the last three brand new USA P-basses I played were utter crap and should've been sent back to the factory to be finished properly! (And the last two Mex P-basses were gems. I'm thinking of getting one!) I 'dabble' in a little g****r at times & I was surprised that my £370 Epiphone LP 56 Gold Top outshines my band's guitarist's white/gold Gibson LP Custom Shop instrument at around £2800!!! At the end of the day, it's down to the player and what fits them. I'd rather have a £400 bass that feels right and produces the sound I like, as opposed to a £2-3000 model which has all the prestige but none of the playability. Perhaps Chris is right... Are be being ripped off?

Hey guys, I'm sure some of you will have read the interview on bassplayer.com, or watched the video on bassplayertv.com, but here's the pic of Geddy's touring jazz bass collection, including the original '72 with the new custom shop signature neck, the new red one & the custom shop Jaco's. Enjoy!

I've backed Bob Monkhouse on three occasions - Very funny man, he was! Also backed Russell Watson on the "Passion of the Tenors" tour with Richard Courtise & Richard Brierbrook. Also played with/for many names on the classical circuit... Evilyen Glennie (deaf percussionist), Oliver Knusson (conducts at proms regularly), etc... We were actually supported by signed band "Twisted Angels" this year as well... Quite odd having the young pretties lapping up our "experience"!

I've already got a Status KingBass & a Geddy Lee Jazz, so what else? Hmmm.... A Marcus Miller Jazz would be nice... And a Stanley Clarke Alembic Sig... Quite fancy the Billy Sheehan Yamaha Attitude as well... Cool looking bass

There's a French guy who's recently posted on the bass porn section. He's got one, so you could ask him

I can only speak from a non-importing perspective as I've got the CIJ Geddy Lee jazz, but having owned a couple of Fenders before & played many, many more, I can definitely say the Japanese make the best ones by far. Quality, fit & finish is arguably better than the USA models, which feel a little, erm, unfinished to me in certian cases. Yes, the US marked models have genuine USA parts

I'd say that's about right... The Tribute series ones go for about £500 in the shops, but this particular one looks like a proper USA model. Lovely binding as well. Played one a while ago & it was like a more substantial MusicMan with a much better profiled neck.

Looks lovely, anyway Lovely sound, too?

Looks a nice neck you have there... Is that one of the custom shop ones where they "age" it for you? Being as this "attacked by a sander" finish is so popular, I'm thinking of going into business making cheap sunburst jazzes look "aged!"

I always fancied one of those "baritone" VI's. Pity the reissue is so bloody expensive! It's recently been quietly dropped from the Fender website as well. Is it nice to play? I'd imagine that it's pick playing only with the strings so close together!

+1 for the MIM Fender Jazz

Yamaha BB614 (the active version) if you look hard enough at that momey... Very cool looking bass as well!

Ace Pro ABT-406 (check out www.ace-distribution.co.uk) - I went to the Birmingham based UK importers & played all the Ace-Pro's & was rather impressed... Look at this 6-stringer... 3 band active eq, through neck & lovely feel & sound. All for under £200 as well! Make sure you pay them a visit, though. Standard of finish can be a bit hit and miss, but definitely worth a look!

Thanks guys... Some interesting ideas there... Wil, it's my jazz bass sound I'm not happy with... The active basses (Status & Warwick) sound utterly amazing through the MarkBass rig, but the jazz is a little too harsh. Maybe I need to play around with the VLE & VLF filters a little more before investing in something else?

I've been thinking for a while about trying a tube preamp in addition to the MarkBass... I know a great many of the effects units around these days do that kind of thing, like the Line-6 BassPod XT-Pro & the Behringer V-amp pro, etc... Are these a better bet than something like a proper Fender TBP-1 preamp?

Has to be a Tokai Thunderbird copy or the P-bass-alike "Hard Puncher".

[quote name='neilb' post='47095' date='Aug 18 2007, 11:20 AM']IMO, youve got to be able to emulate JEs playing to warrant owning a Buzz. Id hate to see some bloke with a black Buzz round his neck playing some root fifth pattern, or even worse.......playing Cant Get Enough of Your Love. Then again, I am biaised, John is my demi god and the reason I play. Im afraid, if you own a Buzz, you need a smallish rig to go with it: [/quote] [font="Arial Black"][/font][b][/b]Jeez, is that your rig? Does it blow women's clothes off during gigs??!!

Is your Warwick passive or active? Just wondered, as I have the Corvette $$ & it's sound is huge, both on top and bottom end. No nasty sounds at all. If however, you must have a jazz, go for the MIJ Geddy Lee signature model. Played mine in anger for the first time today at a gig & it sounded massive! Beautiful rich and rounded sound. MIM jazz basses are nice to play touch-wise, but the new updated pickups seem very low in output and uneven across the strings.

The real surprise was the black & white MIM Precision tucked around the corner with the 2nd hand amps. Mega sound and clout. The other one I liked was the black Status shark with the East-esque preamp & the badly re-fitted jack socket. Anyone tried the Sandberg California they have there? I loved that one - Very tempted to buy!

I played the original ATK four stringer many years ago at a friend's shop & found it to be a great funk & slap bass... Played one of the current ones a few weeks back & it was just as great. Feels like a lot of bass for the money! They seem to be Ibanez's answer to the Stingray but feel a lot more lithe and energetic. Go for the natural maple one - Seriously cool looking bass!