OutToPlayJazz

Heh! Just needs an old gramaphone and a telex keyboard and you'll have the new Tardis console!

Both of those are really entry level instruments that you'd expect to find in a "with amp" package. Your £200 would get you a Squier Vintage Modified or Classic Vibe mint and used on the for sale pages on here. Or for just a little more, say £30 extra, you can get a new Ibanez SR300. That's a serious lot of bass for the money.

The thory with through body stringing is that you get more bottom end end more sustain because you're using the whole thickness of the body as the bridge. But as Chris says, there are a lot of variables from bass to bass. Some bodies/necks will be naturally more resonant than others in the first place, due to different densities in woods. The two Fenders I've had with through body stringing were the best sounding I've had, though. Rich.

You can get them new as an internet sale from places like DV247 and SoundsLive etc for about £800. So perhaps £600 is a reasonable price for a really nice one? A nice hard case would add a little to the price. Biggest addition is a better preamp on some of them. Hope this helps. Rich.

Congrats, Gareth Do you know if the white is solid or transparent like this beauty?

[quote name='MB1' post='800809' date='Apr 9 2010, 01:16 PM']MB1. ...Somebody i know keeps getting Marmite through his letterbox!...its not an endorsement though! [/quote] Are you sire it's Marmite, Martin?

[quote name='bassfan' post='799643' date='Apr 8 2010, 11:28 AM']Quick update on the Thread... I know have a pair of blondes.. one's a bleached the other is very dirty!! [/quote] Ah, the Dirty Blonde Thumb - Possibly one of the best basses I've ever played. Still want one!

Nice looking and varied collection you have there

The action looks as if it's several miles off the fingerboard, though. Not bad for "free", though.

Hmmm... Not sure on that one, Steve

Nice to see Jim's old Empathy getting a good workout in the video there! I like the SIMS flashing LED's, too! I suddenly feel inadequate because mine don't flash

[quote name='paul h' post='800639' date='Apr 9 2010, 10:30 AM']No, I don't think it will go that far. I think there will always be call for shiny new things. The point is that the whole relic issue is not really a big deal, although some people do seem to get a bit heated about it. And it's not exclusive to basses and guitars either. I like beaten up jeans and if I was in the minority then the shops wouldn't be full of them. I just think if that somebody is giving us relic fans a hard time while wearing a pair of distressed jeans, they need to think twice! [/quote] Nice analogy, Paul. You've definitely thought that one through!

Again, it's horses for courses. I use my 5's a lot as quite a lot of the parts I play are written down there. Even if it's only a couple of notes, the fiver is useful. In non-written music, I find myself using the B string a lot, yes. As others have noted, it provides more routes to the E-string notes and greater "working across the strings" options. The other consideration I find is speed. Obviously with the neck being wider on any given 5, it's going to be a little more ponderous than a super fast 4. I ended up playing the panto on a 4 because there were some wickedly fast parts that I just couldn't get around on a 5-string neck quite quick enough. Rich.

[quote name='paul h' post='800096' date='Apr 8 2010, 07:25 PM']Jeans!!! I keep meaning to ask the shiny fans, what kind of jeans do you all wear? I assume you wear plain, dark denim ones. Or do you wear faded or distressed ones? [/quote] Smart black ones with smart black shiny shoes

I'd string the fretted/fretless Ibanez as a standard six-string personally. Having a fretless G & C would be quite interesting. There's a luthier in Ripon who did something similar a few years ago.

[quote]Mind you, I play with a pick, but I dunno if that's the same for you.[/quote] You play with a "pick"???!

The little Roland Bass Cube RX can run on batteries...

Yes, I played the cheaper one - The 200? - It was a lovely bass to play. Like a Precision with a broader set of frequencies. Really nice to play as well

I know exactly what you mean. I like the grittier high-end sound as well. Your best options would be another MusicMan, a Status, Warwick Corvette $$, or a Yamaha TRB series bass. These all have a lot of treble available in the sweeter frequencies. Some actives do sound very harsh in a nasty sense when you give the treble some serious boost due to differing frequencies used on the preamps. All the basses listed above sound quite sweet in this situation, but the nasty harsh treble category [for me] consists of active Fenders, Spector Euros, Jackson CMG's, Yamaha BB's & Ibanezes. That isn't to say I don't like any of the above basses - It's just my own personal experience. Hope this helps Rich.