OutToPlayJazz

Unfortunately, I haven't had any free time to record the bass yet, but I have been gradually updating it... Here in new non-flash daylight pictures showing more of the true colour. After doing my own cut off the top I still wasn't happy with the standard adjustable bridge, so I took it to my luthier (Paul Holt in Derbyshire) and he spent three hours cutting a new solid bridge from a fresh blank and now it works a treat. It's lost some of the overt boom, but the tone is very nice. While Paul was cutting the new bridge, I re-filed the nut grooves which needed to go down a fair way. Now it's a highly playable jazz bass with a seriously low action and no buzz. Just what I was looking for. I also got another spare French bow. My best bow is being repaired as it has a large crack in it, so I picked up another nice pernabuco bow by G.Werner (manufactured by Dorfler - I've had their cello bows in the past, so I know they're nice things.) I also got a fishmanB100 pickup which sounds awful through the bass cube (feeds back a lot), the bass sounds fantastic through the Genz Benz rig, so no need for another amp. It's actually the first time I've looked seriously into mic-ing up a double bass as I've always either played them classically or plugged in an electric or my Triumph EUB in the past. The sound is excellent, but I do have to turn the horn units off & lose nearly all the treble. So the total cost? Well, the bass was discounted down to £650 for me in the end (I sold them the silly hard case back!), Fishman preamp £125, new bridge/setup £60, Dominant strings, £120 & the spare bow, £159. So just over £1100 to get a highly workable bass on the road. I'm still looking at one of the full size basses at Thomann (the Romanian Hora produced Thomann bass 44) and may get one to compare and sell the lesser instrument. Good news is that someone will get a well set up and equipped good quality bass for peanuts. Also of course, my good bass doesn't have to be left overnight in theatres any more.

Having played both, I'd go for the Stagg. One of my pupils has one & it really nails the EUB sound, especially at the price point. Red is seriously cool, too.

Sounds good enough reason to me, Lojo. I'm also lambasted for being a Status aficionado but I don't care, either. For me and all the stlyes of music I play, there's nothing better.

As a purely pragmatic pro who won't keep a bass that isn't earning him money, I'd say that if you've already been thinking about it, you'll probably end up doing it and finding something else you'll gig. Much better in the long run. Anyway, who do you think you are with that Rickenbacker plank? Lemmy?

A nice 5-string Status S2-Classic like mine (either headed of headless.) Easily within your budget & I'll bet they have a nice one on stock at the factory, too. Only problem is that it'll overshadow all your other basses and you won't want to play them anymore... Failing that, the best all-wood 5-stringer I've played was an MTD535 that Molan had. Amazing sounding bass!

Strangely, the one I thought I'd really miss, I don't at all. I sold a couple of very good basses a year ago to fund a practically mint 1990 Status SII in cocobolo & cherry wood. I had the original preamp reinstalled & a full service/fret dress at Status & it came out as good as new. Curiously, it then sat in it's case for about a year. I somehow preferred the sound of the newer S2-Classic models I play now. The one I'll always miss is my original Status SII #402. There was something special about that one - It resides in the USA now & the current owner is just as smitten as I was for 16 years of ownership. Maybe it'll be back some day...

Depends on the luthier. No more than a couple of hundred, I'd imagine - Possibly less.

Here's something for you to watch...

It's one way of treating the unfinished necks on Stingrays in particular. The gunstock oil combined with some sanding makes the necks smoother. The other route is to get the neck refinished by a luthier. The previous owner of my Stingray had the neck refinished in satin lacquer. It's sublime. It's a matter of taste, basically. Some people like the feel of the unfinished necks. I hate them, hence I sold my Stingray 5. Geddit? Satin lacquered neck refinished by luthier...

Very nice, Scarified. Did you get the SmartBass new? I always fancied one of the five stringers with the dark walnut body and the MM-J pickup configuration.

Congrats on your new bass, tredders. I've played a couple of these and yes, they are really great sounding basses.

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='759257' date='Feb 27 2010, 05:20 PM']Like a banjo where the machinehead sticks out the neck? [/quote] Sorry, I thought you were talking about the banjo with it's neck sticking out of a skip there for a moment!

It's the special version with the disappearing B-string

Cue the "Twilight Zone" music...

That's a tough one - You really need to get it to a technician who knows their preamps and pickups very well. I know it's an obvious one, but did you try changing the battery? A failing 9v can do strange things to your bass's output. The other thing I thought of was that the series/single coil/parallel switch could have a bad connection, or your pickup may be on it's way out. Also, check how good the jack socket is - They can wear out very quickly on underside mountings at times. It's so difficult to tell & you really need an expert to have a look at it.

I've played Higgie's Stingray with the Nordstrand replacement pickup and that sounded immense... My Ray has the original MM pickup (2000 model with piezo bridge as well) but it seems to have variable height polepieces, so I use a lot of curvature between the strings & have the pickup pretty close to the strings - About 4mm off between the D & A polepieces which are the highest. I don't suffer the loss of volume on the G string at all and with the pickup set much higher than usual my Stingray seems to have a lot more punch than most 3eq's. Strangely, there's no distortion either, which I was expecting with the pickup so close to the strings. I don't know if you'll be able to see from the pictures, but the pickup is up pretty high now on mine. Then again, I do play in a very gentle and tactile manner usually.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='755732' date='Feb 24 2010, 02:00 AM']Still enjoying myself though so it won't be hard to stick at it. I think it will improve my bass guitar playing in a few different respects too. Great instrument and I wish I'd taken it seriously earlier.[/quote] Quite true, you'll find that if you employ the db fingering technique on your electric, you'll end up a faster and much more economical player. Are you playing mainly by ear or reading, btw?

More significant voteage for keeping the Stingray. Don't do it.

*Waves* across the Humber Bridge from the south bank - Welcome!

The first thing you want to try is some good fresh strings, a setup to your preference & then move the pickup so that the D & A strings are about 3-4mm off the pickup poles. This gives the 3eq much more bang for your buck without swapping pickups, etc. Of the replacement pickups I've tried, I loved the sound of the Nordstrand unit, but mine sounds just great as it is on the original now I've changed the pickup height. And there's no loss of volume on the G, either.

Congrats on your new bass - I've had a couple of BB614's & as you say, they're great basses for the money. As usual for wooden necked basses, they seem to run really well on Marcus Miller sig. DR Fatbeams 40-100. That'll give you a little more speed again and they last ages. Strangely enough, one of my pupils ordered the raspberry red as well.

Not a hope. Not a prayer. My gear is my living and cost me an utter fortune. No one else plays it without my strict supervision. And yes, I was an only child!

[quote name='silddx' post='753965' date='Feb 22 2010, 03:53 PM']I'm tempted! How does the lightshow actually feel if you have your thumb over the top of the neck?[/quote] Sorry silddx, but I just can't resist this one... Your thumb should [b]NEVER[/b] be over the top of the neck. It's terrible technique. So there.