tempo

I find any bass (or guitar) horrible to play if it has a gloss neck, so a lot of fenders have never felt right. The BC rich "mockingbird" shape is possibly the most uncomfortable shape invented, also trying to play a "V" shape sitting down
Ive never had any issues with neck sizes or shapes though, but i play a Conklin 7 with a runway for a neck. And an Ibanez with "jazz" style neck (as well as other basses & guitars). I love the few Warwicks I've played, yet not got on with virtually every Fender, the exception being a USA jazz deluxe 5- lovely.

If you like this check out Michael Hedges (R.I.P). He almost invented this style of acoustic wizardry. Jaw dropping.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='30786' date='Jul 12 2007, 04:19 PM']Actually Teen Town was recorded on fretted bass.

Alex[/quote]


Never knew that! I was always under the impression Jaco played fretless pretty much exclusively.... We live and learn.

[quote name='guyl' post='30635' date='Jul 12 2007, 11:31 AM']Don't worry if you don't gig your 6-fretless - it will be great for ironing on. Just be careful with the fret filler - might make a mess of your iron![/quote]

Lol, it would be great for sleeves & trouser legs!

Got the filler/sanding and polishing done. Took the fret slots down further and adjusted the action at the bridge. I'd never picked up a fretless before this, so was a bit of a shock. Absolutely loving it though, every bassist should have one. I don't know many fretless "lines" (Hey you, Teen town is about it), but loads of "normal" lines take on a different meaning, Rush's YYZ is a blast!
[attachment=1143:12072007072.jpg]

I'm currently using a 2.5XL. I've tried the TP410, 410XL & 4.5XL. Sound wise, there isn't a huge difference between the XL & the TP. But the ".5" range are a different class altogether! Deeper lows, higher highs, more defined mids. The cabinets for them are a fair bit bigger, and therefore tuned differently. Not the lightest cabs in the world though (I see moving them part of my work-out ) Price wise, If you look at Thomann, there is a £30 difference between the 410XL & 4.5XL. (Thats 12 pints down the pub! How much is your sound worth?)

Well I've just filled the slots with some "plastic wood" from the hardware shop. got to wait a few hours before sanding again. Don't think I will be coating the board as it's not gonna get a huge amount of use. But then again if I notice too much wear...
Ive filed the nut slots down a bit, will prob get them down even further, as the set up is done.

Wazz, you will prob get away with the duties etc. I have both times I've ordered four 6 string sets @ $80 (£40).

I've been toying with the idea of getting a fretless recently, but as I predominantly play a 7, didn't really wanna go for a 4 string just out of financial necessity. My Hohner 6 hasn't had any playtime since I got the Conklin, so I bit the bullet and de-fretted it this evening.
Took about 45 mins to get the frets out, and spent a further 10 sanding it down. Not the finished article yet, I'm gonna fill in the fret slots, not sure what with yet.




Any advice/comments welcome.

Pete.

I use ebay shop "mymusicstuff" even after shipping from Usa, costs are well below anywhere I've seen in UK. Here's a link [url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/MyMusicStuff_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm"]http://stores.ebay.co.uk/MyMusicStuff_W0QQ...sQ3amesstQQtZkm[/url]

You may find Ibanez don't release that particular model in Europe. There are quite a few differences in the catalouges between USA Europe and Japan. (eg. my RD605 is still listed in the japan market, but nowhere else). If you wanted one that bad you could import one from the USA. Personally I would just get the SR505, fantastic bass, much better neck and electronics than the lower series.


Pete.

Neil Peart - Drums
Steve Vai - Guitar
Justin Chancellor - Bass
Robert Smith - Guitars/Vocals

Amazing how predictable most of us are! I love Rush, Tool, The Cure (Simon Gallup), The Smiths (Andy Rourke) And Loads Of Others, but the most influential musician/bassist for me is J.S. Bach. The left hand of god!

I live on my own so don't have to worry about domestic harmony & damage!! I tend to have a bass/gui**r/amp in whatever room I'm in (except the bathroom & kitchen) . I have a few of the single stands around the house for when they're not being played. Though I do like the idea of hanging them on the walls.

Oh, I wasn't aware "Thumper" was a BFM builder (Though knew he had built one for himself) interesting if I did go down that route in the future. I do have my heart set on an Acme though, 'cos I am ultimately after a full range "flat response" rig, that i can colour through the pre-amp/efx.

Mmm.. My faves are; YYZ/Freewill/Digital Man/Middetown Dreams- Rush
Save a Prayer/Rio- Duran Duran
Lemon Song/Gallows Pole- Led Zepp
Disposition/Schism/Right in Two- Tool
Love Foolosophy/Too Young To Die/Runaway- Jamiroquai
Silly Love Songs/Paper Back Writer- Sir Paul.
Running Free/The Trooper- Maiden
Cold Cold Heart- Nora Jones
Prototype- Outkast
Distance- All saints (think its Stu Zender)
Turn It On- Level 42.
Reach Out/Bernadette- Four Tops
Lovesong/Lovecats- The Cure
Money/Hey You/Time- Floyd
Could You be Loved/Waiting in Vain- Bob Marley & The Wailers

Bare knuckle Pickups. ( [url="http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk"]http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk[/url] ) They dont advertise the bass pickups they make, but will hand wind to customers specification. Hopefully if they get some more support from us bassists they can make the bass pickups more prominent.

All the usual suspects for me!
Rush's new album (err, some bloke called Geddy Lee),
Porcupine Tree (Colin Edwin),
Tool (Justin Chancellor),
Jamiroquai (Lucky to have several brilliant players, Paul Turner gets amazing tones)
Also, lot's of Bach, what a left hand!

I managed to get all three on the bed!

Top to bottom; Ibanez RD605, my main "band" bass, Conklin GT7, strung low F#-high C, and my first ERB, a Hohner BbassVI.
Not as exotic or expensive as some of the collections here, but gets me most of the sounds I like to cover, though I'm seriously thinking about an ACG filter pre-amp for the Hohner.

I use my zoom B2>zoom G7 which has a USB connection to my imac, I can listen to music and play bass/gu**ar through my Senn hd650 'phones.

Mental money that its gone for! I'm pretty sure when they start building again they will cost less than that.

Hi, yeah I have looked at the BFM designs, they look like a fantastic option, but I have no tools etc to make one myself. I do have a cabinet maker 20 yards around the corner from home though, so may well look into it in the future. A nice omni 10 + tuba 24 would probably do the job (of annoying the neighbours) !!

Just browsing ebay and noticed two basses next to each other, for all you Rush/Geddy fans;

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WAL-BASS-5-STRING-MK-3_W0QQitemZ140128330018QQihZ004QQcategoryZ4713QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WAL-BASS-5-STRING-MK...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2006-RICKENBACKER-4003-JETGLO-BASS-near-mint-OHSC_W0QQitemZ320125736239QQihZ011QQcategoryZ4713QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2006-RICKENBACKER-40...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]

Then they're would only be the jazz & steiny to get!

Sounds like they're for me then! I've been doing some shopping around and some calculations, and have worked out that a Low B2 cabinet will cost £450 all in at the current exchange rate.
........So it's a couple of months off the beer to pay for one!!

Thanks again for the advice Alex. My drummer is pretty dynamic, not a huge kit; we play pop/indie stuff (I know ...7 strings, overkill, ...I do a lot of chording.) At the moment I'm using an Ashdown EB combo+the hartke cab and it keeps up fine. (and sounds great)... but I'm wanting the sounds i get in my home studio, live. Probably too much too ask, Just seems Acme is the place to start.

Cheers Alex & Alemboid! informative as always. I was thinking of a 700-1000w power amp to drive it, as i am well aware that deep bass needs real power. Most of the pa amps (mackie etc) have sub (30hertz) filters, so would employ that. Another question(s) though, I already have a Hartke 2.5XL cab, would this work ok with the B2, or is its higher efficiency going to nullify the benefits of the Acme? Can the B2 handle small/med gigs w/o pa support (my band has just vox & guitar in the pa).

Cheers Pete.