chris_b

If I was a manager at Fender I'd say, we already dominate the market sounding like us, so why should we want to sound like someone else. A working mans bass? Fender already did that 60 years ago and it remains one of the worlds most iconic and popular instruments.

Of course it's not a project they'd be interested in. But, hey, they replied and gave you some options that might get you close to your bass. How many companies are "too busy" to bother replying to speculative customer enquiries? 10 out of 10 for Fender. Talk to John Shuker. He'll make you one of these at a better price than Fender could. Off topic: Fender isn't doing "all right". The last I saw, earlier this year, they were up the Suwannee, trying to refinance a debt of approx $250 million, with low growth, low returns and an over dependence on Guitar Centre for sales, which isn't in great shape itself.

I understand that you want to stick to 4's, but the string spacing on the Lakland 5 ers is 19mm. The "buy new" restriction is a strange one. You can get a much better deal in the BC Classifieds.

OK, it's not got a lot going for it...... I'd recommend that you have a look at a Lakland. The Skyline 44-01 is in budget. What about making the jump to a 5 string.... 55-01?

What's wrong with your current bass? It's a jazz. It can be fixed.

You can take what you like but there is a cause which you have to address. Sounds like you're suddenly over using your fingers. Improve your technique. Turn your amp up and play with a much lighter touch.

I'd suggest putting the flats on yourself. I switched from rounds to flats on my Lull PJ5 and didn't have to change anything. On the other hand, Charlie would be a good place to go and I've just had a fret stone, set up and some work done on the battery clip on my Lakland at The Gallery. A good job done there as usual.

Any band that can generate a string of hits or successful records which are still played regularly nearly 50 years later isn't crap, bad or ([i]enter own pejorative term here[/i]). You may not like them but that's a completely different thing. With distance Motown now looks much better than the disposable pop that it was generally regarded to be at the time. Almost all of the musicians I have met who were into black music in the 60's bought Stax, Atlantic and Chess. Berry Gordy only wanted sales and it's a wonderful accident of circumstance that inspite of this his company was putting out a quality of production, writing and playing that has hardly been matched since. On the other hand the Funk Brothers had a very poor view of the quality of some of the stuff they were required to record. Carol Kaye didn't record in Detroit. Motown spend years recording in both LA and Detroit before they finally relocated to LA. Read Standing In The Shadows Of Motown.

I liked them all.... Check out 3 drummers ..... and no bass this time Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_o0nlYigVo[/media]

It was a number 1 hit and 25 years later enough people know it to be able to have a conversation about it and it's still earning for the artist and the writers. That makes it a good song on many levels.

.... here's some more [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zIAP1gfPkQ[/media]

There are some great clips of Jon Cleary going up on YouTube these days. Here's a taster..... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm-dnSJuQcg[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnKB0UYtXZc[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hBtH2WNa1s[/media]

IMO Ashdown 10's sound better than their 15's. I'd get the 210. You'll get as much bass out of the 410 but it will be tighter and less "pillowy", which is a better bass tone in my opinion. The 10's will be punchier with more definition in the notes.

The recipe for a good drummer is talent, intelligence and taste.

I have no idea how long any drummer takes to set up. As long as he hits his deadlines; line check, sound check, leaving the stage prior to start of set and actual start, who's counting. Drums are affected by room acoustics as much as any other instrument. Tuning drums before a gig is not a bad thing. Every drummer I know will check their sound as soon as they are set up. It seems reasonable for them to check their gear by hitting the drums as loudly as they do when the band is playing.

A lot of bands using the same amps at a festival? My guess is that the back lines would have been hired in by the promoter.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1403540698' post='2483726'] ....They could have easily had a Chris Squire.... [/quote] +1 That was my point, which is why, without making any comparisons, I rate JD's creativity and unique contribution to one of the great rock bands.

I think there are a few top bands in the world whose creativity would have been severly diminished if their bass player had been someone else. The Who, Cream, Chic and Queen are 4 and in my book that puts JD in some very fine company at the top of the bass playing tree.

Doc, I'd suggest Soul and Funk isn't a sound but a feel. Play the right lines and it doesn't matter what tone you're using. Just use what you've got. But [i]I'd[/i] add another 210.

Checkout the Concert For George DVD. Dave Bronze playing a blinder with the great Henry Spinetti on drums.

While your SWR cab has a good sound I wouldn't expect it to match up to what a second Compact could achieve for you. IMO, a 2 Compact rig would go louder, go lower, have more definition, punch through the mix better and wouldn't need complicated crossovers to get a great full range sound.

How many 5ers?

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1402949770' post='2478283'] ....OCD.... [/quote] Is that how you tune your 3 string bass?

The amp has a delayed power on sequence, so you don't get a big thump through the speakers during power up. Takes 20 secs or so.

If people say the SVT3 PRO isn't loud enough, ask them compared to what? My SVT3 PRO was loud enough for any band I played with (and some were very loud) in the 10 years I had it. Looking at the diagrams at the back, the user manual advises the master to be full on and balance your volume on the gain. I didn't use the graphic or the buttons, tube gain at 3 o'clock and frequency on 2 and had most of the tone controls at 12 or 1 o'clock and it sounded great, full, warm and punchy through my Mesa Boogie speakers. I like clean and I'd suggest anyone wanting to dirty up the sound should get a pedal. Biasing the transistors has been covered in Talkbass threads. This rarely needs doing but generally, unless you really know what you're doing, you're advised to get that done by a professional or risk damaging your amp. The valves are in the pre amp so rarely wear out or need replacing.