risingson

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1329229635' post='1539149'] It's worth trying a TM with the MM humbucker at the bridge. It won't sound like a Stingray because of the positioning, but it will make complete sense when you try it! It sounds like a J bridge pickup, but just a bit more gutsy and muscular. There is a mini toggle to split it to single coil too if you want. Risingson is dead right, it's a two band eq, with push/pull active/passive volume control, and the treble pot acts as passive tone control. [/quote] +1 on the MM pickup, I forgot about those. They did go some way to giving you a gutsier sound! I tried a JM5 Cali and was gutted that I didn't have enough money to leave the store with it. Very impressive instrument.

[quote name='jjay69' timestamp='1329228164' post='1539114'] Thanks for the input so far guys, seems there's a few around but it will mean a bit of a trip wherever i go, probably guitarguitar south of the river then. Dosent matter if they're a bit pricey at this stage, it's mainly for me to do a comparison against my USA Jazz Deluxe and see where i am with it. Incidently what would be the closest equivalent Sandberg to the Fender Deluxe (ie active/passive 3 band eq etc ?? ) [/quote] The Sandberg California JJ's will be the ones that will compare to your Jazz Deluxe. They don't feature any mid EQ control though - rather a 2-band EQ, volume and blend controls + a passive switch that turns one of the EQ knobs into a passive tone if my memory serves. They're really lovely instruments, I must say of all the ones I've tried, I have failed to find anything to complain about at all. The Delano pups in them do have a particular sound that you'll either like or your won't perhaps. But I really like them.

I bought my Lakland because I knew it was an excellent bass guitar first and foremost. It's a natural finish, which isn't really my thing but I won't be getting rid of it in a hurry because it's a brilliant player and it sounds just great. Lots of people comment on it. But I am a total sucker for black and tortoiseshell scratchplates, as well as the old 60's Fender colours like Surf Green, Daphne or Sonic Blue, Fiesta Red, Black and Olympic White, even Graffiti Yellow from the 80's. Something so cool about those colours. I think the look of the instrument certainly dictates what kind of bass I buy in some way... but just less so my last purchase.

Looks really smart!

Received a TC Electronics cabinet from Marco, well packaged, absolutely perfect! Marco's a punctual guy and very easy to deal with, and I'd happily recommend him. Cheers Marco!

Sounding really great man. How are you getting on with that 5 string Lakland P? Looks like a thing of beauty!

Having just acquired a TC Electronics RH750, I'm finding the tube tone control is giving me plenty of nice overdrive, very controllable too. It also fits the bill for the more 'modern' sound you might be after with Reidmar or the GK, although it isn't nearly as naturally scooped sounding as I've found EBS stuff to be in the past. As a rock player it might be up your alley, although I happen to think EBS and GK have got some great stuff to offer too.

Although I've played a few MTDs and a lot of Sadowskys (I'd take the Sadowsky for me, but personal opinions will differ), both instruments will fit the role of most things you want to do as long as your playing is all there (providing you're not expecting vintage tones out of either one apart from the Sadowsky in passive perhaps). It's all about how you play the instrument. I've not seen many rock players using MTDs, but I don't think it matters. I happen to think MTDs are well suited to modern rock too - the ones I tried out were pretty mid orientated and I reckon they'd cut well. And if you find that you miss the mid control from a Sadowsky, either don't get one or use your amp's EQ to fill in what's missing. They'll both be great bass guitars.

I recently took delivery of a TC Electronics RH750 from Chris. I'm always initially weary about buying such high price gear second hand but I needn't have worried. Chris was not only incredibly informative and patient with my questions (we had a chat over the phone and he detailed his experiences of using the RH750 very approachable bloke), he was also punctual in sorting out delivery for the head at the best rate he could find and in the safest way possible. Highly recommended seller.

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1328740929' post='1532119'] In A New York Minuite by Don Henley, some great fretless playing by Pino, apparently! That surprised me, I never knew it was him! [/quote] So much fretless work in the 80's was Pino! He managed to make himself a sound that became the staple pop bass sound of the time, you've got to give the man credit, he's amazing.

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1328630799' post='1530338'] oh. some shallow pop nonsense then. [/quote] I think Jessie J is preferable to a lot of the crap out there night now. her music does exactly what it says on the tin.

I got a bit sentimental about my old Fender Jazz when I sold it. I worked all summer when I was 15 to be able to afford it but after 7 years of playing it at hundreds and hundreds of gigs, it wasn't doing what I wanted it to anymore so I got rid of it. I do sometimes think about how it might be getting on.

I don't think it's bass playing. But that's not a bad thing, in fact what he is doing is incredibly musical and highly unique. Plus, unlike a lot of solo stuff that gets performed on a 'bass', that was incredibly enjoyable to listen to (and watch). But the voicing is too high for me to think about it like a bass guitar. I don't see many settings where it could work in a band situation for example, but Manring utilises his Zon in a solo sense very well, you can't help but be a bit amazed by it.

[quote name='Kes' timestamp='1328493660' post='1528126'] I've always hated 'hey Jude' can't stand the song. a few years ago when in a covers band that played gigs about once a week. we all hated the song and so never played it. Got asked as a special request from the person who booked us, so learnt it, played it once or twice during practice, played it once on stage for them and NEVER AGAIN. Ugh, horrible horrible and i'm surprised its not on more people's lists... [/quote] Try pedalling the F at the end (Nahhh na na) of the tune over the Eb major nd the Bb major. Much more fun.

[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1328513977' post='1528170'] I doubt they'll let you get a gig bag on, as all cabin luggage has to go in the overheads. Get a hardcase and as long as it and the rest of your luggage is under the weight allowence, you'll be fine. [/quote] +1 to this Steve, I've flown with my bass with Easyjet a few times with my bass in its hard case in the hold, never had an issue.

Annoyingly I've only got one bass now (two including my upright, but it doesn't get gigged regularly). About a year back I'd take my Fender Jazz with rounds out and my Fender P with flats and then swap after my first set. Now all I've got is my Lakland Darryl Jones 4. I want a new P and a decent Sadowsky 5 string.

[quote name='Musky' timestamp='1328454068' post='1527226'] I think the Ashdown reliability concerns stem from the Superfly, which had issues with overheating, and a batch of faulty transformers they received around 2006 sometime. They were the ones which were going up in flames. TBH Ashdown seem to be as good as any others in respect of reliability nowadays. I'm not (nor ever have been) an Ashdown owner, so I've no particular axe to grind. [/quote] The friend of mine's rig that went up was an ABM 500, it started smoking at a gig and then caught fire. I've not got anything against Ashdown either really. Not my thing, but actually I think they sound pretty decent and I never complain if it gets supplied as part of a back line at a gig. I've actually gigged my friend's ABM 500 rig as well in the past and never had problems. He must have gotten pretty unlucky.

Jimmy really is one of the most melodic bass players I've ever heard.

I agree with Dave above ^^ but I would recommend steering clear of heavy combos and opt for something a bit more lightweight, purely for practical reasons really. If you're going to be doing small-medium sized gigs then it's going to be a pain to lug a massive Ashdown combo round, and plus I think you'll be happier overall if you split the head and cab up so you can add or take away cabinets as you desire. I'm young too, and whilst I absolutely loved my old Eden rig (4x10 + WT800) it was a nightmare of a setup to small, lower key affairs. As for Ashdown's reliability, well having not owned Ashdown before I couldn't comment too much but I know several people who have had malfunctioning Ashdown rigs (one of them even went up in flames). I don't know what Ashdown have done to amend their quality control issues, hopefully something drastic.

Part of me wonders whether the way we consume music should be allowed to evolve without the need for nostalgia over the demise of the CD/tape/record. Times change, things move on. The vastness and accessibility of popular music nowadays has its merits, but its true that there was something truly special about wanting a new album from the shop waiting till a Friday afternoon and buying it for me. It was when I was the most excited about music - not that iI love it any less, but on some level it has become a very depersonalised form of entertainment.

Night and Day would suit you guys down to the ground probably, great venue, check it out if you can.

I use one regularly as its the in-house amp at one of my regular venues. It's a surprisingly good little amp for its size, and I'm convinced that as long as you band isn't incredibly loud then you could well compete with your drummer. My setup I've got 2 guitarists, a keyboard player and a drummer and it does alright. I actually find it not sonically dissimilar to EBS gear, albeit a bit less refined and not quite as polished sounding. The tweeter really cuts, perhaps too much, and there's no controlling it either (off or on, that's it), but nothing that dialing back the treble won't solve. It lacks something in lower mids IMO, but yeh all together, I can think of a lot worse combos to gig with.

Just got back from ours, we were supporting Babybird of all people... really bad gig, the guy needs a slap, he spent the night berating members of the audience for no good reason and trying to exert his (lack of) authority on people by discussing subjects he had no idea about, before boasting about the amount of coke he'd done. It was hugely embarrassing. Couldn't do the load out until the time was right and unfortunately it was too late. Hope you had a good one, do let me know if your back in the North West soon and I'll do my best to come over and say hi! Hopefully you had a better one than I did.

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1328198279' post='1523502'] I would have had the bass set-up so that there were no major issues. I.e., Intonation would have been spot-on, no fret buzz and new strings. Action probably medium height. As for your comments about customer service, I agree. There are levels that should be met. You should have an extensive yet appropriate knowledge of the instruments (but should be forgiven if you don't know, for example, what material the machine that winds the pickups is made from... yes, I did have someone ask that once *sigh*) and I also agree with taking care of the instruments in the store... However, that is another issue that raises problems, because in order to protect an instrument on the wall, you have to be selective over who you let play it, which by definition means you need to make judgements about an individual and whether they intend to purchase it or just want to rip a whole through the scratchplate playing mediocre slap bass because they have 10 minutes left of their lunch hour. Luckily, our shop tends to have back-up stock that is brand new and not shop soiled so we can afford to let some instruments take a hit on the shelf and drop the price at a later date to shift it, but I think it's a dilemma for smaller businesses, because they need to protect their stock by not letting tyre kickers play the bass, which in turn will inevitably lose them custom. I also agree that the way we deal with customers needs to be improved, but I also believe that customers need to change their attitudes too. In the US for example, people actively decide to pursue a career in customer service and the americans (or the majority of) respect that and appreciate it when they get good service (as they show through tipping etc). Whilst this is not my personal ambition, I think the attitudes shown by customers and sales staff in the US is something we should aspire to. I think in our country, we are all to eager to want the best/most out of everybody for nothing (as we show by taking advice from store assistants free and then purchasing online because it's £5 cheaper). [/quote] I think some stores have issues that are well beyond what happens at shop level. For me at least, the pedantry side of things doesn't happen... I couldn't tell you what kind of machine head gets manufactured where, how and why or what pickups work best in which position etc. I'm not a gear head in that way, I just know what I like . But yeh, basic info is always nice. The 'window shopper' aspect of the job is a funny one. I think discretion is the name of the game, like anything. Unfortunately, because of the nature of selling an instrument that can often be truly expensive and incredibly fragile, the necessity to actually have people in a store try instruments is something that just cannot and should not be avoided. It should of course be a bargain equally upheld by the customer in their respect for property that isn't theirs, but even if they aren't serious on buying a bass or guitar from you, it can often be a good way of ensuring that they come back to the store again, even just for a pack of strings or two.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1328197081' post='1523469'] When I worked in music retail we used to get stock arrivals straight on the hangers as soon as it arrived and get price tickets sorted. When we were quiet we used to take the new stock down and then check it over to get rid of any general setup issues and then put an 'X' on the back of the price ticket so we didn't repeat the exercise unnecessarily (yeah, we cherry picked ). If it was a high value sale then we'd happily make any other non invasive tweaks, because we needed that sale to invest in more and better stock. I think in all the time I was there, I only had one customer who felt he needed to speak down to me, and I threw him out. [/quote] I wish this could happen in every store! I'm unaware of the guidelines set up by major music retailers as to this kind of thing, but this should definitely be featured somewhere, probably in bold and underlined.