Beedster

Good year for Precisions

Yep, big part of the issue (or non-issue) is the terms 'Precision Neck' and 'Jazz Neck', which are generalisations at best (OK, Fender Jazz Basses usually have thin 38-40mm nut neck, but so do many Fender Precisions). Manufacturers such as EBMM and Ric vary neck width across instruments without the dichotomous labels. What made me chuckle reading this thread this morning was that there's often talk here about just how boring Fender's 2-model line of basses is, no real innovation or improvement, yet it seems - given that most of us probably own one or other, and given that about 80% of the basses ever produced were one or other - we, the worlds leading forum of bass connoisseurs, can't actually agree on what makes a Jazz and Jazz and a Precision a Precision My view, the defining characteristics in order are 1. Pickup: single split coil for Precision/twin single coil for Jazz) 2. Body shape 3. Neck width: 38-40mm neck will feel like a Jazz Bass to the player 4. Colour: A Precision should be 3tsb/tort and a Jazz black/black 5. Strings: Precisions should always be used with heavy steel flatwounds 6. Bridge: a Precision with a Badass is of course an abomination 7. Circuit: a Precision with an active circuit is likewise an abomination OK, I'll admit it got a bit subjective from 4 onwards

I'm not going to agree to the new T&Cs, they need sellers more than they need buyers (they can make money out of sellers items not selling, they can't make money out of buyers with nothing to buy), so I'm pretty sure that after a few weeks I'll get an email saying "Hey, we've decided we'll let you carry on as before....". And if they don't, as above, there's other options. Ebay has become a complete PITA for sellers anyway, I had a buyer file an 'item not as described' case a few weeks back and ebay didn't even refer it to me before finding in his favour. Turns out what he meant was "I bough a Mac interface but I have a PC". Frankly, I'd have refunded him anyway if he'd messaged me, but the fact that eBay took that decision out of my hands was quite alarming. At least under the old model the money was in my bank because I/ always transfer out of PayPal immediately, and they couldn't touch it, but I suspect under the new model there's the risk that in similar situations they will simply take the money back out of your bank account, which will be a bloody nightmare. I should also add that when they found for the buyer as above, a link on the email they sent me said "Refund Now" and in small print underneath it is said "If you do so you not expect to receive the item back"! If it happens to you, do not click on that link folks

I see both sides. Ive made s LOT of Fender-alike bitsas over the years, perhaps 30. The start point for me is to find a neck and body that resonate well together; some do, some don’t. In my experience some necks will make some P Basses sound more ‘like’ a Precision than other necks, and acknowledging my own bias here (I prefer Precision necks anyway), I’d say that this effect is more likely to happen with a fat Precision neck. So, a Precision neck will make a bass sound better (to my ear) than a thinner Jazz Bass neck more often than the other way around. But of course, ‘better’ is a difficult idea. I can’t argue with the idea that in many/most cases the above might be a function of the quality as opposed to the quantity of the wood, replacing a poor quality J-Bass neck with a high quality P-Bass neck is not a like for like after all. Also I doubt anyone listening even to the bass soloed let alone in the mix would hear much if any difference between the skinniest and the fattest neck. But if I want as much Precision tone as possible from a bass, my start point would be a Precision neck.

That made my bloody day that did. Slightly ahead of the beat just like our cowbell player as well

Not sure age and tradition are a thing Pete, there are traditions associated with far newer musical, erm, traditions, than bluegrass

Makes PayPal look positively charitable by comparison

Not dumb from eBay’s POV, they hold all revenue WORLDWIDE for around a week, think about the total at any one time and then calculate the interest they’re earning, they’re playing the bank’s game now, so the poor punter will have to wait for eBay first then the bank to hold into their cash in order to to fleece some jnterest before it gets to where it should and vould have been 5/7 days earlier.

Paypal payment to seller was immediate, ebay will ‘initiate transfer to bank within two days of buyer paying’, which probably means several days total plus no doubt all sorts of shenanigans that might slow it further

I mentioned this in a thread a while back Seems a not so transparent way of eBay getting even closer access to bank accounts, whilst making more money by holding onto money for longer ('usually' is always an interesting word when used to define a payment period)

It's all words and images really isn't it, orchestral music by definition is played by an orchestra, while classical music can be played on a computer, I defy anyone to tell the difference in some well executed examples, but pay for a classical concert ticket you'd be bloody annoyed to see a modern incarnation of Kraftwerk/Tangerine Dream on stage (perhaps not). Some bands - and some audiences - are in it for the music, some for the image, most fall somewhere between the two. Music and the arts generally are as much about subjective traditions as they are objective outcomes, and given I still find it hard to watch bassists in 60's pop bands playing root-fifths on Rickenbackers (or Rick James playing funk on the same instrument), traditions have a powerful effect

Must admit that having slagged off a previous band leader in this thread for telling me what bass to play, I've done the same thing with our guitarist, whose choice was very much based on aesthetics (and late 60's semi-acoustic) as opposed to function. It was a lovely guitar, and no end of people came up to him at gigs to check it out. But it sounded awful in the context of our set, was a feedback trap, was hard to keep in tune and, perhaps most importantly, was not an easy instrument to play, being large and bulky with a baseball bat neck and action you could drive the proverbial bus under. He's a good mate so i doubt he would have felt as if he was being told to change guitar, but I guess that if we looked at it objectively, he was told to. I'm a bad person

My set score in 2015

No need to complicate things with the fifth

Talk about the wrong Marshall

Basses are addictive, 6-string basses are basses, ergo 6-string basses are addictive

Yep, not so much making the PUP sound better as much as having less of a negative effect

Always taken a backup, never needed one

I was 'told' by a bandleader that I had to play a Precision in a three-piece punk/new-wave/indie outfit. Irony was that my usual bass was a Precision, but the Ric I was using in that band just worked better for me, the Precision just didn't fill the room the way the Ric did. But he had his mind set on it, and I suspect the reason he'd set up the band in the first place was that he liked getting his own way. Last I heard they were looking for a new bass player.

Thanks guys, I think I'm going to record a few sections with different mic positions/proximity, and different levels of compression, and post it here to see what you good folks think

Hadn't thought about adding an FX to be honest, might try a few over the weekend. My voice is actually pretty good (vocal tone a whole lot better than bass tone), something that's been picked up by a few of the radio people I've worked with. Guess this thread is about trying to get the best out of the gear I have. So wish that terms such as Neumann, Neve or SSL weren't mentioned

Thanks Dad, I have a vocal booth so room is not a problem, but the dynamic range of my voice using an SM7B is reduced the further away the mic from my mouth. I'm doing a bit of trial and error on this at present

Of giving a flying flip