Beedster

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1456608485' post='2990802'] I'll be really honest, I worried at rehearsal how it'd cope/sound. I've been using active 5 strings for about 2 years now and pulling my Precision out for Motown stuff. Our new drummer is a crazy level 42 fan, so when the guitarist is late we usually jam through some "early tapes" type stuff just to blow the cobwebs off. This bass, on paper, shouldn't sound right for that type of playing. Jesus, it's got it. And I've owned Jaydees/Status' just so I could play that kind of stuff. No idea what all that multi laminated wood and Carbon Fibre is For 😆 (I do miss my kingbass though) [/quote] The '55s are versatile, in many ways more so than the split coil Precisions

I like that

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1456428883' post='2989002'] Hi Hugh, Actually I posted a bit prematurely. I only did the truss relaxation shortly before posting. I tried the bass again this morning and the mwahh is now much more manageable. So, I'm a lot happier now. Thanks Hugh and thanks to all others, even the silly answers too, Cheers Rich [/quote] I wasn't being silly when I said fingers, I think it's idiotic to reduce the potential of an instrument when the same effects can be achieved through technique. You'll 'kill' the mwah by either reducing the pressure on the string slightly and/or not sliding or moving - even almost imperceptibly - into notes. It doesn't happen by itself, it takes fingers to produce that effect. Removing the effect by raising action or increasing relief will probably introduce a new set of problems.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1456351099' post='2988269'] Please can someone tell me how you kill the mwahh on a fretless. I've tried relaxing the truss rod on mine, in the hope that it will help, but I still find I get fed up with it sounding like a sittar. I'm playing a fretless Streamer with Chromes. [/quote] Fingers

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1456326057' post='2987885'] Why everyone in the 80s used one on fretless bass, I have no idea! [/quote] Kept 'em in tune Tom, or more correctly, made it harder to identify that they weren't in tune.

It ain't all mwah and chorus, I like this posted on here a few weeks back https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFmELh_Kjno

[quote name='cybertect' timestamp='1456319627' post='2987761'] Harsh [/quote] ..but fair

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1456319500' post='2987757'] Using chorus on a fretless should be punishable by death. [/quote] No, it's far more serious than that

[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1456318103' post='2987726'] ...it seems that everyone who plays one uses chorus and some also use chorus and a reverb. [/quote] Not true, you're probably just listening to a certain type of music or group of musicians.

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1456234656' post='2986853'] Ah, shame to abandon these Beedster Why not finish just one of them? [/quote] Hi Marc, I'm ging to finish the fretted Jazz for sure as it's heading off to a new home. The problem I have with basses is that they bring out the perfectionist in me, and I spend hours and hours - and a lot of cash - tinkering and refining to get them perfect. And then I sell them anyway, usually not just at a loss in terms of what the parts costs, but also in terms of how much time I've spent on them. It's not a problem because I genuinely love doing it, especially if I'm stripping a bass down to bare wood and oiling/waxing it back to life, but it's a luxury and, given I've less time than used to be the case, one that keeps me from playing the things! I may finish the Precision because it's almost there, setup and playability is prefect, just needs the PUPs and circuit installed. The fretless Jazz is likewise almost there. The CMI is not so much as a project as an improver (it's currently entirely playable but is good enough to warrant the addition of some very nice components to take it to the level I like a bass to be at), and the Ric, well, I think the idea of the filter pre will produce something special for sure, but will I ever use it apart from noodling......?

Years of messing about with basses has taught me that the answer to the question, and most others, is 'you won't know until you try'. There are too many variables relating to personal taste, current equipment and gig etc, for anyone else's opinion to hold sway with any degree of reliability. Keep an eye out for a used model, if you don't like it, sell it on for what you paid. Or be an idiot like me and convince yourself that the most expensive custom overwound model is by definition the best:)

I've decided to abandon all of the above as I'm spending too much time building instruments and not enough time playing them, to the point that a session on mandolin yesterday morning left my fingers in tatters! I'm also spending way yo much money buying top end parts!!!! So, if anyone's interested in taking on any of these (expect the maple board Jazz which is spoken for and the 4003s which I obviously can't sell here but which will be listed elsewhere eventually I guess), please let me know. I'm happy to sell them as projects or as finished instruments, although the latter will need a little time of course. NO MORE PROJECTS!!!

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1456082849' post='2985250'] 'girl' in title, youtube clip of someone playing... ah another one! [/quote] We need a 'yawn' emoticon

I'm in, my main influence as long as I can remember. So many good tracks but Fatman in the Bathtub always a fave.

Yeh yeh yeh, so I sold a nice bass and bought it back. Twice. You're all just jealous

Despite this http://basschat.co.uk/topic/277583-83-wal-mk-1-for-under-l2000-anyone-sold-sorry/page__fromsearch__1 it give me great pleasure to be able to report that the mongrel is back where it belongs. And many thanks to Alex for being such a gent about it also!

[quote name='Shaggy' timestamp='1455442057' post='2979043'] "I thought I was The Fender modding king But I just handed my bitsa crown to him......" Absolutely fabulous - I feel quite inadequate having only one bass project currently on the go (though a couple of other instruments too) That Ric is going to be a monster [/quote] I walk in your shadow Greg! I seem to have amassed a collection here, and I've done so at a time when I really want to be pulling the studio together at a slightly faster rate than is currently the case. Whilst I build them up for fun and generally sell them on, I think a few of these projects might end up being sold before I've even built them! If I get time to do it, the Ric is going to be a monster. Exactly what sort of monster however remains to be seen

[quote name='jay-syncro' timestamp='1455446229' post='2979081'] Why do all of your basses have bits missing? [/quote] Frets are for wimps! All joking aside, I was contemplating getting that neck fretted anyway, so I'll keep you posted Jay

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1455360442' post='2978371'] some lovely basses! you going to tell us about Warmoth? [/quote] Thanks Luke, yes will open a thread re Warmoth. I was going to give them another chance to rectify things but frankly they are nit a company I trust anymore. All manufacturers make mistakes, it's how they deal with then that matters really.