Beedster

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1394752685' post='2394968'] I just realised Beedster makes the 2024 sound like the ultimate 'Sneak this expensive guitar past your partner' bass. I wonder how many have been sold purely on that basis! [/quote] That's a very good point

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1394616855' post='2393272'] Is anything a fact in this business? [/quote] The only fact is that there is are numerous exceptions to every fact. In the context of the above there is a general trend from basses with a cheap/lightweight bridge, poor materials/wood and a bolt-on neck offering less sustain than an instrument with a high mass bridge, and high quality graphite/wood through neck construction. But it's a trend, not a rule, and many basses will deviate from that trend. No one, no matter how expert, can tell you how any one bass will respond to modification with any degree of certainty. Trial and error is the only path, and as many have suggested, even if there is a difference, it can be both hard to identify and hard to discriminate from simple expectation. But hey, if it wasn't for this kinda thing BC would be all 'Off Topic' and 'For Sale'

[quote name='GreeneKing' timestamp='1394460958' post='2391546'] This bass thing? One minute I understand it and the next I'm flummoxed. In my head I have the perfect bass. It growls, it's articulate, it's smooth and bluesy, it's got attack and clarity and it's muddy and warm. It's functional, well made and finished and it looks kinda wonderful too. I love Rics. I've owned 4 including a Chris Squire and a Macca model. I've tried and I've not got on with them tonally or ergonomically. A part of me still wants one (what's that about?). I don't/can't play with a pick and maybe thats partly the problem. I love the look and the tone when others play them. The Yamaha BB2024MX that Chris traded with me is a superb bass. It's got Yamaha's wood treatments which really work in my opinion. The pickups are a marvel and as a P/J it really works. The only aesthetic thing I'm not keen on is the neck laminates running through the headstock but it's superbly well made and finished. It's all anyone 'should' want methinks. I recently bought a 70's re-issue P bass entirely because it sounded so good. On a whim I put a Steve Harris pickup in (and moved the Bare Knuckle 65 into my Tony Butler sig) and I have to say that for a pure P bass sound it's the best I've ever heard. It isn't very flexible though, just pure P bass goodness in extremis. For the nearest Ric tone my Gibson EB2014 in series/series/series mode is a good approximation but more ballsy. For growl my 90 Thumb NT takes some beating. For articulation and clarity plus great flexibility my ACG Finn Uber spec has it nailed. The Roscoe Beck IV I traded with Chris does so much and is playable in the extreme. But, in a band situation that I'm likely to be in the bass will likely be fairly irrelevant, especially to the punters. Most if not all of my 12 basses would cut it. So what's my point? What I'm trying to say is that one bass wouldn't keep me content for many reasons and the reasons I enjoy my basses has more to do with playing them sat at home as the mood takes me than in a 'real' gigging scenario. If I had to have just one bass to rule them all I'd really struggle. Peter [/quote] It's a complex thing playing basses ins't it mate!

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1394554327' post='2392613'] Until Chris posts a pic or two, I stand by my opinion that Yams are bloated and ugly, except perhaps the white ones, for some reason they look really nice. Just too big and bulky looking for me though [/quote] Ha ha, you bloody aesthete Nige, you're like the Byron of Basschat! I will post pics when I get the chance, but you have to trust me that in the flesh it's a breathtaking instrument. It's been said elsewhere, but unlike a few other basses I've played that from a distance looked classy but didn't take close scrutiny (and I include more than one FCS models there), the Yammie looks pretty average from a distance but the closer you get the more you realise what a class instrument it is.

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1394446657' post='2391301'] Without wishing to offend anybody involved, this thread is the perfect illustration of why I would never start a "finally I have found the one!" type of conversation on this forum When are you all going to learn that GAS is EVIL. [/quote] No offence, although in my defence I did describe the Yammie as the perfect Precision Bass, which I still think it is. Pretty much my whole bass playing life - and despite flirtations elsewhere - I've seen myself as a Precision kinda guy. I now find myself in the situation in which, having owned and played what I believe to be the best Precision available, and having A-B'd it against my 4001, I'm guessing that whilst there are many things I don't like about Rics, I really do enjoy playing them, especially if I'm playing with a pic through Ampeg tubes bloody loud, nothing beats that tone, nothing! There's no change of mind per se in this thread, I've spent 8 years trying to find the perfect Precision, I found it, but it still didn't tick some of the more emotional/less tangible boxes that a bass needs to tick for me. But like you say, with basses as with women, tread carefully with words such as 'perfect'

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1394400803' post='2391089'] Much as though your man might hate it, I always like to mix a mic and DI so I would ask to do the same [/quote] Yep, you don't have to print it to the final mix but it makes sense to track the DI.

I am SO looking forwards to going through these one by one with the headphones on this evening, many thanks folks, keep 'em coming! C

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1394396067' post='2391010'] I know just how you feel. I've lost count of how many basses I've bought and sold since joining this forum, but I always go back to my old favourite. On paper it's an awful bass - ugly, heavy and butchered beyond recognition. I have bought much 'better' basses and loved them for a while, only to sell them on when I pick up the old beast again. Nobody else likes it and I don't know what it is that makes me love it, but it feels and sounds just right for me, which is what really counts. That's not to say I won't keep looking........ [/quote] Spot on mate, funny old world isn't it!

Basses, just like women eh? After years of searching, you meet one that ticks all of the boxes, and for a while you're on cloud nine, happy as a large pink farm animal in a pile of pooh. But then, your ex starts sniffing around again, and you realise that, despite the fact she's not as good looking, not in quite such good shape, and probably doesn't get the same reaction from the your mates down the pub, something draws you back. In short, this is an outstanding bass but despite this I haven't fallen in love. Meanwhile my old 4001 has reappeared and in doing so has rekindled powerful emotions. I've spent the afternoon A-Bing them, and there's no doubt that the Yammie is by far the better instrument, but that I feel happier playing the Ric. If I were a pro session player I'd keep the Yammie, but I'm not, so I'm going for the Ric. Anyone interested, let me know before I eBay it Cheers Chris

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1391801086' post='2361550'] Can't help you sorry, but just wanted to say I love the version that Tom cat serenaded the cat of his dreams with, in one of the very old tom and Jerry cartoons [/quote] One of the great DB moments, my eldest loves it and always says "Daddy, Tom's got a big guitar like yours'

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1394276428' post='2389753'] No idea what that amp sounds like, but I'm certainly struggling with the controls. I'm a great believer in simplicity with amps, and especially so with valve amps. That combination of knobs and switches, channels and bright blue LEDs, promises entire gigs of fiddling about with the sound without in any way improving the bass playing ... [/quote] Yep, most of the good tube amps I've owned/own sound great running flat EQ. My Ampeg's got minimal controls - gain, bass, mid/freq, treble and master. The only one I ever use is master.

Ah, memories of gear gone by, one of several sure routes to madness. Like old girlfriends however, bass gear often appears a whole lot more attractive in retrospect than it ever did at the time

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1394234140' post='2389501'] Is the Laney any good and is it good value at that price? [/quote] I doubt it's in the same league as the gear you're used to using mate

Keen to hear what folks think these might be?

Very good point!

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1394026487' post='2387045'] My understanding is that it would be legal for sales by private sellers in the UK at least, but it's not something that I'm interested in hosting. As icastle points out, it would mean that the site couldn't be linked from Basschat which defeats part of the purpose of it since people often post on here with queries regarding Rickenfaker identification. [/quote] But in that case it's not doing anything we can't we do that here? I'm guessing it could be linked to from the eBay forum, but either way I'm not sure, if you can't buy and sell, what the point is given that the faker thread is pretty comprehensive? Am I missing something?

Good stuff Chris, can it have a marketplace or will that run into problems?

Oh, and the nut is extremely important in fretless setup also, get that wrong and you could kill sustain on certain parts of the neck

Bridge-schmidge, on a fretless it's far more about setup - especially string height - the quality and integrity of the board, the strings, and most important of all, your fingers. Don't waste your money on a new bridge, I recall Jaco using a BBOT and not having too many complaints?

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1393884041' post='2385531'] Big rigs look cool, and give you extra headroom, what's not to like? [/quote] Yep, no such thing as a rig that's too big, just a venue that's too small