Beedster

Experiment to test my new pre-amp. Put them on (didn't cut them), played them, didn't like the sound of rounds and pre-amp, gone back to flats. Bought last week for £26. Yours for £15 posted OVNO

Chris

[quote name='Clarky' post='762841' date='Mar 3 2010, 12:28 PM']Interesting thought Chris that had never occurred to me. I am surprised the head fits in a gig bag though as its heavier and chunkier than the new generation 'micro amps' (eg Little Mark etc)[/quote]

It's a big pocket to be sure (and a double gig bag), but it fits! Now, do what WoT and I say and keep it!

By that I mean keep the cab, use the Walkabout head as your lightweight head, and don't buy the Orange

C

[quote name='Clarky' post='762829' date='Mar 3 2010, 12:21 PM']Well I haven't been knocked over in the rush to buy this so I may well end up keeping it and maybe using it with an Orange Bass Terror (or more speculatively Little Mark Rocker; see other thread) in certain live situations.

(I realise incidentally that you can remove the head from a Walkabout combo but I would rather keep it in its place [the slightly agricultural panel and screws don't look like they would take to repeated removals], hence my desire to have a very small separate amp head.)[/quote]

The Walkabout head fits in the pocket of my gig bag mate. For the sound and power, that's pretty amazing. I would simply buy a cover for it and not bother using the Scout as a combo any more (i.e. just treat the combo box as one of your cabs). Leave your options open

C

[quote name='alexharvay' post='762811' date='Mar 3 2010, 12:10 PM']Keep it Clarky![/quote]

+1

[quote name='Conan' post='762759' date='Mar 3 2010, 11:30 AM']Jaco is usually held up as the paragon of virtue on a fretless (whatever that means!), but often you can't tell that he is actually playing a fretless! He tended not to overdo the vibrato/glissando stuff and ended up with a very "punchy" tone. Compare that to, say, Pino Paladino's work in the early and mid eighties where the slides and stuff were rather overdone... a different kettle of fish altogether. Jeff Berlin is another unusual example as he can make a fretted bass sound like a fretless! Check out his playing on Bill Bruford's "Feels good to me".

They are as different or as similar as you want them to be. One of the reasons I have given up fretless playing (for the moment anyway) is that I was annoying myself by slipping into all those eighties stereotypes and cliches. Boring.

Horses for courses though![/quote]

Agreed. Let's not forget that the whole 'fretless slide & vibrato/glissando' thing was partly a means of bassist holding their own in bands increasingly dominated by the left/bass hand of overly dominant keyboard players. Slap and fretless are as identified with 80's pop as, and because of, over-produced keyboards. There's a reason why the basses of the era were either very scooped for slap or very middy for fretless.

Jaco believed that it was easier to play fretless than fretted. He practiced on a C-width fretted Precision neck but gigged and recorded on a defretted A-width Jazz. OK, he had big hands so some of the points re the limitations of fretless above are negated, but even so he had a point. Once you've played fretless a while frets genuinely get in the way. Frets also colour the tone to a huge degree, something that took me a long time to realise. This colouration isn't as easy to get rid of as you'd think, that is, it's not easy to change as the colour of a fretless note.

As a bassist I have been constantly troubled by the fact that at auditions, rehearsals and gigs, people constantly rave about my fretless playing, not because it's good, but because it's different and, I think, because they think it's worthy of praise in itself. By that I mean "wow, that guy's playing fretless, he must be really good". I'm not. As long as you don't have very small hands or very poor hearing, it's as easy to learn fretless as it is fretted. The main problem, as has been mentioned on BC many times, is that people believe that fretless is a solo, mwah, vibrato, and slide sound. I blew a couple of guys away once by playing Rhythm Stick on my fretless Jazz. They simply would not believe that it's easier to play on a fretless! If I play it fretted I'm in Fret Buzz City, fretless, sounds fine.

My only real concern with fretless playing is in recording. I was at the receiving end of a humbling lesson last year when what I thought was great playing turned out to be consistently out of tune on playback. As we were recording live this was a real problem. I have a generally good ear but it appears I was shifting pitch with the vocalist, and consequently we we became a rather off-key positive feedback loop. Also in live situations with poor monitoring or lighting (or both), fretless can be a nightmare, even for very good players. If you don't believe me, listen to some of Jaco's horribly out of tune recordings (OK, not just the monitors and the lighting I know).

My view on fretless playing if asked, and I get asked a lot at gigs, is quite simply that the only difference is a few strips of metal. In the same way that you know a fretted bass is out of tune, you know a fretless is out of tune. The great thing about the fretless is that you can do something about it in real time. If you're the guy who can never tell his bass is out of tune, don't buy a fretless, If not, get one and treat playting it just the same as your fretted and I'm sure you'll find it a very satisfying experience.

The compromise between treating it a s anormal bass and being a 'fretless player' is this: negotiate one moment per gig when it's obvious you're playing fretless, and you will get chicks talking to you all night and fellow musicians buying you beers!

C

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='762656' date='Mar 3 2010, 10:04 AM']There's a parallel universe somewhere where I buy this cab to use with my Scout, sell all my other stuff and live happily ever after...[/quote]

I was thinking that!

I'll be selling an unlined A-width Jazz neck in a week or so Homer. It's a modified '73 with original tuners and binding, recently overhauled by Paul Herman. It's been on my main gigging fretless for a year and is a real dream to play (it's the only neck, fretted or fretless, on which I can play 'Rhythm Stick'). However, I'm currently playing in a '71 B-width Precision fretless neck, so once I know I'm happy with that, the Jazz neck will be going. It'll be reasonably priced also, and will of course have resale value if you don't get on with it.

C

[quote name='TRadford' post='760828' date='Mar 1 2010, 03:38 PM']

I've let myself down, my family down, and most of all, you lot down..

Yes, I just learnt the bass line to "Dont stop believing"....


DAMN YOU GLEE!![/quote]

It's one of the great tracks mate. Glee? The fact that a track's used in a commecrial, TV show, or sample doesn't in any way reduce it's quality.

I'm gobsmacked that the Precision hasn't sold. I love mine to death, unlike most Precisions, it's extremely versatile, doing anything from real Motown thump through to a pretty coinvincing Flea-esque slap, as well as most things in-between. The neck's a dream to play, and the build quality is without doubt the equal of anything the current FCS produce (and I've owned enough of them to make that comparison BTW). The only other Precision I've owned that was in this league in terms of tone, build and versatility was my Sadowsky, which says a lot. There are probably a few BCers out there currently playing Jazzes and not quite cutting through the mix who should really be playing this.

And it's one year off vintage!

And it's got the matching headstock!

If I could afford it, this would be on it's way to Beedster Towers to be joined with a lovely '77 maple fretless neck

C

[quote name='Bigwan' post='755787' date='Feb 24 2010, 08:22 AM']John East MM preamp perhaps?[/quote]

+1

[quote name='Paul_C' post='760280' date='Feb 28 2010, 11:08 PM']ah, so you're the current owner of the forum Sonic Hammer [/quote]

It picked up too many ASBOs for picking fights with Strats at gigs so had to let it go Paul.

[quote name='MythSte' post='759961' date='Feb 28 2010, 06:02 PM']The ampeg review at NAMM shows that these can be overdriven, Is this the case? Is it just a matter of the gain running into a distortion circuit or something?

(P.S, massive thanks to Chris, This could well be my uni rig and i'd have looked straight past it if it wasnt for him!)[/quote]

Hiya Steve

Haven't read the review in question. Yes, they can be overdriven, but there is a very fine line between usuable and unusable gain, and it's easily crossed. Having said this, a little bit of T&E goes a long way. Don't get me wrong, this is not a 'great' rig by any means (compared to my Mesa head and 2x15 Bag Ends, it's tame), but for its combination of power, tone, portability, versitilty and looks, I think it has the edge over all the compact gear I've tried recently (namely several combinations of Markbass and PJB). It stays with a drummer way better than the PJB gear (even though the PJB's power was rated higher), and is far more classic sounding than the Markbass. In fact, I'm so impressed I've just ordered a second 210AV to make the whole even more of all of the above. It's coming tomorrow and I'm rehearsing it tomorrow evening and gigging it Friday. I'll keep you posted

C

I was going to do this mod to a Jazz a while back and have a Fender Reggie Hamilton pickguard if you decide to go ahead

C

Says 8ohms in the pics, and heavy

I've recently acquired a couple of Bag End 15s which I love. However, they're finished in a kinda dark red carpeting, which is about as rock 'n' roll as New Kids on the Block. Is it going to be a nightmare to get that off and cover the cabs in the black stuff that proper cabs are covered in? If so, is there anyone out there willing to do it for me for a decent fee?

Cheers

C

Well, having read some good reviews, I decided to buy the matching SVT 210AV cab to go with the Micro VR, and I'm as impressed with that as I was with the head. OK, it's far from hi-fi, but it's loud, punchy, and produces just the tone I'm looking for. Rehearsed it this week and it more than kept up with the drummer and didn't lose any tone doing so.

I love the fact that it's small and light but looks big and heavy (from a distance anyway). I'm seriously tempted to get another 210AV and stack them end to end for small gigs, it'll give me ear heigh monitoring and decent tone/volume from a rig I can carry in one go (cab in each hand and head in gigbag on my back). My only slight concern is that it'll be quite unstable (i.e., tall and thin), so I might need to look into that before I go ahead.

All things considered, for a tad under £500 I've a great sounding, relatively powerful (dbs per watt), aesthetically pleasing, and easy to transport rehearsal/small gig rig. Hats off to Ampeg.

C

All the above, but make sure your rig is capable of responding. My passive '64 Precision strung with flats sounds hi-fi through a Phil Jones amp/cab, but mono and lo-fi as hell through my Ampeg. That's why I kept the Ampeg and sold the Phil Jones!

C

The Audere is the closest you'll get to sounding like a Precision whilst playing a Jazz IMO. Having said that, even with an Audere in an outstanding 2009 MIA, I've never got the sound I want from a Jazz, and I've tried a hell of a lot of them, several MIAs (including a late 60's), MIJ, two FCSs, a Sadowsky, a Tokai (70's), etc. In rehearsal or studio, they all hold their own to an extent. Live, it's always come back to a passive Precision for me.

Perhaps I'm just easily pleased!

C

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='745652' date='Feb 15 2010, 11:04 AM']It's a shame the guys that test them before they're launched in the UK market don't...[/quote]

All things considered, that's the truth.

C

Hi mate
What's the width at the nut?
C

[quote name='Buzz' post='747919' date='Feb 17 2010, 12:51 AM']Put some flats on the 'ray.[/quote]

+1, great sound

A less in your face Stingray is called a Precision

Strip it back to bare wood and wax/oil it. Make it your own. Make sure the original finish isn't underneath the refin first, occasionally people get lucky like that (or unlucky when they find out too late that they could have saved the original finish).

Either way, buy it, and good luck

Chris

[quote name='ian' post='747026' date='Feb 16 2010, 11:10 AM']is this over priced ? many thanks[/quote]

I think you should sell for what you think it's worth Ian, plenty of basses are listed for months on here before they go. I've heard from a member whose played it that it's an outstanding bass, so probably not something you want to let go cheap. Problem as far as most are concerned I imagine is the battery compartment. I think some pics of what's under the both the non-original plate on the back and the pickguard might help? That plate on the back doesn't scream minor mod! As soon as a vintage bass gets modded it either gets very hard to sell at a decent price (as you're finding), or has to be sold a bit cheaper. If it's all original you could probably get a decent price splitting it and selling on ebay to be honest (check out what the US dealers get for their '70s Fender parts, mad). To be honest, it's not a great time to be selling full stop anyway!

Good luck mate

Chris

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='746826' date='Feb 16 2010, 07:54 AM']If I were you I'd be tempted to rout out another slot for a J-bass pickup midway between the current pickups and the bridge, and turn it into a hybrid.[/quote]

That's if you're sure you want to knock 50% of the body's resale value. If you bought it from where I think you bought it (and at the price I think you paid), that should be a serious concern.

C