Boodang

Just had another thought! Bit left field this one but could be fun; I've got a NS Design CR upright which I play on a stand. The arm movement is obviously more vertical than horizontal. They also do a Omni model which is 34" scale. It's available fretted or fretless, the strap makes it playable in an upright position but there's also a stand. Not cheap, but if it's anything like the CR it's also great fun to play.

Have you tried a 30" short scale? The Guild Starfire looks good... sound great too. Tempted myself.

The main difference I've found in price is how much abuse the cables are able to withstand. I've got a very pretty fender heritage cable, not expensive, great for home use as it's not stiff and bulky but wouldn't last 5 mins on the road. Cables for stage use I get from Designacable, middle price range and built to last.

A couple of clips from my newly acquired Fwonkbeta. The full review includes some comparisons with the Supa Funk and Funk Machine (these two I posted a review of earlier) which I also bought recently. Initial impressions of the purple funk generator... it's got balls I'll give it that! Clip 1; frequency at 1 o'clock, depth at 2 o'clock, sensitivity at 3 o'clock. Clip 2; frequency at 4 o'clock, depth at 3 o'clock, sensitivity at 2 o'clock. Clip 3; by way of comparison, the classic funk setting on the Solid Gold FX supa funk. 221_Fwonkbeta purple funk generator .mp3 223_Fwonkbeta purple funk 2.mp3 50_SGFX classic funk.mp3

PS when I got my Sei made, Martin reckoned he could charge way more for his basses but he didn't want to do that as it would making what he thought would be an unreasonable profit and thus ripping people off. In other words charging what he thought it was worth not what he could get away... ie. an honourable guy.

Well, an example of this concept is patents and drug industry.. they rip the *rse out it while they can and then when the patent has ended people start making it for a reasonable profit and the price comes down dramatically. There's no deception involved (admittedly there's an element of recouping development costs) but the emphasis is on reasonable when it comes to profit. If it's not reasonable then there's an element of taking the p*ss.

When I had my first Sei bass made I had many a conversation with Martin (owner/builder and someone who doesn't over charge) about charging what something is worth and charging what you can get away with. Alembic feels like the later. And whilst some people say 'well that's what people will pay', for me there is an element of ripping people off about the later just because they have a unique product.

I think how we are shopping wrong is by going into a shop, play everything, ask advice, then walk out and buy it on the internet because it's 5 quid cheaper. We had a great drum shop locally which folded for exactly this reason.

Who remembers the Bass Centre in Wapping? Crammed full of just bass stuff. Bought quite a few basses from them. At least we have Bass Direct which seems to have taken on where Bass Centre left off.

Brilliant! Was just thinking the other day how most descriptions are quite boring. At least this gets your attention in more ways than one. Clown vomit... could be a good name for a band!

Bass Direct have quite a few basses!

Don't get me started on the price of Foderas!! As far as Wal's are concerned, and I don't know why it irkes me so much(!), I just can't see why they are prohibitively expensive. Bolt on neck, solid body, excellent hardware and quality materials but really, 4.5k starting price new.. where's the money being spent?!! I had a Sei bass made to spec, ebony & wenge, ABM hardware, thru neck, compound radius neck profile, umpteen coats of lacquer, leds for side dots... 2k (including a full flight case) and the craftsmanship is second to none. Where is the extra 2.5k going on the Wal? The easier bolt on neck construction?! It shouldn't bother me, if people want to pay then fair enough, but I just think it's taking the p*ss slightly. As for the price of classic Fenders.. well again, if you want to pay, fair enough but it might be an investment rather than good value for money.

By comparison, the upright I currently covet, and madly thinking of saving up for, is the Nick Lloyd Double Bass as used by Ben Ezra. At 45k it is considered a bargain in the upright world. By contrast the electric bass I'm currently considering is a Vigier passion, which at 3k is considered top endish in the bass guitar world.

I agree, it's just we're lucky in the solid body world where the difference between cheap and expensive is very compressed compared to the acoustic world.

When it comes to orchestral instruments we're now looking at the difference between an acoustic instrument and a solid body. I play upright bass, there's a site which sells 'affordable' vintage DBs, they start at 40k! Acoustic instruments are a completely different kettle of fish to solid body. Look into the process of making an orchestral instrument in the violin family and you can see where the money goes, look into the process of cutting up some solid wood and bolting it together and it's difficult to see why it's expensive.

Well, my Squier VM jazz must have been CNC'd and it was cheap. There hardware let it down a bit but not to a point where it didn't do a decent job and I'm sure it would have lasted. I've changed pups, electronics, bridge and nut and that's elevated it to an awesome bass. Partly because the 'ebanol' fretless fingerboard is so well done and there aren't many fretless basses with that kind of finish. A case in point where a cheap bass has come up with something where alternatives are expensive. Other than the VM other resin board basses are things like Pedulla which have a zero on the end of the price... if you can get one!

Also, I could be wrong and just being prejudice, but the first thing that springs to mind is an old shop selling violins and pianos going 'oh, these new fangled electric things will never take on, and who is Hendrix anyway, sounds like a washing machine to me'!

Just seems a bit weird that a 5 string wouldn't sell... maybe it doesn't sell because they don't stock it! I can't believe in this day and age a five is not a popular choice, unless of course you're out of touch with your buying public. As for fretless, just disappointing. As a fretless player it's always a bone if contention that there's never a good selection, both in a shop and from manufacturers.

If you get an expensive bass, show it no quarter! Once over the shock of the first scratch you'll use it for what it was meant... playing. Don't deny the audience the awesome tone of your prize bass! Completely unrelated but relevant nonetheless... I lived in a place where mains generators were critical. The engineer suggested that they would last longer if we used them less... I suggested that if we didn't use them at all they would never wear out!

5 string niche... interesting! And vaguely preposterous. Had a similar thing with fretless, but to be honest it's not unusual. Went in to a shop a few years ago and asked about the Squier VM fretless jazz only to be told not in stock as fretless doesn't sell and would be hanging on the wall for years. As a fretless player that's vaguely depressing and quite preposterous!

I own the worse bass in the world.. literally. A 70s Jedson that actually couldn't be made any cheaper without falling apart. For a laugh I put an EMG MM pickup on and it sounds awesome..... plays awful though! What I've learnt from this, well... pickups are an important part of the sound and craftsmanship is an important part of the playability of the instrument. CNC machines certainly make craftsmanship easier to achieve at lower costs, it's just the more special you want it the more the cost.

I've got a custom Sei, not cheap, and a Squier Jazz, cheap. One doesn't play or sound better than the other but obviously with the Sei it's made to my custom requirements and that's going to cost. And the Sei's attention to detail is way beyond the Squier but that doesn't make it sound better, it's just nice to have. I think what I object to is something like the Wal bass that's currently up for sale at £6500!! There's no way a bolt on neck, solid wood bass is worth this (don't get me wrong, they're great basses, I've owned a few, but they're not actually worth this kind of money). If I went to a luthier to have a bass made I don't think it would be possible to make it cost that amount no matter what spec I ordered. As for the £400 theoretical limit, well, my Squier now has custom pups, huge improvement, custom electronics, and a new bridge and nut! Diminishing returns of investment but does sound better than stock (sounds great actually) and way less than a Wal.

All my basses are passive and other than a pickup selector switch and series/parallel switch where appropriate, they are wired straight to the output jack, no volume, no tone controls (P bass and MM go straight to jack, nothing in between). Outside of pickup selection and series/parallel, all tone shaping is done with outboard as it's more flexible.

TC Electronic Spectracomp. Tri band with toneprints that have been setup by someone who knows what they are doing. I found it gave me a puncher sound on the Nathan East print and now it's always on. Cheap to buy and lots of fun trying the different toneprints.