philw

[quote name='walbassist' post='709532' date='Jan 11 2010, 10:43 PM']Thanks Andy. Yes, an AB session would be good as I've always loved Rob's basses. Drop me a PM when the snow clears?[/quote]

Can I come too? I'd love a look at your Deep 5 Andy – never seen one in the flesh. I'll bring the Veillette acoustic bass.

Phil

PS. I'll try and get a few pictures of it up in the next day or so.

So you still have my old Electro Andy!

There's part of me that regrets selling it you know. It's a unique sounding instrument.

Phil

Thanks Gareth. Glad you're enjoying it. Flattery won't get you a better deal on the next one you know (no, actually, thinking about it, it might).

Phil

Fretless five string L or XL series Steinbergers, if that's what it is, make hen's teeth look common as muck. They are very rare beasts and much in demand (despite the narrow sting spacing thanks to five strings on a four string neck).

Phil

All,

In a somewhat post horse bolting attempt to add some knowledge and structure to my often near random note choices, I've been wondering about taking one of the Berklee bass courses (www.berkleemusic.co.uk/). The jazz one appeals. Any opinions to share? Worth the money or just a waste of it (it'd buy quite a few one-to-one lessons).

Phil

All,

I've just bought myself a used Squire Vintage Modified Precision (my first Precision after 30 years of playing) and I'd love it even more if the body were Lake Placid Blue. So can anybody recommend an outfit in the Brighton area (or a reasonable drive either side) that could refinish it for me? Oh and it'll need a custom white scratch plate?

Phil

[quote name='The Burpster' post='661888' date='Nov 22 2009, 04:16 PM']hasnt Walbassist just parted company with one of these (A Villette IIRC) that is now residing in the galllery looking for a new home......?[/quote]

Yes, Gareth's bass was a Veillette Minotaur. Not originally intended as a piccolo, but can be strung as such.

Phil

I played one too at LIMS back in the summer. Loved the feel but the look is a bit bling for me. The pickup options were deeply confusing too – but then I'm not a fan of switches on guitars. It struck me too that Enfield is a bit Wal like in some respects (look at the bridge). I wonder if Martin Simms feels a bit gutted at the phoenix like rise of Wal that Paul Herman has pulled-off?

Phil

[quote name='bumnote' post='646308' date='Nov 5 2009, 03:14 PM']I will measure it when I get home tonight

What was the one you played and didnt like was it the japan 51 re issue with no chamfer? usually blonde[/quote]

No it was the Classic Vibe one just like yours. The published spec says it's nut width is 1.65 so either you have a bendy ruler or they vary a lot. I suspect I won't like 1.67 if I didn't like 1.65.

1.75 on any four string bass is very wide. Are you sure?

Phil

I'm very interested but can you confirm the nut width please. The only one of these I've played had a neck like a baseball bat.

Phil

You have a PM.

I wonder what his headphone monitoring level is like and how long it'll be before he's part deaf?

P

So I tried a couple more Squire Precisions today (thanks GAK). First, the Vintage Modified Precision TB neck felt great: reasonably chunky but not so much it was a problem, far better than the impossibly baseball bat like 50s Classic Vibe Precision. Only issue with the Vintage Modified is an unremittingly dark (but very ballsy) tone thanks to the single neck position humbucker – at the right price I could be convinced. Then I tried the Mike Drint and I'm really struggling to come up with anything positive to say. Weedy tone, and genuinely horrible neck (a poor setup and a non-functioning tuning machine didn't help). Unattractive looking instrument too.

Phil

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='641085' date='Oct 30 2009, 01:54 PM']I find the neck on my Squier tele bass to be a bit thin for my liking. If the other one has a tele headstock and is chunkier I'd cheerfully swap, its a bit used, but has got a fair bit of birdseye in it.[/quote]

This is my problem. Precision necks vary considerably between models, trouble is, apart from knowing that the Squire Classic Vibe 50s neck is too chunky for me, I'm not sure how the rest of them measure up.

I might consider a swap Mr. Fox, but I'd rather exhaust the other possibilities first.

Phil

[quote name='Sean' post='641068' date='Oct 30 2009, 01:32 PM']What's Foto Flame all about? Is that a photograph of flame maple glued on to the top like on some of the current Chinese crop?[/quote]

Got it in one. Foto Flame was a Fender attempt to get all "flame maple" without the cost of actually buying any wood. Was met with much derision at the time (90s), but I actually think it's pretty cool.

There's a description here: www.xhefriguitars.com/page7.html

Phil

All,

After something like 30 years of fiddling around on bass I thought it was time I got a fretted Precision (I did own a fretless Jazz/Precision hybrid for a while but that didn't count).

I don't have much to spend, maybe up to £300, so it'll no doubt have to be a Squire – either new or previously loved. I'm confused about necks however. To my eyes, the best looking Squire Precision around at the moment is the Classic Vibe 50s P Bass. I love both the tele style and the maple fingerboard. Trouble is, having tried one I really didn't get on with the chunky neck (I play a fretless Wal mostly). So who can guide me through necks fitted to Squire Precisions? What about the Vintage Modified Precision Tele Bass? What about the Mike Dirnt? And if I were to stay away from the Tele style what should I be looking for?

Phil

Percy Jones played a fretless P Bass in Brand X before he became so strongly identified with Wal. The early Brand X albums are all fretless P and the bass sound is utterly gorgeous.

P

Giving myself a shameless bump.

[quote name='alembic1989' post='631081' date='Oct 20 2009, 08:41 AM']Does it have the 13pin socket for synth access?
Thanks[/quote]

Doesn't appear to have the synth patch buttons or mix slider so I'd suspect it won't have the 13 pin socket either.

P

Considering the Energy, like most Status basses, has a zero fret, that's a very odd thing to do to the nut. Looks to me, all that needs doing is the piece of wood removing.

Phil

[quote name='Stacker' post='631062' date='Oct 20 2009, 08:08 AM']Sure, on an image with a watermark; I meant images in general that have, say, a corner credit.

Re using somebody's image: whilst I take your point, to a degree, we're always trying to show things/describe things to each other on any forum so what are we supposed to do? Avoid the 'right-click' trigger-finger? Take the time to find/email the copyrightholder for their permission to use a few pix? C'mon. man, life's too short for that! It would be a different kettle of fish if you were lifting stuff willy-nilly and putting it in an actual publication, but on a net forum for the purposes of discussion??[/quote]

And I take your point too, to a degree – but an argument that effectively says copyright infringement is ok 'cause it's the convenient option clearly has some, "where do you draw the line issues". You can post a link to a picture too, rather than copying the "original". Maybe I'm a bit sensitive about this. I write manuals/magazine features and design speakers for a living, which is tough enough as it is, but when I see my words lifted and posted in some forum or another, or my work passed-off as somebody else's, I get just a little annoyed.

Phil

PS. © Phil Ward 2009

[quote name='Stacker' post='629353' date='Oct 18 2009, 11:34 AM']Good point. Anything that has a credit on it should not be posted or at least have the credit Photoshopped out![/quote]

Don't even think about Photoshop to erase the credit. First you'll probably never manage it without leaving a visible trace. Second an outfit like Getty Images will still be after you anyway, and thirdly the images are probably additionally watermarked with far more subtlety than just the big Getty Images logo. Oh and fourth, using somebody else's image without permission is just as unethical as using somebody's music without permission. All of us here would be justly annoyed if somebody copied a recording we'd made and posted it all over the web. It's no different for photographers.

P

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='628972' date='Oct 17 2009, 07:30 PM']Double bass is a completely different kettle of fish from fretless[/quote]

Yeah absolutely, a different kettle and different fish. But I still think there's a mind set inherent in playing any fretless instrument that'll transfer.

P

Gareth

Congratulations! When I got my NS CR4 all those years ago it wasn't just a revelation in terms of sound but in terms musicianship also. The physical demands of double bass make you think much harder about what you play. You have to get more value out of each note because you physically can't play quite so many of them. You'll find your electric bass playing changes too.

On thing I'd seriously reenforce though is that you get a few lessons – if only to ensure you're not getting into any habits of technique that will result in injury. I did exactly that in my early weeks of EUB and if I'd gone on without having my technique corrected would probably have ended up with a chronic left hand tendon problems. I mean, considering what's going arrive on your doorstep in a few weeks, we don't want you with your left hand permanently in an ice bag.

Phil

PS. Preferably get yourself a classically trained DB teacher. You can learn the basics of arco then too.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='628680' date='Oct 17 2009, 01:17 PM']Just been reading up & Sting did have a fretless Precision first (which he played blind on a gig with no fretless practise or experience!) Here's a pic of his Ibanez...[/quote]

I thought Sting had plenty of fretless experience. Didn't he play double bass long before he played electric bass?

P