NJE

Music is probably more diverse and open to people than it has ever been, and with that there will be huge areas and genres where the bass guitar is not needed or wanted. Equally there will always be genres that do not want to use synths or software and want to create a 'vintage' vibe with their music and will rely on traditional instruments. What I see more and more with pop bands especially, is a nice blend of both worlds, synths, triggers, electronic drums but with bass and guitar and even sometimes no guitar. I think there will always be bass guitars and bass players, the instrument is too ingrained in modern culture to be simply dismissed and forgotten.

I thought I would post my rambling thoughts on these strings. I was fortunate to have my players circle points made up enough to get a set of NYXL strings back in July, and rather than post first impressions, I thought a long term assessment might be a little more useful. Straight out of the packet (which is pretty amazing in itself) they were very bright and were maybe a tiny higher in tension than my normal Elixirs. the tension was marginal though and they were really nice to play. They are nice smooth strings, quite close to Ernie Ball slinky strings, which was a nice surprise as I have found some of D'Addario's strings a little rough for my liking. The strings went on my Stingray at the end of July and have been through 8 -10 practices and I think 5 hot and sweaty gigs as well as home practice. I have very corrosive sweat and normally deaden strings after a couple of practices and maybe 2 gigs at most. This is the main reason I switched to coated strings. Although the NYXL strings don't claim to be long lasting strings, these have done remarkably well. I have lost a little of the top end off them but easily counteracted that with the EQ on my stingray. In fact I found them overly bright when they went on and I really had to dial the treble down. Great for slap etc but not my kind of every day tone. They have outlasted Ernie Ball's which I love and I would say that they had a little more 'fullness' to them than EB's, I didn't just get lots of top end and low end out of them, there was a lot of midrange presence which was great. All in all these are really great strings, and to be brutally honest that is coming from someone who never really got on well with D'Addario in the past. They are still on the bass and will be doing at least another 2 gigs before I even think about taking them off. They have completely blown me away, I have never known un-coated strings last so long and maintain such a good core tone throughout. They aren't the cheapest of strings, but in this case I would definately say you get what you pay for.

I love P necks and the overall aesthetic but I always seem to shift them because I miss that tighter sound of a bridge pickup. Don't mod your original 70's bass, as that wise fellow said, try one of the Squier PJ basses and see how you get on. I was blown away by how good they were, and I still need to save a few quid from gigs to get one. If you get on with the sound then think about getting a higher quality one if you think you need it.

My personal approach years ago was to think of it exactly as a 4 string with more range not a new instrument that had to be conquered. (We all have different ways of approaching things) I sold and put away all 4 strings and only played the 5. I didn't go out of my way to use the B string all the time, it wasn't necessary, but I quickly learned that I didn't have to go down to the first few frets on the E string and could play across the neck. It came in incredibly useful for me in a soul band where we used to move keys around. I could stay low where we shifted down keys and a prime example was playing Superstition in Eb without any bother. So put the 4 away, just practice your normal sets with the 5 and just put a little thought into where the low notes would be useful and where you could go down a string instead of down the neck. Good luck!

I would be looking at Olinto by Labella, definitely consider Moollon, everyone raves about them and a lot of guys with the real deal 60s precisions. One of the nicest basses I have played in a long time was a Fender 63 precision reissue, stunning bass. Also for 2k you could look at secondhand Fender CS basses. I am no Fender fan, but every CS bass I have played and guitar for that matter, has been amazing, best necks I have played.

Someone would be able to make one for you if it didn't fit. I never knew Nordstrand made a mustang pickup, not helping the mustang GAS

Wow you guys must have a good ear, I watched/listened to Scotts Bass Lessons video where he compared a front pickup Jazz to a Precision and honestly found it a tough call. Both sounded very close, although I will admit that listening on a computer with headphones is not the same as feeling and hearing both live through and amp. I know a proper P pickup can be very full and thumpy, but for recording sake IMO there is very little in it. On a slight tangent, my oldest friend is a professional musician (movie scores, jingles and general studio work) and sent me a bass part he had just done. It sounded like a P bass with flats, amazing sound. It was in fact his 8 string Ibanez guitar and one of the best 'bass' tones I have heard.

I have wanted one of these since playing one in PMT, it's got worse now that they are releasing the Capri orange. 😬

It's on the heavy side, don't know exactly but no worse than my squier J or Stingray, definitely not a boat anchor by any means. Very much worth the £125 I got mine for.

I love my HB Fretless, it has one of the best sunburst finishes I have seen and the grain is stunning. Looking at mine I would say that the lines are probably some kind of wood or a wood filler/resin. Definitely not plastic on mine. I was tempted to mod mine, but to be honest I don't play fretless a lot and the quality is great so its seems a waste of money at the moment.

There are some theories that Raspberry Beret by prince is actually about bum coitus. Still a brilliant pop song.

I love my M80, it has been in constant use and had a battering over the years from gigging and it still looks good and no tears or broken zips anywhere. I cant comment on the comfort of wearing it for long walks, I use one strap on one shoulder like a golf club bag and its fine for my short walks. It is massively better quality than a lot of gig bags and similar type cases I have seen (and bought and returned) but you would expect that for the cost. It will sting a bit when I have to replace it, but it will be worth it, they are VERY good.

Like someone else said earlier, I would be looking at solutions to the back pain other than simply swapping basses. I suffer with my back but my wife is a physio and gave me really simple excercises to do to help when I get pain but also to do as a preventative measure. Go and see someone before you sell a bass and possibly spend a lot of money on a new one. It might be something you can remedy simply with excercise. It's got very little to do with your overall strength in a lot of cases, I can lift PA speakers and lug around heavy stuff, but sometimes my back is just triggered by sitting badly at a computer and once bending down to tie my shoelace. Go see a physio would be my advice from a fellow bad back sufferer.

This is the exact reason I sent back the Gruv Gear Fump. It totally messed up my tuning

Are there any Stenback owners on basschat? I love the look of these and every time someone plays one it seems to be like some sort of bass spiritual awakening. I know they stopped taking orders and there is no website anymore, is there a huge waiting list? He also mentioned exciting developments which they never said any more about on facebook. Just interested to know more I guess.

Am I right in thinking there are basically two versions of the same film? I read in line that the film was started in 1996 and released to film festivals in 2008? It seems they couldn't get licenses for the music they wanted to use, so they started a kickstarter. It seems the latest version was properly released in 2015. If I'm wrong Inwould love someone to correct me because I'm trying to find the right film to watch, it sounds fascinating.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1503474392' post='3358443'] How bizarre is all this? I get the impression that a number of posters on this thread don't actually have children. The only answer that will actually get you anywhere is, "What/who do you like listening to? Fine, play along with that then." If I'd asked my father what to listen to if I wanted to hear great basslines, I'd have spent the next 20 years listening exclusively to Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra. Your kids don't want to listen to "your" music. That's part of being your kids. [/quote] This elegantly sums up my thoughts when I read the title. I know these albums and players are what we now consider 'classic' but they are the kind of artists that also appear on those naff classic rock dad compilation albums they advertise on fathers day. Just tell your kids to play along to whatever music they like, and let them discover classic players and albums on their own, its all part of the fun. Let them work out where the music they like comes from, everything is so accessible on the internet and they will find if they want to.

Had this nice 2001 Stingray for a few months now and it's really grown on me. I moved from 35" scale 5 string as my main bass, back to a 4 string so it took some getting used to. I wasn't sure on the finish at first but really love it now and it has some lovely subtle Birdseye on the neck too which was a bonus. So to tart it up a bit I ordered some white pickup covers, and they finally arrived from the excellent folks at Strings and Things (after being caught up with a delivery of guitars bang in the middle of the cities issues) so I set about installing it today. Rather pleased with the result and quite like the no pickguard look too.

I have used a Tonehammer 350 for years now and it's a great bit of kit, I find it very clean with the right settings and works incredibly well with a 4ohm cab. I have owned pairs of GS112 cabs and the DB equivalent and both were perfectly loud enough to compete with a 9 piece soul band with 3/4 piece brass section. 1 cab alone was fine for small gigs with PA support and rehearsal but not as backline in a venue. Look out for a decent 4ohm cab so you can pull everything out of the head. After years of using two smaller cabs because I thought they would be easier to move about, I bought an Aguilar GS212 and it's not too heavy and sounds amazing and I find it much easier, I have castors on it and just take a sack truck everywhere so I never have to lift anything.

I LOVE my Harley Benton fretless, there are some tiny cosmetic things on the back of the neck (the board is an amazing piece of wood) but the sunburst finish is one of the best I have ever seen and again the body is a stunning piece of wood. Love the look of this HB PJ....

[quote name='No. 8 Wire' timestamp='1502786272' post='3353456'] That's a great help, a current model too, so that is an option. How do you find the basswood body? Is it too light for the big neck? I'm not a huge fan of basswood, mainly becasue I like natural finishes. At the moment I've got some 50mm/19mm contenders and all seem to be Squier. Squier Active Deluxe JAzz V [url="https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/07011213222329--squier-deluxe-jazz-bass-v-active-3-tone-sunburst?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7fvVwerY1QIVp7ztCh0AgQwQEAQYASABEgILu_D_BwE"]https://www.guitargu...ASABEgILu_D_BwE[/url] Squier P 5 [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-squire-5-string-precision-bass/232445314333?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908131621%26meid%3D53329740f36e4517aebdefb3ce0f3415%26pid%3D100678%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D172665921730&_trksid=p2481888.c100678.m3607&_trkparms=pageci%253Aa296a7e1-8192-11e7-8a59-74dbd1809b70%257Cparentrq%253Ae4fb0f6915d0a86bc8f54344fff6f183%257Ciid%253A1"]http://www.ebay.co.u...3%257Ciid%253A1[/url] And this: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Squier-Pro-Series-5-String-Bass-Rare-Collectable/172665921730?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908131621%26meid%3D53329740f36e4517aebdefb3ce0f3415%26pid%3D100678%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D172665921730&_trksid=p2481888.c100678.m3607&_trkparms=pageci%253Aa296a7e1-8192-11e7-8a59-74dbd1809b70%257Cparentrq%253Ae4fb0f6915d0a86bc8f54344fff6f183%257Ciid%253A1"]http://www.ebay.co.u...3%257Ciid%253A1[/url] Now that last one ticks all the boxes... but also has everything I usually hate in one bass - rosewood neck, gold hardware, red body! However the more I look at it the more I'm coming round to it. [/quote] It isn't the lightest bass in the world, and it does have a slight bit of neck dive, but completely comfortable with a nice wide strap and hasn't ever slipped or taken a nose dive with me. I love the phenolic?? fingerboard, its like ebony and incredibly responsive. Over all it is a great bass for next to nothing used if you can find one. I have had a Squier vintage modified Precision V and again it was an amazing bass, so much fun to play. I would say that the nut width is thinner than the Deluxe V jazz and probably a bit narrower than my lakland 55-02. It was comfortable for me though and I struggle with tight spacing. Both great basses but tighter overall spacing on the Precision V. EDIT: Sorry I didn't realise you were looking at a different P5 not the vintage modified.

Squier active Jazz V has to be the bigggest neck of any 5 string I have ever seen, I have one and love it. I put a Hipshot 19mm bridge on mine if that is any help. It is an incredible bass, so well made and I have had so many compliments on the sound and playability.

I will echo a lot of sentiments on here, I play a lot of music I would never normally listen to at home and a lot of it I actively despise. However, if the audience is into it, I could play anything and get a buzz out of it, it's their energy that keeps me playing. I have a very close friend who is a seriously good guitarist and he had always played in originals bands and done the occasional covers band but seriously obscure stuff. He then joined a soul/funk type band playing floor fillers and suddenly realised how much fun it was playing to people who loved the music, danced all night and enjoyed the band, even if he was playing music that was way off his usual tastes. He actually discovered what a phenomenal guitarist Nile Rodgers is after learning his stuff properly. Keep on enjoying it guys, we all get our pleasure and enjoyment from different things and there is no shame in playing a good chunk of crowd pleasing cheese.

I have just been fiddling with the custom builder, it is so much fun but so easy to make a bass that looks like a dogs dinner I cant believe how cheap the basses are coming out though, custom builds for basically Fender Mexican prices.....CRAZY!!!!!