Muzz

Amsterdam = Disneyland for the adults...

[quote name='Icarus_147' timestamp='1331639314' post='1576239'] Hmm, see, I'm not sure about that one. It's certainly something I've considered, but I'm not sure how hard they'd be to get right for a beginner. I'd like to though, I certainly imagine it'd be worth it. Are decent necks generally very expensive? Money isn't really a problem, but it'd be nice to have a couple different options without having to shell out hundreds of pounds. [/quote] I got mine from EBay - Mighty Mite ones are great quality for the £80-100 you'll pay for them. They're a standard Fender sized heel, too, so as long as the neck pocket on the body is close to Fender specs, you could end up with a really good fit. IMHO, the neck pocket fit is a big influence on the feel (resonance) of the instrument. There's threads on here with pics about fitting and shimming necks, too. Going upmarket, or for just a great way to kill half an hour with bass-porn, have a look at warmoth.com - more necks and bodies than you can shake a stick at, and they're far better quality than bog-stock Fender stuff.

Speaking of which, there's a nice BB3000 here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/169887-yamaha-bb3000-for-sale/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/169887-yamaha-bb3000-for-sale/[/url]

Fretmeister, you really need to try a Dingwall, they really are extraordinary basses, and Bass Direct is definitely the best place to do this. If by any chance you don't get on with a Dingwall, Mark has a zillion other top-drawer basses and amps there, too...it's definitely a "I've always wanted to try..." sort of establishment

I've got a couple of Frankenfenders and one, my SX/MM P/J thing, is a really nice bass, period. I may have been lucky with the neck (possibly not, though, because I have a MM J-neck which is very nice, too), but with a new nut it feels every bit as good as Fenders I've owned, and the rest of the bits are at least Fender quality, if not better. I sold both my US P-Basses once I'd finished it, because I didn't need them any more - the homebuilt one was (for me) better than either. It isn't worth anywhere near what a US Fender is worth, but then it isn't for sale, and won't be. I buy basses now and again on a whim, and as everyone does, I'll be aware of the resale value, but that's not the point with this one - it's mine. For the OP, if you're not going to play around with different necks, then you really need to try the bass you're thinking of buying, and if you like the feel and how it plays acoustically, then you're off on the right foot. Don't knock basswood, either - if it's good enough for a £1.5k MM Bongo... Pimping bridges, nut and tuners are all small positive changes which can be done, but for amplified sound the biggest one by a country mile is the pickup, pots and wiring. I'm not a believer in 'tonewood' as far as the end product (an amplified bass in a band setting) goes.

This is getting monotonous...but Bob's Da Man! Met up to take delivery of a flawless Dingwall, Bob's a gent and a pleasure to deal with. Cheers!

Any old body you like the look of, it's all going to be about the neck pocket - if it's at or very close to the fender dimensions you can put a MM neck on there and it should be a decent fit. I've had a couple of good ones with MM necks and SX bodies, tho not sunburst. Tuners whatever you've got lying about, cheapos are usually OK. Bridge, I'd use a Gotoh 201 or a Schaller 3D, then a Wizard Thumper and CTS pots. All done bar the scratch plate and strings, both to taste. Shouldn't be much more than 250 all in, and you'll have a bespoke P which you'll feel quite attached to; well, I do to mine. If you've got more money and want to go upmarket past the usual Fender quality, have a look at the Warmoth site: it's P and J bass porntastic... I'd still go with the Thumper, tho. Be warned, though; once you start putting basses together from bits, you might never want a standard off-the-shelf one again...

+1 to the above - we were in Gracielands to record our album last year, and one of the reasons we chose it was the fantastic (signed!) Neve 9098 desk and acres of older outboard kit, which give a much more organic feel to the process - we got to A/B with the digital gear they have there while we were recording, and I'd go with the older kit every time.

I like 1 myself, then 2. Hopefully there's be enough of 1 for what you need.

I used a LD300 combo for a short while, and it was certainly loud enough for pub-sized gigs. The tone shaping is what it is, there's much better out there, but for the money (IIRC I bought/sold it for £250 or so) it does a good job.

[quote name='deaver' timestamp='1331032830' post='1566494'] When I hear something I've recorded and think that it sounds like a proper bass player rather than me. When I get to the end of a gig and get that rush from having got through it and done a good job. When a new song comes together properly for the first time. [/quote] +1 to this, all of it. It's what it's all about.

Another problem you might have changing necks around is access to those upper frets - I'm putting a 22-fret neck (which I already have) onto a Thunderbird body, so I'm kissing goodbye to, oh, seven frets or so. That's OK for me (saves all that anxiety and nosebleeds straying over the 15th fret), but if you're after a useable 24 frets, you'll need the right neck position/cutaway to actually get to them without having to have a second left wrist installed...

Yup, that's where I've got mine. Still had a little bit of dive, but that would be because it's got a P-neck, but a set of Hipshot Ultralites completely sorted it.

Cheers Karl, I do like it, though it was done on a budget, just to try the concept out - £130 for the Epi Thunderbird (less what I got for the neck when I sold it), a MM neck I had sort of lying around, plus a bit of machining for the pocket. Result. I liked it so much, however, I've spent a bit more on it: Hipshot Supertone bridge, Hipshot superlites (inc.Xtender), rewire (inc.pull-serial pot) and SD pickups. It'll be finished by the end of the week - I'll post more pics then. I've also got a really nice Lakland birdseye maple neck awaiting another Thunderbird body, so I can start all over again...

Hmmm, not sold on that one, to be honest, but on the Fenderbird front, I'm a fan - if he can make a good one like this, I'd be in.... [sharedmedia=core:attachments:89623]

[quote name='Earbrass' timestamp='1330611932' post='1560353'] "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world....” ― [url="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1020792.Antoine_de_Saint_Exup_ry"]Antoine de Saint-Exupéry[/url] Perhaps it's not about waiting for "the one" to appear, but about making the one you have "the one" by getting to know it inside out. [/quote] And I think this is what I'm approaching, by modding, modding, modding basses, now I have the experience of many other basses and I understand which elements of which bass appeal to me. If I get the mix right, I'll have a unique bass which suits me uniquely. If I hadn't owned new Fenders and old Fenders and Gibsons and Overwaters and Goodfellows and Warwicks and Yamahas and Laklands and Ibanezes and lots of others, I wouldn't know this. I'll still need at least three of them...can I call them The Ones?

I had a Markbass 410HR for a while (having come down from an Ampeg 810 fridge via a Roland D-Bass 2x15 stack) and I liked it a lot, but I prefer my Schroeder 1515L - the smallest and lightest of the lot, and easily as loud as any. As Lozz says, they have a distinct voice and don't sound great at low volumes, but in the band context, it's great. 38lbs, one hand carry, and my RH450 doesn't go near half volume before the rest of the band complain. I have to add that my 410HR was nicked, so I might still have it if it wasn't for that, and I guess I'd still be happy.

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1330547696' post='1559311'] I moved mine on to the front of the heel on my Bolt on Epi. Helped loads. [/quote] This. And if it still dives, go for Hipshot Ultralight tuners - bye bye neck dive...

"I only like tomato soup - I had a tin of Heinz back in 1976, and that were it for me. All other soup is unnecessary." There's a flip side to only playing one bass: if you try different basses, they induce (sometimes even enforce) different playing styles and approaches which you might not consider after x years playing the same bass. I had a BB3000 for twenty years, and only when I started buying, trying and selling basses over the last few years did I realise there's much more potential out there if you give it a try. I'm now of the opinion that for me, there isn't a single bass which will do it all, because 'it all' is so diverse there would have to be compromises which would reduce the experience. Probably three basses would cover it, and why not? I don't listen to one type of music, I don't wear one colour or style of clothes. This is all, of course, supplementary and very much subordinate to the music itself, but the bass is a medium for the music you produce, and it can be a substantial influence.

Tried lots and lots of strings over the years. Some I actively don't like (Rotosound Stainless, Warwick Reds), some I don't mind (EB Slinkys, Fender Nickels), and some I really like - DR Sunbeams when I'm flush, D'Addarios when I'm not. Oh, and Hartke cheapos on my Fortress, they just seem to suit it.

Hmmmm, having replaced lots of bridges on several basses (mostly with Schaller 3Ds, sometimes with Gotoh 201s, once with a Badass), I'm still unsure as to any 'tonal' change. What you may well get is more sustain and a comfier place to rest your hand, if you're a pick player.

The good side of the problem you have is that the good old P-Bass has been used for fifty years, and has, mostly with the standard pickups, been used to generate tones from Jamerson to Burnel to Lynnott to Harris to Dunn to....well, you get the drift. The playing styles, strings, amps and production do the rest. The 'Trad' sounds people have suggested are indeed 'dull' in one sense, but they're that way intentionally - flats and foam will do that for a string... If I had to pick one bass to gig with, it'd be a P/J (purely because I like the extra the J gives), and I'd do (in fact I actually do some of them) any of your above list with mine. Your string, EQ, amp/cabs and playing style choice will dictate far more than your pickup choice (important though it is) will. As for cutting through, it's been said before, but mids are your friend - I wouldn't get hung up about the sound of the bass on its own with the mids pushed (I'm not keen myself), but in a band context, it sounds very different. I've come back from a gig where I was EQing on the fly, been happy with the sound at the gig, and when I've plugged back into the amp solo the next day, the tone I was using has made me go "Ewwwww.". Oh, and "How loud?"

Yeah, I'd throw two grand at that on the strength of those pictures As far as I can see, it must have been one of those rare years they didn't put a decal on the headstock....

I use a double sheet of acoustic foam (the zigzaggy stuff) which I wouldn't put under a full 5ft stack, but is great under a single cab. Cost pennies, same effect. It IS startling what a bit of isolation can do...