Muzz

Tell you what, buy a brand new Stingray, or an Alembic, or an Overwater, try and sell it in a short while, and let me know about mug's games... Having said that, there's a really nice US Jazz on here for £475, so that's a really good deal. If you're buying... Modding can be a very effective way of finding out what you want from a bass if, as has been said before, you've an idea where you're starting from, and where you'd like to be. The learned opinion on here can help with that, too. If you find none of the mods works for you, the key to modded basses, if you're selling, is to part out. If I sold my SX project bass parted out, I'd get 80% of what I paid for the bits. The key bit of this is I'd be losing about £60. Pretty cost-effective, I'd say. Buying and selling basses is also fun, but it's not for profit... Well, it's a buyers market at the moment (see the Jazz above, plus Warwick prices generally, etc, etc) so you can buy cheap, but don't expect to sell dear for a good while yet. Which means you might be stuck with something you didn't get on with, which has cost you several hundred £s.

Well, I've become addicted to this route, ever since I got an SX for about £80, then put a £80 MM neck on it, a £25 bridge, and it turned out to be a better player than my US P-Basses. Eventually I put a pair of Wizard pickups in it, and now it's done, and it's my main bass - the Ray, the US Jazzes, etc, all take second place. The P-Basses got sold... Next project is my £65 Ryder P, which will be getting another neck and a Wizard Thumper (or possibly two), and I have high hopes of this one, too. If you're looking to get back money you put in, then you probably won't get that back, though if you part it out you'll probably get 75% of what you've spent. Which, unless you're very lucky, is more than you can say for any US Fender, Musicman, Overwater, Alembic, etc, etc... If, however, you're looking to try out some new kit for very little cash outlay (and that can be done in stages), then it's a good route. Plus you'll have something no-one else has got... IMHO, YMMV, etc, etc...

I had one and loved it - if it hadn't been nicked, I'd probably still have it. Tons of everything, and not too big. Mind you, I'd left it at our rehearsal studio (from where it was nicked) because it was a bit of a pain to get in and out of the car. OTOH, my 1515L is better, lighter and smaller, so (as long as you're insured) every cloud, and all that...

I posted a while back, just after I'd got the first mixes back of the album we were recording in a local studio, and I was a bit sensitive about what I saw as 'my sound' being buggered about with. Incidentally, we were in the studio for 14 or 15 days, and it took me about 3 minutes to get the bass sounding good. More than 5 minutes, and I'd have been getting embarassed... I've just got the final mastered product, and I was completely wrong about my sound. It's been changed from what I was hearing in my cans while tracking, sure, but to the benefit of the band (and album)'s overall sound, and the changes are appropriate to the relevant tracks. Unless you're a professional sound engineer, or your band sound is built on a specific bass sound, or yours is the ego that runs the band, then having faith in the guy responsible for the overall sound is the most sensible option. I realise this isn't always the safest route when playing live, as there are good sound guys out there and bad ones, but as I've said before, live environments are such a crapshoot in what they do to your sound that it'll be a miracle if you get the same sound twice anyway. I'd also agree with the poster who mentioned he has a sound for home/practice/playalong use, and one for the band.

Hi, I had a Lowden Goodfellow a while back, in fact my friend has got it now. Terrific bass, very very well made, a proper 'boutique' instrument. I sold it because I just don't get on with soapbar pickups on a bass - I had an Overwater, too, and while that was a sublime instrument, it just wasn't me. P/J pickups (preferably Wizards) are my thing - I'm just not a subtle or sublime bassist... Pics are always good, you know... We're a nosey bunch on here... [quote name='retiredbassist' post='1249301' date='May 29 2011, 03:33 PM']Got a Good fellow from Lowden factory, in 1994. Was looking to see if anyone out there has one from Lowden as well? just curious.......... or knows anyone who has one.[/quote]

I knew my borderline-OCD would be good for something sooner or later...

Holy Trinity you say? How about a colour-themed Holy Trinity? [attachment=81072:trinity.jpg]

PM'd about those pups mate...I'll have 'em.

I was particularly impressed by Bevery Knight's bassist playing the lines on a keyboard, with an entirely redundant bass slung round his neck*. I'd have thought he could've saved some back strain with a simple t-shirt that said "I might be playing the bass line on a keyboard, but I can play a real bass, honest". I could be reading this all wrong, however, and it could be the first emergence of a new craze in very heavy and unweildy wood-and-metal jewellery... * Even BigRedX wouldn't object to a Fender being used like that, I'd hazard. Although it'd have to be a light one...

[quote name='Jakester' post='1243928' date='May 25 2011, 09:41 AM']I think this should be qualified - a well set up, playable and great sounding instrument will make you want to play more than an unplayable dog that sounds crap and requires gymnastic finger contortions.[/quote] True, but where in the quote you're quoting did it say that 'a well set up, playable and great sounding instrument' means an expensive instrument? Sometimes, it's got very little to do with money. Clearly the OP isn't putting his Ric in this category, as it isn't making him want to play it. I agree completely about amps, but 'bang for buck' in basses is much more prevalent down the bottom end of the (especially secondhand) market - look at what you can get a secondhand Warwick for these days - you may not like the brand for any number of reasons, but the build quality is fantastic.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1236861' date='May 19 2011, 12:51 PM']I dont understand why Markbass is so much cheaper in the USA, when the come from Italy?! Surely the UK should be able to sell them a little cheaper.[/quote] In my experience, the only difference between the US and UK models is the little 110/240 jumper inside...OK, it was a bum-clenching moment plugging a US LMIII in and switching it on for the first time, but it worked just fine. And cost nearly half the price.

Well, amp-wise, I've been GAS-free for a year or so now with the RH450/1515L, and I haven't played a bass in a long time which made me think "Ooooh, gotta have that". Still idly contemplating a YOB bass, but that's pie-in-the-sky, 64-Precision-with-a-maple-board stuff, i.e. lottery win time. Since I realised that I'm never gonna get one bass to do everything I want, I'm more than happy with my Franken-Ps and Fortress. Haven't touched the Ray or the Jazz in a while, might get round to moving them on, but prices at the moment suggest I'll be better holding onto them for a while yet. That said, I've a couple of project builds I'm dying to finish, with a wenge/ebony Warmoth neck and a pair of Thumpers... On a slightly unrelated topic, it's been a year since I had to sell my motorbike, and it's the first year in 29 I haven't had one, so I'm very very surprised that I don't miss it at all.

[quote name='Clarky' post='1236879' date='May 19 2011, 01:09 PM'][url="http://www.normansrareguitars.com/fender-1964-precision-bass.html"]http://www.normansrareguitars.com/fender-1...ision-bass.html[/url] [/quote] Y'see, for a bloke with 25+ years in the IT industry, sometimes my grasp of the technology is just...cack. How did I miss that one? The phrase 'very rare maple' might be an indicator, though. At $12500, mind, it'll be staying in the States with Norman. In Tarzana, Ca. If ever there was a made-up placename, that's it.

OK, so I've long had GAS for a Year Of Birth bass, and it'd be a Precision, but it'd really need to be a maple board. From 1964. Does such a puppy exist? Any Fender experts out there care to elucidate? Ta, Muzz

Bumping this one from page 4 already(!)

Never played with him, and given the less-than-stellar intro from the singer (who admitted he's had to take what he can get drummer-wise at short notice), I'm approaching this whole gig from the perspective that I'm not gonna get much help from the stool at the back* - hence the query: I really don't want to have to busk this one if the drummer's not on song. * 'Stool at the back' - new slang for drummer?

[quote name='chrisd24' post='1235396' date='May 18 2011, 11:04 AM']Same here.[/quote] Yeah, that's kinda the issue, though - it just doesn't sound good at all. Am I just going to have to roll all the tone off, play near the neck and glare at the drummer the whole time?

[quote name='chrisd24' post='1235359' date='May 18 2011, 10:42 AM']I play this in an Irish band I'm in,what key are you doing it in?[/quote] For authenticity's sake, it's D-B-G, as per the PS I Love You soundtrack, and Gerard Butler's definitive version.

Yep, I'd echo the above about horses for courses - the first time I tried TC stuff, I didn't like it at all, but that turned out to be the cabs - I'm much more old-school than hi-fi, and I'd tried the full 'Rebel Stack'. I've now got a RH450 with a Schroeder 1515L, and it's fantastic. Only timing issues (calendar-wise for availability, not my own personal timing - tho that's bad enough ) stopped me from buying a Barefaced cab, I'd still love to hear my RH450 through a Super Twelve.

OK, a desperate plea - you may (or may well not, and why should you?) have seen a response I made to a relevant thread about dep gigs (the one where the singer's asked me at short notice and then says "Oh, and it's a dep drummer, too, and he's not very good." , but I've got a dep gig on Saturday, and one of the 24-song list I'm stuffing into my head is Galway Girl, and I'm buggered if I can come up with an even vaguely convincing bass line for this. There isn't even any tab stuff out there, which is normally the last resort. I know, I know, it should be straightforward root and fifth stuff, and all the others on the list I've got my head around fine, but this one's a real mental blank for me. So, humour me, be gentle, and any help on this fricking song would be very gratefully received. There's only so much I'm going to be able to blame on the drummer... Cheers, Muzz

The simple answer is 'a lot less then they're worth'! It's been done in another thread, but Warwicks are for whatever reason about as hip as disco at the moment, and so prices are very low. It's a buyers market. I picked up a really really nice early Fortress on here (there's a thread if you search) for £400, and it's a belter. The $$ and Thumb go for more, again, the Search tool is your friend. If you're looking for a bass for rock, I think the Fortresses are ideal, the P/J pickup combination certainly helps, and the earlier ones have a fantastic (and small, beware if you like P-necks) all-wenge neck and the JAN1. The action on mine can be taken down to the lowest I've ever encountered without any issues, and the bass itself is the easiest to play I've owned. It's a keeper. I'm contemplating fitting Wizard pups to it, to give it a more trad sound, but that's all I'd change about it. PS 80s Yamahas? I've got a BB3000A whcih I've had from new in 87. Niiiice...

Let's not forget the Thumper Got one as part of a P/J pair in my FrankenP, and it's sublime. I'm buying another for my Ryder P next...

Got a dep gig for Saturday night with our singer's main 'earning' band - 24 songs, a dozen or so I've never played before/don't know, and a couple I've never heard before. Wouldn't be too much of a hassle, but just had a conversation with the singer which he ended by saying "You'll need to be sharp on these numbers, we can't busk anything on these gigs, they're my main earner. Oh, by the way, we won't have my main drummer, we've got a dep guy in for this too. He's not very good, but he was all I could get..." Marvellous.

+1 on the Schroeder cabs - I have a 1515L which is more than enough for my drummer, and my mate has a 1212L which he uses in a rock covers band (Maiden, Purple, UFO, ACDC, etc) who are a lot louder than ours, and he really rates it - he had a Trace 410 combo before, and he says this (with a LMIII) is louder.