Mykesbass

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1488810991' post='3251948'] If all of the tone of a bass comes from the pickups why do people spend a fortune on fancy timbers for a better sounding bass? If a bass is poorly made or badly set up or has inherent problems that show up when played acoustically then you will never get the best out of it no matter how good the pickups are, or we would all be playing cheap basswood body basses with cheap bridges.....and great pickups. [/quote] If they are paying lots purely to make it sound better they are wasting their money. Sure, if you want it to look great with the wood on show then yes, go exotic. Nothing wrong with basswood (apart from it looks boring). Music Man use it under solid finishes. Some plywood basses sound great, as do some metal and composite ones. Yes, wood and build has some impact on the final sound, but nowhere near as much as it is given credit for - that's all thanks to the marketing departments.

Whereabouts are you? In the repairs/technical section is a list of helpful Baschatters that could look at and try your bass and offer advice on set-up and make pickup suggestions.

Was amazed by how much attack he plays with when I heard this: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh3U9iPKeXQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh3U9iPKeXQ[/url]

Rotosound used to do crazy deals to retail - I think it may even have been BOGOF. May be a case of the shop previously passing on some of that discount. I don't get the "are we being ripped off" question. It is business, and there are items that can be sold at a decent profit margin (strings, straps, plectrums etc.) that help shops stay afloat when they have very low margins on their higher value items - the instruments.

ESP with LTD.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1488543502' post='3249830'] How does the bass sound un amplified? If it sounds flat and lifeless then new pickups wont make it sound amazing. [/quote] Got any evidence for this? Most (some say all) of the tone of a bass comes through the strings and the pickups. My main bass is fretless and strung with flats. Unplugged it is not a patch on the bitsa I have with roundwounds on. Plugged in, the fretless is big, full, warm through the Nordstrand P pick-up. The bitsa is OK, but a bit aggressive and nowhere near as full sounding. Yes, it's lovely to have a bass that sings when it is not plugged in, but when plugged in the acoustic properties are quite negligible.

Did they choose based on size?

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1488369847' post='3248285'] Postscript to this - I went into the Box Office yesterday to pick up the tickets. I said to the woman at the desk "I've come to pick up some tickets for a concert in the Corn Exchange" She looked me up and down, then said "would that be for Gilbert O'Sullivan?" How humiliating! [/quote] 😃 quality. And bonus points for sharing!

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1488359269' post='3248134'] All very good Basses in their own right and I kind of justified them all at the time by having 2 with 60's Pickup spacing and 2 with 70's spacing. [/quote] Priceless 😃. Only on here could such a justification even be considered.

Because they are SO much nicer

Excited as I've just got a ticket to see Kraftwerk. My current favourite band are Tedeschi Trucks. Guess I'm on the "it doesn't matter how it's made" side of the argument

[quote name='Dazed' timestamp='1488129554' post='3246110'] I've been looking at Basslab instruments for a while now. [url="http://basslab.de"]http://basslab.de[/url] They build using their own recipe "tuneable composite" materials layered over a form which is later removed, leaving a hollow body (and neck!). They use automotive paint and lacquers even on fretless basses, where the fretboard is also often painted. [/quote] Nice

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1488062384' post='3245602'] Vigier have been offering fretless guitars and basses with metal fingerboards since the 1980s. I think someone would have said something by now if there was excess string noise on these. [/quote] Fair enough - was only making the suggestion that ths was something that may need looking into - obviously it has. Then again, some people love the thwacky, clanky sound of the plastic board on the Squier VMJ, so it may well come down to taste.

[quote name='therealting' timestamp='1488073121' post='3245667'] But Sadowsky is a custom builder...? Personally, I'd prefer almost any decent option other than Fender if I wanted a custom build. I think they're terrible value for what you get from them. [/quote] One thing that Fender isn't is terrible value for money. Unlike custom builds, Warwick, Yamaha, Cort and Ibanez, they hold their price brilliantly. 15 year old US standard models sell for around £700, about the same they were new.

Although I play a very traditional looking instrument I do love different, and this sounds like a great project. One worry though, is the sound of strings on a metallic fretless fingerboard - could be quite noisy. Good luck getting this off the ground, and keep as all informed if the dream starts to take shape!

As above, if it has only been a short time, and you haven't turned anything else down, isn't that the life of a dep?

What brought me to the bass? A guitarist - Freddie Green. I played in a big band for years, and to me, this style of playing is very similar in philosophy to bass playing - serve the song. Be a rock solid foundation for others to do their theatrics and glory seeking over the top! Here's a small group example of his work: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzNNYw9AsOM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzNNYw9AsOM[/url]

WEM - can't remember which model, but it was horrible!

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1487950975' post='3244502'] Strangely enough, the song I found the hardest was one I could have played the easiest just for the sake of a bar gig, however, I wanted to try and nail the actual bass playing on the recording. Son of a preacher man (Dusty's version) She recorded this in Memphis and I believe the bassist was Tommy Cogbill. The recording doesn't offer a good enough mix for me to really pinpoint what he's doing and normally, I would've said that he'd played about 5,000 notes too many but it seriously works on the recording. Not even sure if I've nailed it 6 years down the line😂 [/quote] I'm saving that one up for my retirement (not that that will ever happen)!

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1487805114' post='3243199'] Yep. Love 'A New Flame' too. Can't understand how he's ended up so detested. [/quote] Politics - you're not allowed to be a socialist and successful apparently!

Great album by a much maligned artist.

Not the same line up but I'm guessing WaterofTyne's Caffreys would take some beating.

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1487786539' post='3242929'] [size=3][font=Calibri][color=#000000]A bit of cyber-stalking of the band’s (absolutely woeful IMHO – they really need to sort that, especially the cover photo on FB which truncates ¼ of their name… d’uh!) website and Facebook page suggests that their previous bassist was a straight down the line traditional finish P and J guy so I guess that’s where their expectations have been set. The other guitars in their were both (pretty boring looking) Strats. So maybe he’s just a retrogressive progressive rocker![/color][/font][/size] [/quote] Indeed. Looking at the web page (not even a site) and the Facebook page, when it comes to image (what on earth is that wedding picture doing at the top of the fb page) I'd have thought a Yamaha Attitude in any colour would be way down the list of things to worry about. I do like a certain level of a band looking right, but really, this just strikes me as petty, naive and lame.

Thanks - will check it out later. Wouldn't say I'm a fan, mainly down to not having listened to enough.

Haven't been able to find it again, but somewhere there is a demo of the 1205 - those Nordstrands and the pre-amp have given me the only case of bass GAS I've had since getting my Shuker in 2012! But, as already pointed out, these basses have worse depreciation than a Maserati Quattroporte. Buy off the marketplace here.