4 Strings

No, no names. They end up with rambling descriptions, like 'The Old Fender, You Know, The One From the Auction' to distinguish it from 'The Old Fender, You Know, The Bitsa'. To be fair, the second gets shortened to 'The Bitsa' but just as often is referred to as 'The Old Banger'. If any deserve a name it's the Jaydee which has given continuous, loyal service for many years as 'My Bass' until the recent arrival of others and demotion to 'The Jaydee'. Even after all these years I'm afraid I'm one of those who see it as a wooden guitar as opposed to a personality. Hope I never sell it, but also hope I never talk to it.

These old Selmers are quite sought after, you could flog it and buy something you actually want. Its definitely worth fixing, this place would certainly enthusiastic about it [url="http://www.chambonino.com/"]http://www.chambonino.com/[/url] though I've never had cause to use them. If it was mine I'd like to see it fixed and try it to see if I would like it, if not, send it to a welcoming home.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='800627' date='Apr 9 2010, 10:15 AM']Compared to my Modulus Sonic Hammer, my Jaydee was warm and soft. But don't take my word for it.[/quote] Useful comparison, although the acoustics and recording vary. Take your point about your warm Jaydee, I must say mine is very bright, but I would agree doesn't have the harsh edge of my Stingray with the treble full up. The posting wanted harsh, so Stingray for that. Mahogany is a very hard wood compared to the usual woods used for bodes, I would have thought this would have given the Jaydee a bright sound, if any audible influence as the Mark Kings have through necks anyway.

[quote name='Gust0o' post='801009' date='Apr 9 2010, 04:24 PM']I'm liking this jeans analogy. Now, I wear my jeans around my arse... so, how does this work now? [/quote] Equivalent to a really long strap. Now how you can play properly with one of those is another thread. Or should be. Goodness, I'm feeling a right nark with all this, all I want to do is play bass!

[quote name='paul h' post='800096' date='Apr 8 2010, 07:25 PM']Jeans!!! I keep meaning to ask the shiny fans, what kind of jeans do you all wear? I assume you wear plain, dark denim ones. Or do you wear faded or distressed ones? [/quote] Good thought, funnily enough I never buy pre-faded jeans, if I can help it as it seems so fake and some look, frankly, ridiculous with a pale stripe down the front and back of the legs. Trouble is, its getting harder and harder to buy 'normal' jeans. Following this through, do you think the time will come when buying a 'normal', shiny, new looking bass will be difficult among a plethora of increasingly less convincing, so-called relics? Greg

Perhaps now is the time to begin establishing a refinishing company, in a couple of years there's going to be a lot of customers.

Jaydee. Roadie or Mark King, matters not, they can bite your head off. Stick it through a Hartke rig and you can use it to shave. Mine was criticised during the last recording in which I was involved as being too bright. I bought a Stingray so I can have the bite but with lots of bottom too.

My first bass was given to me and, ungrateful wretch that I am, I found it so horrible I broke it. It was an Avon EBO copy. Sounded horrible, played horribly and had a horrible dodgy jack. Better things could have been done with the materials. It was a bad bass. On the other hand I bought a 'J and D Brothers' Precision of the dreaded ebay. It was £50 including a really good quality gig bag, a 20W combo and a book. Chap never used any of it much and it was all as new. The bass is Chinese and has a J pickup near the bridge as well as the P pickup. Neck is great (except for 1 high fret) the body is in two pieces (Fenders are in three) of alder, maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard and finished to look like the Funk Machine (well, sunburst and tortoise guard). I bought it as a gift but kept it (eventually gone to a youngster learning jazz now). It plays very nicely and, to my ears, sounds great too - if a little thin on the J pickup. A veritable bargain, no problem to me having the 'wrong' name on the end.

Relicing is to put lice back where they were, for example, in my barnet. If a verb is to be made from the noun shouldn't it be relicking or relic-ing? If anyone has ever seen The Fiftyfours the bass player and the singer have a bit of a bundle towards the end of their last number. A Squier bass and (a rather nice) Grestch Electro-matic clash a few times during this, the scars of war appearing on both. This will speed the effect but at least is some fun to do and isn't fake.

I have put a Hip Shot Extender on my Musicman, which has the brass nut, and it works well. Probably would with the plastic nut also but maybe it will wear less - over a prolonged period of 'extending'. There can be no sonic difference from a fretted note with a brass nut. With an open string there may well be slight difference but I very, very rarely play open strings (apart from low E) as the tone is completely different to fretted notes anyway. Maybe a lot of Mark King style slapping in E would make it worthwhile. Surely the only reason to replace a perfectly good plastic or bone nut with brass is because it looks like brass. I remember in the 80s this was popular, even graphite nuts to ease tuning. Makes no odds to me though.

[quote name='BruceBass3901' post='796628' date='Apr 5 2010, 02:56 PM']I have just had a Private Message on Talkbass.com saying the same thing about the weight. I understand that there is a huge possibilty that the bass will be rather heavy, but I really have my heart set on it. If worst comes to the worst, I have to sit on my amp [/quote] Having been used to a Jaydee with a solid mahogany body and neck for many years my Stingray is a lightweight. However I'm sure its heavier than some other basses but, personal opinion here, I wouldn't get too bogged down in a pound here, a few ounces there. A body heavier than another doesn't make it a bad bass, unless you have a shoulder problem.

[quote name='theosd' post='796629' date='Apr 5 2010, 02:57 PM']It is, of course. It sounded different, but definitely more 'Ray like.[/quote] I know its a generally held belief that the brightly coloured maple finger board sounds brighter but I must admit I cannot see how, being softer and less dense than rosewood. I would also challenge that anybody could actually hear the difference, given identical bodies/pickups/leads/amps/speakers etc. All these other factors will over-ride any change to the tone the fretboard material can make. Now if the frets themselves were made of something different... I love Stingrays and, for me maple looks better on a Stingray whatever the body, some prefer to play on the lighter colour (bit like a piano with the black and white on the keys reversed) but this is, of course, totally personal and aesthetic.

My Musicman has a brass nut. Polishes up nice.

I've just been looking into these, ended up with Schallers. I considered two other types: Jim Dunlop, pretty thin and cheap looking for their price, Ernie-Ball, looked very neat but required drilling for a larger screw. Didn't want to drill a 30 year old bass. The final seller was the gap between the body and the strap. On both these, particularly the E-B, the strap is held a good 20mm from the body meaning a lot of leverage on the screw whereas on the Schallers the gap between the strap and the body is small. I don't intend taking the strap off very often but they're dead easy to use anyway. Comes in black too!

[quote name='Daquifsta' post='790926' date='Mar 30 2010, 06:49 PM']I think the only way you could make the look of a 2 x 8 x 10 rig any better, especially if your guitar peeps have 1 x 12's, would be if you yourself were slightly shorter than an 8 x 10, and wore a genuine German tank driver's helmet. This was the look my band's previous bass player perfected :-)[/quote] That is very, very cool, any pics?

[quote name='Bilbo' post='793116' date='Apr 1 2010, 11:27 AM']I get that, I really do, but, in reality, I almost never try anything in music shops - haven't for at least 10 years. They almost never have anything I am interested in. I tried a Markbass amp/cab in Bass Merchant in Essex recently because I wanted to know if I could get a sound that could compete with my Eden without the weight. The answer was I couldn't so I walked away. Not their fault but certainly not mine. If I couldn't have tried it, I certainly wouldn't have bought it elsewhere. But, if I could save £700 by buying it elsewhere, I would have. Not because I am disloyal but because I can't AFFORD to throw away that much money to be 'loyal' to a perfect stranger. A tenner maybe, even £20 but £700? Not a chance. To be blunt, if they closed every music shop in East Anglia, I wouldn't notice. They have closed every cd shop except HMV (who I never go to) and it had no consequence for me at all and I buy upwards of a hundred cds a year. If they didn't cater for me (no jazz) and only catered for 12 year old girls, why should I worry? Virgin et al had forced me onto the internet years before they collapsed.[/quote] I agree for £700 (as I said), who wouldn't, glad you'd do the tenner, though. My local record shop would have loved a customer of >100 cds a year, and discounted to prove it. Its a hard decision, Tescos for a penny cheaper or keep the local greengrocer/chemist/butcher/baker open? I go for the personal whereever I can.

[quote name='crez5150' post='792566' date='Mar 31 2010, 10:12 PM']uncanny - [/quote] Where's his bass? Great pic!

[quote name='neilb' post='792557' date='Mar 31 2010, 10:07 PM'] Me and Norm, best mates!![/quote] All I can see is green. I love that man so much!

"The local shops were asking £2,200. I got mine from GAK in Brighton for £1, 499" There lies much of the problem. Local shops providing free hire for trying out gear before buying on-line or for bigger discount shops to make the sale. £700 difference is a big call (might the local shop have had a go at matching?) that sounds unbeatable, but I always try to buy local as I don't mind paying to have a local music shop in which I can try things etc. We have 4 local drum shops - well, one is upstairs at PMT - didn't know drums were so popular. My lad is a drummer and we have a great relationship with Gary at Drums Inc in Hornchurch, our most local, all sorts of favours, advice and discount etc and we're very happy to let them have our money for such premium and personal service.

I'm in the 'Go-For-It' camp, it'll be a laugh. Eventually your mates will get fed up helping you in and out with it, a bit later you might too. But until that happens you play for enjoyment don't you? Improve your enjoyment by a using a bass stack the size of a small venue. We've all done it, any regrets? 'Course not! If your guitarist has a little 1x12 combo you might look at how the mountain of bass looks on the stage.

What a result too! If it was me I would be standing near the place where Norman is standing. The guy is a legend and such a great chap to boot.

Great to meet you Lo, I've also looked at many of your vids, great stuff. Looking at 'Aint no Mountain' as I have to learn this one myself. Have you ever done the other 'Aint no Mountain', the big one with Diana Ross? Jamerson is masterful and, for me anyway, almost impossible to mimic. Would greatly appreciate your expert take on it.

[quote name='Sarah5string' post='789379' date='Mar 29 2010, 01:52 PM']I'm looking at upgrading from my laney RBW300 which is an 165w combo to something more powerful that'll last me a good while. Spotted this combo on ebay going for BIN £199 which seems a bargain so wanted opinions on whether they were any good and knew of only one place to ask This head.. [url="http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-Ultrabass-BX4500H-Guitar-Amplifier/dp/B0002Z82W6"]http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-Ultrabass-...r/dp/B0002Z82W6[/url] This cab... [url="http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/BA410.aspx"]http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/BA410.aspx[/url] The cab is more powerful that I would need but for the price it seems like a decent investment either way and could always downgrade if it were too much anyway [/quote] Never used Behringer and so cannot comment, apart from being able to buy 2nd hand a proper Hartke ally cone cab for ~£100 and maybe a bit more required for a matching amp. Bought mine 2nd hand and I'm very happy indeed (paid a bit more for a 2x10 XL with the HF horn from a listee too, perfect)

[quote name='4000' post='788793' date='Mar 28 2010, 07:49 PM']+1. A "decent" bass is simply one that works for you, which could prove to be absolutely anything.[/quote] Of course, but the chap asked how much for one. Can't tell him £100 because the vast majority for sale at that price are not going to be 'decent'. As I said, there are bargains around, but if he allows for £800-1000 he should get a decent bass that he wants. If, in the meantime, he finds one he wants for less, then he's saved himself some money. Don't need to spend £3k+ for a decent bass, not likely to get one for £30, but also not to 'save' money by buying one that he doesn't really want. Only other comment would be to try and buy from a shop rather than on-line. It'll be a sad day when the last bass selling shop closes.

[quote name='Big_Stu' post='787935' date='Mar 27 2010, 04:38 PM']Unfortunately for the past few years he's had a constant 18 month waiting list I was in Edinburgh a few weeks ago & a junk shop there had a few basses including a MusicMan at £400, I don't think he knew what he had. There was also an unpriced mid 70's EB3, but they only look good in cherry IMHO.[/quote] Wow, whats the name of the shop?