4 Strings

Interesting thread. Of course these basses are the classic design and the result of inspired vision all those years ago. Basic design for unskilled hands, crude construction (only the neck and neck pocket requiring any accuracy), simple and robust, the most popular ever made. If there's a car comparison its a Ford Model T. Compare the classiness of Jamerson with the rattle and growl of Entwhistle, we know they're the same instrument but an example of the range of sound. The Precision sound has stood the test of time and is perfect for providing punch weight and definition to be heard clearly in the mix. The neck is a wide handful, slowing play down and I find them the most fiddly to set up. Constantly going back to reach perfection, especially intonation. These don't play thensleves like some modern basses, they need work. However, despite crinkly tin bridge, loads of sustain, deep tones and punch, but often give flat spots half way up the G string. The bridge is right back near the end of the body and so this brings the end of the neck nearer the player. Despite this they are neck heavy. There are better guitars around but these are iconic, classic and will get the job done as well as you can play it. Not perfect, not the best but you have to have deep pockets to buy better. Unless you slap. Not great for slap.

THey might be making it today but hte wood would have been seasoned for, maybe, a couple of years. This is normal for anything made from wood of any quality at all otherwise it will crack if you keep it indoors. What settles after you buy a guitar? Greg

Not sure how convincing the science is about all this. All woods are sealed and so any moisture content change is going to be very slow. But having said that it took 4 days of being in a cold basement for the neck on my Jaydee to need adjustment to the truss rod (slackening - only to need retightening a week after I got it home). There are theories of vibrations doing things to woods and instruments used by orchestral string players seem to have a minimum age of ~100 years. I've had my Jaydee as only bass for over 20 years but I'm not sure I've noticed any change during that time. Its wonderful but if its changed its been too slow for me to notice. I now have 2 Precisions, one from '77 the other with a neck from '78 and a new body. The one with the old body sounds much richer, but then I'm sure there are greater differences are in the pick-ups. Certainly any difference will be lost in the mix. Whereas the sublties may be noticed in acoustic instruments to the trained ear surely they must be pretty well lost on an electrical instrument with all the paraphenalia of pick-ups, cable, connections, amplifiers, speakers, room acoustics etc let alone trying to be heard above a drum kit and an egotistical guiarist. The important thing is to play it!

Here's a couple more typical sounds: Mr Pink - Level 42, Mark King, Jaydee Supernatural I Got a Feelin' - The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Hofner H500/1 Magic Bus (Live at Leeds) - The Who, John Entwhistle, Fender Precision slab body Teen Town - Weather Report, Jaco, Fender Jazz Fish Out of Water - Yes, Chris Squire, Rickenbacker 4001/3(?) OK, the Magic Bus sound isn't so typical but if you want to know how a picked Precision can growl... it also allows someone to post a fingered Precision with flats (any Jamerson track)

Verdine is a great musician, big part of my early bass practice routines. I would lay a bet on flat wounds. No doubt DI, very clean playing (so maybe wind the action up a little and cut fingernails!). Couldn't guess at the pickup though, someone with more Jazz Bass experience than I will have to advise on this. Nice and simple, but classy.

I know this isn't really a good discussion but, interesting how the neck broke but not the neck joint. For some (I'm sure very poor) reason we looked at bass smashing on Youtube and its amazing how much grief the neck joint takes before it gives, if ever. On one the body pieces separated first.

Am I allowed to post this? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waIhJDgC5dQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waIhJDgC5dQ[/url]

Wow, after 33 pages is there anything left? I love my valve hybrid, I have always used Rotosound Swing bass strings, I have an old Fender which is lovely, and I've seen fabulous bass players sounding fabulous with horrible sounds. Excess gets to me. 15 string basses (are they still considered a bass?), walls of equipment, exotic woods used for nothing other than having them, opinions which can seemingly tell the difference between thin and thick finishes and multi-bass ownership (unless the person is a collector). The biggest one for me, though, is the opposite to excess, its lazy bass players. I recommend going to see the Wilko Johnson band and learning from Norman Watt-Roy. I'm not talking about busy playing, rather imagination, intelligent thought about what sounds right for that bit of the piece and excellent technique.

Of all the ancient legends Jools has had on recently (Andy Williams, Smokey Robinson) who should hang up their microphones, Gladys was, as you say, sensational. 'Times Like These' is a great song but it was done even better by another legend on Jools' show a few months back, forgotten his name now, bit name though! I love Jools' show, we play 'spot the best musician' for each show.

Glad to see Norman Watt-Roy get so much support through this thread, he is absolutely fabulous. If you want to check him out go onto the Wilko Johnson website and go and catch him in Wilko's band for the price of a couple of pints in your local small venue. Watching Norman is an experience every bass player should be subjected to. He doesn't stop playing the whole night through, and I mean playing, not accompanying. He is an extension of his Jazz bass, every pluck of harmonics, every nuance and chord is expressed through his body. You have to go and see him to understand, if you haven't already. Not the best the country has produced in all history, perhaps (I'm sure players can do certain things better) but so entertaining, so musical, such a player. Surprised there's so few supporters of Mark King, one of the most influential the UK has produced. Overall, legend status, John Entwhislte.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='639066' date='Oct 28 2009, 01:50 PM']Don't think of it this way, read the rest of the thread. And check what sensitivity, and power ratings mean. And how the watt rating of speakers means absolutely nothing to the sound.[/quote] I understand about sensitivity etc, that's not what I was saying. Have you ever tried running powerful speakers with a tiny amp? Works just like I said. For volume, multi-speakers, lower impeance (with valves) higher sensitivity etc all contributes.

I have the same problem, the Trace 4x10 is a lump. However I love it and won't change it for anything. So, buy a small 2x10 for practice or whatever and just use the 4x10 for gigs etc. You can't replace cabinet volume, smaller, shallower cabs will not sound the same and you will not be satisfied. Using the 2x10 will be fine as you know you can plug the 4x10 in whenever you feel the need. If you really want to splash out, buy a 2x10 combo (Hartke etc) part paid for by flogging the Peavey and use it all the time, with the 4x10 as an extension when needed.

[quote name='Boneless' post='539128' date='Jul 13 2009, 08:53 AM']But aren't drivers supposed to sound better if feeded an amount of power closer to their RMS rating? In other words, if you have a 4x10" with 150W RMS drivers (600W total), wouldn't they respond better with 200W instead of 50W? Or does it depend on the driver? I find that my Ashdown 4x10" needs to be kind of cranked to start sounding "alive". Same thing for the Ampeg 8x10", there was a gig where I had a Peavey head + Ampeg 8x10" as a backline, and I had to keep the volume really down for several reasons (but REALLY low, most probably under 50W), and my tone was extremely dull. And trying to compensate with EQ was useless, since the cab seemed not to budge from that lifeless tone.[/quote] Just a quickie about matching speakers and amp power. Consider them like the chassis and engine of a car. A 10W amp going into 500W speakers would be like running a 10bhp go-kart engine in a 500bhp Le Mans racer. It will hardly move it. The other way round, a 500W amp into a 10W speaker will, like a 500bhp Le Mans racer engine in a go-kart, blow the thing to pieces at anything above tick-over. 10W into a 10-20W speaker gives enough headroom for safety without too heavy a burden and it will go like a go-kart. 500W into 500-1000W of speakers will fly like a Le Mans racer.

[quote name='ianwild16' post='638692' date='Oct 28 2009, 02:05 AM']Ended up takin the strings back...... Loads if ' I've never heard of that happening before!' and 'you must be playing a Fender copy'..... They finally offered me the Elite strings I originally wanted for the price I paid for them last time - £18. A lot of fannying about when I could just buy them off the interweb for less.[/quote] Always buy from your shop whenever you can. Music shops are closing more than opening, and those that open are the big chains. Even in those you can save a couple of pence but end up with little or no personal service. The shops are always useful, especially if you want advice, try something out, or just touch and feel. The lad's snare broke an anchor the other day, local shop found a spare part, fitted it, retuned the top skin and gave it all a clean up. Charge? Nothing. Cost? a drink, which was a pleasure. If we bought all our stuff from the web it would be a month long chase around trying to get the spare part. When we bought the snare he did a good deal for us but still I could have saved a couple of quid on the net. In the end that would have been the wrong decision. I'm happy to pay a little extra from my shop than buy from the web, I think its worth it. Greg