4 Strings

The tape wounds are to try to emulate an upright sound. Macca used Trubass and got that sort of glowing sound on his Rick. I have Trubass on my Motown Precision, they sound more defined than the nameless flats it came with which were more boomy. They also look pretty cool on a b/b/m Precision!

Seems to me that more serious recording bass players use flats (that's not to say those using rounds are not serious, Jaco par example). I wanted to try them on my Stingray, what's good enough for 'Nard etc. Trouble is, if they don't do it for me there's £30 odd down the drain. (That little problem kind of solved as I have just been given an Amazon voucher for my birthday!) Flats get polished? Anyone know what 'Nard used?

Nothing to do with what the americans call 'apartments' but why are flat strings so much more expensive? Is it because fewer people use them?

'Tis too, thanks very much, not seen this one before and there are precious few photos, let alone films of our hero. Could almost be playing for Metallica with that low bass position! Have a great fondness for him, so sad I'll never see him play, in this life anyway.

I noticed the Warwick ad, at the bottom of the page while I type, is for a 'distressed' (prefer that to the non-word 'reliced') bass that now appears to be in such poor condition that it would have had to have had a nightmare of a life, given the length of time this model has been available. Surely it looks like the present owner either hates his bass (in which case it would have plenty of digs and knocks) or had an accident in the garage with some brake fluid and has so little respect for his bass that he's not bothered to clean it up. Are Warwick trying to change from the sort of geeky reputation of their basses to one of unglamourous hard work? If so it looks to me like they tried too hard. Or, not being a fan of the movement for fake distress, am I missing something?

I would guess they answered because they would want to be in a band with you more than they don't want to play a genre other than their first choice. I'm not a fan of dubstep etc but would rather do that than playalonga-Metallica in my bedroom. Bit of rock in there would work anyway, I'm sure!

Very nice, quite an admirer of William Morris. Could play Red House on it!

Awkward one here. Pleased that many are finding their ideal bass is made away from the US. I very much like Jazzes, they look great and in the right hands sound great. My lad has a Mexican Deluxe with which he's more than delighted and has no interest in any other bass. I've had an American Deluxe (extra fret, slightly smaller body etc) and couldn't get on with it at all. Swapped it with jcater for a Stingray, we're both delighted. Have a 2006 Std with a John East preamp. Its not a bad bass, but, again, I'm not getting on with it and its been relegated to its case for a while now. I don't know if it's that I can't sound like my heroes who make a better job of a Jazz than me. What am I doing wrong?

These are one the faves of both my sons, They've done remixes etc and their last cd has been round in the car a few hundred times and their latest eagerly awaited. Fabulous imagination, yes the bass player is indeed very good, as is the drummer. This is the sort of thing on which I place my high regard for young people.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1347536682' post='1802071'] The key thing is NOT to paint the neck! Also, if you paint the body, sand it first to get a good grip for the new paint and laquer over the paint or it will chip off in no time. Most importantly, don't paint the neck!!! [/quote] If its a maple fingerboard it'll be varnished anyway and so whether its paint or varnish, what's the difference? (Actually, depending which one I do, the Stingray currently at risk has an oil sealed neck, so paint won't stick to that.)

[quote name='chapsimon' timestamp='1347382591' post='1800056'] Ditto the above but be careful, I used scissors and black insulating tape to turn my all white Fender Jazz Bass USA American Traditional into a zebra ( i must have been mad, but it suited our band , it looked very cool and was unique round my way) but.......... when I removed them, the guitar had yellowed and you could see where the stripes used to be. They were only on from 2001 to 2005 and I can still see where they were now! Before 2001 Zebra Style 2001-2005 Current Classic Style [/quote] This is the sort of thing, I love the zebra. Where the stripes stuck on? ('Classic style' is really nice too!)

[quote name='monkeynuts' timestamp='1347434673' post='1800637'] +1 on doing something thats easily reversable. I got a cheap scratchplate for my jazz and gave it to my daughter and told her to go mad on it! This is what she came up with, so my original tort plate is in storage now! [/quote]That's really great work by your daughter. Bass looks ace. I'm going to go the whole hog though, its not a sacred bass, just a bass so I'm not precious about it. I really like the idea of an expert job like this done by someone you know, you have a talented daughter!

[quote name='Fitz666' timestamp='1347454252' post='1800996'] Nope, 5 hours with an angle grinder and a file. The rest of the band hate but I love it.... [/quote] Ha! Worth it though, really good job.

He was. Deeply studied and detailed vocal parts on his part but with amazing feel.

[quote name='zero9' timestamp='1347277477' post='1798661'] Why not get a replacement body, which your friend could paint. You can then just swap the bits over and reverse the process should you ever want to sell the bass (you can then also keep the 'artwork' body and hang it on the wall) [/quote] Hmm, its certainly a good thought, but somehow, it wouldn't be my bass. Also, I suppose there are cheap 'Vintage' or other copies which come up on ebay at times but a Stingray body's not going to be too easy to come by. Got me thinking though as, somehow, its not using a bass with decoration as wanting to decorate my bass. Or something like that. The chequie plate flames are pretty amazing, laser cut?

Not sure its the thinness of the finish so much as a thin or lacking filler coat underneath the finish.

Quite like it.

Yep, great stuff, thanks. Be great to play in a band like that, although I suspect rehearsals with a band leader to that standard would be demanding. Aria SB1000. I had one, well, the cheaper 600 version, looked amazing back then!

[quote name='martin8708' timestamp='1347261597' post='1798477'] There are a few EVH art guitars by Charvel Custom shop on the bay at the moment , I also like their yellow Bengal tiger stripe bass . Sandberg website also has a gallery for their Custom shop airbrush art work if you are looking for ideas and inspiration . [/quote] Yep, thanks for this, especially the 5 strings here: http://www.sandberg-guitars.de/basscat-overview/customshop/airb-paint-1/airb-paint-3 Looked at the EVHs on the 'bay, also looked at the prices! There's a distinctive style going on there.

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1347262392' post='1798487'] And I did this one as well, but it's a guitar - I'm sure that counts though [/quote] Yep, this is the sort of thing. Greatstuff, thanks. Going over to the Sandberg site.

Great stuff, this is the sort of thing. Any more?

[quote name='Ninja_Baby' timestamp='1347013869' post='1795947'] I'm in the process of having one of my basses painted by this guy [url="http://popbangcolour.com/"]http://popbangcolour.com/[/url] He paints using remote control cars. Impressive stuff. [/quote] Wow, would like to see the results! Still looking for ideas, funnily enough, fancied black and white stripes like RhysP and also wondered about tape but I'd like a good finish and feel rebellious against being worried by resale value.

I have a '01 3 band Stingray, Black/black/maple. Its a 'cooking' one, no birds eye maple or anything special but it plays and sounds perfect. Bit bored with black now but am growing a bond with it. A friend of mine does air brushing for a living as a film prosthetics artist. She offered to decorate my bass, I just need to think what she should do. Anyone else paint/decorate theirs? Love to see your pics...

Maybe what troubles some people is when the tribute artistes actually try to take on the persona of the original, in particular without humour. We get subjected to quite a few other tributes playing in our Motown band, I've seen Michael Jackson and others adopting american accents for their acts, and the Jackson chap even off-stage (think he's from South London). This leave us aghast. However, we periodically come across a Beatles tribute who have spent some time and care on the right guitars etc and wigs but are great fun and nice lads. While the bassplayer clearly admires the early Macca, he doesn't try to be him. We just play Motown songs and our singers are white anyway, no pretence.