Golchen

Yeah, I can't really hear the problem on crappy PC either. I'm not a great slapper by any stretch of the imagination, but for me I don't really think about it but it's a combination of left hand on the fretboard strings and the ball area of my thumb/palm up at the whackin' end.

Cool! I've just got a jazz bass and I love it.

[quote name='steve-soar' post='461928' date='Apr 14 2009, 11:26 AM']How does it compare the meerkat dot com to your Status?[/quote] Well, I'm still a sad old bedroom player, so within that context: The status has never quite felt like 'the one' to me. It's very heavy and I do sometimes get back problems. Never liked the look of the Paduak finish, and I felt that I wanted something a bit more 'organic' (eg wooden neck!). On the plus side with the Status, I love the tone generally, although I couldn't quite find the 'mellow' sound that I wanted. The neck is amazing all over though. To be honest, I've 'put the status away' for now, partly because of new bass syndrome, and partly because I want to get totally immersed in playing the Fender. I have found personally that basses are a bit different than other instruments to me in that I 'mould' myself to the one that I play most, whereas other instruments I can just tell that I like one better than another. Case in point: when I got the Status I found it much harder to play than my Hohner jack, but now it is much easier!?!. The Fender came with a pretty weird setup. Heavy strings (not to my taste), quite a bit of neck bow and the strings a mile off the fretboard. After a good setup and change of strings it felt amazing! I love everything about it so far, especially the passive/active switch. The active is great for slappin' around and the passive is ideal for the more mellow tones that I was after. If there's one thing I miss from the Status: Playing along to a particular piece, I do this horribly indulgent tapping thing with two right hand fingers and one from my left hand. It works well with the Status, but not great with the Fender. Dodgy ground for bass playing anyway! At the moment the Jazz bass feels like 'the one'.

I am totally unworthy of my best basses. I still consider myself a bass newbie, but at my age one often has a bit of GAS money knocking about and I really appreciate lovely instruments.

Couple of pix added. So not Larry the lamb? or even Larry Lamb?

I'm sure it's true for GAK. What they need to bear in mind is that they cater for a certain crowd, which doesn't necessarily form a majority of bass players.

I found from personal experience that my 'Holy grail' bass from pre-bass playing days wasn't actually 'the one'. I've enjoyed having one, but I prefer my new squeeze. You may find that the bass is not all that you hope it is.

I've changed! Now I play a Fender Reggie Hamilton Jazz V. Great bass.

Good answer Jennifer!

Last summer I decided to get another bass. Had cash in hand but just couldn't come up with the right thing. Looked at the for sale forum here EVERY day (it was my log-on page!) trawled all over eBay, visited many shops etc but just couldn't find what I was looking for - not helped by the fact that I didn't know what I was looking for! Anyway, a short while ago I really fell for the idea of a Fender Jazz 5 string, and have totally put all effort into acquiring one. Finally struck lucky on eBay and got a Reggie Hamilton custom shop V in immaculate condition for half what you would pay for a new one from Thomann. I totally love this bass! I am so unworthy of such a fine instrument but b*llox to that it's now MINE!!!!! Boy am I in a good mood these days. Got a new number one guitar as well this year. Edit: a couple of pix [attachment=23760:IMG_2463.JPG][attachment=23761:IMG_2465.JPG]

I'm looking to get a chord book for 5 string bass. Anyone know of a decent one?

[quote name='Zoe_BillySheehan' post='458965' date='Apr 10 2009, 12:19 AM']I completely love the Eat Em n Smile album Z x[/quote] Now that's an album that totally blew me away when it came out! The bass and guitar interplay is totally out of this world. Vai and Sheehan are a perfect pairing. I was lucky enough to met Billy last year, such a nice guy with a great attitude to the fans (I have a pic somewhere!?!)

[quote name='Jase' post='458742' date='Apr 9 2009, 07:26 PM']Bill's the man, he could just chuck his bass down a flight of stairs and I'd love it [/quote] Actually I have a bootleg of that. Yours for £5 plus P&P. I fancy that album myself. I'll have to get it now. You don't like Compression?

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='457302' date='Apr 8 2009, 12:42 PM']I made a bit of a contribution to a previous thread here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=21840"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=21840[/url] Might be worth this becoming a wiki topic maybe?[/quote] Ahhh ............. I tried a search first, but came up with a lot of random stuff and I certainly didn't see that thread! I think I'll be sticking with thru body.

No direct answer for me. I like natural wood, but I also like to see a sunburst type fade on it as well. I voted fade as I've just bought a jazz bass with sunburst finish and it's the bizz! Don't like loud colours. I think that a poll would be better if it had categories like: loud colours, natural finish, traditional/vintage, earthy colours etc rather than specifics.

OK, so what's the difference between stringing through the body or just through the bridge (if you have the option). I kind of feel that through the body would be better, but I have no logical reasoned argument for that. Anyone tried both?

I voted jazz. Just bought a jazz but it actually has a precision pickup as well!

I only play 5's. 4 would be too confusing. In some ways I wish I'd just got into 4's as there are so many more options out there in shops, and they are all a bit cheaper as well!

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='456161' date='Apr 7 2009, 09:42 AM']Never understood the need for lines but then I have always played unlined. Being comfortably built I can't look at the fretboard when I am playing without doing a quasimodo impression. I always use the side dots for reference (or LED's on my GB ) as they are usually where the frets would be. Lined fretless usually have the side dots between the frets just where they would be on a fretted bass. So did you move the side dots as well?[/quote] It is a Harley Benton bass. For those that don't know, they are such a shoddy company that to make a fretless neck they just don't put frets in. This means that you have no lines AND all the markers in the wrong place! Doh. After getting over my initial annoyance at this, I painted them out and used some white humbrol paint to put some new ones on. Now that it's lined I have reverted to the originals.

I was originally going to do inserts, but I couldn't source anything that was the thickness I wanted, so yeah, I used wood filler in the end. I found somewhere that did small pots in different colours so just picked a nice one. As it was exactly the same scale length as another bass I have I used that as a template for where the frets went. (tested it first with some small paint markers - can't be too careful there!). I covered the whole neck with masking tape and measured the fret points on both sides to make sure that they would be straight. then it was just a case of clamping it in my work bench and carefully sawing each one with a narrow blade. Took the tape off for a clear view and checked the depth of the holes on each side. light sanding then filled the lines. After drying I sanded it all down then slapped on a few coats of varnish, with sanding in between.

I bought a cheap fretless a while ago to try out. Got a Harley Benton from Thomann, not particularly good but OK for my purposes. It came without lines on but I've always preferred the look with lines on, and it's a bit easier for us noobs as well. Anyway, I decided to add some lines, and it came out pretty well if I say so myself! Here's a couple of pix:

Nice job! Done that myself on a few instruments.