Tait

thats looking really cool mate, the blue/black/maple will look excellent. that body looks a little small, have you thought about neck dive? my taitycaster ended up with neck dive so i had to move the strap button, just something to think about. i wouldnt worry about the curve of the pickguard, its not really noticable, it looks really great. i'm definatly keeping my eye on this one! is it this week coming up you're doing it, or the week after? and no, not thinking of doing another one... yet

just as a matter of interest, how much is this costing you?

wow, what a great looking bass.

i used to have an epiphone thunderbird, and although moving the strap button reduces the neck dive, it doesn't work 100%. or at least, it didn't for me. hopefully the thicker body someone said the tokai had will reduce neck dive though.

[quote name='Doddy' post='537527' date='Jul 10 2009, 09:42 PM']1-Slap is only ever frowned upon by people who can't do it,those who don't like Level 42 and magazines who try too hard to be cool. Audiences still generally find it entertaining.[/quote] i dont know, im a confident slap bassist, but i hate it when you see people who sit in a music shop and slap away, i hate things like level 42 and i especially hate slap solos. slap is one of those techniques that is really cliched, and only used when you play a song and you just know it works, otherwise, to me anyway, it just sounds like you're an amature who has learnt to slap and thinks it makes you look like a great bass player if you try and do it whenever possible, even if it doesn't work. i dunno, slap only works when its done tastefully IMO, so in things like rock or whatever most of MUSE's songs would be classed as, i'd frown upon slap, because it simply wouldn't work, and i'm guessing chris wolstenholme agrees, otherwise he would probably have tried to squeeze in slap before now, assuming he's been a confident slap bassist for every album he's done so far.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='537099' date='Jul 10 2009, 11:00 AM']I wouldn't want to make a decision until I'd tried one of the new Epiphone Thunderbird Pros. Due soon in the UK i believe?[/quote] completely different price range though, sadly. i one want of the thunderbird pros so bad, but i just dont have the cash.

i think you can send the original back to RIC and theyll send you a black one, im not 100% though.

[quote name='Spartacus' post='537486' date='Jul 10 2009, 08:50 PM']its a really small acoustic chamber that resonates at exactly 866hz and adds a bit of midrange bite just like vintage preCBS Fenders. If it wasnt there your bass would sound like a Squier.[/quote]

i think it'll sound good tbh, if wolstenholme though it sounded better and worked, he obviously knows the song, and he even thinks its not cool to slap so its not liking hes trying his best to fit it in wherever. nah, slap can sound great in the right place, and by the sounds of it, this is gonna be in the right place. i can't really see why its a big deal though.

i thought it was for hanging the basses on when being lacquered, but for the router sounds about right, too. its for the purpose of making it anyway, it doesn't do anything. as for the emergency rolo, you could buy a pack in the time it takes to get the pickguard off, especially if you have a really low action and have to loosen the strings a bit, too. and they make a mess if they melt.

i dont mind the winner actually, i prefer it to the other two, especially the lighter wood one, what was whoever designed that thinking?

[quote name='ape' post='535786' date='Jul 8 2009, 03:53 PM']When your twiddling about with your eq to get the best possible sound to suit the acoustic environment of the room your playing in and the guitarists are only interested in 1 control on their amps and thats the volume.[/quote] and the gain.

[quote name='LeftyJ' post='532528' date='Jul 4 2009, 05:13 PM'][/quote] i like that, any idea how much they're going for?

[quote name='4000' post='535360' date='Jul 8 2009, 07:49 AM']The core of many of these types of discussions seems to be "I don't feel that way about something so why should someone else?", but why should we all feel the same?[/quote] have i once said that? i've been trying to remind you all the way through this discussion that i think the exact opposite of that, that my opinions don't matter unless its me buying the bass. here are some quotes from me this thread - [quote name='Tait' post='531271' date='Jul 3 2009, 12:01 AM']really it doesnt matter what i think, what you think, what anyone thinks except the person buying the bass. if they think the extra money is worth the extra quality, then thats fine by me. i don't think i could ever spend much more than £2000 on a boutique bass though, when i can get a perfectly nice shuker for less.[/quote] [quote name='Tait' post='531286' date='Jul 3 2009, 12:27 AM']btw, i'm not having a go at people with custom basses, i play a custom bass (cost me £990), i'm just saying that IMO, it depends on how much it costs as to whether its worth it, and i don't think any £3000 bass will ever be worth that much.[/quote] [quote name='Tait' post='531665' date='Jul 3 2009, 01:39 PM']i'm not saying that you'd have to be stupid to go for the boutique bass, if you think its worth that extra 2 grand then thats fine, but i just don't think i could go for the boutique bass if theres a perfectly good bass for 2 grand less, when i think of all the things i could spend the 2 grand on. i hope that makes sense, i think i may have rambled a bit there.[/quote] so i'm sorry as if i've come across as saying "you're wrong, i'm right, you shouldn't spend that much on a bass" but thats not what i've been trying to sound like.

[quote name='51m0n' post='534936' date='Jul 7 2009, 05:32 PM']Just out of interest what would you be prepared to pay for a work of art?[/quote] i guess we're talking art as paintings, sculptures etc? i'm not really interested in art, i have a few posters of bands i like on my bedroom walls and some photos from my school prom and visits to alton towers. oh, and a little statue of a fencer i got for christmas. thats all the art i own. i might be willing to spend more if something really caught my eye, but tbh i wouldn't spend too much. but art also includes movies, music, books, i'd even class some of the basses you see as a work of art. arts in loads of things, would you class a car (the way they look) as art? i would. to answer your question, i'd be prepared to pay what i think its worth. if i saw a poster of my favourite band, but it cost £25, i wouldn't buy it. £25 for a poster is a rip off. yet i'm willing to pay £40 for a videogame (and the graphics on those is definatly art), because i think the videogame is worth it (not so much for the art, but for the amusement it gives).

if you like it, you have the cash, and you think its worth £550, then sure, go for it. if not, dont. i haven't heard of any long term problems you're likely to have with a US jazz, but other than that its all up to you, its all about what you like. and if you don't like it, you can probably sell it for that much on here after a little bit anyway.

the original question was "are they worth it?" it kind of answers its own question, if people didn't think the bass they were buying was worth the amount it cost, they wouldn't buy it. if people think it is, they would. personally i think no bass can possibly be worth 3 grand, others obviously do since they spend 3 grand on a bass. if they didnt think it was worth it, they wouldnt buy it, as thats what "worth" means.

aqua or lime i think.

why would they write about him now? anyone know? JJ Burnell and the dude from kaiser cheifs have been playing his guitars a while now, haven't they? jons not brought out anything new. perhaps its just a slow week, i mean, the general public dont really care about whos bass is made by who.

[quote name='ped' post='531594' date='Jul 3 2009, 12:30 PM']...which is why you raised the topic and we are able to have an interesting thread without it being locked (can't find the TB one now!) [/quote] haha although i'd love to take credit, i didn't raise the subject. i replied to someone else's post on the BGM thread about boutique basses, then pete academy started this thread. [quote name='hubrad' post='531600' date='Jul 3 2009, 12:40 PM']Money is abstract stuff and has no actual value in itself, only what you can swap it for. If I was really into gaming I'd go for games (3 grand is only about 60 new games isn't it?) and if I was seriously into new cars 3 grand wouldn't even come close![/quote] i'm not particularly into gaming, i'm way more into bass playing, but my point was that 60 games would give me way more enjoyment than a £3000 bass. as would 85 visits to alton towers, or going to the cinema 600 times with friends etc. when i think about it like that, all the different things i could do with £3000, i personally think its a ridiculous amount to spend on a bass. [quote name='hubrad' post='531600' date='Jul 3 2009, 12:40 PM']I played the same beaten up, DIY-customised bass for years, often trying 'better' basses but not finding anything which worked so well for me that it would justify the expense. I would, for the most part over those years, say the same as you, Tait. Then I played a bass that cost lots [u]and[/u] blew my head off.. Road To Damascus moment. [/quote] this links to my last point. lets say this DIY bass you're perfectly content with cost a grand, and theres a boutique bass sat next to it costing 3 grand. you get given the grand back, as well as 2 more grand, and you've got to choose which bass you're going to buy. any spare cash can be kept. now, you can spend a grand getting your old, perfectly good bass back, then spend the 2 grand on other enjoyable things, such as -using my examples from earlier- going to the cinemas, buying videogames or going to alton towers. or you can spend it all on a bass thats better, but is still after all only a bass, and it might blow you away, but the audience isn't going to notice the difference in sound, you're going to notice the difference in feel, build quality etc, but what does that matter when you've been so happy with your DIY bass, really? its not like you've had a problem with the DIY bass. i'm not saying that you'd have to be stupid to go for the boutique bass, if you think its worth that extra 2 grand then thats fine, but i just don't think i could go for the boutique bass if theres a perfectly good bass for 2 grand less, when i think of all the things i could spend the 2 grand on. i hope that makes sense, i think i may have rambled a bit there.

[quote name='ped' post='531551' date='Jul 3 2009, 11:56 AM']I think he meant in the context of starting a topic about it on a forum as opposed to just thinking it to yourself. I am not having a go, you understand, but the idea resonates with me, at least.[/quote] fair enough, i agree, if you're content with what you've got, you don't tend to moan about other people's things unless asked first. [quote name='OldGit' post='531566' date='Jul 3 2009, 12:05 PM']Oh Well that counts me out then Scrub all I've said[/quote] i've been thinking all along surely your shuker P bass didn't cost much more than £1600ish?

[quote name='ped' post='531498' date='Jul 3 2009, 11:15 AM']There was a similar thread on TB recently (that was locked...) and one guy said something fairly wise "If you were happy with what you have, you wouldn't criticise what you don't" ;0) ped[/quote] i disagree. usually to be happy with something you have, you have to go through lots of things that you don't like to get to the one that makes you happy. you still criticise the ones that didn't make you happy, because if there was nothing to criticise about them, they would've made you happy. or back to the topic of this thread, if i had £3000, i'd be happier with that £3000 than with a boutique bass, and would still think it's ludicrous to spend that much on a bass, probably even more so when i discover all the other things i could buy that would make me much happier than a single bass. think how many PS3 games and visits to Alton Towers etc. £3000 would buy. i'd probably be even more critical, as the £3000 would back up my opinion that boutique basses aren't worth it. my point is, i'd be happy with the £3000, and still criticise boutique basses.

[quote name='OldGit' post='531283' date='Jul 3 2009, 12:23 AM']Ok Tell you why I have a custom bass. This guy died, quickly, of cancer. He was there then next time I looked he was gone. We weren't friends exactly but I knew him from gigs. It hit hard. He was about three years older than me. I was still playing the same beginners kit I'd downgraded to about 10 years before. At that point I decided that life was too darn short to play an average bass through an average amp and I started saving. I sold a few things, raided the savings and ordered the Shuker. I did it for me. I don't care if it sounds good to anyone one else but me. I like it when a fellow bass player plays it and it takes an hour to get them to stop smiling but mostly I like it when I put it on and it feels like home. I've got used to the fact that the average punter can't tell it from a Squier (or a strat for that matter) that's really not important.The overriding reason it's so good [b]for me[/b] is that [b]it's all about me[/b]. There you go.[/quote] best reply on this thread IMO. btw, i'm not having a go at people with custom basses, i play a custom bass (cost me £990), i'm just saying that IMO, it depends on how much it costs as to whether its worth it, and i don't think any £3000 bass will ever be worth that much.