Jerry_B

I think you'll only find out by experimentation. There was a recent thread about such things. You can get a nice variety of tones out of a jazz, and EQing will also help alot. I also think that pickups come into it quite alot too, but that may just be my own take on things. Normally I think Jazzes are a bit too subtle compared to a Precsion, but that doesn't mean you can't tweak them in one way or another to give them just as much presence. You just won't get exactly the same sort of tonal quality as a Precision. The P/J route may also be one to try - it's one I find myself favouring nowadays, as it give you an element of the best of both worlds.

After alot of trying and testing (not a cheap experiment!), I've found that lower guage LaBellas do the job for me. They don't go dead as quickly as alot of others (Status, for example) too.

414s are brilliant basses, both in terms of tone and build quality. My own criticsm of them is that you have no option to adjust the blend between the neck and bridge pups. The selector switch is nice, but IMHO it'd be nicer to to be able dial in seperate amounts of volume.

I have to be honest and say that this is my idea of bass hell

Squier do have a version with a black headstock... Aside from that, I don't usually like gold trimmings but I must admit it does look rather tasty with the black

Bought a daisy chain effects power supply from Mel. Ordered it Tuesday, got it yesterday - nice!

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='1310275' date='Jul 20 2011, 01:35 PM']Also being a pick player wouldnt make much difference, I'm fingers and I generally have a "louder" attack than most pick players. Unless they absolutely thrash the strings.[/quote] IMHO, even if you don't thrash the strings, you're still possibly going to have them hit the pup. Higher tension strings may stop this, but it's not guaranteed.

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='1309909' date='Jul 20 2011, 07:01 AM']Make sure the pickup height are optimal for your playing. Generally the space between the bottom of the string to the magnets should be around 2-3 mm with the lower strings being further away.[/quote] But as the OP is a pick player, strings that close may wack the pickups and make a noise when they do so. I tend to roll back one of the volume controls slightly, depending on what I'm playing, and also roll off a bit of the tone. The pups in my Jazz sounded a bit thin, so I chucked in some Wizard Hammers and that made alot of difference!

[url="http://www.guitar-parts-and-spares-uk.com/contents/en-uk/d552_saga_build_your_own_guitar_kit.html"]More of them...[/url]

IMHO Status and D'Addarios tend to to go dead pretty quickly - especially the E string (the Status ones were all round awful). Because of this, I now use LaBella 'Deep Talkin' Bass' 760FX strings (.039-.096). They've got great sustain, and stand up well to plectrum use.

I saw them in the '80s - '83, I think. They were pretty good, but I always preferred them on vinyl than live, compared to the variety of other metal gigs I went to in the '80s

Nitromors also do a varnish remover which may be more up to the task - it's powerful stuff!

But I could say the same about, say, my 'cheapo' Yamaha BB414 or Peavey T-40. I don't think expensive basses have the edge on that sort of thing

Well, 'superior playability' may also be a bit of a trip into the imagination than anything else too. I'm not sure how or why an expensive bass should be somehow more playable. Unless, of course, it's a custom job specfically crafted to suit your hands, stance, body, etc.

There must be a Yamaha (or two) within that price range...? Seriously good basses!

That black 85 Jazz Special in the OP is very tasty.

Even when I've heard basses been played at quieter gigs, I still really can't tell the difference. The only way I can ever tell some differences is if the basses are being played with a plectrum, which IMHO tends to bring out a bit more variation (i.e. a Jazz and Pbass sound different, maybe also a Stingray). I'm still not convinced that more expensive basses make a better sound, for these reasons. One of the better bass sounds I heard at a gig was a few years ago - and that was a 'cheapo' Hohner hollow-bodied (I think) bass being played with a plectrum at a psychobilly gig...

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='1303252' date='Jul 14 2011, 09:55 AM']String on finger and wood, not string on metal.[/quote] Yeah, I think that pretty much nails it for me too.

These two songs from Peter Murphy are pretty good - the first one was something I heard when first trying the fretless. I'm not sure if the bassist is Eddie Branch or Paul Cover...

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1303147' date='Jul 14 2011, 03:29 AM']Put them in a studio though and it will soon become clear that one is an el-crappo P bass and the other is a Wal.[/quote] It'd be interesting to put that to a blind test, and see how many people guess correctly Either way, if they both sound pretty much the same live, then it becomes a moot point.

[quote name='silddx' post='1303043' date='Jul 13 2011, 11:46 PM']I think we have to ask, what makes a player choose a fretless bass over a fretted bass?[/quote] Well, they look nice. Apart from lined fretlesses - they're icky

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='1302895' date='Jul 13 2011, 09:32 PM']Absolutely. It's a gem. For those who don't know, it's one of Zappa's experiments with what he called "xenochronicity": elements of music taken from different places and points in time, and layered together to create a new construction. In this case, the drums and bass were recorded on completely separate occasions, for utterly different purposes. Zappa happened to try playing them together, and it worked. By 'eck, it really worked.[/quote] Aha - this must be a case then of 'one man's poison is another man's meat' as to me it sounds like someone messing about

Buy the T-40 FlatEric has on for sale here. You'd have some change left over too

Aha - cheers for the link. TBH, I don't think there is such a thing as Squier-specific outlet anywhere for bits and bobs. Be great to be proved wrong though!