Chris2112

[quote name='Conan' post='1331992' date='Aug 8 2011, 01:12 PM']Cool story Chris! It also looks very like the Status on the covers pics of Level 42's "A Physical Presence". Nice bass mate![/quote] And I reckon that bass is probably the one played in the video below, which looks superb.

[quote name='Roland Rock' post='1331998' date='Aug 8 2011, 01:17 PM']As opposed to not made? [/quote] Pardon me, I meant well made. I considered buying one when they were new.

My brother sent me a link to a video of a Status Graphite bass being played on youtube yesterday. He said "that looks good, like your bass". I told him I'd watched that video many times and I loved the bass and I'd always wanted to own one that looked like that! When I told my brother the serial number of my bass, #487, it transpired that my bass was the bass in the video! So now I know it's been to South America on tour, and spent most of it's life in storage, which explains how it's in such amazing condition!

I have to say, those TRB1006 basses always felt very made. Great deals!

[quote name='ossie' post='1331462' date='Aug 7 2011, 10:18 PM']shall we start one of these on Jonas Hellborg then? (I like his playing). [/quote] Well, Jonas has used a few basses over the years. Various Wal, Status, Warwick, Sound of Sweden basses etc etc. But I have to say that his Status signature model was the best sounding bass of the lot by a long shot. Absolutely incredible tone, and a massive influence on my sound.

I have long been saying that guitars are where graphite should be headed next. I wish Status would bring back their Series II shaped guitars!

[quote name='jacko' post='1331363' date='Aug 7 2011, 08:46 PM']I'm in a pub / wedding covers band and I only ever play alembics :-)[/quote] I've seen Alembics put to great use in Wedding bands. One bloke used to bring a nice Alembic Stanley Clarke to the hotel where I worked. Only ever brought the one bass, never fiddled with it's myriad controls and played with the bridge pickup soloed all night long. Sounded marvellous too! But even he described it as his 'posh bass', and I can quite agree! I'm not sure I'd want to play a £4000 bass at a pub either. I'm sure the good people of Basschat have plenty of stories about equipment and instruments being damaged whilst playing at pubs! Mind you, I'd have played my Alembic at a pub, but then it cost me £600 so I'd not have a heart attack if it suffered a small ding or whatever. If you head over to a jazz club and try and catch some electric fusion you can spy some amazing basses. I suppose there you're guaranteed a quiet, appreciative crowd who want to listen to the music, rather than just get drunk and dance (and to be fair, this crowd appears plenty at wedding and fucntion gigs too!). In such a setting, you'd no doubt feel much more comfortable playing an expensive bass.

[quote name='risingson' post='1331253' date='Aug 7 2011, 07:11 PM']The problem has less to do with this stupid and tired 'tatty gear' argument and more to do with the fact that you're unable to accept that for some people, that's the kind of gear that suits their music the best and can be the most functional for what they're doing.[/quote] You seem to be missing the point I'm making, which is, as I often say, [i]different vinegar strokes for different folks[/i]. If you play in an Indie band a Fodera will be wasted on you. If you're playing Mustang Sally at the Dog and Bollock, you're not going to need an Alembic Series II. So it's always best to choose whats best for you, and what suits you. Of course, that is not always going to suit my tastes...but then its not my bass and I'm not the one playing it. That said, risingson, I know how you like to throw yourself on the pyre and take issue with everything I say so I expect you to miss my point entirely. Indeed, if you understood it how would you ever complain?

[quote name='dc2009' post='1328445' date='Aug 5 2011, 11:02 AM']Post above is interesting. Trying to sell my bass on TB I've been told a couple of times it's overpriced, and yet on here I've been told it's a silly price to let it go for and that I'm mad letting it go for that price.... The sheer volume of extra bass players in the states sure brings down the market value and very much increases a) the number of boutqiue basses in circulation in the US, and the numbers of instruments sold each week/day/month etc.[/quote] I suppose thats Talkbass/the US for you though. Talkbass in general is very accepting of boutique basses and generally they are better received there than over here with the usual 'coffee table' comments. That said, I suppose there is a wider market for professional musicians there than there is here. We're in the grip of indie rock and the pub-banger scene is huge in the UK which often equates to tatty gear. As far as I can tell, the studio scene in the US is better and there is a massive Gospel scene too where boutique basses are par for the course. Not to mention a livelier fusion scene too. I think it's a concept that the Americans have had far more time to understand than we have. They've seen the boom of handmade basses over their since the late 70's/early 80's. At that time, the big luthiers of the UK like Status and Jaydee were associated with Mark King, for better at the time and probably for worse a few years later when Level 42 were seen as old hat. That said, we've had a few great luthiers over the years like Status, and Wal - who took over the 80's pop scene with their basses! But I suppose our British conservatism has seen old Fenders remain popular. Not to say that they're not popular in the US, just that in the US those who can appreciate the benefits of a custom bass have been better set to voice their opinion and spread the good word! I must have played shedloads of Fenders over the years but the fact has always been clear to me: for the same money as I could buy a Fender I can get a handmade bass that looks better, sounds better, feels better and is a bit special. I don't just love my handmade basses because they're awesome instruments, I love the fact that they're special and something a bit different.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1331158' date='Aug 7 2011, 06:16 PM']Only the albums sound different to me thats why I said live, When I have seen them bash out old tunes live wether he be playing on his Modulus or Jazz they sounded pretty close to the sound on the track from years before the only common factor, Flea [/quote] I suppose in the mess of a live situation you can lose that refinement that lets you tell one bass from another, especially if the sound guy is asleep at the board!

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1330795' date='Aug 7 2011, 11:44 AM']So, which stores here will order you a Metro 'new'? Eg one that's not been on the hanger for 9 months... I asked GuitarGuitar and I felt like they couldn't be bothered.[/quote] I think they'd probably be happier clearing one off the pegs rather than ordering you a new one. That said, they shouldn't grumble about ordering stuff in as a sale is a sale, and I've never had a problem when ordering an item in from them.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1330328' date='Aug 6 2011, 08:47 PM']Flea to my knowledge has used live Wal, Musicman 2 and 3 EQ versions, Modulus graphite neck basses and Fender Jazz basses, Sounds just like the record everytime [/quote] But even then he sounded different on each bass. His Wal didn't sound like his Alembic, which didn't sound like his Spector, which didn't sound like his Musicman, which didn't sound like his Modulus! Similarly, looking back over the basses I've had, my Kubicki didn't sound like my ACG, which didn't sound like my Spector, which didn't sound like my Warwick, which didn't sound like my Status (any of them!), which didn't sound like my Alembic etc etc. Though if you heard me playing it you'd know it was me every time. In that way, I think people can get confused with the sound of the music/playing and the sound of the actual instrument.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='1330465' date='Aug 6 2011, 11:39 PM']It's a much quicker way of producing a warmer sounding neck.[/quote] This is the Zon and Moses method too, correct? As opposed to laying up fibre like Status, Clover, Modulus, etc etc? Zon's method has always produced that warmer sound, and by all accounts Moses necks tend to have that tonal characteristic too. That said, I prefer the Status type sound on a fretted bass and a warmer sound on a fretless. I've got a Zoot bass coming soon, with a woven graphite neck, and ebony fretboard and a Bartolini humbucker in the Musicman position. I assume it will sound amazing as that truely is a grest combination!

[quote name='Sonic_Groove' post='1330234' date='Aug 6 2011, 07:25 PM']It's a wonder no one else has commented yet. But Jaco had a JayDee deal just before his demise. (He played a Supernatural & Jazz type copy). There is one of the jazz types in the JayDee porn thread somewhere. B[/quote] Thanks for posting the video (one of my favourites). If you look at my post above, you'll see I mentioned both the Series II and the Jaydee Jazz basses above. That Series II sounds great.

[quote name='jezzaboy' post='1330304' date='Aug 6 2011, 08:25 PM']Dave Gilmours guitar tech has said that no matter what guitar Dave plays, he still sounds like Dave. It`s all in the fingers. If I played Marcus M jazz I would still sound sh*t Jez[/quote] This sort of cliche gets bandied about all the time, though I am sure there is some truth in it, Stuart Hamm playing a Kubicki still sounds like Stuart Hamm. Stuart Hamm playing an Urge II still sounds like Stuart Hamm even though the bass tone is different. If you took a '59 P Bass and gave it to Mark King and asked him to slap Mr. Pink out on it, I'm sure he could but the tone is never going to be right.

[quote name='JTUK' post='1329557' date='Aug 6 2011, 07:50 AM']Got to agree. Stanley and Wotten are fantastic players but tone wasn't their forte. MM has always had pretty much the same sound, so much so that he redefined the Jazz/sadowksy model, prety much. Clark had his Almebic tone at a time when the amp chain probably didn't cope as well with it. Other Alembic at that time guys really struggled with this live as well, IMO. But Wotten is ALL technique..and sound/tone is the least impressive part of it all. IMO.[/quote] Who is this 'Wotten' you speak of?

[quote name='henry norton' post='1330098' date='Aug 6 2011, 05:39 PM']I feel somewhat vindicated by your own admission that the later S2s have less carbon fibre in them, presumably because Rob Green has realised he dosesn't need as much![/quote] I suspect it's just as much due to the price of the material and the shrinking profit margin, really. Or will you be telling him he is wasting his time making the Stealth basses and the graphite Kingbass and S2 models?

[quote name='henry norton' post='1330066' date='Aug 6 2011, 05:00 PM']Yeah I've often wondered that... At the risk of being flamed, it makes me think most luthiers making guitars out of composites don't really understand the materials they're working with.[/quote] I think you're clearly the one who doesn't understand the materials, you say as much at the start of your post. With a graphite body or neck you get light weight, high structural rigidity and strength and tonal benefits. Take a graphite neck. It's stable because it's so tough, it's light because they're usually hollow and it imparts a wonderful tone. In fact, I remember Rob Green of Status Graphite saying that he believed graphite colours the sound less than wood, so you're actually getting a 'purer' tone! I used to have a Status Stealth bass which was a monocoque design, essentially a one piece carbon fibre bass. It was very light and it sounded fantastic. Consider that carbon fibre costs a lot more for luthiers to work with than wood - they are not choosing it to be different, they are choosing it because they consider it superior in it's application to wood. Hence why Status don't make wooden necks anymore. Hence why Zon's wooden neck range are their budget basses. etc etc. I currently have a Status Series II, a 1980's model with a proper graphite 'cricket bat' through neck. It sounds amazing; so clear, powerful and even. Even the new Status S2 basses don't sound like that because there is less carbon fibre in them now. I'll have a fretless bass coming soon with a woven graphite neck and I can't bloody wait!

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='1328219' date='Aug 5 2011, 08:06 AM']Hey, that's an extended range hair cut. BTW it's not jazz, its pffy funk. FFWD to 1:15. I challenge anyone to convince me that the bassist doesn't go 'PFF' at the end of the run.[/quote] He does, he blows the hair out of his face at the end of the run.

They are awesome basses. The TRB6II's are as good as handmade instrument, they really are works of art. The TRBJP6 has always been my favourite model of the range (particularly the first generation models). Shame they had a bolt on neck.

[quote name='SisterAbdullahX' post='1327866' date='Aug 4 2011, 10:00 PM']Marcus doesn't have high standards of tone, you say? It doesn't take much effort for you to get a better tone than him, you say?? Go and dig out "The Nightfly" by Donald Fagen, have a listen to "Maxine" and "The Goodbye Look" and reconsider those statements. Then post something you played on that demonstrates how you get a better tone.[/quote] Don't get your knickers in a twist, pet. Just because I don't like his tone doesn't mean you can like it. Different vinegar strokes for different folks. You might like that 'jazz on steroids' sound, for me it does absolutely nothing. Give me a Wal, Alembic or Status tone any day thanks!

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1329670' date='Aug 6 2011, 10:29 AM'][/quote] Read it a couple of years ago, quite an enjoyable read too. As for Jaco using the jazz bass, I suppose it was just the done thing at the time. By the time boutique basses were really taking off the in the early 80's Jaco was massively on the downward spiral and focused less and less on music (though still capable of some amazing performances, as Joe Zawinul testified to when discussing Weather Report's self titled 1982 album). Just before Jaco died, when it looked like he was getting back on track he was starting to favour handmade boutique basses. He was playing a Jaydee Series II in his last days (and also ordered some jazz basses from Jaydee, though I believe he died before he got them). I believe, had he still been alive, he'd have gone the way of many players and would be playing top end gear, probably a Fodera or something else like that! As for Jeff Berlin, he's an amazing player who can wind people up at times. I just wish he would go back to fusion and leave his dull bass led jazz album phase behind.

In a similar vein, who played bass on this track? Absolutely fantastic playing, especially in those verses. Great song overall!

When I was 13 I decided I wanted to learn to play bass, probably because Paul Gray of Slipknot looked like the man playing bass on stage. Stuck with it ever since and it just feels natural to me now. I've thought of learning guitar a few times, but when bass feels so natural and right to me I don't feel like changing! I've always loved the role of the bassist; providing support, rhythm, harmony and melody all in one go.