Chris2112

I suppose we're sort of seeing the effects of this already! Look at Status Graphite for instance. I don't know if it's supply issues oor cost issues, but a lot of Status basses made recently have had what I would call some pretty naff pieces of wood on top. On the other hand, my 1980's Series II has one of the nicest pieces of birdseye maple on I've ever seen. I suppose it's just getting harder to get some pieces of wood or more expensive to get them. I remember hearing Phil Kubicki saying a few years ago that it was getting difficult to get ebony blanks of sufficient size and quality to make Ex Factor basses!

Bass as in the fish, not the instrument.

[quote name='Linus27' post='1326493' date='Aug 4 2011, 09:03 AM']Do you not think the Streamer is pretty? I think its one of the prettiest basses ever made and what drew me to it.[/quote] They look good, but somehow Spector found a way to make that shape look just a little bit more elegant and appealing.

[quote name='brick' post='1326525' date='Aug 4 2011, 09:36 AM']its a 3 peice band doing jazzy/funky covers of pop songs, bass player uses a TRB6 with the piezo pick up i think [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV10C5wrajA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV10C5wrajA[/url][/quote] You'd be better off just listening rather than watching the videos. As soon as you see the bassist's haircut you'll be wanting to punch him in the face because of his stupid haircut! Nice tone though.

Marcus Miller has played a jazz bass as his main bass for years...reason to suspect he doesn't have the highest standards of tone...confirmed when you listen to him! Victor Wooten on the other hand, with his brace of Fodera basses has always sounded amazing. Mind you, Marcus has played enough boutique basses over the years to know what he likes and what he doesn't like. That said, it doesn't take much effort to get a better tone than he has so I suppose it's a case of horses for courses.

You might as well try a few out and see if it suits you. I've had a couple of 5 strings over the years and some nice ones at that too. No matter what, I've never been able to get away from the fact they're 5 strings and that I just don't get on with them as well as a 4 string or 6 string bass. Take my Alembic Epic for example. Easily the best fretless bass I'd ever played, bought for £600. It sounded great and it played beautifully and was a joy to own. I was even making good use of the B string too, on tunes like [i]|Night Of The Iguana[/i] by Joni Mitchell. But as time wore on, I was coming to terms with the fact that it was a 5 string and I was left comfortable with it. Eventually I sold it and since then I've nearly bought a couple of 5 strings but I've reigned myself in, knowing that I won't enjoy it for whatever reason it is that makes me not enjoy 5 strings and I'm content to wait for 4 and 6 string basses to come along.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='1325221' date='Aug 3 2011, 08:57 AM']err... a jazz bass?[/quote] I should hope they'd sound better than some boggo spec jazz bass at £2000!

The top woods look decent but the headstock shape looks fairly naff to me. I wonder what they sound like.

The 'Overkill' theme tune for The Bill is awesome. Classic fusion-y stuff.

I went there a few days ago to try one of their Lakland basses. Over £1000 worth of bass, and whilst it was very dull they didn't even ask me if I wanted to buy it when I handed it back.

[quote name='Linus27' post='1324675' date='Aug 2 2011, 06:47 PM']Not me for sure but yes, you have a very good point, £2.5k for a new bass is a bit mad.[/quote] Well, it's not in the world of custom basses but it is for an 'off the rack' Warwick.

Of course you're not going to see great gear down the Dog and Bollock public house, where a P bass will do and your amp is resting on a beer crate. But then, the good gear has to turn up somewhere right? When I worked at a hotel we'd get lots of bands coming in for functions and weddings (my department). Some of these were content to just turn up and slog it out with a P bass or a Jazz bass but there were many bands who took a lot of pride in their performance and brought better gear with them. Of the few I can remember quickly; there was a bloke who played for a jazz ensemble who had two 5 string Overwaters. An Asian bloke who played for a covers band with a Yamaha TRB. The bassist for the Newcastle University Jazz band used to play a green Warwick Streamer Jazzman. Another bassist who played for a covers band used a Warwick Thumb and a Trace Elliot amp - his tone was great. Another covers band bassist played a Pentabuzz and a 5 string Spector (which ended up for sale at Guitar Guitar). He was a real gent and let me try his basses too, how cool! And then there was one very professional band (with their own stage, lighting rig and soundboard) whose bassist played a Fodera Emperor through a Glockenklang amp. It's out there! When I used to play live I would take my first Kubicki among other things!

[quote name='dc2009' post='1322943' date='Aug 1 2011, 12:05 PM']Wow, that is one hell of a bargain, congrats Linus. Great bass too! Give us pics when it arrives.[/quote] It makes me wonder - who the hell buys these things new?

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' post='1323072' date='Aug 1 2011, 01:49 PM']surely you´d keep it wouldnt you??[/quote] When it looks as crap as that I suspect you'd give it away or burn it! That bass looks like a crappy fake to me.

What are the prices like? And does he do black hardware?

[quote name='stewblack' post='1324477' date='Aug 2 2011, 04:28 PM']BTW did Mr Taylor play an Aria back in the day or is that my old man's memory playing tricks?[/quote] He did. He has a Peavey signature model these days IIRC, and he was playing Kubicki Ex Factors for a while too. They sounded bloody great!

here's my old Alembic There'll be a new fretless coming soon too!

[quote name='fatboyslimfast' post='1321190' date='Jul 30 2011, 11:42 AM']Then buy a 2nd hand one off a local basschatter - he/she'll help you see what it can do, and you'll probably get a brew to boot![/quote] Indeed, and you'll get excellent value for money too. Look at that LAG going on here for £550! And when I bought my Alembic Epic for £600!

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1320664' date='Jul 29 2011, 05:18 PM']so why are they the best then?[/quote] Just listen to them play...!

The album is from the 'Groovemasters' series, which is typically just two acoustic guitarists playing off each other so an album of fretless bass and acoustic guitar is a bit of a break for the Groovemasters idea. The rest of the albums aren't so great but the Cullen/Manring one really is awesome. When Michael was actively using Talkbass I used to tell him all the time about how awesome it was!

[quote name='wombatboter' post='1320013' date='Jul 29 2011, 07:39 AM']I used to work in a music shop and I know what visitors do but it's part of the enthusiasm of certain players...You can't blame someone when he finally has the opportunity to play the bass of his dreams to unpack everything he's got..[/quote] This hits the nail right on the head. And with all due respect, I suspect aside from Mike Flynn that Geert is probably the best bassist on Basschat. If you've ever seen his youtube videos you'll know what I mean! So if he is ok with it...

[quote name='akabane' post='1319521' date='Jul 28 2011, 05:11 PM']I second Michael Manring. A seriously great musician, abusing his fretless.[/quote] Manring has always been one of my favourite fretless players. Today I was finally able to download his [i]Equilibre[/i] album with David Cullen. It's such a simple concept; Cullen plays a classical guitar and Manring accompanies with great fretless playing. He's left the weird tunings and tricks to one side (as great as they are) and just plays fretless bass like an absolute master. His tone, feel and phrasing is just incredible. The track below is the opener of the album, seriously cool with a great laid back vibe. The bass is really what ties it all together in the most amazing way. The bloke doing the bass cover isn't bad either. When I get my next fretless I'll be spending a lot of time on this album.

I don't see what the big deal is with some gratuitous slapping in a music shop. Especially the 16th note machine gun party trick stuff. For one thing, you're probably not going to have a drummer present and unless you're a regular performer of various classical pieces, graceful [i]sonatas[/i] and [i]etudes[/i] are likely to be beyond you, especially sitting there with a bass you're unfamiliar with on an amp that probably isn't as good as the one you've got at home. In lieu of a drummer giving it 4/4 and a band to back up, I don't see the problem with this sort of slap. It at least lets you test the threshold of the bass, namely that, should you ever be required to play some absurdly fast slap it'll perform. For example, if you pick up a Thunderbird and slap it'll sound like dung so you'll leave that bass at home when Mark King sprains his wrist and you get the call to fill in for him. I guess pretty much every bassist loves some music shop [i]game[/i], whether they admit to it or not. If you feel that you don't like it, you're likely drawn towards it at a subconcious level simply because someone who can slap with a high level of technical profficiency is entertaining and cool.