Chris2112

[quote name='bigthumb' post='1075251' date='Jan 2 2011, 01:09 PM']Ha ha! Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder! I dare not ask how much they are though. BTW Chris did you trade your Thumb for the Kubicki last year?[/quote] I think the Bass Centre had them for about £4000 new when they came out. Very pricey, much like Hellborg's Warwick amps! And yes, I did trade my Thumb for a Kubicki. It was a 1999 model I think, with a wenge neck in "as new" condition, lovely bass! Alas, Kubicki basses are just more my thing.

Oh, I thought I'd pick that tone as it was another player's tone that would be a good substitute for my own. In that case, I'd have to go for Victor Wooten's tone I think! Absolutely lovely!

Try as I might, playing along to Paul Simon's "Graceland" album just isn't the same without a fretless bass! Maybe thats what I need again in 2011!

I'd got for Stuart Hamm's late 80's Kubicki sound, as it's so close to what I have now!

[quote name='bigthumb' post='1075135' date='Jan 2 2011, 11:30 AM']You mean that you DONT like the Hellborg Signature Bass? [/quote] The Hellborg bass is awesome but it's so damn expensive!

Another unspectacular year for Warwick as far as new basses go.

[quote name='BassBus' post='1074766' date='Jan 1 2011, 09:18 PM']Two of my favourites. Neither of them particularly known for their fretless playing. [/quote] I've always preferred Marcus' playing when he's on a fretless bass. But I'd say Alain is definitely well known for his fretless playing and his incredible intonation.

The sad thing about the Heathrow video going down was that the tone on it was even better than any sound Mark King has ever had...and he's had some great basses over the years!

[quote name='Hobbayne' post='1074724' date='Jan 1 2011, 08:28 PM']I didnt know much about this fella, but yes, I love his stuff on Graceland!![/quote] He's done a few solo albums too which are fairly good, but I wish he'd spent more time working on high profile projects like this. When Paul picked him to do the album he'd never even been in a studio before!

I like the videos below, they show off that amazing Kubicki slap sound. Perhaps the best one I heard was a cover of a guy playing 'Heathrow' by Level 42 on a Kubicki Ex Factor, it sounded incredible. The video doesn't appear to be on youtube anymore though!

[quote name='Hobbayne' post='1074366' date='Jan 1 2011, 01:58 PM']Er, to a 15 year old it might! [/quote] +1 I've never been a massive fan of the Esh shapes but it looks quite tacky to me, especially the colour scheme which reminds me of those dodgy Epiphone Voodoo guitars they did a few years ago. Not for me, but I'm sure someone will love it!

To me, Bakithi Kumalo is easily the best fretless bass player around. His stuff on Paul Simon's [i]Graceland[/i] and [i]The Rhythm of The Saints[/i] albums is as good as it gets. The best stuff is probably on [i]Graceland[/i], where there was more of a focus on those South African sounds and the bass was a real driving element like it is in Mbaqanga and Zulu pop music. This is the one for me:

Thats the thing with these basses, nothing else sounds like a proper Warwick! They have to be the biggest niche bass maker around! I'd much rather go to a show and see a bassist playing a Warwick than a jazz, precision or stringray. That way, I'd be enjoying the bass tone all night long!

[quote name='Machines' post='1074173' date='Jan 1 2011, 08:31 AM']Is that meant to be serious ? If so, it's one of the most hilarious things i've ever read ! I'm quite sure there are thousands of players worldwide who feel the Precision is one of the BEST sounding basses out there. Are they all wrong ?[/quote] Well, their opinion of good tone is quite different to my idea. To me, the Precision has one of the worst bass tones around (as well as being quite ugly and never playing brilliantly). Different vinegar strokes for different folks and all that!

[quote name='Soliloquy' post='1073902' date='Dec 31 2010, 06:08 PM']I've owned 3 Stingray 4 strings, and 2 Stingray 5's, I hated all of them, they simply didn't work for me, and the number that come up for sale suggests that the same applies for others too.[/quote] Their have been a few for sale here recently, some at very fair prices!

[quote name='iconic' post='1074353' date='Jan 1 2011, 01:42 PM']sounds like the best explanation thus far, I've just looked again at the basses here and the Stingray has frets so large they look like 6" nails [/quote] And judging by some of the fretjobs I've seen on pre-EB Stingrays, you'd think they had used 6" nails instead of fret wire!

Reminds me of some of the higher end Cort Artisan basses, and looks very nice indeed!

[quote name='Machines' post='1073444' date='Dec 31 2010, 08:35 AM']EDIT: Just found this soundclip on the Epi website - sounds just like this for anyone curious . [url="http://www.epiphone.com/media/TBirdGroove.mp3"]http://www.epiphone.com/media/TBirdGroove.mp3[/url][/quote] I've got to say that I've always thought the T Bird was one of the worst sounding basses out there, next to Fender Precision basses etc etc. But you can't take the Overwater to the Dog and Bollock for fear it might get damaged, so it's always a good idea to have a cheapy backup!

[quote name='noelk27' post='1060910' date='Dec 16 2010, 07:45 PM']Rio, Seven And The Ragged Tiger and Powerstation are when he did this most. He doesn't make any attempt to disguise the fact that many of the lines on those albums are impossible to reproduce, as these are composites, both in terms of overdubs and transitions. When you listen closely to Rio you can hear particularly that many of the popped sections are overdubbed.[/quote] I think I recall a dicussion on Talkbass where it was revealed one of the slap solos or complex slap parts on one of the Powerstation records was actually Bernard Edwards! However, John is a fairly good player even if he did create some unplayable stuff in the studio! The line to "Girls on Film" is really quite tricky when you look at it and try to get it bang on with the record!

[quote name='wombatboter' post='1073508' date='Dec 31 2010, 10:15 AM']Everytime I took my fretless Wal or Pedulla along to "standard" gigs I would get remarks from the other musicians : "Just bring your normal Fender along" or "it sounds nice but just leave it home next time".[/quote] I wouldn't want to be playing with those guys anyway, boring old farts! They'll be the type who turn up with a Parker graphite guitar and you'll say "Just bring your Ibanez next time, I know where I am with that". Except they'd be so dull, they'd probably play a Gibson Les Paul. I am quite fortunate I suppose, given that the blokes I regularly play with really enjoyed it when I brought my fretless Alembic to the studio. It would have me playing in a new and fresh way and they enjoyed it. I'd be lying if I said it didn't evoke a sort of "80's sound" when I added a touch of chorus. We all enjoyed it and made some great music.