Chris2112

[quote name='Blademan_98' post='1072026' date='Dec 29 2010, 07:20 PM']It was only £200 and its new! Seemed a good deal to me. The chap was very nice, threw in a gig bag. I'm happy [/quote] Not a bad price if you'll get some enjoyment out of it.

I am not against online shopping [i]per se[/i]. Most of my basses I've bought on Basschat without ever having played them. However, if possible I would rather go into a shop and deal with a friendly salesperson who knows what they're talking about. I appreciate I am at the stage now where I don't need advice on buying instruments from shop staff, but it's nice to be able to go into a shop and have them deal with the business side of things. With buying online, there is always that slight worry that shipping issues will arise or it'll be a dog etc etc. I don't know if it's because now I have money to spend on basses I'd be prepared to pay a little more for a good shop bought instrument. It's a shame I don't live nearer The Gallery as I'm quite sure I could empty my wallet there. I have to say though, that proper bass shops have really taken off in the UK in the past couple of years. The web presence of top bass shops like Bass Direct is much better now. I often look through the used items there for interesting instruments.

[quote name='Bass_Guardian' post='1072063' date='Dec 29 2010, 07:50 PM']I think the guitar guitar guys are pretty knowledgeable from what ive seen, although one guy swore against 5 strings saying they was useless [/quote] They haven't always been fantastic, and their pricing is sometimes a bit off (they've got a used 5 string Stingray in for £1199 or something outrageous atm). But they're a lot better now than they've ever been. Which is nice, as other guitar shops in Newcastle can be a bit naff. Sounds live are good but they usually have one great bass a few middle of the road choices. Windows are fairly naff but they're better now than they've ever been and I think Air Guitars may have shut down!

Thats usually the biggest problem in guitar shops - the majority of people shopping there are tossers! If they're not sneering at what you're doing or playing, bigging themselves up to their mates (best line I've heard recently: "He's playing Jaco? Someone needs to tell him he died in the 70's" - nice one, you biff) they're shuffling about, leaning over you and generally making a nuisance of themselves. If they're playing instruments themselves, it's usually self indulgent crap like Guns and Roses! It's because of this sort of thing that I'm glad Guitar Guitar have came about. They have "private rooms" with sliding glass doors where you can try out more expensive kit without having to hear emos thrashing cheapo guitars outside. In the acoustic section they have comfortable seats and forgiving, thick carpeting. It's an enviroment that really lets the guitar do it's work and sound excellent, as opposed to some echoey old music shops where a decent acoustic guitar would sound like a rattle! I was quite pleased when I went in there with my brother to try out the Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster he would later buy. They let us sit in the private room, with a selection of good amps and no irritating distractions. Everyone who looked in through the glass saw my brother shredding away on a beautiful guitar but they wern't disturbed by the selection of Shawn Lane hits he was belting out either!

Personally, I'd be looking at drum software. I use a ZOOM Rhythmtrak 234, which is a relatively "old skool" drum machine. It's easy to get to grips with, but programming long and complex pieces into it is a chore simply because I much prefer the fast, uder friendly "drop and drag" stylings of modern software. The ZOOM unit is great for messing about with in your bedroom or using as a studio tool but for a full live set I'd look at something more accessible.

[quote name='dood' post='1072023' date='Dec 29 2010, 07:17 PM']I've been using Dunlop Big Stubby 2mm picks for a while now - but the other day, the Dunlop / MXR rep for the area in which I live gave me a Dunlop Ultex 'sharp' 2mm pic. I'm really impressed with it for bass as well as shred guitar and acoustic. I think I'm going to order some through.[/quote] That looks quite good. Are they a new product? Available in the shops to buy now or coming soon?

[quote name='Soliloquy' post='1071176' date='Dec 28 2010, 07:01 PM']Got to disagree with this, though I can see possibly why you say that, especially with the Mark King thing.[/quote] I know that a Jaydee can be as versatile as any other bass when you start tweaking knobs and fiddling with your amp. But in essence, why should you? So a Jaydee sounds like a Jaydee? Why make it sound like a Jazz or P bass? You can still play all the same songs, just you'll get that lovely Jaydee tone coming through. Listen to how the Jaydee tone fits into this song perfectly and sounds incredible. I think there is too much focus on basses being versatile rather than just sounding excellent off the bat, which Jaydee basses certainly do. If you want something that sounds middle of the road, buy something middle of the road!

Thats a lot of money for what it is, when I get a sneaking suspicion that a Classic Vibe Precision would be a better buy.

Well, as long as it was cheap I wouldn't worry too much. I'm sure everyone has made an impulse purchase at some point (mine was a Spector, probably considerable more expensive - I had to get rid of a Status Stealth bass to keep it! )

I used to be quite impressed with the Ibanez Steve Vai picks, they were a good design with the holes in the centre for grip. I don't play guitar though, so they're not much use to me!

[quote name='dood' post='1071812' date='Dec 29 2010, 03:04 PM']I started off subscribing to the Billy Sheehan method: As low as possible then bring the action up again to get rid of the rattles and problems - but it is important to have a really good fret job and set up if you are going to have a crazy low action, because it can lead to all sorts of fret buzzes if you have uneven fret heights. This could well be a reason why a good few basses you try out in shops are set up with such high actions - because the fret jobs are a bit poo![/quote] Yes, I would suspect this is the case. Many people will buy a bass with high action thinking they'll sort it out later, only to find that it buzzes and rattles due to a shoddy fretjob. I am a real stickler for good fretwork on basses; I spend as much time inspecting the instrument visually in a shop as I do playing it! I was just playing my ACG there for a bit and I played my Kubicki straight afterwards and I was really surprised at the difference in feel between the two. The ACG has an asymmetrical neck with a flat board whereas the Kubicki has a slight radius. Of the two, I prefer the feel of the Kubicki neck but I suppose that could be the years of ownership of Kubicki basses speaking. Both have quite low action and are easy on the left hand (especially the Kubicki, which is a dream for left hand "click clack" sounds when you're slapping). Both of the basses have a nice "stiff" feeling to the strings on the right hand though, which is important to me. I suppose this is caused by the position of the bridge being more centered than on a jazz bass, say.

Over the years I've come back to pick playing, when I started it was all I could do until I learned to play fingerstyle. Then I went off it for a good few years and came back to it after reading some Anthony Jackson interviews and listening to his playing. However, all the while I've been using the same type of plectrum. I bought a handful of Dunlop 500 2.0mm pickups from Sound Control years ago and I've still got one left that I use when I fancy pick playing. What type of plectrum do you use? Do you have any special picks? When I saw Joe Satriani a couple of years ago, Stuart Hamm was playing bass for him. Stu used a pick for a couple of tunes that night, and after "Flying in a Blue Dream" he passed me the pick he had been using. It is a white, triangle Fender Bx3 pick that has Stuart's name embossed on it, produced for the Fender sponsored Bx3 tour with Jeff Berlin and Billy Sheehan. It's fantastic for playing with and I always mean to buy something similar since I keep Stu's pick as a keepsake.

Musicman20, make sure you have a look in Sounds Live on Dean Street if you get a chance. They've got an amazing Stingray in the window. It's very pricey at £1499 (reduced from £1699!) but it is incredible. Cream body, tortoiseshell scratchplate, figured neck and a maple fretboard, it looks fantastic. I've not played it, but it definitely caught my eye when I was passing today.

I still think about the Classic Vive jazz I used to have. The quality of that bass was incredible; it was put together with such care and quality that it could have easily passed for an American Fender in a blind test. I still think about buying another one and putting some Bartolini pickups in it.

[quote name='Muzz' post='1071753' date='Dec 29 2010, 02:16 PM']Like a 50-year old Fender VI then? These ground-breaking musicians... [/quote] Well, no because it was a 34" scale instrument.

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1071785' date='Dec 29 2010, 02:39 PM']I've only had bad experiences with the cheaper end of acoustic bass guitars. Even the few ok ones I've played, I just found myself thinking "it's like an electric, but it doesn't play or sound as good." so I want to avoid them really.[/quote] If you look around you can find Fender Victor Bailey acoustic basses for good prices. They're pretty rare used but they'd be an even better buy there. Very highly spoken of, and despite the fact I'm not a huge fan of acoustic basses I have to say they are pretty good. IIRC Stanley Clarke used one on his 'The Toys of Men' album.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='1071749' date='Dec 29 2010, 02:11 PM']Not inferior. Different.[/quote] In my opinion, inferior. As stated above.

I'll be sitting down this afternoon to give 'The Obligatory Boogie' by Stuart Hamm a shot this afternoon. It sounds like it could be a tricky one!

I remember someone on Talkbass once talking about how he played Jeff Berlin's bass at a clinic or something and he couldn't get a note out of it because the action was so low and set up for Jeff's light touch. When you watch him play you can see how low the action is on his basses, it's crazy!

[quote name='Muzz' post='1071747' date='Dec 29 2010, 02:07 PM']I'd like a 6-string tuned an octave up, E to E...oh, wait... [/quote] Jonas Hellborg used to have a Status Energy bass which was tuned E-E, like a guitar but an octave down. He could do some cool stuff with that!

Furthermore, you see loads of EUB's for sale when someone buys one thinking they'll be able to take to it fairly easily before discovering it's a completely different (and IMO, inferior) instrument. I'd only go for an EUB if you're serious about dedicating time to learning it properly and most likely getting tuition as well.

If you're after getting the Hotwire defretted, make sure you go to a professional and maybe even get a new board fitted as that will always look better than a defret. If you do it yourself you'll absolutely ruin the value of the bass.

Like the action on my ACG. I can't be more precise than that, other than to say the bass is set up just how I like it.

I would just take a look at what Kai Eckhardt used to play when he was in the John McLaughlin Trio in the late 80's, something headless with a carbon fibre neck like a Schack would be ideal. It gives that fantastic burpy electric sound which is amazing with nylon string guitars or even steel string acoustics.

I had a chance to A/B the basses with a friend who owned both when the HH was a relatively new thing (he's since converted to Warwick). I didn't find that playability was compromised by the new pickup but it did offer more tones and the classic single humbucker tone was on tap too. The issue really was that the bridge pickup is already in the "sweet spot" and produced such a good sound that I'd have struggled to find a use for the neck pickup! Horses for courses though, as they were both good basses (and admittedly, not quite as good as the Streamers he has now!).