Chris2112

It would have to be my 1989 Kubicki Ex Factor. I've yet to find anything that looks, plays or sounds as good as it. It's dependable, and always sounds great. Since I spend most of my time in the studio now, not playing live, I can afford to look after it too. Its one of those absses that you know, whatever you need from it you'll get it!

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='982413' date='Oct 9 2010, 11:29 AM']I've played Warwicks for 20 odd years and despite dabbling with a multitude of other basses I always come back to Warwick; in particular the NT Streamers (the earlier the better)... my Corvette/Infinette comes a close 2nd. A couple of recent GAS purchases have reinforced that I'm sticking to my Warwick (i.e. they are up for sale), though I'll still admire other basses. [/quote] That Zon is just out of this world!

[quote name='Grant' post='986799' date='Oct 13 2010, 11:59 AM']Mark [i]is[/i] the King, and has done more for British bass playing than anyone else...nuff said. [/quote] I couldn't agree more!

I think its a great idea. You can assume that the sounds will never be more than a "ball park" kind of approximation of what the basses like, but it's nice to have something rather than nothing! For instance, check out the sound clips of the Kubicki I'll link below. These have been on the Kubicki website for ages and are played by Vail Johnson, who has used Kubicki basses for years. They give a good idea of what a Kubicki sounds like out of the box through a fairly transparent preamp. But even then, I can see how basses can sound different next to each other. My first Kubicki Ex Factor sounded closer to this sound than the one I have now does, and they were played through the same amp with the same strings. [url="http://www.kubicki.com/player.php"]http://www.kubicki.com/player.php[/url] clip 9 is rather good. The Kubicki I have now sounds a lot more like the one in the clip below. Funny, as both basses are 1989 models with Fender custom shop stamps and are part of the few "crossover" models that have the custom shop stamp but were assembled in the original shop with the original staff and parts.

I used to have a Squier VMJ fretless and whilst it was well put together I really longed for it to have a thicker sound with more midrange. It came off sounding a bit thin and clangy, but it was still very useable.

This is a cool video for big Al fans:

[quote name='mep' post='985009' date='Oct 11 2010, 10:59 PM']What does that say about Mark King & his Alembic bass then?[/quote] If there is one thing that an Alembic Mark King bass says about it's owner, it is that the owner has awesome taste in basses!

The Pedulla buzz basses are excellent, if you can live with the strange body shape!

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='985821' date='Oct 12 2010, 03:29 PM']It's just different, IME/IMO, and you need to use both hands in a slightly different way to control or accentuate the mwaah. I play fretted so rarely now that I actually find it more difficult than fretless (although I do appreciate the way everything's automatically in tune ). It's just a question of what you're used to.[/quote] Indeed, once you've got the left hand work down a fretless it's fairly simple. You just need to get used to playing "on the fret" as opposed to just behind it, if you're thinking in fretted bass terms.

I happen to know that a 5 string Alembic Epic fretless has just come up for sale for £600 on the boards...!