Chris2112

I've always just went with the bass that I felt like playing...a little tweak of the EQ and you can usually get the sound you want in most rooms as long as there isn't a total incompetant running the sound board! IME, anyway!

[quote name='silddx' post='959491' date='Sep 17 2010, 02:25 PM']Who's "Jean" anyway? And why would she want something that looks like it evolved at the bottom of the Mariana Trench?[/quote] That would be Jean Baudin of Nuclear Rabbit. I hate NR but he's done some alright solo stuff (cue brief youtube fame when he did the Mario theme tune on his Joust bass a couple of years ago). I guess you could say he has eclectic taste in basses. I don't like the look of it, but to be given a bass in that manner is pretty cool.

There was a good thread on Giblin just a couple of weeks ago, it turned out that a lot of what I thought was Giblin with Kate Bush was actually someone else! (namely on Wuthering Heights!)

And I dare say many a great basses could do a passable impression of Justin's tone! I just go for the Bongo because it has the 4 band EQ and the humbuckers for that chunky sound! But the issue is a complex one because if you were to suggest a bass to do an impression of Geddy Lee's or Jonas Hellborg's Wal sound then that would be much harder! I'm also giving myself Bongo GAS now!

[quote name='bubinga5' post='956320' date='Sep 14 2010, 06:11 PM']imagine taking this to a rehearsal... i guess its a studio or showroom piece...[/quote] Err.... That bass was a gift to Jean from a number of luthiers and was contributed and as it happens, I think it'd be right up his street! When you've had a bass gifted to you from the bass building elite, do let us know...

Neat trick! Shame the band are awful!

To be honest, I think the same thing can be attained with a MM Bongo. That was the result of a long discussion TB discussion about Justin's tone and how best to emulate it. I passed the advice onto a friend of mine who is a real Tool fanatic. He bought an HH Bongo and presto, instant Chancellor tone. So, it might not have the low pass filter for doing a "wah sweep" but in terms of actual tone, it's so damn close it's unreal. I think a large part of this is that Justin plays with a pick, which does away with the natural Wal tone anyway (round, burpy and middy). Especially when his sound is so often buried in effects...and to an audience, they won't know the difference even if you played the songs with a bloody P bass! But being a pedantic bassist, I'd advise a Bongo. It will easily do a 90% impression of the Wal, if not 99% in terms of playing Tool songs. I'm not suggesting the Bongo is a replacement for a Wal in every situation (IE one where you hear lots of bass upfront played with fingers through a clean channel, you'd never get away with a Bongo there). However, given the rarity of Wal basses and the price of them, the Bongo is an excellent alternative. Not to mention, as much as I love Tool, what a waste of a Wal bass it is...where it's talents are so often hidden!

[quote name='tom5string' post='958386' date='Sep 16 2010, 02:56 PM']Carl Thompson Basses - Les Claypool[/quote] Carl Thompson basses are already really expensive! Very rare too, given the size of Carl's operation, apparently he makes approximately 10 a year! I don't think even think Carl is making instruments now, last I hear a couple of years ago was that he was completing his order book and taking repair and refurb work on basses he had already made. They all seem to circulate in America too and I've not seen one for sale in this country for ages. Alembics, as mentioned, will just hold their value. Some of them have been sold for "giveaway" prices but they are what they are: beautifully finished handmade instruments. There are plenty around too, which is encouraging. If I had a 4 string series I or II I'd be happy man!

I'd have to say Kubicki...as usual! Get your hands on one and keep it as they're getting harder to find now and Phil will be retiring one day! But by all means play it, these things aren't meant to live in cupboards and closets!

Just close your eyes and tilt your head back, moreso when you solo. Then people will think you're "in the moment" and will be jealous of you!

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='957714' date='Sep 15 2010, 09:20 PM']I don't want any zing or top end though....[/quote] Well, I guess some players like to be heard (I do) and some are content to sit in the mix, like wallflowers swaying in the breeze!

[quote name='Huwberry' post='956391' date='Sep 14 2010, 07:07 PM']Recorded this afternoon: (The bass is a Classic 50s Precision, bought from a fellow basschatter a few weeks ago and it's possibly the best impulse purchase I've ever made )[/quote] IIRC Steview Wonder wrote that tune!

Just a couple of months ago I was playing fretless about 80% of the time. It's fantastic being in the studio when you can use one, knowing that if you fluff a line you can go back and perfect it! However, fretted basses are taking over and my slap chops are being wheeled out again! It's a big circle and I keep going round and round it!

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='957690' date='Sep 15 2010, 09:00 PM']Boy In The Bubble, Graceland and Diamonds all sound pretty good on double bass too. [/quote] Hmm, I love those songs but I hate double bass so I think I would have to pass on that! It's a shame as I've got a lovely fretless (my Alembic Epic 5 string) but I just don't play it all that much at the moment! The band is focusing a lot on a sort of early Level 42 funk fusion thing (which I love, it's what the band is about) but fretless has no place there!

[quote name='JanSpeeltBas' post='579822' date='Aug 25 2009, 08:13 AM']And continuing Kubicki and licensed basses: here's a Japanese made Blaster. It never got any further than a pre-production run but it's actually the official MIJ Kubicki.[attachment=31508:Blaster_...ail_body.jpg] [attachment=31509:Blaster_detail_kop.jpg]. Ofcourse the Kubickis are wonderful but nowhere weird by todays standards.[/quote] Was it really a licensed thing? I recall seeing a one of those on Talkbass years ago, it's quite clearly a horrible abomination of something meant to be like a Kubicki but quite clearly getting it all wrong. I didn't know Phil or Fender had ever licensed it for production anywhere else and it seems odd that it would be so incredibly different from a real Kubicki too. I also remember a Yahoo group discussing these basses and coming to the conclusion they were a rip off too. And that was a real knowledge base for Kubicki, the likes of which has never existed since. The group has pretty much died, but in the days before TB and the like it was packed with some real experts.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='954465' date='Sep 13 2010, 10:33 AM']I've got a jazz style bass with lace sensor pickups and it sounds awesome for metal. You imagine fender jazz sort of ring to the strings, but with balls to back it up. I know what you mean though. I think what was infinetely worse than newstead's bass sound on load/reload etc was Bob Rock's fender P bass on the St Anger album. It just seemed to be an undefined midrange growl with little to no low end to it whatsoever.[/quote] Most of that album (if not all) was done with a Spector though. It belonged to the former Loverboy bassist Scott Smith. And that DVD mentioned above is the one that came with the special edition album. The Ray does sound amazing, far better than Rob's Fernandez! Amazing guitar tone on that dvd too.

Sounds like TC Electronics are doing well! I remember being quite impressed when I tried the RH and Classic450 heads with my Kubicki. If I had one complaint it's that they didn't do much to produce a sparkling, wonderful top end. However, if you were going for an early 80's American R&B sound (think "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" by Diana Ross) I'd go for one of these.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='956726' date='Sep 14 2010, 11:07 PM']There are pretty awesome bass cabs with 12" speakers. The diameter of the speaker isn't the important bit.[/quote] +1 Unless it's a 15". I just don't think I could get away with a single 15" cab, they need to be paired with something to give them some zing and top end!

I wouldn't dare tackle a "Graceland" track without a fretless bass. It just wouldn't be right.

Who is Sting? And why is this crap old P bass for sale for £25,000? Not even Jaco's bass would get that!