Chris2112

I've always enjoyed the Yellowjackets. It still seems a bit strange to see them without Jimmy Haslip in the band!

I'm glad that you came out and said it as I hadn't a clue what that first post was all about!

After a couple of weeks with the Bogart, I'm absolutely in love with it. Status Graphite had always been the benchmark for graphite basses for me. I'd had a Zoot and a Zon in the past, both of which were good basses (the Zon particularly so), but I always held Status in the highest regard. I know it's silly to typify these wildly different instruments but one common aspect of construction but they can be lumped together by virtue of being a bit niche. Bogart had always kept a low profile on my radar because they're fairly rare in the UK but I'm just astounded by getting my hands on this one. I now want more! And an SKC Slapper and a Schack and a... I couldn't believe it, measuring from the bridge to the nut, that it's 34" scale. The string tension has fooled me, because I usually play .40 strings. These must be .45, and the feel is very different but they're a joy to play fast triplets on. I've got to grips with the preamp, and pretty much just leave the bridge pickup on solo with a hair's adjustment to the mid control, giving the very slightest boost at the amp, but the main aim is just to brink a little bit of honk to the forefront. The natural character of the bass is for a huge, even-tempered response. 'Piano-like' is an oft-used term in describing bass guitar tones, but the tone in this instance rides roughshod over any accusation of cliché. If you have ever played a Modulus Quantum with Bartolini pickups, you'll recognise the phenomenon I'm talking about. Bloody hell, it's good.

I believe this would be a 'Matrix' model but it's not marked as such. I had one a few years ago and that didn't have the logo on the headstock (whereas the Stealth I later owned did have). Not sure what the preamp is though, since it has that stacked control. The model history is a bit confusing. I think the Matrix model was discontinued in the mid 90's, being replaced by the Energy series.

My Pentabuzz and Bogart, trying to decide which one is my second favourite bass!

He is an absolutely furious player but I still don't 'feel' his voice as a player. I had thought that, when he exploded into the scene a decade ago, that this was something that would develop in time. I'm no stranger to fast bebop lines and fusion playing but Hadrien's playing still misses the mark with me, a lot of the time. Perhaps part of the problem is that, unlike the fusion greats who established themselves a few years ago, he hasn't really been in an amazing band with other bandmates to bring him up. His tenure with McLaughlin was pretty short and he hasn't had the launchpad of a UZEB, Bruford or Weather Report type outfit in which to really develop as a band player.

'Equilibré' by Michael Manring and David Cullen. A fantastic blend of Cullen's delightful nylon string guitar and Manring's wonderful fretless playing - and none of the party trick tuning changes and other frippery. Just try finding a copy though!

It may be. I paid £600 for it, I think. Was the seller called James, I wonder? I think he had a guitar shop he ran with his dad and needed cash to pay for an imminently custom build.

My old Epic looked like this. Wenge top, unlined fretless five. I have lost most of the good photos I had of it, and the ones I still have were taken with an ancient camera phone (it would be close to ten years since I sold it). However, I can still remember the furterbil.

Glad to hear your first trip out with it went well! I really dig my old Epic 5 and I've often wanted a fretted model but always seem to find something I want more when I'm looking to buy! The thing I always liked about the Series electronics was that you could shelf the bass at a limit where your cabs could reproduce it. Then you could get into the real meat of the tone shaping, around the midrange! I always want mids!

I might give Stuart a shout to seen if he has any photographs of it before it was repainted. I actually really like those abstract 'scribble' and splatter type finishes. I think they are fun in a very German sort of way. But wherever Stuart went to get this Bogart refinished, they did an excellent job. It has a very smooth, deep paint on it that speaks of good prep work being done beforehand. I always like to find out the history of my basses, where I can. After a bit of digging last year, I found an old picture of my Pentabuzz on Google, as well as previous listing from when it was sold at Bass Direct (which I knew nothing about). The photo on Google was even more of a mystery. I haven't read the metadata, it just showed up when I was looking for peacock blue Pedullas. I was able to identify it as being my bass by matching the grain like a fingerprint.

My phone's useless autocorrect! I was supposed to type 'further up' there.

'The Extremist' and 'Flying in a blue dream' by Joe Satriani always signal summer to me. I did my work experience with the local police force when I was 15, and because my mam worked for the force, she had prepared packed schedule for me visiting different stations and departments all over the force. It was the height of summer and I had those CD's on repeat in her car as she drove me all over the place! Takes me back to those sunny times whenever I hear them.

I believe this is a 1994 or 1995 model. Stefan Heß had chimed in on the 'D-Code' video saying he had been contact by a lot of people asking about the bass, so he thought to comment on it there. I am glad to hear that his business is back up and running again. I've been working nights all week so I haven't really had the chance to properly run the bass out yet but I keep picking it up for the odd tune here and there. I blasted out a few bars of 'Joe Frazier Round 3' by Jeff Berlin as I'm slowly transcribing that. I'm hoping to try it out in a trio setting next week with a guitarist who loves Muse and a drummer who can take the 16th and hold it all night long. It should be great!

Warwick always take a considerable hit used. They're the bass that comes to mind whenever I think of a brand that depreciates like a stone. The used models tend to hold their value because they've effectively bottomed out once they're no longer brand new. I'd take the cash it would cost for that Thumb new and buy a used model.

Very cool! I had a five string fretless Epic a few years ago that was one of the best fretless basses I have ever played. Because I prefer playing fretted basses, I had always wished that the Epic was fretted. One thing to note, in looking for the classic Alembic sound, is that the Epic has a two band EQ. The models furtberil the chain use the 'Q-Filter', which is a low pass filter often coupled with a cutoff switch. The low pass filter adds a lot of the signature Alembic quality to the tone. Alembic do sell some electronics, so you may be able to acquire a Q-Filter preamp to fit in the Epic. The full Series I and II systems, apparently, will not fit in the smaller bodied Alembics.

For me, there could only be the Pedulla 'Buzz (in my case, a Pentabuzz). It is the absolute epitome of the fretless bass. Not cheap, but I made the mistake of playing one when I was 18 and I knew then I'd have to get some some day! At the cheaper end of the scale, I used to own a Squier VM fretless jazz that was really good for the price. The Bass Collection also do a sunburst fretless jazz that looks pretty cool, I think Bass Direct sell them.

University lecturers during the day - I'd slept through enough lectures at my own university to know I didn't want to sleep through hers! The Sound Control is long gone. She lived in accommodation next to Aldi, just off Fisher Street. The Sound Control was just across the road and the Spector was £549, new! It was amazing. Like this, but four string:

Been there. Wandered into Sound Control Preston years ago whilst visiting a girlfriend, because I was bored and had nothing better to do. Ended up buying a Spector Reboot DLX - a truly stunning bass. It was so good I then sold my Status Stealth I 6 string.

Afternoon all, I took delivery yesterday of a wonderful SKC Bogart Blackstone bass. This is, I have discovered, a wonderful instrument with a rather interesting history. First of all, some background. SKC Bogart basses were/are made in Germany by Stefan Heß. Mr Heß has an extensive background in building carbon fibre parts for instruments. He was the carbon fibre man to go to in Germany. He even made carbon fibre necks for Schack and Clover basses, and the complete monocoque shell for Clover's 'SKC Slapper' model. The Bogart basses were Stefan's creation, renowned for being incredible instruments. They went out of production for a while but are now being made again, now with a full wooden construction. My Bogart Blackstone is, I have discovered, either 1994 or 1995 model. I'm not sure how it came to be in the UK because, so far as I can tell, there was never a UK distributor for these instruments. It was purchased by Stuart Clayton at the London Bass Guitar show in 2012 and he kept it for a few years, doing a really cool cover of Alain Caron's 'D-Code' on YouTube with it. Stuart had it refinished from it's original black and blue paint scheme to a very cool metallic blue colour. The paint on it at the moment is absolutely incredible - it has depth and shimmer, and is even to a tee. I think the original paint scheme would have been black with blue flecks of paint splatter, one of the abstract finishes Stefan was fond of (I love those). The bass itself is just delightful. Light and well balanced, it plays well when seated or standing. The neck is wide and flat, with no radius, and it's very thin, an advantage of it's carbon fibre construction. The headstock holds small screw-in string clamps, while the bridge holds the ball end of the string for tuning. The neck has a smooth satin finish, like a Zon, rather than the gloss gel coat Status use (I have owned both Zon and Status basses in the past). The body is 'Blackstone', a epoxy foam injected into a synthetic shell to give the consistency of alder. It's very light and resonant. The pickups are Bartolini, and the preamp is now a Noll. The bass originally came with a German preamp (the name was something like Karaundt, though it escapes me). This was the standard Bogart preamp at the time, but it was replaced with a Noll after it failed. The Noll was a good choice as it became the standard fit item for new Bogart basses some time after the turn of the millennium. Controls are standard three band with a push/pull for acting and passive switching. I missed this when I first bought the bass and it was only after reading about the Noll preamp online that I thought to try this out! The tone of the bass is thunderous. Very clean and hi-fi with that 'lossless' resonance of carbon graphite. The bridge pickup is very articulate, producing very distinct notes but without the harsh, treble hiss of string noise that some carbon fibre instruments make. With both pickups active, there is very little loss of tone through phasing. It sounds like a sledgehammer and it absolutely drives my Markbass CMD 151P Jeff Berlin signature combo. The sustain is incredible and the wide, flat neck makes for a very pleasant feel all over the neck. The slap and picked tones are equally exemplary, but I play fingerstyle with the bridge running solo 95% of the time, so I'm pleased to confirm the bass delivers in that respect. To have found this for sale at The Bass Gallery in London was a lucky strike as these basses are very few in number, particularly outside of Germany. Those that own them often have a couple in their collection. Are they a bit of an undiscovered secret? I think so. In doing my research on this bass, I discovered a lot of old 'for sale' threads on the internet where I had been posting trying to buy a Bogart, that obviously had never worked out. I'm glad to finally have added this bass to my collection and I would love to hear from other Bogart bass owners. Some pics and Stuart Clayton's video can be seen below.

That is really cool.