Chris2112

A friend of mine in America copied me a disc of Stuart Hamm's first instructional tape when it was all but impossible to find a VHS copy in the UK. After sending it he refused payment. Top guy, and the gesture meant a lot to me.

[quote name='Captain Bassman' timestamp='1492968801' post='3284486'] Short scale series 2 built in 1982 and with a partial refurb from the Mothership back in 2010. The wood finish is original though and is the lovely satin lacquer that Alembic used to use before going all glossy. Acquired from Stefano (Steno) on this forum, credit to him for the pics. [/quote] That is incredible. One of the best looking Alembics I've ever seen.

The first Urge bass used a Kubicki preamp. The Urge II used a Fender preamp, I don't think they ever specified which one it was.

This thread should begin and end with Mohini Dey. She is amazing.

Someone who lives in Milwaukee would be a great fit.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1498082471' post='3322489'] I've heard him give that lesson before. And now when I play the wrong note, I just slide to the right one and people think I meant it [/quote] I had his Bass Day '98 DVD (or was it the Bass Extremes DVD?), which featured an interview/lesson section. He talked about the concept of never being more than a half step away from a 'right' note. He's been preaching this for 20 years, but it's good advice. I quite like Vic's musical philosophy but I don't agree with all of his teaching methods. A lot bass teaching is based on ephemera and frippery, and other feel-good nonsense, with very little focus on proper musical theory. That's a wider issue, and I'm sure Vic feels like his methods have some value. Musically though, I wish he'd get himself out of this rut he is. I used to deadly love his first couple of solo records but his recent efforts just haven't hit the heights I expected.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1496742248' post='3313511'] Not sure if this has been covered, but right hand grip can be the problem when it comes to 'sticky glossy necks'. If your hand is sticking to the neck, then the chances are your grip could be improved. I've un-taught 'broom handling' to many bass players and they have found that they can play more fluidly and have less problems with shiny necks on hot sweaty gigs. Just a thought which might be helpful! Dooooood. [/quote] In spite of my constant attention on left hand position, even with a light touch and proper thumb positioning on the back of the neck, the drag of a bad gloss finish is perceptible. Unless you completely detach your hand from the back of the neck when you change position you'll notice it. Whether or not it bothers you is another matter. On some of the horrors I've played, you'd struggle to get a tune out of them if you played 'broom handle' by wrapping your thumb over the lowest string because the increased surface area of skin in contact with the neck, along with the clubby and imprecise grip would create terminal drag.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1496661866' post='3313001'] Anybody else with me that thinking the dead spot problem is wildly over exaggerated? Yes, there are basses with dead spots... but there are not in abundance like basschat folklore would suggest? [/quote] It's not like every other Musicman bass is littered with dead spots. Some suffer only mildy, which many owners might never notice. Some are quite obvious. Some basses don't have any obvious dead spots. It's the luck of the draw, and why I'd always be hesitant to buy a Musicman bass I hadn't played and tested. And I like Musicman basses! More prevalent on the Stingray is the issue of a weak sounding G string. That really does jump out at you in a way that dead spots don't and I've found it to more common than dead spots. I should note that of both of these issues, I've found them to be more of an issue in the Stingray 4 string than the 5 string, or the Sterling, or the Bongo.

[quote name='Johnny Wishbone' timestamp='1496601391' post='3312612'] I believe the fact that MM repeatedly refused him a sig model is the reason he stopped using them and went to Modulus. Can't remember where I read that though. [/quote] I think he was just after a Musicman style bass without a load of deadspots on the neck.

I had noticed quite a number of them for sale. I doubt there is anything wrong with them, more that mild buyer's remorse can strike in these hasty purchases. I have seen one up close and it looked good. However, that naff bridge piece irritates me. The Classic Vibe Squier Jazz with the brass bridge saddles had a better bloody bridge.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1480082321' post='3181537'] The stickiest necks I've ever come across were on new Warwicks with an oil? finish, followed by a Traben bass that had such a thin satin finish on the neck, I could feel the grain of the wood. Neither were very nice to play. [/quote] If a Warwick had an oil finished neck, something has went wrong somewhere. They're supposed to be played, and the oils on your skin keep them supple. I have heard of people applying the body wax to the open grain of necks which creates a sticky clag. That is a costly mistake, you can tell straight away when someone has done it. I don't seek out glossy necks but I don't mind them when they're done well. The Status gel coat and my old ACG stand out as beautiful, glassy finishes that felt great to play. Badly finished glossy necks become tacky under play, which gets worse the long you play as the finish picks up sweat. Les Pauls are dreadful for this.

It's not something I had ever really considered until now. I'd play it in the E on the A string. That said, I'd rather play pretty much anything else, it's one of the worst songs I've ever heard.

Cort do make some tremendous instruments. I'd long been aware of the quality of the Artisan series and the GB Custom. I remember trying a Yamaha TRB1006 against a Cort Artisan years ago and even then (probably 12 years ago or more) the Cort was easily the better bass at a time when the TRB was being touted as the answer to everything under £800. I had a long break from playing any Cort bass until I got hold of a Rithimic earlier this year. I'd seen videos of Jeff Berlin playing them and I considered it a guaranteed way of getting top tone and playability. I wasn't disappointed either. The appointments on this bass are fantastic. Amazing hardware, pickups, a dreamlike neck and lightweight. It's gorgeous too. If goes out of the door for what, £799 or so at a retailer? Slap a Fender badge on it and you could charge over twice that and players would still bite your hand off. Cort have an extremely highly skilled team in house, make no mistake.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1495634425' post='3305473'] Simple, back then basses weren't build by the accounting/marketing teams... [/quote] This rose-tinted glasses view is something I've hears about 70's Fenders before. A little of throwaway sentiment. However, whilst I'm no Fender expert, I sm aware of, and I agree with, the consensus that the 70's is really when the bean counters got down to business at Fender and that comes with CBS ownership. Fender was by no the company it is today back then, either. It is apparent that CBS started cost-cutting and this was felt at many levels. One of the results of this was a perception formed by many players that lives on to this day, and that is that CBS cut quality. This bore out into the used market, which until a couple of years ago didn't seem to give much of a toss for 70's basses but was deeply in love with the 60's product. Perhaps the biggest problem I've found with the 70's basses is the inconsistency in the builds. Some play and sound great, but a large proportion don't. That effect is more evident in the 70's range than for any other Fender era. A lot of it, I think, has to do with the Ash bodies. It sounds a lot different to Alder and in a lot of cases, it seems like any old bit of wood was used, whether it was resonant or or not. If the luck of the draw determines it, you can end up with a bass that is a tonne-weight whilst sounding utterly dead abd flat. The market for 60's instruments became so stratospherically inflater in recent years, no doubt bolstered by speculators and 'investors', that Joe Public has tried to rewrite history to make the 70's basses really desirable, and they are already becoming the next target of inflation.

I had a look at that too. It's a right looker.

I had a Rebop 4 DLX about ten years ago and even now, it remains in my mind as one of the standout instruments I've played. Simply magnificent.

[quote name='mep' timestamp='1494272852' post='3294636'] I'm I being too PC or just overreacting? What do others feel about this term? [/quote] Both. It's terribly modern to be offended by every little thing but there is something to be said for having a certain degree of robustness, to the point where one doesn't need to feel the need to try and censor what others say so that they can feel better. 'Guitard' may seem mildly offensive to some since it's obviously a derivation of 'retard', but I wouldn't break too much of a sweat about it, we're all grown men here.

Bireli Lagrene was my first thought. He does an excellent impression of Jaco Pastorius.

I like ramps but I don't think I'd ever fit one to one of my basses. I just don't have an issue with the 'detach' following a plucked note. If I'm playing chords, I'll use my thumb and three fingers independently to pluck each string but even then, I don't need it. I know some players say it stops them digging in too much, so they detach with greater ease and can move onto the next note with less effort. I find it just makes it easier to play very evenly and consistently. It can help if you want to soften your attack as you'll naturally pluck with less vigour. Not all ramps are created equal though. For me, I prefer them to be radiused in line with the fretboard. I played a Bass Collection bass with just a thin, flat piece of perspex for a ramp that just felt weird. If a ramp helps you to do what you want to do on a bass then great, and if you don't like it you can always remove it.

Be mindful that the house you play at hasn't been served a noise abatement order previously (though I doubt the occupant would tell you even if it had). If they have been served such notice, a further noisy party could see council officers turning up to issue fixed penalty notices and seizing noisemaking equipment, which could include the band amps and PA. Personally, I'd stick to licenced premises with proper insurance, and not just because house parties are anti-social.

1988 for me. Probably a Status Graphite Series II, an Alembic or maybe a Ken Smith at a push! Edit: I did used to own an 87 or 88 Series II, as well as two 1989 Kubicki Ex Factors. Close enough!

The 'Extraction' band of Greg Howe, Dennis Chambers and Victor Wooten was fantastic. The album they put out was brilliant. A shame they only made one, and the name 'Extraction' was an in-joke as to how difficult it was to make (see also: cover art of someone having teeth pulled out). It came from an era of great fusion trio records, but the likes of GHS and CAB did three and two records respectively.

FWIW, I've read similar criticism on Talkbass. That is, a Joe Zon-esque penchant for delays but coupled with a rather abrasive personality. I gather Jerzy has an administrator working at his shop to manage e-mail inquiries and the website, along with anything else that isn't carving wood and winding pickups. It seems to have been a good move for the company even if communication is slow because neither Jerzy nor his employee are native English speakers and stuff often can only be answered by Jerzy. There seems to be a theme amongst the criticism that Jerzy has an inflated opinion of himself and it would appear that a few customers have been put off by that.

Funnily enough, I bought a Cort Rithimic from Neil, which is Jeff Berlin's signature model. I didn't realise Neil had played with the Bruford band!