Semi hollow body bass - suggestions please!

[dannybuoy]

The Chowny CHB-2 at least has it's bridge pickup in what I would consider a 'sweet spot' where I could happily use it soloed - not too thin, not too woofy/undefined. Then blend in some of that neck pickup to fatten things up if required:

What's your favourite colour Bas? Surely that has to be a factor!

[No lust in Jazz]

I have one of these..Spector CTB Its really nice.

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, dannybuoy said:

My reason for not wanting a TM4/VM4 - I love the Stingray sound, the standard Basic is similar but with the pickup slightly further towards the neck, which for a flatwound funk bass I think is a good thing. I certainly wouldn't want that MM pup to sound any thinner by moving it towards the bridge, also I've never heard a sound I liked from a MM pickup blended with any other pickup - always sounded too scooped for my liking. Sometimes less is more!

See what reaction you get to that statement on the Sandberg thread - lol!  The MM is just great - nice punchy tone! 'Nuff digression  

[Pow_22]

12 hours ago, EssentialTension said:

Peerless Retromatic B2 ... 34" scale, available in six colours, and also sounds great:

Id LOVE one of these in Black, cant find them anywhere tho.  Very Duesenberg-esque

[FinnDave]

If I was in the market for a semi again, I'd go straight to the Epiphone JCB. I've owned two, and regretted selling both of them. No idea why I let the second go, it was a lovely bass and surprisingly versatile. It'd fit in so well with the early Grateful Dead stuff I play now as well. I could talk myself into another one so easily!

There's a local studio owner who has several Duesenbergs, I have played one acoustically, I thought it all bling and little substance, but some people seem to be impressed by them. 

Really regret reading this thread now, it has reignited my JCB gas!

[Rich]

1 hour ago, dannybuoy said:

The Chowny CHB-2 at least has it's bridge pickup in what I would consider a 'sweet spot' where I could happily use it soloed - not too thin, not too woofy/undefined. Then blend in some of that neck pickup to fatten things up if required:

What's your favourite colour Bas? Surely that has to be a factor!

 

My favourite is the sapphire burst -- it comes to life under lights. Fabulous colour.

[FinnDave]

This is still one of my bands' Facebook banner pic, only taken a year ago and I sold the bass last autumn, no idea what possessed me to do so!

 

[pete.young]

12 hours ago, Al Krow said:

In terms of single pups as well as the JC, the following also have single pups 

- Italia Mondial Classic

 

 

This is wrong. The Mondial Classic has two pickups, one conventional and one piezo. This probably gives you a much bigger range of useable sounds than two conventional pickups. I've not tried one, but Al Gare was certainly getting a great sound out of it.

Sorry but I don't have any clips of the Imelda gig. I prefer to experience the event, not view it through a smartphone screen.

[pete.young]

50 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

 

There's a local studio owner who has several Duesenbergs, I have played one acoustically, I thought it all bling and little substance, but some people seem to be impressed by them. 

 

I own a Duesenberg Star bass. Playing it acoustically, like most of the basses in this thread, isn't enough to form an accurate opinion of what they're going to sound like plugged in. The pickups on my Duesenberg give a wide range of tones and a relatively high output: the neck pickup in particular is rich and deep, and the bridge adds a bit of definition. I have Status half-rounds on it, which are a great middle ground between flats and rounds. The new price has gone up a heck of lot since I bought mine though, and you don't tend to see a lot for sale second-hand.

If I were Al.Krow I'd probably be looking at Chowny and Jack Casady, which are both great basses and excellent value for money.

[FinnDave]

Just now, pete.young said:

I own a Duesenberg Star bass. Playing it acoustically, like most of the basses in this thread, isn't enough to form an accurate opinion of what they're going to sound like plugged in. The pickups on my Duesenberg give a wide range of tones and a relatively high output: the neck pickup in particular is rich and deep, and the bridge adds a bit of definition. I have Status half-rounds on it, which are a great middle ground between flats and rounds. The new price has gone up a heck of lot since I bought mine though, and you don't tend to see a lot for sale second-hand.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to try it through an amp, though the opportunity may arise in the future. I hadn't heard of them until I was shown his collection of several, but he doesn't play any of them, just collects them as he likes the aesthetics.

As far as I can tell, the Chowny is only available as a short scale, which rules it out for many, including myself. But I really miss my JCB and may end up replacing it once I've sold a couple of currently underused basses.

[Frank Blank]

Having just purchased a Chowny I have to say that the quality you get for the money is astonishing.

[dannybuoy]

Here you go Al, this would like nice next to your Nathan East BB:

https://www.richtonemusic.co.uk/product/gretsch_g6136lsb_white_falcon_bass_tv_jones_thundertron_pickups

[Al Krow]

54 minutes ago, pete.young said:

Sorry but I don't have any clips of the Imelda gig. I prefer to experience the event, not view it through a smartphone screen.

Fair enough! I find my memory of events fades with time so having a couple of short clips during a 2 hour gig is a nice momento / memory jogger! I also take holiday pics for the same reason. Here's Al Gare showing us how it's done properly on upright DB!

 

[Al Krow]

4 minutes ago, dannybuoy said:

Here you go Al, this would like nice next to your Nathan East BB:

https://www.richtonemusic.co.uk/product/gretsch_g6136lsb_white_falcon_bass_tv_jones_thundertron_pickups

It's gorgeous. It's also nearly £4,000 !!!!!

[dannybuoy]

I know! There is one on ebay for a lot less, but still.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gretsch-G6136LSB-White-Falcon-Bass-2012-with-Gretsch-Case/253608310087?hash=item3b0c3bb547:g:qDwAAOSwglZZbytk

[Chownybass]

10 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

It's gorgeous.

Look at the back of it - and then tell me that again.

[TPJ]

There's a white Hagstrom for £360 on the Facebook Bass Players Market page.

 

[dannybuoy]

5 minutes ago, Chownybass said:

Look at the back of it - and then tell me that again.

But it comes with a built in tummy cushion! Looks like you could peel it off and use it as an emergency rain hat too.

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, FinnDave said:

Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to try it through an amp, though the opportunity may arise in the future. I hadn't heard of them until I was shown his collection of several, but he doesn't play any of them, just collects them as he likes the aesthetics.

As far as I can tell, the Chowny is only available as a short scale, which rules it out for many, including myself. But I really miss my JCB and may end up replacing it once I've sold a couple of currently underused basses.

Was hoping you would jump on to this thread as you have had (and loved) a couple of JCs - which you've mentioned in the FS section when I was having a quick look through for this bass -  there is one FS right now - which I suspect you may beat me to!

(Btw the Chowny team have confirmed their CHB-2 is 33")

Just got back from Wunjos where I met up with a lovely guy who was over from Reading to buy my Sandberg TM4 (which has been on 50s / 60s cover band duty for the past 6 months). As it happens they had a black JC in stock, slightly beaten up / loose jack socket and a few dings, but otherwise in good shape.

Preliminary thoughts on the Epiphone JC:

- loved the tone, it was full and with flats gave a good woody sound. Passive bass, with volume and treble controls only. Treble roll off / on was pretty effective.

- the Variatone is kinda nice in principle, but I couldn't really see myself using it on anything other then the '500' setting, but that was based on a quick 10 minute try out at low volume in a store.

- various comments about feedback from JCs. Didn't get any playing through a DGM900 and Aguilar cab at the store, but we had it low volume. This is probably my single biggest concern about the bass - be interested to get your take on this? Bear in mind I get a lot of coil hum both at home and at the studio rehearsals due to the proximity of tube and train lines in Central London (worse at studios which are in railway arches).

- one slightly odd design feature was the neck fretboard design. The string spacing was fine (and I personally wouldn't want it any wider) but the neck was a fair bit wider than the strings particularly in the upper registers. I'd certainly prefer it more flush, as with the pic of that beautiful Gretsch (well the front anyway!) above.

Edited May 25, 2018 by Al Krow

[FinnDave]

You've a good memory, Al! I liked the varitone rotary switch, which I understand is an impedance selector, tapping off different points on some kind of transformer in the guitar, but I'm not a technically minded person so may have got that wrong. I found it much better than the tone control for changing the sound of the guitar. I used it mainly in the central (250) position where the bass sounded very Precision like. In the 50 position, it had a more acoustic sound to it, and the 500 position really growled, the guitarist I play with called it the 'monster setting', and called for it on some of the noisier songs.

I did get some acoustic feedback if I stood too close to the amp and didn't damp the strings with the edge of my right hand, but it was very controllable and I used it deliberately sometimes as an infinite sustain.

I don't remember any problems with the width of the fingerboard, but I am one of those people  who switches between Jazz and Precision basses without really noticing the difference in the necks, so not the best person to ask. I don't think I often played mine above the 12th fret, though. The body style and the voicing just didn't seem to encourage it, no reason for not playing up there, just felt it suited the bass better to stay in the lower register.

Now I'm off to take another look at the 'for sale' section, but I need to sell something before I can afford another JCB, I am also pushed for storage space!

[neepheid]

My normal postion is the 250, the jump to 500 is definitely noticeable in terms of both output and growl.  I find the differences between the 50 and the 250 to be more subtle, defintely there but mostly undetectable in a full on band sound.

Regarding feedback, I can deliberately get my JC to feedback if my amp's up high and I'm 10-20cm away from a 250W 1x10 combo.  The feedback is slow building and to my ears, not unpleasant.  Used it occasionally as a rock 'n' roll ending to a song for giggles, but there are probably more musical uses for it

Can't really tell you about the neck.  I like a chunky neck so it hasn't bothered me so much so that I haven't noticed what you describe.  Extra room for error with those string bends?

Edited May 25, 2018 by neepheid

[EssentialTension]

4 hours ago, Pow_22 said:

Id LOVE one of these in Black, cant find them anywhere tho.  Very Duesenberg-esque

I have been led to believe, although I don't know for sure, that Peerless make most of a Duesenberg in Korea and then the electrics etc are added in Germany for a German price. The Retromatic is the Peerless version of a Duesenberg.

Peerless made the Jack Casady and still do a Peerless version called the Bassmaster ...

 

[Nodd]

...and sadly, hardly any of these beauts are available in lefty (Chowny excl.)

[Al Krow]

2 hours ago, FinnDave said:

 I used it mainly in the central (250) position where the bass sounded very Precision like. In the 50 position, it had a more acoustic sound to it, and the 500 position really growled, the guitarist I play with called it the 'monster setting', and called for it on some of the noisier songs.

 

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

My normal postion is the 250, the jump to 500 is definitely noticeable in terms of both output and growl.  I find the differences between the 50 and the 250 to be more subtle, definitely there but mostly undetectable in a full on band sound.

Oh dear! I can see that I'm becoming totally corrupted by my love of the big single Nords on my Ibby which (for me) deliver such a delicious growl - makes sense now why I'm gravitating to that sound whenever I hear it, and immediately made a bee-line for the 500 position!  

Edited May 25, 2018 by Al Krow

[FinnDave]

15 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

Oh dear! I can see that I'm becoming totally corrupted by my love of the big single Nords on my Ibby which (for me) deliver such a delicious growl - makes sense now why I'm immediately gravitating to that sound whenever I hear it, and immediately made a bee-line for the 500 position!  

I'd say that the only real reason for buying a very different bass like the Casady is to have access to some different sounds. If you are 100% happy with the sound you get from your current basses, then you need to find another excuse to add to your collection!