Auditions

sabbath_of_bass · Post by **sabbath_of_bass** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 10:01 am

Everything on my dean is pretty much about in the middle. I love that bass tho. Hopefully Ill start gigging and geting some money and can buy a new active tho. After this ric.

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:36 am

Congrats man!
After getting that Rick in the mix you may not want an active bass, though. Time will tell.

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:43 am

He's set on an active bass man.. he's tried to talk me into one before I get another Rick... lol. Forget that.. I'm a Rickenbacker player. Most active basses are to plain looking and sterile sounding. A Rick has the unique looks and kick *** sound. Now the only true active bass I'd use as my main would be a Wal... the sound on those thing are amazing. That bass would make my Rick a backup. But Wal's are $3500... a new Rick is only $1000.. I'm getting another Rick. I might get one after that just to have Mr. Rath 4 2 5 it.

Now if I can get a cheaper active bass with the Wal sound.. then I'll take it.. lol.

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:09 pm

I totally agree with your aesthetic point, but I just can't get into a Wal. Don't like Warwicks either,& always thought Alembics were ugly. Just my opinion.
Jeff's got a FG 4-2-5 for sale right now unless it's been sold. That's gonna be my next buy. A new 4003 to turn into a 5 banger, then a 360/12 hopefully (probably WAY in the future).
Actives never did anything for me, but I've only heard cheapies in person. Warwicks & Wals do sound great, but I have to love the look of it as well.
Actually, I know a guy with a F****r 5 string for sale here in my town for $1200 CDN. It's almost new.

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:27 pm

If I were to get a J bass I'd get a USA one off Ebay (I want a maple fretboard and the MIM ones don't offer that) or make out outta allparts and warmoth parts.. Do the allparts bass necks have the Fender logo on them? I'm picky about that.

I've read that Warwicks have a big bassy sound.. I like my Rick sound. I prefer the look of the 21 fret Wal basses.. they're more compact.

No any bass I'd get from Mr. Rath would have to be a Jetglo one. I really like black. Sure, it's just black, but if some people can have a collection that's all Fireglo, why can't I have a collection that's all black?

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:30 pm

Here's an allparts neck..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ALLPARTS-FENDER-JAZZ-BLOCK-BOUND-NECK_W0QQitemZ7366177359QQcategoryZ64400QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I wonder if they still make then with the logo on them. I want to make Geddy bass.. it'd be better than a true Geddy Bass.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:31 pm

The fireglo 4-2-5 has been on and off for sale a few times ... it is a superior player ... my problem is I am tired of fireglo ... I don't like to play bar gigs with a fireglo bass ... I prefer jetglo or mapleglo ... but for church or weddings or blues jams the fireglo fits in ... you see I played a fireglo for 33 years as my main ric and now I am into other colors ...

Wal basses look cool ... warwicks are ugly ... most alembics are weird looking ... but the exploiter is cool ... fender makes good 4 string basses and not so good 5 string basses ...

the dean 10 string is a cool bass ... but I don't like the cheap electronics and I had to level 5 of the frets and the bridge won't intonate 100% accurate ... in other words it has typical Korean made quality ... but I like the idea of a 10 string bass ... I may redo the electronics and pickups to passive ... or a 3 band active system ... the rhapsody 8 string has a 3 band preamp that sounds better than the edge hammer 10 ...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:32 pm

the allparts necks are fatter and stronger than a real fender jazz neck ...

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:39 pm

I know what you mean, Jeff... having one bass and one color for that long. I'd be sick of it too.

I'm sure you could find a replacement 10 string bridge. Hipshot maybe?

You're familiar with the allparts necks.. do they have the logo on them still? Is the name optional?

I love the look of all of Geddy's Wal basses. The man owns four. I've only seen two of them.. but I can picture what his 5 string and his other black 4 string would look like.

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:08 pm

Yeah. When I was debating what bass to buy, it was between a Ric 4003 and a Fender American Jazz-V. The B-string on that thing was horrendous, and the neck is way too wide when you get close to the body . . .

As for high-end basses . . . Wals are beautiful, and I believe it's only the electronics that are active, not the pickups, but I may be wrong. Warwicks are hideous; in my opinion it's because of the headstock, which is a disgustingly amorphous blob with really awkward-looking slanted tuners. I also dislike Warwick because their Streamer model is a blatant ripoff of the NS Spector design (which in my opinion is gorgeous), but with the nasty headstock and more bulbous body horns. And don't get me started about the Thumb bass . . .

Alembics, for the most part, are gorgeous, though I actually like the less extreme looking ones more so than the wild, triple-omega, scary-looking burled wood laminate. Spoilers, Exploiters, Essence, Elan, and so on. And of course the Stanley Clark "Brown Bass". But those are like $7999.

sabbath_of_bass · Post by **sabbath_of_bass** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:41 pm

Nate if your gonna make a Jbass. Look into graphit necks. I wanted one on a Jbass for awhile. I dont know if youd like it. ITs different. But you cant hurt the things. Would make a nice gigging bass.

Wal or the one I played is active. I doint know whats up with the pickup or just electronics. But the Wal has Volume, Panpot (spelling but i mean pickup switch), and to tone eqs. One for each pickup. And then you can lift up on the tone nobs... and it boost it. You can get some crazy sounds on those things.

I also like Musicmans Sabre and Stingray. You can get all kinds of sounds out of those too. I love the sound.. Dont like the feel of the bass as much.

Iv palyed 2 spectors. One was to die for and the other one way great. One was a prekramer tho. Like the best spector you can get. Those things are just amazing.

Iv only played one alembic... its a little weird... Only cause its a 8 string tho. So I dont know what the normal ones may feel like.

I love active basses. I like passive ones too tho. But even after I get a ric... an active well probly be my main bass. I love that ric sound to death but I dont know.

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:45 pm

I never want to try a Fender Jazz V. Floppy B string.. ewww. My E string get pretty floppy when I tune it down to D on my Rick.. I'm afraid to play something with a string like that all the time.

You may be right about the Wal. Active pickups don't have the poles showing, right?

I think warwicks are ugly too.

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:45 pm

I've disliked active pickups every time I've played a bass with them, with the notable exception of a Pedulla Rapture 5 with active Bartolini J-pickups. That one sounded great, but all the others were just so . . . identical. Active electronics don't bother me at all, especially when there's an on/off switch in case you run out of batteries. I don't know why all basses with active EQ don't have those . . . it might make me want to buy one more. But yeah, in my experience, active pickups don't sound so great, but active electronics are mostly worth it if you care that much. I don't, but I can see where others would.

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:48 pm

I know aobut the graphite necks.. But I would only need like four basses. My 4001, a Wal, a graphite J and a Geddy J. The 4001 is great, Wal's sound amazing, a graphite neck would kick *** and the Geddy would be wall art. I think the Geddy style J is the best looking J out there.

sabbath_of_bass · Post by **sabbath_of_bass** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:55 pm

I love actives. Dont see why everyone hates them. And Ill admit alot of them sound the same. But most of those are just the cheap ones.

I heard that the wal basses preamps (whatever you call it) is so great that you can just go right from the bass to the recording. No need to run thru a eq board or any of that. Which is pretty awesome. Theres nothing better then those electronics tho. They are top of the line. The Bristish are smart

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