OLP

[tj4his]

I'm looking into buying an OLP music man bass and want to know what I'm getting for my money do you know anything about them ? Is this a good idea ?

Thanks, Tim

[Tao4Now]

Originally Posted by tj4his

I'm looking into buying an OLP music man bass and want to know what I'm getting for my money do you know anything about them ? Is this a good idea ?

Thanks, Tim

I love mine, that's for sure. I have a stock '89 Fender P/J Longhorn and my OLP still gets about half my workouts, due to its tone.

But to answer your question, we need to know what you're looking for in the OLP, and how much you expect to pay for it. Even then, only you can decide if it's a good idea or not.

[tj4his]

I have one on e-bay I'm looking at it's $121 at this time and looks in very good shape.
It looks to be a silver tone. There is a black one 5 string and it's $ 62 at this time. Do these basses have active ?

[Zombbg4]

Please read the sticky at the top that says something like "Please don't ask gear questions here". Janek is not exactly a gear freak, though if you have any questions about music, he's the man. Try posting in the "Basses" section.

[ctufankjian]

My hat's off to Janek, He's an incredible bass player, and musician. I've always been careful to adhere to his thread guidelines, or the guidelines of any TB thread really. And I completely understand the direction he's taking with this, not wanting to field equipment questions. But, I guess I'm always thrown by the idea that Janek isn't really into gear. I mean, I've seen the gear and effects that he uses...Not exactly Jazz basses and Ampegs.

[janekbass]

I think about the gear I use in a musical context as it pertains to the situation I'm getting into. Lately with my own band I'm using some effects.... but it's really nothing out of the ordinary that needs hours of programming, and my amps couldn't be any simpler. no matter what amp I'm using it's almost always flat. There are a couple of exceptions when I have to play on something that is really whack and makes no sense as a bass amp. Tonight i'm in barcelona for instance and I'm actually having to use an SWR workingmans 15..... possibly one of the most trebly amps I've ever played.... along with hartke of course..... so I do actually roll almost all of the top end off the amp and it's still not enough....

Other than that my amps always stay flat. The TC electronic gear is incredibly in that regard in that it's a true representation of my sound. I have my RH450 on the road with me right now, but the club is so small it just didn't matter that there were some cable incompatibilities and it didn't work out for using it tonight..... but in general I'll be using it every night with TC or any other cabs that are available.

this might be one of the only times I've written about gear in this forum and I'm pretty bored by it already. In my opinion you need only one thing - your own sound. And this sound, in it's raw format, is not generated by any piece of gear on the market, it's created with your fingers and with your soul. There are pieces of equipment that amplify that sound, but that should really be their only role.

The pedals I'm experimenting with give me an opportunity to add colour to my music and change the bass into a synth roll for certain styles.

My main issue with writing about gear is that most people are gear first, music second. What does it matter what bass or amp you play? I would sound just the same using a fender bass and an ampeg if I wanted. forget about the musicman, the fodera, the GK, the Eden.... all of that stuff is totally secondary and is not going to make you a better musician, composer or educator. Equipment may help fine tune your music at some point, but I think the roots of your music should be organic and human rather than manufactured and synthetic.

Easy,

Janek

[ctufankjian]

Originally Posted by janekbass

I think about the gear I use in a musical context as it pertains to the situation I'm getting into. Lately with my own band I'm using some effects.... but it's really nothing out of the ordinary that needs hours of programming, and my amps couldn't be any simpler. no matter what amp I'm using it's almost always flat. There are a couple of exceptions when I have to play on something that is really whack and makes no sense as a bass amp. Tonight i'm in barcelona for instance and I'm actually having to use an SWR workingmans 15..... possibly one of the most trebly amps I've ever played.... along with hartke of course..... so I do actually roll almost all of the top end off the amp and it's still not enough....

Other than that my amps always stay flat. The TC electronic gear is incredibly in that regard in that it's a true representation of my sound. I have my RH450 on the road with me right now, but the club is so small it just didn't matter that there were some cable incompatibilities and it didn't work out for using it tonight..... but in general I'll be using it every night with TC or any other cabs that are available.

this might be one of the only times I've written about gear in this forum and I'm pretty bored by it already. In my opinion you need only one thing - your own sound. And this sound, in it's raw format, is not generated by any piece of gear on the market, it's created with your fingers and with your soul. There are pieces of equipment that amplify that sound, but that should really be their only role.

The pedals I'm experimenting with give me an opportunity to add colour to my music and change the bass into a synth roll for certain styles.

My main issue with writing about gear is that most people are gear first, music second. What does it matter what bass or amp you play? I would sound just the same using a fender bass and an ampeg if I wanted. forget about the musicman, the fodera, the GK, the Eden.... all of that stuff is totally secondary and is not going to make you a better musician, composer or educator. Equipment may help fine tune your music at some point, but I think the roots of your music should be organic and human rather than manufactured and synthetic.

Easy,

Janek

I completely agree with what your saying, and agree with the idea that it's incredibly common for the gear emphasis to exceed the musical aspects of the craft especially around these forums (Not denying that I'm more than guilty of this. I am So guilty of this!). IMO it's a tremendous issue, and in a lot of ways can hold us back and preoccupy. This partucular "ask" thread, for example is one of the primary resourses I'll use (Along with more than a few others) to seek pure information about transcribing, soloing, and general theory that is otherwise unobstructed by the gear side. There's a wealth of knowledge in here, and I'm glad it's one of the forums that supresses the materialistic aspect, and capitalizes on the real issues that matter, the issues that you actually have to work on and understand to resolve. I was just remarking on the observation that (IMHO) your playing and endorsing some pretty top shelf stuff, and undoubtedly that is going to turn some gear heads.

By the way, after listening to your podcast (completely) I now REALLY have different outlook on deconstructing stuff like Pat Metheny, and Michael Brecker. Two completely different soloists who have done really amazing things for the musical community.

[tj4his]

Sorry bout that did'nt know that there was a place to ask about equipment.