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Whousedtoplay said:

Let's say, two bass players - a remarkable bass player and a mediocre one - are playing the same bass-line and using the same setup/bass guitar.
What separates the remarkable bass player from the mediocre one?
As Tupac said, it's those "relatively small differences"/gaps that takes years /or never to close.
Next, there is a big difference between the CREATOR of that bass-line and "imitators" who play that bass-line.
It's possible to play the bass part from the song, but can you tell me why/how Barry "Sonjohn" Johnson came up with those unusual bass fills?

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^This. It's one thing to imitate a line (and even then, a player won't automatically be able to get the feel of the groove) and it's another thing to be able to originate such a line.

There are those who listen to a minimalist arrangement by James Brown and assume it's easy to play. Perhaps it is on its surface, but how well can you groove it? Now that's a whole 'nother thang entirely!

dmk said:

I've had two American Vintage II Jazz Basses. One of the them measured .787 at the first fret, and the other measured .817. The Fender Service Diagram says they're shooting for .790.

If you're looking for a Lake Placid Blue Jazz, there's a '64 AV at Killer Vintage guitars.
2013 Fender AV '64 Jazz Bass | killervintagestlouis

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+1 the 64 AVRI. I like the new avri's, but I like the old ones way better. Call up Killer Vintage, I know the guys there and they will absolutely cut you a deal. They offered me 1900 flat once on that bass.

PBandJazzBass said:

They sounded really good and I stuck with them for well over a year but recently switched to La Bella 760’s for more thump.

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Nice. The la bellas are great too. More old school than I prefer but absolutely great strings. Super smooth on the fingers.

I dunno. I already deleted the project.
But there are two points I'd hope you take away from this inquiry:

1. Getting a tone in this style isn't that hard. Play it all on one string, and attack the string kind of poorly. If you play it too well, it doesn't quite do the thing. And add a chorus pedal if you like that sound.
2. Copying other players' tones exactly is never a path to a satisfying musical experience. At worst, you're frustrated because you can't play exactly like them, and at best, you nail the part/sound and people just label you a copycat. Rather, try to capture the spirit of the part with the tools you have, and in doing so, you'll create something which is uniquely yours.

IDONTPLAY said:

Maybe when I bring it back to the owner, I'll include a fire extinguisher.

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When the PSU capacitors died in my Trace Elliot 1215 SMX I had to persuade my wife not to use the fire extinguisher. I knew it was just a spectacular amount of stinky smoke and there was no sign of heat or flames. I'd seen what the inside of an ECG recorder looked like after a panicking nurse filled it with extinguishant when it was only a tantalum capacitor expiring.

pepito666 said:

The components quality is good, but I think it's difficult to resell a bass like this (not a Fender)

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Got a comment on this old thread, yes on no resale value. That’s true with some of the Indonesian basses. Sterling, LTD, & others. Good basses but you almost have to give them away. Better to just keep them to play at open mics or leave out for practice

cjac9 said:

Yep, they just sound right. I have no idea what’s going on to make me connect with them. Is there a baked in EQ curve or something?

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Seriously you should check out a Quilter V803! Great Ampegish tone + more! And great price!!

Wez Yo Bice said:

I have to apologize for being overly cryptic. Assumptions aside, that's me/my YT content. I play in a few 'old guy bands.' Also weekly jams. Everyone wants to hear a fiddle.(good or bad) Honestly, I didn't even remember making Slide Slide Step Step. Thanks so much for digging deep!
Bassist? Admired bassist: That would be Barry Bales, for one. There are one or two unsung local heros here. One often would step up behind a jam and watch everyone jump when he comes in with the doghouse. Thanks again, Wez

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Ah! Shows what I know. I'm a little embarrassed -- I thought you were posting to take a shot at somebody else (and tried to turn it in a positive direction), but you were presenting your own work self-effacingly.

Barry Bales -- didn't know him by name -- had to look him up, but I've heard his work (with Allison Krause and others).

Here's a fun one with him:

The Country's Family Reunion Bluegrass Band plays "Big Country"
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I'm heading to a jam, myself, in a bit -- have fun and keep playing!

You can try looking at musescore.com, they have some files free of charge and if the song is completely transcribed, you can essentially download a made-to-order sheet with components you pick.

grubdumpling said:

The only thing I can add that is not obvious is that with the cabsim turned off the peamp by itself is freaking lovely. I use the full Bassrig15 sound mostly with a Pbass for the set and forget rock/whatever tone, but My Spector (bass+treble flat) with bright rounds without the cabsim and the gain up around 11 o'clock gets really chimey. Just beautiful. If I were after a more aggressive but still modern tone I'd experiment with higher gain but use the amp out 1/4" jack and just dial in a bit of low pass to tame the fizz. I could imagine that goosing different frequencies on the EQ of an active bass or EQ pedal would also get you some variety to the grind, but take it all very far from where the manufacturer intended.

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The B15 (and pretty much all the early Ampeg bass stuff) was originally intended for amplified upright bass sounds, so its fair to say that most of what we know the B15 for is pretty far from what the B15 was intended for! That's what makes the Origin Fifteen so cool- you can get the whole range of B15 tones but at reasonable gig volumes (something the original amps couldn't really do for most modern gigs).

Kramers are by and large great on several levels. I had 3, but not a Duke. The Duke was a Steinberger competitor; I don't know if they are as neck heavy as the regular basses; one thing to check. Also know that the frets, while they were long lived on mine (no issues), the fretboard is ebonite (the stuff bowling balls are made out of. Tough stuff, but if the frets are worn down, a re-fret may not really be possible, without replacing the fretboard with ebony or something.

A buddy and I played Gauntlet (the arcade game) for about three hours on Sunday, but didn't beat it. I don't even know if you can technically beat it, but oh my it is quite fun to play regardless.

-Mike

+1 on the nut files. When i set up my cheap SX PJ i kept filing the nut down WAY past where i thought i would (i was using bone instead of the plastic it came with) and when i was done the strings were almost touching the bevel behind the nut. Needn't have worried, plays way better now.

Indeed correct Turnaround, I mistyped, I use crowing files for crowning.
And several small flat and triangular files for fret ends.
Micro mesh for polishing.

It just requires a little time and practice to get great results.

Preorder starts tomorrow (6/26)

iiipopes said:

Yes, you do. You need to contact Dr. Kemp and his research specifically on bass guitar strings. But if you are going to deny the benefit of his contemporary research, as a tenured professor at St. Andrew's University, Scotland, that's your deal, not mine.

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Dr Kemp and I both agree on what inharmonicity is, and I have no problems with his paper or his strings - never did. I am not disagreeing with his work, never was. I understand what he's talking about and how his strings address inharmonicity. I'm also sure that Dr Kemp understands intonation (not what his strings were designed to deal with, but a related topic) His paper is very clear about what the issue he's dealng with is....maybe you have to be a bit educated on the topic to see the difference.

You're still confusing inharmonicity (what Dr Kemp talks about) with intonation (what the OP of this thread asked about). They are two different things - not easy to understand perhaps, but not understanding that difference is the thing that has your brain locked up. I've done my best to clear that up (post #8 has a simple explanation), but obviously I'm not getting through. Maybe Dr. Kemp could explain it to you.

Onomatopoetikon said:

Well, I have a DB410 and DB810, and will of course start there and try that at rehearsals, but was curious what others experiences was concerning the 112 … as it’s much easier to bring along.

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Oh. In that case it's down to how much gear you want to wrangle. DB112 is half the weight of DB410, and it will certainly work, but the footprint is bigger than a bop-sized bass drum... There are definitely more convenient solutions out there.

If you're not worried about stage space, the SL410 is about the same weight as the DB112, but actually easier to carry. The archaic strap handle on the db112 was a truly asinine design choice (IMFO/YMMV).

BassBeginer64 said:

I got a hold of him, he is way backed up and really cant commit to any new projects for awhile, went another route, working with Ashen Amps for a custom tolexed 212 cab

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Don is amazing and worth the wait if you need something. Thanks for letting us all know.

Need to give a call and say hi. Miss those talks.

"

daveAspec said:

I’ve never understood the color and aesthetic choices for Ibanez basses.
4-strings are done one way, 5-strings another, and 6-strings differently still.
Aesthetically, I think the headstock should have had a top veneer matching the body. That said, I can't wait to try the 6-string version, and then I'll decide.

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A matching headstock veneer would have been great.

GGWAW said:

Univox could be your missing instrument

With a generous definition of brand, U-Bass could qualify as well ;-)

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and I *do* have a U-Bass lol!!

Power amp’s 10k input impedance is plenty fine with a preamp’s 1k output impedance. No problem there.

superheavyfunk said:

Just a friendly reminder to everyone: There is a trimpot on the preamp. This controls the overall gain.

IME, basically all of the preamp noise can be dialed out simply by lowering the gain on this so that the level of the pickups when passive is the same as the level when the preamp is active.

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Bumping an old post. Thanks for this info looking at a 1st version at a good price.

Arguz said:

I own a stagg since 2 years ago and mostly played with bow, I use d'addario helicore strings and so far I had no volume issues, although as you mention pizz is far more appropriate for this instrument.

For Arco I crank the second knob in the stagg almost at maximum, I use a Fender rumble 50 and play with the effects it has for a better sound, but just to get a better tone, not volume.

One issue I did find is that strings tend to have a lot of resonance so I put some micro fiber below the strings to damp the sound in the upper side and some sponge below the bridge, I know it sound strange but it has given me fairly good results.
Still strings seem to be not as responsive as if it were an acoustic, it require a little more effort from the bow, not so much as pressure but more "pulling" if you know what I mean.

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HI Arguz, I know this is a very old thread, but I’m hoping you’re still active. I have a Stagg EUB and has all the same problems everyone is talking about. But one part of your posting is especially interesting to me….the settings on you Rumble 50. I have a rumble 100 and have been wondering what settings others used when trying to Arco. Can you Tell me how you set yours? By the way… try putting one of those small, thin, felt sticky pads under the D string on top of the bridge. I have two of them and it raises the string just enough to approximate an acoustic bridge. Much easier to bow.
Boy I hope you are still active.
salty Dog

Arguz said:

I own a stagg since 2 years ago and mostly played with bow, I use d'addario helicore strings and so far I had no volume issues, although as you mention pizz is far more appropriate for this instrument.

For Arco I crank the second knob in the stagg almost at maximum, I use a Fender rumble 50 and play with the effects it has for a better sound, but just to get a better tone, not volume.

One issue I did find is that strings tend to have a lot of resonance so I put some micro fiber below the strings to damp the sound in the upper side and some sponge below the bridge, I know it sound strange but it has given me fairly good results.
Still strings seem to be not as responsive as if it were an acoustic, it require a little more effort from the bow, not so much as pressure but more "pulling" if you know what I mean.

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This thread already exists: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/i-neeeddddd-this-bass-tone-someone-help-please.1686692/