Recent content by fishdreams

As someone who has done all kinds of work on my own basses and guitars, nutwork is something I leave to a high-level instrument builder (not just 'guitar tech'). It costs a bit more, but for me the rewards it has brought in turning decent enough basses and guitars into much better playing and...

Do it! While learning by hanging on by your fingernails is deeply uncomfortable, it is the fastest way by far to get better - as I found out when i moved to NYC and joined a scene way above my paygrade. Call the band members individually, and ask them for a few one-one-one sessions to play...

With you 100% on the setup part - it is more crucial on fretless than fretted, because 1) the height of the strings to the fretboard dertermines where we are supposed to put our fingers on a fretless fingerboard, and at a minimum that needs to be consistent string to string and more importantly...

One of the best shows ive ever seen in my life was the Bootsy Collins band, with Bootsy on bass guitar handling the (often heavily distorted) low mid range, and Bernie Worrell on keys handling the low end. So in your case id' look into that kind 80s George Clinton influenced acts who do this...

I had one and it sounded great, I didn't jive with the gold hardware but all in all a great looking and sounding P-bass. The heavier maple of the body definitely contributed, to me. Strong fundamental and punch in the tone, evenly across all 4 strings, and absolutely different from the various...

My 2 fretless Martin Keiths got something like what I think op is asking for. One has the small position inlays with dots in the ‘regular’ position, the other has dots in the ‘on the frets’ position

i had a Mike Pope Flexcore in a very nice jazz type bass. To me, had that same ‘anemic’ quality. I swapped it out with a Nordstrom’s that can be switched to passive also. A much better pre for a jazz as far as I am concerned, that works way more like an extension of a passive jazz. That said, I...

It seems you’d be better off with a passive bass. A thing about passive jazz basses in my experience: they are all over the map in terms of tone character, I’ve had them form metallic clang to low mid burp and everything in between. With that said, I found that, for lack of a better term, the...

To add: I also have a Quilter Inter-bass which has line level out , eq, and send/return. Clean, relatively speaking, Works as a very decent stand alone amp too if needed, (if the cab is big enough and high efficiency, those 45 wats get you further than you think), and pedal size and weight (not...

I use studio preamps with line level (lower level ones I got on sale or second hand) for that purpose. Still clean (which also can be different things - I negotiate between ‘jazz amp’ clean’ and ‘punchy rock clean’) with plenty of punch and power. I have a Golden Age Pre 73 jr (now on sale at...

Fond memories from back in the day of that unmissable DX7 sound. Based on your story I’d love to hear a sound clips of that Christmas service.

Mostly or exclusively bridge pickup, close to bridge and heavy touch. Roll off highs and/or turn up preamp and/or compression to taste. But in my experience this is mostly down to heavy touch for the kind of natural compression that squeezes off highs and lows, and accentuates low mids. And yes...

I’ve played in a few parade shows over the years. The key part is: it is not about you and your band. you are there to create a positive atmosphere, not to give a show to attentive listeners. The vibe of what you do As a group is way more important, and will have wonderful impact, than hearing...

If this is genuinely a great bass, and uniquely/irreplaceably so for the model, as stated by OP, I wouldn't touch it (and I am saying that as someone who plays mainly fretless and who has ruined some really good basses with in retrospect not necessary upgrades) Not only will you mess with a...

When i listen to the instagram guy playing Bach arrangements, I'm hearing a reverb/delay that cuts out quite quickly, which enables him to lose nothing in the note clarity and attack. (that bass has also a gorgeous almost full-acoustic tone on its own, which helps too). Personally i do not...