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80s Bass guitars

#41
Engle said:
[QUOTE="
John Taylor - Duran Duran - Aria SB with two pickups (the single pickup SB is, for all intents and purposes, a P-bass)
l
Click to expand...
^I disagree.
I have an Aria ProII SB600 - 1 pickup passive. It's not very much like a P-bass other than being a 34 inch scale single PU bass. (3 piece non tapered set neck, angled peghead, heavy brass bridge, tight string spacing) It can do the John Taylor thing.[/QUOTE]

I see your clarification and raise you some pedantry.

Yes, JT used a couple of Arias, the SB-700 and SB-1000 (both single pickup models) being the most famous. So if you want his sound, that's the way to go.

However, the SB-600 really does have a P-style pickup! Check this out, courtesy of magnetic film.
SB600 magentic1.jpg
 
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#42
HMZ said:
I was thinking Kubicki Factor. What a cool bass! I have seen a few here for sale. They are not cheap for sure but very 80s. I can’t remember, do they use standard strings or are they like the Steinberger double ball end strings?
Click to expand...

Standard. Some folks say you need a long scale set but it's BS. I go back and forth between DR Pure Blues and Ernie ball regular and super slinkys depending on the tunings I'm using.
 
#45
Engle said:
I see your clarification and raise you some pedantry.

Yes, JT used a couple of Arias, the SB-700 and SB-1000 (both single pickup models) being the most famous. So if you want his sound, that's the way to go.

However, the SB-600 really does have a P-style pickup! Check this out, courtesy of magnetic film.
Click to expand...

Please read the rest of my post to clarify the two-pickup recommendation (Rays excluded) :) ... the recommendation is to cover the wide swath of 80s pop (including the use of "faux fretless"), not just to cover JT
 
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#47
Probably all already covered, but in descending order:

Steinberger
Aria Pro II
BC Rich Warlock
Charvel
Jackson
Yamaha BB
Peavey Foundation or Dyna bass

That's the cheap working musician list, not including Status, Fodera, Alembic, Tobias, Pedulla, or etc.

I think Fenders were not very cool during the 80s. G&L and Music Man, maybe...
 
#51
ModuMan said:
^I disagree.
I have an Aria ProII SB600 - 1 pickup passive. It's not very much like a P-bass other than being a 34 inch scale single PU bass. (3 piece non tapered set neck, angled peghead, heavy brass bridge, tight string spacing) It can do the John Taylor thing.
Click to expand...


Charles Ottavio/Animotion....uses single Pickup Arias similar to the one in the vid....sounds like a P to me (fast forward to 1:18)




For comparison...heres a real P

 
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#56
It may sound old-school but... When I was in a top-40 new wave dance music band in the early 80's, I switched between my 1980 Ric 4003 and my early 70's P-Bass. I mostly used the Ric, but would switch to the Precision when playing Police, Pretenders and Joe Jackson. Still have the Mapleglo Ric. Alas, the Sunburst Precision with the rosewood fretboard, Badass II bridge, brass nut, tort pickguard and lovely Jazz neck was stolen and I'm still (obviously) grieving. When I was shopping at the time, I was tempted to buy a Kramer with the aluminum neck.
 
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