Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[lordradish]

No comment on shape or woods, but I find with PJ I always strongly favour one pickup or the other. MM does what I always want the even split between P and J (or two Js) to do. They are pretty different sounds though. When I first got into fretless, I was all about the J pickup because of John Munson; now I'm all about the P pickup on fretless because of Bill Lasswell. I also love the sound of a fretless Rick, but like all Ricks, they only sound good in other people's hands.

Mark Egan has the P/J setup, which does make me consider it.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

This may also be a possibility:
Warwick 6 Pro Fretless Bubinga

I had a German Thumb 5 string from ealry....hmm 2000 ishhhh
Easily one of the worst ergonomically made instruments ever.
Neck dive like Craig Luganis, wood was VERY poorly seeled with the "bees wax" Warwick uses.
The neck was very unstable with humidity and such.
It sounded good, but wasn't my kind of tone, so that's only a question a personal tastes.
It cut in a mix like a freakin frog horn though.

My 2 cents.

 

[monsterthompson]

I (finally) started exploring the presets on the OTO BIM. Man, there are some good ones in there. This pedal is deep.

 

[steubig]

I think I can make a guess as to what's in that box.....other than Pinhead and his cohorts.

yep, it’s my version of a lament box.

 

[steubig]

Mark Egan has the P/J setup, which does make me consider it.

does he still?

btw, i met egan on (i think) the first metheny group tour. we were in boston, starting our dates at a club in two nights. metheny’s band was finishing up their stint.

he had a pretty old maple-neck p that had the frets taken out and a j pickup added in the rear.

we were talking about it: “this jaco dude put it together for me.” “yeah, i know who jaco is.”

as an add-on, metheny tells us to go hear a band who was playing in the big room; the were called the dixie dregs.

they were playing before muddy waters. (and they were amazing.)

[years later i ran into andy west at a bass player live thing and i mentioned it to him. “i’m glad you said that cause i thought i just dreamed that gig.”]

 

[steubig]

Uh-oh. That 6 string fretless GAS has been nagging me a lot, lately. I spent way too much time at this page last night... luthier's only about 2 1/2 hours away. Please talk me out of it.
MG Basses
I think some of them are a bit more elaborate-looking than I may want, but I'm digging the MG Wavebird one..

Really torn about what pickup config would give me that fretless tone I'm hearing. Very Mark Egan-ish, punchy, but maximum wah. Part of me thinks some MM-style would do it, but then I also think the P/J config is very good, too. So if any of you have anything to say on that...

imo, the less glue and fewer laminates the better.

if you like the stambaugh, why not just go for one of his?

 

[RyanKinBK]

@steubig awesome story

 

[Bob_Ross]

I'm still looking for some other luthiers that could get me into the 3k range, so if anyone has any suggestions, please share.

Have you considered Tom Clement? His 6-strings start at just over $2k and by all accounts punch well above their weight class. (Admittedly I've never played one myself, but I've never encountered an owner who didn't absolutely rave about theirs. I spoke briefly to Tom about a project that I eventually abandoned and he was super-nice & helpful.)

 

[emjazz]

Uh-oh. That 6 string fretless GAS has been nagging me a lot, lately. I spent way too much time at this page last night... luthier's only about 2 1/2 hours away. Please talk me out of it.
MG Basses
I think some of them are a bit more elaborate-looking than I may want, but I'm digging the MG Wavebird one..

Really torn about what pickup config would give me that fretless tone I'm hearing. Very Mark Egan-ish, punchy, but maximum wah. Part of me thinks some MM-style would do it, but then I also think the P/J config is very good, too. So if any of you have anything to say on that...

MG is out of NH. He works at a music shop right where I used to play regularly at an old theater. I've played a few of his basses. To me they are close to being wonderful, but are heavy, and the B strings aren't up to par. Just my opinion. So close, though.

Stambaugh? Chris' work has gotten so good. Right up there.

Martin Keith is who I would suggest. I love his work. Wish I could afford more from him!

 

[jbybj]

Have you considered Tom Clement? His 6-strings start at just over $2k and by all accounts punch well above their weight class. (Admittedly I've never played one myself, but I've never encountered an owner who didn't absolutely rave about theirs. I spoke briefly to Tom about a project that I eventually abandoned and he was super-nice & helpful.)

Mr Clement has built two basses for me, 4 and 5 string, with Hipshot headless, Ergo body styles. Great guy, great process, awesome basses. The 5 string with Nordstrand Fat Stacks is mighty pungent. The four string with an EMG Musicman, is all snooty and hifi. Super comfortable to play.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Mr Clement has built two basses for me, 4 and 5 string, with Hipshot headless, Ergo body styles. Great guy, great process, awesome basses. The 5 string with Nordstrand Fat Stacks is mighty pungent. The four string with an EMG Musicman, is all snooty and hifi. Super comfortable to play.

you know the drill, no pics , no bass.

 

[dukeorock]

The earlier conversations about granular sent me down a rabbit hole today. Did some pseudo granular stuff on the Octatrack. The intro and outro of this tune below is just a drum loop sampled into Octatrack. Made super short loops and used an LFO to modulate start times. Also used the Octatracks Comb Filter and two LFOs to modulate pitch and feedback. not a great tune, but may be cool to chop up and use sections at a later time

 

[Spectrum]

The earlier conversations about granular sent me down a rabbit hole today. Did some pseudo granular stuff on the Octatrack. The intro and outro of this tune below is just a drum loop sampled into Octatrack. Made super short loops and used an LFO to modulate start times. Also used the Octatracks Comb Filter and two LFOs to modulate pitch and feedback. not a great tune, but may be cool to chop up and use sections at a later time

Very cool, I was caught off guard by the beat and groove after all the amorphous noise stuff around here lately. Reminds me a bit of the stuff they used to play on MTV's Liquid Television back in the 90s late at night.

 

[jbybj]

you know the drill, no pics , no bass.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

View attachment 4446136 View attachment 4446137

Damn, those are dope.
What's that old headstock G&L with flats?!??!

 

[jbybj]

Damn, those are dope.
What's that old headstock G&L with flats?!??!

Sorry, it’s a long answer.
10 years ago or so, when I was binging on gear, I scored a used ASAT, and became enamored with MFD pups. I suffered the whacky ergonomics of that bass for years, it taught me the meaning of neck dive. But I loved the tone and the thin neck.
Then I bought a bass on TB, a G&L parts bass, 1984 L2000 body with a 1986 SB-2 neck. I loved that bass, but it was HEAVY. What you see in that photo is my homemade poplar body with the SB-2 neck. I documented my journey here.
Making my bass lighter

and yes, my Clements are all that.

 

[lordradish]

MG is out of NH. He works at a music shop right where I used to play regularly at an old theater. I've played a few of his basses. To me they are close to being wonderful, but are heavy, and the B strings aren't up to par. Just my opinion. So close, though.

Stambaugh? Chris' work has gotten so good. Right up there.

Martin Keith is who I would suggest. I love his work. Wish I could afford more from him!

Chris made my other fretless. Love it, but I'm trying not to wait a year to get this one.
What was it about the B on the MG, specifically?

 

[lordradish]

Gon

Have you considered Tom Clement? His 6-strings start at just over $2k and by all accounts punch well above their weight class. (Admittedly I've never played one myself, but I've never encountered an owner who didn't absolutely rave about theirs. I spoke briefly to Tom about a project that I eventually abandoned and he was super-nice & helpful.)

Gonna check that out, thanks!

 

[emjazz]

Chris made my other fretless. Love it, but I'm trying not to wait a year to get this one.
What was it about the B on the MG, specifically?

Not taut, and not consistent with the other strings.

 

[JES]

Great story. Wish I had your level of wood working skill!

Sorry, it’s a long answer.
10 years ago or so, when I was binging on gear, I scored a used ASAT, and became enamored with MFD pups. I suffered the whacky ergonomics of that bass for years, it taught me the meaning of neck dive. But I loved the tone and the thin neck.
Then I bought a bass on TB, a G&L parts bass, 1984 L2000 body with a 1986 SB-2 neck. I loved that bass, but it was HEAVY. What you see in that photo is my homemade poplar body with the SB-2 neck. I documented my journey here.
Making my bass lighter

and yes, my Clements are all that.