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The "Bass" thread....


Murph

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I played a lot of bass in my younger bar gigging days. I got a job with one of the top "local" Country front men in Mesa/Apache Jct., Az. when I was actually too young to drink and be in a bar legally.

 

It was a 3 night a week gig for $25.00 a night and free beer.

 

I didn't own a bass when I got the gig and was borrowing a junker and playing through a Peavey 2;12 (vertical) cab with a Peavey "Standard" head, but it was 120 watts(I think) SS, and had a pretty good clean channel and worked fine with a line out. When the owner of the junker needed his bass I had to go rush and buy a short scale Fender bass at a pawn shop. Music Master maybe?

 

I worked at a body shop during the day and our painter was a "Motorama" winning painter and refinished it in a Candy translucent blue that faded from no base, to a silver base, to a black base. It was pretty awesome for a $140.00 cheap pawn shop bass. I don't have a picture and don't know where it ended up.

 

I now own a 2000 Mexican Jazz I bought new and gigged pretty heavily with the DOUBLE AUGHT trio/re-union we did for a few years without Levi. I really enjoy playing bass and that Power trio was a helluva lot of fun. I have a MONSTER 1000 watt Carvin Redline 4;10/horn rig that I simply can't let go. Carvin makes some really nice bass and P.A. gear, and the Carvin AG100D acoustic amp also has a channel voiced for bass and it is incredible for 100 watts.

 

Anyhoo, I know Sal plays a little bass on some of his multi-tracked stuff and just wondered what kind of gear you guys use for your bass stuff.

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The P-bass copy and the fretless are now nothing more than a vestige of my solid body electric days. Now, the bass I bring is the Kala all-mahogany U-bass. It’s diminutive, acoustic-looking appearance, and dark stained finish doesn’t raise too many eyebrows with the acoustic people. The portability of it and a small Line6 75W amp are unmatched for a bass rig. The strings made of a material similar to o-rings, yielding a thump that gives a reasonable approximation of an upright.

 

Magnus ripping a big little bass break at t = 1:42

 

 

 

Do you have any bass in your solar pond?

 

Are they electric?

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I started out in the mid-1960s as a bass player in a streamlined Chuck Berry-esque blues rock band when I lost a flip of the coin (we had three guitar players, a drummer and a singer). I ran down to Manny's on 48th St. in NYC and bought a used Hagstrom I bass for something like $35. I plugged into a borrowed Ampeg Portaflex. About a year later I was back on guitar when one guy left and we snagged a really good bass player. Kinda wish though I had kept up with it. Interestingly, my daughter has told me she wants a bass so maybe I can live vicariously through her.

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Bass, , , tho I sometimes fiddle with roles, the actual job is almost always left to my bass-player.

He has around 50 high-end basses and is now dazed inside a Sadowsky-craze. Every time I call him out, he brings a new.

Apart from that, , , is it your ensemble we see above, Burst.

^Very snappy quartet, must say. .

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I tried to like the Kala Uke bass... but I couldn't mesh with it. It felt like a toy, and the rubber strings needed constant tuning.

Still use a Far East PBass copy by Squire... works pretty dang well, but it's heavy.

I wonder if anyone here has tried one of those Taylor mini basses that came out last year?

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I don't take them out, I record them.

 

2008 American Precision, Blizzard Pearl, I put a white pearl pickguard and straplocks on it:

Precision2.jpg

 

2005 American Jazz, Transparent Sunset Orange, I put a white pearl pickguard and straplocks on it. Best put together, best sounding, best playing Fender in my life, and that is an awful lot of guitars. Took them 6 months to make if for me, worth every second of the wait:

Jazz1.jpg

 

rct

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just got a squire jaguar bass as a birthday present, really nice instrument for the price.

 

http://www.thomann.de/de/fender_sq_jaguar_special_ss_bk.htm?sid=9746b4bf5b91f8f495fbcf64bf719a1d

 

I played some bass in one of my bands some 20 years ago, when the bass player left the band. I hated it back than. Lately I'm beginning to understand the instrument as not just another guitar,if that makes sense. the short scale helps to enjoy this particular instrument.

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I tried to like the Kala Uke bass... but I couldn't mesh with it. It felt like a toy, and the rubber strings needed constant tuning.

Still use a Far East PBass copy by Squire... works pretty dang well, but it's heavy.

I wonder if anyone here has tried one of those Taylor mini basses that came out last year?

 

Some good points about the Kala U Bass, Sal. The little bass broke some new ground when it came out, and the decision on it's string material has it’s trade-offs. . . if only Strings v. 2 had a metal core (or something). . . Although closely approximating an upright bass sound in a size that can fit on the seat next to you, it’s more of a jam instrument. Yes, it does look toy-like, but that’s part of it’s appeal; a toy until people see and hear it in action- they get a kick out of the little conversation starter. I’ve been toying with the idea of putting a wireless unit in it, and sneaking a little battery powered amp into a backpack for some festival hijinks.

 

fU25Hut.jpg

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I have a Squier Vintage Modified Jazz. SO MUCH bass for the money, and all the bass i'll ever need. It's all over my new record that drops next month. Records beautifully through a good valve pre and plays like butter with flats on it.

 

Bass was my first job as a working musician, 20yrs ago now. Still love it and play a lot, although I was a guitarist before and after.

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By the way, ever tried the violin Höfner bass. An ultra light cigar-box, but hyper fun to play. And in the right context it just sounds brilliant.

Happy 75 James

 

I had the Epi copy of the violin bass for quite a while when I was first gigging with bands as a bottom end merchant...20yrs ago now! Great and very light little thing as you say, no sustain to speak of but a woody and thunky melodic tone that really pleased my ears and fingers. Eventually the band I was with moved into more rocky territory so I traded it for a modified Precision which was much better suited.

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1497909982[/url]' post='1863119']

 

Some good points about the Kala U Bass, Sal. The little bass broke some new ground when it came out, and the decision on it's string material has it’s trade-offs. . . if only Strings v. 2 had a metal core (or something). . . Although closely approximating an upright bass sound in a size that can fit on the seat next to you, it’s more of a jam instrument. Yes, it does look toy-like, but that’s part of it’s appeal; a toy until people see and hear it in action- they get a kick out of the little conversation starter. I’ve been toying with the idea of putting a wireless unit in it, and sneaking a little battery powered amp into a backpack for some festival hijinks.

 

fU25Hut.jpg

Pleased for you 62. The sound is fine, but I felt too much friction with my fingers.

That and then there's the fact that I also felt like a guy with a Harley t shirt riding a moped...

 

 

 

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I had a Fender Jazz. It was a beautiful sounding and playing instrument. It more than filled all my needs, though I always considered a Jazz, a fretless Precision, and a Rickenbacker to be the perfect arsenal. To the best of my knowledge, back then all Fenders were AmericanFenders.

 

Rct, nice looking basses!

 

chasAK

 

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