I remember a short interview with Jimmy with him stating that he had done some metal sessions with big amps and the such and the the bass sounded like a twinkie. This was his response for recording direct as opposed to amp and direct. This was close to twenty years ago that I read this so please forgive me if anything is wrong.  
Lots and lots of beer in between now and then.  
Get down!

Your memory is working fine Adam.  That rock production house where I worked for a minute had me bring my rig one day.  At the time that was bass in stereo - neck pu through a pair of 15 cabs and bridge pu through a pair of 12 cabs.  They took DIs, close miked the cabinets, added room mics, far away shotgun mics, something like 10 channels of bass all together.  That can work pretty great on drums but when you're playing pitches (especially low, slow waveforms) you run into some funny cancellation and phase issues.  It seemed like every time they un-muted another channel more fundamental went away.  Thus the twinkie tone.  Oh well.
 
Jimmy J

Ah, so that's what you must do to get that twinkie tone.
Thank you for confirming my clouded memeory.  
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaw!!!

In response to Mike (pace)'s note of 1st July...
 
Just arrived in my mailbox..
 
Dear Allan holdsworth fans,  
 
We are happy to announce the USA East Coast/Midwest tour of the USA in sept/oct 2010. allan will be performing in Annapolis, various cities in ny, piermont, Norfolk, boston, Northampton, Cleveland, Detroit, Dayton, and Chicago. Hope to see you all there! Featured musicians include chad wackerman on drums and Ernest tibbs on bass. For all cities, venues, and dates please go to therealallanholdsworth.com and click on ?live?.
 
 
So no Jimmy for you American Holdsworth fans. In a way that's a shame as Allan's uk Glasgow gig with Jimmy and Gary was brilliant but, having seen him with Chad and Ernest the year before, you'll not be disappointed. Still a great band.
 
Graeme

Graeme,
 
Thanks for that, sorry I forgot to keep you posted.  As I've said before, it's always a good idea to go hear Allan if he comes to your area - very unusual music played by a one-off musician with a great band.  Support this unique music if you are able.
 
I will also sadly miss Allan's Oct-Nov EU tour but I believe Sk?li Sverrisson and Chad will be the team so that will be a treat as well.  (I'd like to hear that!)
 
Meanwhile, Gary Husband, Chad, and (eventually) Allan all have new recording projects in the works so there is more cool music coming!
 
Cheers,
Jimmy J

Jimmy,
 
My favorite bass is a fretless and I wonder if you still play yours very much anymore? If so, what sort of material do you like to use it for?
 
Doc

Hey Doc,
 
Yes, my fretless still gets good use.  It's the other bass I bring to sessions and if the decision is mine it usually ends up on a track or two.  Most often ballads or tunes with long sustained notes that can benefit from a little vibrato...
 
Jimmy J

Hi Jimmy,
 
Hope all is well, and that you have lots of nice projects going on. Really looking forward to Gary Husband's new album. I was just listening to Chad Wackerman's Waltzing on Jupiter, on the Forty Reasons album. Great stuff!!
 
I've heard that you'll not be joining Allan at De Boerderij, Zoetermeer in November. Is that correct?? I was really looking forward to seeing you there...  
 
Best,
Duncan

Hey Duncan,
 
Thanks for the kind words.  Chad's Forty Reasons was a nice project which turned out pretty cool.  I'm glad you like it.
 
Yes, sorry to miss Zoetermeer this time.  I think either Ernest Tibbs or Sk?li Sverrisson will be there so the bass parts will be well covered!  I hope you can go and enjoy that unique music.
 
Seeya somewhere,
Jimmy J

Thanks Jimmy.
 
When Allan comes to De Boerderij, I always clear my calendar for that evening. So yes, I will surely be there. That particular week is pretty music filled, as I'll also be going to Level 42 and Lee Ritenour (at De Boerderij) :-)
 
Probably mentioned before, but I was wondering what kind of bass strings you use. I've tried numerous brands over the years and keep coming back to Rotosound Swing Bass strings. Do you have a preferred brand/type?  
 
Cheers,
Duncan

Duncan,
 
That will be a nice week at De Boerderij!  
 
I've been playing ghs boomers on the fretted basses for about a century - .045, .065, .085, .105, .130.  I change them frequently because I like the sound of new strings.  On the other hand, the fretless has an old set of SuperWound (by RotoSound) which I hope will never break...  If the Swing Bass sets are working for you then stick with 'em!
 
Jimmy J

Yeah, I remember those SuperWounds! Piano string design by James How, UK. Back when I was a kid I visited the factory of How Industries. Made quite an impression. I used those SuperWounds on my basses until they got discontinued.  
 
Although the Rotosounds sound great, they loose their brightness and growl rather quickly. Also, the sets vary in quality so you might wind up with a duff string. And the Rotosounds are way too hard on the frets to my liking. So, my search for the perfect string hasn't ended. I might check how those Boomers sound and feel on my Series bass.

There are guys here on the forum who know a lot more about currently available strings.  Check some other threads for that.  Boomers are nickel over steel so a bit less bright sounding (??) and maybe the frets chew them before they chew the frets...  Consistency has been good for me.  And I think ghs progressives are their version of a SuperWound almost bare-core piano style.  Those might be cool too.
 
Good luck with your search.
 
Jimmy J

[moderator's note]
 
I've started a new thread under Alembic Basses and Guitars ? Alembics and strings, where I've relocated a series of postings that evolved into a separate discussion.
 
(Message edited by adriaan on October 15, 2010)

Hey Jimmy -
Glad to find this forum, as I have been a fan since Big Notes.  A CD shop in Stamford turned me on to it and I bought every Flim CD I could find!  I worked at Krell for a time and I used a couple of Flim tunes as demos for our equipment - always made a great impression.
Just wanted to pass along heartfelt thanks! for the great music from then until now!
Doug