skej21

I have the FSR MIJ Reissue Mustang bass that was released in October time. Fantastic little bass. Sonically it's very similar to my p bass but the convenience for taking it for teaching (and when I'm practicing at home and don't want to hit my headstock off my computer screen every two minutes!) it's really handy. For less than £500 new, it was a steal!

Surely if an upright bass requires a huge sound board to project and produce a good tone, then it's no wonder that the common choice of a cheap, laminate wood acoustic bass guitar with a (comparatively) tiny body/sound board is going to lack projection and a source for decent tone. I'm yet to play an acoustic bass guitar that A. sounds good unplugged, B. feels nice to play or C. didn't need amplifying to be useful.

ACG Finn SC R Type 5, Precision, Mustang or Fender Geddy Lee Jazz in to; Avalon U5 Mark Bass LMIII 2 x TKS S112 cabs

As someone who regularly deps, this all seems a bit silly to me. I regularly dep for certain bands and I get the call for two reasons; 1) I either know all the tunes already (in which case, the time period between gig and call is irrelevant, as I know what I'm playing) or 2) I don't know the tunes but they know I have the skills to busk them to a decent enough standard to help them out You get paid well for depping a number of reasons (including this) so the only real perceived issue is time. i.e. Is it a problem that they call you 4 hours before a gig or 4 weeks before a gig? Are you flexible enough to be working around this? If not and you'd prefer a more rigid, long-term diary, I'd suggest that maybe depping isn't the best playing solution for you. On the rare occasion the OP's situation has happened to me, I take what I can get. Equally, I have been offered a couple of gigs a few weeks in advance, one has been cancelled so I've booked in another gig and then they changed their minds again and came back but I was committed. I suggested a friend as an alternative dep and still played the second gig they had booked and everyone was happy and we've worked together a number of times since. It [i]should [/i]work both ways.

[quote name='SimonEdward' timestamp='1487883928' post='3243946'] If I may. A positive recommendation for Victor at Bass Gear in Twyford, not too far from me in Reading ~ Berkshire. TBH I prefer to trade on-line (strings, accessories, etc) but for one particular purchase; A small cabinet for use indoors with a class-D head, I thought I would pay a visit - a rare thing (!) A weekday afternoon and quiet. Just me, Victor and a shop full of gear. He set up about five different combinations of heads and cabs ~ nothing too much trouble and left me to my own devices... absolutely no hard sell whatsoever. After about 30 minutes or so, I'd decided on a new Phil Jones 4x5. As Bash Bashers will testify, a ton of Bass for one small cab!! A very happy experience. I don't need much these days but would go again in the future. [/quote] Vic was a great guy and hooked me up with some great gear too but you obviously haven't seen the news Simon. I'll drop you a PM.

[quote name='bazztard' timestamp='1487649827' post='3241496'] yep, great service. But I bet his price is nowhere near the best online price, just sayin, Most people would rather get a good deal than a good chat. I'm lucky in that my fave shop will usually go lower than the best Australian online price. And they give great service, sadly they are slowly dying. I've done my best to help, bought an Epi Les Paul, Fender MIA P, MarkBass amp, Hartke cab, Takamine ABG, about ten pedals, a Tascam multitrack recorder, Yamaha monitors......yeah I've tried my best hehe [/quote] Completely incorrect. Tim has always offered to match the lowest online price for me whilst offering first class service if I have asked. Although I agree with your sentiment, that by driving down the price, you eat into the VERY slim profit margin so a lot of stores are (rightly) reluctant to drop their prices as it doesn't take much to become not worth it (ie, they aren't making any money). This is why I may drive a hard bargain with stores on some items but will happily pay full whack on products I know they make a good chunk of money from (accessories and pedals etc). I used to work in Music Retail so I know how to shop and balance a bargain for me but also help support shops that offer good service too. It just so happens that I've known Tim since we were really young and he also happens to be a great guy who works in a music store and can get my gear now i can't get it through my own store lol!

Tim is a good friend of mind so I've passed this on to him :-) (he's also responsible for a fair few of my recent purchases, including the FSR MIJ Mustang bass I picked up thanks to his hard work and keeping an out for me as a favour. Top lad!)

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1487324512' post='3238904'] Your band plays Trouble With A Capital T? #deadjealous Also one of my top three or four fave Horslips tunes! You need to lobby to get The Power And The Glory added to the set too! Never had occasion to play a single Horslips tune live [/quote] Yeah! Irish function band so we get loads of Horslips and Waterboys in when we can

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1485712623' post='3226030'] I know not many of you understand ambient soundscapes so you have been warned. Probably best to go and do something else while it's on in the background, then you'll appreciate it more. This one was played on my ESP LTD B205 through the usual bunch of effects that mean it doesn't really sound like a bass. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlbRFxZ428s[/media] [/quote] Really nice mate!

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1487277223' post='3238635'] I was sorting out some MP3s for the car and so browsing through my iTunes folder. Looking at the bands I love there were a few which are well known choices... Lizzy, Rush, ELO, Incognito, James Taylor... However it struck my that a very high proportion of my fave bands are ones to which even most music fans might go, "Huh? Who?". Now it's not that my tastes are exclusively limited to the Guatemalan nose flute or something. These are all pretty much bands which have had hit UK albums and singles over the last forty years or so. OK they may be located on a more obscure corner than Kylie, Status Quo or R.E.M. But still it's a surprise so few folks seem to have heard of them. Even here, where a more discerning level of music fanhood seems to be de rigueur ive only ever seen a few mentioned in conversation once or twice. Are there bands that you've long adored that you're surprised don't have a wider appeal or recognition factor? Would be interested to know who is on your list. The ones that stood out for me were seminal Irish folk rock band, Horslips, short lived 90s jangle poppers, River City People, folk/prog virtuoso, Gordon Giltrap, Celtic-fusion band, Iona, and prog-metallers Threshold (tho Rich did give them a fantasy band shout out just now...). I'll add a video by each in the next post in case anyone's interested in checking them out. [/quote] Trouble with a capital T is my favourite song in our set. Great band and a great bass line!

[quote name='AdamWoodBass' timestamp='1485200982' post='3222070'] That's a pretty sensible idea. I don't think that what I have in my head is that "radical" in terms of spec/wood combination etc but it's a very good point on the fact that you just don't really know what it's going to be like until you get your hands on the finished bass. That's why I'm trying to get as many stories of personal experience as possible before I get into it, £3000 would leave a fairly sizeable hole in my finances and I'd be mortified if it turned out to not be a bass that I love. [/quote] I should probably add that my custom spec for my ACG was based purely on experience. I was lucky enough to have access to thousands of instruments due to my job at the time and had been on trips to some of the best instrument makers in the world to learn about how (mainly acoustic guitars) are constructed and the tonal properties of the tone woods used. All of this knowledge plus a few preferences that I had picked up along the way (again, through trying other basses) led me to the spec for my custom instrument and it turned out almost exactly as I had expected. I was very lucky to be given the opportunity to have those experiences before considering a custom instrument but I can honestly say I couldn't be happier with my ACG. I can't remember the last time I practiced with anything else! Good luck with yours and if you need any advice, get in touch!

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1486384793' post='3231252'] Does anybody send the link to these threads to the offenders or their customer service depts?? Lets them know that they're not getting away with poor service and that in the end their reputation and sales suffer. [/quote] Why bother? The only thing they care about is the money. If their sales drop, they'll have a sale or a push to sell more but the service would remain the same. Bad service is countered by cheaper prices. That's how the Music Retail industry works because we all buy from where it's cheapest, then complain about the service after. If we valued service and paid a bit extra for it, the culture would improve in no time!

[quote name='fleabag' timestamp='1486264140' post='3230459'] Not true for me at all I was searching the net for Aguilar soapbars, and GAK were the cheapest. " special order only " ...oh oh, alarm bells But i ordered and they turned up in about a week. [/quote] I'm talking about discontinued products though, not products that are actually available to order...

It's also really annoying that they leave products up on their website that are discontinued as "available to order" and slash the price on it, so they show up as one of the cheapest on google shopping, yet you have ZERO chance of getting the product from them. Just a cheap shot to get competitors price matching something they don't have or getting traffic to their site, even though they know they don't have the product you want.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1486160216' post='3229820'] Quite a lot of ACGs are flat fingerboard - often to be found at a bass bash near you. [/quote] Yup, mine is flat. I much prefer it to a radius now. Makes all my Fenders feel weird!

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1485810386' post='3226939'] Maybe he has a friend of regal persuasion in Nigeria and this was going to be his birthday present? [/quote] I feel sorry for the friends and relatives of ACTUAL Nigerian royalty. It must be a nightmare trying to have gifts sent for special occasions!

[quote name='lownote12' timestamp='1485627724' post='3225467'] No really they are.. Fodera mostly 8<25k$ ; Overwater couple of grand (in Mays), Zon 4-5k (in Trumps!). When's that not midrange? lol [/quote] BARGAIN (compared to the €70,000 starting price for these http://sauvageguitars.com/opm3.html)

Plenty of the ones already mentioned... Plus these two Nik West - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1wzwRRToAw Ndegeocello - [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idtkbioKcnY[/media]

Devils advocate... A new Fender Elite Precision in 3TSB is just shy of £2000. That's not far off the price of a custom spec build from a number of U.K. based luthiers! Fodera are far more established than some of the smaller UK builders and as mentioned earlier, costs are much higher and profit margins are slim (unlike Fender, who give slim margins to resellers rather than taking the hit themselves) but for an extra £1200, the extra time, effort, love and upgrades on tonewoods, hardware and electronics over an 'off-the-shelf' Fender is definitely worth it IMO (even more so if you choose a U.K. builder whose price is almost comparable to the Fender Elite range!).

[quote name='Biglump' timestamp='1484689657' post='3217609'] Ha ha. you're right there, but I would still have a low E, which if I'm right in thinking, covers nearly all classic rock, rock 'n roll, funk and blues. [/quote] Get an E-C 5 string and a decent octave/sub octave pedal. Then you don't need the low B ever again

I also have an ACG (a Finn 5 SC R Type). Alan was incredibly accommodating, updated as soon as any progress came and has created an instrument that is stunning. I can honestly say its my 'go to' bass and I play it every day without fail. I've already been dreaming up a second... I did contact a couple of other builders mentioned here and they were all great (although one of the brands mentioned here didn't respond to my email until months after my first and only enquiry, although to be fair they did apologise for the delay in response but did not give a reason - This put me off as I think if you're charging £3000+ for a bass and have to collaborate with the customer, not responding to enquiries within a reasonable time period is just poor service and puts the 'working relationship' in a negative place from the start) at which point, Alan's excellent customer service (and almost instant responses to emails at times!) had already made my mind up where I'd be spending my money! I can also say that the day trip I had up to Moffat to visit Alan and collect the bass was fantastic too. I was welcomed with the offer of a cuppa, an amp set up ready to try the instrument and Alan had all the time in the world to chat to me and show me and my father-in-law (who has built instruments too) around his workshop and chat about his processes for making instruments. Couldn't recommend Alan highly enough.

Sometimes. I switch between 4 techniques most often on my 5 string. Palm muting, Matt Garrison's 4 finger technique, anchoring my thumb on the pickup as describe above and also using a floating thumb technique. It just depends on what I'm playing and which one suits best!

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1484862031' post='3219284'] Indeed, but what advantage do they offer over muting the unused strings with your hands ? [/quote] I suppose the answer would depend on how the individual feels they would benefit. If you play quick 16th lines like Jaco or do tapping or something, I imagine they work pretty well for covering any muting you might occasionally miss (through speed or from not being able to mute and tap at the same time)? I have one that I use when recording as it just does the same job as palm muting but without restricting my technique (as palm muting as a technique has a very distinct sound) but muting any extra ringing whilst being able to strike the string with alternative techniques to palm muting is useful for me sometimes. It's like anything. They have a purpose and if you think it'd be helpful, get one. If not, don't get one. Simple really. I was just trying to help the OP by explaining how it works.

[quote name='Bass_Guardian' timestamp='1484842244' post='3219015'] Hi all, What's the purpose of fret wraps on basses? Is it just for tapping solos or does it help compress slapping a bit? Opinions and experiences welcome! On a side note, I think they look pretty cool! [/quote] Easiest way to explain its main use is with this video... https://www.facebook.com/sheldon.dingwall/videos/10154938728806079/ As you can see, the bottom string is played but the middle string vibrates sympathetically (i.e., the resonance frequencies are similar so the vibration from the string that is being attacked triggers the vibration in the other string) and the fret wrap dampens this. This is useful for getting nice, clean notes when recording. Of course, some people prefer sympathetic resonance but fret wraps exist to try to eliminate it.

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