The Dark Lord

My first bass, in my mid-teens was a Burns/Baldwin Shadows Bass. Bought it for £55 in 1978 - but swapped it a couple of years later for a Precision copy, for some mental "I didn't know what I was doing" reason. A love that is lost forever.

[quote name='nick@ibassmag' timestamp='1321618445' post='1441221'] [b]Bass Chat Competition[/b] Aspiring bass players looking to grow their reviewing skills are invited to enter our exclusive competition, giving you the chance to have your review published in a subsequent edition of ibass magazine. If you have a weird or wonderful bass (or bass rig/pedal) that you would like to see featured, we want to hear from you! [b]How to Enter?[/b] All you have to do is email us ([email protected]) telling us why you deserve to win. We will be reading all responses carefully, and posting the winning reply at the end of the competition. The closing date is November 25th. Winners will be notified by email on November 28th. Good luck! www.ibassmag.com [/quote] Really very poor instructions these. Was this a poorly thought out whim of someones .... or were people supposed to take this seriously?

Think of the Precision as the Porsche 911 of basses. The 911 is THE iconic sports car. yeah, there are loads of "better" faster, better handling, high-techer cars out there. But the 911 is THE enduring sports car. Get one, you can't go wrong and everyone will nod with approval when they hear you have one. Fender Precision? In bass terms, it's the same thing. Can't go wrong and most everyone will nod with approval at your proper bass.

Bought a Warwick from this new Basschatter. Top bloke, very friendly, great price and he drives a Porsche 911. Doesn't get better than that. Nice to buy a bass from a fellow bass player through a forum like this too - rather than the sometimes impersonal ebay or megastore route.

[quote name='Green Alsatian' timestamp='1324077657' post='1470762'] When I first heard Feline (in the early 90s), it took me a good few listens to get into it with it being such a massive change in direction p. I'd love another new album from 'em! [/quote] You can, like me, pre-order their upcoming new studio album (which is called "Giants" ) from their website. www.stranglers.net.

[quote name='the_skezz' timestamp='1324065263' post='1470593'] I was about three feet away from the bloke who bought it - couldn't believe it fetched that much. [/quote] I can. It's an actual JJ bass. Had I been there, I would've topped that bid to have it hang on my wall.

I would go 2 x TC Electronic RS112 1x12s - at around £760 new for the pair. Quality, quality cabs - and will give you a bit of flexibility for smaller gigs. Plus ...... stack them vertically, slide the top one six inches back and get upwards acoustic reflection from the upper cab, giving you deep lows from the floor - with the top cab sound heading for your ears.

Yep. You gotta get yourself an amp that is designed to be neutral. This is what you want. http://www.atomicamps.com/products.htm

Fender USA Standard. Beware of imitations. No substitute. Strap on, rock, grin.

There's an interesting piece on www.pledgemusic.com which shows the bass gear that will be used on the upcoming Hugh Cornwell album. Hugh was the original guitarist for the Stranglers who now tours solo. His stateside bassist, Steve Fishman, is working on his new album and here's a quick video of the gear he will be using. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aPUyNFTUGII#!"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aPUyNFTUGII#![/url] Kinda interesting how this album is coming about, with a lot of personal cam footage being shot by Hugh to support the launch. Makes it a nice intimate kinda affair for fans.

Take a Variax bass and a spare set of strings ?

Anyone know when Tc Electronic changed the name of their main class D amp from Rebelhead to RH450? I understand it was for US trademark reasons. But WHEN was the change made?

[quote name='daz' timestamp='1322974788' post='1457853'] The Scott Devine video on page 44, its apparently a 6 minute video but it keeps cutting out at 45 seconds ? [/quote] Works okay for me. Using Windows 7 64 bit and Firefox.

[quote name='BB3000S' timestamp='1322864818' post='1456934'] How about this: [/quote] Proper !

Black. And yes, change that to black too .... with the white bits round the edges.

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1322491789' post='1451438'] That would be "Plux The Duck" also refferred to as Plux, or my son [/quote] Indeed. He was very helpful.

[quote name='andybassdoyle' timestamp='1322480589' post='1451204'] Totally agree with the comments about technique, damage etc. Be warned!! Coming from bass guitar if you go for your finger ends you can expect them to quickly blister and the ends to drop off. You need to get some meat behind those strings! For me the upright is just a completely different instrument. If feels different, responds differently and makes you think about what to play in completely different ways to bass guitar. Gear is a real red herring, the sound is ultimately in your hands far more so that bass guitar and it can be really difficult working out how to get a good stage sound. DB seems to be more vunerable to poor rooms, positioning etc so it's aways worth keeping that in mind. Slam dunk it's great to try before you commit but in my experience you will need to invest a fair bit of yourself in DB before you can really work out if it's for you. It's also worth considering that it's a difficult bugger to play at first, not helped by the fact that a cheap starter instrument will demand far more from you to make it work. The physical relationship between you and the bass is massive in comparison to DB. A better quality bass will sing better and do more for you however this could run you some serious folding by which time you've probably worked a lot of this out for yourself.... Bottom line whatever your motivation it's well worth a look. DB opens up loads of musical opportunities for you and it's a massively fulfilling instrument once you've aligned yourself with it. Best of luck [/quote] Okay. So I picked up the rental bass on Saturday. £36.50 per month to rent ..... inc insurance. More than I had first been told ...... but what the hell. I've gotta say, I agree with just about EVERYTHING that Andy there said. Here's my first impressions. Man, it looks cool. Everyone who walks into the house and sees it in the living room says "wow!". To be honest, that's half the reason I'm thinking of buying one, right there. I had a quick play of it in the shop and could hardly get a note out of it. When I got it home though, after a bit of thought and planning, I could do a half-decent version of some of the songs that I play on a normal fretted Precision or Jazz. It is a big, physical beast ( 3/4 size) and you really feel that you and the bass are connected in some way. You feel like you're playing it together. The action is quite high (more of that in a minute) and there appears to be more space between the notes in the scale - which makes things more of a stretch. It's actually quite hard to play - and you start to feel your hand, wrist and forearm "tiring" after a song or two. I am going at this softly, a little bit at a time. When I start to ache, I stop. I'll do regular amounts each day and build up from there. I had the good fortune to come across a double bass player at this weekend's Basschat Bass Bash in West Sussex ( called 'duckapluck' ?? ) who gave me a few tips and had a play on it ........ he plays in an orchestra. Shows you what can be done. The rental bass doesn't have a great deal of volume. Probably (said duckapluck) down to the £20 strings and general quality of the bass. It's also not amplified in any way. I have been offered this one, with a pickup to be added, for £600 - but I guess I'll decline ...... not just for the reason that it appears to have had a neck repair at one point. Great fun though - and I may already be sold on the idea. Just need to find a spare £1500 (at least) or so for a proper one with a set up and strings. I'll probably open myself up to ridicule by posting a video before long. ..... oh yeah, duckapluck told me that the action usually IS quite high and that I'll never get one down to the (almost zero) action that I have on my Precisions and Jazz.

Will anyone be bringing any TC Electronic equipment?

Hi. That's just 'round the corner from me. Can I pop in? ...... and exactly what does one do at a bass bash?

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1322208965' post='1447831'] You assuming the PA is actually set in stereo [/quote] We have a stereo PA setup.