Dapper Bandit

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1444914924' post='2887279'] I really don't get the obsession with trying to buy Japanese Fenders from Ishibashi. For me they are the least interesting instruments on the site. For me it's all about buying used equipment that doesn't normally make it to this country. [/quote] Exactly. There is only one Japanese Fender I would buy which is a black/tort Precision fretless with PJ pickups and even then I wouldn't splash major cash out. I have just ordered an ESP Amaze in Lake Placid Blue which is kinda Fender-ish but the original jazz bass design has been (gasp!) tweaked. The non-export stuff is really quite amazing and you see risks taken by big manufacturers there that you wouldn't here. Case in point, can you see the Lakland Tetsuya signature bass doing well in Europe?

Ishibashi are really good to deal with IME. Plenty of used Fender Japan stuff on their ubox (as mentioned earlier the head Fender office does not allow the international export of new models) and the second hand market in Japan seems to lean towards pricing surprisingly low compared to RRP and even light cosmetic damage / wear seems to absolutely smash prices! Even adding in import duties you can get one of these basses shipped to you for around about the same price as a used MIM with the added bonus of options that just aren't available to us normally and if you by through a reputable store you should get it in good - great condition.

They do exist, last year I missed out on (read: spent too damn long umm-ing and ahh-ing over) a MIJ Fender precision fretless , PJ configuration in black with tort pickguard. It was all but a Bill Laswell signature bass and I'm still annoyed I didn't get it! MIJ [i]can[/i] be a bit of a crap shoot at times although the reputable brands are reputable for a reason. Bought a custom ESP guitar second hand a couple of years ago and hands down it is the best guitar I have ever played, so much so that I am now changing out everything I own to 'proper' MIJ ESP stuff. I have a Fender tele that I will probably be shifting to make room for my obsession but it is a beast of an instrument nonetheless. Re: Ishibashi ubox, I have dealt with them a couple of times and whilst they can take a couple of days to respond I have found them to be on the whole a great company to deal with. They have a pretty rapid turnover of used stock so worth keeping an eye on them. You also have digimart.net which lists adverts for a number of Japanese guitar shops, some of whom ship internationally.

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1441036150' post='2855531'] California by Mr Bungle. Incredible and weird album. Fantastic from start to finish in my books. [/quote] [quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1441127878' post='2856294'] By contrast, the Praxis album "Transmutation Transmutandis" featuring Buckethead, Bootsy, Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell and Brain was critically very well received (being a pretty darned cracking album!) and sold very few copies indeed - in fact it's no longer made... [/quote] Two fantastic recommendations! Transmutation possibly edges out California for me but in that race there are no losers. In that vein I would have to submit "Book of Horizons" by Secret Chiefs 3

[quote name='Bassjon' timestamp='1440062347' post='2847897'] I already know about Zorn and Bungle through being a Faith No More fan. California by Bungle is a fantastic record. The bass player Trevor Roy Dunn is amazing. I will check out Painkiller - I never really rated anyone from Napalm Death as being a good muso so thats interesting [/quote] Honestly, Mick is probably the weakest player in the trio (not coming from anything close to a jazz background) but shows a consistently tasteful ear in this massively varied improvisational setting and he and Bill set up some lethal riddims when they go dub! Leonard, will definitely check out some of those Klezmer recommendations, very much up my avenue! Two more groups come to mind: Calle De Bauche and Estradasphere.

In a slightly straighter jazz shout out, has anyone checked out John Zorn's Masada group? Bloody lovely stuff!

To further Bilbo and Leonard's suggestions you could also give Painkiller a try which is Laswell and Zorn along with Mick Harris (of Napalm Death and Scorn fame). Free jazz/grindcore/dub trio that were entirely improvisational. Check out the Execution Ground box set as it is truly an astonishing accomplishment and I'm only partly saying it because they are one of my top ten bands ever. I will also heartily second Last Exit and Naked City. Spinning off from those you have Mr. Bungle (Naked City tribute act initially) and Jerseyband (Jazz/Hardcore hybrid) and Candiria (Jazz/Hardcore also).

Bootsy Collins Bill Laswell Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle) Les Claypool Jean Baudin Rob Wright (Nomeansno) Bob Weston (Shellac) Blacky (Voivod) Greg Cohen (Masada) Bernard Edwards No particular order and selected on the basis that I can listen to their music just for their performance, not the song as a whole. Kinda shocked that I was first in with Mr. Laswell!

Bilbo: I won't quote you but I think the fact that you run a Jazz gig informs your post quite heavily. For example, I play in a heavy metal band and most of the people I know would run a mile if I put on [i]Agharta[/i] or [i]Mothership Connection[/i] but does that make either of those albums or their respective genres less worthy? Also, could your jazz crowd's indifferent reaction to renditions of the Great American Songbook be viewed as conservative? People like what they like. If you don't like it then all we have ascertained is that your tastes differ but if you put yourself in a position when people can reasonably request particular songs then they probably will.

If you can make it work then there is no reason not to as you are young enough to bounce back if it doesn't pan out (which it might) or to properly reap the rewards if it goes excellently (which it might not). That said it is important to go into this sort of thing with expectations in order, the industry has changed massively and the way things played out historically are just that. The chances of you being picked up by a major label and doing stadium tours to support your second album are slimmer than a very slim thing. On the other hand, the chance of you carving out a survivable niche for yourself are probably better than ever before. For further reading have a look into Steve Albini's current interviews/keynote speeches as well as his essay "The Problem With The Music Industry". Two examples from the world of rock/metal: 1) Mastodon, who are signed to Warner Brothers and are one of the largest 'current' metal bands on the scene often have to work construction jobs between tours 2)The Melvins, who have been an independent band since their formation some 25-odd years ago (bar a 3 album deal with Atlantic in the 90's) are full time musicians but have gone on record as being "thousandaires" and having to work as hard as any other professional/tradesman.

Playing covers in a paid capacity is going to entail having a set-list that isn't to your personal taste by virtue of what it is. If a landlord/lady is paying you then you are working for them and by extension the crowd who are paying the establishment so if they want Mustang Sally then by gum they had better get it! I couldn't play in a cover band for exactly that reason and have due respect for those that do. A slightly different frustration is playing covers when in an originals band. The band I am in played two different Floor (bonus points if you know 'em) covers much to the delight of probably 3 punters but could I swing it for us to play 'Goodbye Horses'? Could I heck.

Bought a pedal from Bob, a pleasure to deal with. Arrived in no time at all and was well packaged. Don't hesitate to deal with this chap!

This one completely slipped under my radar, thanks! Love the Bassman sim for guitar but found the B15 a little underwhelming so whiskers are most definitely forward.

Hoping someone here can help, getting a little hot and bothered over this! Recently took delivery of a Trace 1084H cabinet to pair with my Marshall VBA400, have been using them together for a few weeks with no complaints at all. However we had a gig a couple of weeks ago where I used my rig with no issue but then the headlining band borrowed my rig and the other bassists. Everything sounded fine whilst I played and the headliners sounded ok (loud as anything mind). Missed a couple of weeks of practise due to real life and at practise last night found that the speakers on the right hand side are not producing any sound. We swapped the top left and right speakers and there was no change (only sound on left hand side) which leads us to think there is an issue with the crossover perhaps? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1426722610' post='2721376'] Awesome, what's the name of your band? [/quote] Whitechapel Murders, got some links in me signature down there. Don't know if you've seen them as yet but make sure you invest in [i]good[/i] earplugs, they use 2 full stacks [i]each[/i]. The organiser was handing free foam cheapie ones out on the door but I bumped into people days later who were still ringing!

The only name that comes to mind would be Oblivionized. If you're not dead set on UK/up-and-coming I would recommend Discordance Axis and Gridlink most highly. Proper eargasm bands. [quote name='Graham' timestamp='1426631008' post='2720225'] If you're into doom, Electric Wizard and Conan are spectacular. [/quote] Played with Conan a few weeks ago. Immensely loud.

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1422725091' post='2676137'] Really!? I've Never heard a B3K do anything like the sounds in either of those videos, and I owned one for a year...For me it made everything sound like Meshuggah or Periphery! [/quote] I managed to get close to the QOTSA track with mine. If you're getting a Meshuggah like tone I would say you need to bring your bass volume down! This pedal is very responsive to different input volumes, much more so than all my other dirtboxes (fnarr fnarr).

For that sort of tone I found the B3K was the one for me. Tried an SFT just around the time when everyone discovered that the video demo with 'that sound' needed a lot of impractical compromises. For me it was pretty woolly. The Agro was nice but not that tubey. Might be worth having a look at a GK Diesel Dawg as well if you come across one but yeah, B3K.

No stadium gigs yet, this is purely for pub gigs so far! It may seem like overkill but that's only because it is. Hasn't killed anyone but when I kicked on the HM2 it nearly blew everyone's ears off, the VBA400 is scarily responsive compared to my Orange Terror. In short, this is very heavy, very loud and very cool.

While the component parts are not new to me this combination is after the head spent a while being fixed after an even longer time spent being broken. Happiest I have ever been with my amplification, practise this week was an absolute pleasure!

While the component parts are not new to me this combination is after the head spent a while being fixed after an even longer time spent being broken. Happiest I have ever been with my amplification, practise this week was an absolute pleasure!

A pedal based around the bass tone of one of my top ten albums? Etched artwork by Away? Insanely cool name ("Blower Bass" was always the coolest album credit)? But I don't [i]need[/i] another dirt box! Totally unfair! This guy designed the perfect pedal to extract my cash. To those that ordered, what was the postage to the UK? So ridiculous I can safely ignore this bad boy?

So deep, some of us speak French! Hi all, Longtime reader, occasional poster from the scenic little island of Jersey (not to worry, most of the stuff about us on the news is vastly exaggerated). I'm currently one third of the obnoxious noise machine known to practically no one as Whitechapel Murders, there are some links below if you fancy a listen/look at us. I'm a confirmed pedal head, the fact that my gigging set up usually only consists of 5 pedals hasn't stopped me from acquiring many more than I would like to admit to so you'll probably be able to find me bombing around those forums. Salut!