jazzyvee

On 02/11/2022 at 17:23, Reggaebass said:

Call me boring but that would not step foot inside my front door  

It would mine if it was brought to me as a gift. Not the sort of bass i would drop my hard earned cash on though. I wonder why Stanley sold it.

Superb alembic. I love the Europa body styling and having had one for a long time i know they sound amazing. I hope you find a buyer.😁

I took the safe route when i changed my old schallers for new ones which were larger, and got Jaydee to do the job.

Quote

Might have been easier to say what you like 😀

Out of curiosity what would be your ideal bass and finish. Post a pic if one available.

Dave

Earlier this year i got Jaydee to strip this bass and refinish it to show the natural wood. I didn't dislike the original colour it but preferred the natural quilt maple finish.  I left the back of the headstock in the original colour.

Aston Familyman Barrett first then later Stanley Clarke.

We are indeed which is why we are now spoilt for choice when it comes to buying basses, with makers offering virtually any finish we want. I definitely prefer darker woods.

28 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Yep i think you might be right enough. 👍

Not seen a black Alembic before, i tend to like the wood finishes.

Dave

Yes, you are both right it is an Alembic.  When originally made it was based on their Europa model with the following custom options. Elan style headstock and narrow neck, signature electronics (vol, blend, 2 filters and 2 position q-switches), side neck LEDs. I recently had an upgrade from Alembic to their anniversary electronics, (vol,vol, 2x 3 position q-switches, mono/stereo switch and pickup switch selector with mute which I haven't yet drilled a hole for).
I too prefer wood finishes on any bass or guitar for that matter and this is the only solid coloured bass I own. A few years ago I did plan to have it refinished to remove the black and reveal the flame maple woods. However, based on the previous interest i'd had from rock band bass players especially ones covering Metallica tracks,. I decided it may be better to leave it as is. 

Just got home from my Musical Youth gig at Hootnanny in Brixton and winding down with a cuppa.
It went really well the sound quality especially the bass i thought was exceptional, and when I got off stage I had a number of conversations with punters including some who told me they were bass players raving about the gig, complimentary of my playing and the sound of my bass. Always good to hear, and honestly that bass is such an incredible sounding instrument and played through Alembic F-1X/SF-2, power amp and Barefaced cabs is just something else. I think giving the FOH my sound from the post pre-amp signal via the DI worked really well tonight.  It is something i have been doing for reggae gigs as my norm unless the sound guys explicitly request otherwise.

The team at the venue really took their time to give us a great sound.

That is my reggae setup (Picture is from another gig). 

I'm gigging on Thursday 27th October at Hootananny in Brixton with Musical Youth.

https://hootanannybrixton.co.uk/musical-youth-40th-anniversary/

I played in a band for a couple of years who had a weekly residency in a pub a few miles from where I live. It was a complete variety of music covering mainly 50's, 60's and 70's mainly due to the age of the punters. Occasionally there were a few people turning up who sang more up to date songs.

Pros: I was still pretty new to being a regular band bass player so every week I was out of my comfort zone which helped develop my ears and read chord charts quickly, follow singers covering songs i'd never heard before. It exposed me to music I had never heard before. I found it quite a fun gig with less pressure to be on point with the recorded bass lines of any track. I just captured the vibe of it which in most cases was fine.

Cons: Sometimes it was quite a chore. It meant going to a pub every week which are places that I generally avoid., I don't like being around drunk people.

Enduring occasional inappropriate ignorant racial comments from some parts of the audience. Too much rock n roll and not enough soulful music. Having to refuse to play reggae because I knew the band would not sound authentic.

This is mine.

Since we have a Show us your bass rig thread and there are a lot of bands, including one that I play in, that are moving towards In Ear Monitor systems. 

I thought maybe we should have a thread for that. 

I'm sure it won't be as exciting as seeing a bass rig but it will at least give us some ideas on what stuff is out there.

On a selfish point, it will allow me to find out what is out there and pros and cons. WIred vs WIreless, digital/analogue etc😀

I saw James Taylor at Resorts World, Birmingham last night. Superb concert with a top class band that included, Jimmy Johnson, Steve Gadd, Mike Landau.

wrong post please remove

On 01/10/2022 at 15:45, paul_5 said:

I’m of the opinion that if a band wants me to play a specific bass for the look of it, the band should buy that instrument. I’m not paying to go to work!

 

Just my cantankerous opinion.

Agreed, unless of course they are paying me shed loads of money for a tour, then i might take the mercenary approach and reconsider. So far no-one has ever told me not to use a particular bass. Either for aesthetic reasons or sonic reasons. 🙂

I don't see why it should as most pedals use the same boss style charger which has not changed for decades. Yes there are other connectors for 12, 15 or 18vdc but in the main it's pretty much standardised.

But who knows what the EU will require standardisation. It's not a bad thing when thought through.

I have a bass with these pickups and active electronics and wondered about adding a passive switch to the circuit as a backup position which would bypass the active electronics. Do you have any video with these pickups and passive electronics?

Did the bass you took them out of have active electronics or were these used with passive electronics?

I picked up a used Schertler Unico (185w) which sounds really high quality. It has a dedicated sub out so i got a BF LF800 powered sub which proved to be is a great match on an outdoor gig last summer with a Brazillian jazz band.

I use a GB-10 and the sound is good. The menus are really clunky to use and you can’t press a button to return to the start of a track. It doesn’t play all mp3’s though not sure why. But the repeat and key change options work fine. If you want something better quality PJB big head sounds great just remember the usb socket is delicate.

On 06/09/2022 at 22:52, Clarky said:

Not my cup of tea stylistically ... and a cool £5k to boot. But super-rare (only 50 ever made) and Stanley Clarke afficionados will find it interesting (calling @jazzyvee)

 

 

https://bassbros.co.uk/product/lieber-stanley-clarke-lieber-spellbinder/

Thanks Clarky, but that bass does not appeal to me. I have seen Stanley play his live at the Jazz Cafe some years back but i prefer the sound of his alembic.

That SC bass is lovely. Coco bolo is one of my fave woods for basses.

Phil Lesh has a short scale 6 string alembic so i guess that shows the B string will sound fine if you wanted to do that.

I have had mine since late 2017 and easily more preferable for my needs now than my only other bass cabs, mesa boogie powerhouse. I still love the mesa cabs but the weight and difficulty getting deep loud low end on non PA gigs had become an issue. I have recommended BF o a number of bass players. No issues with the coatings on any of my cabs.

Looking for some recommendations.  It looks like my band could be touring soon. I'm looking for recommendations for strong, protective and but lightweight,( if possible), flight cases for a heavy alembic bass. Currently I have a traditional aluminium and plywood case which weighs a ton and a lightweight Aluminium Scott Dixon flight case which is fine but is quite a snug fit and not enough padding around the bass for me to feel comfortable with it being thrown in and out of vans etc without damage to the bass. I plan to speak to Scott dixon to see what newer stuff they have but I have wondered about the carbon fibre cases too.  I see classical musicians mainly using them though not seen any for electric basses. Has anyone got any real world experience of them and are they as strong and protective as they are claimed to be?

I guess they will be expensive too.