jazzyvee

This thread has gone to sleep since 2014, so let's see how many "new" alembic lovers or haters we have since 03/06/2014?

Ha good to hear that view Earbrass, my ear tunes to all kinds of music and I'd like to think my playing benefits from that open mindedness to all genres. I have been constrained by that when I was playing guitar in a couple of major touring reggae bands because I was playing bluesy, sometimes rocky lines and funky rhythms which worked and were on some of the covers they did. On the cultural appropriation in the context that you put it I absolutely agree with you. There is another side to that which is completely different and not something I want to get into. 👍🤝

I play in a reggae band and I my experience when people start to play reggae on whatever instrument, the main reason it does not sound authentic is because they do not listen enough to what it ACTUALLY SOUNDS LIKE and what is being played. They have an idea in their head of what reggae sound like and play what they think it sounds like and that can be way off. (closer to calypso than reggae). That is not to say you need to be note perfect on a cover it is good to add your own take as long as you remember that in a lot of reggae the bass line is what makes the track work and if you move too far off it becomes a different song. Try not to get academic about it, the feel is what you are aiming to capture in the genre. To the OP, just listen carefully what is being played and what is not being played and how the rhythm sits. Remember the spaces are also a part of what is being played. Try to determine where the notes are being played on the bass as there are tonal and feel reasons why notes are played in a reggae bass line in a particular place on the neck. I would say that Sheriff is not the place to start if you are new to reggae bass playing. Try something really basic first to get the feel remember less is more. The busier reggae bass lines are great though easier to get lose the feel. (A great busy bass line is ‘now that we’ve found love’ by third world. Lots of good stuff going on there that can go unnoticed on first hearing) I think these two tracks are a great place to start. Crazy Ballhead Natural mystic. Let us know how you get on. 👍🏿

Interesting. I get what you mean, I was probably not as clear as I should have been. I can hear the bottom end fine but because there isn't much going on in the higher frequencies, sometimes it's hard to hear the pitch clear enough for me to play confidently so I do end up opening up my bass controls to allow me to hear those better.

I have had those same ones for maybe 5 years now and they do take a while to get used to. I find that although they reduce the volume evenly, if your ears , like probably most of us over a certain age, have lost a bit of the top end then it may be more challenging to hear the upper harmonics in the notes that help when hearing your pitch. I only use mine for loud gigs and with a reggae band there is not much top end happening on the bass anyway so it can sometimes be harder to hear my pitch, but because I know the tracks well it does not matter. We have a lot of dynamics in the music so early on in my use of them I found i needed more concentration to match my volume with the rest of the band who do not have ear plugs. But now it's not a problem. I have a second pair with 21db filters but they are a bit much and so I only use those when I'm in the audience listening to live music. Not sure if anyone else notices but when slapping the note always sounds slightly flat with the earplugs in.

Well I guess if that isn't their big seller and they have the new guitar cabs to make and store, it makes good sense. I would imagine they could still find space for one off orders if requested.🔇

Anyone with inside info as to why it's no longer in current production? Any issues that existing owners need to be concerned about? https://barefacedbass.com/product-range/Dubster-2.htm

I think it's rare to find a reasonably priced alembic for sale outside the USA.

I'm curious about grasping the 6 string bass and I have put my hands on one maybe a handful of times. I have thought that if I ever went down that route I'd get a fretless one. But somehow I can't see that happening anytime soon as i'm still finding the 5 string enough of a challenge. 🙂

Hi Challxyz, yes I have used it on my 4 ohm Barefaced Big Twin II a few times and it has been fine. I emailed Synq to see if I could safely use the amp bridged into a 4 ohm cab and they categorically told me NO. I haven't tried bridging it into an 8 ohm cab yet as I mostly gig reggae and I think I would probably get more meat out of the Big Twin at 4ohms than the BB2 bridged. I might try it with the my 8ohm Dubster 2 just for fun though. Yes the amp delivers about 500w into each side into a 4 ohm load, so If I wanted some weight on an outdoor gig with no PA support I could put the BT2 on one side and the Dubster and BB2 (both 8ohms) on the other and turn the thing on full....!!! I have dropped in some pix. The Sync with either the BB2 or BT2 is in mono mode, the crown xls1502 with Dubster and BB2 is in bridge mode but after doing a couple of gigs with that setup I think I need to use it in Mono mode so that I can balance the Dubster with the BB2 as it is really dominant. Hope that helps.

I wouldn't describe a tuner as an effects pedal. I use one in my guitar effects board and not noticed any detriment to the signal but with bass I found the clip on to be easier to use as I have a standby switch on my bass so I can tune up in silence. The plus was also that I could then bring just two cables ( one spare) instead of 3 cables to have one spare. You are right the Clip-ons can be fooled by other vibes in the room.

Makes good sense to me. 🙂

I don't use effects at all in my bass playing and I don't also have any axes to grind with those who do. Most of the gigs I have been to these days there is some kind of effect pedal(s) being used by the bass guitarist and to be honest it works well with their music. So far in my gigging I have not found a need to nor been asked so I just wondered how common this is these days for bass players to go clean. I'm sure the sound guys would add some compression to most things going through FOH but I think that is his/her call and something different. Who else is into the naked sound of their bass through their amp.

I've recently found my self a great lightweight, shallow rack mountable 1u Power amp that I pair up with my F1-x pre-amp. It's a Synq 1K0 https://synq-audio.com/digit-1k0 It bridges at 8 ohms. I used again this past weekend with my barefaced Big Twin II on a reggae gig and the whole rig sounded big Phat and clean toned. I have also used it with my BB2 cab for travelling light to gigs and it is a great amp. It bridges at 8 ohms only but I haven't had a need to do that yet. Something from the Crown XLS Series is a good option too. I got the XLS1502 on recommendation and it's great.

I tend to play 5’s mostly. Though if im playing basslines for covers that i think were played on a 4 string bass i tend to stay away from the B string for tonal balance. There are times when i use the 5th string for emphasis if the song needs the extra weight of bottom end.

I recorded Stanley's School days solo and he users a JC120 as party of his bass rig it is fed from the high frequency output of the crossover on Alembic pre-amp. In the past I have seen him live with a small Fender Combo in place of the JC120 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tlmgkAqcGU&feature=youtu.be Admittedly he uses a tenor tuned bass ADGC so and using PA so less likely to blast heavy bottom end or volume through that guitar combo. Sounds sweet to me.

Yep I totally agree, although we buy for ourselves it does feel good when you get feedback like that because you know they are really listening to how you sound as well as what you are playing.

Well that is a simple question without a short answer. To me it matters in the same way that "Does it matter what car you drive?" matters. If the gear meets the basic requirements that it can be used to produce/reproduce the sound of a bass, then that is all that should matter. However what sits on top of that is whether I/we want to have more than that basic requirement, refinements, ergonomics that suit us, practicalities of one bit of gear over another etc etc. If we do then what gear we have matters to us. Same as we can go on auto trader or whatever and find for example a basic Ford car that will get us from A to B, and some will want more than just that and so choose a different model or manufacturer's model with all options bells whistles but it still just a tool to get us from A to B just a bit nicer. Though some may find a really nice old Austin allegro that is great to drive even though a bit beat up and dubious reliability. 🙂 ( not offence meant to anyone driving a ford or Austin car). I have never been into changing gear a lot or swapping bits in and out and I tend to do a lot of procrastinating before buying any of my gear and rarely buy on impulse. I also accept that my experience with bass gear is severely limited to a few brands. I have settled on one brand of bass now and have amps and cabs that I love and get me what I want. It's not that they are better or worse than any other gear but they work for me. Whether the sound the audience hears or understand is as different from any other bass sound doesn't really matter to me as long as I can hear what I want and they hear a bass that sounds like it fits with the rest of the music.

Stanley Clarke last week Wednesday in Bristol. https://youtu.be/7tlmgkAqcGU

We are gigging at the Mirth Marvel & Maud venue on 10th November 2018 Has anyone here played that venue as i'm curious as to what it is like. It looks an interesting building and venue. https://www.facebook.com/events/1032415726951757/

Level 42 last night at Birmingham Symphony Hall. Not seen them live since the 80's but they were Awesome!!!!

I think most of these top bass players we listen to we can identify not just because of their tone but also, or even more so, because of their style of playing, their licks attack, dynamics and their note choices etc not just tone. So Victor could play any bass from a Sire to a Fodera and anything in between and even though the tone may be different on each bass, subtly or radically. If we were familiar with Victor's playing style we could determine it was him playing or someone playing in a Victor Wooten style. Whether you could identify the bass he is playing would depend on your experience with knowing the sound of that bass. As an example I went to see Level 42 last night and Mark King sounded like Mark King not because of his tone but because of how he plays. The last time I saw him in live the 80's he would have most likely been playing a Jaydee or even an alembic. Now I would suggest hardly of the audience except maybe some bass players would have noticed he'd got a different bass than the last time they saw him there a couple of years back. Would they care? I doubt it as long as they heard the overall sound and it sounded like they expect level 42 to sound like.