jazzyvee

My bass has a volume for each pickup and also a master volume that way I can set the pickups to the ratio I want then use the master volume to control overall instrument volume without having to turn up two volumes to increase my output whilst keeping the ratio of bridge to neck in the output the same.

I have previously used the xmas tree ones and whilst they do cut down a lot of volume I haven't found them to be as even toned as the custom ones. I always have a spare set of those ones in my bass case just in case I'm on a gig that isn't too loud and those you can push in to suit the stage volume which is something you can't do with the custom moulded ones. I also use them when I'm out listening to bands.

I've had mine for a couple of years after using generic plugs for many years. I have the 17db ones and they are fine however sometimes on some stages the volume is so loud that even these are not sufficient. If you havent used them before it does take a while to get used to them especially if you play music that has loud and quiet parts. I generally don't use them at soundcheck so that I know what the sound level is on stage then once everything is sorted I then put them on for the gig and that way I know the stage volume isn't horrendously loud. If it is too loud you may still get hearing damage even with plugs in :-) The other thing I would advise is when you have the mould done go for an open mouth one. I say this because the first set I had made were fine until I opened my mouth to talk on the mic or smile on stage then sound would leak in past the sides of the plugs. I contacted ACS and they said I needed to get an open mouth mould done. I did and it's nice snug and no sound leaking round the sides. In practice the wedge your gob with some cotton pads between your back teeth so that your mouth is open and you dribble all down your shirt whilst the gel sets in your ear but it is worth it.

I have experimented with a guitar combo on my bass rig at home few times but I think it would be impractical for me to use live so for now I haven't pursued it. I use a QSC power amp on my bass rig and also have a bass with separate outputs from each pickup. So each pickup goes into a separate rack pre-amp and then to a separate amp channel and individual cabs. From the pre-amp that takes the bridge output I sent some of the high end via it's crossover to a Roland JC120 and that gave me a much more hifi sound. I don't know anything about Trace gear so wouldn't know if you have a crossover output to try using the guitar amp in this way. I hope you find a solution.

On the recommendation fo a friend I got a Michael Kelly fretted Dragon fly 5 string acoustic bass recently and it sounds great. Like others have said it's not loud enough to use backing another instrument without amplification. Whilst I have only used it at home for ease of practice I do have some gigs coming up in the future that I plan to use it for.

On a gig or jam session absolutely not friend or punter. I went to an Alembic gathering in the states a few years back and let any of those guys who wanted to ,play my bass but then that's pretty much a closed shop. I have let the odd friend play one of my basses at my house when they visited thats it. I have no interest in playing anyone else's basses either. If I go to a jam session I would carry my own bass so should others. I did a gig a early last year and the support band bassist asked to borrow my bass as he claimed his was not working. I politely declined then minutes later he was back on stage with his own bass playing without a problem.

I had the good fortune to meet him a few years back and he is a great guy, full of humour and , as you see from the link, a pleasure to talk to. His signature fender bass is the only one I've ever tried so far that I would consider buying. It's a real shame that he has had to encounter also problems with health insurance company not covering some of his treatment and therapies and as a result has had friends raising money to help. Sad to see such an amazing musician in this way. [url="https://youtu.be/YRZeKV8aNoY"]https://youtu.be/YRZeKV8aNoY[/url]

Alembic Series I Short scale bass.

Hi Jacko I got my first one, Stanley Clarke Signature 4, from there. My most indulgent purchase was a Series II alembic 5 string bass from a collector in the States. A bass I had lusted over for a few years and the seller contacted me and said he wanted me to be the next ower. A deal was done and I flew out to the states to collect it from the Alembic factory where he had it delivered to. I had a visit to the workshop, met the Wickershams and their staff and went to the annual gathering for that year and met a load of the guys from the Alembic forum. That would be this one. Pure indulgence but sonic heaven.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1381676705' post='2242137'] I have paid below MSRP for a new Mesa item from a UK dealer. [/quote] Me too

To be honest I don't know much of the beatles outside their singles and whilst I can't say I'm a beatles fan I don't dislike them either. I've never heard a song of theirs that I didn't like. However I relate to Bob Marley's music much better and have been a massive fan since the early 70's so for me it's Bob. That is not to say I think one is better than the other just I prefer Bob's Music.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1474391954' post='3137648'] I have very close contact with The Wailers. I've known Al (Albert ) Anderson since we were in grade school. Blue [/quote] Wow, I have met Al a couple of times when he was gigging here with the wailers. But he is one of my favourite guitarists, completely changed my view and approach to playing guitar in a reggae band. He is one of the few guitarists I've heard that can be very busy in their playing but never crowd the music. Superb musician.

I had always been fascinated by the idea of a fretless guitar and the first and two guitars I made were fretless. The first was not that successful as I didn't manage to radius the fretboard consistently so it was unpreditable to play. The second guitar I made i carved the body and bought a strat style neck and removed the frets. That worked great and I used it in my band for a year or so. I then picked up a Vigier Surfretter from Cash Converters for a song and have had that for a few years and used it a few times live when I was playing in an indian reggae band. I never got anywhere near the standard of the guy in the video but It's something I wish to pursue further when i have more time. For now I will see if I can find some of [b] Cenk Erdogan's albums[/b] Thanks for posting. :-)

I started out wanting to play bass but got given a guitar for my birthday as a teenager. Later on i bought a cheap bass that i picked up now and again, did the odd few gigs but nothing serious. However I've always loved the sound of bass especially in reggae and Jazz based music and listened keenly to many of them in the music I grew up with. Rolling forward some decades I had the opportunity to buy my dream bass and after that I blagged my way into doing a gig with a singer at really good club. I just loved the way the bass shaped the music and after that I got asked to do some dep gigs. Then I went off touring as a guitarist for about 4 years and hardly touched the bass. When that tailed off I decided to realise one of my dreams and put a band together to do a one off gig of Stanley Clarke's music. That went down a storm and since then did guitar and bass gigs more or less equally. However in the last 3 years I have joined a reggae band as bass player and kept the jazz funk band going as well. I'd say now I do about 90% bass gigs but working on trying to get a more even balance. I wouldn't say I was choosing bass over guitar more that I get more opportunities to play bass live than guitar.

You can do a lot with the one finger technique. Check Chuck Rainey in these clips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZC_jSyUmjQ [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TAFWwqeHko"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TAFWwqeHko[/url]

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' timestamp='1472832340' post='3124651'] It uses a lithium battery that lasts up to a year. The important thing to note about this device is that it doesn't work the way that you (probably) think it does. It communicates using bluetooth. So it will only report its location if you, or another person with the TrackR app on their phone, is within bluetooth range of it. Otherwise, your bass stays lost. S.P. [/quote] Absolutely I contacted the company when they first came out about that and they confirmed what you said. They also didn't know if it would cause interference or noise in your instrument since they had not anticipated that it might be used for that purpose, However I do know a guy in the states who put one inside his guitar and said that his guitar does not pick up signals from the transmitter in the device but then his guitar does have a noise cancelling system inside it.

I notice that when doing outdoor gigs even in warm weather the strings feel more gripping so less easy to slide around. I asked Jimmy Johnson about it on another forum and he suggested rubbing your fingertips on the side of your nose as there is always some greasy stuff there which can lubricate your fingers so that's what I do these days but my nose is not really greasy. I've also read that Jaco sometimes had a greasy chicken bone in a pocket to lubricate his finger tips. I have also seen James Earl put his plucking fingers in his mouth before executing a breakneck speed chick corea run on his bass at a concert.

I have never carried a spare bass on a gig. Some I have taken two because I wanted to use a 4 string and a 5 string on a gig. So far none of my basses have let me down. However one multi band gig the bass player from the band on before us came into the dressing room mid set asking if he could use my bass because his had failed. I said politely no and that my bass is only for use by me. Moments later he was back on stage with his bass playing normally. I remember him looking intently at my bass during soundcheck so I guess he wanted an excuse to try it out. The guitarist in my band never carries a spare instrument either nor the drummer, or any of the three brass players but both keyboard players use two keyboards each so I guess there is some backup for them.

I had the same experience when I bought a new 5 string bass some years back and only when it arrived I realised the string spacing was tighter than all my other basses which have the same spacing. However I have not found it a problem unless I'm doing the double thumbing technique. I interchange between the two string spacings with no problem. That said I do use the narrow necked bass primarily for reggae so my fingers seem to understand that when I pick that bass up.

Kashmir by Lenny White from the album Edge. Superb

The ACS ones offer up to 27db of reduction.

Currently I'm playing in two bands and they both play loud. I've used earplugs for a long time as i gave up on trying to get bands to play at sensible levels. Recently I joined the house band for a weekly jam session and after a couple of sessions I told them that the volume far too loud and was a deal breaker for me. Even with the custom 17db earplugs I use they were far too loud. Two guitarists with open backed cabs using high wattage valve amps distortion and a drummer was ridiculous and its a small venue too. Since my complaint to the band leader the volume has reduced by about 50% but I still wear my plugs. I would walk if I couldn't deal with the volume. If you are not wearing earplugs It might be a good idea to try these out first before quitting. Even for bands that don't play loud they are really good and I wear them when I go to watch concerts too.

Fortunately for me my other half loves my basses, they way they look and sound, and doesn't like the idea of me selling any of them. I've thought about doing that a few times when I wanted to buy another bass and she has successfully talked me out of it. I have also had her name engraved on the truss rod cavity cover on her favourite of my basses and usually play that bass on the gigs that she is able to get to. She has a hobby that she is passionate about and I help her with that whenever I can and recently I donated some of my old d'addario pro-steel bass strings and made a frame for a rose bush she wants to grow against a wall. [attachment=225730:Rose_IMG_2603.jpg]

As a long time alembic player I would say depending on the year and condition that sounds like a good price. They are really tough basses and personally I love the sound. Two main things to check, serial number to confirm the year of build, the first two numbers tell you the year it was made this should be on the back of the headstock, the next one should be a "W" to confirm its an epic. Then also get the seller to send you a photo of the inside of the electronics cavity. Sometimes owners change out the original electronics for other stuff and that would be an expensive cost to put back to standard. If the electronics are alembic they there are two usual types you see for that bass. Standard is Vol, Pan, Bass and Treble. The other option sometimes found are Vol, Pan and Low pass filter with or without the Q-switch. This is a post from the alembic site. Standard Epic has the same setup as this bass shown. http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=235.0 Also some reference details. http://www.alembic.com/support/reference.html Anything else you want to know about things alembic drop me a PM.

I always unplug my bass when not in use, like others have said leaving the cable plugged in runs the batteries down in a few short weeks rather than months. One of my basses uses 2 x 9v batteries and are supposed to last only 20hrs! Fortunately the batteries in that one are primarily for backup and the main power comes from the external mains power supply. Even so I don't leave leads pugged in when not in use as they are an accident waiting to happen.