jazzyvee

Don't forget import duty and VAT on goods imported from non EU Countries. If any is due the guitar may get held at customs until the charges are paid. I found that out to my cost....!! if the courier/shipping agent pays it on your behalf they may charge you a fee for that when they deliver the instrument. Get the guitarist to check these additional costs carefully. If you ring the tax people they will be glad to tell you how much of your hard earned money they will extract from you. [url="http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&propertyType=document&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000014"]http://customs.hmrc....=HMCE_CL_000014[/url] Jazzyvee

Chick Corea's latest album, The Vigil.

I also play in a reggae band and do dub sessions occasionally. My bass has low pass filters built in so getting a clean powerful dub sound from my bass is easy. I can highly recommend one of ACG filter based pre-amps for your bass they will get you down to that clean righteously powerful dub tone. If you want the heaviest dub tone with clarity then i can highly recommend the Alembic Superfilter. Not cheap but it will do magic for your tone. There is one on ebay at the moment. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alembic-SF2-2-Channel-Stereo-Parametric-Equaliser-/290987697302?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Outboards_Effects_MJ&hash=item43c037e496"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item43c037e496[/url] In terms of playing technique I find i get the best dub tone if I use the technique that Aston Family Man Barrett uses which is thumb on the end of the neck and use the side of your fingers to contact the string as you play, that definitely gives you a fatter more mellow tone especially with the neck pickup. If I need note articulation and tone change I just add a bit of the bridge to give me that. [url="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Aston_Barrett.JPG"]http://upload.wikime...ton_Barrett.JPG[/url] Jazzyvee

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1380474510' post='2225846'] The Brown bass is a Series bass and all standard/omega shaped Series basses are chambered to reduce weight. I'm not sure if other body shape variants (like the Entwhistle bass above) are. [/quote] I think you will find the Brown bass that Stanley Clarke had was a series I bass. The brown bass that Alembic make is based on that bass but is not a series bass. It has hum cancelling pickups as opposed to what alembic refer to as their single coils, and uses their anniversary electronics which is similar due to two volumes and two filters with Q switches, but not the same as the series bass system. [url="http://alembic.stores.yahoo.net/brownbass.html"]http://alembic.store.../brownbass.html[/url] Jazzyvee

I did check out some Ritters at the last Bass Day in London earlier this year but it was with headphones so not ideal. I plan to check some out properly at sometime during the coming year and see what they have a sound that I can use. I don;t have a bolt on bass so this may be a good place to start looking.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1380494430' post='2226274'] what you call this then? [/quote] Half Cut?

Here is a spoiler being put through it's paces by Rochon Westmoreland. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVB7ntr4ptA A great sounding bass. Jazzyvee

[quote name='JoT' timestamp='1298245191' post='1134966'] Posted on your other message. Basically, NO - do not go with Tesco or any non specialist insurer, as they will exclude musical instruments from any cover in any event. Stick to specialists. [/quote] That would be my advice too, In the late 90's i took my guitar on a caribbean holiday as I was going to be playing at a family wedding there also and asked for it to be covered under my travel insurance policy, they refused but my home contents policy covered it as long as I was not playing for financial gain. The best thing is to call a specialist company. If you are in the MU you get some cover as part of the membership but I can't recall how much that is.

[quote name='zomnius' timestamp='1380038672' post='2219943'] haha thx. i am afraid i have got the alembic virus [/quote] Unfortunately it is an easy virus to catch but hard to get out of your system :-).

I got one of these harvest gig bags earlier this year and not had any problems with it. It's not a lightweight case like some of the others named on the thread but it's robust. It only has a couple of pockets, one for the tuner and a large pocket in front for everything else. Enough for a couple of leads, strings, music, power supply for my bass. ipad and tools. I doubt if you would get anything bulky in there like a compact power amp but you could get a few boss sized pedals in there. [url="http://www.harvest-guitar.com/Bass-Bags/"]http://www.harvest-g....com/Bass-Bags/[/url] Jazzyvee

I did a lot of touring abroad for about 5 years during the 2000's and took a flight case for most of the travel because at first it was hard to guarantee that you will be allowed to take the guitar inside. Later on I did take the guitar on board but that was when prior arrangement with the airline was made at booking and an agreement for some of the band members to carry their instruments in the passenger compartment. If you do that make sure that this is entered on the system as a note when booking so that the check in clerk can see it on the screen when you arrive for check in. Whenever that has been done I've had no problems carrying my instrument on-board even from the USA which is usually very hard to do. Touch wood I've never had any problems with the guitar in a flight case in the hold apart from minor damage to the case. Advice from a friendly customs guy one time when the case was scanned was to take any batteries out of the instrument and it's case and keep them in your regular luggage. It is less likely to get opened up by them. Jazzyvee

I played a gig with The Elizabeth Fields Collective at an old Jazz club in Bilston called "The Trumpet" we aren't a jazz band at all just play a kind of fusion of folk and funk. Had a good crowd and the gig went well. Jazzyvee

[quote name='zomnius' timestamp='1379624917' post='2215096'] my alembic custom polar white. yeah! plays super smooth. best one i have right now. [/quote] Great choice of bass.. :-) Jazzyvee

Alembic short scale Series I, 4 string bass and F1-x Preamp

I don't use them live as my basses are asymetrical at the bottom end and don't stand securely in the stand so could easily fall over if left on a busy stage. However I do use them for my guitars and if placed carefully on stage they can be ok. But yes they could easily be knocked over or the guitar pulled off the stand if you leave the jack lead plugged into the instrument. Mostly I keep my bass in its case until I need to play or use a hercules stand carefully placed out of harms way. Jazzyvee

Great gig last night Pete, your bass sounded heavy but not overpowering out front. I also found out yesterday we have a common musical friend Louise Mayer, who was also there at the gig. She says she sometimes deps on backing vocals in Nearly Dan. I used to play guitar in her band in the early 80's. Small world Jazzyvee

I bought a GPS tracker last year to keep in my case as I was doing a lot of multi-band gigs where the back stage area was not really clear of strangers. It's pretty sophisticated and you have various scenario's that you can set to receive notifications. You can have a knock sensor message so if the unit is moved or knocked, exceeds a specific speed or moved outside a predetermined zone (geo fencing), for any of these it will send you text with it's GPS location which you click and see it's location on Google maps. You need a standard mobile phone pay as you go sim card [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TK102-2-Smallest-GSM-GPRS-GPS-Tracker-Car-Child-SD-THIS-IS-100-XEXUN-PRODUCT-/251240056359"]http://www.ebay.co.u...T-/251240056359[/url] Unfortunately it turned out to be faulty and was constantly sending fault and help messages and the 72 hour standby battery life turned out to be less than 6 hours. So I got a refund and just keep my bass with me in a good gig bag.I think it cost me £35. A contact of mine in the usa has one fitted inside his bass guitar cavity. http://alembic.com/club/messages/393/76676.jpg I'm still looking for a smaller but more reliable one. Jazzyvee

Good choice of amp, I have a qsc setup too with a f1-x pre amp. It's a great way to get great even sound and dynamics at low volume as well as clean at stage volumes. Pretty heavy lump to carry in a rack though. Jazzyvee

I tracked a frustrating hum problem back to my broad band over mains powerlines adaptor. When I turned it off the hum and crackling stopped. . http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/networking/networking/powerline-home-networking/devolo-9131-dlan-500-duo-500-mbps-powerline-adapter-kit-twin-pack-21376659-pdt.html If you also have one of those things or the ones for sending media down the mains you could try turning off. Jazzyvee

I too try to avoid taking extra stuff to gigs. It can be a hassle so I've only tried this at home. My bass can provide individual pickup outputs and/or combined pickup output from its external power supply so I can put both pickups through my mesa bass rig in mono, then also take a signal from the bridge pickup into my Roland JC120 which did produce a great sound and gave more clarity to the top end without getting harsh but you do have to be very careful of levels. If you have a crossover in your rig you can also take the hight frequency out into a guitar amp and keep the bottom end in a bass cab. I'm more of an in the pocket groove player rather than a soloist so at the moment I have more need to keep the bottom end under control and splitting into a guitar amp would not be any use to me live. Mono is good enough. Jazzyvee

Just seen this today, what's going on here. Are there lots of ACG basses to check out or something? Where/What is Drew's place? Jazzyvee

oops just checked with my other half and we saw you at Huntingdon Hall, Worcester and not Guildhall Gloucester. But yeah looking forward to it. Jazzyvee

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1378669381' post='2203092'] Ahh. Was it your band that came to the Gloucester Guildhall last year or so, I wanted to come but was sadly working. If you are this way again, I will definitely come [/quote] I was at your gig at the Guildhall gloucester. Excellent gig. Now I know about it I will be at the hare and hounds gig too. It's a nice venue, small and most bands there play far too loud. If I get a chance I'll say hi. Jazzyvee