darkandrew

A little while ago I replaced the stock MEC PJ set in my Warwick SS1 with an EMG PJ-X set. The PJ-X set are fine but, in all honesty, not all that different from the stock MECs. I am now considering changing the "X" set for standard EMG PJs but am not sure what the difference will be. In terms of what I would like them to be, I would hope they were a bit more compressed with a meatier thump at the bottom end.

The tonepump preamp volume on my Spector Euro is so hot that I have to have my volume at about half way. I recently bought a newer tonepump, the one with the trim pot, but haven't got around to installing it yet.

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1428941598' post='2746194'] Bear in mind you are [u]supposed[/u] to cough up duty when you bring it through the airport [/quote] I've heard of people being stopped and searched for receipts when going through customs for this very reason. From what I remember, the personal allowance for bringing items into the UK from outside of the EU is quite low and might just be enough for a set of stribgs (but certainly not enough for a bass).

[quote name='Johnm93' timestamp='1428338793' post='2740395'] Ha ha ha - my two new favourite words!! Clag and goit will soon be appearing in everything techinical I write .... [/quote] "Clag and Goit" - sounds like the leaders of a parliamentary coalition.

Didn't find any old videos but I did find a photo from too many years ago. (Mullet warning!).

[quote name='ribbetingfrog' timestamp='1428264089' post='2739768'] Sorts stiff knobs aswell. [/quote]

I've always found Thomann to be very good for Warwick parts.

The aforementioned Euro 5LX also has an extended 35" scale which helps tighten up the "b" string. It really is one of the most playable basses I've ever owned.

There was a time when I more or less gave up playing bass, and it was pretty much down to me selling my old workhorse Westone and "upgrading" to a Yamaha 5 string - I just couldn't get on with the Yamaha 5 at all and as a result all but stopped playing for a couple of years. It was only later that I returned to playing bass and the first thing that I did was get rid of that Yamaha 5 string. Fast forward a few years and I thought I'd give 5 string basses another go, so bought myself a Spector Euro 5LX from here and took to it instantly. So I guess with 5 stringers, just as with any other instrument, you get some that play better than others.

I remember reading an article in Sound On Sound about the recording of New Order's "True Faith", in which Stephen Hague admitted that he wishes he'd put the bass more upfront in the mix but at the time he'd never heard the bass guitar played as a lead instrument. So going by that, I think it's probably fair to say that a good producer or engineer can record any genre competently but to get it spot on requires a familiarity with the nuances of the genre.

I saw a news story about Auto-tune on the TV last night and in it they listened to older recordings (such as Bowie's "Life on Mars") where the vocals were technically all over the place but full of feeling and emotion. The point they were making is that it's the imperfections in a performance that actually connect with the audience, and sometimes in our relentless quest for technical perfection we forget that.

[quote name='Bobthedog' timestamp='1427911822' post='2735837'] I have read some technical bumph about why studios do not like the B string [/quote] I was watching a documentary video on Billy Idol's website yesterday about recording his latest album with Trevor Horn and Trevor was playing a 5 string (and a 4 string and an upright). I would guess that if there were technical reasons why 5 string basses were no good in the studio, if anybody would know it would be Trevor Horn. http://youtube.com/watch?v=dwQ3VUK8e2s

http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/shop/sonic-blue/ +1 for Manchester Guitar Tech - I've used them before and can recommend them.

I agree, an iPhone with a decent set of ear phones can sound great especially if encoded using the apple lossless encoder but unfortunately a great many younger people listen to a lot of their music through their phone's in built speaker which just doesn't do justice to the original recording especially as much of the lower end is lost. Similarly, technology has made the distrubution of music far more convenient (through streaming and MP3s) but arguably at the expense of the quality of the reproduction. So is not valid to surmise that these factors may lead to future generations not developing a musical ear for the quality of a recording in the way that perhaps previous generations did?

On a slightly off-piste (but related note), what worries me more is that most younger people seem to listen to music on tinny iphones (or similar) where you can't hear the bass properly anyway and just sound generally awful. With that being the case, does it matter what you play or how you play it, as no-one's going to hear it reproduced properly anyway.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1423506090' post='2685667'] Well it is, really. Couldn't resist. No-one reads the Gigs forum anyway! [/quote] There's a Gigs forum?

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1417731253' post='2623636'] Could have been worse. I suspect everyone has seen this Iron maiden clip: http://youtu.be/knC743Nds4Q [/quote] No, I hadn't seen that one. Actually the older I get, the more I like Iron Maiden - I might have to go and buy one of their CDs.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1416912009' post='2614865'] Before I was lucky enough to find my Glockenklang here in the BC marketplace I emailed DV247 to see if they could match the thomann price. They responded a week later saying they could, but a week is far too long.. If one hadn't come up for sale here I would have assumed they weren't going to respond and ordered it up from Thomann by then... [/quote] Aren't DV247 German these days, too?

It reminds me of a story that I read where a certain Derek Forbes was in the audience of a Simple Minds tribute band and got on stage for a song or two. I don't think I would've minded too much, mind you I'd have given him hell if he'd dinged my bass! Edit: Here's a clip of it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziMxr5HEL28&feature=youtube_gdata_playert

I was thinking about buying a bass from Derek Forbes a few years ago and exchanged a few emails with him - seemed like a very decent bloke. I've also met Tony Hadley quite a few times (yes I know he's not a bass player) through his charity work for the Shooting Stars children's hospice, again a very decent bloke.

Weirdly, I've had a sort of Kate Bush epiphany in reverse; I'd never bought any of her music but always respected it from a distance but having seen the same footage as you on BBC I'm actually quite underwhelmed. Just goes to show that one man's vinegar is another man's vintage wine.

The reality is that most musicians don't make a living out of recording or performing and instead find other ways of making a musically related living. I "retired" from full-time gigging at the end of my twenties having had a great time but also having come to the conclusion that it was time to get a "real" job. I trained as a teacher and have now been teaching ICT and Music for 15 years or so. I still let my hair down and do the occasional school concert now and then - last one I did was play bass in a Nile Rodgers medley which was probably just as much fun as anything I did when I was younger but with the added bonus of a regular paycheck at the end of each month. There are of many other ways to make a musically related living - look at Thomas Dolby, he made far more money out of composing ring tones than he did from selling records.