dmccombe7

We're all just bass geeks. Dave

Love Alembic basses. One of those basses i'd still like to own at some point. Think there's an Alembic thread on BC somewhere. Might be worth reading. I know when i fancied an Alembic there were some that had issues. Cant remember what it was ? Dave

I'm also a great believer in rehearsals even when gigging unfortunately we are a minority in that respect. Dave

I'll ask if they've seen you guys. Altho i'm playing in a punk band i have no idea about the various punk bands other than what's on my set list Dave EDIT :- just checked out some youtube vids and you guys were good and tight. Nice one.

I have a few bandmates that generally go to Rebellion. I know you've probably told me this already but my memory aint what it used to be but what was the band you were with ? Dave

Bet that 2nd gig felt like a reality check Dave

Had both in 80's. The original Aria SB1000 with bat wing headstock i thought was a tremendous bass and sorry i ever sold it on. I found the neck very easy to get along with and i was used to playing Jazz or Shergold necks at that time. I did find it a very mid-focused bass no matter where i set the controls it always came across as having nice Lo to Hi mids depending where you set the switch. Reasonably heavy bass compared to newer basses but i was 9.5 st back in them days and didn't have any issue over a full gig. Neck was gorgeous to play and it just felt like a big step up on quality from other basses i had tried to that point. Had the MC925 in white in later 80's and again a heavy beast of a bass but a glorious neck. I did find the weight an issue with it over a full gig and it would dig into my shoulder a bit. A wider strap would have resolved that i think. Tonally i think it had a huge range of available tones from smooth bass to high treble and very nice mids. On a personal point of view i found the controls a bit more than i needed but always had a great tone from that bass. My strong memory is how good the neck felt to play. I dont recall anything special about the tone on the Ibanez. For me i'd prefer the Aria SB1000 as i liked that mid focused tone and growl. It always felt different to other basses in that price range whereas the Ibanez was just another bass to me. Aria had a distinct tone that the Ibanez didn't. Ibanez would probably give more variety of tone tho. It was a long time ago but my memory tells me the Aria felt better to play and better quality bass. I cant comment on reliability of either bass as i bought them new and had no issues over the 1-2 years i had them. Hope that helps a bit. Dave

Nice one, great basses for the money IMO. Oddly enough i'm used to slim Jazz necks but i do find the Vintera neck very comfy and had no trouble changing between basses. Dave

Decided to order a set of NYXL's 45-100 for the MarloweDK. Listening to the various vid clips from Fri nights gig i was finding the same thing as last few gigs where bass had no definition with the Markbass longevo strings. It wasn't a bad sound but the edge just wasn't cutting thru no matter what i tried. I've played same venues before using EXL's and i could clearly hear the mids cutting thru. All that's changed are the strings. They sound fine when playing on my own at soundcheck but just get lost when the band comes in. ?? Its a really odd experience. Dave

Was in a band called Gypsies Kiss in 80's

Its amazing how a full house makes you feel like the band is playing better. The packed gigs i always find the bands are tighter. Empty gigs i've seen me lose my focus a bit while trying to figure out why there's lnot a lot of people in. 😂 Dave

Vid appeared from our gig on Fri night (see my comments earlier in thread) No idea how they took this but they must have been tall as band play on a stage.😂

That looks amazing, would love to hear some of it. I'm of to Youtube for a search LOL EDIT :- now that was seriously good. Listened to two songs both live and thoroughly enjoyed it. Nice one. Dave

Nice bass, bet you wished you'd kept it. And sporting a lovely pair of flares. Dave

100% i've always found its personal ego's that kill a band. Where is the band based as i'm sure i've heard of them. Dave

To be fair its only our guitarist from the original band. Drummer has been with them 11-12 yrs, singer i think 7 yrs and me 6mths so i'm the newbie 😂 Great band with no ego's, just nice people. Dave

Punk band last night at The Dreadnought in Bathgate celebrating their 50th Anniversary as a rock venue. 4 nights of bands spread over this weekend and next. Punk themed night, 70's themed night, Soft rock night and finally an 80's night. Great night with prizes supplied by the venue for the highest pogo and best dressed punk. The Dreadnought even supplied free hot pies at half time. We had a couple of "guest" singers join us and just had a great night. The punk band Emergency Exit also celebrating 45 years as a band. And here's me with my leather jeans punk look.

On another note i'm doing a themed punk gig tomorrow night and i'll be sporting leather jeans again altho not the ones in my earlier pic. Dave

If i remember right a US Fender Jazz cost me £350 and my WAL was £730 early to mid 80's if my memory serves me right. It was always regarded as an elite bass to buy. I had to save to get it LOL Dave

OUCH now that's even worse IMO. Dave

Further update that GAK have not charged me postage on the 2nd set due today with no prompting from me. All's well that ends well. Dave

You certainly looked the part of an 80's metal hair band. Nice one. Dave

Apologies there @Misdee that was a "should have gone to specsavers" moment. For some weird reason i read Elites as Elixir strings I originally had Elites steels on my Warwick when i got it 35-95 gauge and really liked them. I used Elites for a few years while gigging that particular bass. In those days i only had one bass LOL To be fair i've not tried Elites since early 90's and wasn't sure they were still on the go but i might just have a look at them. I see a lot of players using the Dunlop strings and its one i've not tried yet so that's a good option for me to try. As you say they are relatively cheap too. I'll have a look at the Rotosound UltraMag strings as i've not heard of them either. I dont like overly pliable strings but strings that have too much tension i tend to struggle with them. Dave

I've used Elixirs when they first appeared and still have them on my Warwick Thumb NT but i find they have more tension than i prefer. My Warwick is never gigged these days so the strings have been on it for quite a few years now LOL I've not tried Elites Players and not used Rotosound strings since 80's. Have Elixir strings changed over the years. ? Having been a fan of D'addario EXL190's nickel strings i thought the NYXL's might be close enough to what i'm used to. Its a bit concerning to hear the fret wear thing tho and i'll be curious to see if anything comes back on that point. Dave

I did look at Strings Direct but they were approx £5 / set more than GAK and having used GAK many times before and i always buy more than one set so usually works out cheaper in long run. Have to say i've used Bass Direct quite a few times and they are usually pretty good. On occasion Strings Direct weren't showing my usual strings EXL190's hence looking around for other suppliers. I used to go between Strings Direct and String Busters but not sure the latter is still going these days. Dave