funkypenguin

Thanks so much! yes, my bass is tuned B-C Best, Ben

Hey Paul, Its a 97 streamer LX6 custom shop retrofitted with an East U-Retro deluxe preamp in place of the old MEC 2 band unit. The wood combination (wenge/maple) is naturally quite bright and the U-Retro does an amazing job of sweetening the high end as I found the old MEC unit far too harsh in the top end. strings are DR Hi-Beams (.125-.030) and my bass is tuned standard, B-C I'll post a link of the video series as soon as we're finished editing it! Best, Ben

Hey, yes its being played an octave higher than written I'll be releasing the whole suite as a video series on YT sometime later in the week so you'll be able to see that it fits very nicely around the 12th fret position on the 6 string bass. I'm glad you enjoyed my performance so much, its very kind of you to say it stacks up to a Cello performance of the suite! One of the main goals for me was to make it musical, to go back to the source material and pull the music out of the music if that makes any sense? Thanks for taking the time to listen to the suite! Ben

Thanks so much, im glad you enjoyed it!!

If you're flying with an instrument I would say packing it appropriately is number one on your list of priorities....if you don't do your homework and take every precaution prior to flying then I would say that's on the musicians head. Being nice to the gate and cabin crew is essential if you want to try and get your instrument on the plane, even something as simple as a smile and a good afternoon can get you a long way with aircrew. I got lucky and never had a major issue with flight crew when I was travelling a lot with my bass and only had to gate check it when the flight was absolutely rammed

Hello folks! Hope you're all well and staying healthy through all madness that has engulfed us all . I've just completed my first lockdown project which is a complete performance of Bach's first cello suite in G Major. The video series is now linked below and should take you to the Prelude and the playlist containing the other 5 movements! The soundcloud link is also below for those wishing for a somewhat better audio representation of the performance! Its been a long process and a lot of practice prepping this. For those interested in the tech side of things my Warwick streamer LX6 was recorded (flat with passive tone rolled on a little) via DI box, Amp DI (Genz Streamliner 900) and from a mic on one of my vanderkley cabs via a focus rite interface into my computer. Declan Pearson of Colossus studios in Bolton then took care of final mixing and mastering if you have a spare 20 minutes id appreciate your thoughts! Hope you enjoy it! Ben

I'll go with Dream Theater, Images and Words > Awake

when it comes to quantifying the worth of expensive instruments it isn't about being able to quantify their specs one vs the other, its about which one suits you and speaks to you the most. Ive played vintage fenders that carry a much higher price tag than my main Warwick custom shop Streamer LX6, but the Warwick is in another dimension as an instrument, its far more ergonomic, is has a far more complex sound, plays like a dream, the spec is almost perfect and she has been with me almost 10 years now (all IMHO naturally ). You're happy with and love your Euro series Spector, therefore the increase in price to a US NS-2 doesn't make sense, which is perfectly fine. The workmanship, fit, finish, wood quality and the HAZ preamp of the NS5XL all combined in my eyes/ears to make the US bass worthy of a heftier price tag than the euro I played. This was a few years back though when the price difference wasn't quite as high

I always carried my bass on with me (I worked for a cruise company in the states and couldn't afford to have the airlines lose my bass, which is what happened the one time I did check it....). I use a reunion blues continental gig bag, with the bass thoroughly bubble wrapped inside. Its light enough to carry around airports and sturdy enough to survive being gate checked if push comes to shove, though I only had to gate check it once or twice

I feel like you'll never hear the difference between the basses after the audio has been compressed to hell uploading to YouTube. The only way you can make proper judgement on any basses sound IMO is to play one for yourself and then decide either way. I had the chance to play a euro 4 and an NS-5XL back to back and I thought the HAZ preamp was a big step up in sound quality from the tonepump fitted to the Euro. I think you've more or less answered your own question on whether a new NS-2 is worth it a few posts back when you felt you couldn't justify spending more than £1500 on any bass.

I would have pegged you as a Fafner sort of character @Dood, but this amp does sound great! Is there any possibility of seeing how your Shukers sound through this rig?

I've nothing against slap, my first bass hero was Mark King I don't really slap much anymore these days but its a lot of fun to work on from time to time and there are some bassists doing incredible things using slap (Alain Caron and Henrik Linder are two that spring immediately to mind). What I do hate is the Clutterbucks of the bass world slapping incessantly throughout the duration of a trade show about a thousand DB louder the anyone else around them. The last bass show I went to was the last bass day in Manchester and my ears were bleeding after being around the trade stands.

I had the pleasure of playing this bass way back in 2013 at the NE bash (I think it had only just been completed if memory serves @rk7 ?!) and remember it being a beautiful instrument. Im so happy for you that the guys at overwater were able to pull this off for you, I know I would be devastated if I could no longer play my main bass anymore! Fantastic result all round! Out of interest, what is it exactly that you prefer about the overwater circuit versus the East unit? purely out of curiosity as I swear by Johns U-Retro unit!

Very subjective but I would have had Nate Watts, Stuart Zender, John Myung and Janek Gwizdala on the list

It depends what you're going for with your sound. I really love the midrange growl and warmth I get from the wenge neck on my warwick, something that seems to be absent on most maple necks ive played, so much so that whenever I play my precision (maple/maple) It takes a minute before im comfortable with the sound. If I were you I would be patient and go with the wenge neck every time

01 Ever played a gig sitting down? Yes, when I injured my left shoulder back in 2008 had to gig sat down for 2 months 02 Ever gigged on a different instrument? Yes, I play trumpet/flugelhorn as well as bass 03 Ever shared a stage with a musical hero of yours? Unfortunately not! 04 Any fan ever had a tatoo of your band's logo? No 05 Ever signed an autograph in a dressing room? No 06 Ever cried on stage? Yes, when I was a musical director for Carnival Cruises in the states, we organised a Michael Jackson tribute set that happened to fall on the anniversary of his death. Closing the set with Man in the Mirror was an emotional moment for the whole band 07 Ever worn a hat on stage? Yes 08 Ever gigged with a band you hadn't met before the gig? Yes, its a regular occurrence when you work freelance! 09 Ever been in a relationship with a fellow band member? No 10 Ever played in different bands on the same day? IIRC ive gigged with 3 different bands on the same day 11 Ever had anything thrown at you while playing? No 12 Ever crashed on the way to the gig? No 13 Ever left a band over the choice of set list? No 14 Ever slept in the venue despite it not being a hotel? No 15 Ever been supported by a band clearly better than you? Absolutely 16 Ever played a gig suffering from some debilitating medical condition? I have asthma and eczema but I don't consider either really debilitating 17 Ever been in a band where the guitarist was your favourite bandmate? Yes 18 Ever played in the grounds of a stately home? Yes 19 Ever injured yourself on stage? No 20 Ever been told that your bass isn't loud enough? Yes, had an MD once that was adamant that I always played too loud despite audience members repeatedly saying turn the bass up

Do you feel as though you're getting closer at least? is there any specific player who has your ideal sound that I could listen to to get an idea of exactly where you're going? aside from all that, hope you're keeping well through the current shitshow Kiwi

expensive indeed, you seem to have something incredibly specific in mind when it comes to the sound of your bass

Great Idea! Its been a long while since I posted anything but that should hopefully be changing within the next month or so after I finish working on my current item from the to-do list!

out of interest @Kiwi, did you finally get the shuker to the point of being happy with the sound?

Its been a long time since ive played live prog but I always took a deep breath before we played Metropolis Pt.1 by Dream Theater, mainly for the unison section at the end of the instrumental

Are you thinking a new Warwick Bluejay??

My main bass is a Warwick streamer LX6 which weighs in around 11.5 pounds (5.2kg). It doesn't feel particularly heavy to me, something I largely attribute to being a competitive powerlifter. If you're used to feeling 130kg (squats) and above across your upper back, a 5.2kg bass isn't heavy.

if you wouldn't mind! I've recently stopped having a regular band to play in away from my freelance work so am looking for something new!

damn, was just about to post that I'm available!