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Mastodon2

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  1. Mastodon2
    I did worry about that - buy while the market is good and still exists!
  2. Mastodon2
    Hey all, I've got my eye on an instrument in another EU country, private sale - if I buy it will I be liable for any fees as it enters the UK? I've bought a few used instruments and sold a few into other EU nations but in all my years I don't think I've ever bought one privately from overseas. The value is in excess of £2500, would that make a difference? It's maple and ebony so I don't think there would be any CITES issues. Cheers for all the help guys.
  3. Mastodon2
    [quote name='Mark_ii' timestamp='1504878069' post='3367991'] I've read that when playing a lined fretless that you should play on the fret lines as opposed to between them like on a regular fretted bass. If you play a lined fretless between frets then you're likely to be half of a semitone flat. This I can understand as we should always be considering the length of the vibrating string. Playing behind the fret line will flatten the pitch. However .... if I take a lined fretless and play an A on the 5th fret of the bottom E string (right between frets like on a fretted bass), then I tune the bass up a fraction watching my tuner as I do so, I should be able to get an in tune A whilst playing between the frets. I've just tensioned the string to compensate for the flatness. Now lets do this for the other 3 strings too, now my lined fretless should play like a regular fretted bass, i.e I don't have to worry about developing the discipline to play on the actual lines, I can play away between frets as normal. The only thing I need to watch for is the open string positions, they'll be sharp by half a semitone obviously. No great worries, I try to stay away from using open strings anyway. Am I thinking about this correctly or is there a flaw in my theory I'm on the verge of pulling the trigger on a lined fretless. All comments welcome. Thanks guys. /M [/quote] You'll still be moving the spot where the note is in tune to an arbitrary position between the frets, it isn't going to be any easier than using lines. The position where you need to get your finger to be properly in tune on the note is just as small as it is when it's sitting on the fretboard line. All you're doing is making it even harder to play in tune because you're taking your visual reference away and your open notes will be out of tune too.
  4. Mastodon2
    [quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1503249299' post='3356689'] That's not really the split in this thread though. While this sort of thing's neither what I play, or listen to - as a piece of music it's pleasant,, the band are great musicians & there's some lovely playing going on all round. I just don't understand why the guitarist's playing a bass! [/quote] It's bizarre attitude though, no reason the bass can't take the lead, the tone and timbre is completely different to a guitar too so the effect is completely different. I suppose if he wanted the piece played on a guitar he'd have had a guitarist do it?
  5. Mastodon2
    Warwick Thumb straight into the front of a Markbass Little Mark III and a Markbass 2x10. However, something somewhere in the amp is crackling, whether it's a connection somewhere in the head or the tweeter on the cab (I think it may be both) so it may well be going back to Andertons soon. I'd like to stay with MB though, the tone is superb.
  6. Mastodon2
    The split of opinion on this sort of thing always amuses me - "It's too complicated, he's overplaying" vs the "It's too simple, he should spice it up a bit". Overall I really liked it, a nice chilled out tune with some cool licks and proof that it doesn't need to be over-complicated to be good. Everyone seemed to be really into the groove and the mix was brilliant too. I loved the dark latin vibe and the bass tones from both players were superb.
  7. Mastodon2
    His "Joy to the World" live performance is probably my favourite bass guitar video, it's absolutely amazing. I need to get round to learning the rest of that song.
  8. Mastodon2
    How about Warwick 5s with the Broad Neck option? IIRC, it's the same neck as they use on the 6 string, but strung for 5 strings instead - really wide spacing. A bit too boaty and big for my tastes, but possibly what you're looking for?
  9. Mastodon2
    [quote name='40hz' timestamp='1502563538' post='3352247'] I also can never understand how people can say a bass sound is 'of a time', Which is a phrase that gets bandied about whenever Trace is mentioned. My tone with the Trace was anything but 'dated' or 80s sounding. It was any sound I wanted to have! 12 band EQ! Can tone even be 'dated'? [/quote] I think it can, it's probably more prevalent with guitar tones though; think of 80s hair metal and shred tones - super compressed, loads of gain, really wet with loads of reverb and chorus. Whenever I hear that sound now I immediately think it's "of the period", but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Metallica's old scooped tone, nu-metals mid scoop with the resonance knob on their 5150s maxed out etc, tones that aren't often used and any more but strongly evoke a certain era of music where they were heavily used. I don't think bass tones are so linked to changing fashions but I do think they've changed over the years and certain sounds can be linked to genres and time periods as gear changed. Of course, there have always been exceptions and since the beginning, there have been countless players banging away on P basses with really fat, warm, low-attack tones. With regard to Trace Elliot gear, I haven't followed the history of the company but I do remember my brother having an old head and a 4x10 cab, bright and seriously loud.
  10. Mastodon2
    £1000 for one of these is a steal, they're fantastic.
  11. Mastodon2
    Congratulations, lovely bass - nothing sounds like a Thumb!
  12. Mastodon2
    [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1501068364' post='3342186'] I'd hate to restrict myself to only listening to music with a technical and challenging bass line. [/quote] No one is asking you to, so no need to worry.
  13. Mastodon2
    To echo many others, rather than trying to match tones I've always just tried to get the best tone from my gear. I've always loved signature gear particularly when I played guitar, as it often had specs that you couldn't get elsewhere. When I had my Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Strat, I didn't try to copy Yngwie's tone (or playing!) and when I owned a Carvin Legacy amp, I didn't try to EQ it like Steve Vai. Now that I play bass, I just have my amp set for my Thumb. I try to keep my EQ pretty flat on the amp, set the active EQ on the bass to get the best sound from it that I can then tweak the amp a little to suit the bass. I suppose live you could adjust the EQ to suit a room if it had unusual acoustics, but more likely you'd be playing into PA and using the amp as a monitor. I think making drastic changes to your sound on stage in the middle of a gig will just end up with all the work at soundcheck being undone and will be less pleasing for the audience as the band's overall sound is worse as everyone changes settings. Easier just to keep it sounding good. However, there are some exceptions; some songs are going to need a Fender Strat, some will need something with humbuckers. This will naturally cause a shift in sound. Some songs will need an envelope filter or a pitch shifter / wah etc. Using pedals to get the right effect on a specific part is probably good for helping the audience get into the song if they're familiar with that sound, but in general I'd stay away from big EQ shifts song to song as much as possible. Just my 2p!
  14. Mastodon2
    Everyone's idea of "enough for the song" is different and it depends on what you're into. I like complex and challenging music, so I like bass playing to fit - but I do prefer to hear nice complimentary note choices and phrasing resolutions; someone like Janek Gwizdala is ideal to me because he "plays for the song", but given that is in jazz, this phrase has quite a different meaning to what it would mean for an indie band bassist. Sometimes I like to listen to the flash and speed of Billy Sheehan - even if he is mostly just playing fast pentatonic rock runs, or Jeff Berlin's perfectly executed playing, where he is improvising strong diatonic phrases and deftly weaving in chromatic passages. Sometimes I just want to watch that amazing video of Sharay Reed playing "Joy to the World", and other times I want to hear Ryan Martinie playing those complex lines with his signature aggressive style. I like to be impressed by both the playing and musical content of whatever I listen to. I don't listen to music in the background while doing something else, I don't like to it while driving. If I'm listening to music, I'm sitting down with some good headphones on and really getting into it, trying to transcribe it in my head and understand how all the parts fit together with the whole composition and trying to understand what makes a song so good, that's where I get my enjoyment from it. I understand this puts me a in a minority, even within musicians as a group. At the other end of the spectrum, for a lot of people all they want to hear is 1/4 and 8th note picked roots and 5th on a P bass, and there's nothing wrong with that either, it just does nothing for me. Different strokes!
  15. Mastodon2
    ***SOLD*** Hello all, For sale is my Spector Euro 5LX, which I purchased from another member on here in March. It's a fantastic bass but I just don't play it as much as my 34" scale basses. The specs are briefly summarised below: 5 string 35" scale Through neck (maple) Alder wings and walnut slice in the middle, with a poplar burl top EMG pickups - I believe these are the 40 model Tonepump preamp Brass nut This bass has not seen a huge amount of play time by me as I just prefer the sound and feel of my Warwick, but I'm very glad to have had the chance to own it. It's in fantastic condition with only very light discolouration on the bridge, no chips, dings or scratches. The quality of the gloss finish is the best I've ever seen, it's like glass, incredibly evenly applied, it's really gorgeous. The frets are in great condition, the rosewood board is exceptionally dark and clean. It has lead a pampered life and been well looked after. It's a fantastic sounding bass, exceptionally loud, clear and even, with the most authoritative and clear low B string I've ever heard. The bass is standard except for the controls, the previous owner modified one of the volume pots (it has one for each pickup) into a pan control, which I think is more useful than two separate volumes. I have also dialed back the preamp output trim pot, but this can be turned up to maximum output by myself prior to shipping, or by anyone who owns a philips head screwdriver! I would prefer to sell, but feel free to let me see what you've got in the way of trades, I'm particularly interested in fretless Warwick 5 and 6 strings. I am happy to add money for the right bass. The bass will be shipped in a gigbag but will be extremely well wrapped inside and outside of the bag with copious amounts of bubble wrap. Alternatively, the buyer may collect from my home in Newcastle, or I can deliver within a reasonable local radius, we can work something out. If shipping, we can work out a cost which will depend on where the bass is going - within the UK is never too expensive, but I prefer ship insured for the full value of the instrument, having sold plenty of guitars in the past before moving to playing bass. Shipping to the UK will be about £50, insured up to £1000, but I'm happy to discuss options with any interested buyer. I have Paypal for distance buyers, or happy to take cash for face to face sales. Link to photos: [url="http://imgur.com/gallery/60zuw"]http://imgur.com/gallery/60zuw[/url]
  16. Mastodon2
    String gauge isn't everything, using fatter strings can have a negative impact on tone (or positive depending on your aims). Big fat strings can cause a boomy, round sound, I prefer the snappier sound of lighter gauges, Scale length isn't everything either. I honestly think a lot of it is in the woods or other construction materials of the instrument. My Warwick Thumb (34") feels different on the low B to my Spector Euro 5LX (35"). The wood feels different as it vibrates, The Spector is very birght and clear, the warwick is dark and growly - and that is just playing it unplugged.
  17. Mastodon2
    I'm a guitarist of 15 years, now playing bass. Not at all offended by any jibes, life is too short and it's mostly in good humour, so carry on an two fingers up to anyone who gets their feelings hurt.
  18. Mastodon2
    I recently took up bass after playing guitar for 15 years and deciding that all along I'd probably been more of a bassist than a guitarist. I bought a Warwick Thumb 5 as I'd always lusted after one and within a few weeks of that, a reasonably priced Spector Euro 5LX popped up on my Facebook (and also on here at the same time) and I bought that. I'm fortunate to have two brilliant instruments and truth be told I could sell either of them and be happy with just once, but they do sound and feel really quite different so having some variety is nice. While I agree that motivation to create music must come from within the player, I don't see owning multiple basses as being a negative thing. Different types of instrument do make me play differently and inspire me to take my phrasing in different directions. And there are of course, some instruments that are just really unbeatable for certain tasks - you can play country chicken picking licks on a boaty old Gibson Les Paul, complete with baseball bat neck and wooly pickups, but it's easier and sounds a lot more authentic to do it on a Telecaster with vintage singlecoils! I could maybe be convinced to go down to one bass, but that would probably involve selling them both and rolling the money into a Ken Smith, F Bass or similar.
  19. Mastodon2
    [quote name='cd_david' timestamp='1344587618' post='1766647'] Just bought this from ChrisBass5, I really bought it to back up my Overwater 5 but I have a feeling it ma get more use [/quote] This bass now lives on with me. I have turned the premap outdown down by about half but otherwise I'm totally in love with it.
  20. Mastodon2
    My brother used to own a fretless Squier VMJ when they first came out, that was a great bass for the price, I'd have one myself but really need a fretless 5 or a 6.
  21. Mastodon2
    I've always liked ramps from an aesthetic perspective, some of them can look really nice. I'd like to try a bass with a ramp but doubt I'd get much benefit from it as I don't really dip my fingers under the strings as I play - comes from playing fingerstyle on acoustic guitar.
  22. Mastodon2
    My Euro 5LX, purchased from another member on here. What an instrument!
  23. Mastodon2
    I've got a Euro 5LX and it is a truly stunning instrument - but you'd expect it to be given the price tag of a new one. The finish in particular is just incredible, it's so perfectly applied it looks like the whole instrument has been wrapped in glass. Normally I'd be put off by a rosewood fingerboard, especially on an instrument of this price, as it's a budget option, but my Euro has the darkest rosewood I've seen, it's a nice thick board too. The whole thing feels very premium - I'd say if you can get a used one you'd be absolutely thrilled with it. I got mine on here for about half the price of a new one and it was immaculate, a real credit to it's previous owner. All I will say regarding the Tonepump preamp is that they leave the factory with the output gain set to the max and the output is just ridiculous - aggressive to the point of sounding harsh, hitting the front end of the amp so hard it would clip like mad at input gain settings that other active basses were completely fine at. Pop the back cover off and on the side of the preamp there is a little philips head screw, set it at about halfway between min / max and it takes all the harshness out of the sound. My Euro is probably the clearest and most commanding sounding bass I've ever heard, it's so present and piano-like. The Tonepump has way, way more output than most could ever need (but it's perhaps perfect if you play in a clanky, clangy metal band) but don't be surprised at first if you play it and your amp's clipping light goes mad and it sounds harsh to the ears - you can and should sort it immediately, it's a 2 minute job. Maybe you could try GAK or Andertons, they have decent returns policies and if it's not the instrument for you, you could send it back.
  24. Mastodon2
    [quote name='Steve Browning' timestamp='1492444240' post='3280281'] Naked. Just because Scott can't play without lines doesn't mean you can't. [/quote] He can play unlined with no issues, but says he prefers lines because he is a "visual" player in that he relies less on muscle memory and visualises a lot of patterns on the board. That's fair justification I think, it's just whatever works for the individual. He does say that he thinks new fretless players should start out with lined, just to help their eyes program their muscle memory. It's just a suggestion though, we're all free to make our own choices. Personally I prefer unlined but have not yet owned a fretless bass, but I've played a few, never spent any real time on them yet. I will be getting one at some point and haven't decided which way I'd go. Those Ibanez lines on the side of the fretboard look great. I also like the lines where they have a tiny bit of each fret line on the board for a centimentre or so, to make it look almost unlined but still having a visual reference on board. If Alain Caron likes a little pointer here and there then I wouldn't feel to ashamed to have them either!
  25. Mastodon2
    I've only started playing bass recently but in my experience of 15 years on guitar, there are those instruments that just have the perfect setup and make everything seem so easy. I've played some expensive guitars that had terrible setups - we're talking £2000+ "prestige" instruments from various American and European manufacturers who seem to ship guitars set up by the work experience kid. The best playing guitar I ever owned was a mid-range Indonesian built Ibanez that literally had the perfect setup for me - I could play cleaner and with less effort, the net result I can cleanly play things at speeds I just couldn't manage on other guitars. There have been times I've picked something up and found it pretty much exactly to my liking, or fiddled with the setup myself to get it there and I've found them very inspiring instruments to use. The ideas just seem to flow so freely when it feels like there are no barriers between my hands and the music in my head.
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