Kiwi

I think there's something to instruments with a bit of player wear, as some will know from my posts. Mainly I look for an instrument that has been played and looked after (ie maintained) over a long period of time. The reason for this is that if the instrument neck has been subject to any warpings or changings as its settled over the years, regular fingerboard dressings every time its been refretted mean that its more likely to have a stable AND straight neck. An old bass that has been sitting in a case for most of its life is more likely to be just fit for display purposes, assuming that the neck has had a high chance of warping over the course of the instruments life. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule but its hard to tell without actually having the instrument in the hands and being able to sight down the neck. The majority of instruments I've purchased in the last two years have had extensive player wear and been heavily gigged. The Celinder Update J (Ol' No. 2) was owned by one of Denmarks top session jazz bassists and has been gigged solidly since 1994, the Alembic has been owned by a number of Canada's top session bassists and again has been toured with extensively, the stingray has the most player wear and has a neck that has been refretted a number of times and fingerboard dressed. The only instrument I wouldn't want player wear on is a Pedulla Pentabuzz because the necks are dead rigid to begin with and player wear to the fingerboard just means you're closer to needing a refinish. As for relicing, its cosmetic but I don't see the point of it either. Its like drinking orange squash and pretending its orange juice.

Thanks dub Bob - I've been too busy organising things to give it much thought to be honest.

Thanks to a sharp eyed Hamster, I've checked a couple of user accounts and it turns out that Allen Baker and Chelios are using the similar email addresses and identical IP addresses. I think a bit of an explanation is in order, personally. I've PM'd Allen Baker that the Chelios account has been frozen and unless that explanation on this thread is offered in the next 24 hours, both accounts will be permanently banned.

thanks Dave Foal30 - yep coming back to Chch until something else happens. There's another lead working for CCC too so watch this space. Even if I end up returning to the UK, I can always store my stuff for free at my parents place. Hey Ben, yes Auckland seems to still be relatively optimistic from what I can tell. Two of my job leads in private practice are there at the moment and I have contacts in Auckland City Council too. You know the ironic thing though? One of the companies I used to work for are recruiting again this week because they've got too much overseas work. I had to turn them down though because my plans to move were already in place and there was no guarantee that they wouldn't let me go again if work dried up suddenly. I'm a little hacked off about the timing but its possible that things might be on the up at last with at least those companies with overseas contacts.

If any venue says they're going to add VAT, ask them if the IRD is aware they're doing that. Whatever the answer, you can always offer to give them a call yourself just to be sure.

Quite a few suggestions here, Andy. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1390&st=0&start=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...t=0&start=0[/url] As for me, give me an Avalon U5 with a 4 band parametric eq, twin inputs (for 2 basses) and an effects loop. Then give me another but put two in a rack chassis instead with one input each.

Celinder.

I just watched their DVD of the final concert in Japan last week and started liking them more than ever. Some of their stuff has really stood the test of time. Whats with Eric Martin's Mod hair though? Has he been watching 60's videos of Roger Daltrey with The Who?

[quote name='funkypenguin' post='480535' date='May 5 2009, 11:35 PM']Active EQ gives you more options IMO, by allowing greater manipulation of your bass sound.[/quote] Well that's the thing for me, I don't think it does! Most onboard eq's aren't sophisticated enough to compensate for stage acoustics. They were first used before tweeters were built into cabs and back line was pretty lo-fi by comparison to todays equipment. So back in the 70's it did make a difference to have that extra boost at either end of the frequency spectrum. But with brands like the Hartke, Behringer and Peavey being so affordable, is there any need for it? If you use it to help emulate the sounds of other basses most of them are passive anyway and dependent more on pickup design and placement than what kind of eq is onboard. If you have to use it to get your bass to sound right before you start playing then you've got the wrong tool for the job and even if you choose to use it mid set because you can't hear yourself then it buggers up the levels on the FOH desk.

thanks Nick, S_u_y_

FWIW, I'm going off the idea of active electronics and especially EMG pickups. I've had a load of active eqs in my instruments over the years and none of them could compensate very well for crappy stage acoustics or poor wood selection by the luthier. I'm rapidly reaching the conclusion that all the eq-ing should be taken care of by the amp anyway, not the bass. If the bass sounds crap then change the bass or maybe change the amp but there's no point in making a silk purse out of a sows ear. After having EMG's in my Spector(s) I'm going off the idea of their colouring too. They're [i]practical[/i] pickups but coloured and they suck some of the dynamics out of the instrument.

cetera would be the man to ask

unloading and setting up the PA and sound checking used to take 2 hours minimum for my former band which was a 9 piece

Interesting! Seems to be a bit of lag though. How good at tracking is it on bass I wonder, too? (His voice sounds like its on autotune, its very disconcerting)

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='479014' date='May 4 2009, 02:40 PM']Surely you mean 'down'?[/quote] If they're your tits Howard, you can have them sunny side down if you prefer. Just don't call me Shirley. Johnnylager - yes, pile her in, if she's house trained, she can keep an eye on things. I hope the other eye doesn't get bored though, its a 10-12 week journey. BTW, how many cubic metres will she occupy and what is her replacement value at destination for insurance purposes?

Sharay Reed. There's also this thread if its of interest? [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=729"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=729[/url]

Hi Don, fair point and one that has been in the back of my mind. Having said that, I think the NZ property market has been following the UK market pretty closely to date so based on that I'm not sure about how pronounced the lag is. I've also been in contact with people there already who I know and they seem fairly optimistic. However even if things go tits up, I still have immediate family to fall back on and cheaper retraining options than in the UK. For example, Christchurch has one of the cheapest commercial pilot training centres in the Commonwealth so I could potentially consider that as an option (cue: flying kiwi jokes ) So strategically and logically NZ is still the safer option for me.

[quote name='rodl2005' post='478785' date='May 4 2009, 09:57 AM']There's DEF. a market for FUNKY DANCE style stuff.... LOTSA islanders there who LOVE their funk!! As long as it's got Sooouuul!!!! Good luck Man!![/quote] Really? Definitely got to be an Auckland thing then given the largest population of pacific lslanders live there (more than in the islands!)

Walman - thanks [quote name='Kirky' post='478752' date='May 4 2009, 07:36 AM']Good luck mate. When I left NZ in the late 80s it was because I though it was a cultural desert. I think it's much less isolated these days. I almost yearn for those beaches again...almost... Martin[/quote] Martin, you're right. Musically, kiwi's like their music to have a bit of an edge to it so indie, rock and metal are all very popular along with sort of finn brothers/bic runga/conchords folky-pop type stuff. Whether there's a market for the funky, dancy kind of stuff I'm into, I don't know. I'm going to have to check that out I think.

wizbat, Born 2B Mild, silverfoxnik, benwhiteuk, grumble - thanks guys Spartacus, if I hadn't signed the contract last week I would have been extremely interested. I've gone with Doree Bonner who were the lowest on both shipping and insurance. Gnn. Nevermind, eh? MB1 - Welcome To Royston Kiwi, you can never leave. Nick - it wasn't planned this way as you well know.