Kiwi

Yeah Sharay is an absolute gospel improv monster thanks to his theory training. But he plays a lot of bland, easy listening, worship stuff and it kind of squashes his buzz a bit.

All cabs have some form of colouring. There was a comparison of 1x12 cabs at the SE Bass Bash in 2015 and the BB2 showed some colouring in the higher frequencies, to my ears, perhaps not due to the design as much as the tweeter. But there were others that were more coloured and remained surprisingly popular amongst attendees. Some colouring can also help with monitoring in a crowded on stage mix. My fEARless F112 cabs are more like PA cabs but they're not as light as a BB2. Maybe they're a little too sweet for live use. I run them each with a GB shuttle 6

It is! I also spotted it last week while reviewing the video. Very unusual to see one played live!!

Phenomenal playing from both, metronome precision yet they groove brutally. No wonder Quincy used LJ in the studio so often.

I think you could do better...

I'm a bit late to this thread but my first reactions were astonishment at the work to the electronics and pickups. And admiration of both how broad your skills are and the standard of quality in the outcomes. It's a bit like watching Jaco for the first time, makes me want to hang up my router... Two thoughts though: 1) For neck reinforcement, it's generally best to rely on a stiff fingerboard for rigidity in the first instance and use softer wood in the neck laminations to create timbre. I know carbon reinforcement is all the rage and there's nothing inherently wrong with it but to retain some warmth from the instrument, softer woods also play a part - something like figured maple or lightweight mahogany, as well as the denser ones like rock maple and purple heart. The trick is getting the recipe to taste and that, arguably, can take some trial and error. 2) Filter sweeping: I know you are going to play about with things a bit and I think your sweep range is probably where I'd aim for a first time as well. Around 1.2Khz is where a lot of fret noise is, although you could dampen that with part of the pickup design or put a notch filter in the preamp response. Around 250Hz gives a nice punch for the back pickup although some find that a narrow boost around 600Hz adds more stingray-ish snarl in the string attack but it really depends on what you have to work with in terms of timbre.

Yes, the only one not to appear was Holly Johnson. They got back together for this appearance after a Bands Reunited episode.

And this just because they're brilliantly cool and tragically under rated by the world. Not because of the bass playing.

I don't know what they did to the p-bass in the mix but it sounds fantastic. Fat, compressed and growly.

Still living? Ash Soane - an absolute monster groove player. Phil Collins - see above Dead? Jeff Pocaro and Prince only because they could make me a better bass player.

I'd love to know what they've done to the p-bass in this mix but it's lovely. Fat, compressed and snarly.

I think there are two different contexts. Otherwise it's comparing apples to oranges.

The neck will still sit true to wherever its bolt holes are located once the neck is tightened back up. I usually just check how tight the neck bolts are, they can loosen up over time. Also if the bass is a seventies three bolt with micro tilt then checking the tilt stud is worth doing, too.

Has Junior Bass Groovador been mentioned yet...?

Agree 100% in principle but finding people skilled enough to make a maple bass sound like a mahogany one is the stuff of legend. Let alone specific tonal nuances of how different masses of wood might interact. It's definitely true that the more laminations there are in the neck of a bass, the less the wood matters. And it's also true in my experience that the fewer wood types there are in a bass, the more distinctive it sounds (for better or worse). It's all about the neck btw. It bears the string tension and has the most impact on tone. In a bolt on bass the body has more of an impact than the wings on a neck through, depending on construction. Softer woods also dampen certain frequencies, the stiffer ones preserve them depending on where in the bass they're used. Perfectly stiff instruments will sound nearly identical regardless of what they're made from.

Useless factoid here, but look up "Raytheon knob" on Ebay and a load of Aria-like knobs will show up. It seems Aria may have been inspired...

I think we're talking in different contexts

I actually went to visit Roger in his original workshop just off Broadway back in 1991. His workshop was up a load floors accessed by one of those lifts with just the grate to pull across. He was there when I walked in and I told him straight up I was just there to have a look around because there was no way I could afford to buy anything. He was still accommodating and gracious and let me try out a few instruments.

The cost of the instrument can't be justified by the time it takes to make it.

Absolutely not. So many Chinese factories try to build as quickly as possible with inexperienced labour. The more successful ones develop a Linda Evangelista attitude where they won't do anything unless there's a minimum order. Sire pulled their factory out of China and went to Indonesia because the quality was more consistent. High enough standards couldn't be maintained by their Chinese workforce. I had a three hundred quid piece of crap in the spare room wardrobe which is testament to this.

I build my own instruments. How quickly you siezed on my location though. Pretty unusual. Perhaps you are the one with an axe to grind?

I'm finding that setting up my PC for composing is a ridiculous amount of faff and, by the time I've done it, I've lost the will to live let alone record any creative inspiration. Instead, I'm probably going to get a Tascam 24 track recording desk soon for a few hundred quid, it'll allow me to record audio direct guide tracks with minimum hassle. I haven't touched my C4 in 6 months...it doesn't go far enough in terms of UI, sequencing parameters or connectivity...as you'll already be aware. Which can't be operated realistically mid set on a dark stage without bending over and assuming you've remembered what patch is where. It's not a convenient solution. Massive doesn't mean usable. A lot of the patches are just people throwing stuff at walls and seeing what sticks. And there's a lot to wade through before I find anything relevant. I did, and subsequently got in contact with SA who gave my comments serious consideration one lunch time but there's no more room in the C4 for more code. Perhaps my suggestions will be adopted in a new line though. It's not that simple, you need an interface before you can connect something like a Morningstar MC6 and that's just to achieve two foot operated patch buttons that could have been included in the first place. That's in the order of an extra 3-400 quid of stuff before you get basic MIDI 5 pin DIN connectivity offered of pedals way below the price point of the C4. Integrating a C4 into an existing MIDI pedalboard with 5 PIN based pedals is both expensive and far from straight forward. Which means you need to take those things to a gig, potentially leave them unattended before your first song and your hands need to come away from the instrument to make patch changes...but the rest of the stuff in your board can be operated by feet... I suspect SA prioritised form factor over connectivity in their original design and some of the features came up a bit short. For example, no individual envelope following for each step which means two steps with the same pitch just merge into one note twice the duration. Whereas the Adrenalinn III does have individual notes per step but doesn't have a pitch shift based arpeggiator. Stuff like that lets the C4 down...which is a bit of a travesty given how good it does the things it does well.

I've actually removed Barts from my Pedulla and replaced them with Alembic Activators. Not that I'm recommending Activators, they're too expensive for what they are but they did get me more mids than the Barts and are fairly flat response. A set of EMG's could probably achieve the same objective although the classic EMG's have this kind of sterile high end that I'm not fond of for bass. Maybe that's changed given how many models are offered now.

Yes but there's still the matter of perceived value. Indonesian factories are just as capable of making a Fodera type bass, they can do it more efficiently. Although Fodera do the same thing as PRS and let their necks sit on a shelf for a year or so to calm down as they work on them bit by bit. What we never find out is how much time that takes above and beyond the basic manufacture of a neck somewhere in Asia and whether the mark up reflects that extra time. Same goes for roasted necks (although that budget brands like HB are offering them on instruments suggests that the roasting process doesn't add a significant extra cost). It seems like some of the US boutique brands are running very high overheads. None of which can be rationalised to overseas customers beyond 'that's just how it is'. But THEN you have the makers who are set up for mass production jumping on the boutique band wagon, more or less saying 'oh yeah, we produce instruments that can be every bit as good as Fodera - they're hand built [from CNC rough cut parts], we use the finest [within budget and spec] woods and the best that forty year old technology can offer, we're gonna charge you twenty percent less than a Fodera! What a bargain.' And the more gullible players, who perhaps are inclined towards the social aspects of brand loyalty than a tool for gigging, want to buy into that. And the mass manufacturers are laughing at what they can get away with, all the way to the bank.

Not only that, Jason also said that in the US it costs a LOT to provide employees with things like a pension plan and healthcare that in the UK people take for granted as a right. Alembic look after their people as well. I don't know about the others. Do you live in Auckland perchance?