Kiwi

Its the soundman job to make sure everyone is soundchecked in time for opening. If that means doing the band that isn't headlining first then that should be what common sense dictates. With about 2 exceptions (our band soundman and the bloke who does Cafe de Paris) almost every other soundman we've worked with has been a complete arse. I don't understand it, I mean, do they teach ARSE 101 at soundman school or something?

[quote name='SJA' post='216280' date='Jun 10 2008, 04:07 PM']a mini-bodied bass like the Status Streamliner or Zon Vinny would interest me. trouble is, I'd like a D-tuner on the E string, and AFAIK the only detunable headless bridges, by Steinberger and Hohner, are narrow-spaced- I'd prefer 19mm spacing.[/quote] Funnily enough, I've been digging about a bit since I last responded. Once the mechanism was designed, it would be possible to actually get something rapid prototyped via a number of potential manufacturing methods. But it might be costly as the prototypes would need to be reproduced a number of times to check the tolerances (ie. gaps between moving parts) are OK. I guess the cost and potential lack of demand might be why noone else has done it yet. But I'll add it to a list of things to investigate once I get my head around the basic 3d modelling/milling software.

Sandberg have the MM/P pickup configuration but the MM pickup is not in the MM position. However as a special order I'm sure they'd rout it in the correct place without too much fuss. I've been looking for an MM/P 5 myself and I don't know of any maker who makes MM/P basses with the MM in the stingray location, usually it seems to be put in the jazz coil position. Odd to say the least. How about bagging a used MIJ P bass and having a friendly luthier install an MM pickup for you? You could also bag a Stingray 5 and have a P-bass pickup installed but its probably going to be harder to get a P-bass pickup for a 5 string.

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='221894' date='Jun 19 2008, 07:42 AM']Here's some sound samples of the new Chunk Systems Octavius synth: [url="http://www.chunksystems.com/os.htm#sounds"]http://www.chunksystems.com/os.htm#sounds[/url][/quote] On the basis of those samples alone, I won't be selling my Deep Impact any time soon. I hope it can do softer moog and oberheim type sounds too. Should do, surely?

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='220926' date='Jun 17 2008, 08:58 PM']Oxblood is your man for valves but you will have to go to finnbass to ask him. Unlike some of the others I dont think he fell out with kiwi[/quote] They do spin some Class A sh*t over where speculation about my motives are concerned.

[quote name='birdy' post='221742']Once I got the Celinder P bass I knew I had to have a jazz and I got one and then let it go so there's now another one arrived and this is a very special bass. The tone is absolutely wonderful and its super playeable. I hesitate to say this but I can't see this going anywhere for a long time. Only drawback is it's not light at 10.25 lbs but what a bass!!![/quote] Welcome to the club

In my experience and assuming everything else is equal (ie. string break angle over the saddles) it makes a difference only so far as the bridge contributes overall to the general rigidity of the instrument. In plain english that means the following points: 1) The string vibrates from the saddle, not from the anchor and the saddles are in contact with the base plate. So most of the vibrations essentially get transmitted to the body primarily through the base plate. A high mass bridge (like a badass) is less likely to vibrate in sympathy with the the strings and therefore less likely to transmit vibrations through to the body but will help with sustain. 2) The through body anchoring [u]may[/u] make a difference if the bridge lacks sufficient rigidity as an anchor. Basically this would mean that if the bridge was flimsy enough to dampen the sustain AND the wood selected and neck design was insufficiently rigid then through body anchoring could probably have some slight benefit. 3) With a high mass bridge, the wood makes less of a contribution to the tonal character and sustain of the bass. With a low mass (eg. vintage Fender) bridge the wood is likely to make more of a contribution. So in basses with low mass bridges its more important that the wood is well seasoned and rigid if sustain is desirable. To sum up, I'd suggest the role of the bridge is relative depending on how the rest of the bass has been designed. I've owned stingrays with both options and there was little difference in tonal character.

[quote name='crash' post='221406' date='Jun 18 2008, 02:42 PM']I currently use a 'Necx' bass guitar - from Necx guitars,[/quote] Yeah, not bad. OK, you can be part of the forum. Welcome! [quote name='crash' post='221406' date='Jun 18 2008, 02:42 PM']I also have a rare Jaydee Superatural Roadie series Fretless which is gorgeous that I am currently considering selling - but I don't want to it's just too beautiful! [/quote] Yeah, we've had a few of them on here for sale.

Welcome aboard.

funnily enough we had a look at doing this one for our function band but panned it because it dragged so much when we played it.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='220223' date='Jun 16 2008, 09:26 PM']First up there was a band call Secret Love Society they were hilarious, had huge egos and a bad attitude they got kicked off stage for throwing the house mike around they were warned twice but they had too much ego to stop so they got kicked off[/quote] They sound like Black Sabbath in an Alice Cooper style.

For me, it certainly limits my technique to the demands of the songs for better or for worse. I don't really practice bass for its own sake any more because of the Grumpy Old Bugger living next door. Strangely enough he never seems to complain about the neighbours shagging though. However I've found some songs are demanding in terms of split second timing (like Ain't Nobody), and I can push other songs out a little. For example, the bass line to I Feel Love is pretty simple but if I add triplets up an octave it starts getting a bit more interesting. There are potentially a number of different ways I could play those triplets depending on the technique I choose. My creative impulses were fairly stifled last year primarily by a lack of chordal knowledge and so I ended up buying a guitar to help me learn the different voicings that were possible. Now I'm picking up some cool things for guitar in its own right as well.

I'm both, in varying amounts depending on context. If I'm jamming with the guys in the band on stuff I've just made up, I'm an artist and the emphasis is on finding inspiration and exploring creativity. If I'm performing covers on stage in our usual function band routine, then I'm trying to craft the music and the emphasis is on quality product. I don't see a distinct line drawn between the two, its more a point between polar opposites. I've faced with this dilemna every day at work with clients expecting artistic levels of inspiration for craftsmans fees.

I used to have a Boss CE2B and I sold it to Rich. The thing that made it appeal to some bass players was that the chorus effect applied only to the upper frequencies. To my ears it lacked richness so I ended up getting a Yamaha E1005 rack analogue delay instead which sounded great. Having said that its pretty coloured in having fairly prominent upper mids so I just tend to use the chorus on my MPXG2 if I need it. I've had the analogueman, Carl Martin and TC Electronic chorus pedals recommended to me but I've never tried them.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='220569' date='Jun 17 2008, 01:32 PM']My signature electonics are very good for live. I have very variable control with the Q switches and I can get just what I want at high volumes with the lightest of touch, which makes what I am able to play easier and therfore more dextrous. Something I have only had on 1 other bass (still got it too)[/quote] I think a Signature bass offers all the wood choice advantages of the Series basses but without the fiddly and excessive electronics. If I was in the market for an Alembic, I wouldn't bother to look beyond a signature bass. (Bear in mind that I already own an old Series 1). I've played an all maple Mark King which had a lot of nice growl and still stayed full sounding because of the low impedance pickups and electronics.

[quote name='Wil' post='220487' date='Jun 17 2008, 11:45 AM']Wood fingerboards perhaps?[/quote] Eventually? Absolutely! But for the steinberger necks we can probably get away with it. The necks have a core filled with a very fine grained grey hardened foam which seems to do a great job of dampening off the clatter. Replacing the fingerboard would add an extra cost that isn't really needed. I'm anticipating a very firm sounding instrument with a crisp high end and deep lows. I will have to wait and see how much midrange comes out but with the chambered alder body core, it should hopefully sound nice and firm.

Personally, I think the Series II is pretty much overkill for live situations. Most live sound engineers I know would baulk at the idea of running a bass in stereo on stage, however the Series II is in a league of its own in the studio. I've found the Series basses seem to have more upper midrange and punch than other Alembic models too. The bass seem to combine a delicacy and attention to detail with tremendous robustness in my eyes. They're definitely idiosyncractic instruments however.

Im still waiting for my guitar to be delivered.

[quote name='lowhand_mike' post='219726' date='Jun 16 2008, 11:24 AM']if tribute and cover band are indeed tired and culturally redundant then they would have no place in the music scene. yes it is a more local and convenient way of hearing live music were the original bands would never play and allows a more simplistic way of getting into playing live music.[/quote] I agree that many covers bands are culturally redundant in the context of pushing musical boundaries. As I've mentioned already, I think function bands help set the mood at an event, they're not culturally [i]irrelevant [/i]at all.

[quote name='Marshy' post='219452' date='Jun 15 2008, 09:15 PM']To be fair, Barry was very apologetic, didn't dodge the issue, and within short order I had the agreed sale price for my Yamaha bass in cash (plus a couple of sets of strings).[/quote] The most important thing was you got your money. Nice one.

[quote name='spog' post='219346' date='Jun 15 2008, 06:42 PM']Wrote a lengthy post last night only to find it has now vanished. Anyone else had this happen? Bloody annoying, frankly![/quote] There's nothing in the trash can, so you only have yourself to blame. Next time drop a PM to a moderator first maybe?

with all due respect, thats probably a fair price for a bass that looks like its had a stingray control plate added. The economy of description may mean the seller is glossing over something though.

heheh, resistance is useless...

SIR! REMOVE YOUR HANDS FROM THE KEYBOARD AND STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!!

[quote name='danfergie123' post='218557' date='Jun 13 2008, 08:54 PM']Dude, that is probably the best [i]and[/i] worst joke I've ever heard [/quote] thankyou... ...I think.