Kiwi

[quote name='OldGit' post='196787' date='May 11 2008, 10:57 PM']It is in a Local Shop, perchance?[/quote] Oh yes, and so many precious things! There's lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots!!!

I live for funky music and so do most of the punters dancing to our music. If they're enjoying it and I'm enjoying then thats all that matters to me.

[quote name='OldGit' post='196561' date='May 11 2008, 03:51 PM']Dear Sir Norman, Please have a band on your design consultancy panel for buildings that will be used for gigs. Thanks CK[/quote] LOL, yeah. I didn't even mention the lack of power sockets. For where we were, there was only one pair of sockets in the floor and another pair under the raised shelf that ran around the periphery of the floor area. Certainly wasn't a building designed for big functions. Actually, Sir Norm's practice has its critics. I don't think I'd be happy working there. Speaking of which, I have a new job any way. Woooo!

Oops, permissions updated accordingly. Sorry!

I'd be happy to put you in touch with our Percussionist/Manager who seems to have done a pretty good job with our band, if you like.

Here's a wee vid of the venue while we were setting up. I've got one of us sound checking where the acoustic issues are easy to hear so I might splice that vid into this post later when its finished uploading. EDIT: Intro to Ain't Nobody

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='196457' date='May 11 2008, 12:07 PM']What kind of audience was it?[/quote] Wedding party of a surprisingly diverse range of ages. We had a request to play River Deep again from the grandfather of the bride so we obliged. The best man told a story that the groom was a huge Michael Jackson fan had actually ran through Madison Square Garden on their stag night dressed up like Michael Jackson complete with rubber face mask! The more that the bride and groom got into it, the more everyone else did as well. Thats happened at quite a few gigs so we might note that for situations in the future where the punters are a little reluctant to get on the dancefloor. Apparently we're only the second band to ever play here.

This was the view from our dressing room looking east on the 37th floor yesterday afternoon. I swear this is the most dramatic sky I've ever seen over London, made me think of a Constable painting. The load in was truly horrendous. The entire PA, all the amps, drum kit, percussion and lighting had to be loaded into the goods lift from the loading bay, taken up to the 34th floor then shifted through half the kitchen area to another lift that went from 34 to 39. THEN we had to lug everything up 1 flight of granite steps to the 40th floor before we could actually set up. The acoustics were terrible as you might imagine with glass dome, but at least there weren't any standing waves where we were. (Although frequencies from all parts of the space did get reflected into the centre of the space very effectively. Made me wonder if the dome was nearly parabolic in shape). Having said that, we did actually hear ourselves a lot better than some of the conservatories we've played in.

Was the venue you played long and narrow? There might have been issues with standing waves. Is the cab front or rear ported? (I can't remember on the one I used to own)

Well they had the guy who made them on breakfast TV and he gave a demo of the guitar and one of the horns.

Welcome aboard They're very bright basses, I installed an EMG BTC pre on the one I used to have, and had to max the bass to get satisfying levels of warmth out of it. Those unwanted harmonics might be due to your technique maybe?

[quote name='Ham fisted Bass' post='195478' date='May 9 2008, 03:10 PM']I'm sorry....what does this mean?[/quote] Beats me, I heard it somewhere. Probably a bit of verbal diarrhea.

[quote name='Ham fisted Bass' post='195451' date='May 9 2008, 02:33 PM']I don't leave home without one; SWR Electric Blue - two words and is SWR short for anything? ......After regaining his composure Ham fisted Bass has switched amps checked DI levels, and has missed most of the last number; now with his 'back up amp' employed as his main amp and the gig has finished; when does he get his 'main amp' fixed? - even if it is done under warranty, with a helpful distributor and 'bendy' manufacturer what is the lead time for him to see the repair carried out given that the manufacturer is servicing his largest (home) market....[/quote] Your perspective differs to so many others here, I suspect. Hey if life give you sh*t then its time to make sh*t juice... ...er, or something like that.

[quote name='Ham fisted Bass' post='195413' date='May 9 2008, 01:37 PM']Fair point any manufactured item will fail at some point - but it's when the 'product' fails mid gig that the good warranty point flounders. At that point, the warranty matters not[/quote] I'm sure Mark will stand by any warranty on the Shuttles purchased from him.

[quote name='andy67' post='195313' date='May 9 2008, 11:37 AM']hmmm, sounds good! there seems to be quite a groundswell for ol' rockers returning!?[/quote] Old rockers never die, they just smell funny from all the embalming fluid they've consumed.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='194911' date='May 8 2008, 06:56 PM']Interesting looking instruments. Has he made any basses before? I couldn't see anything in the gallery section...[/quote] I don't know that he's made any basses yet but he has already demonstrated an understanding of how important a hard fingerboard is for a fretless. He suggested Australian ironwood but thats obviously not a NZ native. He does have an old kowhai fence post he's saved which might do the job if the puriri isn't up to the job, or there's some black maire as well. All of these species (so far, apart from black maire) are indigenous to where I grew up in Canterbury as well. The dramatic topography of NZ means that there are often quite sudden changes between ecological communities.

[quote name='OldGit' post='194240' date='May 7 2008, 10:25 PM']CrazyKiwi has a smiffy [/quote] a smiffy or two, used to be three once upon a time...

My parents dropped me an email the other day about this bloke who lives by himself in a small community in the South Island and makes acoustic and solid body guitars from NZ native timbers. I've had a dream of owning a bass made from NZ native timbers for quite a few years (and the equivalent in english timbers too). So I checked out his website here: [url="http://www.singingwood.co.nz/"]http://www.singingwood.co.nz/[/url] I guess you could say he's a bit like a NZ Carl Thompson but waaaaaaay better value and probably a bit more savvy when it comes to tonal character of timbers because of his acoustic experience. Having said that, I'm not aware that he's made any basses yet out of the 80 instruments he's made in the last 7 years but he certainly seems committed to the job and delivering a good instrument. So after a quick flurry of emails, I'm about to take a leap of faith and put a deposit down on a creation of his with the following spec: 6 string 36" scale fretless laminated neck bright sounding but resonant inspired by the Fodera Beez Elite single cut shape (but may not necessarily be a direct copy) semi hollow body All NZ native timber (agreed mostly rimu construction with a puriri fingerboard) Creative Theme : love of the NZ landscape His trademark is at least one or more inlaid leaves around the instruments he produces. The exchange rate is still reasonably strong at the moment so it seemed like a very good deal. Delivery date isn't likely before Christmas so there's plenty of time to finalise things. Luckily I accepted offered a job offfer yesterday too!

Lovely bit of mahogany that!

I have no musical integrity at all, so long as I'm enjoying what we're playing and getting some sort of appreciative noise from the punters in return. Luckily being in a function band, playing soul/funk and disco covers at happy events like weddings and birthdays, couldn't make me happier.

Meshell will always get my vote for this kind of thread. Rhonda Smith This is Divinity, Beyonce's bass player doing her own thing. She's pretty awesome but very raw. Not everyone's cup of darjeeling

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='193771' date='May 7 2008, 12:22 PM']So what have you ordered?[/quote] Not until I get a new job. To be honest, they're almost twice the cost of a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0. Would I really be getting twice the value? As Poptart pointed out, I might as well get two Shuttle 6.0 amps if I need to send to two 4ohm cabs, plus I get stereo if I ever want it too. The Neo Paks also deliver to a 2 ohm load although not in a neat 1u rack space. Hevos also mentioned they've been screwed over in the past in the UK although he didn't give any details. That would explain his reluctance to look at other distribution I guess.

I'm starting to rediscover a love of old jazz standards since discovering our keyboardist and drummer like jamming around with them too. May yet end up with a EUB one day if there's demand for a jazz trio as a support for any of our gigs. Welcome aboard Mathew