Kiwi

Would you happen to know a Nova Scotian bass player called Jamie Gatti per chance? Or Bruce Dixon?

Yeah it wasn't Modulus who made the Alembic stuff but Geoff Gould was setting up Modulus around 84-85 and left someone else in charge of the production. Alembic weren't happy with the results and stopped buying graphite necks altogether in 1984 although there is a custom 5 with an excel shape out there from 1987. The necks for Musicman were originally Modulus and then they went inhouse to Musicman and they had issues with the phenolic resin recipe because all the necks I've played have been like bananas. There were no Cutlass basses made after 84 either. There are some out there without this problem but it's a lottery. I have customised Armstrong humbuckers in my Yamahas because they sounds like PAFs after they've eq'd for recording. Very smooth and rich sounding. Aaron is great to deal with and his prices are incredibly reasonable compared to other hand made pickup suppliers. Plus, his father has been involved with so many major brands including Aria (he made the Alembic licensed single coils), Celinder and Ken Smith. He won't copy those pickups but he'll get you in the ball park if they make a sifference (hint: sometimes they dont)

Early Cutlass necks were labelled with a reference to Modulus on the back of the headstock. Geoff Gould also made after market necks under the bass-star brand. I read somewhere else that Ashley had issues with the original supplier of graphite necks so switched to another. Also even if the first was made in 85, others could gave followed in 1986. Particularly after Ashley supplied exclusively to the Bass Centre.

Graphite neck construction can be as inconsistent as wooden necks - the fingerboard is still vitally important in how well the bass can be set up. I've had four Musicman Cutlass basses all with necks like bananas and a couple of Modulus Quantum basses, the fretless also had a banana neck while the fretted was so stiff it sounded like glass breaking. All because of the phenolic (aka Bakelite) fingerboards. Contrast that with the OG, my Alembic Series 1 which plays like butter because it's rigid but dampened by the wooden fingerboard. A bit like Leo, they got it right the first time...and then abandoned graphite necks completely around 84 because of QC issues. Geoff Gould supplied them to Alembic and Musicman AND was setting up Modulus at the same time. You've scored a honey of a bass with no issues. Enjoy it. I would recommend looking at the latest East Pro Uni pre, John has tweaked it so there's more of a mid peak available and with a bit of careful twiddling, it's possible to push things into Status Series II territory, if that's your thing. I've installed one in my Status S1 through neck and it does everything it used to but also now the Series II honk. So now I get to channel Graham Edwards and Go West...in the privacy of my office. BTW, I have a hunch this bass is an 86, not 85. @scojack maybe able to shed some light on things too, he used to run a website for Pangborn instruments.

Here are a couple more mid-refin so you can take a look under the hood, so to speak.

For a while I had a Steinberger XL25 - the narrow spacing one and yes it was dense and heavy, even compared to full sized basses. Steinbergers are made from carbon fibre impregnated resin though, not layers like you'll find in most other graphite necked basses. I think the Pangborn might be a carbon wrap but I have nothing other than speculation to base it on. I always liked the Panger's ergonomics and meant to trace the body shape before I took it to the Gallery. But my UK visit this summer was absolutely mental in terms of logistical complications and I didn't get time to see anyone...not even relatives. Any how, it seemed to me that Ashley was trying to make a greatest hits of eighties basses with this one - the pickups are Armstrong and modelled on the GMT pickup Kent Armstrong made for Rob Green originally. The body shape is clearly Alembic influenced but downsized. The electronics seem inspired by Jaydee. The original finish was so thick Tim (who helps Jon and used to be in Dead or Alive) was ready to give up on it. Those horns in the omega shape were literally sanded out of finish, not wood!

It was mine. I'm a little confused about why I'm finding out that theyve sold it from you rather than them. But thats not your problem. 😶 I dont know much about it either apart from suspecting it may be one of a batch commissioned by the Bass Centre. The nut is precision width which I read somewhere was a specific request from the Bass Centre. The bass was refinished by Jon Shuker earlier this year after the armour plating cracked due to movement by the body wood. Jon thinks the wings are basswood, I think they might be alder. Either way they're quite light and soft. What reference did you uncover? I'm curious.

Did you buy it from the Bass Gallery recently?

I"m gonna a give a shout out to this guy. Killer reinterpretations of well known bass parts with a little more elaboration in a gospel style but not overplaying or losing the pocket. Gouche and Barnes should sit up and take notes because this is how it's done.

I tried one in the Bass Gallery and didn't like it either. It was too stiff, really glassy sounding and that top horn dig into my ribs. Still, it was more playable than a ricky.

I've only ever had one experience of using a bass that was so awkwardly dysfunctional that it killed all desire to pick one up again. It was a Ricky 4001, clearly designed for pick players rather than fingerstyle and so much hardware seemed to get in the way. Of course, they're a well known bass for a reason but most (not all) players I've seen using them are using a pick. Too much compromise for me.

I gig occasionally at work and the backline typically provided is minimal to almost non existent, even then the engineers use it primarily for vocals and acoustic guitar. I'm thinking about going fully wireless using a Kemper Stage Profiler (which can already split monitor and main outs). Has anyone got experience of using wireless IEM system AND wireless transmitter with just a pedalboard? Which systems worked best? If you were the lone user of IEMs, how did you patch into a band mix for monitoring if the sound engineers worked for the venue or organisers?

This is very similar to where I am. Although the musicians here are either into hardcore thrash metal or soapy acoustic ballads. There are no live covers bands for example and the city where I live is renowned as a night life destination. Whatever people are doing, it doesn't appear to involve music performance. Also even finding any musicians with performance experience can be a PITA too.

Hey it happens to the best of them. Jean Michel Byron's experience with Toto is well documented. The band edited the DVD footage so his role was relegated to backing singer with cameo.

Yeah, and then consider the impact its going to have on any industries that rely on technical expertise, mass consumption of creative output or organisational processes. Careers will be either about managing AI in various industries, managing the people managing AI or sectors that are relationship based eg. primary school teaching, sales, the legal profession. I think so much more about how our kids make money is going to be based on relationships...it might even turn income earning into a popularity contest. So long as you can find a big enough niche to exploit, you're golden.

It's going to totally disrupt both the creative industries, advertising and mass marketing in the short term. It'll probably be nothing less than the next industrial revolution in the longer term. Well, that's alright then! I don't believe you! 😄 Yeah, my colleague and I were discussing that a couple of weeks ago. It's astounding, especially the amount of detail in the wide panoramic shots. Also K pop now. And early eighties Stock Aitken and Waterman was far more formulaic but they were riding a wave of undiscerning enthusiasm at the time. I doubt the majority of the undiscerning public will care so long as it makes them feel good. That is certainly the case where I live. Chinese pop ballads are pretty much one of three sets of V II IV I chord progressions, the same 8 bar pattern of tension and resolution in the melody, the same key signature shift up a tone immediately ahead of a near orgasmic screaming eighties style guitar solo and then the song ends on a near whispered repeat of the last two lines of the verse etc. it's already highly manufactured and this is before any AI use.

Yeah, a colleague and I are exploring AI at work quite a bit because we want to see how much time it can save in making tailored lesson plans and teaching resources including songs and images. We've used AI generated images in reward cards which will get submitted for a gong next year. I've managed to create some extremely specific images as prompts in activities. The quailty of AI movies has improved quite a bit too so we'll be looking at those sometime. I'm looking forward to your much better alternative!

You could always play one...I think it's got bagpipes at the moment...?

https://app.suno.ai/song/94a8b4db-a105-4bb3-87c4-83ae1dfd2eb5 OK...the lyrics are a bit cheesy but the melodies are surprisingly catchy. I worry for the music industry though if this is still early days.

Its a scam.

How about referencing something iconic from the eighties? Designer things, red braces, Poison Arrow, stuff like that...?

I kind of agree, searching on the market place has been a little too reliant on improvised search terms. But I have no experience with coding or insight into what is possible. The market place would be exempt from any software updates as it's a standalone custom module.

Hi Ray, I'm sorry to hear about this dreadful news. I'll flick you a PM so we can discuss offline.

It would help with search engine rankings if we could at least tag brand names though.