Wolverinebass

Yeah, I guess nobody could hear that precision on Live at Leeds because it was passive. Maybe if you're doing clean with no treble and the tone knob rolled off then yeah, nobody will hear you. Pile on the treble and maybe a judicious use of distortion and your thought about passive instruments "not cutting through" doesn't work in any way. That's regardless of how many musicians in the band.

A very comprehensive review. A quicker one would have been to say that it sounds like crap and nothing like the original. Considering the bloke from Polymath who regularly does Ashdown demos did one shortly after the PMT demo fiasco and it sounded like crap didn't really look good did it? There will be no online reviews from anyone as Ashdown won't take the chance of someone saying it's awful. Not from Patick Hunter, Low End Lobster, Bass the World or any of the many, many bass influencers or youtubers. None of them. Plus, the fallout of saying that Ashdown have made an absolute turkey will mean they'll never get sent anything to review from them again.

The simple answer is in my case, not very easily. In one band, I write quite a lot of the music. Ironically in that band, we'll be looking for a new guitarist and singer post new year as our guitarist recently became a parent and one of the singers has had health issues and had to leave. They aren't going to be easy to replace as the material is really progressive and quite Tool like. In the other band I'm in, although I don't write, it's a trio and the amount of space I have to fill is not something that a lot of people could do easily. In fact, there has been a joke by the guitarist about live "every song is a bass solo!" which although isn't true, is almost true. Were I to leave that band, they'd probably need a 2nd guitarist as well to fill all the gaps. Also add to the fact that I'm producing the material of both bands, it wouldn't be easy. Not impossible by any means, but certainly difficult as it were.

As someone who has seen @NancyJohnson play, I can say that he's being modest about his ability on bass. Or as a songwriter for that matter. I for one am very specific when it comes to what types of bands I'll be involved in. I don't think that's being egotistical, just that I know what I want and that I'm quite happy to search for it. As such, the 2 bands I'm in now are exactly right for me at this moment. Ironically, one of them is my own band. At least nominally. I sporadically get asked to join or audition for a band and I'll generally have a listen and decide based on that. More often than not, I'll decline or I might play one gig to test it out if I've got nothing on or am vaguely intrigued. There are a lot of bands or people who think that they are amazing and just aren't. For me, I want being in a band to be something I enjoy and the other members do too. I don't want to be the best musician in the band, nor do I want to be the sole songwriter. I like the collaboration and comradery if you will. I would like to say for comedy value that both bands only tolerate me as I'm producing the material for free, but in all seriousness, that's not true. There is a running joke in one of them as to how much the album would have been if they'd paid me and every so often I'll figure it out and have a laugh about it. Hey, it gets me a free lift to gigs! It's worth saying though that I spent about 18 months looking for things or people before I got where I am now.

In about 2001 I was looking for a bass to take the step up to a better instrument as I'd moved to London. Something striking. A bit mad. Ironically, those last 2 things have informed my bass choices ever since. I immediately thought about the Auerswald. I got quoted at £17k when I emailed about it. No discussion of specs or anything. Just a flat price. I bought an Alembic at the Bass Centre instead, which ironically was cheaper. Now, that Auerswald bass hasn't even been listed on the website for years and quite frankly, I'd still buy one, but I shudder to think how much it might be now. Surely someone must do a knockoff AliExpress or whatever version?

Yeah. The mids if used in the upper third are outrageous in how brutal that switch is. It really is proper chainsaw through a megaphone time. I used to use it as a solo boost from time to time just for fun. I would imagine you'll have fun playing it with a Mesa! It's a very different thing to a "normal" bass, but once one understands why it is as it is and lean into it, you'll discover things about your playing you'd never really heard or tried to do before. Plus, it'll probably make you laugh a lot with all the stuff you'll be able to do with it.

Congratulations @Beedster! Superb! It's one of those basses that no matter what you thought you like beforehand, you end up liking it regardless. I've on occasion had people round to the studio and no matter who they are or how dyed in the wool they are of a "precision with flats" kind of person, every single one of them without fail has had a grin so wide after playing my Buzzard you would have thought that they just found out they won the lottery. Does it look mad? Yes. Does it work ergonomically? Also yes. Does it sound amazing? Yes. I've played a couple of B2's and they're really, really good. Both versions are instruments that inspire one to play better and invariably you do because of it. I favour an action so low as @Cosmo Valdemar says that a lot of people can't believe it's possible to set up a bass like that and have it still playable. @LeftyJ about the mid range. The 300 series boards do a cut/boost between 300Hz and 3Khz. The Buzzard does boost only between 200Hz and 10kHz. It could be argued the 300 board is more flexible, but of course that's not what the buzzard is meant to be. It's meant to be the most aggressive cutting bass ever made, and it is. You can in effect use the mid range as a treble/presence boost as the treble is localised at 7kHz. Or you can use it as a kind of wah effect by using the lower portion of it. The mid range control on the Chris Wolstenholme basses is different in that the boost can be tailored in terms of level. The buzzard is a fixed 10dB boost as is the 300 series boards. It's 3 batteries as it's an 18V circuit and one for the LEDs. The back switch turns them on/off. The other switch does the mid range boost.

I think you just have to be realistic about what bands you want to do, what bands would take you on and how much of it is about. I'd imagine you'd do better than I ever would playing covers. About 15 years ago, I posted a somewhat ranty post about why I felt bands were looking for someone who would just sit back constantly. Chris B gave me the best advice I've probably ever had "maybe you're just going for the wrong bands?" It took a good 2 years after that for me to find the right fit. I don't regret the time. Now, as I'm 45, quite a few of those types of bands are closed off to me and although I don't look my age, I accept it's a criteria for some people. I won't lie about it. That being said, the 2 bands I'm in now (both originals) value my playing and insanely off he wall humour. They're lovely, talented people who I'm privileged to call my friends. If they ask how old you are, just say and ask if it's a problem. If they're not specifying an age range, it probably won't be. I doubt you'll be going for bands that have to be signed at all costs, so I'd be surprised if it matters. You'll get something. Just be clear in your own head what you want from it and it'll turn up eventually.

Fixed, my dear boy.

I did indeed notice that Kev. Just as well really! We both know it's a slippery slope though. First you're announcing sparkly colours, the next you're trying to suggest a bass which looks like a crushed piece of rocky road cake and saying it's "technological wizardry greater than sending the first human being to Mars." Before you know what's happened, you've went full robo-tuners and you've went bankrupt. It's a tightrope. Or you could just crank out another slightly different precision. I wonder who will announce their new sunburst finish before the end of the week? Maybe all manufacturers have a calendar and they all do it in the same week? I'll get the popcorn ready as this is going to be high octane entertainment.

Meanwhile, Ernie Ball prove they have mastered innovation "with 6 new finish colours." https://www.facebook.com/share/gvMW8ACSygqzjzQJ/ I await the autumn colour collection from other manufacturers soon. Possibly in association with Kevin McCloud, Dulux or Crown.

I'd be getting the Dug Pinnick Schecter long before that one. One the other hand, I already have a Hamer, so I don't need one.

To be fair Kev, I was just making the point that they haven't changed much and that when they have, it hasn't sold so well. Rick's 4004 doesn't sell that well does it. Certainly not in comparison to the 4003. In the Ernie Ball case, I would say that the pricing is what I'd take issue with. Almost 3 grand for a Stingray? Is that not dragging the fan base a bit for a few new colours? Maybe you could argue the Darkray was innovative, (it certainly was interesting as a concept) but when I tried one I was sad that I didn't like it and I really thought I would. I've played a few older and newer ones. I wouldn't say there was a massively huge difference, but there is a difference. I would say I'd get a newer one if they went back to the 43mm nut actually. I really liked the 2019 Stingray Special HH actually and I've played a couple since then too. We all like what we like. Or not as the case may be.

I think there is going to be a lot of disappointment if folk are expecting much other than different paint colours. It's not like Fender are ever going to do anything like say a complete one piece graphite moulded precision are they? Or something really radically different. For all those saying that Fender are just resting on previous accomplishments, I would ask what are Ernie Ball and Rickenbacker doing then? Ploughing a trough in the realms of futurism? Of course not. They're just doing exactly the same thing. Different colours and inflating the price. Maybe Ernie Ball most egregiously I might add. It seems to be that innovation for those companies won't ever work commercially, which is a shame as I'm sure they're perfectly capable of it. People want what they want and it doesn't seem to change much in that regard for the majority of bass players.

I read a really good scientific paper about this a few months ago. It was about the pressures on the "instagram guitarist." The short version was, if you post a video which is flawless, you're miming and it's been edited within an inch of it's life. If you play it live and it's not millimetrically bang on, you're crap and playing the instrument like a a tool. Altogether, a lose-lose situation. Frankly, what puts me off him and loads of others like him is that wobbly thing they do with their fretting hand when theyre not even bending the note and the bobble head and ludicrous gurning. See Janek Gwizdala and Phil Mann for other notable examples of this. That's only a presentational comment. He's a very talented chap regardless.

After 4 years of this thread, it does seem that nobody is going to do anything legally to stop him. That's amazing isn't it? Should we all take up scamming as a "side hustle" knowing that if we keep it low tech and under a certain value we'll be fine and nobody will arrest us? I still can't believe that he's not been assaulted by someone he's done over. Surely, (at least statistically speaking) he has rode his luck somewhat and the more he does this the more likely it is to happen by ripping off exactly the wrong person at the wrong time.

I'm sure I've seen threads with @Passinwind making custom amps.

I must agree Kev. I think it's just that (allegedly) us bass players are a tolerant lot he's got away with it. That and the fact the Cops are ludicrously overstretched like all public services. Statistically though, I'd imagine he's not far off meeting said person who maybe won't suck it up and gives him more than a few slaps in a bid to recover their money. Then as you say, they'll probably get sent to chokey instead. It's all pretty grim.

I think it's very telling that Rocky Road don't have a phone number listed on their website/socials isn't it? Whilst this clown remains the UK distributor and continues to price gouge us I won't buy another Tech 21 product ever again. The Dug amp and XB driver both having an almost 100% mark up from the US price are prime examples. In case anyone doubts that, here we go. Dug Amp - $1800 (£1300). £2500. XB Driver - $500 (£380). £610. The fact that servicing seems to be non existant does seem to take the biscuit.

Distortion is a personal thing and I'm of the John Entwistle school of playing, so Tech 21 is always going to be a better choice in that regard. I have the ultra versions of the AO and X7. I don't use them and they're generally for people I record in the studio. I generally find that Darkglass distortion doesn't work for me. Amp wise, I went with the GK Fusion 1200. Clean tone is good and the dirt can be quite radically sculpted. As it's a tube it's a touch warmer than the Legacy version. Probably the EQ points of the amp work better too than most, but it's all personal preference. If one is used to a sound and the other major flavours don't work, then that's what I'd go to. You're welcome to pop over and try the GK if you want.

People are under the misapprehension that they're not as annoying as whatever bass YouTuber they dislike. Everyone can be. Delete Sapko's (possibly) highly stylised northern accent for say my own Scottish one saying "bass." The possibilities become endless for all of us. Maybe behind closed doors, Scott Devine cries like a depressed circus clown when the mask of his highly Americanised plastic optimism slips once the camera stops filming. Maybe Danny Sapko isn't even northern. Maybe he's really Welsh and just puts the accent on for effect. To quote Anthony Hopkins in The Edge, "what one man can do, another can do." We can get there. We don't have to be left behind. All of us can cultivate a highly insane persona for clicks. There is a skit to be written here about this stuff. Like that famous Mark Hoppus video with loads of bass players and him getting them to look vaguely interesting onstage, it'll be subverted with a bunch of bass players trying to concoct the most bonkers screen personality to monetise their content.

I think it's just time moves on. The players who were revered say in the 70s or even 80s have now been surpassed technically. Whether one likes that or not is another thing. I have no problem with him. He's excellent. He does well out of it all and as far as I'm seeing he's not harming anyone from doing so. If someone hired him for their band instead of me, I'd probably be more surprised that I'd got to a level where I'd actually be considered with someone like that. It's all individually calibrated as to what we like or not. We are all the best at being ourselves and nobody will ever play exactly like us. I enjoy watching people who are better than me as I feel I might learn something and quite often do. I feel it's kind of inspiring to make oneself a better player. Don't like the content? Don't watch it. Just as I don't watch clickbait tossers like Danny Sapko.

In a related update, I ordered my Klos bolt on replacement neck in March 2023 as per my post on the first page. I still don't have it. Every time I've asked since November last year what's being going on it's been "2 months away." The last time was in May. From looking at their website it's now a 5 month lead time. So clearly they're having some tooling or manufacturing issues. Probably because loads of folk (like me) asked for different specs than what they were offering. In saying that, none of even their standard optioned ones have shipped. They offered me a refund and offer to buy at the original price when they become available. Which led me to think it's not going to be 2 months. It wasn't. That's 3 months later and nothing. Quite disappointing really. I'm swithering as to what to do. Just get a wood neck from Warmoth? Considering Status have went wood, Modulus don't do replacement necks and wouldn't even entertain making a bass with a wider nut, Moses have long since ceased doing bass, Bogart and Gould only do 1.60 nuts as do the standard Klos basses, so you're pretty much stuffed on getting a graphite neck which doesn't have a 1.60 nut or thinner by default. I imagine the days of graphite are mostly over for the foreseeable future as most have moved away from it and those that do have a nut width that makes them unacceptable for me to play.

That's why I prefer necks that don't taper much. Like a Rick or Alembic. There's even fewer of them on the market too.

Well, I'm not a big guy as you know, nor have I massive shovel hands. If a bass is less than 42.5mm at the nut, my left hand gets all tangled up with the way I play. A few years ago I got a Schecter Raiden. Apparently, 42.5mm nut. Lies! I knew right away it was thinner as it wasn't comfortable to play. Dug the digital calipers out. 40mm. Which is a pity as it sounds fantastic. Good thing they stand by their specifications as opposed to just making stuff up. Idiots. Most manufacturers are going this way and it really annoys me as it totally limits what I can play and actually enjoy.