Wolverinebass

I find this really depressing. You would think in London that there would be people who could play progressive metal? To date, I've met one. He was one of the most phenomenal guitarists I've ever played with and a truly lovely man as well. The down side was that he lived across the other side of London from me and when we tried to do file sharing it didn't work very well as we weren't in the same room for the interaction. The definition of the genre was one of the main reasons for the fizzling out of one of my last bands. The guitarist's idea of "progressive" material was Rush, Kings X or Alter Bridge. Don't get me wrong, I love Rush and Kings X, but to me stuff that's for the most part in 4/4 just isn't progressive at all. I was writing songs which weren't in 4/4 and he couldn't be bothered with the effort and I found more conventional material boring. No falling out, but certainly musical differences. "Prog" in itself to me suggests people in capes playing garish keyboard solos in the 70's which I don't care for at all. Ironically, it's modern equivalent of that style a la Porcupine Tree is something I love. For me, trying to find a band that either sounds like Tesseract or Tool is just impossible even in London. I find that statement so profoundly depressing as I realise how it limits my options for doing anything except recording my own material.

Zero fret! Result! Superb bass.

Some absolutely stunning basses here. For those of you that have bought one, how much is customisable? There doesn't seem to be a list of options unless I'm being stupid. Can the nut width or fingerboard radius be changed? As an example.

Both bands I've been in recently have been on hiatus for more than a year each. With one, I've done some recording which has fizzled out due to other commitments from the other members. The other band was stupid enough to put up an ad for bass player wanted (for some really silly reasons) and think I might not notice it. So, surprisingly enough I just said that I wasn't really into it anymore and come get your stuff from my studio before I put it on Ebay. The problem I have is that not many folk want to do progressive material. I'll probably take the rest of the year off from bands and just concentrate on my own stuff and record online. I certainly couldn't be more morose about the whole band thing than I am at the moment so I doubt I'll miss it as much as I love playing live. Sod the aggravation.

Superb work there! Will you be open for business and custom orders soon?

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1459009154' post='3012829'] I'd disagree - I have massive hands and found that playability wasn't a problem, even though I have never played an 8 string in anger. I had more problems with my picking hand, none with my left. But hey, everyone is different and that's fine with me. [/quote] Very true mate. I suppose I'm used to wider necks per se and although a 1.65 inch is fine for a 4, it was just feeling to cluttered for me at the nut end. Looking at the specs for the Spector now I see it's 1.57 at the nut. Since I dislike Jazzes for that I guess I can see why I didn't like it on a simple playability level. Ironically, I don't have massive hands, but I just can't get on with necks that are thin at the nut and taper widely to the heel. It's not like it wasn't well put together or anything, but the neck profile sadly put me off. I didn't like the preamp that much either, but that's not something that would be a big deal to change. I would still say the Dean Edge is a better 8 string for the money, but that's only my view.

I'd get a Dean Edge. At the budget end, it's the best one. If Dood is talking about the Spector 8 string that they had at the recent bass show, I'd avoid. The neck profile is wrong as its just a thin C neck with 8 strings. At 1.65 inch at the nut your hand will bunch up. Lastly, the active eq I found to be lacking. Okay, it was only £400 or so, but it was still just a 4 string neck with 8 strings and more than a tad pants. I say that and I like Spectors. If you were really wanting a conversion, get the neck from warmoth and Schaller 471 bridge. Job done.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1458585830' post='3008880'] Yep... deadly serious but don't ask why, I can't be ar$ed to explain it, tbh. [/quote] Classic. Have you played one to experience the options of the pickups yourself? If not, what are you talking about? On what basis or evidence is this statement built on? You've just put a couple of "meh" comments on someone's nbd thread. What's that all about? On the other hand, I'm sure the op is dying to know why he's wrong to have bought such a gimmicky bass.

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1458510130' post='3008254'] Thanks, that makes sense. So I guess there's still a truss rod? I'm just interested in the tech - not many people manufacturing graphite necks now Cheers ped [/quote] There was indeed a truss rod. I share your concern about lack of graphite instruments. Not in fashion it would seem. It'll come back round though once it's figured out how to making tooling cheaper. If that ever happens.

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1458483245' post='3007927'] So the graphite wrap necks - are they stable or is the wrap mainly for looks? [/quote] I tried one with a graphite neck at last year's bass show. When I spoke to Martin Sims, he suggested that it wasn't for looks but for a marginally different sound. I could tell the difference between it and a wood necked version. The impression I got was that he felt that the low end of full graphite necked instruments sounded compressed and there was maybe a bit too much 6kHz. I know what he means by that of course, but it just depends if you like that or not. With the wrap those characteristics were there but a bit more muted. Besides, after playing your Vigier why would you need another graphite necked bass? I thought it was fantastic!!

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1457970561' post='3003505'] This is a bit disappointing to hear... Not that I'd want to put a downer on anyones day it sounds like a great time was had by all. But I'm only really interested in the trade stands, not really bothered about talks / masterclasses etc. [/quote] I bumped into Paul Herman yesterday actually. Obviously not on a stand. Not that he needs to advertise with a 2 year waiting list these days for a Wal and good for him as he's such a nice guy.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1457970561' post='3003505'] This is a bit disappointing to hear... Not that I'd want to put a downer on anyones day it sounds like a great time was had by all. But I'm only really interested in the trade stands, not really bothered about talks / masterclasses etc. [/quote] I bumped into Paul Herman yesterday actually. Obviously not on a stand. Not that he needs to advertise with a 2 year waiting list these days for a Wal and good for him as he's such a nice guy.

But the main question is "what would John Hall do?"

£750 for a 1x12?!! Pfft. Jog on pal. That's just tonto.

That's awful.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1457640569' post='3000590'] Gosh. What are Mesa prices going to be like with the exchange rate then!? [/quote] I shudder to think. This almost makes Tech 21 prices look reasonable.

Going on Sunday. Will dig out my lanyard! Hopefully see a few of you there.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1457373317' post='2997916'] It's got the usual Andy Baxter "add 40% to what it's actually worth" thing happening. [/quote] Ha! Total genius! 😃 Completely agree.

About 9 years ago I took my buzzard to Rob to get something looked at. We were talking about the streamline (which was the newest model at that time) and Rob said that he'd be doing a bass something like the buzzard next. Since then there has been 4 kingbasses (do we need 9 variants? Really?!!), the S3, and Chris Wolstenholme's. So much for anything new as they're just small tweaks on existing designs. Now this. It's like the buzzard crossed with the series 2 and not in a good way. The shape is just a bit odd. Probably better photos might do it justice. I don't know. For those of you who think that the shape of the buzzard is stupid, you're correct. The headstock it just stupidly unwieldy. However, ergonomically it's fantastic. The upper wing if you rest your forearm on it will relax your wrist enabling more dexterous playing. A few folk on the forum have played mine and some have been Entwistle fans, some not. Even the ones who thought the shape stupid changed their mind once they'd played it. I would like to say that this new model will be the same, but I guess only time will tell.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1456654383' post='2990998'] I saw an advert on gumtree last week for a bass player and the ad said that you'd didn't have to be any good or own a bass, the most important thing was that you could bring people to gigs... [/quote] I saw that advert as well Rob. I'm not sure if I was crying with laughter at it or just at my seemingly wasted life. There was me under the misguided apprehension that you should practice and progress as a musician. If only I'd known that all it took to succeed in the music business was to be popular with my high school year and have lots of likes on "the book of faces."

I bought my Hamer 12 string off them. They were great to deal with.

Tech 21 are having a laugh with this. Despite the fact I truly love their stuff and my psa 1.1 is my favourite preamp of all time, it's not enough to get away from the feeling that we're being done. Until they sell stuff in the UK at a reasonable price or the value of the dollar sinks substantively, I'm not partaking in this.

Nice work Rob. Proof that with enough will something other than indie or covers can be played. Finding people to do progressive music myself to do something really technical is appalling!! I feel your previous pain. Really enjoyed listening to your stuff. I would pop down and see your gig as it's not very far from me, but I'm seeing Tesseract next Friday. Hope it goes well for you.

This thread has really killed me. I've been laughing so hard my wife thinks that I could have a stroke if I don't stop. On a serious level, it's taken me a while to figure out why it's so funny. It's because it's like a paraphrase of Spinal Tap. I really hope this doesn't come over as trolling as I'm just trying to explain my somewhat non-sensical thoughts. JT has always stated that he and his band are very discerning about what kind of gigs they play. Spinal Tap were 2nd on the bill to a puppet show. From the photo a few pages back it looks like JT's band were playing 2nd to the FA Cup replay of Crewe vs Scunthorpe judging by the plasma screen in the background. It also has echoes of the "lick my love pump" scene. When mentioning to musician friends what JT expects from a venue in terms of payment, professional PA and class of band, friends ask where his band could be playing assuming it to be somewhere large and well known. "The Tickled Trout." Famously Spinal Tap had amps which went to 11. In JT's case the PA must be able to handle Wembley stadium without breaking a sweat. It all seems vastly silly which is why I find this thread hysterical in the extreme. I hasten to add I've never heard JT or his band play and my comments are based on the absurdity of this thread rather than some form of comment on his or their playing or such.

[quote name='sunburstjazz1967' timestamp='1453966919' post='2964667'] I hope regardless of the pa and sound guys requests we can all agree that the main thing above all is that the performance is good, if you play songs with a good hook you should get the venue full to the gills and net yourself a return gig? [/quote] And the trout jokes just keep on coming! I love this thread. Just genius.