BigRedX

BTW are these set or bolt-on necks. All the photos are composed in such a way as to cunningly avoid showing the neck joint.

[quote name='johnbassman' timestamp='1442528061' post='2867655'] After seeing some lovely demos of ebow on fretless basses i have been drawn to the idea. I reckon a variable speed dildo or vibrator in hardened plastic would do just as good job as an ebow. I reckon it would be better actually because of its shape you could play chords with it. I know if i sat down to google whats available on the market, somebody will come in and find me looking at sex toys and its not exactly convincing to be looking at rampant rabbits to help with a musical performance. "yeah john, sure you want a dildo for your bass playing".... Any thoughts? [/quote] It certainly works on the guitar. I recall seeing one of the post-Robert Smith guitarists in Souxsie & The Banshees using one. However if you want infinite sustain and the ability to play chords you might be better off waiting to see if they manage to solve all the issues with the mark 2 version of the [url="http://www.gizmotron.com"]Gizmotron[/url].

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1442564262' post='2867747'] It's similar speculation as to what Mozart or Beethoven would have done with modern keys and/or software at their disposal. Maybe it's just 'comfort' which allows us to appreciate the works of the previous generations..? Surely not..! I'm not yet convinced that there is any worth is using terms such as 'better' in these contexts. 'Different', but I don't see (or hear...) much which allows a real classification in quality, any more than in painting or sculpture. It's not a subject fit for competitive comparisons, I find, but maybe I'm alone in this. [/quote] We need to acknowledge that the "classic tones" are simply what were are most comfortable with and there is not anything intrinsically "better" about them. It's like the myth of the P-Bass automatically fitting into any mix. Listen to rockabilly bands of the 50s when the electric bass was just getting a foothold in the music and it becomes obvious that it hasn't at all slotted in seamlessly. The whole sound of the bands change to accommodate the new-fangled Fender bass replacing the "traditional" upright. 60+ years later our ears have had plenty of time to be accustomed to the electric bass and how it fits into the mix of blues-based rock, but back in the day the whole band had to rethink their sounds to make it work.

But how much of what we consider "classic tones" is based on familiarity and comfort? We are used to hearing guitars and basses sound a particular way with the equipment of the 60s and 70s and so that's what we like. I wonder how different those tones would be if transited technology had been cheap and abundant in the early 50s? To put it another way there's a lot of now "classic" Japanese synths that date from the early 80s and were all over the recordings of the time. However speak to anyone using those instruments back then and the only reason they had them was because they were affordable and the synths they really wanted were not. So they made do, and it's only familiarity of the sounds that were nothing like the musicians really wanted, that now makes them classic.

Fantastic job! And thanks for sharing your methods.

The most elegant single-cut bass.

[quote name='synthaside' timestamp='1442487543' post='2867276'] Holy moly ... shame its short scale [/quote] But most classic Gibson designs only work properly as short scales. Pity it's just got a simple P/U selector and not the proper Varitone switch. Edit bloody useless autocorrect.

IIRC Gotoh make their own replacement buttons for their machine heads. There is been a custom configurator somewhere on their site. Alternatively get someone to mill or cast some for you.

Thanks! First cut of the video should be with us this weekend.

[url="http://littleguitarworks.com/instruments/custom-instruments/"]That's an easy one[/url].

Video shoot done: [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/11988438_149901338686255_737926743725541866_n_zps4vhii4bb.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/11993296_149901178686271_8467718539828960995_n_zps8lwjkkif.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/12003145_149901035352952_1848474940976180043_n_zpsyowziqpt.jpg[/IMG] Plus we finally got another song played on BBC introducing!!

Just getting ready to go and shoot the video for "I Can't Find My BrainCell"...

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1441974386' post='2863412'] Unfortunately even broken versions of the keyboards I have aren't exactly cheap I've just recently realised that as a bassist I had it relatively easy financially! [/quote] Which why I find the "All The Gear And No-Eye-Deer" thread hilarious! When I started playing synths in the early 80s, the most basic entry level instrument cost at least £250 and that was for a monophonic single oscillator and single envelope generator synth. If you prepared to forego a proper keyboard you could get The Wasp with 2 oscillators and 2 basic envelope generators but a proprietary digital interface so you couldn't hook it up to any of you CV and Gate analogue gear - that is if you could afford more than one synth! If you wanted polyphony, patch memories and a decent sounding synth you were looking at something that cost the same as a small terraced house!

The Plastic Bertrand song uses the backing track to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9B2D2gwms0 With a new vocal (which wasn't actually by Plastic Bertrand but by the producer of the original version).

Honestly there are no alternatives to a Fodera, conversely any bass can be considered an alternative. Once you're out of the low-end Fender copy market IMO every bass design is unique combination of elements, and no one design is a complete replacement for another. However it may be that there is another bass out there that shares enough of the same sonic, visual, playability and overall feel characteristics to those elements that you like in a Fodera. Unfortunately only you will know what they are, and it's almost certain that another player will be looking for slightly different things that will make their alternative choice something that you wouldn't regard as a suitable substitute at all. The only thing you can do is to get your self over to Bass Gear play their current stock of Fodera basses and then start looking for the alternative bass that captures those parts of the Fodera essence that you want.

Everything by Kate Bush.

I suppose this counts too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnIJOO__jVo

How about this then? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OQEkXr1FSM

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1441914870' post='2862987'] The Goodies Rule OK - 1975. I loved their version of "Wild Thing" when I first heard it watching this show. I still prefer it to the Troggs version, though obviously the sound is more down to whoever the sessionists were on it. This track was the B-side to their novelty hit "Nappy Love" on Bradley Records (don't ask me how I know that ) Bill Oddie was apparently one of the most successful UK songwriters of the late 70s, due to record sales and the greatest hits album they made. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tdx5p1ftNI"]http://www.youtube....h?v=1tdx5p1ftNI[/url] [/quote] Tim Brooke-Taylor is "playing" a Burns Sonic Bass!

Telestar and Surfin' Bird. Novelty records? Really?

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1441852918' post='2862339'] So I guess all these guys have a bass player in their bands as well? [/quote] No when they play in their bands they are all strictly 8th note root players ;-)

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Truly hideous[/font][/color]

Agreed. I went to loads of gigs at that time including seeing Crass in Swansea of all places, Never any problems in the audience. A couple of times at small town gigs you had to be cautious coming out and avoid a few local knuckleheads looking to thump a weirdo. And there still plenty of new "real music" around these days if you can be bothered to get up off your arse and look for it.

The audience aren't out of time though... They are just clapping on the "wrong" beats. And it's only convention that dictates you should clap on beat 2 and 4 of this style of music rather than 1 and 3.

I'd be more concerned that you published the whole email complete with both yours and the senders email addresses. It would have been very simple for someone less scrupulous than the 300 or so people who've read this thread to have spoofed your email reply and claimed the prize for themselves, while you were still wondering if the original email was genuine.