Silvia Bluejay

Hey, this is surely one of the most ancient threads on Basschat! Good to see it still alive and kicking. Here are some pics of my Bass Collection, generously given to me as a present by the OP (several years after he started this thread!). It's a blond lefty, but not the same bass pictured at post No 113.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1447091129' post='2904783'] Regarding compliance - I'm assuming it's due to the thickness/stiffness of the B string that it becomes difficult to achieve perfect intonation up at the dusty end - or maybe it's just my bass where it's a problem. I can generally get perfect intonation on all the other strings on my Curbow 5 past the 19th fret and beyond (and indeed on all my 4 string instruments too). Do taper wound strings improve this situation? [/quote] Intonating the low B on normal 34 inch scale basses is very often a pain, especially with flats on, as the low B tends to be much thicker than the other strings, and the bridge design needs to choose between accommodating the E, A, D and G or the low B, so the former win because there are more of them! I have removed the spring from the low B saddle on all of my 5-stringers to obtain the correct length for intonation. Players of 35 inch scale and over - is the situation any better?

Happy Jack's recently-acquired 8-string is now strung with a less common set of D'Addarios, the EXL170-8 XLs. No silk, but instantly recognisable colour-coded endballs:

Spooky gig at The Load of Hay in Bedfont on Halloween night: https://flic.kr/s/aHskoJPfyM

[quote name='D'AddarioUK' timestamp='1446477522' post='2899634'] Thank you all for your kind words about our bass strings, I check the forum regularly so please PM me with any questions you may have relating to any of our products. [/quote] Thank you for your staunch support of this community and our bashes, Andy. I'm a huge Chromes fan (they're on all of my Warwicks minus one, which has D'Addario half-rounds); I also have a lovely set of D'Addario black tapewounds on my Bass Collection. Recent review of the half-rounds I got at the SE Bass Bash: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/272224-daddario-enr71sl-half-rounds/"]http://basschat.co.u...sl-half-rounds/[/url]

He's great, and it was a pleasure to take photos and videos of him in action. One of the pics is also in the current issue of Bass Guitar Magazine.

Saw identical incidents happen several times in Italy wile I was still living there. Seriously dodgy safety measures. Horrible.

My attempt to wean bassists off those horrid roundwound strings continues after I asked Andrew Needham of D'Addario for a set of half-rounds at the SE Bass Bash. Here are my impressions [quote] I don’t use roundwound strings, as they don’t suit my playing style; I always use flats, with D’Addario Chromes being my favourites. When Andrew Needham of D’Addario spoke at Basschat’s South East Bash in September 2015, and mentioned that the company obviously also manufactures half-rounds in addition to rounds and flats, I asked for a set to try – I had never had the opportunity to see if I would get along with that type of strings. I carried out the test by installing the ENR71 set on my 4-string Warwick RB Corvette, and playing first through a PJB Briefcase and then through a PJB Bass Buddy headphone amp with PJB headphones. PJB amplification is well known not just for being high-end but also for being completely transparent, and therefore allowing a faithful reproduction of the actual sound of the bass. All the EQ sliders on both amps, and all the knobs on the bass(es) were set to centred (‘0’) position. I played a few bars from two basslines, one with a pick and one fingerstyle. To make forming an opinion easier for myself, I compared the ENR71 half-rounds to my familiar, near-new set of Chromes installed on another of my Warwick Corvettes, a Pro 5er, allowing for the presence of the extra string. Both basses have two active J pickups and are instantly recognisable as the modern Warwick sound. Feel The ENR71s are surprisingly easy on the fingers, even for a flats-freak like me. They are by no means as smooth as flats, but they are certainly much more pleasant to the touch than any type of rounds I’ve ever used, and after playing them for several weeks, I now find them almost addictive. Compliance The ENR71s seem to be less compliant than my usual Chromes, and to have higher tension; the truss rod needed a tweak after the half-rounds had been on the bass for about a month. (The bass was previously strung with D’Addario tapewounds, whose effect on the truss rod had been much less pronounced.) Tuning The ENR71s took longer than the Chromes to stabilise, but once they did, they held their tuning very well throughout late-summer-into-early-autumn temperature and humidity variations. The bass was still perfectly in tune when I took it out of its gigbag after a two-week break from playing it. Sound The ENR71s sound brighter than the Chromes (as expected), with a very crisp and clear sound, at the same time producing much less harsh finger noise than any kind of rounds. Once the bass was set up to suit the new set of ENR71s, with action, saddles height, intonation and pickups height properly adjusted, the strings sounded very well balanced to my ears. Initially, before setup, the G string was a bit too loud, because I like to set the G closer to the fingerboard than the E, A and D, for ease of playing; a pickup height tweak quickly corrected this. PJB Bass Buddy headphone amp Fingerstyle playing on the ENR71s sounds brighter than on the Chromes, but the ENR71s are less compliant, which means you need to remember to fret harder if you want to avoid unwanted fret buzz. With the ENR71s through the Bass Buddy, playing with a pick sounds brighter and has greater attack than fingerstyle; the difference in sound between playing with a pick on the ENR71s and playing with a pick on the Chromes, whilst still present, is less marked. PJB Briefcase Fingerstyle still sounds brighter on the ENR71s than the Chromes, but the difference in brightness between the two kinds of strings was more noticeable on the Bass Buddy. The same happens for the picked sound – the increased attack and harshness is still audible, but it’s understated on the Briefcase compared to the Bass Buddy. However, with the ENR71s you can obviously make all kinds of controlled noises while sliding the pick along the string or picking at an angle. So, will D’Addario’s ENR71 Half-Rounds manage to tempt me away from my beloved Chromes? Well, to start with, I’m going to leave the ENR71s on the Corvette indefinitely, as opposed to whipping them off at the earliest opportunity. I’m enjoying having a brighter-sounding, still reasonably smooth alternative to the Chromes; the only thing I might find tiring in the long term is the higher tension. Time will tell. [/quote]

More Halfway House in Barnes, last Saturday 24/10. An absolute hoot of a gig! Photos: https://www.flickr.com/gp/bluejay_my_photos/5T3H08 One of the many videos we took: http://youtu.be/ll2KJNGEXqE

LOL it was Kevin the soundguy retrieving his own extension, which wasn't being used (we were using Jack's)

Incidentally, Blablas, your projects are a permanent source of GAS! Don't ever stop, please

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1445332339' post='2890559'] lefty's look so wrong...this thread has made me very uncomfortable [/quote] BHAHAHA!!! COME JOIN US AT THE DEVIL'S SIDE!!! \m/ \m/

Great to see you guys had a good time! Brilliant photos - keep adding stuff, I'll tweet them all tomorrow

Excellent! I'll certainly see you there

Welcome, E! Watch out, you live dangerously close to Fodera's workshop! I've been to NYC - and Brooklyn - a couple of times recently, and I'm hoping to visit again soon. When that happens, we'll ask you where you're playing while we're there, and pop down to see you.

They seem to have a brand new website that's not working very well - in previous years there was a contact page with emails etc. I'll see if I can put you in touch with someone.

Here are the clickable images of those beauties by Peter. Thanks again for your kind words, everybody

Second, full length gig at Kew Market on 6th September. Photo album here: [url="https://flic.kr/s/aHskneRPiD"]https://flic.kr/s/aHskneRPiD[/url] Videos Bright Lights Big City [url="https://youtu.be/7ibmN-uHVoI"]https://youtu.be/7ibmN-uHVoI[/url] It's Your Thang [url="https://youtu.be/pdawNJCIJ3k"]https://youtu.be/pdawNJCIJ3k[/url]

The band's first mini-gig was at the Fiddler's Elbow on 9th June this year, as part of a multi-band evening. Vid is here: [url="https://youtu.be/GQBw4iohKz0"]https://youtu.be/GQBw4iohKz0[/url]

The most recent addition to Jack's active bands roster They've only existed for a few months, but have already played two gigs and have one more in the diary this year. The Sapphire Grooves "We've raided blues, rock, soul, jazz, gospel, you name it. We don't care what it's called so long as it depends on groove. We're not loud, we're cool." Pics and vids in the next posts.

[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1444817741' post='2886274'] Could also argue those who are "song purists" havent got the skills to interpret tastefully [/quote] I think audiences in general will have time for a band's or an individual's 'tasteful interpretations' of other people's songs when said band or individual is famous enough on their own strength. If I go to a pub knowing there's a covers band on, I hope to hear every song played well, that is, as close to the original as possible, allowing for differences in lineup, sound equipment and similar. Incidentally, going back to Joe Cocker's cover version, I far prefer the Beatles' original.