shizznit

Hmmm...I am not convinced the resale value of these basses will follow the same suit as the guitars. I have sold two high end PRS Custom 24's recently and didn't lose much money on either despite being in 9/10 condition. They will always be revered as a great electric guitar company, but when they dipped their fingers into amps and acoustics their wheels fell off. Their acoustics are pretty good, so are their amps, but there are other brands out there for less money that can do as good or better job. Hence the book depreciation on 2nd hand market for the acoustics and amps are not as good as the electrics. The guy I sold my 20th Anniversary CU24 to last year didn't even know that they make acoustics and amps and he has been playing PRS guitars for years! When I showed him the products on the PRS website he was chuffed...then I showed him the price list! Strange how he would spend thousands of his cash on their eclectic guitars, but not on anything else that they produce. I dunno if they entered those markets too late or simply just too expensive, but the only thing that still interests their customers are their electric guitars. Their new basses might make waves at first, but I fear that they won't be able to build a profile big enough to tempt customers to buy their brand over 100's of luthiers and common popular brands already out there with a strong and loyal customer base that could build a better bass for the same price or lower. At their retail price range, bassists will commonly turn to a private build. Guitar players don't do that. They will fork out £2500 for a Gibson Black Beauty Custom just because it's a Gibson, even though there are thousands out there like it and even conscience that there are better guitars out there for less money. PRS fall into that category too, but the effect hasn't happened for their acoustics and amps yet and probably never will. Maybe I am being pessimistic and I do hope that PRS will do a good job returning back to bass production because I am a fan of theirs, but they have been out that game for a while and didn't really give basses their full attention first time round. I hope they commit themselves to this in the long term.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1360021119' post='1963811'] Thank you! Yes, i demonstrate a few different styles and often play similar passages between different instruments in different issues in an attempt to make them comparable. Simple and clear is the way forward i think. [/quote] Well, I will be uploading my first review video in a few weeks time as soon as I get a better camera and sort out the lighting in my music room. Quite nervous, but I have a good idea about how I want to structure the demo and cover different tones for different styles. Just don't want to come across as a 10,000 notes per bar w*nker! It about the gear and not the player...something I will try hard to remember.

I have had to think quite hard about a reply to this thread! Its quite difficult as I have played in jazz/funk bands and rock bands, so there are two sides to me. I guess the following albums reflect closely to my playing style... Risqué - Chic (my funky side) RATM - RATM (my naughty side) Bernard Edwards is not at all surprising to me as he is my all time favourite player and I always aspire to sound as tight as he did on Risqué, but Tim Commerford comes to mind when I think about my aggressive rock playing. My tone and style is quite similar when I want to put my foot down in a rock band. I modelled myself on the self titled Rage Against The Machine when I was in my first rock band and I always think about that album if I need to play angry!

This has been a fantastic build diary. Looking forward to seeing he finished instrument! I too was unaware that Overwater build a thru neck Preception. Wished I knew that back when I ordered my Progress III, but that was 10yrs ago so things might have changed since then. Much prefer the smaller size of the Perception body.

Yup...it bugs me too. Like Dood says, keep it simple so that you can hear the detail of the bass, amp, pedal etc... By all means, demonstrate the slap tone, but I don't want to hear 10mins of it. I saw a review of a Hagstrom semi-acoustic bass a while back that was slapped to death. Stop it! A - it sounded crap and B - most folks that would buy that bass would not use it for that!

I have never owned, but played through a Bergantino AE410. Ticks every box for me. Clarity, punch, power handling, great acoustic projection and tone. A very good performance cab...IMHO the best 410 cab ever. Been thinking about buying a HD410, but haven't made the time to pop up to Bass Direct to try one yet. I have been encouraged by other players to replace my EBS Proline 410 with the Berg as EBS amps love them, apparently. But, I consider the Proline 410 to be the best cab I have ever owned, along with the Neo 210 and 212 that I also have. The exchange will be more than likely if think the HD410 is on par with the AE410. It's a pain that 2nd hand AE cabs almost never come onto the market. Tells you a lot about how much they are loved by their owners!

I have only had one bass with LED's installed (Status Energy 6) and I found them to be really useful. That bass was also installed with a dimmer control, so I could adjust the brightness according to the lighting conditions and save the life of the LED's. Very handy as the brightness of those green LED's were so high it would hurt my eyes! I never look at the fingerboard markers on a fretboard as I play because I wear my bass quite high and my eye-line can only see the side of the neck anyway. Never been fussed having them installed on the fingerboard for two reasons. 1st being that it would be a waste of money as I don't need I see the fingerboard itself and 2nd being the cost. LED's are terribly expensive regardless if they are retro fitted or not.

Luckily, every decision to leave a band has worked out and been the best move for me. I have missed opportunities to audition for a couple of fledgling artists that have gone onto to bigger and better things, but I don't ponder on that too much.

I took the plunge 11yrs ago and bought a Status Energy 6 and had lots of fun playing it. But, I didn't really use the C string in a practical situation that much. Plus, my guitar player got the hump every time I played on the C anywhere beyond the 10th fret! I still had a couple of 5'ers that had more stage time than the Status, so I reluctantly sold it. I haven't owned a 6 string bass ever since or felt the need to extend my higher octave range.

I used Hartke for a few years before moving onto EBS. I had a HA500 going into 2x 410XLT cabs. Fantastic rig. I would happily go back to Hartke if EBS were wiped off the planet over night.

The Wales v England 6 Nations match is on the 16th

Well, it's better than Echobrain, but still not fussed.

I started playing drums when I was a kid. I was coming on quite well, until I did my first performance. I was absolutely battered after 30mins and I decided it was too physically demanding, so I moved onto guitar. I was a lazy sod when I was a kid! If I showed a bit more dedication back then I am sure I would be drummer right now.

I haven't touched DB for years, but I managed very well with a AER 12" combo which was borrowed from a friend (I forget which model it was). Most players I have seen in recent years use Gallien Krueger MB combos, EA iAmp through a Whizzy cab, AER combos and Roland Bass Cubes. I very rarely see players using anything bigger than a 12" cab or combo on stage. Fatback is spot on about the natural transparency of the amp. For acoustic instruments you need an amp that has a very flat response and is not coloured by built in high and low pass filters. You can get by with a Mark Bass, Genz Benz, EBS and all the other great D-class amps, but you may find yourself not using the pre-shape features. Best to go for an amp that is very clean and uncomplicated and invest in a quality pickup and preamp. I bought an EA iAmp 500 which was amazing for DB, but soon packed in DB playing soon after I bought it. If I decide to go back to DB playing again anytime soon I would seriously consider an EA iAmp Micro into a Whizzy 12. Small, light, very portable and great performance. A friend (the same friend that let me use his AER combo 12yrs ago) has been using this amp setup for the past couple of years and sounds incredible.

Over the past 10yrs or so, I have never auditioned a new band member without either knowing them already or have come highly recommended by another good musician. I'm lucky in the sense that my network of friends are mostly experienced musicians, so when word gets around someone will surface. It has been a successful method, but the downside to that you might find yourself waiting a while for the right person to audition. The response is not as instant as placing an ad on the interweb, local press or in a music shop. But, it does help to cut the fat when it comes to wasting your time with lemons.

Easy decision...the best drummer out of the two! If the guy is the better musician, but is ugly you can always move a cymbal in-front of his face blocking everyones view of him! [i]P.S.[/i] [i]Sorry for missing the past couple of gigs![/i]

There is always a margin for compromise and sacrifice with each member of the band when it comes to song selection or music style, but above all you have to show enthusiasm for the band that you are performing with. In other words, there needs to be a consensus of opinion when it comes to putting a set list together that keeps everyone happy and above all gets the best performance from you. Yes, one or two songs might not turn your crank personally, but you have to remain mature about these things and get through it...it's not the end of the world. I I would take encouragement from a new band member that is showing enthusiasm to freshen things up and make their mark on the band, but if the changes are not agreeable or that person is showing no willingness to perform your back catalogue then maybe that person is not right for the job.

I use 212/210 setup at the moment which is my preferred speaker combination for most gigs and rehearsals. I also have a 410 which I use for larger gigs along with the 212. I wanted to go back to a 410/410 setup a while back, but in practice those 3 cabs in any chosen combination have given me a lot of flexibility over the past few months.

The only guy I have heard of listed in the OP is Andy Saxton. The rest I will check out in my spare time, but I am a big fan of Andy's playing. Very fresh style and technically exquisite.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1359297885' post='1952626'] Be careful. The bottom has already fallen out of the analogue synth market once. You could barely give them away in the late 80s and early 90s. When someone perfects digital control of an analogue signal path at a sensible price, it may well collapse all over again. Plus a lot of them use electronic components and other parts that are no longer in production. Getting them into working condition (and they are worthless if not) can be extremely expensive. [/quote] There is truth in this. I bought a Moog Prodigy for £300, spent £150 fixing it and sold it for £300 even though a so called 'expert' told me I could sell it on for at least £600. It took me almost 3yrs to sell it too. Digital is really starting to take over the market. I work mostly in the dance industry and the trend of analogue setups is dwindling steadily. There will always be a market for analogue, but it will be the niche rather than the standard.

Is it just me or does the nut on that Schecter abomination look really high? If so that guitar will be even more of a pup to play.

[quote name='thodrik' timestamp='1359261176' post='1952249'] 'Boner' Fender Jazz basses. [/quote] I had one and part-ex it for a Hartke rig. I was happy with the amp, but wished I held onto it. I have seen them on Ebay (U.S.) a couple of times going for good money. Rich from the 60ft Dolls and I bought one each of the only three in stock anywhere in S.Wales at that time (mine was black, his was tobacco burst and I was told that Nicky Wire bought the other one, but I have no idea what colour that one was). Rich told me a few years ago he is sure he smashed his up, which wouldn't surprise me. A great bass and if I had any idea back then how valuable it would be today I would have kept hold of it. Oh well! I have always hoped that Fender would reissue that model. I'll be first in the qeue to buy one.

I take a very simple approach to this. I leave my amp pretty much flat and I just adjust the centre mid frequency until the notes are punchy and balanced across the fingerboard. Works for me every time. I don't play with a deep and throaty tone anyway, but as soon as you hear the low frequencies flooding the rest of the band it really spoils it for me as a player and as a listener. If my backline is not going through the PA I always think about the person at the back of the venue rather than the person in front of the stage and I shape my backline tone with that in mind. Our male vocalist leaves the stage a couple of times during our set and checks the overall balance of the band and he has a good ear for balance. If he says that my tone is too muddy or too sparkly I will adjust it even though it might sound a bit weird behind me. It doesn't stop me from getting on with my job and I take any sacrifice of my own tonal enjoyment to ensure that I sound good in the venue. Can't be afford to be selfish in this game. We play more often these days without the band being full mic'd up through FOH, so I don't tend to turn my backline volume beyond the acoustic level of the kick drum. That's when the arguments begin on stage! If I am too low for the rest of the guys that usually means that 'they' are too loud. But, if we are acoustically balanced on stage then we tend to find the punters enjoy the performance more. If you are not going through a PA and push your amps up to the same volume expectations it is very hard to balance the band individually. I view amps as personal monitors on stage...nothing else. They cannot do the same job as a PA...amps are not designed that way. I know a lot of us don't have the pleasure of putting the band through a PA, but you have to live by your limitations. Okay, everyone love to crank it up and pin the punters to the wall, but you will be surprised how much they don't really enjoy waking up the next day with their ears ringing and sore throats because their mates couldn't hear them spilling latest Facebook gossip.

Slap is something I can do well, but not necessarily enjoy playing. I get bored really quickly when I slap and I don't bust a gut to introduce it into my every day playing. I don't hate it and I enjoy listening to other guys playing slap. It's a skill worth knowing how to do as it teaches you how to play tightly against fundamental rhythm patterns and how you can become percussive within that yourself. I made a conscience effort years ago to vary the way that I approach it and not play the 'disco' octave kinda way all the time. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I got very tired of that after a few years. I developed my slap style around triplet timings and played the II's and III's with 5th, 7ths and 9ths instead of the octaves. It's a fun way of playing and it enables me to move around the fretboard a bit more freely. So, I experimented with lot of different rhythms and shapes for a while and the result sounded more musical to me whilst still being very percussive. Slap is a technique that is gaining in age as we have heard lots of players using it for over 40yrs and it has predictabilities and criticisms. Even though I don't use it much when I work I do still try to keep on top of it. There are other techniques I play to improve my dexterity as a player even though I might rarely perform or record with them. For example, I like tapping and I enjoy getting creative with that. But, I can't remember one time in the past 10yrs when I have done any tapping on a recording or on stage. However, I always approach learning new playing techniques as something that improves my musical ability (mentally) rather than my musical performance. If an opportunity arises whereby I can apply those techniques then at least I have something in the basement that I can drag out and nail it.

Mmmmm...tortoise shell on white...tasty! Followed!