shizznit

If you can actually call it a bass...the Kala U Bass. Really?? Close to 500 quid for something that you will only use to amuse your mates with once or twice and get bored of soon afterwards because you own another bass that you can actually use in a practical, conventional situation. Stupidly expensive for what it is. I hear they are releasing or have already released a 5 string model. Give me a break!

Just found one on ebay for £45...happy days!

Will Roqsolid make up a cover for my EBS Neo 212? My friends wife usually makes my covers for me, but they both emigrated to New Zealand recently. Desperate to get it protected during transit.

For those that play in Soul/Motown covers bands, you might have come across something like this... Punter - "Why didn't you play Mustang Sally?" Me - "Because that song has become kryptonite to the working musician no thanks to The Commitments movie." Punter - "Huh?" Me - "Nevermind. Did you enjoy the other songs?" Punter - "I didn't know any of them!"

I haven't owned a 6'er for quite some time, but I did start on a cheap Ibanez SR606 then moved onto a Status Energy Custom 6 which had a slightly wider string spacing (17.5mm). The Ibanez was actually a really nice player and was pretty ballsy in the tone department. Cracking bass for the money. I have never played a Cort 6, so I can't give my opinion, but I have played a MTD KZ6 and the neck plays like butter (like all MTD basses), but the 19mm spacing at the bridge is a pain if you don't play floating thumb picking style. It's quite a stretch from the pickup or B string, depending where you like to rest your thumb, down to the C string. I would recommend taking some time finding your first 6'er. I might be just speaking for myself, but I tend to find that 6 string basses much harder to tick my boxes compared to 4 and 5 string basses. Tone, playability, weight balance, feel...the whole package. I am a lot more pickier with 6'ers. Play as many as you can...no matter if the bass might be over budget, just so that you can get the feel of a 6 string bass under your fingers and figure out what makes sense to you as far as string spacing, neck profile etc... is concerned

I'm free that day (after the Cardiff City v Hull match). I'll bring an EBS rig and hopefully the Shuker Uberhorn if it has arrived by then.

Sometimes yes...sometimes no. Quite often we will work on another arrangement if the song drags on or change the key of the song to suit the singer. But, the guys give me quite a bit of freedom to add my own flavour to a cover. I'll decide if the song needs to be played in the pocket or could be spiced up a bit.

Thanks EBS_Freak. I'll look into this. It wasn't a major problem, but just noticed a difference in the out signal.

Here's a quick observation/question to those who have been recording with their Reidmar via DI... ...I have been using my Reidmar primarily for recording lately and I have noticed that the DI out signal is really hot compared to my TD650. I left my Reidmar at a friends house this afternoon to play with for a few days as he is keen to buy one. I have just plugged in my TD650 for a quick line check before I get on with a quick job this evening and I have had to crank up the gain on the input channel on my A/D convertor by quite a bit to get a strong signal. I haven't changed anything for weeks (in fact, I was recording with the Reidmar yesterday afternoon), so is the DI out signal really hot on the Reidmar or am I going bonkers?

There was an article on the Conklin website (dunno if its still there) about this instrument. The number of strings is one thing, but the sheer weight of it must be unbearable. If you want lots of strings, tap across 5 octaves and so forth...play a Chapman Stick! Your back and wrists will thank you!

[quote name='joeystrange' timestamp='1349093585' post='1821598'] I'm not sure this is such good news. When they changed the licensing laws a few years ago every bar and pub in the country became a 'venue'. That lead directly to a lot more gigs being put on every night in every town. Great for the gig-goer, not so great for the band whose gig is now competing with three times as many gigs in the same town on the same night. IMO it was no coincidence that this coincided nicely with a sharp downturn in gig attendances across the country. Maybe I'm just being cynical but this will surely have the same effect. And, let's face it, these small venues won't be passing the money they save on to bands. [/quote] I can see your point, however I was pushing for a deal in the late 90's and was supporting bands such as 60ft Dolls, Catatonia, Gorkys, Super Furry Animals, Dub War, The Boot Freaks (Ether) and Tragic Love Company (Stereophonics). We rarely played in venues over 200 capacity yet all those bands (apart from mine ) were signed at pub gigs. I admit, it was very much down to a trend in the business and record labels signed any band with a Welsh accent. S.Wales was seen as a stable bedrock for upcoming bands simply because there was a demand for live music and it was easy to stroll through Cardiff and stumble upon a good band playing in a small venue. It wasn't so much about the money because I never saw any and neither did those other bands, but the exposure was incredible back then and led to a huge flood of great Welsh bands entering into the industry in the mid-late 90's. Seeing the licensing law being relaxed for small venues may encourage better exposure for bands that have been hitting a glass roof to succeed in their careers. After all, there is nothing like creating a home fan base and it does go in your favour when hunting down a deal.

Thats a very encouraging move by the Government and hopefully we will see a revival of small venues putting on regular live music. The scene in S.Wales has really suffered in recent years and I will be delighted to hopefully see the same buzz going on as we did 15yrs ago.

All my basses are keepers. My Lakland has had the longest period with me than any other bass that I have owned...coming up to 9yrs now. I have had the Warwick Thumb since new for about 8yrs and I recently bought the Fender J second hand. To be fair, the Thumb doesn't get much play these days, but it would kill me to sell it. I have a Shuker Uberhorn on its way at the end of the month and my bass GAS will be satisfied for a while.

I remember taking my dads '77 Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty into school without his permission. Worth a small fortune, but I didn't know at all at the time. He grounded me for two weeks, no thanks to my mate that grassed me up!

I have two 'go to' tones. I like a modern, scooped clear tone with plenty of sparkle and high-mids which loads of players out there do too, so not really influenced by a specific player. But, I am a huge Bernard Edwards fan and I also use the same kind of tight, warm, bouncy tone that he used.

Other tiny amps that haven't been mentioned yet... EA Micro Mark Bass Big Bang David Eden WTX264 or WTX500 Genz Benz Shuttle 3 or 6.2 Aguilar Tone Hammer Epifani Piccolo For a compact one amp and cab solution most folks will go for a 12" cab to retain some low end thump. There are plenty of high quality 112 cabs on the market that offer different results and even most ceramic speaker loaded 112 cabs are pretty light. But, if you are playing in a rock band with a hard hitting drummer and you don't have a fold back monitor with your bass signal being fed to you then a single 112 cab may not cut the acoustic mustard as a backline. I struggle at times with a 210 cab with a light drummer, but then again I play in a soul band whereby the rest of the musicians want me to be cranked. It really does depends how loud you want to be on stage or if you are trying to fill a venue by relying upon your acoustic volume from the cab. It's a tough question to ask yourself when buying a compact rig.

Knock it off 51m0n!! You know that have serious GAS for a Berg HD410!! This is not helping

[quote name='binky_bass' timestamp='1348166488' post='1810369'] That, is awesome. Just my kinda top! Obscenely burled, it's the way forward I tell thee! T'were I a lady, I'd do things to that über horn... [/quote] Couldn't have put it better myself!

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1348513085' post='1814644'] This is by no means an isolated incident ; most of the other punters who have bought basses from me were quite frankly useless, with only one or two notable exceptions, and I only buy ( and eventually sell) very nice basses. But what crime have these people ultimatey committed by aspiring to a good quality instrument? [/quote] I have been lucky in that sense whereby most of my past bass kit has been moved onto players that are friends of mine and can string more than two notes together, but I did have a situation a few years ago when I sold a PRS CU24 ten top to a fella that came all the way from Norwich to Cardiff to pick up in person. I thought "Crikey!!! Serious player that is desperate for this one!". When I spoke to him the day before he seemed to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of PRS guitars and bragged about how successful his covers band were in Suffolk. He arrived and was eager to test the guitar. I set up the amp, made sure the lead worked and let him go to town. My girlfriend who was present in the room had to leave...in her words "I'm putting the kettle on if anyone wants one?". I soon followed her in the kitchen and we both laughed our arses off! There are no words in any known language (except perhaps Russian) that would describe how bad this guy played like! Think of a person trampolining and trying to play a guitar whilst wearing oven mitts trying to play Hotel California. To put it politely, he had more work to do! Once I had all the laughs out of my system I walked back into the lounge, did the deal and walked him into the car park. To my surprise he clicked his door remote and the boot of his Bentley Continental popped open and he placed the guitar inside. Drove off and I couldn't help but think that he had the last laugh!

I think a S.Wales bash is overdue. Count me in! I'll bring the 4-pack of Albright and Corona pop for those who are driving! I'll keep the 10p when I return the bottle though!

This a topic that is wide open for debate. I have owned what I consider to be outstanding basses...made to order and stupidly expensive compared to off the rack instruments. A Warwick Dolphin Pro 1 Custom, MTD 535/24 and an Overwater Progress III. I never felt inadequate whilst playing them...punching above my weight so to speak. They were merely tokens of hundreds of hours of hard work to be able to afford instruments of high quality. Did they make me a better player? Of course not. However, those instruments did help to fine tune my ear to what tones really switch me on and how much playing technique plays a part in that. With the exception of the Overwater (which some toe-rag pinched off stage at a festival) I sold those basses in favour of going back to a more traditional tone. Hence why I now play a Fender Jazz and a Lakland 55-02 that can give me a pretty convincing P, J or MM tone when I am working as those basses seem to be the staple requisite for a lot of producers. I also have a Warwick which is a nice switch if I want something with a more exotic, modern edge. I have ordered a Shuker Uberhorn 5 string and plan to keep the other basses as they will still have constant use when I am recording. Even though the Shuker may be a high end, made to order bass it was important for me to be very specific about what I wanted from the bass and on now it was going to serve me in the long run. It will be a mixture of tradional tone and modern playability. I love MM basses...definitely my all time favourite, but I have never been keen on the weight and the neck profile...that's just my personal taste after playing various different types of basses over the past 18rs and understanding what makes me tick when I play. So, the bass will have the tone of a MM, but light weight, comfortable and easier to play for long periods. I have to spend above over what I would expect to pay for an off the rack instrument to receive a very fine tuned representation of what I want and need to perform to the best of my ability. Anyway, back to the OP. I know of one particular player that has a high end bass collection that exceeds £40k, not including the amps that he owns. Sadowsky, Ken Smith, Alembic, Warwick, Brubaker...you name it...it will be hiding in a cupboard in his house. As you expect, he is a high earner, but I would consider to be inbetween beginner and moderate as far as his playing skill and knowledge is concerned. He doesn't actively play in a band and treats it very much as a hobby. Now, this is the conflict of emotions that a few of us have when we come across players like him. Does the skill of the player match the quality of the instruments or are we just envious?

A local club situated close to where I live have these types of acts on the weekends all the time. I wouldn't be bothered about that normally, but the daughter of one of our family friends is the bar manager there and naturally I asked if there was a possibility of booking one of my bands for an evening. She told me that the punters prefer 'one man and his CD' type acts and not live bands, which is fair enough. She then asked how much our flat fee was and was quite surprised. I assumed that her response was due to the fee being high, but she then replied "Gosh...we pay more than that normally". So I politely asked how much they normally pay for entertainment on the weekend and she said around £500-600, depending on the reputation and popularity of the artist. I guess I am dong this music thing all wrong. Considering the expense that a band goes through to be able to get out there and earn a few measly quid compared to a singer that can do a gig with a small cheap PA, cheap microphone and a CD player and get paid more than a 7-piece band...it does make me wonder sometimes why I bother.

Downloaded it this morning and listened to it in the car briefly coming back from church, so haven't really given it a proper listen yet. That said, I really liked what I heard. Not as heavy as previous albums, but the production is once again spot on. Looking forward to burying my head into over the next couple of weeks.