shizznit

I have always regarded MM's to have one of the best pickups ever made. Their stock humbucker is stunning!

[quote name='Warwick_Official' timestamp='1343407552' post='1750371'] I will agree with this on all counts! I've seen it happen quite a few times, and it only made me see that some producers wear blinders when it comes to things out of their comfort zone. Unfortunately a lot of players don't want to upset the guy who's going to make their album...but in my experience it stifles creativity. I also have seen this happen more to bass players than any other member of a band... [/quote] That's very true. I do find that the experience is very different since I have been a session musician over the past few years. I get paid to deliver exactly what the producer or song writer wants and I have less of a say into what goes down. I have to be much more flexible and agreeable. Bringing kit along that helps me to that is invaluable. But, despite my best efforts to bring along quality kit along to the job sometimes the producer wants me use the house amps or basses. Not very often thank goodness, but I have met a couple of producers that are set set in their ways and don't allow very much room for manoeuvre. Going back to the conversation about Warwick bass tone... One of the main reasons why I played nothing but Warwick years ago is because I got great feedback from FOH engineers about how well the tone balanced on the desk and how well it projected in the mix. As most of my time back was spent on stage rather than the studio it was a logical and very rewarding switch. Mmmmmm...happy days!

[quote name='Warwick_Official' timestamp='1343346633' post='1749453'] When it comes to engineers/producers...a lot of them seem to listen with their eyes lol! Recording something that they aren't used to isn't the players fault. Players should play the instrument that allows them to speak their voice as a musician...and not what an engineer is used to! [/quote] Amen to that brudda! My heart sank when Jeff told me to switch to that battered J when after I played him my brand spanking new Dolphin! The bass was like "Don't you know who I am? Philistine!"

Every Warwick I have owned has been superb. Very distinctive tone and versatile. But, some folks don't like them because the necks are quite chunky and...well...let's face it, they look a bit weird! As much as I love the Warwick tone I have had criticisms from engineers/producers. For example, a guy that I have worked for for many years hate them. He says that they are very 'clicky' sounding and refuses to record with them. Which really cheesed me off as the first time I worked with him all I had at the time were Warwick's! I ended up using his battered MIM J with 2yr old strings on it! I wouldn't go as far to say that they are marmite basses...that would be overboard, but some folks don't get them because they stand out a little too much may in an unconventional or perhaps an untraditional way. I only have one Warwick left and my taste is changing to Fender and MM type tones these days, but I will always have at least one Warwick in my collection because they are so much fun to play and if I ever want something a bit out of the ordinary and provokative I have something to reach over to.

Charlie Mingus is one of my all time favs, but I have never been in a jazz band and I don't play double bass either. I'm just a big fan of his playing. Felix Pappalardi is another of my favs, but I never had an ambition to play like him. I like his playing because he had one of the most awesome fat bass tones ever. I never ever play with a pick, but I really like Mike Inez's playing. I always consider myself as a music fan as well as a musician. Not everything I listen to makes me the player I am today. Sometimes you just need to unplug, sit back and enjoy music for what it is.

My singer asked my guitar player to use a capo. His reaction was presenting his middle finger at him an said "here's my f***ing capo!". That made me giggle!

Used Roto's for the first few years of playing. They sound pretty good, but I stopped using them because the brightness fell off very quickly. I don't have an acoustic bass anymore, but I always bought the bronze acoustic strings. Great value for money and very easy to get hold of compared to other brands.

Blimey...I haven't added an update to this thread for ages! I will have to give Jon a quick buzz for some news. He still hasn't sent me the pics hat he said he was going to a couple of months ago! I will also be placing an order for a Jazz bass with Jon over the next few weeks, so I will post a build diary about that project soon.

Funny vid!! My girlfriend watched an old .mpg clip of me at a festival in Portugal 11yrs ago and thought I was like Keith Flint from the Prodigy! I'm too old and fat for that crap these days. I still have fun, albeit without jumping off stage monitors and silly hair cuts! Sometimes you just don't have the stage space to perform in a physical way, but at least make it look like you are enjoying yourself. Smile!!! Well, unless you play Indie...smiling is not a requisite!

[quote name='heminder' timestamp='1343268661' post='1748133'] With a Neoline cab I'm getting some hiss from the tweeter though, even with nothing plugged in and gain rolled to 'off'. It's about as loud as the Reidmar's fan (which is about as loud as a laptop running) and it gets louder as I turn the volume up. Is this normal? It's my first amp with a tweeter. [/quote] Perfectly normal behaviour for a tweeter horn, but I find EBS tweeters to be a bit quieter than other brands. Nowhere as noisy as my old Warwick cabs. The 'bright'' control on EBS amps really perk up the tweeter horn and you get a bit more unwanted hiss if the bright control is very high. Over the years I have turned the tweeter horn down and cranked up the bright control for a quieter result, but still quite lively and scooped sounding. Depends how sparkly you like your overall tone I guess.

One thing to bare in mind with Bernard Edwards is that he wasn't afraid to use a pick once in a while. I busted my balls for weeks to try and nail Everybody Dance until I read an article that said he used a pick and subtle palm muting when he recorded that song. As soon as I started to play that song with a pick it all began to make sense. Dance, Dance, Dance also doesn't sound right without using a pick. Some folks say that he used to use the surface of his index fingernail as a pick, but take my word for it I have tried that method and it bloody hurts very quickly!

Poorly cut heel pockets is very common on Fender instruments. More so on MIM guitars and basses, but you will get one or two breaking out of the other plants too. My Hendrix tribute guitar has the same poor craftsmanship. You can almost fit a 5p coin in the gap. I should have noticed when I bought it, but I still expect more for the price I paid for it. I have seen this problem on so many Fenders over the years. Very disapointing.

I always put distortion or synth effects first in the chain, then filters and wah's, then modulation effects like phasers, chorus etc... then lastly ambience effects like delays and reverbs. That's a common chain process which a lot of folks will follw, but mix it up and have some fun! Compressors or limiters can be used anywhere in the chain depending on what you actually want to compress. Some put it first in the chain or last. There is not right or wrong way, but you might find if you put it first in your chain the rest of your effects wil behave differently. If you go for a very squished compressor setting your other pedals might not perform as well as they could because you could be starving them of a strong input signal. You will notice this more with synth and filter effects where frequency peaks and tracking struggles.

I have had a couple...a thru neck and a bolt-on (still got that one). Both quite different. I actually prefer the bolt-on model. I find the thru neck Thumb is a bit boomy in tone, but saying that I did love mine very much. The 2-band EQ does put some folks off, but because the bass has so much natural mid tone from the timber a mid sweep/cut control is not really needed. I love how it sounds active. Nothing else on the planet sounds like it! I can get a cracking flat jazz tone when I play up the dusty end...crystal clear and the tone of the brass frets really comes out...sounds beautiful. The note sustain is absolutely barmy for a bolt-on bass. The neck is so tight in the heel pocket that the whole bass resonates almost as good as its thru neck counterpart. Very impressive! I have never liked the way that it looks though. A friend of mine said that he thought it looks like a stepped on piece of chewing gum and that has stuck in my head ever since! But, it is so damn comfortable to play. I normally like paper thin necks, but Warwick necks are like paving kerbs. However, they are oddly very playable and very fast. The concaved body hugs my pelvis perfectly and the neck balance is perfect. As I am getting older I am becoming less conscience of my appearance (it happens to all of us eventually!), so if it plays good and sounds good I couldn't care less about the cosmetics.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1335961135' post='1638607'] [attachment=106725:003.JPG] - 1987 Veillette Citron - the best bass I own - this will be the last to go!! - [u]perfectly[/u] balanced - excellent range of tones - warm and kicking at the same time (this thread has inspired me to get this out of it's case later) - the most playable neck in the world - this feels sooo right - everybody who plays it falls in love with it!! [/quote] My friends dad has one (mid 80's I think) and it is one of the best basses I have ever played! He bought his in New York when he was touring with his band back in the 80's and is still using it today with his Chicago Blues band. He also has a guitar custom built for him about 18yrs ago and thats a belter too! Very hard instruments to find in the UK and Keith is the only guy I have ever seen play Veillette's. How did you pick this one up?

Following with much interest!

I always take the attitude that if my backline is reliable and puts out the tone I want then I can concentrate on my performance with confidence. I will never expect the FOH engineer to accurately replicate my backline through the PA and monitors for a multitude of reasons, but I also want to make sure that I have the right kit to give that person every possibility to make their job easier and get the results that they want. Cheap amp vs expensive amp?? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you can't put a price on that. But, you need to have the right tools for the right job. Bass players have it a bit more difficult than our guitar playing counterparts. If a 100w combo with no DI or line out feature is enough to do an acoustic gig at your local then game on. If you plan to use the same amp on a 60x40ft stage in a 1k capacity venue and cant hear yourself and the FOH gets shirty with you because you don't have a DI out don't be surprised. It's like taking a knife to a gun fight. You can get away with it if you are a guitarist because the amps are typically mic'd and most guitar amps don't have DI features, but you won't find many FOH engineers at larger venues that like to mic bass amps or have the right kit to do so.

When I was working for the label I was the only guy in the band that was single. The other members had their own families. My absence from home was never a big issue for me, but it was quite tough for the other guys. Nobody likes to be away from their families for a long period of time and it is important to get as much support from your partner/spouse as possible. Whenever we were arguing with each other the stem of the emotions usually came down to home sickness or an unresolved problems back home that couldn't be solved over a phone call. For example....my singer missed his youngest boy's 1st birthday and missed his wedding anniversary 3yrs in a row, my guitarist's wife was involved in a car accident whilst we were in Portugal one time. Luckily, we never spent anything more than a couple of weeks away on tour and our down time was quite often very extensive (mostly down to our moronic management and promoters). Despite having a pretty light tour expectation the time away from home was particularly tough for the other guys. Management teams at a label will work you in a very different way to a 9-5 office job. They will book you for gigs and media commitments despite of your personal commitments. You can't call your manager to ask to cancel a gig in the same way you can ask your manager in the office for a day of annual leave on short notice. You have to consider that if you are a 5-piece band and all of you wanted to block out the schedule for a day off on your birthday, your partners birthday, your kids birthday, anniversaries, a holiday abroad with your family, every public holiday, taking the cat to the vet...etc...you won't get much work done. The label decides when you all have down time and thats when you get to spend time with your family and friends. Its a hard business to work in and it takes a lot of commitment not just from yourself, but everyone around you to support your career. But, there is one very important thing...you have to make money! If you want to write and perform full-time you cannot rely on selling a few t-shirts at a gig to pay the bills. It’s the reality of dividing delusion of grandeur from business. When folks hear that I was a full-time signed musician they go "wow!'" and I reply "big deal"...I really don't have anything to show for it. We had a lot of fun...we really did, but our enjoyment came at a price and we entered into the world of music a but short sighted. After only 18 months of being signed we jacked it in because despite of the constant touring for several years leading up to our deal we were not making enough money to support our families and damn near bankrupted all of us. All of this could have been different if we were an overnight hit, but we weren't. Very few bands get that instant success and sometimes takes years of hard work and sacrifice to build any kind of success whatsoever. I'm not saying that this will apply to every band...if you are instantly successful then all the best for the future...enjoy it, but remember that a very small percentage of bands get signed and even fewer gain enough success to make any significant money for themselves.

The issue with my Reidmar cutting out came down to the Ampeg B410HLF cab I was using for a couple of weeks. I messed up the attenuator crossover which was why the cab (not the amp) was cutting out at high volumes. I used my EBS Pro 410 with the Reidmar at ear bleeding volumes at rehearsal the other night and all was good. I also used it at a gig with a Neo 210 last weekend and it didn't skip a heart beat. Panic over!

It's a difficult question to answer really I played a gig recently where a person commented how I just stare into space and become really engrossed in the music and become very natural and fluent. Truth of the matter was that was a TV facing us infront the stage and I was watching Barcelona v Real Madrid! My facial expressions were being influenced by what was going on the pitch during the game, not the music we were playing. Ok, I admit, I should pay more attention to what I am doing instead of being distracted like that, but I thought it was funny how my body language was bing misread. I looked like a super spiritual musician really getting into it, but the reality was that I was enjoying the football match! I do like a good 'ol jam with good musicians and get completely wrapped up in free flowing, improv playing. It sparks your imagination and develops your creativity. It's the root of all good musicians IMHO.

As said previously, size does not really matter. PJB cabs are made with 5" drivers...tiny! You would be surprised how much low end you can produce with those cabs.

Brecon Jazz is a staple attendence for me. Also going to Download for the first time for years (awesome lineup this year!). Two festivals at completely different end of the scales!

I'll just keep it to the ones I own now. Going through a transitional phase and I have sold a lot of basses lately and I have two more basses being built which won’t be finished for a while yet, but these two are not going anywhere! [b]2005 Warwick Thumb BO 4 String[/b] Positives… This is the only remaining Warwick bass I own and was actually the last one I bought before selling the other 4 basses. This one has always been my favourite. For a 2-band active bass this bass carries a serious attitude. The tone is incredibly punchy and balanced. This bass has gain a lot of fans with sound engineers over the years because it manages to sit in the mix very well. Okay, the Thumb is not the prettiest bass in the world, but is very comfortable to play and feels reassuringly solid. I replaced the pickups a few years ago with Barts and it is very sensitive and responsive. I love it! Negatives… For such a small bodied bass it weighs a tonne! The other Warwicks I owned had the brass Adjust-O-Nut which have their own little problems, but this Thumb has the composite Mk2 version. I really don’t like it. Don’t get me wrong, being able to adjust the height of your nut is very useful, but I did prefer the brightness of the brass nut and the fact you can adjust individual string height. The Mk2 is also a bit brittle and the retainers at the edges snap off easily. I hear that the Mk3 version on newer Warwick do the same. [b]Lakland 55-02 Inca Silver #52[/b] Positives… This has to be my favourite bass I have ever owned. I bought it from a collector in Dallas TX when I lived there for a short time. I use it as much as I can both live and in the studio. The bass is so versatile, sounds and plays great and the low-B is the best I have heard outside of a Dingwall. This instrument has been my main work horse for many years. It’s #52 ever made, but when I checked its authenticity after I bought it with Lakland they told me some interesting facts. It is the only 55-02 painted in Inca Silver which confused them a little. They asked me to check the serial number written on the heel pocket on the body. After a couple of days they confirmed that the bass has a 55-02 neck, but with a 55-94 body. They suspect that the bass was quickly put together to showcase the launch of the Skyline series at the NAMM show along with a couple of other basses painted in non-stock colours before they took the decision to just offer 4 colours. So, apart from being one of the first Skyline basses Lakland ever made it’s also one of a kind. Negatives… It’s a big ‘ol bass and makes me look really small! It also weighs as much the moon and I struggle to play it for long periods as I suffer from a whiplash injury. Apart from that, I can’t think of anything else I don’t like about it. It’s an incredible instrument!