Prunesquallor

This: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYDfwUJzYQg Again

Thanks for this. The Basic is something I've looked at, but to be honest I could get a Ray34 for less and get a more geniune MM vibe. I'm thinking about a VM to cover both MM and P-bass sounds, and from what you're saying, it could be a good option.

Sounds like a fantastic beast! Interesting what you say about the MM pickup being able to nail the Stingray sound. I thought it was too far back for that, for some reason. You've suddenly upped my interest in a VM. Looking forward to hearing about your AB experiments. Maybe you could upload some clips of the bass in action?

No worries! It's good to see a completely different take on the guy. Looks like I'll have to give his latest another go. Maybe I dismissed it too quickly.

HUGE fan. I haven't heard their recent stuff, but before the first breakup I thought they got better and better. Gaucho's my favourite; such a wistful album.

Has Mark Adams from Slave been mentioned? He could certainly give 'Nard Edwards a run for his money.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1350825737' post='1843858'] I didn't know that he had a 'classic period' - those are good albums, but for me Go Plastic and Ubfubulum are the best.[/quote] Well, Hard Normal Daddy and Feed Me Weird Things seem to come up the most, or certainly very often, in favourite Squarepusher album threads, and they aren't too extreme, which is why I recommended them to Ray. Go Plastic I'd rate as one of his more difficult albums; and Ufabulum I couldn't get into at all, and is quite different to his previous output. But, hey, whatever floats your boat.

Beautiful! What do Sandberg call that particular sunburst finish?

'Not too dancey'... hmm. He does like that d'n'b backbeat... Most people recommend Hard Normal Daddy or Feed Me Weird Things as 'gateway' albums. They could be considered his 'classic' period, if you like. Or you could try Ultravisitor, Flea's favourite album. They could all be a bit dancey for you, though. Alternatively, there's Solo Electric Bass 1, a concert recording in which it's just him and a 6-string bass - no drum machines, or any other electronics. For the record, my favourite tracks for his bass playing, are EZ Boogie, C-Town Smash, Squarepusher Theme, The Swifty (the bass comes in late), Hello Meow, Bubble Life, Papalon, Iambic 5 Poetry, Don't Go Plastic, My Sound, and Tetrasync. Check them out on YouTube. The first two, in particular, are bravura bass displays. Hope this helps!

As someone who's learning right now, I'm very glad I'm having lessons. Among other things, my tutor's showing me how to reach most notes in a song in one position, using one-finger-per-fret, reverse scales, etc, and how to use modes to anticipate where a song is going, to improvise, etc. I very much doubt I would've picked these things up on my own.

I saw Squarepusher at the Hackney Empire last night, and any thoughts I'd had about him dumbing down or selling out because of his latest electronica album and new Daft Punk-lite image were blown away. He did the latest album, of course, but nothing else I recognized. The rest seemed to be semi-improvized aural assaults, using music as a kind of battering ram. This was not the sweet side of Squarepusher of, say, Bubble Life, but the 'difficult' side, which gets me asked to turn him down a lot at home. Of course, I went to see him play bass. He's one of the main reasons I picked up one in the first place. But when he did, towards the end of the concert, he used it to project yet more jagged, scouring synth rockets over an electronic back beat. Only right at the end of the encore did a recognizable bass sound emerge for a few jazzy chords. That was it. Did I enjoy it? Yes, in a sado-masochistic kind of way. I do wish he'd given us some set dynamics, though, a couple of oldies, like Squarepusher Theme, and some recognizable virtuoso bass. 7/10

Bought a Valvedrive from this gent. Diamond geezer.

Just bought a Hyperdrive pedal from Will. The transaction went really smoothly, and the pedal arrived quickly and well packaged. Diamond geezer!

Just bought Tom's Jackhammer. First-class transaction. It was great dealing with him.

I'm getting 45 min lessons weekly - although sometimes life gets in the way and I have to cancel one occasionally. That works for me as it's a weekly motivational shot in the arm, and I'm absorbing information gradually rather than having an infodump every few weeks or so. I worked out that 45 mins was best for me. Any longer than that and my eyes start glazing over. I second what everyone's said about little but often when it comes to practice. I've found I've improved faster when I made an effort to find the time even to just pick up the bass and work on some scales for 5 minutes. Even unplugged in front of the telly is better than nothing.

A scholar and a gentleman. Communicative and great to deal with. I bought a VT Bass, which arrived quickly and well packaged via registered post.

Absolutely overkill just for an octaver! But it seems to do quite a lot of other things as well... I think I could justify it if I think it's replacing three pedals. Hmmm.....

Nobody's mentioned the Eventide Pitchfactor... Just wondering how it stacks up against those listed above.

I'm learning on a Squier VM Jazz, and I couldn't be happier. I went to buy it with a friend who knows something about basses. My instructor later picked it up and said 'This is a Fender...'. He's also urged me not to get rid of it when I buy a second bass. I've heard CV jazzes are good as well - but I prefer the looks of my VM (call me shallow... ) Quality varies, though, so if you don't know much about basses (as I didn't) go with a friend who does (or your instructor) to help pick one out.

I thought it would be interesting to hear Lakland's take on this, as I've had my eye on one for some time, so I emailed them about the thread. Here is the reply from John Pirruccello, their President, in full: Hi Neil, Thank you for writing in and pointing out the thread. I find it vitally important to hear comments including complaints about our instruments so we can make changes and correct them. It's difficult to find the time to monitor boards like basschat so I do appreciate you alerting us. First, our policy is that if anyone purchases a Lakland and has issues with anything, please contact us immediately and we will work with you towards a resolution that you are happy with. We are still a small operation, same size as always, (I've been here since 1997) same crew, same machinery, so nothing has changed that should make anyone feel our basses are somehow different now. We actually spend more time on each Skyline neck than ever before between the PLEK and hand fret end finishing post PLEK. Pickup winding and loading is all done here in Chicago too. But that is not to say that we are complacent, which is all the more reason why I am happy to have these issues pointed out to me like the ones on this thread. I've heard from folks on the US board talkbass, and the interaction has helped us to correct things that slipped by and keep us on our toes. We care very much about our reputation, we've worked very hard to make our customers happy all these years. Please pass this note to anyone who may be interested or you may post it. Very sincerely, John Pirruccello President, Lakland Basses I thought it was decent of him to give a personal reply.

Bought a 3Leaf Proton from Matt. Super pleasant and communicative, and the pedal arrived swiftly and well packaged. A true gent.

It's a lovely looking bass. I've been lusting after it for weeks...but...no cash...! Look after it for me.