peteb

My dad's mate used to run it...!

Yep - that's also in the TB thread. Demeter actually designed the preamp in the first Eden head. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/history-lesson-thunderfunk-swr-eden-etc.157829/

Thanks Kev. Vince recorded a couple of albums with Bob and was in his live solo band for several years during Magnum's hiatus. Irvin (the keys player) was also involved with BC for a while.

There seems to be some dispute of his exact role, but he was involved - whether it as just him or he worked with Steve Rabe is unclear. Looking at a Talkbass thread, I have just found out something that I didn't know. Apparently there is no "David Eden". Its the David SERIES of products, by Eden. Its a play on words, "David" vs. SWR's "Goliath".

I think it was in the mid 80s with companies like SWR and Trace Elliot. Of course, before that there was the classic Ampeg 810 fridge.

I looked up Notts County and saw that they were relegated from the League 2 a couple of years ago! Far right - with the beard and lockdown hair...!

Sorry mate, that was about a year ago. But keep your eye out on Bass Direct and the BC classifieds, etc - they do come up from time to time. (edit: just found it - see below. Also, for comparison, I bought a 5 string version at about the same time for £1.4k) I would definitely recommend the Xotic.

IME the Skylines are nowhere near as good as the US Laklands, but the Sadowsky Metros are great (never actually played a US one). I have two US/Jap Xotics (4 & 5 string) that are brilliant, similar quality to the Japanese made Sadowskys, but I've never played the cheaper PRO version. I assume that the the NYC Sadowskys are excellent, but personally I don't see how much better they could possibly be than the Metros, or certainly the top of the range Xotics or Laklands, given that a jazz bass is a relatively simple design.

That is the cheaper, lower spec model. However, I have seen full fat Xotics (4 strings) going secondhand for about the same money.

This would be a good starting point, although I reckon the American Std from 2011 are really good (having said that, I have a 09 Am Std jazz that is very nice). You could also look at a s/h Xotic (my go to bass) or even a s/h US Lakland. A Sandberg is always an option at this price point. I'm sure that a Sadowsky would be great, but it will push your budget and just how much better will it be than an Xotic or a Lakland?

So, one of the bands I’m in has a new album due to drop in two days and is currently out for review on all the European websites covering the genre (AOR). We have had a number of reviews, including this pretty comprehensive, generally positive and balanced one (you may have to use Google Translate to translate to English from the original Swedish if you click on the review)! You have to love the translation from the original language. I particularly like the description of us as “old British rock foxes” and that we have “not really managed to enter the A or B teams in the genre” and that we are “much like Notts County in the British football league two”. I’m quite chuffed that they haven’t put us down as non-league…!! https://themaloikrockblog.se/recension/ny-skivrecension-escape-fire-in-the-sky/?fbclid=IwAR2VAX0j1TIE5mIt5VQYeYP1XihYHK7ocCCz-t3ZDR5Cd7rJjkRZ7fteXdM

I've got an iGig double bag that I use on most gigs, which will safely take two basses and all the leads and spares, etc that I need on stage. I quite like the fact that it is rather heavy as it makes it very unlikely that some opportunist scrote is going to attempt to pick it up and do a runner with it. This is fine if you just have to take it from the car and back, but is a definite pain in the a*se on the odd occasion that you do have to carry it any distance. I have had it for a fair few years now and it has done hundreds of gigs. It is now starting to show a bit of wear and tear and I must admit, I am thinking of taking two bags to gigs when the time comes to replace it...!

The accepted logic is that you put your preamp pedal in front of the amp, along with overdrives / octave / filter pedals. You may want to put your modulation pedals i.e. chorus, phaser, flanger and delays in the effects loop. If you want to put everything in front of the amp then the modulation effects go towards the end of the chain. Of course, you may want to live dangerously and break free of the accepted norm and experiment where your pedals go in the chain. I would think that most people use a preamp pedal to give them an alternative sound with just one stomp, or (as Loz says) so that you have some degree of control over your sound when you are using shared or house rigs rather than your own amp.

As far as string tension goes: the heavier the gauge the greater the tension in the string; likewise, the longer the scale of the bass the greater the tension will be (strings will feel tighter on a 35" scale than a 34" scale) and; hex core strings feel tighter than round core strings! This was a public service announcement...

Excellent - great to see the equivalent of the rhythm guitarist in a string quartet getting the recognition that they so obviously deserve.

I'm in West Yorkshire, but if I have anything than a minor job then I always take my basses down to Jon Shuker. It's a bit of a drive but well worth it.

Perhaps there is a classical music website somewhere with a thread on who is the greatest second violin?

If you turn up for an audition with an American Fender (for example), it sends out a certain message. The band leader can see that you are using a bass that many pros use and has the comfort of knowing that you are working with a tried and tested reference sound and image. Of course, it makes no difference what bass you bring if you can’t play, but it makes a good first impression. Similarly, a Dacia does not have the badass image that a black BMW does if you are intending to break into the extreme entrepreneurial world of selling drugs. What kind of cr*ppy drug dealer am I buying gear from who drives a Dacia?? It just screams disrespect me, invade my territory and rip me off. Of course, after you have cut half a dozen rivals and knocked a few reluctant punters around, then the message might get through that you are indeed a badass – but if you had the beemer you probably wouldn’t need to…!

There is a tradition of soloists playing featured sections within a musical piece going back centuries. So if you don't like guitar solos, then commenting on a thread on the 'Greatest guitarist of all time??' is probably not for you. After all, people still debate the influence of Niccolò Paganini, rather than that of the third violin in the orchestra in Vienna in 1828.

He may not be 'amazingly talented' technically as a guitar player, but as you say, he is very talented at using the guitar to create 'soundscapes' and has extended the possibilities of the electric guitar, just like Chuck, Eddie and Hendrix did! According to ace LA session player Tim Pierce, his go-to whenever he is asked to do something a little different on a track is to channel something that The Edge might have come up with...!

The best bass that I have ever played (at a jam session) was a Fodera. I don't think that it would work for the genres that I play, but it was a great bass. I would happily pay £2k for a bass, I think that £6k is more than I would really want to pay / comfortably afford. But I can see why some people would pay that price for that particular bass.

Very true. If we are taking about influential (rather than the greatest player), then why has no one mentioned The Edge??

But did he? There are way more people playing guitar today because Slash and his playing caught their imagination. Certainly more than have been directly influenced by T-Bone Walker. However, the reason that Slash sounds the way he does is because he was influenced by many players who came before him, who were in turn influenced by the likes of T-Bone Walker!

It's not just the look, it's also the image. Most people think of Foderas being played by either esoteric fusion guys, or by lawyers or other high earning professionals who never play a gig. They don't really have an image of being rock and roll or funky!

Fodera are a good example of a bass that some people dismiss as being boutique and start sprouting nonsense like 'there's no difference between a Fodera and my Squier / Harley Benton / entry level Yamaha' etc. Just to be clear, I'm not saying that you need to spend anything like that amount of money to get a giggable bass and I appreciate that entry level basses are a lot better than when I started out. Get a secondhand Stingray or US standard Fender or something similar when you can afford it and it will sound great and will cover any gig that you are likely to get, throughout your career as a bass player.