7string

On regular acoustic guitars, some chords sound more in-tune than others. With the Buzz Feiten system, all of the chords sound in-tune with each other. Rest assured that having a Feitenized bass is a good thing When the intonation is set on your bass, each string is offset by + or - 1 cent. That's 1/100th of a semitone. The combination of the special nut on the bass and offsetting the intonation makes that tiny difference of making the bass more in-tune with itself.

Out of your choices, I kinda like the ice blue metallic... (I'd have to get other cases for the pickups. Can't stand exposed pole pieces ).

It's a great system to have on any kind of guitar. If I could afford it, I'd get all my instruments "Feitenized"... I'm in the middle of doing an Open University course on the technology of music, which went into the thinking behind different temperaments and their relative "in-tuneness" (for lack of a better word). Really interesting stuff. Long story short, players could only play in certain keys or modes to sound "in-tune". Same instrument, different mode or key and it sounded terrible. Even now, un-Feitenized guitars sound more in-tune with some chords than with others.

What a great pair of basses. So pleased to see that the MTD was all that you hoped it would be. Always liked a happy ending

Just a quick word to bear in mind that there could be a whole bunch of stuff between bass and recording stuff. Maybe there's something in his signal chain which is making the Wal sound like it does.

... and that's exactly what I think about the 7. If I want to hold a groove, that's great. If I want to play something with the guitars, I can do that as well. But 6, 7's and so on really aren't all that scary. After all, if a song's a lousy song it doesn't matter what instrument you're using, it's still lousy

In the "Build Diaries" section of Basschat, I've a thread following the construction of my 9 string by ACG [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk"]www.acguitars.co.uk[/url] It's getting to the exciting stage where the fingerboard is slotted and ready to join the neck. Being a 9 though, it looks ridiculously wide and one of the questions posed on that thread is "how do you play it if it's that wide ?". I've been playing 7 strings for about 5 years now and get asked that question whenever anyone sees the basses I play. Through this thread, I just wanted to answer that question, maybe get some other players thinking about the larger basses and, hopefully, not come across as a pompous idiot..... Leaving the "why play one" question to one side, the truth of the matter for is that they're not that tough to play. My Sei 7 string bass [url="http://www.seibass.com"]www.seibass.com[/url] doesn't weigh anymore than some 4 strings (9-10lbs or so), it's well balanced and it sounds cool (looks pretty darn good as well). Also, I'm not the tallest guy in the world (just under 6' or 1.80m) and I don't have the largest hands in world (the span from tip of my thumb to the tip of my little finger is 9" or 22.5cm). But here's the crux of the matter. A P bass nut is about 1 3/4 inches wide, my Sei 7 is about an inch wider but it's only about 1/2 inch or so deep. Up at the 24th fret, the 'board is 3.85" or 98mm wide, but again it's really shallow. The 'board also has a huge radius to it (so it's nearly flat) and the neck is carved with a little more meat on the bass side than the treble side. So even though the fingerboard is really wide, the shallow depth makes it easy to get around on. The neck itself is a 7 piece maple/wenge laminate with 2 carbon rods for extra strength. Not sure whether the carbon is actually needed, but with a long, wide neck is sure doesn't hurt to have it there. I think most other makers of "Extended Range" basses (more than 6 strings I think is the definition of "Extended Range") have the same principle of multi-laminate necks with rods for added strength. Whenever I have students over, the 7 string always gets some interest and I always offer to see if they'd like to play it. As soon as they play it, they realise that even though it looks massive, the neck makes it easy to play. Don't think about the top two strings and it's a standard 5 string and within a couple of minutes, the bassists start to play the lines they're most familiar with. So that's about it really. It's the construction of the bass (keeping the weight reasonable), the construction of the neck (keeping it straight and true) and the neck profile (for playability) that makes it possible to play a bass with more than 5 or 6 strings......

[quote name='phil_the_bassist' post='243748' date='Jul 20 2008, 01:02 PM']No, that's not a fingerboard....THAT is a beautifully figured landing deck for the new super-aircraft carrier that can launch jumbo-freakin-jets!! IT"S MASSIVE!!!!! ...Just how goddamn BIG are your hands?! Do you communicate with the pachyderm population of africa!?[/quote] This is the first question that people ask when they hear or see a bigger bass! I've been thinking about this and I'll make a thread which, hopefully answers this question. I'll post it seperately so others can debate it without reading about my ACG first. [quote name='phil_the_bassist' post='243748' date='Jul 20 2008, 01:02 PM']Would shifting from continental europe really be that much of a bad thing..? [/quote] Probably not....

I remember the first time I played through a Mesa/Boogie 1x15. Just unbelievable. It was night and day compared to anything else I'd played through. Great rig and cool bass. There's a lot of info on the Admovic website.

You can't got wrong with a Stingray. Always good to get gear outside and take the oppotunity to get some decent pics.

Great range of gear I've just finished reading about the Genz-Benz shuttles in Bass Player magazine. There were more than impressed by them!

Well I just sold my amp and cab as I can't use them at the moment and really haven't done so for the last 3 years or so. Who knows, when I get back to playing live again, I'll have to get a couple of really huge cabs and a stupidly powerful head..... Here's the latest pics from Alan at ACG of the slotted fingerboard. [b][i][color="#FF0000"]Please bear in mind that this pic is taken before the sanding and polishing stages !![/color][/i][/b] There's still a fair way to go yet

Congrats on the new additions and on fixing the wonky machinehead.....

What a corkin' quartet

Looks a good spec. Getting to that level of detail is always like pulling teeth, but it's worth it as both customer and luthier are both "singing from the same hymn sheet" as it were. To me, there seems to be a some Warwick influence in there as well. I remember seeing a pale moon ebony bass on Talkbass a while ago. Really unsual and very striking. The ACG pre you have there is one great piece of kit. You can get so many sounds from it, quite amazing.

"Every breath you take" by The Police. A lovely song on the surface but with seriously psycho lyrics.... Every breath you take Every move you make Every bond you break Every step you take Ill be watching you Every single day Every word you say Every game you play Every night you stay Ill be watching you Still one of my favourite songs ever though

No problem. Just PM with your address !! "The Music Lesson" paperback will probably only gather dust on the shelf. Don't think I'll be reading it again !! I wonder how many would read "The Music Lesson" if it wasn't written by a "name" bass player..... I for one only bought it on Vic's reputation and the rave reviews on the back of the book.

I hear that lead divers boots are required to be worn before striking a low F#. This prevents the vibrations moving the UK further away from continental europe. I think the low F# (might even take it to low E) will be great for bolstering lines on the E on a regular 4 string. After playing and admiring basses for many years now, I wanted something different from quilt, spalt or burl. The guy who supplied both the top and the 'board thinks so highly of Alan's work that when he heard about the 9 string (and the customer wanted something really unusual), he offered this mahogany. He's had this piece in his own personal stash for quite a while and thought that this would be a great project for it. It really is a stunning piece !!

Maybe I have too scientific an approach to all things. I just found it strange

I have to admit that I thought it was total conkers. I did read the whole book, but the further through the book that I went, the more weird it became. I even read some of it to my wife, just to make sure that I wasn't mis-understanding it somehow, but she just gave me really strange looks as well.

After seemingly rave reviews I bought this book cheap from Amazon. Has anyone else read this book and what did you think of it?

How much time to people spend playing through their big, loud amp anyway?? Chances are that most bassists have a little amp at home and so most of their practice/playing through that. If you're recording at home then a big amps no help either. There are a lot more occasions where a great bass will be of more benefit than a big rig. It is amazing though how small and powerful bass amps are getting nowadays......

OK, not the most exciting of pictures, but underneath the blue clamps lies the 9 string fingerboard. Alan's been waiting for the truss rods to arrive, but he's not been idle in the meantime! The neck is all ready (for the trussrods) and there are no prizes for guessing which one's the neck for the 9. Alan's also been looking at the electronics and control setup as well as there's a whole bundle of wiring to go in. Exciting times ahead

You can't go wrong with basses or amps with lights That's a cool shot of your gear. What do you think of the FretFX LED's ??

Very cool