solo4652

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzYHllLv_IE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzYHllLv_IE[/url]

Got this bass last week. It took me a whole day to strip it, de-crud it, remove years of fluff, grime and sticky stuff, check all the electrics, re-assemble it and do a decent set up. After playing it at home and at band practice, here are my impressions: Good points; Really nice woods. Quality alder (?) body, smooth maple neck and virtually unmarked rosewood board. Loads of tone options with pickup blending, pickup phase switching and individual pickup tone/volume controls. Almost too many options! - I'll probably confuse myself in the hurly-burly of a gig. Slim, easy-to-play neck. Easy-access truss-rod at heel. Balances well - no neck-dive. To my ears, it tends towards a more modern/middy tone but a bit of pickup switching gets it pretty close to warm/rich/P-tone. It's all there, somewhere. Things that don't suit me, personally; Narrow string spacing. I'm used to a wide, flat 44mm G&L nut-width, so perhaps I was expecting a bit much to play a 40mm nut-width. My hulking great paws are finding it too cramped. Slightly odd tone-switching that takes a fair bit of learning and understanding. For me, it's made me realise I prefer something a little more simple and straightforward, especially in a gig environment. So, in summary, this is a well-built instrument easily on a par with my MIJ Fender P for build-quality. It's light, nicely balanced, easy to play and has a wide range of tones on offer - at least as many as my G&L. It's a J size neck and that's where I'm struggling with it. I don't think it's quite right for me. It's made me realise I should keep looking for a G&L SB-1, L-1000, LB-100 or maybe a wide-necked Yamaha BB like a BB1200. Steve

Got this bass last week. It took me a whole day to strip it, de-crud it, remove years of fluff, grime and sticky stuff, check all the electrics, re-assemble it and do a decent set up. After playing it at home and at band practice, here are my impressions: Good points; Really nice woods. Quality alder (?) body, smooth maple neck and virtually unmarked rosewood board. Loads of tone options with pickup blending, pickup phase switching and individual pickup tone/volume controls. Almost too many options! - I'll probably confuse myself in the hurly-burly of a gig. Slim, easy-to-play neck. Easy-access truss-rod at heel. Balances well - no neck-dive. To my ears, it tends towards a more modern/middy tone but a bit of pickup switching gets it pretty close to warm/rich/P-tone. It's all there, somewhere. Things that don't suit me, personally; Narrow string spacing. I'm used to a wide, flat 44mm G&L nut-width, so perhaps I was expecting a bit much to play a 40mm nut-width. My hulking great paws are finding it too cramped. Slightly odd tone-switching that takes a fair bit of learning and understanding. For me, it's made me realise I prefer something a little more simple and straightforward, especially in a gig environment. So, in summary, this is a well-built instrument easily on a par with my MIJ Fender P for build-quality. It's light, nicely balanced, easy to play and has a wide range of tones on offer - at least as many as my G&L. It's a J size neck and that's where I'm struggling with it. I don't think it's quite right for me. It's made me realise I should keep looking for a G&L SB-1, L-1000, LB-100 or maybe a wide-necked Yamaha BB like a BB1200. Steve

Arrived today, Folks. When I've finished cleaning it and doing a set-up, I'll post some initial impressions in the Bass section. Steve

I spotted this ad on Partysounds. I don't play DB, but thought it might interest somebody who does; [b]Ref:[/b] 135566 [b]Bass Player Wanted - [url="http://www.partysounds.co.uk/musicians_ads/town.php?town=Stockport"]Stockport[/url], [url="http://www.partysounds.co.uk/musicians_ads/county.php?county=Manchester"]Manchester[/url][/b] Date: 18-01-2014 [b]Description:[/b] Double Bass player needed for our working Rock and Roll band to start ASAP. Gigs booked all year. Transport needed. 0161 612 8933. Stockport Manchester North West [url="http://www.partysounds.co.uk/go/email_mca.php?email=135566"]Email Paul Wilky[/url] [b]Phone: [/b]01616128933 [url="http://www.rockbacktheclock.co.uk/"]View Website[/url] 3.4 Miles

It's on the way to me as we speak. First impressions posted here in a few days time. Hope it arrives OK. Steve

You'll have to take some of the credit (blame?) for me buying it with your description of it. I've searched the net for some information about the bass but can find nothing. I bet you can tell us all about the body , neck, fingerboard woods and such like... Edit; This was supposed to appear as a response to Bassassin's last post. My error.

Sometime soon. You can't be local, if you say "Sunny"...

I've emailed the seller and he's happy for a buyer to organise a courier to pick up the bass.

Is this it? [url="http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/1979-wal-pro2-bass/1046497950"]http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/1979-wal-pro2-bass/1046497950[/url]

Thanks everybody. That's a definite "No", then. Let me know if you have one lying about doing nothing, please. Steve

I've been looking for a Yamaha BB1200 for a while now, and I've spotted this for under £200: [url="http://reverb.com/item/61414-yamaha-bb1200-electric-bass-guitar"]http://reverb.com/item/61414-yamaha-bb1200-electric-bass-guitar[/url] Obvious problems are wrong tuners and a clumsy looking repair around the jack socket. Both easy fixes?? Too much of a gamble? Steve

Looks nothing at all like mine.... [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ibanez-blazer-bass-RARE-1980-MOD-/221355680609"]http://www.ebay.co.u...D-/221355680609[/url] Hold on - I've just found this thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/227396-blazer-on-gumtree-for-l175/"]http://basschat.co.u...mtree-for-l175/[/url]

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1385716898' post='2291377'] definitely this unless the guitarist is doing something rhythmically tight i tend to ignore the guitar and just focus on the drums and then the keys in our band - the guitar can be sort of left to its own devices to a degree because as long as drums and bass are locked together it gives the guitarist room for a bit more fluidity im always telling our singist (much to her amusement) that i havent got a clue what she is doing - its not so much wilfully ignoring her but my ear seems to zone out the vox when i focus on the drums and the structure good luck with the gig tonight [/quote] Well, I think we did a pretty decent job in the end. I focussed on the drummer and not the guitarist or singer. My intention to beef up the bass tone lasted until the soundcheck when, due to the room acoustics, it was soon apparent that I'd overdone it. I ended up pretty much back with the sound I'd started with. We got applause for every song and the venue asked us back, so we must have sounded reasonably OK. Lessons for me; focus on the drums, don't over-play the bassline, listen to singer's comments about the groove, try not to be put off when guitarist messes up. Thanks to everybody here for their help and encouragement, Steve

Quick update following rehearsal last night. Thanks to the suggestions here, I tried a number of different things. First, I beefed up the bass and pulled the mids back on the amp. Next, I simplified quite a few of the basslines I'd been playing. I'd been trying to play things absolutely correctly and probably had slightly lost the overall band-plot. Then, I paid much more attention to the drummer and less to the guitarist (who I struggle to sync. with) and finally, we reviewed all the songs and decided some needed more work before gigging them - specifically We are family, Get Ready and Heard it through the grapevine. As a band, we took some big steps forward last night and tonight's gig is now looking significantly less daunting.

[quote name='Damonjames' timestamp='1385564890' post='2289704'] No offence taking Mr Digus (did you notice the ��) I was just suggesting that like any bass, it is capable off my different sounds, a small tweak here or there may of got our dear friend off the hook with the singer. I am in a Seattle tribute band, and I am changing my tone and vols pots, hand position and right hand finger technique constantly to try and nail the sound of the original. But seriously, how good is Bern?? Come on OP, how was the gig? [/quote] We're rehearsing tonight (27th) and the gig's tomorrow night. We're at the Metro Bar in Manchester Victoria, 6-30 to 7-30 if anybody wants to come and say hello. I'll be the stressed-looking guy at the back.

I've seen many of the rehearsal rooms/studios in Manchester. The cleanest, quietest, most helpful place has to be Great Image Studios in Hazel Grove: http://www.greatimage.co.uk/

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1385471141' post='2288578'] If you prefer the feel of the L2000, just solo the neck pickup in passive mode and adjust the tone to taste [/quote] Yes - I do prefer the G&L. It took a while to get used to the wide/thin neck but, now I have, just about every other neck feels cramped to me. I only ever play it in passive mode, otherwise the plaster comes off the ceiling. I can try neck-only pickup, but I don't like the tone at all - it sounds too dull and "shallow" to me. I normally play on both pickups, passive, with bass and treble cranked up to near max. I'm going to try rolling off the treble and adjusting the EQ on the amp, cutting some mids and boosting the bass. To be honest, I don't think tone-hunting is the answer, though.

Rehearsal tomorrow night. I'm going to take the P bass and roll off the top end a bit. I've also simplified how I play the bassline of Kiss and We are family so I can really concentrate hard on locking in with the drummer, who I find easy to play alongside. We have our first gig the following night. Maybe some of all this is pre-gig anxiety. I'll report back in a few days. Wish me luck, Folks.

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1385373592' post='2287394'] sounds like you have a delicate task of educating her to the finer arts of low end playing whilst simultaneously appeasing her control freak passive-aggressive lead vocalist tendencies and making her input feel valued and errr .... or .... forgive me for critiqueing your collective band playing without even hearing you, but maybe she is trying to explain that 'the groove isnt quite getting nailed' [/quote] Well, I think she's right when she says the groove isn't quite getting nailed. Without saying much more on this public forum, I think it might be time for a band meeting.

OK. I asked to singer to tell me more. She sent this email: "To me the bass sounded a bit clinical and too clean. It's prominent, and in time on the recordings and in rehearsal, but on songs like We are Family and Kiss for example we really need to funk it up; I think the bassline needs to have more 'swing and sway' that's what I mean by groove. It seems that you're so focused on getting it right that I worry you're not relaxed and enjoying yourself when you play!" So, the reverb thing may be a bit of a red herring. She says I play in time, but I need more "swing and sway", especially on We are family and Kiss. Interestingly, it's those two songs where I struggle to hook up with the guitarist's playing. I suspect there's more to her comments than meets the eye. I'll try more than one bass at next rehearsal but I don't think "tone" is the issue here. Watch this space.