JapanAxe

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1423142317' post='2681302'] ...how!? Warwick Corvette I had balanced perfectly but weighed just over 6kg. Current bass is made of all the exact same woods but haven't got round to weighing it yet. It has a little neck dive but still feels much lighter than the corvette. [/quote] 1kg = 2.2lb

I got to thinking: What did I learn from the pro bassists that I have met [u]in person[/u] at BC Bass Bashes? Dave Swift: Reckons a flatwound B-string sounds like a football hitting a sheep. Good point. Jake Newman: Whatever makes a bass part easier to read (e.g. choosing the key signature to minimise the number of accidentals) is good - you don't want to be making [i]any [/i]mistakes in front of an audience who have paid £80 a ticket!

7.9kg = 17lb6oz. Blimey!

Having seen BC members quote weights for the basses they are selling, I have often wondered what my own basses weigh. I borrowed an accurate digital scale (indicates to nearest 10g) from work and carefully weighed all my basses: Fender Mustang 3.96kg = 8lb11½oz Sandberg VM4 4.20kg = 9lb4oz 1973 Precision 4.20kg = 9lb4oz G&L L1505 4.33kg = 9lb8½oz The Precision 'feels' heavier than the Sandberg, but is the same weight. The Mustang is short scale, so much shorter than those two, and 'feels' a lot lighter (i.e. by more than the actual 204g/8½oz). Most surprising is the G&L - this feels like much harder work when I play it, even though the action is fine, and I would have put it at 10-11lb. In fact it is only 130g/4½oz heavier than the Sandberg and Precision. I think the key factor is the width of the neck, both when initially picking it up to play, and whilst actually playing. I use the same Comfort Strapp for all these basses, yet I have an achier shoulder when I have played the G&L. I guess I am tensing up my left arm muscles more when I play it. Anyone else been surprised when weighing their bass?

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1423004062' post='2679574'] Without altering the dimensions i would have larger bass speaker right at the bottom corners and smaller full range ones at the front and a much smaller meter at the front. Or internal with some sort of simple reflex system and ports towards the front. Another idea would be front and on the top kind of like a phil jones briefcase. I can think of lots of variations to try. However it would be more optimal to redesign it slightly to match my proposed speaker combination. [/quote] They are concentric drivers - they save a lot of space, so Ashdown can keep the unit small.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1422995152' post='2679353'] Without going into why they are NOT posting here! Please Feel free to start your own thread about that if you wish [/quote] Thanks but that won't be necessary!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1422994629' post='2679336'] I think Hamster has the 5-string. [/quote] Yes I kind of thought it was Hamster.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1422994908' post='2679344'] Not a lot really. Your average pro doesn't have the time or inclination to be as much of a gear nerd as your committed amateur or semi-pro. Though Guy Pratt did help SpaceChick with some Pink Floyd bass-tone information, I believe - before he mysteriously disappeared. [/quote] Yes we do seem to scare them off, don't we!

In other words, what do we think they know, that we don't know? Good question! I once read an interview with Leland Sklar, and the two 'professional secrets' that stuck in my mind were: (1) On a job, he acts like he [i]does[/i] give a sh!t; and (2) A good bass sound is a good bass sound, and he'll use it on any kind of music.

Someone had one at the 2013 SE Bass Bash.

Those guys just want you and the drummer to make the appropriate noises while they wallow in their stale old comfort zone. Definitely walk!

Do you mean a mess-your-back-up amp?

[quote name='MarkW' timestamp='1422829984' post='2677381'] We played in the Black Sheep Brewery tent for the three days of the Great Yorkshire Show the year before last. Complete carnage as you'd expect. At one point a paralytic Irish woman staggered up to the stage, looked straight at me and said "Jeez, but you've got nice tits. Can I have a feel?" [/quote] And did you let her?

[quote name='JJW' timestamp='1422823926' post='2677265'] That much for a Washburn?? [url="http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&pub=5575090229&toolid=10001&campid=5337531593&customid=&icep_item=161575681695&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229508&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg"]http://rover.ebay.co...&mtid=824&kw=lg[/url] [/quote] No, that much for an autograph. The guitar comes free with it.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1422830545' post='2677394'] [size=5]Bwaa-ha-ha-haaah-haaah-haaaaaaaaahhhh!!![/size] [/quote] This new band thing has gone to your head hasn't it?

Shop trade-in prices will never be great, and no surprise that the salesman immediately works on lowering your expectations. As for image, one of the reasons I didn't buy a Dingwall was that the look would not have worked with a band dressed up in Western wear! And that is yet another reason why every bass player should own at least one Precision...

[quote name='Moos3h' timestamp='1422788029' post='2676683'] Sorry, but that's only valid for a product category that already exists and is clearly defined. [/quote] That, I am afraid, is a complete non sequitur! If I plug into a B Social, I might go 'meh', I might whip out my credit card on the spot. The point is, I just don't know. Full disclosure: I was an Ashdown user for about 12 years but vastly prefer my current setup, so no axe to grind on behalf of Ashdown!

I agree, those plywood LP copies were utter cack. EDIT: I blame the magic word [b]Japan[/b]!

[quote name='Ashdown Engineering' timestamp='1422631135' post='2674901'] Sorry but when you have been building bass amps for 34 years and spent 2 years on developing a truly groundbreaking product to then read some of these ill informed comments is quite upsetting. Especially when none of you have actually seen, used or heard the product... ... How about you actually have a play with one before you decide if its any good, Is that not fair? [/quote] This. Any 'judgment' based solely on a product's feature set is no more than speculative. Nobody knows whether a product will work [i]for them[/i] until they get out there and try it. There are plenty of products (e.g. AER Amp One) that are 'aspirational' on Basschat, with people saying 'I would love one of those if I had the money, but for now I will make do with X.' How does anyone know that the B Social won't become one of those? Here's an idea: Lock this thread, then re-open it in a year (with suitable fanfare) and see what we all think then.

Hey phaty, welcome to Basschat! Although it is a UK forum, we have plenty of members from other countries, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, the USA - well, you get the picture. Nobody will mention the w@r!

Anything Bruce Thomas played with Elvis Costello & the Attractions.

I've just gone back to a hard case. I bought a Mono dual gig bag last year but have never really got on with it. I now have a Fender/SKB hard case which holds the other stuff I need and stays where I put it without falling over. If I take a second bass it goes in a Hiscox Lite Flite. The trouble with bass gig bags on your back is that you can't get through a door without genuflecting - not a word you see often on Basschat! I prefer to sling my Streamliner over my shoulder and carry my bass in my hand.

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1422397836' post='2672291'] Combine two fairly mediocre instruments to make a useless [s]third[/s] turd [/quote] Fixed.

[quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1422437591' post='2672517'] looking at some of the demonstrations that manufacturers are putting out , Why does the person doing the playing feel that they have to let everyone know how fast or clever they are at playing. [/quote] They hope you will think that ownership of the gear in question will confer the same playing skills upon you; conversely, failure to acquire the kit will condemn you to a life of pedestrian plodding.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1422260599' post='2670302'] Open Mics are a bit Marmite (you either love em or hate em Blue) I love the idea of musicians getting together just to play music and everyone doing a 'turn', but i'm just an old hippie really. If I'm on holiday in the UK I'll look out for them as an excuse to have a fun evening in the pub chatting with local musicians. We even got invited to appear on the local radio station last year after playing at a pub in Penzance The music standard is so variable, but I love that. I really enjoy watching people progress from their first song in public through to an accomplished set a couple of years later and my experience is that musicians are a pretty supportive bunch. Round here in the Dorset/Somerset area a number of open mics are run under the banner of Howl Open Mics. Pretty much acoustic and I was about the first to take a bass along I think. A lot more since then though. We used it to get a set together, learn three songs at rehearsal then down to the pub to try them out on an audience. Elijah the host is pretty fair in trying to get everyone who wants up on stage, there's a bunch of regulars who he'll manage to fill the gaps and/or lift the show but there's priority to get new people on and lots of support for nervous performers. Good musicians will often accompany others but it's generally more about people doing their songs than a jam session. We got gigs out of it and I played a couple more with a band formed from people I met at the open mics. I get along to fewer now because of band rehearsals and gigs but it's great to get started or to get back into music after a break and I miss the camaraderie a bit. Open mics vary from a house band doing their practice in public with a couple of mates singing a song or two through an open jam session to a series of acoustic guitarist/singers doing corny covers. You just have to go along and take pot luck but I'm a fan, and any chance to play, well I'm still keen. [/quote] Yay! Went to one of these a couple of years back whilst on holiday in Axminster. I took along an acoustic and got a 3-song slot plus a part inthe grand finale. Great fun. That was at the Ax Inn I think, and the next night they had an excellent acoustic duo (West & Black) performing - to get a decent seat you just booked a meal.