thisnameistaken

[quote name='Rayman' post='700681' date='Jan 4 2010, 05:29 PM']maybe LaBellas would be more authentic,[/quote] FWIW in my punk/reggae band I use a Squier Jazz strung with LaBella flats (and occasionally a lump of mouse mat wedged under them) and it does the business for me. I'm going for a '60s Studio One-type sound though, not a modern reggae / dub sound.

[quote name='redstriper' post='700374' date='Jan 4 2010, 12:37 PM']The Hohner B bass sounds interesting, can't find much about them though.[/quote] They sound enormous, I had one back in the early '90s. Everybody sniggered whenever I took it out to soundcheck, they stopped laughing when they heard it. Sold it because of the looks in the end but there was certainly nothing missing from the tone.

[quote name='jim_bass' post='700211' date='Jan 4 2010, 08:25 AM']Lovely looking bass. But on looks alone I always get hung up on one issues with LAKLAND's. The bridge just looks weird being round - put a badass on it and it would look a lot nicer![/quote] Yeah I don't like that bridge either!

If this was a forum where everybody liked everything, and the people who disagreed kept quiet about it for fear of upsetting some poor soul's delicate sensibilities, it would've been abandoned by now. Concensus doesn't make for interesting discussion. I imagine urb gets a more sensitive response because he doesn't have endorsement deals coming out of his anus and a signature model worth a fortune. Isn't he also a moderator? Well there you go. M. Feraud is likely to be a bit thicker-skinned about these things anyway - given that he's getting invited to perform at events with names like 'Bass Day' he can probably quite safely conclude that he is in fact ace and his critics are in fact stupid plebs. But forums are all about plebs demonstrating their stupidity. If that didn't happen there'd be nobody to lambast and it would be no fun for anyone. I think Billy Sheehan's got stupid hair.

He's a member here, he introduced himself a couple of weeks ago.

[quote name='Machines' post='699723' date='Jan 3 2010, 05:28 PM']It happens a lot i'm afraid - people feel that they can freely criticise pros on the internet with little reasoning other than apparent envy of their abilities. It's happened with nearly every one that gets mentioned and it's quite tedious.[/quote] In all honesty I don't think jealousy often comes into it. It's more that "virtuoso" bass players usually play pretty inaccessible music. I can't think of any kind of music that routinely features bass guitar as a lead instrument, except 'trade show music', a cheese-heavy variety of jazz-funk. And, maybe it's just me, but I think the sound of a bass guitar played in that way is quite tiring to listen to, and quickly becomes unpleasant. If the kid next door was a master of dragging a stick across railings and did it in a supremely funky way I would still ask him to stop after a minute or so.

[quote name='Doddy' post='699656' date='Jan 3 2010, 04:25 PM']It's not just about hitting the correct-it's about singing a melodic idea that you would probably not naturally play an replicate it on the instrument. You are more likely to sing something that it is more melodic and with better phrasing than what you would play,and singing gives you new ideas to play.[/quote] I understand that, and I do try to avoid playing whatever my hands want to do and instead play what my head wants to do, but why would anyone have to sing to do that? I don't mean to show off but I can read silently too.

Good analysis from Jake I think, and good advice too. I've felt like I was going 'backwards' like that on a couple of occasions, only to find that a short time later I made a big leap forwards - I think it was just that my expectations of myself had got beyond my ability, and subsequently I brought them back into parity somehow (either by getting better or lowering my expectations! ).

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='697044' date='Dec 31 2009, 11:11 AM']Lakland Decade and Hollow Body both have true neck pickups and you can hear sound samples [url="http://www.lakland.com/audio.htm"]here[/url].[/quote] Thanks! I'll check it out when I get my computer back up and running (gfx card keeled over on NYE - great timing).

I really want a Univox Hi-Flier bass at the moment:

No I don't do this, I can't see the point. I know what pitch I want when I fret a note and if I get it wrong it wouldn't be any less wrong if I was singing the pitch at the same time, would it?

I'm wondering if anyone here with experience of neck-position pickups can tell me how they sound? I've never even picked up a bass with a neck pup before. Basically I've got a Jazz here strung with flats and I only use the front pup, never the bridge, so I was thinking of taking the bridge out and sticking a pup up by the neck instead. I figure this might give me a nice, bloomy, natural sound. Would it? Or would it just be tonnes of woofy bottom end and nothing else? I appreciate this will depend on the pickup and so on, but generally how do the pups on basses like EB0s and Rics (and anything else with a neck pup) sound compared to a P or J setup? FWIW I'm using this bass for a '60s soul and ska/rocksteady vibe and I've got foam wedged under the strings, to give an idea of the sort of sound I'm going for. But my cab is 12s and I don't really want a ton of bottom anyway, just a more open sound.

That's better looking than the Thunder though, and the case is in great nick. I wouldn't like to put a value on it but I'd happily gig it.

[quote name='Pkomor' post='696227' date='Dec 30 2009, 12:01 PM']Or a bit of sponge under the strings by the bridge! [/quote] Shh! You'll get another thread closed.

I haven't tried this pedal but I wouldn't run a tremolo on bass without tap tempo. It's such a destructive effect, I don't think it works unless you can sync it to the song.

[quote name='The Burpster' post='694122' date='Dec 27 2009, 09:23 AM']i) flick into and out of the damped string mode between tracks or indeed between notes while you are playing? I think not. ii) you replicate EXACTLY the same amount of damping that you set up with your bit of foam over and over again? I think not. iii) you select how much damping you use mid track? I think not.[/quote] Do you often switch the mutes on and off between notes? If I just wanted a damp a short section of a song I'd probably use my palm but I've never had the inclination so far. As for replicating 'EXACTLY the same amount of damping' IME it doesn't matter. Ballpark is fine. [quote name='The Burpster' post='694122' date='Dec 27 2009, 09:23 AM']The exchange is crap at currently so they do not seem like a 'bargain', but then would you spend £100 on a pedal...? My guess is that you probably wouldn't, I mean why would you spend 'actual money' on an overdrive when you can just turn the gain up: Right?[/quote] Funnily enough I don't have an overdrive pedal. None of the effects I do have can be replicated using free alternatives. But fair enough, if you need to switch mutes on and off between notes then I can see why you'd value your damper machine thing. I'd like to come see you play actually.

I've never seen much point in doggedly chasing a specific "sound" because the chances of it ever being perfectly reproduced FoH are slim to none. I like the character of my Thumb bass and it colours whatever I plug it into, so I suppose that's "my sound" regardless of what I do with the EQ, but it probably ends up sounding like sub-bass sludge to most listeners at most venues. FWIW tonehead guitarists irritate me too.

[quote name='Beedster' post='692841' date='Dec 24 2009, 10:58 AM']That's a fair point also, although I suspect the Modulus basses he played on stage and the Modulus bass he promoted were relatively similar instruments in comparison to the likely considerable difference in spec between the basses he's currently using on stage and those on the shelves in Selfridges?[/quote] But how many kids could've got him to sign their new Modulus?

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='694060' date='Dec 27 2009, 12:22 AM']If you can hold out a little longer I'd save up for the new Markbass Supersynth. Early reviews point to it being a Deep Impact / Octavius Squeezer / G5 / BMS killer:[/quote] I'm pretty suspicious that it's a re-packaged G5. Personally I didn't like the G5. The Bass Micro Synth is worth a look, especially the older model if you can find one. Plus it can double as a decent analogue octaver and a distortion (with clean blend).

[quote name='Doddy' post='692329' date='Dec 23 2009, 01:44 PM']As cool as Fishbone and Living Color are,they haven't had any songs that have made it really big commercially-like the Chili's have.[/quote] Everyone in America knows 'Party At Ground Zero', which was on Fishbone's first EP. In the USA they actually did alright with growing sales up to the release of Reality of My Surroundings, but fell away again after that. Mostly because their follow-up record was insane, and Columbia dropped them after it flopped. To be fair, I think marketing Fishbone would be a complete nightmare even with the best will in the world. [quote name='witterth' post='692354' date='Dec 23 2009, 02:29 PM']Fishbone!!! they were really good weren't they!!! what happend? did they make like a banana?[/quote] Guitarist quit after touring ROMS, had a bit of a mental breakdown by all accounts, the story was that he went and joined a religious cult, then Norwood decided to rescue him and he was charged with kidnap, but that might not be true. Organ/trombone/singer quit after the next record, drummer quit a couple of records later, then trumpet/singer quit. It's now basically Angelo and Norwood, plus John Steward (long-term replacement drummer, used to be in Super 8) and whoever else they can get to go on tour with them.

I like that he's promoting some cheap bass instead of that horrifically stadium-rock sparkly-finished Modulus he used to swing.

I've always picked with three but very rarely using them alternately (which is just a total head****). I tend to use 1+3 and 1+2 as pairs. I actually started picking with 1+3 first, I think because my middle finger is much longer than my index finger it wasn't comfortable to use it.

[quote name='paul h' post='690797' date='Dec 21 2009, 05:04 PM']For me the single most important thing in a bass is....looks. I know that makes me shallow[/quote] Not at all. Ultimately you're going to have to wear it, and when you wear it crowds of people will be staring at you, so what it looks like is going to be important.

Weird that someone would turn on free advice like that. Some people are just like that I suppose. Actually one of my customers (who is worth a few million so by accepted wisdom he's a lot smarter than I am) routinely ignores my expert advice and asks me to do things I've already told him are a bad idea, only for us to do it my way a little while later, when the impracticality of [i]his way[/i] becomes all too apparent. I recently met an interior designer he'd hired to fix up his house, who apparently was asked for an honest appraisal of their current home and recommendations for improving it, did his job, and got physically removed from the property for being "rude"!

[quote name='sshorepunk' post='689691' date='Dec 20 2009, 12:45 PM']if you're a fan, getting all anal about who's playing and then not going is a bit sad IMHO,[/quote] Surely you go see a band to see who's playing, don't you? So who's playing becomes something of a key criterion, really. PIL were lauded for their creativity, and that's what impressed me about them. I wouldn't want to go just to see their old tunes trotted out by whatever band could be assembled. I think it says a lot that Jah Wobble only wanted to get back together with them to create more music, not recreate the old music. They're the last band that should be a museum piece.