EliasMooseblaster

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1402257958' post='2471467'] By the way, I thought Surbiton was a made up town, where Mr Bean and Frank Spencer lived. I didn't realise it actually existed in reality. [/quote] Funny you should say that: I grew up in Surbiton, and you'd be amazed how often I have to explain to people that it is a real town!

Edit to add: facetious web-comic answers aside, even in a conventional face-to-face conversation, with all the nuances of tone and expression that accompany the spoken word, it's possible for one person around the table to misinterpret what has been said, or for the person speaking to not realise they've just put their foot in it. Sometimes it can lead to arguments and altercations, but most of the time, reasonable people will realise that it's down to a misunderstanding, and things are cleared up quickly. Transpose this into a purely written format, and you lose a lot of the subtleties of expression. It's much easier to get the wrong end of the stick, or be slightly affronted by a throwaway comment, when you can't tell whether the last poster was joking. There will also be regional differences in mannerisms and humour - head over to Talkbass, make a cheeky sarcastic joke in reply to a post and watch it fly straight over most of their heads, for example! It's good that the Mods discourage politics, religion, etc on here - I've been on forums with no such restrictions, and I've seen some people get really quite nasty over some fairly petty things!

In theory, moving the pole pieces should allow you to adjust the output for individual strings - I had to do this on my guitar a while ago as the G seemed to be noticeably quieter than the other strings. Raising the pole seems to have fixed the problem!

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1402305154' post='2471777'] I think it keeps moving the song along in what would otherwise be far more of a dirge, it's the only really lively bit when you listen to the arrangement. Without such a busy bassline it'd be quite different in mood, though the brass section at the end also reflects the movement of the bass. [/quote] +1 - he's definitely the most imaginative player in the core of the group, at least on this recording.

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1401985659' post='2468949'] Impressive work [/quote] +1 - really enjoyed that!

With the MU? If I've understood the policy correctly, it's a sort of blanket cover for any gear you own - the drawback being you can't claim more than £2,000. I certainly haven't registered any specific instruments with them.

I hear good things about Allianz - I think our guitarist has his Les Paul insured with them. I'll second Roland's recommendation of the MU - up to £2,000 of gear insurance included with the membership fee, and I don't think it costs too much more to insure any particularly expensive items on top of that. (Thankfully) I've never had to file a claim with them though, so I can't comment on how good the service is when you actually need it!

[quote name='thodrik' timestamp='1401748673' post='2466577'] I would have a 24 fret Precision bass, built with the same neck profile, pick ups, finish and natural wear and tear as my non-24 four fret 1970s Precision bass. That or a 24 fret Rickenbacker, the walnut, maple neck one. Why 24 frets? Just in case. [/quote] I quite like this idea - my Schecter Model T is basically a 22-fret Precision, so why not pop a couple more on the end? I'm sure it wouldn't ruin the look if you cut away the treble side just an inch or two more!

Is there anybody in particular that you're trying to sound like - anybody who comes close to "that" tone you're after, give or take a few tweaks of the EQ? Personally, even though I can see you're experimenting with plenty of much higher-end amps, I've always been a fan of Laney cabs because they seem to have a certain brightness and clarity to them - running an Ashdown LB30 into one, I'm quite happy with my tone. But of course, what I hear as "clarity" and "punch" could always sound like "brittleness" and "fizz" to your own ears!

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1401466073' post='2463939'] Nice looking bass - you don't see that many sunburst Warwicks about. How does it play? [/quote] It's a little hard for me to judge, as it's my first fretless. I decided to leave all my normal prejudices at the door when I went in, having decided I'm very much a 4-string-low-action-passive-rounds-neck-or-middle-pickup kind of chap when it comes to fretted basses. The action is a tad higher than I'd normally have it, and the flats feel rather different. The active sound isn't as off-putting as I feared it might be. Most importantly I like the tone; compared with the VM Squiers, it just had a much more expressive sound. As I say, hard for me to judge, but I really do like the way it plays!

aka "Because blaming Jack is easier than accepting my own lack of self-discipline" I went back to Denmark St to give the VM Squier Jazz another go. Turned out they also had a VM Fretless P as well, which was quite nice. But the second-hand Warwick still hadn't been sold, and when the nice chap offered to cut the price a bit, I had to admit it was a nicer instrument. [attachment=163916:Warwick1.jpg] (Shallow as ever, I had to admit the unlined board looked better as well!) [attachment=163915:Warwick3.jpg] [attachment=163914:Warwick2.jpg] For the first time since I started naming my basses...I have no idea what to call her. Any suggestions?

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1401450154' post='2463738'] Assuming that you were famous enough to be offered a signature model and you would not benefit financially from it, would you want one? [/quote] Yeah, I probably would...shallow as it sounds, I think the recognition and massage-of-ego would be enough motivation for me. Whether Gibson would be willing to make the odd SG/Thunderbird hybrid I have in mind is a different matter!

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1401448769' post='2463712'] The idea is ripe for April Fools though. Imagine worst possible mismatches between pop musicians and brands... [/quote] Peter Andre advertising bananas? Edit: and/or Brian Harvey endorsing a driving school

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1401380480' post='2463061'] I still haven't ruled out a lined fretless headless (cricket bat), on the grounds that I could easily hide it. I would get someone to take a date-stamped photograph of me playing it on a gig (not attended by Mrs Axe), then about 18 months later, stroll into the living room with it. When Mrs Axe says 'What? Another new bass?' I can reply that I've had it for years, before digging up the photo as proof. [/quote] Ha! Now that is a crafty plan - perhaps you should make sure you turn up to a couple of gigs with that day's newspaper, just to leave it in the corner of the photo. (I guess I was quite lucky; the last Ms Mooseblaster seemed to be strangely encouraging when I expressed an interest in buying another bass...) OK, having watched this guy's demo, he makes the Squier VM sound pretty damn good, so I'm definitely reconsidering... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDIs-TbZ5og

Haha, it certainly doesn't - I hope you realise I hold you (at least partly) responsible for my getting to this stage! (They were [i]beautiful [/i]instruments; thank you once again!) I maybe judged the VM unfairly, as I didn't play around too extensively with the controls before the guy in the shop pointed me to a second-hand Warwick Corvette...but then, whilst I've settled on my general preferences for fretted basses (rounds, low action, passive), I am prepared to drop all my normal prejudices with fretless and start from scratch! (Normally this is the point at which I'd say "guess it's time I went down to one of the big guitar shops in Surrey and try a couple"...but then we come full circle back to the OP's question!)

Speaking of the difficulty in tracking one down...any recommendations for a beginner's fretless bass? Something that's sufficiently well made that it won't sound and play atrociously, but cheap enough that my bank manager won't be tutting disapprovingly if I realise it's not for me. (I wasn't overly enamoured with the Squier VM Jazz, but I don't know if that was the rounds or the ebanol fretboard...do most of them sound better once you pop flats on?)

Welcome! And fantastic stuff - some clever solutions to some common problems, and the result looks and sounds delightful. (The Pegasus on the pickguard is a nice touch as well!)

I'm always impressed by how well your singists pull off those harmonies in a live setting - even with laryngitis, Laura sounds better than a lot of singers I've heard live!

The first photo has surfaced from last night's shindig at [b]The New Cross Inn (28th May '14). [/b]Hopefully our friend Chris won't mind that I've pinched his photo. I'm sure you'll agree that the cosmetic placement of that last pillar improves the photo a great deal.

Pretty good, thanks. A much better turn-out than our last attempt to do a mid-week at the New Cross Inn, and some really good bands on the bill. Onstage sound wasn't great - from talking to the others afterwards, I think I was the only one who could hear everybody else (well, apart from my own BVs, so I dread to think how they sounded...). But in spite of that, we played pretty well. And just like last time, I made the mistake of sticking around at the end for "just one more" pint and having a rather awkward journey home. Going to need to put some more coffee on soon, methinks.

Oh, so it is - my mistake!

Oh, they look lovely, I agree (but take a closer look at the second photo!)

What's most remarkable is how, depending on the angle it's viewed from, it can look a dead ringer for a 4-string Aria Pro bass!

At the risk of embarrassing myself in front of far more knowledgeable theorists...would the OP's chord not be either D7sus(b2) or D7b9 (without 3rd)? My understanding of suspended chords is as a way of replacing the 3rd with either the 2nd or 4th, so you often see sus2s and sus4s if, like me, you spend too long learning to play Who songs. I've never seen the suspended 2nd or 4th sharpened or flattened before, which makes me think D7b9 would be a better candidate. Edit: as for writing the intervals out in an exam, if you were to write it out as per your original suggestion, I reckon that would make a strong case for D7b9!

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1401267647' post='2461743'] I think we're amazed by mediocrity a little bit too often these days. (Yes, I'm over 40 years old) [/quote] If it makes you feel any better, I'm not quite 30 years old yet, and I fear you may be right. I've just listened to that performance, and "inoffensive" is probably the nicest thing I can say about it. (Which may be a good thing, a lot of the autotuned s**te I've heard out of other people's radios/mobile phones is infuriatingly awful.) But the song does seem to be a complete non-entity. I suspect in decades past, it would have been dismissed as "bubblegum."