Woodinblack

Last night was a venue in my town that we hadn't played as it isn't a pub, more a nightclub. New territory for me because I didn't grow up here, so I had never gone to that sort of place. Was expecting it to be really bad but actually it wasn't that bad at all, we had a small audience to start, which was people who came to see us, which was nice, and when it got fuller after half time the audience actually were pretty responsive. And as it was an organised place it was held down to just two one hour sets which is really short for us and very pleasant.

Yes, I remember the endless debates about Geddy Lee switching between his 4001 and his Jazz, and how he clearly unmistakably used the 4001 recording tom sawyer, as it sounded so much like it and he used it in the video. Until he came out and said it was recorded using the jazz.

Doesn't work with us, just changes us from 'way too loud' to 'deafening'.

Not really. I can go out and get an epiphone burst Les Paul for a few hundred quid that is a fine guitar, and the image is fine. In fact I can get a gibson studio for not much more. Stingray? I can get a SubRay again for a couple of hundred. Not the same, but the image is the same, and if I did that, when I got more money I would just go up the stingray route. I could see my idol and get something that basically looked the same. Gibson actually discontinued the Les Paul in 61 because it was too old fashioned. It was only the (primarily british) rock stars of the day playing them that made them bring them back in 68 - because people saw their 'heros' playing them. When I was a kid into Led Zeppelin, I had a Les Paul that wasn't real but looked it. I had a Ibanez double neck that looked like both Jimmy Pages and Alex Lifesons. I had an Ibanez Rick copy that was like Geddy Lees. None of those were real, I didn't have the money, but when I did I could get the real ones. If I had been a rock star I would have carried on with those instruments, and people would have likewise copied me. I look of the rockers of today - I still see les pauls and strats, I see stingrays, I see fenders. I don't see rics.

Certainly working for them currently, but I think as a long term option it is a bad move. They are iconic because the were the instruments played by the youths in groups of iconic groups. Those groups when they start don't have a great deal of money, if you put your instruments into the Gibson custom shop / stockbroker and retired banker toy, you make money now, you don't get seen by the people who are going to be buying things to emulate their icons. When I was growing up, a lot of my bass heros played them, so I still love the look, if not the instruments themselves. They were something I wanted. When I watched top of the pops, at least one in 3 groups would have one. Now? doesn't seem to be the case any more.

I agree, but would extend it to 'you should try everything'. I tried a ric and liked it, it was fine. At £500-800 I would buy one without too much though, but for me its not a £1k+ bass, and as they are that sort of price I will never have one.

Yet I would say for the majority of those people, those aren't the iconic basses they are known for.

Yeh, and 15.4k on the 5s, which is what I have. So when I switch from parallel to series it goes from one extreme to much further along the same extreme!

I have two of the warman MM humbuckers in my fireman. They are great, very powerful output, I need to wind them down a bit so I don't have to readjust all my inputs!

Yes, that’s what I am saying, isn’t the pickup surround on that the same size as normal guitar humbucker, certainly looks like it. I will measure it tonight as I have a b2 and some guitar humbuckers - I added “on a b2a” afterwards to save confusion as the thread is about a b2v

Isn't it the same size as a 'normal' guitar surround on a B2A?

No, it means the input of your amplifier is heavily loading your bass, and in passive mode you are having the output dragged down to more than the bass can give, so your treble control Is working at a lower frequency etc. The reason I never use passive basses if I can help it. On any of my basses here, the only way you can tell if you are in passive or active is to adjust the bass control. Well, in the case of push pull volumes, that is a bit of a give away - the ibanezes I can never tell.

None of my active switches change the level (which is as they should be). However, my Series / Parallel switch on the fireman goes from stupidly loud to wtf?

I have some unexpected volume jump buttons on my bass for just that reason!

Ooh - from where? Need one for my 5 string P.

Communication is never much of a strong point with them!

I can't believe you got to the end

The artecs are fine. If you are fiddling round to see if this bass would be any good to you, it seems a good choice. If you are going to be recording your next album, maybe I would go a bit more to the east or to a glockenklang.

Unfortunately one of our favourite venues is like that, no separation between the band and the group with people pushing past and knocking your mic over or into you, can get a bit wearing sometimes. And then once some guy fell through the drum kit, took a bit of effort to stop the drummer using him as the drumkit. And normally an overly drunk woman will fall over a monitor that she should have been near.

So just for clarity, you had two guitars, two leads and two amplifiers? Personally not sure what an ampjack is apart from a high voltage distribution system (that would really buzz). I assume you don't get loud buzzing from the rumble if nothing is plugged in? If you plug a lead into the rumble and touch the other end of the lead (the centre not the outside, do you hear the hum when you do that? If so the amp is ok. Did the ibanez work before this event or hadn't you tried it for a while?

We used to have a regular place 25 miles away (I know a lot of you travel a long way but we don't). We had agreed pay with them, which was a little more than they paid the other bands by £60. Then one day we went to get paid after a gig and they had decided that we would get the same as everyone else, without telling us beforehand. So we argued but they wouldn't have it. Then they asked us if they could book us for a few more gigs in the year. Other than that, the only other places that we dont' play any more are places where there is no audience.

You just know that is going to end up better than anything they made in 1958!

You just love painting really don't you