cybertect

I seem to have just bought one. Thanks for the heads up.

I think we can resolve this. There's a story that Geoff Emerick tells about [i]Something [/i]in an interview with Music Radar about the making of Abbey Road. [url="http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/beatles-engineer-geoff-emerick-on-abbey-road-219542"]http://www.musicrada...bey-road-219542[/url] [quote]"Paul started playing a bass line that was a little elaborate, and George told him, 'No, I want it simple.' Paul complied. There wasn't any disagreement about it, but I did think that such a thing would never happened in years past. George telling Paul how to play the bass? Unthinkable! But this was George's baby, and everybody knew it was an instant classic."[/quote] So, I'm reading that as George got his way and the recorded version [i]is[/i] the simpler bass line, which would account for[list] [*]why the story is floating about that George thought Paul's playing was too busy [*]why he was happy for Klaus Voorman to play almost exactly the same line at the Bangladesh concert [/list]

I thought it was going to be a Small Faces cover

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443344742' post='2873922']That 185 should never be prone to feedback unless there's a specific issue.[/quote] Ah, yes, I forgot the Galxie is a solid body. That's a bit odd then.

My Hofner Verithin will do feedback at the drop of a hat when playing loud You have three options 1) Careful muting of the strings with your fingers 2) I have found you can notch out troublesome frequencies with EQ to minimise the feedback 3) Go with it and use the feedback for a drone note (which I used to do a lot with one of my old bands)

FWIW this guy on Flickr seems to have the same model and doesn't think much of it https://www.flickr.com/#/photos/lord_mudshark/sets/72057594077196720/

Ta. I may well give them a chance. I've my eye on some Ernie Ball Slinky cobalt flats, too, so I think I may put them head to head on The Stingray after payday and see which I prefer.

Eric Faulkner's been touring with his own version of the Rollers recently. Conspicuously absent from this one.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1443011157' post='2871407'] Please God ... why, Why WHY??? [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34323112"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-34323112[/url] [/quote] It says why right there in the article... [quote=BBC][color=#404040][font=Helmet, Freesans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=4]Announcing the reunion at a press conference in Glasgow, singer Les McKeown joked: "You think we're doing it for money but we're doing it for the glory of Scotland and the glory of the tartan.[/quote][/size][/font][/color] [color=#404040][font=Helmet, Freesans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=4] [/size][/font][/color][color=#404040][font=Helmet, Freesans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=4] [/size][/font][/color]

[quote name='Grahambythesea' timestamp='1442845709' post='2869930'] Bass Collection do an excellent tribute to Jaco's Jazz with no scratch plate called the Portrait. Check out bass centre.com. [/quote] I am beginning to feel like it would be nice if someone was making cheap-ish fretless Jazz basses that [i]aren't[/i] Jaco tributes with no scratch plate.

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1442854714' post='2870036']Tom Waits[/quote] ... or possibly Serge Gainsbourg

[quote name='Alec' timestamp='1442911403' post='2870359']Counter to any previous experience with bass rigs, the bass is the heaviest item, followed by the head, followed by the cab - how often has this ever been the case...[/quote] It does seem to run counter to the natural order of things. Burn the Brighton heretics!

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1442913577' post='2870385']That said i dod sell a hartke cab once and years ago a Session combo but only after years of use. [/quote] A Sessionette 100 by any chance? I used to torture one badly with extended bass feedback drones on my Hofner Verithin. Amazed it carried on working sometimes.

[quote name='lonestar' timestamp='1442848829' post='2869969'] Ivor Cutler [/quote] +1

Possibly a controversial choice here, but Kate Bush seems to (almost) always have one track on each of her albums that makes me cringe. Case in point: [i]Experiment IV[/i], which was the bonus '[color=#252525][font=sans-serif]previously unreleased track[/font][/color]' on [i]The Whole Story[/i] greatest hits, which leaves me embarrassed for her every time I hear it. I think there's a similar example on just about every other album she's put out. [i]There Goes a Tenner[/i] sticks out on the otherwise magnificent [i]The Dreaming.[/i] Lots of other examples to be found. Oddly, [i]The Hounds of Love[/i] is entirely free from such aberrations, which is probably why it's my favourite KB album.

As of a couple of weeks ago, it's been all about my new fretless Stingray 5; running through every song I know with it, and learning quite a few new ones just for kicks. I know from past experience that once I get on a fretless buzz, I will attempt to do absolutely *everything* with a fretless and usually get away with it My Sabre has been taking something of a back seat.

[quote name='Old_Ben' timestamp='1442654443' post='2868466'] could always try in ear monitor system our vocalist swears by it, there are some good things out there and they dont take up much room in the van/cars [/quote] And IEMs would eliminate any problems with feedback

[quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1442593869' post='2868116'] Ah, the Westone Thunder! Good spot, sir - you certainly know your 80s guitars. [/quote] I had it easy - a Thunder 1A bass belonging to my best mate at school was probably the first bass I ever laid my hands on. 35 years later we are still playing in a band together and the same bass lives on the wall in his recording studio.

That Westone Thunder guitar looks precariously balanced too - a slight jog of the cables on the floor will send it over.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1442567292' post='2867794'] There are a lot of British bands who could do with putting in the time. Many of the guys you see playing in pubs and clubs have no groove and are plainly not listening to each other or playing as a unit. Hopefully if you had to play for 4 hours a night the bad and indifferent players would fall by the way side and the whole music scene would improve. [/quote] From my (admittedly limited) experience of watching bands play in bars in Chicago, DC and Virginia, the standard of musicianship in the US is considerably higher than it is in their equivalents in the UK. I've usually put that down to the fact that they are playing much long sets together and consequently 'putting in the time'. As a casual, corollary observation: it does seem that US audiences are much more [i]into[/i] the idea of watching a band play live in a pub/bar than most I've experienced in the UK, certainly round London and the South East*. Americans do seem to be more inclined to dance at the drop of a hat and actually engage with what's going on on stage rather than hiding in a corner with their pint and talking over the music, or standing at the back of the venue with their arms folded and an 'entertain me, then, I dare you' look on their faces. Of course, it's possible there's a bit of a positive feedback loop here: better bands make people more inclined to dance, etc. * from the times I've played north of the border, Scottish audiences are generally more responsive. I am, however, amazed at the low rates of pay all that time put in generates if this is typical [quote name='blue' timestamp='1442550625' post='2867694'] While we get our share of the good festival & fair gigs in the Summer were are still classified as a regional bar band. Here's the deal for all of our bar gigs and I have 2 this weekend; 1. 4 hours with two 15 minute breaks 2. $100.00 a man minimum ( we won't turn the key for less)[/quote]

Oh, hello!

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1442512188' post='2867510'] The Squier VM series fretless is pretty cool. I'd get that. [/quote] I was very happy with the VM Jazz that was my first foray into the world of fretless after nearly 30 years of playing bass. I put a set of Chromes on it and played practically none of my other basses for the best part of a year after I got it, even neglecting my '79 Musicman Sabre. I had no issues gigging with the VM and had quite a number of complements on its tone from people who heard it. I'm really more comfortable with active basses, but I have little hesitation in recommending them as a fretless starter. I only sold it a couple of weeks ago to help pay for a fretless Stingray 5, which will become my main instrument unless I really need frets, so the VM must have done something right

I must say these look very tempting. I've a GK MB500 (mostly bought for the features it offers over the MB200 than the extra power) and GK 210T cab that I've used for over 20 years. I've noticed the GK cabinet occasionally runs out of puff as I'm playing 5 string a lot more and I'd been eyeing the Super Compact or Retro 210 as a better match for the MB 500 and my ageing back. We're not usually that loud of a band (a 4 piece with just one electric through a Fender Twin and a DI-ed acoustic guitar to compete with) and my signal is pretty clean. One of these would be ideal for rehearsals and small gigs and would supplement the 210T for bigger gigs, maybe with a view to getting another One10 or a Super Compact further down the line as funds allow. The prospect of a portable and flexible modular rig is very attractive.

I wonder what Brian May would make of it...

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1388739976' post='2325369'] My original post mentioned that the Amazing Slow Downer has an EQ section which allows you to drop out pretty much all of the bass. [/quote] On Macs, Capo, which was mentioned earlier, has the same facility, with presets for taking out male and female vocals and to isolate the bass (though you'd have to dial in removing the bass by hand). It also has a handy frequency analyser which works out the chords and shows you which notes are being played on a keyboard scale - making it much easier to work out a bass line. Edit: I've recently discovered that Capo allows you to make microtonal adjustments to the pitch of playback (to 1/100 of a semitone) [quote name='BigBeatNut' timestamp='1301152326' post='1177315']Suprised no-one has mentioned 'Vox' (used to be 'Toolplayer') for the mac. It appears to be in the same ballpark as Best Practice and it's my go to rehearsal tool ... pitch changes (now calibrated in 10ths of a semitone ... good enough) tempo changes (plus a bunch of bizarre stuff you most likely wont need, but it's hidden and doesn't get in the way.[/quote] Vox seems to have gone rapidly downhill with recent versions. Lots of complaints of instability, the awfulness of UI changes and an attempt to bring in a software rental pricing model.