NancyJohnson

Just a quick one for people in the know. I've recently acquired a Spector Legend 8-string bass, it's got two SSD INC soaps and a Tone Pump Jnr preamp. I've come to realise very quickly that the TPJnr really isn't doing it for me at all, god knows how it's factory settings are configured, but it's nigh on impossible for me to unplug it and change to a different bass without having to change all my amp settings to get a similar tone. Soooo, here's the thing. I'd like to remove the guts of it - the Tone Pump at least - and just go with a (four knobbage) passive set up in a VV/TT configuration. I'm not actually certain how the SSD INC soapbars require the Tone Pump to operate. Any suggestions for a twin passive soapbar set up? The pickup routs are 3.5"x1.5"; I think the Bartolini Singularity BB4S B&T pickups will fit...

I remember seeing a Fender Jazz with a part fretted neck, it was in the hands of Conrad Lantz of a NWOBHM band Venom. I just did a quick Goog search and there's quite a few photos of him sporting similar basses with similar neck configurations.

This is interesting! How does the wrap terminate? What is the edge like?

Julien Mullen in Reading. The guy is brilliant.

Reinvention. It's funny, isn't it? Man has reasonably successful bass guitar business making copies of guitars made by another business, sells out, starts another business doing pretty much the same, then enters into business doing the same again, then resurfaces again doing pretty much what he started out doing in the first place. It's almost like this from Red Dwarf: Kryten : It's the old story: droid meets droid, droid becomes chameleon, droid loses chameleon, chameleon turns into blob, droid gets blob back again, blob meets blob, blob goes off with blob and droid loses blob, chameleon and droid. How many times have we heard that story?

I think the thing is that when you caually see these, the guys on them are just copying someone else's lines. Monkey see, monkey do. I'd much sooner see these guys doing their own stuff rather than pretending to be Flea.

Had a bit of a noodle...pleasantly surprised. Neck is very comfortable. Only a couple of things; would have liked the tone knobs to have had a centre-notch as they have a +/-12db boost/cut, so it's not easy to hit a flattish position, or too easy to just boost everything. Will probably shim the neck when I change the strings. Action is 2 or 3 mm at the octave. Can't drop the bridge any lower and I do love a rattly action. Pickups are fine; Output more than adequate (actually dropped them a few mm).

Well, I was lying in bed at the weekend and put in a cheeky eBay bid on this and it came home for 350 post-Brexit pounds. After I sold on my Waterstone, I still had a hankering for an eight or twelve. So it's a Korean Spector eight string...the jack socket was a bit loose (fixed), put on a new set of fundamentals and stuck it through the dUg earlier. It sounds huge, amazing really. I'm sure it'll be on new Lutz stuff.

I think first up was The Sweet. The three or four singles Blockbuster, Hellraiser, Ballroom Blitz and Teenage Rampage, along with b-sides. Next up my foray into albums, Sparks. Kimono, Propaganda and Indiscreet. Finally, Japan. The first three albums.

If you have access to a Spotify/Apple service, search 'Lutz Buzz Mixes'. The dUg is all over that.

DP-3X. It'll do everything any of the other Sansamps will do. It's almost too good. I've run a BDDI, VT Bass (rack and stomp), an RPM, a Landmark head, GT2, GED2112; I know each to their own, but the dUg is more versatile than any othe stuff I've mentioned. It's blumming outstanding.

I never played in anything more complicated than a bass, drums, guitar plus vocals. I've done big/small rigs and right now I have a set up that pretty much trumps anything that's gone before. I bought a Darkglass A/O mainly for the output wattage more than anything else, I tend to run a Tech21 dug DP3X into the effects return. This just goes into a Barefaced Big One (15/6). It's an incredibly versatile set up. Basswise, well for me at least, is reasonably unimportant; I can tweak and get the same kind of tone irrespective of what I plug in.

An epic song from my youth? I suppose you could draw pretty much anything from mid-70s Sparks/Mott The Hoople/Queen, through late-70s Japan/Clash into early-80s US post-hardcore. It's just not possible.

I know I'm fighting a losing battle here, but I will still stand my ground as someone who has only ever been interested in playing original material. If you're looking for a decent gurning bass-face, go and search for the beardy guy who currently seems to be the face of Tech21. Just copy him.

Nah, my results are more in line with the scientific process; Question ('Is it good to play in a covers band?'), Research ('Do your diligence; search out great and not so great cover bands. Maybe even play a few covers (shudder).') , Hypothesis ('Will I enjoy it or not?'), Experimentation ('Submit the subject (me) to many gigs of bands with differing ability/grasp of instruments etc'), Data Output (I've answered this above), Conclusion ('My general findings are, yes, while cover bands do have a place in society, they are generally adored by people who have no real grasp or love of music.') I know it's each for their own, but most of the people I've played with in the 30 year journey have little or no time for playing other people's material. I'm not saying there's no art to it, but isn't it just like a painter copying the Mona Lisa and thinking he's a great artist? He didn't paint it, he copied it. Paint me something original.

Band released our second collection on the 7th February. As necessity demanded, we stripped back some of the first recordings and added some new stuff. This is the new one: This is the first one: These are the singles:

I'll respect anyone's decision to vote how they want, bow down to whatever god they want, eat what they want, consensually sleep with whoever they want, or even play in cover bands. That said, I've never seen the appeal in playing other people's songs and have have been subjected to too many Creme Brulee's over the years that have shaped this opinion. Too many coordinated outfits, too many guitarists pulling a w*nk face playing someone else's solos (badly), too many bassists gurning their way through anything from Chelsea Dagger or Boogie Wonderland all the while acting like they actually wrote those lines. Nah, not for me, so am I going to get a kicking?

Haven't watched it yet* but will do so later. Given how good this album actually is, it's a great pity that in these days, where the Super Deluxe Edition is championed, that they couldn't just get the Big Chair line up back together (Stanley and Elias, plus the touring guys) and do some dates. If not for vanity, do it for charity. *Edit. Watched it. While I enjoy the format of Classic Albums, I honestly do wish they'd just keep on point; I honestly couldn't care any less for the input of David Draiman (Disturbed) or John Grant ('Who are these people?' asked my wife) or to a lesser extent Oleta Adams, who had zero to do with the album itself and didn't actually come on board until two years after it came out. I find it a great pity that they didn't mention Manny Elias once either! Slack. 6/10

6Just read this on Facebook. Awful news. I've got a pair of Lulls, profess I didn't really know about his stuff until a few years ago, but it was (on paper at least) good enough for me to move away from many Gibsons to a couple of his. Amazing basses, not once have I felt the need to move them on to get something else. Rest peacefully chap.

Queen - At The Beeb. Hollywood Records. God, they were amazing early on.

Having nice gear is nice. There's zero guilt on my part; it's just nice to have a bit of variety and I've worked damn hard at getting a handful of basses that are keepers, I'm equally as content with things ampside too. I have a tiny bubble of gas for a Hamer Cruisebass, but I can live with that.

Speculative thread resurrection. New album hit digital platforms today.

@neepheid I think I was more taken with the finish initially; I don't actually mind the shape, well not now at least, and it certainly wouldn't be my #1 at any stretch.

I suppose my general disdain for anything non-Thunderbird from Gibson has cooled somewhat; I'm getting a little horn on over the 2018 EB-5 model, or more specifically the transparent black model. I don't like the colour of the fingerboard, but that can be fixed with Fiebing Leather Dye. There's a few about online, seem stupid cheap. Anyone got one? Opinions?