Al Krow

That's quite a big assertion!

Another good shout docT! Here she is on Dua Lipa's latest track - loved her use of slap from 3.02 into this. Literally just 30 seconds of slap to finish off and it provides real energy and contrast to her bass line. Bravo. She posted this just 4 weeks ago and has since had nearly 800K hits and 57K likes. Who say's the public doesn't like a bit of slap bass?

@drTStingray another excellent post sir!

When you say "BB3" - I presume that is shorthand for Barefaced BB2 Gen 3?

Yeah fair point, and I'm not for a moment denying his skill. But the track played in your clip, to me anyway, is a much more in your face bass solo than with the 45 piece (or whatever number) band & orchestra that Incognito perform that track with. Acid jazz is awesome, but not sure how many of us are / will ever be playing that stuff? Respect to anyone who is! Getting back to my point - I suspect the audiences most of us play to will be just as, if not more, impressed by the much-derided earlier solo piece than this more sophisticated number. IMO Nigel Clutterbuck's talent and skill is going to entertain just as much in the context of most of our bands and audiences.

@BigRedX great work mate! Loved the bass line on Trappist-1, which drives the song forward, and the punchy tone which really stood out at 0.15+ at the start of the track.

Nah don't get that at all. Agreed it's not bad, but it's not slap played with groove in the context of a band and part of a piece of great funk music. It's a piece of solo slap and in that sense just as "circus" as any other piece of solo slap. The other maligned "circus" piece has just as much form and technique if you care to listen for it. And, frankly, your average punter is much more likely to be thrilled by the more flash version. It comes back to a basic question of why do any of us perform live? 1) cos we love it; 2) to make a few quid; and both of the above depend on 3) the audience loving it.

@ped - Jim is referring to the "digital artefacts / noise" you referred to in your preceding post below:

But more seriously, it does beg the question "what is a boutique bass"? For me the most important part, by a country mile, is the intellectual property of the design in all its aspects - body, neck, head, woods used and how they are layered, electronics, & other components - I just love the quality and design of the brass nuts on the KS! Where it is assembled must be a secondary point provided that the ability / quality of the craftsman matches up. So yup, these new ones will still be fantastic Ken Smith basses.

Should really be Kev Smith going forward then 😉

Ok thanks - yup far more powerful than the one I got which is 0.5l / day. But I guess there is a trade off with size, noise and cost. UPDATE: The dehumidifier this one arrived this morning from Amazon. Not a great bit of kit - poor electrical connection which means it only intermittently works. Going back!

@dodge_bass who commented above has had both and mentioned in his post that he preferred the GR over the GR2 (in fact I have his former GR2!) as he found it easier to dial in his sound. Quite a few fans of the C4 on BC (I don't have one myself) I'm sure you'll have fun with that digital pedal. Be prepared to get your PC out for patch editing though - I'm afraid that's the bit where it leaves me cold!

Great vid. Slightly amused that Scot, who is an avowed passive bass player, said he's had more comments about the tone of this KS which he's playing (quite rightly!) in active mode than any other bass. In case you're wondering - KS basses are not meant to be played passively: the passive switch is there really only for emergency use in case the battery dies, which of course is a very nice to have. @ped any twinges of seller's regret seeing your old bass being bigged-up in such glorious fashion?

+1^^ Very versatile and great sounding "squelch" on both up and down sweep. The new Proton (2020) is a more compact and quicker to dial in successor, and pretty darned good! But it comes with a hefty price tag. The 3Leaf gear is all analogue.

Ah that's a nice side effect of preventing drying laundry moisture penetrating the wood fibres on our basses - we've got distilled water for irons to press the laundry with! 😊 I ended up going for this one which was just under £50 - are you saying Lidl and Aldi ones are better? Are they noisy?

Just younger and with better backs. I suspect they might struggle along with the rest of us these days!

Tell me about it! If it had been a couple of lbs lighter I would have found it very hard to resist!

That's hugely useful Phil - and articulates with figures what my "gut" has been telling me for a while. Well my forking out on a bit of dehumidifying kit as a result of this thread has been very timely - it will hopefully prevent the humidity levels going above 70% or so in the basement.

So no different to a covers band at a wedding. At the end of the day we are the "entertainment". Our industry was given the label for a reason.

Now that's a great phrase "circus slap"! I'm banking that. Perfectly describes what this thread is moaning about.

It was an excellent post, thank you. You, the OP and @bassfan have just cost me £60 on a meter and dehumidifier. But have saved me a bunch of unnecessary stress and £several thousand on divorce lawyers 😁

Hygrometer for £10 Dehumidifier for £40 (no idea if it's any good, but it's an Amazon best seller) or this one which is a little more compact / effective for a few quid more. Peace of mind / avoiding a bust up with the missus - priceless 😁

Good shout!

That's really useful, thanks. (I've got similar concerns to the OP, although my herd is not in the same league as his! ). When you say maybe surprised, are you meaning pleasantly surprised at how low the humidity is?