Al Krow

Gobsmacked by just how much the bass player had clearly become the de facto creative director of this most successful song writing crew, and who the rest of the band looked to for leadership and direction.

Stunning example of a fantastic brand. Congratulations!

Yeah right. You know full well that the real reason is that it's not orange enough for you 😁

BB 2004 comes pretty close - even has the reverse-P J set up.

Yes, yes and yes! 😎 What model have you got?

I hadn't clocked that @mrtcathad also got a Spector in his life, which has blown him away. Kinda interesting that quite a few of us Yammy fans are also huge Spector fans. I'm definitely a signed-up member of that particular "dual-bass club".

Ampero Stomp vs HX Stomp vs GT 1000 Core Comments 1. The GT 1000 Core has an 'Assigns' menu which is similar to Snapshots (perhaps even more versatile). 3 parallel paths vs 2 for the Ampero and HX. Lack of balanced output a bit of an omission. 2. Plusses of Ampero: Larger 4" colour screen is a significant upgrade; lower power consumption vs HX Stomp should mean it doesn't suffer from similar overheating issues. Competitively priced. 3. Negatives of Ampero: lacks 'Scenes' feature of HX Stomp; less good recording bit-rates; apparently the pitch shifts suck on current release...

Oi PJ, keep up! 😁

Not sure you have any need to apologise! I mean "Does the choice of wood have a material impact on bass tone or is it largely there for aesthetic reason?" was pretty well covered in the first 17 pages of this thread and on numerous predecessor threads. The discussion your post kicked off and some of the responses it drew, particularly from Mr Mandrel who has clearly thought deeply about this subject over many years, were actually brilliant in terms of insights into the creative process for you and others and to what extent being mindful of your audience / customers plays in shaping what you and others are creating (in your case pretty much zero). And, if it's not welcome on here, it would certainly have merited its own thread.

And here's the Spotify link for the rest of us: Great opening line btw "Are you a believer?" - loved that.

Paul - very well done, mate! Really enjoyed - a well crafted and catchy tune with a ton of energy! When does the Latin America tour start? 😊

@owen please put me down for one of the tickets if they're still available? There's a few other London & Home Counties BC'ers who might also be up for joining us! And I'm sure PJ will be able to twist my arm to swap seats part way through the set so he gets a full view for part of the show 😉

Agreed! And with due respect to myself Pete, you would be one of the legion of bass players on BC that I would rate myself as being mediocre when being compared to, just so Mr 4000 has the full picture! 😊

Gotcha, thanks, Enjoy!

This is actually far more interesting!

@4000 - thanks. I get that fulfilling your creative urge is your motivation. No issues with that and genuine applause from me (still not feeling threatened btw 😉) But if you don't care what an audience thinks, why potentially waste their time having to "wade" through it? Why not just keep it to yourself? What makes you want to share it with an audience? Would it be more accurate to say that you do care what an audience thinks, it's just that you're not going to let that influence your creative process?

Errr...simply because that's how I would currently rate myself. I certainly aspire to be a better player - but I'm not there yet. Not being defensive at all, just realistic self-appraisal and certainly not prompted by anything you've implied. I could easily list off a bunch of fellow BC'ers (many on this thread) who are better bass players than me. Don't worry, it's ok I'm not feeling at all threatened just because you're self-identifying as being "creative"! You've still not really addressed what your motivation for your art is, which was at the heart of my question - what is it about what you're doing that gives you a "buzz"? For me it's easy to articulate: playing tightly with my band to an audience who are loving the set and losing themselves in the music. Mr Mandrel - that is very well put!

Being a mediocre covers bass player, you'll need to please bear with my lack of an artist's perspective, but if what your audiences think has no bearing on your art, why "inflict" it on them? Why not just create something and enjoy the process and the outcome and keep your art to yourself? Or do you actually, deep down, want others to enjoy it too and you appreciate their reaction when one of your creations is positively received? What is your motivation for being a live musician? For me, the greatest artists throughout history from Leonardo to Shakespeare to Beethoven, and beyond, were all mindful of their patrons and their audiences. It didn't stop them creating some of the most beautiful art which will continue to echo down time - being appreciated not just by the audiences of their day but but also by each and every succeeding generation.

There's something very special and distinctive about the Pedulla sound, I have to agree with you Dave. For a solo bass sound IMO it's pretty hard to beat for its clarity and musicality from the clips I've heard. I say that as a by-stander who's never had the privilege of owning a Ped. Speaking of which, I guess there's a very good reason why our very own @ped decided on his avatar name rather than being "Fen" or "Sandy" 😁

I think the difference in outlook is driven by what we're both seeking to do musically. I play in covers bands and we're paid by pub landlords to bring in punters off the street and keep hold of the ones already there to increase bar sales, or to help get a birthday party or wedding bash going. So, yup, what we do is completely driven by audiences' "utterly random and disagreeing priorities". We love playing together and the set lists we do and if our audiences are really enjoying themselves that makes for a great night for us. The fact we get paid (sometimes very handsomely for function gigs) for enjoying our musical passion, is icing on the cake. And because we are paid, we have to be mindful of our customers. If you're an "artist", which I certainly don't claim to be, then caring more for your art and less about what the audience thinks is much more understandable and, of course, your prerogative.

Really? I suspect most live artists care deeply about what their audiences think. Given that none of us has unlimited time, I'd certainly recommend focusing first on aspects of a band's live act that has a bigger impact vs spending time on stuff that's not going to make much of a difference to our audiences eg playing technique, choice of great set material or something as basic, but important, to an audience experience such as band lighting, as a priority over tiny nuances of bass tone.

Yeah - that's not dissimilar to my own experience. Had two separate BB735As and really wanted to like them - on paper they seem to tick so many boxes! But in the end I kept coming back to my purely passive 1025. Having said that, my recently acquired neck-through BB2005, which is pretty much the same vintage as your 415, is managing to put even my 1025 in the shade - which is saying something! So it's definitely not just a purely active / passive thing for me.

And reissue the 2004 and 2005. Fabulous basses.

That is sweet! Congrats! Did you hold onto your 734A or did that get moved on? Kinda makes me feel that Yamaha got it right a long time ago, and their subsequent tweaks haven't materially changed what was a fantastic core product. And in terms of colours on offer with matching headstocks, well there's a decent argument to say that they've since gone backwards.