TrevorR

[quote name='philw' timestamp='1495441994' post='3303665'] Blimey that was quite an 18th birthday present Trevor! I got a bottle of champaign for mine, which I drank in one sitting and later deposited, back up the way it went down, in the Thames at Kingston. Happy Days. I was still on my fist bass I think - an awful Arbiter short scale thing. P [/quote] Yes, that Aria was one heck of a present. Much badgering involved before a bass was on the agenda as a present. It was sold to us by a guy who played in a band my brother depped in fairly frequently plus he was saving up (unbeknownst to his boss/employer) to start up his own shop so was more driven by commissions than profit and my mum could haggle for Britain. Let's just say she got a healthy discount. By the time my birthday rolled round she was pretty convinced bass wasn't going to be just a passing fad so was happy to take the advice of the guy in the shop, buy once not many times as an investment. God bless her, I do miss her.

Well since I got my first bass, an Aria SB700 for my 18th birthday in 1982 and I still have it and pull it out for a session now and then I guess the answer for me is 35 years! I've had my Wal Custom since 1992, 25 years and my Wal Pro IIE since 2001, so that's 16 years.

And on iTunes too... Pendofsky by Pendofsky https://itun.es/gb/M7VL1

I prefer mine about half way down, under the rib cage. For me it keeps the wrist nice and relaxed for both finderstyle (90% of my playing) and pick...

And this is the big problem with this sort of debate generic statements bump up against specific examples - where both are to some or other degree valid. I do get the "It's brand snobbery" camp and I think that it is a valid presumption. I've not done a statistical analysis of course... But I'd reckon that for every one person who adds a decal to their bitsa for aesthetic reasons (as Rich put it, "to complete the look") but would be happy to respond to a question about its origin by saying "[i]Actually, no it's not a Fender! I made it myself from bits as a personalised custom version...[/i]" there will be maybe five or more whose motive will be so that people think they're playing a more expensive name bass. I like the car analogy - for me I'd go with buying a Toyota (or a no-name modern style car from India or Indonesia or somewhere) and sticking a Lexus badge on. If the latter, deceptive reason is the motive I personally think that's a bit sad. If it's the former aesthetic reason then that's a personal choice but I suspect that someone doing that can expect that some may occasionally presume the motive is deception/delusion no matter how convincing an argument they state. Just human nature really. As to Limelight's old ploy of offering a Fender logo on the front and "Limelight" written in marker pen on the back of the headstock it always struck me as bad form, a bit distasteful and a bit sad. It's not exactly "passing off" because they did have the truth on the back sealed by varnish but it's edging in that direction. Especially for a commercial company selling to the (mostly private) retail market. If they were making a replica "[i]bass which must not be named[/i]" rather than replica Fenders then m'learned friends would rapidly become involved, marker pen on the back of the headstock or not. Personally, I'm in the camp which if I bought a Limelight would NOT want to have a Fender logo and happily tell folks, "Nope it's not a Fender but it's twice the quality and half the price! Who'd buy a Fender when you can get one of these?" Same with my Signature bitsa from Buildabass on eBay.

When I was a teenager there were three guitar shops in Truro where I lived, all of them of not very great quality. One, more of a piano store only really sold sheet music and Hondo guitars. The one round the back of the cathedral sold a range of slightly better far eastern brands. The last, the upper floor of another keyboard shop had a limited range of upper middle range stuff (the guitar salesman went on to set up Modern Music a few years later which was a proper job!). Anyway, as a teen my bass lust was for the Ricky which the bass player in my brother's band played. A really lovely Jetglo 4003. As I walked home from school each day my route toook me past the middle shop. I recall that alongside the Westone, Columbus and Satellite instruments there were some fakers in the window. Can't recall the brand but it was something like Westfield or Westbury - not Westone but pretty sure it was a longish W word. So of course, they were the ones I stood staring at with my nose pressed against the glass. When I finally did get a bass it was actually an Aria SB700 from City Music so I never did pluck up the courage to play one of those fakers. Of course, a few years later when Modern Music had started and I'd learned to play a bit I finally got to try out a proper Ricky. And discovered I hated just about everything about the playing experience - neck shape, varnished fingerboard, string spacing, awkward body shape... in the end I never ever have owned a Ricky or a Faker. Those W...hatever-they-were's still hold a little nostalgic spot in my heart though. Kinda like that first girl you fancied at school but never plucked up the courage to ask out.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1495150927' post='3301739'] So what about when your playing in a band using PA cabs on stands you must spend all your time worrying if they are going to fall over. [/quote] The thought had occurred as a wedding gig got noisy and rowdy now and then... But then the width of the base of the tripod vs the height of the cab seemed more inherently stable. I've certainly been bashed in the teeth by my mic on the odd occasion as une of the guests drunkenly bumbled into it during a particularly lively rendition of Mustang Sally. My main point still stands though. In this discussion is this all trying to achieve perfection in a inherently non-perfect environment and where that level of near perfection isn't necessary to provide the service you are there to provide to a high standard of quality?

She's the cover artist on this month's edition of RnR (formerly Rock n Reel) magazine. Just sayin'. Available in a WH Smith's near you next week...

I keep reading these threads about dispersion and I keep wondering about it. Now, the physics around dispersion from speakers is incontrovertible. Physics is physics. Fine, I get that. My degree is in a physical science. However, I do wonder whether the way in which this dispersion issue is discussed sometimes amounts to a bit of counting angels on the head of a pin. My rig clearly doesn't comply with what the physics says will give optimal dispersion. Two MarkBass Traveler cabs. A 1x15 on the bottom and a horizontal 2x10 on top. Pretty much the antithesis of the configurations discussed. Different cones arranged off axis from each other in a triangular shape. But I've never had enough of a problem to worry about. As a baclkine only situation or as a stage monitor through a meaty PA. Sure plenty of rooms have had funny acoustics when the only place for the bass amp to go is right in a corner or in front of a glass window or a heavy tapestry or a it's a strange shaped room with a double sided brick fireplace in the middle... or whatever. But through it all I've always managed to achieve a bass sound on "stage" and out in the crowd that was broadly acceptable. And certainly adequate for any punter to have had a perfectly enjoyable gig experience. And, having auditioned a range of makes and configurations I just really like the both the sound which that set up gives me and the flexibility and portability of the rig. I do wonder in these discussions like there is a negation or an ignoring of The Pareto principle (I.e. the 80/20 rule) and that were treating acoustically very non-ideal (in its scientific meaning) environments as if they were ideal. The Pareto principle can be expressed as 20% of the effort required to a perfect result will get you to 80% of your objective. To achieve the remaining 20% will take 80% of the effort. It's a principle which is loosely mirrored ni a number of rules of thumb... exam technique - do all the easy bits of all the questions first (20% effort, 80% of the marks) don't try to get one question perfect before moving on to the next. The law of diminishing returns etc etc. If any decent cab choice/configuration produces an 80% result which creates an environment which is acceptable to both you as a player and the audience as listener any effort to optimise beyond that point may start to take more effort/convenience than the solution creates. Certainly when I look at some of the optimised systems that are posted here or elsewhere (e.g. two TC 2x10s stacked short end on short end - used as an example because of the rounded cab profiles) I know for certain that any enjoyment I might get from a more optimally dispersed sound bound be completely negated by a constant background worry that they might topple over at any minute. That stress would translate into my playing which would give a significantly reduced listening experience for my audience (even if they were listening to me with a lower risk that they might be standing in an diffusion or reflection peak or trough). For me that's an example of where "good enough" is what the words actually say... Good. Enough - that is perfectly adequate for the circumstances and completely fit for purpose. And we can leave struggling to achieve that last 20% to places like Abbey Road and RAK where it matters, rather than the Dog and Duck, or even Jagz, where it doesn't. Anyway, that's my personal Minority Report. Please feel to ignore as necessary.

Quality! (Bassassin's knowledge, that is, not necessarily the bass)

Can't find it on YouTube but the live version of Bodhisattva on the Citizen Steely Dan compilation has the most hilarious intro by a thoroughly stoned MC. You can eve hear the band wetting themselves with laughter as he rambles on for about a minute and a half...

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1494622522' post='3297479'] You want one of these... [/quote] You'd need to swap the tuners for Hipshot Ultralites, though otherwise you might get a touch of neck dive. Just a smidge.

Wunjos, Macaris, Red Dog and Digital Village all claim to according to a quick google search

Or you could get a Gorilla Pod Mini and improvise with a compact camera that shoots HD

Not spotted this before but Abe Sr as the YouTube placeholder frame... I'm so watching this later!!!

I suspect that no one makes them at all because for 99.9% of applications they would be entirely useless. Imagine trying to connect two, say, Boss pedals with a right angled male/male jack. The corners of the two pedals would be trying to occupy the same space. Just couldn't work. If you do have a couple of pedals/bits of equipment that happen to fit in this way just because of where the sockets are positioned then a right angled jack connected to a straight jack by three shortest piece of cable possible is the way to go. OBBM's your man for that...

[quote name='Bolo' timestamp='1487054496' post='3236530'] I bet it has a beefy tone! [/quote] I'd have thought it sounded a bit tinny...

[quote name='GremlinAndy' timestamp='1493939341' post='3292084'] I just did a bit of history checking... The 'Fighting' album was released in 1975 Electric mistress was first issued in 1976 Its possible that the effect was generated in the studio by the tape slowing method, but somehow I don't think so... It feels to regular, more like a pedal type effect. So I reckon it was an *earlier* effect. I know Lynott used Flanger on the '79 Black Rose album for "waiting for an alibi" But Downtown Sundown sounds less pronounced than a flanger or phaser IMHO. So I'm tending to think you may be right Higgie... Chorus methinks. [/quote] Downtown Sundown's off Bad Reputation though, isn't it? Recorded late 76, released 77 IIRC (or it could be 77/78).

Aria SB... mine (an SB700) was bought in 82 (although the serial no says it's strictly an 81). You own Wals, Rob, so the fact that they're built from ash-effect lead shouldn't be an issue!

[quote name='Brams77' timestamp='1494053291' post='3292831'] @ TrevorR that's not an easty to obtain instrument as they are very very rare! [/quote] True, but they're bl@&dy lovely and I wish they still made them and any excuse to post a photo of one.

Played Robin's Reverend Rumblefish at the SE Bass bash. Masonite construction like a Dano so super light but a proper bass, with a proper scale length. Sounded amazing too. For those who've not come across them they look like this... Love the retro styling.

I really liked River City People but one hit, two albums and au revoir!

[quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1493913866' post='3291817'] Often thought of this as a nice to have... I'm an 84 man so suppose that's Aria SB? And it would have to be lefty also... Not a lot of choice. [/quote] But what a great choice!

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1493909827' post='3291768'] Or the five string Stingray he used for some tracks on BSSM, if the Wal was so good why didn't it get on tour? Maybe they are crap live [/quote] He's quoted as saying it was too posh and boutique looking for a hard man of rock like him to be seen with on stage... #invertedsnob

[quote name='BassApprentice' timestamp='1493885486' post='3291472'] Just to buck the current trend of dates....1991, anybody think of a particularly special bass from that era? [/quote] [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1493894094' post='3291556'] Got to be a Flea era Stingray, black and rosewood complete with the proper 'Flea' bridge? [/quote] Well given that BSSM came out in September 1991 a "Flea era Stingray" is actually spelled "Mark II 4-string Wal bass"...