Russ

[quote name='fender73' timestamp='1324465206' post='1474429'] Moondiggers guitar player is a pal of mine, Dave Colquhoun who's a cracking player - all the Wakeman stuff with Lee too. Now currently doing a mixtyure of stuff including propping up his missus' band. [/quote] Dave's a good bloke, and an awesome guitarist. Last time I heard from him he was playing in the pit for We Will Rock You, and also doing Wakeman's band. So Jay Aston's taken up music again, has she? Last I heard she was teaching music and dance at a school in Bromley. Let's just hope she never gets roped into a Buck's Fizz reunion.

[quote name='leftyhook' timestamp='1324339387' post='1473310'] What about the band? Was Pomeroy evident? I was fascinated by the fact that he played the way I used to (still can play upside down but slapping isn't good that way for me) but there is next to nothing on him on youtube. [/quote] Lee is an amazing player. He used to work at Rockbottom, a music shop in Croydon, and he helped me out a lot with my playing back when I was starting out. I'm so glad he's ended up doing so well for himself - everyone loves a "local boy made good" story. Watching him do the upside-down and leftie thing was pretty enlightening, especially watching him rattle out note-perfect versions of Mark King's slickest slap licks! He used to play in a local band called Moondigger who were very, very good - shred-happy, poppy prog rock, basically, which stood him in good stead for his stint in It Bites.

Here's my current arsenal: Top row: Spector NS5-CRFM, '87 Fender Precision, Sadowsky UV75 Bottom row: Sei Flamboyant Singlecut 5-string (2003), Sei Jazz fretless 5-string (2011) Love 'em.

I think the official chronology goes like this: RHCP: MM Cutlass I (graphite neck Stingray) Freaky Styley: P-Bass, Stingray Uplift Mofo Party Plan: Spector NS-4, some sticker-covered parts bass (P-bass body, PJ pickups, 3+1 headstock) Mother's Milk: Spector NS-4, Stingray on a couple of tunes Blood Sugar Sex Magick: Wal, Stingray 5-string One Hot Minute: Alembic Epic, Stingray (one track) Californication: Modulus Flea By The Way: Modulus Flea, '62 Jazz with flats Stadium Arcadium: Modulus Flea, '62 Jazz, P-Bass (both Fenders with flats) I'm With You: Various old Fenders, according to recent Bass Player interview

The Ampeg PF-500 is a great head, if not quite as small and portable as a MarkBass or TC. Gobs of Ampeg tone that will shut up the people who say you can't get the Ampeg sound without valves. And 500W is plenty unless you're using a very power-hungry cab. The Barefaced Super 12 should be a good fit - I gather it's quite power-hungry but nothing like the Big One or some of Alex's other early designs. If you do go for it though, make sure you try it out first - there was an early batch of them made that had a fault which made them cut out at high input volumes and there's still some of them out there.

[quote name='tommorichards' post='1351737' date='Aug 25 2011, 08:42 PM']Looks like he is back to using his modulus's live. Taken from a very recent show and [/quote] I wonder if it's going to stop being the Funk Unlimited and become the Flea Bass again?

I've had several over the years - three Seis and a GB (I still own two of the Seis), as well as a custom touchstyle guitar and EUB. I think the important thing, as has been said already, is to pick your luthier based on them having a design and construction method (ie, bolt-on, through-neck, etc) that you already broadly approve of and is maybe 75% there before you specify any options. Then tell the luthier what you're after in terms of appearance, tone and feel, and let them do the rest. My first custom Sei suffered because I specified too much, thinking I knew exactly how all the pieces would sound and feel when they were put together - I was wrong. For the subsequent Seis, I gave Martin a broad outline of what I was after and let him fill in the blanks, and it worked brilliantly. Basically, trust your luthier and go with their suggestions - they're professionals for a reason. If it doesn't turn out the way you want it, depending on exactly how customised it is, you should be able to sell it, although don't expect to get back what you paid for it. Custom basses are not an appreciating commodity like an old Fender. Also, frankly, you get what you pay for. A "cheap" custom bass will probably have had corners cut somewhere. The parts used to make an instrument cost a certain amount of money, then once you factor in the time spent on making it, finishing costs, etc, there's a minimum price that can be charged in order to make any profit at all. For something like a custom Jazz Bass, you could expect the lowest possible cost to be somewhere around £8-900, and that's before adding figured woods, upgraded pickups/electronics and so on. Even if you buy the parts yourself from Warmoth, it'll still be around that price, if not more. You can get the odd bargain though - I got the touchstyle guitar (think Chapman Stick) and EUB from Kevin from Krappy Guitars in New Jersey, and he's very cheap. His trick is that he makes no bones about the fact that his instruments have no bells and whistles, no fancy woods or finishes or good electronics - the stuff he makes is definitely very "niche" and he actually uses that as a selling point (the company name says it all). They do have a charm of their own though, and he's willing to try his hand at anything. Both the instruments he made for me are great, even with their (literal, in some cases) rough edges.

According to this month's BP, Flea's pulled out of the deal to make the Fleabasses. He reckoned he just couldn't deal with the business side of it any more. Apparently the new album is all vintage Fenders (mostly his Olympic White '61 Jazz and another '61 Jazz with a custom butterfly paint job by Damien Hurst). I'll give the new album a listen. But I haven't really been able to stomach any post-One Hot Minute RHCP - they've lost the edginess that made them what they were.

[quote name='urb' post='1299891' date='Jul 11 2011, 12:39 PM']That looks gorgeous as does Russ' new one - good to see some new posts here - I've seen a few new Seis in the works - the one below looks stunning in the flesh: Wouldn't mind one of these myself Tho still loving my single cut and Jazz - amazing basses that get better and better with age! M[/quote] When you get a good piece of buckeye burl, no other piece of wood compares. That's amazing... it looks like marble. Still not 100% sold on the Offset Flamboyant shape, but that wood makes up for a lot.

So, I got home, plugged it in and... er.... wow. This thing is amazing. Just f***ing awesome. Does it all - mwahh out the wazoo, lots of grunt and bite, it even slaps fantastically. My little son has already taken rather a liking to it too.

Well, here it is... my new Sei! It got delivered today - I haven't had a chance to plug it in yet (I'm at work), but first impressions are amazing. It's even prettier in person. Now, for my next trick, I have to find a band to play it with...

I've heard that Marshall have refined the design of the MB series amps as a result of bad feedback about reliability. I've never owned one, but I've played through a few and always thought they sounded bloody good for the money, easily up there with the likes of the Ampeg B series. I wish Marshall would put the Dynamic Bass System stuff back into production. That was the best bass gear they ever made. The only downside was the sheer size and weight of the cabs - they could do so much better now with neodymium drivers and so on.

[quote name='Salt on your Bass?' post='1244443' date='May 25 2011, 03:22 PM']Wasnt the 'superstore' thing effectively what Sound Control aimed at/provided before going into receivership??[/quote] I think Sound Control's problem is that they set themselves up in large shops in city centres with very high overheads, eliminating their ability to be cost-competitive because of much higher operating costs, despite their increased ability to buy in bulk. They should have set themselves up in out-of-town shopping centres or other places where rents weren't as high. People shopping for musical instruments realise they have a somewhat niche interest and would probably be prepared to travel a little further to get their instrument fix. In the US, most Guitar Center locations are in out-of-town strip malls (roadside shopping centres) where they can pay much lower rents and get much more space.

[quote name='molan' post='1244333' date='May 25 2011, 02:00 PM']Based on my experience of Guitar Center in the US I'd go for small specialist retailers every time. Never found one with a decent bass person and I've visited quite a few.[/quote] I've been to a couple where there was reasonably knowledgeable bass people, and you can't argue with the prices, for the most part. For the bread-and-butter bass stuff (Fender, Ibanez, Musicman, etc) they're very well-priced, since they buy in bulk. The only problem is that the stuff they have on display is usually not set up properly. They must just pull the instruments out of the box and hang them up on the wall - I tried out a nice-looking Stingray 5 when I was at a GC last year, and it was unplayable - the strings were lying on the neck. That degree of inattention cost them a sale.

I think the other thing that goes on in the US that doesn't really happen in the UK is the "music superstore" phenomenon - Guitar Center, Sam Ash, Musician's Friend and so on. Manufacturers sell goods to these companies by the hundred, hence getting volume discounts, whereas they'll only sell a few at a time to shops in the UK. Also, if you import things by the pallet-load you save a ton of money on shipping, but not so much if it's just individual items sent separately.

It works the other way around too. For instance, Marshall, Ashdown and Blackstar amps cost a fortune in the US, and you should see the price of Warwick basses... eek. You'll find insane markups almost everywhere where there's any kind of importing going on that isn't from the far east.

On the subject of portable recording solutions, has anyone else played with Garageband on the iPad? F***ing awesome. I've been using it with the iRig guitar interface for recording bits and pieces, and it rules - no latency, great-sounding effects, and some awesome virtual instruments - the "smart drums" are fantastic, some of the synth stuff is amazing (complete with real-time parameter and filter adjustment) and the virtual guitar is astonishing - it even does palm-muting! Best £3 I've ever spent on a piece of music software. Although, of course, you need to buy the iPad to go with it.

[quote name='Lozz196' post='1238957' date='May 21 2011, 07:06 AM']Take a look at the Eden Nemesis - link below. I`m an Ampeg fan, and when seeking out a lightweight 4x10, saw these, spoke to The Bass Merchant, and they advised that the Nemesis is inkeeping with the Ampeg sound. So I bought one, and am very pleased with it. Don`t know about the 2x10s, but the 4x10 has an adjustable, and very smooth tweeter. On it adds a little high end sharness, but no irritating hiss. Off, the cab sounds like a traditional rock sound, warm, but focused. It has that knack of being really present in the mix when playing. The 2x10s freq response is 35hz - 18khz, lower in fact, than the 4x10 - if I`d had the money, two of these would have been my preferred option. The link, by the way, is a bit wrong, and the written text gives info relating to the 2x10 combo, but the specs relate to the 2x10 cab. [url="http://www.bassmerchant.com/item_detail.php?product_id=449&category_id=2"]http://www.bassmerchant.com/item_detail.ph...p;category_id=2[/url][/quote] I don't think Eden actually make the Nemesis line anymore - they've been replaced by the Eden E-series, which look more or less the same as the old Nemesis line. I've got no idea if they're any good though. Shame, one of the coolest rigs I ever tried was the Nemesis 2x12" combo with an extension 2x12" cab. And their old 8x10" combo (yes, combo) was a beast. Grab a couple of Alex's Barefaced Compacts. They'll do you just fine.

Behold... [attachment=80271:newsei.jpg] It's not quite ready for me yet - that's not the final neck (the final neck will have an unlined fingerboard) but hopefully this provides suitable Sei pr0n for the time being - it certainly has for me.

[quote name='supabock' post='1041531' date='Nov 29 2010, 07:32 PM']Well there is no doubt as to the quality of these basses. I have two so could be a little biased. The seller refers to it as being ultra rare, but i think its only ultra rare as it would take Martin some months, more like a year to produce one to your spec, if thats what you want. I think they are worth every penny, but do feel this seller is asking for max price on this one. All subjective i know and it depends if someone wants to buy it at that price or wait for a new one at an equivalent price to what he is asking for. Steve[/quote] Martin's been working on my 5-string fretless Jazz for 15 months now... Still, it should be biblically awesome when it's done.

It's got some nice "mwah", but not six grand's worth... and seriously, why do all Americans pronounce it "War-Wick"?

Saw them in the US last autumn. Great show, all the hits. Even stuff like "Jerry Was A Racecar Driver". They've still got it, and Jay Lane is an awesome drummer. They did go through an awful phase of trying their hand at being a jam band when they first got back together after their hiatus. Glad they've given all that up.

I've got four basses (soon to be five), two guitars, a touchstyle/Stick-type instrument and a cheapo electric upright. Oh, and a bunch of computer music/MIDI gear, and I'm not in a band. The only musicians I have any desire to play with right now are 3500 miles away, back home in the UK. Out here it's all awful cover bands and Christian rock, and I have zero interest in either. I've been attempting to make some music on my own on the computer, but it's tough without someone else to bounce ideas off. Guess I'll just have to wait until we move home, whenever that may be.

I've still got my old pair somewhere, not planning on getting rid of them though. Basically, they're percussion sticks (drumsticks without the tapered end and tip) that have been cut in half, with finger indents carved into them, and a short length of Velcro to secure them. One is also slightly longer than the other to accommodate the different lengths of your index and middle fingers. The ends have also been dipped in silicone rubber to soften the attack a little. I've seen pairs change hands for £200 before on Ebay...