Russ

[quote name='dan2112' post='1114221' date='Feb 3 2011, 05:53 PM']Anyone else notice the BXP logo on the Peavey Cirrus?[/quote] Apparently he's got a Sei Bass on the way, so we probably won't be seeing him with the Peaveys for too much longer.

He did good. I was particularly impressed with how well he pulled off the Queen stuff, since he's not really known as a rock player. And, despite his thumb being taped up for action, I didn't hear him slap once. Nice Statii too. Good show though. Some nice variety there. The usual dad-rock suspects (Clapton, etc), but it was nice to see Paloma Faith, and that kid from Keane who sang with Queen absolutely nailed the Freddie thing - who'd have thunk it? Hidden behind Keane's bland indie-rock stylings is a proper showman with a proper voice trying to get out!

I'm pretty sure they were performing live - the tune sounded different to the album version, and John Taylor's bass sound on the album didn't have such an obvious envelope filter tone to it. I guess he was just looking for an opportunity to tune up! And, I must say, I approve of Simon LeBon's beardiness.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1106218' date='Jan 28 2011, 02:02 PM']Yes, the Corvette is another popular one that just does not work for me. I think Warwick have some part to play in devaluing their brand over the years, watering things down with ash bodies and maples necks hasn't really done them any good. To me, that classic Warwick sound comes from the Thumb, with it's wenge/ovangkol/bubinga construction and pickup placement.[/quote] I'm not a Corvette fan either. In my opinion, the last new and interesting shape they came out with was the Fortress, which has now been demoted to being a Rockbass-only model.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1105711' date='Jan 28 2011, 12:38 AM']No, that model was never particularly well received, especially in it's hideous bolt on guise.[/quote] I'm amazed they still make it, to be honest. For me, the only design that they make outside of the Thumb and Streamer that really works is the Infinity. I had high hopes for the Thumb singlecut, but it ended up being disappointing... They do have some very nice Korean-made signature basses now that might make their range a bit more accessible. There's a cheaper P-Nut sig bass that looks awesome, and the cheaper Zender bass looks a lot nicer without the silly inlays. Shame they've got maple necks though - part of the whole Warwick allure for me is the exotic-wood necks.

[quote name='risingson' post='1104654' date='Jan 27 2011, 02:17 AM']I like Warwicks, I always have, but I think they've played into the hands of a certain market that has now alienated some potential customers that believe that their application as instruments is limited to metal etc. They need a bit of an overhaul image wise, maybe start looking to endorse a wider range of artists that pull a newer crowd of players.[/quote] The thing is, you don't see too many metal guys with them any more. There were loads 5 years ago or so, but either the bands involved have slipped into obscurity or the players have moved on to other instruments or endorsers. The stigma's still there though. On the plus side, it did make for some excellent bass tones on some rock/metal recordings back then - Alex Katunich's SSII tone on the earlier Incubus stuff was fantastic and inspirational, as was Ryan Martinie's stuff on the Mudvayne records. Looking forward to hearing Mike McKeegan's tone on the new Therapy? album, now he's playing Warwicks. Warwick attempted something a little more conventional a few years back with the Katana, and I don't think it's done all that well. I've never seen anyone play one live, not to mention it had a good thrashing with the ugly stick.

It's fashion, basically. Instruments are as subject to the whims of the fashionistas as everything else. Flashy, exotic-wood basses aren't the in thing - it's all about the Fenders right now. Warwick aren't helping matters though - their endorser list is more or less all highbrow jazz-funk and session guys these days. They've jettisoned most of the rock and mainstream guys. Granted, the nu-metal era was something best forgotten, but they sold a lot of basses back then, when they were in the hands of players that people had actually heard of. (I'll excuse Stuart Zender and Adam Clayton from that list - shame their signature basses are fairly tragic). With this change in fashions in mind, I'd be interested to see Warwick's take on a Jazz Bass. And regardless of fashion, if I can find a wenge-necked Streamer Stage II 5-string for a good price, it's mine.

[quote name='Mlucas' post='1096792' date='Jan 20 2011, 08:51 PM']I totally agree on the dependency on the music but i always feel there is a natural discrimination against pick wielders..[/quote] If there is, it's because a lot of the people you see out there who really can't play well are often amateurishly sawing at a bass with a pick. Think the Pete Wentzes and Sid Viciouses of this world. I think it just makes those who really can play with a pick, like Anthony Jackson, Hellmut Hattler and Bobby Vega look even better!

Both. Each technique sounds different and lends itself to different styles and feels, and pick, fingerstyle, slap, thumb-muting, etc are techniques that every bass player should have in their toolkit to be able to use when appropriate.

Love the U-Basses. It's like the ultimate evolution of the old Ashbory basses. They sound awesome too. I'm planning on getting one of the solidbody ones for my son when he's a bit older. Then I can play it when he goes to bed.

[quote name='Clarky' post='1096391' date='Jan 20 2011, 02:33 PM']What a thread! Arrogance, insults, appalling playing, missives from a long-dead bass manufacturing legend. All that is missing is some gratuitous sexism. So I wonder if this bass player has any Youtube clips? [attachment=69448:bikinigirls05.jpg][/quote] This thread definitely delivers.

[quote name='blackmn90' post='1096257' date='Jan 20 2011, 12:52 PM']It says he is an innovative player on his website? I think he will find that when i was 10 and handed a guitar i too was making lots of twangy sounds and playing nothing that makes musical sense. So innovative he is not...... now show me the drummer jokes thread, iv got some great ones[/quote] He's an innovative player in as much as he sometimes plays a bass with more than four strings. Apparently that makes you an innovator. Not sure how that works. I might convince myself I was an innovative artist if I decided to paint a picture using three paintbrushes shoved up my arse - wouldn't matter if the picture was still sh*t. What this boils down to is that he's a very average player with an undeservedly huge ego. If his missives stated, "trying my best to be the best player I can be", instead of "I'm the lovechild of Marcus Miller and Jaco, all kneel and praise me" then nobody would have a problem. Humility doesn't seem to be in his "innovative" repertoire.

[quote name='TomKent' post='1095573' date='Jan 19 2011, 08:05 PM']Respect to him for putting himself out there and making an album, putting videos on YouTube etc etc. Okay, he's not the best, but at least he's trying? [/quote] Very trying. All mouth and no trousers. His slapping has no rhythm, and his melodic playing has no melody. Instant bass FAIL.

Arrogant self-promotion. Putting bravado and bluster ahead of ability. Yep, he's an American.

[quote name='Heathy' post='1094032' date='Jan 18 2011, 04:20 PM']I agree that he's top notch, but would say that he is also a bass god. He may not be a [i]Victor Wooten*[/i] but has definitely sold more records, played to more people and probably inspired many more to start playing. I have gigged Hysteria and New Born. Great fun but totally relentless and hurt like hell. *or insert the virtuoso player of your choice[/quote] Noooo! He can't be a bass god! His strap's too long! He doesn't play fretless or slap! (well, apart from Undisclosed Desires and that doesn't count ) He's in a band people have heard of!

[quote name='paul h' post='1093349' date='Jan 18 2011, 01:13 AM']tumblr is pretty hot right now. Certainly in terms of graphic design and art. I imagine there is a similar audience there for music too.[/quote] If you want to have an "integrated" online presence, you have to pull in resources from different sites. One thing I've been seeing a bit of is people using AOL's new homepage service, About.me to set up homepages, then using that page to link to their various profiles elsewhere, eg, using Facebook for general "friending" and networking, Twitter for live updates and staying in touch with the zeitgeist, Tumblr for blogging and Bandcamp for music hosting. Granted, Myspazz does almost all of these things, but not very well. I think that was part of its downfall - it tried to do everything, instead of concentrating on doing one or two things very well. I think having separate sites that concentrate on doing one thing very well is the way forward, especially since, with their APIs, they can all now "talk" to each other (eg, Twitter update going straight to Facebook, Tumblr blog going straight to Twitter, etc).

They're "intermediate" level, I'd say. If you can master that whole bouncing from the octave to an open string thing he does a lot (Hysteria, Invincible, etc) then you're most of the way there.

Bandcamp's great for hosting your stuff and generating sales - much better than ReverbNation. As far as promotion goes, having a Facebook presence is great, but she should definitely add Twitter to her social media repertoire - that's where the "zeitgeist" is right now.

Go Squier. Better built, better fit and finish, more easily upgradeable, better resale value if you choose to upgrade to a better bass (or quit ). I'd go for a Vintage Modified Jazz - fantastic bass for the money. You sometimes see them come up for sale on here secondhand for £150-200, but they're only £300 or so new. Seems Squier is almost a unanimous choice!

The Drophead combos are obviously Ashdown's answer to the Ampeg B-15 reissues. They look nice. Plus Ashdown have finally come out with a 6x10"!

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1085889' date='Jan 11 2011, 06:44 PM']Yes, they still make the B-2 but I'm no Entwistle nut so I'm not sure what the connection between John and the instrument is. I'm not sure why Dean are the only company they felt comfortable with though, maybe they were offering the most money? Since I don't think John himself had any connection with them. I'm not a huge fan of Dean though, I thought it was cool when they were doing the USA made Jeff Berlin model because it seemed like a really "different" signature model, very much Jeff's creation in a way. Then they discontinued it and brought it back as a cheap model, which Jeff was unhappy with and even said something along the lines of "upgrade the pickups to USA Bartolinis and you'll have a very good instrument for a good price" about it![/quote] Chris E just posted this on TB: [quote]Unfortunately Warwick were only supposed to get the rights to produce the Wooden buzzard. The estate solicitors, with remarkable short sightedness, increased that to anything remotely to do with bass guitars. Relations with Status were damaged severely due to this, with my profound regrets. Possible in the future? Always open to discussions.[/quote]

[quote name='Johnston' post='1085872' date='Jan 11 2011, 06:28 PM']Anyone come across what sort of price these are going to be??[/quote] The Spiders are going to be ridiculously expensive, since they're only making 25 of them, but the others should be under a grand. Chris Entwistle has just chipped in on the subject over on TB... apparently Dean was the only company the Entwistle estate felt comfortable dealing with.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1085665' date='Jan 11 2011, 04:15 PM']Funny, that he considered the Status the evolution of the Buzzard which is why he was playing it and kept his Warwick basses at home. But of course. Warwick could throw a lot of money to the Entwistle estate, because they managed to acquire the rights to the Buzzard shape and stopped Status making them. And from what I've heard, speaking to knowledgeable parties, Status will never make their Buzzard again. I am not sure, but I have heard that the molds used to lay up the graphite fibres have been destroyed, so Status couldn't even make one if they wanted to. A lot of money has been made of John since he died, I guess! Anyone interested in his gear should check out the "Bass Book". I'm not an Entwistle fan but I got it as a birthday present from my brother a couple of years ago. It's a stunning book with some awesome basses in it, looks great on the downstairs bookshelf too![/quote] It's just been pointed out to me that apparently Status still make the B-2 - I thought the same as you, that they had to destroy all the graphite moulds, but that must have just been for the original Buzzard. It's still on the Status website, but there's no mention of John Entwistle.

One word: Minging. And two others: Cash-in. I remember being surprised when Warwick came out with the Buzzard again after he died, since he ditched them years before. What was wrong with the Status Buzzards? Those were the last basses he played while he was still alive. Also, for the "Fenderbird" fans, there's far better examples out there. This lot make a "proper" one with original Fender and Gibson parts: [url="http://www.cataldobasses.com/"]http://www.cataldobasses.com/[/url]