bnt

re SansAmps and mids: I keep meaning to try one, but I did find it interesting that Geddy Lee switched from the [url="http://www.tech21nyc.com/rbi.html"]RBI[/url] (rack bass SansAmp) to the [url="http://www.tech21nyc.com/rpm.html"]RPM[/url] (with parametric mid). I didn't think his RBI sound was all that great when I saw Rush in 2004.

Which famous bassist sent an instrument back to the manufacturer for a checkup, in the following condition: [quote]It needed some help. The original cast bridge was cracked, and the saddle assembly rattled and was sagging. The horseshoe magnets were dead. The coil was fine, but the cobalt magnets -- stone dead. The frets needed some serious dressing and a new nut. (He has played around with a zero fret extension over the years, and the bass originally had a stock nut) . . . The finish was nothing at all. It had the patina of dirty wood and sweat. It didn't stink of armpits, but it was not sealed. ... There were plenty of hack marks and sandpaper gouges . . . The horns just appeared to have been scraped and sanded too much. The front and the back were fairly well done but all of the edges and contours were done amateurishly...[/quote] Answer: [spoiler][url="http://www.thecanteen.com/arnquist.html"]Paul McCartney's Rickenbacker[/url].[/spoiler]

[quote name='bassjamm' post='211208' date='Jun 2 2008, 04:41 PM']The other thing that has occurred to me is where will i find a high C string for acoustic bass?[/quote] You're looking at a gauge in the 0.025"-0.030" range, so... know a shop that sells acoustic guitar singles? This thread has got me thinking about doing something similar, but fretless...

[quote name='uptonmark' post='214543' date='Jun 7 2008, 06:48 PM']swapped wires around still the same not happy[/quote] You didn't swap the wires from [b]both[/b] pickups, did you? This is all about the relative phase [b]between[/b] the pickups, so you need to swap the wires of [b]one[/b] pickup, and leave the other one unchanged! Then, if you get them both working together, but it gets noisy, you may be able to sort that out by doing the following to one pickup [b]only[/b]: - reverse the wires (again) - take out each polepiece magnet, and put it back in upside down.

[quote name='jojobass' post='214396' date='Jun 7 2008, 02:54 PM']You know, I think what upsets me even more is his lousy spelling.... [/quote] For someone who blows his own trumpet in that way, you would think he would be a little more careful with such details. Even if he is as good as he claims to be on the bass, what's the point if he's rubbish at more basic skills, such as English? What a plonker.

Did any of you guys check the instructors list? It's not just VW; Steve Bailey, Adam Nitti and Chuck Rainey will be there too. Dunno how much can be accomplished in three* days, considering attendees will be [i]building[/i] their own accommodation... * edit: I see they mention 6-day camps too, but the upcoming one is 3 days.

Just one look at that bridge has me hurling. A touchstyle instrument needs individually-adjustable-[b]everything[/b] to work effectively. Someone should tell those Tennessee jokers that sticking "Professional" on something's name does not actually make it professional quality.

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='212943' date='Jun 5 2008, 08:48 AM']I really want a Tech21 VT Bass from the US, especially as they'll be around £150 when they arrive here and are only $150 over there.[/quote] Coincidence - I just saw this on Tech21's site while looking for a different pedal. The Bass Player review linked from there makes it sounds like it does a good job of emulating a SVT, then goes a lot further with EQ etc. They're off to a good start with me by invoking names like Yes and King Crimson in their marketing: I've been playing a lot of them this week, including John Wetton's thunderous work on Crimson's [i]Larks' Tongues in Aspic[/i]. WOOF!

[quote name='TimmyC' post='211947' date='Jun 3 2008, 05:16 PM']Apparently Epifani is pronounced Epi-far-nee[/quote] That's basically what I thought too. Same as Greek-origin word "[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(feeling)"]epiphany[/url]". As for Epiphone - I never thought that came from "epiphany", probably because of the "-phone" part, which comes from "phono" (sound), a word on its own. I used to think they mixed up two seperate Greek words, to make something that no longer works the way it ought to... but according to their [url="http://epiphone.com/history.asp"]website[/url], it turns out the "Epi" was the nickname of one of the founders. "Epi-Sound", like "Rick-O-Sound"

[quote name='alexclaber' post='207294' date='May 27 2008, 03:32 PM']I tried one in GAK and although the tone was nice it went nowhere near as loud as my active studio monitors which were half the price. If it was twice as big (two speakers) and had twice the power (6dB greater output) then it would be a lot more useful.[/quote] You mean like the [url="http://www.markbass.it/products.php?lingua=en&cat=3&vedi=86"]MiniMark[/url]? I'm pondering one of these, but the price is seriously off-putting. I believe it's comparable to the PJ Briefcase.

[quote name='The Burpster' post='211283' date='Jun 2 2008, 06:34 PM']No it only gives me the link as an option not teh target..... sadly.... [/quote] I'm running Firefox on Ubuntu Linux - no problem downloading files like that, either using "Save As", or the "DownThemAll" plugin I have installed. What browser are you using? You can't blame this on Linux itself... I didn't know you could get QuickTime on Linux, but if I had it, I would rip it out it, if it's anything like as awful as QuickTime on Windows.

I don't play with a plectrum much, but songs I'd recommend for that include: Our Song - Yes (90125) ([url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tet4fcdANg"]'tube[/url]) Flame Of The West - Big Country (Steeltown) ([url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=X1as8ZdjdrE"]'tube[/url]) Gazpacho - Marillion (Afraid of Sunlight)

I sometimes use the [url="http://www.b3ta.cr3ation.co.uk/site/music-plus"]creation b3ta[/url] music search service. Good for finding if other have put a particular song online, and that appears to be the case [url="http://www.thenovelsound.org/files/dance/BSDmuzzik/Stevie%20Wonder%20-%20Superstition.mp3"]here[/url].

[quote name='BassManKev' post='210967' date='Jun 2 2008, 10:19 AM']moog is a good one iv always said mooooooooooooog, but its said moag or moge[/quote] They even named a synth Moog Rogue, just to get the point across. There was a similar thread on Talkbass too, [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-311554.html"]here[/url]. Any [i]Peh-Dool-La[/i] players here?

[quote name='squire5' post='210171' date='May 31 2008, 04:44 PM']How can you say "Fender,with a capital 'F'"....."I've got 3 Fenders with capital 'F's" Like that,you mean? LOL.[/quote] No, that's not what I said. Look at where I put the quotation marks. I don't know whether you're having a laugh here, but either way you're making a different kind of point about the importance of punctuation in clear communication. Get it wrong, and the meaning is distorted.

[quote name='lee4' post='210126' date='May 31 2008, 02:34 PM']How about collective nouns?A thump of P-basses?A growl of Stingrays?[/quote] A rumble of Thunderbirds? (My all-time favourite collective noun: "a Wunch of Bankers".)

[quote name='lwtait' post='210136' date='May 31 2008, 02:49 PM']so are you saying you shouldnt say "ive got three fenders" it should be "ive got three fender basses"?[/quote] You'd say "three Fender basses", using Fender with a capital F. (A "fender" is a car part!) Sure, we know what you mean here on BC, and we can get away with slang, but if you're trying to communicate with someone outside BC, it will pay to be precise. A non-bassist might think you're talking about guitars. A non-musician would think you meant car parts, or just not get what you're trying to say.

[quote name='lwtait' post='209991' date='May 31 2008, 08:53 AM']how do you pronouce the plural of ibanez?[/quote] Like sheep: one Ibanez, many Ibanez. Strictly speaking, you wouldn't pluralise it at all. You would say e.g. "three Ibanez basses", pluralising the specific "instantiations". Ibanez is a brand name, not a tangible "thing" that you can pluralise.

Would you believe that I have never played any Fender bass? My first bass was a Hondo P-copy, and I really did not get on with the shape. The headstock dived for the ground as often as Maradona.

Something for the VCR from BBC2 : [quote]Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who Fri 30 May, 11:35 pm - 1:35 am 120mins Authorized by The Who, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Murray Lerner and co-directed by Paul Crowder, Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who is a powerful documentary that is the definitive audio-visual record of this legendary British rock band. Telling The Who's story, the film also explores the development of the band today, following Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey as they record The Who's first new music in more than 20 years, and travels to the Far East for their first-ever live performance in Japan. Strong language. [S][/quote]

There's also the [url="http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=1921"]Flipout[/url], from Dewey Decibel (website down):

[quote name='Bassassin' post='208929' date='May 29 2008, 02:52 PM']Anyone noticed some people say "Rickenbocker", or "Rickenbarker"? Weird. And one that's always confused me is Tokai. "Toe-kay"? "Tok-eye"? However you try & say it, it sounds wrong. Academic, because if Ebay has its way with the evolution of spelling it'll soon be "Tokia". Jon.[/quote] Actually... since Rickenbacker was originally Ricken[b]bach[/b]er, "Rickenbocker" is not that far off. re Tokai, in Japanese it's written To-ka-i, so you say it in [i]three[/i] syllables, like Toh-kah-ee. (Toh sounds like "soft")

Have a listen to this: I think he's saying it somewhere between "aye-ba-knee-zu" and "i-ba-knee-zu" ("i" = a short ee sound, like the Spanish Ibáñez). If you look at the tags on that video, [b]both[/b] are given in Katakana. I'm guessing the pronunciation is not nailed down precisely - but he's still following the Katakana, not the American pronunciation. アイバニーズ = "aye-ba-knee-zu" イバニーズ "i-ba-knee-zu"

[quote name='geilerbass' post='208730' date='May 29 2008, 12:00 PM']I'd be interested to know how the Japanese say it...[/quote] That's what I kinda was getting at in my post above. I took lessons a few years ago, and the way it works in Japanese, they use that special [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana"]Katakana[/url] [i]phonetic[/i] alphabet for foreign and weird words. Katakana (like Hiragana) is strictly phonetic: you write words as close as you can get to how you actually pronounce them, not vice versa - and after that, you read them phonetically. I didn't know about the "knee" sound until I read the Katakana version from their website today. It's not "neh" as I would have expected, but I have to assume it is there for a reason i.e. they write "aye-ba-knee-zu" because that's how they pronounce it - or used to, back when the company was named. Today, I dunno, but that's what their website says, and it's not like English, where we deviate willy-nilly from phonetic pronounciation. That is why foreign words get mangled in Japanese - a Katakana version of a foreign word is still limited by the Japanese language, and there are some Western sounds that just don't exist in Japanese. The famous example being how R is the same as L, but it's generally not as bad as that "Lip My Tights!" scene from [i]Lost In Translation[/i] though. Students who take English are taught that there's a difference. edit: I wouldn't be surprised to hear Japanese people pronounce it the American way if they're dealing with Western customers, or can understand English. I was thinking of people who can't speak or read English, and have only the Katakana to go on. It's not a Japanese word anyway, so that is as close as we will get to a "native Japanese" pronounciation.

[quote name='squire5' post='208678' date='May 29 2008, 10:48 AM']Me,personally,have always pronounced as it's spelt,ie Aye-ban-ez,but lately I've heard it pronounced Ee- ban- ay.Which is right,does anyone know?[/quote] The Japanese company got their name from a brand of Spanish guitar they were importing, [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Ib%C3%A1%C3%B1ez"]Salvador Ibáñez[/url]. (Ee-ba-nyeth, I think). However, Ibanez themselves write their name as アイバニーズ or a-i-ba-ni-i-zu. The closest I can get is something like aye-ba-knee-zu, but the "zu" is clipped to "z". (There is no real "z" in spoken Japanese.)