bnt

OK, "impedance" is technically more correct for speakers, because they contain coils, but for this subject "resistance" is good enough IMHO. When you specify impedance, you should specify the frequency too e.g. 8Ω @ 80Hz - but you don't see that on the backs of amps or cabs, do you? The impedance of a speaker & cab varies as the frequency varies, so a 8Ω label on a cab is an approximation. I'll spare you the geeky discussion on inductive reactance and phase vectors.

This idea that 8Ω+8Ω=4Ω only applies when the loads are wired in parallel, of course - if wired in series, it would be 8Ω+8Ω=16Ω as you'd expect. The manual should say which it is, but parallel is more common. The formula for calculating parallel loads is the one at the bottom right of this diagram, so in your case it's 1 / (1/8Ω + 1/8Ω) = 1 / (2/8Ω) = 4Ω.

Well, I play a bit of keyboard meself, and the song "Rio", for example, is still (to me) the canonical use of the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arpeggiator"]Arpeggiator[/url].

Anyone mentioned [url="http://www.tonyfranklin.com/"]Tony Franklin[/url] yet? Another great pop fretless player. Here he is rocking out with Kate Bush, and David Gilmour on Steinberger guitar. He has a Fender signature model of his own, though I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that he is Fender's Artist Relations Manager these days! re Power Station - I'm positive that's John Taylor on the first album. It sounds like him, and what he was doing with Duran Duran around that time e.g. "Union of the Snake". Bernard Edwards was producing, and I believe he played on the second album. This matches what Wikipedia says - Edwards took over for the 2nd album in 1997, and was going to tour with them, then [i]he[/i] died.

Just got one [b]heck[/b] of a surprise: I didn't know that Big Country were back and touring, with Tony Butler on lead vocals as well as bass! Not quite New Romantic, I know, but from that era, and an early bass inspiration to me.

I must mention Gazza Johnson from China Crisis too - pretty speedy on the fretless e.g. the title track of [i]Working With Fire & Steel[/i], or just beautiful on [i]Wishful Thinking[/i]. I vaguely remember that Andy Pask of Landscape was briefly a member of CC too, but nowadays he's better known for the theme music to [i]The Bill[/i]. A couple of other names I like from this era are Barry Adamson (Magazine, Visage), Curt Smith (Tears For Fears), and Andy McCluskey of OMD (when he actually played the bass).

[quote name='Bass_In_Yer_Face' post='117140' date='Jan 9 2008, 04:47 PM']I noticed Kajagoogoo (- Limahl) were touring the 80's revival circuit again (videos on youtube) and Mr Beggs has been the bassist with John Paul Jone's band (why does he need a bass player?) Joe Hubbard played on the woeful 'I Assasain' album by Numan but there is something excellent playing on Sister Surprise[/quote] Nick was playing Stick with JPJ, filling the guitar role too. JPJ plays keyboards, and has other weird instruments such as the bass pedal steel guitar. [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jQHxFoAp_W8"]Here's[/url] an example of what I mean. re Joe Hubbard, I have one of his 6-string bass solo albums ([i]Vanishing Point[/i]) from the early 90s when I saw him live at the Orange (West Kensington). He tried to set up a bass college of sorts in London, but something odd happened and he went back to the USA (or something like that - it was a long time ago). I was thinking about signing up, but was ambivalent about whether it would be any good, and about the money involved.

I suppose [url="http://www.spectorbass.com/NewFilesNew/ns1stuff.html"]this[/url] makes an OK Warwick body shape. I'll get my coat...

[quote name='Dillsfretless' post='113933' date='Jan 5 2008, 10:46 AM']Guitarists playing bass - How many are there? I recall that Yngwie played bass on one of his albums, and also Eddie Van Halen played all the bass on a Sammy Hagar solo album. What other well known ones are there?[/quote] I know Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have done it, though both seem to prefer working with a bassist. On Vai's [i]Passion and Warfare[/i], for example, Vai plays boring bass on the opening song [i]Liberty[/i], then Stu Hamm adds the Ex Factor to Steve's [i]Erotic Nightmares[/i]: no risk of confusion there! On Vai's [i]Live at the Astoria[/i] DVD, there's a hilarious backstage video of Billy Sheehan's roadie trying to teach Billy to slap, so he can play some of Stu's parts. More notoriously, Billy Corgan played a [b]lot[/b] of bass on the [b]Smashing Pumpkins[/b] studio albums - exactly how much has never been disclosed. On the DVD I have, there's studio footage of recording the "Untitled" track, with D'Arcy or Melissa* nowhere to be seen, and Billy sounding like a bassist, not just a guitarist playing bass (IMHO). * [url="http://www.aufdermaur.com/"]Auf Der Maur[/url], that is. I've heard bits of her upcoming [url="http://xmadmx.com/ooom.html"][i]Out Of Our Minds[/i][/url] project, and I can't hardly wait.

When I started learning the bass in the mid 80s, 70s Fenders were not considered collectable at all. Everyone wanted Pre-CBS instruments, from the time before Leo Fender sold the company in 1965. It was something of a cult, and still is - try search eBay USA for "pre-CBS Fender". $59,999 for a '61 Jazz... $200 for a single tuning peg? Now, does anyone have a pre-Gibson Steinberger to sell me... or a pre-Fender SWR amp?

Ben from Crimson Guitars is a BassChat member ("Crimson Guitars"), though he hasn't posted in a while. He's also the guy behind the [url="http://www.crimsonguitars.com/page103.html"]05Ric[/url] 7-string with the Klein-inspired body. Mmmm...

I had one of those original Zoom 9002 boxes, that fit on the strap. It came with a little wired remote control that you could stick to the front of the guitar, to select between 4 presets. It sounded awful with bass, though, and not much better with guitar.

Have you thought about using phantom power? Doesn't have to be an XLR, can work over 1/4" stereo socket too, with the right cable. There are various options - 48V from a mixer channel, or lower voltages from dedicated PSUs e.g. [url="http://www.mtraudio.com/mtrcatalogue.htm"]MTR[/url] do one that can supply 9-24V.

I actually like the sound I get when my nails are too long, but it's inconsistent, hard to control the effect, so I couldn't use it seriously.

I still think the Thumb shape is lovely, though I wouldn't get one myself: it looks better on someone like Jack Bruce, who is at least a foot shorter than me.

Here's one that raised my hackles: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FENDER-62-FRETLESS-BASS-LIKE-JACO-BASS-NO-RESERVE-0-01_W0QQitemZ310011369196QQihZ021QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]link[/url]. Note the item location, yet the listing says "will not post to Asia".

That was in 2003. I know that SWR's former vice-president Bryan Beller is using new SWR gear, including when he toured with Steve Vai this year, so I suppose that's a vote of confidence. The Wikipedia page on SWR is awful - biased, includes whole chunks of what Beller wrote for his own website, and makes some allegations about the former owner. I might have a go at rewriting it.

There's a Berklee-affiliated school in the Dublin area, the [url="http://www.newparkmusic.com/"]Newpark Music Centre[/url] in Blackrock. I haven't been there myself, but I thought I should mention it in case the Berklee connections are helpful - it's one of 15 [url="http://www.berklee.edu/international/berkleeintlnetwork.html"]Berklee International Network[/url] schools worldwide that uses their teaching materials.

Weird. That headstock points at Peavey, but I don't recognise that 60s-type body as one of theirs.

Could be worse: anyone for a 1956 Stratocaster? Just $150,000.... [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/1956-FENDER-STRATOCASTER-BLONDE-100-ORIGINAL-RARE_W0QQitemZ150196199331QQihZ005QQcategoryZ47069QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]link[/url]. edit: it gets worse: someone wants $225,000 for a [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/1976-Gibson-LE-Explorer-Electric-Guitar_W0QQitemZ150196091322QQihZ005QQcategoryZ33040QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]1976 Gibson Explorer[/url]. Um, well, OK...

Nathan East on [i]Easy Lover[/i] (Phil Collins & Phillip Bailey). (Also a slightly-gullty pleasure, though it has been a while since I heard it.) Tony Butler on [i]Flame Of The West[/i] (Big Country) - this is where I noticed his Chris Squire influence, just a tad... Danny Thompson on [i]Happiness Is Easy[/i] (Talk Talk) - loved this long before I knew it was a double bass, or that he was switching between [i]pizzicato[/i] and [i]arco[/i]. Tony Levin on [i]Brother Of Mine[/i] (Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe) - some of his best Stick work that suits the song perfectly.

Epiphone Ripper? They'll be bringing back the [url="http://www.gibsonbass.com/GibsonVictoryBass.php"]Victory[/url] bass next - if so, I might go for that one. I nearly bought an original Victory Artist in London (Andy's) last year, but came to my sense in time. (Good, but not worth what they wanted for it.)

Well, the usual advice in pub discussions is "no religion or politics", so I suppose we need to extend the definition of "religion" to include Jazz, and "politics" to include Jamiroquai... I have no idea which category ERBs fall in to. Except for the Jazz thread, where I thought I asked some reasonable on-topic questions, I usually can't do much more than try to inject a little levity. This has the unfortunate side-effect of making me look a little clueless and wishy-washy, but that's a risk I'm willing to take.

I wonder what proportion of their sales are in Europe, the UK in particular? The way the dollar exchange rate has collapsed, I suspect they figure they don't look so bad. Personally, they're too fashionable for me now.