ezbass

Nigh on 2 hours of sublime funk

Along with Alright Now. Actually decent songs, but ruined by excessive radio play, film/advert use and butchered by bad pub bands. Oh, and anything by The Doors.

4 Sorry, I’ll get my coat.

Link to the Sire story here https://www.sire-usa.com/sire-story/ According to Wiki (so read into that what you will) Cort produce guitars for Ibanez. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cort_Guitars

Didn’t he just. Great advert for them, or at least those pickups. Mind you that Aguilar rig isn’t too shabby either. A helluva lot of money tied up in that bass and rig - kerching!

I’ve always preferred fretless, but I still play fretted too and have 2 of each. One of the things I think is worthwhile when first getting into fretless is play all the tunes that you’d normally play on a bass fitted with speed bumps ( ) on your new, smooth best friend. This will teach you how to limit slides and mwah, except where it sounds appropriate, rather than just learning/writing tunes that have these sounds front and centre. +1 for Mick Karn, a great player with quite a unique voice, accentuated by his choice instruments (Kramer and Wal) which are also distinctive. Check out other fretless players too: Pino (naturally); Tony Levin; Larry Klein; Gary Willis; Boz Burrell and there’s another bloke with long hair who played a defretted Jazz . They may not all be for you, but each offer a different approach (other fretless players are available).

I was watching something on the Now TV box last night and then turned back to my normal service without remembering what channel I’d left it on previously. It was a music program with a band laying down some awesome funk. And what a mix, everything just right, with the bass nicely audible. This can’t be the BBC I thought to myself, wrong. Later is back and the band were Tower of Power. David Garibaldi back on drums with Marc Van Wageningen on bass (no Rocco but Marc is just as brilliant ). I’m now looking forward to the extended show on Sunday. Other acts included Snow Patrol & Plan B, TBH I just fast forwarded but the mix was still very good - about time.

Up to recently I would have said yes, but I have been playing my fretted Elwood L and Ric 4003S a fair bit recently. However, on the whole, I prefer fretless and wouldn’t be without one (I have a fretless Elwood L4 and a Rob Allen MB2 5). Given your love of your Ibby, why not look into a Portmento or a Gary Willis and save a few £s?

I've recently been embracing the pick more, after seeing Bobby Vega at the LBGS. Currently using Dunlop Tortex .73mm, which is strange as I've always favoured thicker picks (1.5mm +) when playing guitar.

Rebate the bridge and raise the saddles?

Just back from seeing Bill Bailey at the Hammersmith. His rendition of ‘You Are My Sunshine’ in a minor key, in German was something to behold. Very talented bloke.

That is stunning.

I use a PJ Flightcase and a PB300 and it works fine for me in medium sized pub and club gigs. Tone-wise, I find PJB gear to be very clean and clear and accurately reproduces what you put into it (it certainly showed up some poor technique when I first bought the PB300 - now addressed). I'm currently playing with my Tech21 VTDI pre-amp on all the time to add a little grit and SVT type tone (which I have received some very nice compliments about). I have also previously used the PB300 with a PJ Cub and Bass Buddy which worked OK, but I find adding the extra speakers make a significant difference (I now have 10 x 5", with 2 of the speakers upwards firing from the Flightcase) in the way it 'feels' onstage. In terms of output, I run the PB300 at 12 o'clock with the Flightcase at about 1, any more than this would be too much for my different bands (they aren't loud, but neither are they quiet). Hope this helps. EDIT: Previous to this I was running a Mark Bass LMll into a Schroeder 2x12.

I used to use an AKG D5 for backing vocals and it was OK for that. I was then asked to do lead with a band and the sound guy said that D5 wasn't doing me any favours tone-wise (I'm pretty much a baritone with, to my ears, a distinct low end). I tried an SM58, but this gave much the same results as the D5, then I tried an SM58 beta and this was much more suited to my voice: cleaner; less wooly; more mids. I have been using this ever since.

I think you might find a Triumph link here.

I call 'rug' on a lot of those resplendent, ungreyed coiffures, but perhaps I'm just jealous (no perhaps about it ).

Good documentary but I was getting poor sound reception (cutting out/spitting) which the spoit the first half hour . A good introduction to JB’s work for those who don’t know much about him. I used to live around the corner from where he grew up in Wallington (they even showed a picture of the house on the show).

I’ve never played one, but The Gallery have one at the moment https://thebassgallery.com/collections/bass/products/wilkes-bass-custom-fretless

Looks great in the photos and as it plays well, it’s a job well done. The idea of routing out some cavities sounds like a plan (some nicely stained covers should look fine), but how much weight will you actually be able lose and will it affect the balance?

I love Abe Jr, the power he creates is amazing. I can't watch this clip (0:30 onwards) and help thinking that the kit winces overtime he plays (especially at 1:15+).

Looks like an ESP Viper.

It was the best £170 I’ve spent on accessories when I bought my custom fit Elacins, donkey’s years ago. Never gig without them.

I’d be interested to hear how the beast interacts with various cabs; keep us informed.

What cabs are you going to be pairing with this?