chris_b

My guess is that the neck and the pickguard have been replaced on a regular Dan Armstrong bass.

As far as I know the only Acrylic basses that went into production were made by Dan Armstrong. The rest are probably one-offs. I've seen several acrylic P basses, John Entwistle had one and I saw one being used in Goldfrapp. This could have been made to match the Ludwig Vistalite drum kit and fit the futuristic robotic look. Nathan East said he used his regular Yamaha on the record.

Our guitarist/singer makes most of the suggestions (it's his band), but we all have input and a say when analysing the audience reaction. In our cover band it doesn't matter who suggests the numbers, it's whether they work well on an audience that keeps them in the set or gets them dumped. A band has to have a clear objective and to be any good you have to be looking further than your personal likes and dislikes. Punter reaction is the only criteria.

Option A. Get the best playing, best sounding bass you can afford. It doesn't matter how good you think you are, you'll play and sound a lot better with a good bass. You have plenty of time to own lots of basses. Your opinions for your collection might change after you've started with the best.

Good choice.

[quote name='chrisanthony1211' timestamp='1420103567' post='2645504'] Personally I much prefer the simplicity of a passive bass, put an active bass in my hands and I'm forever twiddling with knobs and never happy, [/quote] I'd say you've played the wrong active basses. I don't believe that you'll get a better sound out of an active bass the more you tweak the controls. IMO, the sound is not in the electrics, it's in the instrument and you should only plug a bass in after you've played it acoustically. If it sounds good unplugged then you'll easily "get your sound" by making minimal EQ adjustments. I hardly ever tweak my basses during a gig, and probably won't do much during the sound check either.

I haven't watched it all yet, but from what I've seen so far, Paloma Faith trying to be Tina Turner didn't work for me. I can't stand the "interviews" but the JH band makes a great noise, IMO. Even if you don't like what they're playing, musicians playing live is the greatest thing.

I've just read this thread. . . . and I can't believe what I've just seen. Hang your heads in shame.

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1419978576' post='2644629'] Remember it's not only them auditioning you, you are also auditioning them [/quote] +1 Just remember, they are auditioning for you. Your objective is to play the numbers as well as the originals and certainly better than their last guy. You're not being creative just the best guy they'll ever hear playing those numbers. Anything else comes later. Other than that, know your stuff, inside out and have fun.

As far as I know Alembic were the first to put active electrics in a bass. That was probably in the early 70's, to raise the sound bar for the Grateful Dead's live shows. Active bass would have given the bass a much wider and varied range of tones. That would have been a very interesting development back then, and for many players today. Active basses would have had more options because you could add tone rather than just taking it away. Gear is better designed these days so many of the reasons for active have moved on. I believe that most active basses have passive pickups and a pre amp, which is why they can run passive at the flick of a switch if the battery gives out. There's no point in speculating that one is better than the other. My passive Precision and active Lakland compliment each other and each can do better job in the right situation.

Some of you guys should learn that you forget to remember when enough was enough. I bought a bass, an amp and a cab. They all sound good but I really didn't [i]need[/i] any of them. There you go!! I forgot. . . etc . . . .and I'm still looking for that Bergantino CN112.

I don't understand. How can you be playing too loud?

If people still wish to imply that TC amps only put out 200 watts, I'll continue to relate my experience of them, that they are easily the equivalent of 500 and 750 watt amps. The yawn is because the continued misinformation from a few people is getting very boring.

What are you listening to? I'm assuming your listening to old recordings? If so you're probably not actually listening to a valve amp, but either a bass being DI'ed or a valve amp going through extensive EQing in a studio. You've got a good combo, so I'd look at putting a preamp pedal in front of it. The Aguilar Tonehammer pedal might do the trick.

How loud are you playing your 215? What amp and volume are you using? While MASSIVE isn't a technical term I can say that my 212 with a 500 watt amp sounds like that in all of the bands I play in. These days there are a few 212's out there pushing as much air as your 215's, so the size of the speakers is not something to get hung up about. On the other hand, a 212 [i]will[/i] sound different, so you'd better get out and start listening to 212's and decide if that is your sound or not. That's not over thinking, it's just being careful.

Hard facts? Several TC amps generate their volume from 236 watt power modules but, due to how they process the signal, their final "watts" rating is easily an equivalent to other amps in that class. Yawn. Whether you like the tone or not is the issue with TC amps [i]not[/i] their volume. Back to Barefaced cabs, Small cabs are usually part of a modular set up which is where they shine. I don't care about extra trips to the car as long as each trip is a sensible weight for my back. None of my Bergantino 112 cabs have sounded as good on their own as they do in a pair, or even 3. If the Retro and Compact sound that good together I'd happily use them in that combination.

Type Motown into YouTube and start working through the list.

Those big 210's sound pretty good. I know several bassists who use 2 of them. IMO, the Traveller cabs are too small to get the tone I prefer.

That was Pete Thomas from the Attractions, sitting in for JB's drummer. As soon as the "talent" gets a deal the band is usually fired and a bunch of kids hired who will look "prettier" and be happy with a much smaller pay packet.

I had 2 side projects and 1 main band fold up this year. That leaves me with only 1 main band and 1 side project. I need to get networking ASAP.

+1 These days I never suggest songs I really like. Someone in the band will invariably underachieve. I'd rather have less emotional connection to the numbers then I don't mind so much what the others do to them. Last example was me suggesting Long Distance Love by Little Feat. The guitarist and me got it right but the singer made such a mess of the phrasing that I just wanted to kill her. Never again.

After the first rehearsal you can point out which songs are strong and which are weak. The weak ones will need a lot of (too much) work and even then they probably won't be strong enough. So they'll not be making the cut. People who insist on playing their favourite songs are a liability. You have to play the best songs for the band. You play your favourite CD's when you get home.

Duck Dunn played lots of P basses, different ones through out the years, then he switched to Lakland basses. He also used many types of amps and cabs. Most of the music of the era and place that you're playing was recorded on P basses but many of the guys that went on the road to promote the songs were playing Jazz basses. IMO all you need out of your ACG is a fat warm bass tone. The rest is down to you and how you play the numbers.

There's Charlie Chandler's Guitar Experience in Hampton Wick. One of the very best.

I don't pick the numbers for our cover band. Some of the suggestions from the guy who does have made my jaw hit the floor! To be honest, I've had to eat my words on almost every occasion. The audience reaction to our numbers is usually enthusiastic. Soft Cell, Adele, Andrew Gold. . . . now I'm playing some of these I've discovered they are good, well crafted songs.