BottomEndian

I've seen them before, but only used as window-dressing props in (of all places) Next in the MetroCentre. Didn't inspect too closely, but they looked like functional guitar-shaped objects. Not to be confused with the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Starcaster"]Fender Starcaster[/url].

[quote name='silddx' post='1018941' date='Nov 10 2010, 04:18 PM']What about the Hungarian minor?[/quote] It's a harmonic minor with a sharp fourth, is it not?

[quote name='Doddy' post='1018887' date='Nov 10 2010, 03:36 PM']Here's my board taken at a recent gig. [attachment=63581:IMG_0083.JPG][/quote] Please tell me you use the Octabass and OC-2 at the same time.

[quote name='Conan' post='1018564' date='Nov 10 2010, 11:08 AM']Tasty! Do you have an allergy to frets or something Owain? [/quote] You know what? I hadn't even noticed that they're all fretless*. What can I say? I'm a sucker for mwaah. * In their most well-known roles, anyway.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1018532' date='Nov 10 2010, 10:53 AM']It's exactly the same position as the G&L L1000.[/quote] Ah, I'm with you now. My G&L familiarity is pretty limited, what with them being relatively thinly distributed in the UK.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1018528' date='Nov 10 2010, 10:52 AM']Sound guy: It was a tallish chap, fairly long dark hair, and all round helpful nice guy. Sound was fantastic.[/quote] Not Magee then! Unless he's grown a foot and got hair extensions...

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1018520' date='Nov 10 2010, 10:44 AM']I'm guessing my mate Andy was on the desk, too? He's a genius.[/quote] Magee? Genius indeed. I was at Newcastle College with him, and he could have taught most of the industry-grizzled lecturers a thing or two. (Our own cd_david excepted, of course. )

I like the P-MM-P, partially because I want to know how the MM would sound in that position. Potential for boom and whump there, maybe?

Danny Thompson Pino Palladino John Giblin

Traben Bootsy Star Bass: 5 pickups, 3 Aguilar OBP-3 preamps.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1018371' date='Nov 10 2010, 08:55 AM']Not so much Three-Tone Sunburst as Tequila Sunrise ... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-70s-Columbus-Jazz-Bass-Fretless-project-/260690507839?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cb25d783f"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-70s-Columbus...=item3cb25d783f[/url][/quote] I like the way there seems to be a sunburst poking through where the popping fingers have worn through the respray.

[quote name='Conan' post='1017540' date='Nov 9 2010, 02:00 PM']Being quite tall and having big hands...[/quote] You are indeed a giant compared to me.

[quote name='Conan' post='1017362' date='Nov 9 2010, 11:48 AM']You play the B string high up the neck?! I don't understand... Unless you're talking about a fiver strung EADGC??[/quote] I prefer to play higher up. In fact, I tend to avoid playing below 4th position (or thereabouts). It's just more comfortable up there, and my little hands can stick to one-finger-per-fret without too much fannying about.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1014701' date='Nov 6 2010, 07:56 PM']of course without playing with the filters it all sounds pretty similar[/quote] Indeed, I think the real characters of the different modes (and the mag/piezo pickups) come through when the filters are tweaked. Again, if I get the chance...

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='1014527' date='Nov 6 2010, 05:30 PM']I'll try to do a version with just the bass soloed (no backing track) so you can really hear the differences.[/quote] And as if by magic... Some of that is frankly painful for me to listen to. I could make all sorts of excuses... but I won't. The mistakes are there. It's about the tone. The single-coil has a distinct upper-end honk that the humbucker doesn't have, and the triple-coil combines the two pretty well.

[quote name='ikay' post='1014243' date='Nov 6 2010, 01:31 PM']Lovely growly sound! The difference in tone between the settings isn't as pronounced as I'd expected, maybe that's because the filters were both wide open. Also the triple coil didn't seem noticeably quieter to me, did you even out the levels when you stitched it together?[/quote] Ah, yes, I did indeed roughly even the levels out (bit of slapdash normalisation). If I get the chance, I'll do a demo of switching between the coils without changing anything else. As for the seeming lack of differences in tone... I think that's largely down to the way the bass sits in the mix, especially with such a busy Latin mix. Frankly, in that kind of musical situation, you'd be hard-pressed to distinguish between a Precision and a double bass. I'll try to do a version with just the bass soloed (no backing track) so you can really hear the differences.

[quote name='DreadAlert' post='1014079' date='Nov 6 2010, 10:57 AM']Been playing bass for a while now, would like to add another bass to my collection. I have a Squier Vintage Modified Jazz at the moment.[/quote] Assuming that's you in your avatar... are you a lefty, or is it just a reversed webcam image? Lefty = spanner in the works.

Right, OK. Finally sat down and made a bit of a tone demo with the Recurve: Some shoddy playing in there, but you get the general gist. 5 different pickup settings, and if you [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG3C81HWdRU"]click through to the video on YouTube[/url], you can read some info about the recording and preamp settings.

Got my Latin groove on for a bit of a tone demo: Some shoddy playing in there, but you get the general gist. 5 different pickup settings, and if you [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG3C81HWdRU"]click through to the video on YouTube[/url], you can read some info about the recording and preamp settings.

[quote name='ikay' post='1013622' date='Nov 5 2010, 06:50 PM']I'm liking the sound of 33" scale and maybe chambered and single cut[/quote] Ta-daaaa! Everybody needs one of these. Only I have one. Mwahahahahahaaaa!

[quote name='ikay' post='1012923' date='Nov 5 2010, 08:14 AM']Thanks BottomEndian that's all very helpful. I'm (pleasantly) surprised that TI's work with the shorter scale. A bit curious about the triple coil - and so much else! Do you have any recordings or sound clips of yours that you can point me to?[/quote] Not any pleasant recordings yet, I'm afraid. Just some tone test comparisons between the Skelf and the Recurve, and only with the piezo. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=61632&view=findpost&p=973819"]Take a look here[/url]. Contrary to what I've said above, the B on the Recurve sounds pretty flabby and rattly, but those clips were done before I tweaked the setup to suit my heavy-handed style. There's also a piezo-only fretless ACG clip on Youtube, which sounds very familiar to me, tonewise: Some day soon, I'll sort out some clips with a pleasant sound and the magnetic pickup. Some day.

[quote name='ikay' post='1012641' date='Nov 4 2010, 10:01 PM']It's 0067 (http://www.acguitars.co.uk/Gallery/237/), this one's actually a 34" although I'd be interested to know how well a low B works with 33". Alan mentioned that you had the same/similar spec. I'd very much appreciate any views you can offer on the RFS and piezo setup and this configuration in general.[/quote] Oh lord, that one's just lovely. If I didn't have one that was virtually identical... On both of my 33" ACGs, the low B works perfectly. Alan's worked some sort of voodoo magic into the necks (I think it's actually just that they're [i]incredibly[/i] stiff) that means it feels pretty similar to a 34" B-string. I've got TI flats on both of mine, which are pretty low-tension, high-flexibility strings, and they don't feel at all flabby. And the sound of the B-string is well integrated into the rest; it's not like some 5ers where you hit the B and it sounds completely different. It's part of the instrument. (If you're really interested in the 33" thing, try dropping Eude a PM and see if he's going to the SE bash now he's a Londoner. He's got 33"-scale basses, ACG and Shuker, although they're both fretted and I think neither has the piezo.) The RFS is a monster pickup, with the meaty humbucker sound (reminiscent of a StingRay) and funky single-coil in one unit. The only downside is that there's a volume drop when you switch to triple-coil mode (unless Alan's worked out a solution to that problem). It's another great sound (kind of like the humbucker but with extra bite) when you whack up the volume on your amp to compensate, but it's a fair bit quieter than the others. Just a minor quibble. The piezo, though... that's where the joy is. Suits fretless really, [i]really[/i] well, and it ties in with the filter preamp to bring out the mwaah really nicely. The filter's a very "musical" system, and although it's not intuitive when you've been used to 3-band (or whatever) for years, it doesn't take long to get your head round it and there are loads of great sounds in there. Hope that helps in some way.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1012690' date='Nov 4 2010, 10:41 PM']Hmm. His G sounds well out of tune once he gets up into visible fret area. Not a good advert for a Novak-boarded bass.[/quote] Having listened to it again (on headphones this time), I've realised that what he's actually done is left Oscar Stagnaro's playing in the mix (rather than just using the accompaniment from the left channel). So we're hearing two basses at once. It's most obvious towards the end when he deviates from what's written. You can clearly hear two separate basslines. No idea who's got the dodgy intonation though. IIRC, Oscar Stagnaro uses a Warwick, so if you've ever wondered what it'd sound like to have two bassists in the same band, one with a Dingwall and one with a Streamer... there's your answer. Thought it sounded pretty nice, myself.

Ooooh, which one is it? I can't remember there being any recent stock builds with 33" scale. (FWIW, I'd say just go for it, but then again I've got two 33"-scale flat-boarded ACGs with filter preamps. )

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1012062' date='Nov 4 2010, 02:03 PM']Here is a young Peruvian chap that has a very nice ABZ 5 and plays some wicked latin music on it. [/quote] GAAAAAH! That track has invaded my mind recently, and there it is again. I've been working through the Latin Bass Book, and that's one that just gets stuck in my head for days after playing it. The Dingwall sounds nice though!