Boodang

Perusing Bass Direct's second hand page to see if anything interesting had popped up and there, tucked away in the 4 string section, is a Fender Precision for 14.5K. Now, apart from the ludicrous price (or is it, as it's a piece of history?), does this mean the price and rarity signifies the death nail for it being heard at a gig? To be confined to the studio at best or a museum piece at worse? If I had the money I play the sh*t out of it live, after all it's not exactly a delicate instrument like a violin. Let's hope it doesn't end up pinned to wall in a hard rock cafe somewhere?! But another thought occured, I can't afford a 60's bass but I can afford to get custom pickups made. Now given that a big part of the tone of an electric bass comes from the pickup (I know, tone wood, tone wood, tone woods!), can you you get a fair part of the way with a custom wound pup for a couple of hundred quid? I did a similar thing with my Squier Jazz but don't have the genuine article to do a direct A/B comparison... sounds good though.

Was thinking recently that in this day and age it might be worth having a calibrated sound level meter so as a band you have an independent means of proving db levels during a gig. This incident shows that time might have arrived.

I'm sure these two pedals are familiar to bass players but they've become favourites on my pedalboard so thought I'd give them a quick review. I was watching the Andertons youtube video where they played the latest Aguilar pedals and these two caught my ear. The octamizer I thought, gave a very organic thickening of the tone and that does indeed seem to be the case. It's analogue and I know some people have said it's not the best at tracking but... I quite like that. If you play too fast or play double stops, it doesn't throw up anomalies, it just doesn't follow you and that's ok. It means you don't just have a double playing everything one octave below with ever nuance of your playing and to me that feels quite organic and pleasing to the ear. With the octamizer you can also control the filter sound from smooth, for a nice thickening of your tone, to edgy, which almost has a slight overdrive feel to it. Separate octave and clean levels is a welcome touch that makes the sound very controllable, and the tilt eq has a nice pivot point, good for taking the edge off if it gets too bright. The grape phaser is funky! As an alternative to an envelope filter I love it. The thing that does it for me is the color control which feeds back some if the original signal into the phase circuit and makes it quite funky. The pedals work well on their own but my fav sound is both together... a sort of hefty funk tone. Only oddities of note; I got an old style case with the octamizer which because of the overhang on the 'lip' won't allow right angle leads to fit (get the newer design if you're buying s/h), and when you power these pedals from a 9v psu, use an isolated supply. Initially I used a Spot One to power both but as it wasn't isolated to each pedal they were noisy, as soon as I used my Palmer isolated supply they were quiet as could be. I've added some clips, the last two I've put the octamizer through the Fwonkbeta which is quite fun. The edgy tone makes it a little bit more synthy sounding. Clip1; octamiser (smooth filter) + grape phaser Clip2; grape phaser only Clip3; octamizer (smooth filter) only Clip4, octamizer (edgy filter) only Clip5; octamizer (edgy filter) + grape phaser Clip6; octamizer (smooth filter) + Fwonkbeta Clip7; octamizer (edgy filter) + Fwonkbeta 235_Aguilar grape + oct smooth.mp3 233_Aguilar Grape.mp3 239_Aguilar oct smooth.mp3 241_Aguilar oct edgy.mp3 237_Aguilar grape + oct edgy.mp3 243_Aguilar oct smooth fwonk.mp3 245_Aguilar oct edgy fwonk.mp3

I got carried away!!

If I'm using backline I place it inline with the drummer facing the audience but only because I'm using the combo for monitoring. That way i can separate the two things, tone that i want the audience to hear and the tone i want for monitoring.

....also, any old combo will do, I just happen to have an SWR lying around. It doesn't have to be great as really you're just wanting to push mid range out to cut thru. I've got a cheap old cr*ppy Peavey TNT that does a great job at this, it's just a bit heavier than the SWR to lug around.

So, in addition to whatever I'm using for the audience I face the combo across the stage. For the small trio I only use a backline amp to push out to the room but sit the combo on top and face it in. With the bigger covers band we go through a PA, I don't use a backline except the combo which again I face across the stage and don't put bass through the fold back as it gets messy.

For monitoring purposes I use a small combo (an SWR 2 x 8 baby blue) and face it across stage. Works well as a local monitor without having to use the fold back.

My latest funk pedal and it's a keeper. I also bought the SGFX Supa Funk and Seamoon Funk Machine (also reviewed here) with the idea of seeing which of the three I like best but they're all so good at what they do I'm going to keep the lot and my pedalboard real estate is suffering as a result! First off, this thing has balls!! This really is thick and juicy. After playing through this the Supa Funk sounds thin but then going back to the Fwonkbeta you feel like it's missing top end (I'm never satisfied!). But they both do something different; the Supa Funk filter emphasises the vowel like elements whereas the Fwonkbeta emphasises the low end and has massive depth. And you have enough flexibility with their frequency controls to find a spot in the mix to make them stand out. I have a EHX parallel mixer and like to see how pedals work in this setup. Both the Fwonkbeta and Supa Funk do not have a blend control and you can hear why. Mixing in parallel some of the original signal diminishes their sound and they seem to work best as full on processors. In contrast the Funk Machine has a blend control and seems to work best with some original signal blended in. The three controls are sensitivity (stroke), depth (fwonk) and frequency (juice). There's no choice of filter direction so this is a dedicated pedal in that respect, as Mr Black says; 'the FwonkBeta works by opening filter sweep (increasing frequency response) as envelope peaks; I guess you’d call that “up?”'. What I found with this pedal is that if you have a lot of staccato or ghost notes the filter doesn't have enough time to fully open so the sounds become very percussive and as you don't have a blend control that's what you'll get. With full notes you'll get the full on fwonk. The percussive sound can be good so not necessarily a bad thing but if you want more nuanced envelope sounds then the Supa Funk is the way to go. As for the frequency control, well this thing goes sub-sonic bowel moving if you want. You have to turn the control to about 10 o'clock to get into normal frequencies but once you get over to full CW the filter has a top end 'pop' and gets close to the Seamoon in that respect. For me about halfway is that really juicy sound. The Seamoon has a setting with the depth off (full ccw) where it acts as an eq filter and has a nice bass boost effect. Both the Fwonkbeta and Supa Funk can't do this and at the least depth settings still have an envelope effect. Not an issue but just something to be aware of. Like the Seamoon, this is more a specialist pedal as it does one thing really really well. The Supa Funk is the more nuanced of the three (and the only one where you can select sweep direction) but can't go as extreme. The only thing I'd like to see on this pedal is an internal trim pot so you can set the gain, and thus sensitivity, to match your bass output. The Seamoon has this and it's a great feature. Overall though, this is a great sounding envelope pedal and massive fun to play in the right context. Maybe not in a death metal band but I would love someone to prove me wrong!

Just had another thought! Bit left field this one but could be fun; I've got a NS Design CR upright which I play on a stand. The arm movement is obviously more vertical than horizontal. They also do a Omni model which is 34" scale. It's available fretted or fretless, the strap makes it playable in an upright position but there's also a stand. Not cheap, but if it's anything like the CR it's also great fun to play.

Have you tried a 30" short scale? The Guild Starfire looks good... sound great too. Tempted myself.

The main difference I've found in price is how much abuse the cables are able to withstand. I've got a very pretty fender heritage cable, not expensive, great for home use as it's not stiff and bulky but wouldn't last 5 mins on the road. Cables for stage use I get from Designacable, middle price range and built to last.

A couple of clips from my newly acquired Fwonkbeta. The full review includes some comparisons with the Supa Funk and Funk Machine (these two I posted a review of earlier) which I also bought recently. Initial impressions of the purple funk generator... it's got balls I'll give it that! Clip 1; frequency at 1 o'clock, depth at 2 o'clock, sensitivity at 3 o'clock. Clip 2; frequency at 4 o'clock, depth at 3 o'clock, sensitivity at 2 o'clock. Clip 3; by way of comparison, the classic funk setting on the Solid Gold FX supa funk. 221_Fwonkbeta purple funk generator .mp3 223_Fwonkbeta purple funk 2.mp3 50_SGFX classic funk.mp3

PS when I got my Sei made, Martin reckoned he could charge way more for his basses but he didn't want to do that as it would making what he thought would be an unreasonable profit and thus ripping people off. In other words charging what he thought it was worth not what he could get away... ie. an honourable guy.

Well, an example of this concept is patents and drug industry.. they rip the *rse out it while they can and then when the patent has ended people start making it for a reasonable profit and the price comes down dramatically. There's no deception involved (admittedly there's an element of recouping development costs) but the emphasis is on reasonable when it comes to profit. If it's not reasonable then there's an element of taking the p*ss.

When I had my first Sei bass made I had many a conversation with Martin (owner/builder and someone who doesn't over charge) about charging what something is worth and charging what you can get away with. Alembic feels like the later. And whilst some people say 'well that's what people will pay', for me there is an element of ripping people off about the later just because they have a unique product.

I think how we are shopping wrong is by going into a shop, play everything, ask advice, then walk out and buy it on the internet because it's 5 quid cheaper. We had a great drum shop locally which folded for exactly this reason.

Who remembers the Bass Centre in Wapping? Crammed full of just bass stuff. Bought quite a few basses from them. At least we have Bass Direct which seems to have taken on where Bass Centre left off.

Brilliant! Was just thinking the other day how most descriptions are quite boring. At least this gets your attention in more ways than one. Clown vomit... could be a good name for a band!

Bass Direct have quite a few basses!

Don't get me started on the price of Foderas!! As far as Wal's are concerned, and I don't know why it irkes me so much(!), I just can't see why they are prohibitively expensive. Bolt on neck, solid body, excellent hardware and quality materials but really, 4.5k starting price new.. where's the money being spent?!! I had a Sei bass made to spec, ebony & wenge, ABM hardware, thru neck, compound radius neck profile, umpteen coats of lacquer, leds for side dots... 2k (including a full flight case) and the craftsmanship is second to none. Where is the extra 2.5k going on the Wal? The easier bolt on neck construction?! It shouldn't bother me, if people want to pay then fair enough, but I just think it's taking the p*ss slightly. As for the price of classic Fenders.. well again, if you want to pay, fair enough but it might be an investment rather than good value for money.

By comparison, the upright I currently covet, and madly thinking of saving up for, is the Nick Lloyd Double Bass as used by Ben Ezra. At 45k it is considered a bargain in the upright world. By contrast the electric bass I'm currently considering is a Vigier passion, which at 3k is considered top endish in the bass guitar world.

I agree, it's just we're lucky in the solid body world where the difference between cheap and expensive is very compressed compared to the acoustic world.

When it comes to orchestral instruments we're now looking at the difference between an acoustic instrument and a solid body. I play upright bass, there's a site which sells 'affordable' vintage DBs, they start at 40k! Acoustic instruments are a completely different kettle of fish to solid body. Look into the process of making an orchestral instrument in the violin family and you can see where the money goes, look into the process of cutting up some solid wood and bolting it together and it's difficult to see why it's expensive.