EssentialTension

[quote name='umph' timestamp='1363903672' post='2019400'] are you trolling? It's harder to follow because it's a mess! not saying the selmers are bad but they don't stand the test of time like the hiwatts [/quote] Of course I'm not trolling. Don't be ridiculous.

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1363833909' post='2018421'] This is simply human nature. You can deny it all you want. [/quote] I do deny it. [quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1363833909' post='2018421'] I learned long ago to stop trying to convince people to change their way of thinking. [/quote] It's hard to tell that you stopped.

Here's the sunburst fretboard:

[quote name='Baxter' timestamp='1363815325' post='2018217'] ... WEM ... [/quote] I played in a band many many years ago and had Hiwatt amp and 2x15 while the guitarist was using a WEM valve PA amp with a 4x12, I dont recall the make.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1363809500' post='2018070'] More money potential, probably more personal fulfilment potential (but I'm wondering about that now after this thread ) and honing compositional skills. It would be a very marvellous experiment. [/quote] But I don't do it for money, I am not unfulfilled, my composing is mostly the composition of basslines (whoever wrote the song), it already is an experiment. The thing is that I don't really get the importance or even the reality of this distinction between so-called 'covers' and so-called 'originals'.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1363809269' post='2018062'] Sounds like you should work towards being originals then mate. [/quote] Why?

I realise Hiwatt were premium stuff but the Hiwatt wiring looks easier to do while the Selmer is impossible to follow.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1363777903' post='2017335'] Another thing I find hard to understand is covers bands who chuck in a few originals into the set. What does that achieve? [/quote] Nige, we never 'chuck a few originals into the set' (but neither would I think of us as a 'covers band' or, even less so, as an 'originals band') but some of our songs were written by band members while other songs were written by other people, sometimes rather obscure other people. When we perform songs written by others they are rearranged and may have quite different instrumentation from other performances of those songs. Whatever we play, we sound like us playing it. Audiences usually like us and thay don't discriminate songs by songwriters. Which part is hard to understand?

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1363782503' post='2017457'] Hiwatt wiring was absolute top standard. Design and layout were of high standard also (earthing scheme was a bit questionable but doesn't cause issue if used as designed) Selmer are bit more geared to being churned out by less skilled labour: [/quote] The Selmer looks like it requires more skill than the Hiwatt.

[quote name='Earbrass' timestamp='1363806112' post='2018011'] For me, the interesting question in the covers v. originals debate is why there is this sharp divide in the world of rock/pop while it seems to be more or less irrelevant in other genres. Go to a jazz or folk gig, for example, and whether it's a top performer or a band in your local pub/club, you are very likely to see them perform a mix of originals and tunes written by others. [/quote] Much of the history of musical performance, popular and otherwise, over many centuries would be the playing of already well-known songs.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1363731987' post='2016866'] If the alder bass was 'obvious' then how come most people could not tell? [/quote] [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1363732300' post='2016872'] Because 1) they're Americans, and 2) most people probably didn't listen to the clips on full-range studio monitors. [/quote] So not 'obvious' then. [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1363732300' post='2016872'] Listen to them! The Alder bass is rounder and fuller, no doubt about it. [/quote] I have listened to them and I can't tell the difference. They all sound fine.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1363779854' post='2017390'] I do covers and originals. I couldn't give a stuff who wrote the tunes. They're either good or they're not. [/quote] This is it. I like playing music and I like a good song - I don't care who wrote it. So-called covers bands can be good or bad and so-called originals bands can be good or very often worse than bad - and usually not very original either.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1363731777' post='2016863'] Having maintained for years that wood makes no difference, I took this test and got it right. The Alder bass was obvious! So I'm not quite sure where this leaves me, now... [/quote] If the alder bass was 'obvious' then how come most people could not tell?

[quote name='slave' timestamp='1363730881' post='2016853'] ... I love P-basses (who doesn't) ... [/quote] Strangely, quite a few people don't, you've clearly been not reading certain threads. Good luck finding the birth-year model.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1363728597' post='2016796'] It's effective when you know nothing about music theory. You know what you need to know, without any special learning for it at all really. How is that not effective? [/quote] Because most of the tabs are wrong and, even if the notes are accurate, rarely convey any information about rhythm.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1363728209' post='2016783'] And what if you've got a fretless..? [/quote] Oh no, that would mean actually listening to what I'm playing!!!!!!!

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1363726830' post='2016736'] ... Numbering the frets. It's simple and effective ... [/quote] It's simple but ineffective - especially when the numbers are the wrong ones.

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1363727627' post='2016758'] Let's do this.......please. [/quote] The full story is here: [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/scrap-lumber-bass-vs-alder-bass-can-you-tell-difference-743932/"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/scrap-lumber-bass-vs-alder-bass-can-you-tell-difference-743932/[/url]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1363726860' post='2016737'] 'Tis true, but my Laklands are great and cost me around £28 - imported from Chicago. [/quote] They will also last for years.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1363726119' post='2016711'] Good God, they're not cheap are they..? [/quote] I've got a set of TI Flats still going strong after 8 years though. Very cheap.

[quote name='cocco' timestamp='1363718793' post='2016535'] ... I ordered x-long as they're going on my string-thru lakland, also hoping that's right :/.... [/quote] [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1363724543' post='2016667'] I'm a huge fan of flats, and I really don't want to worry you, but I'd hesitate to use flats in a string-through-body situation. I'm sure it varies hugely with different manufacturers and gauges, but flats don't often respond well to sharp changes in angle. If you can still change your order, you may want to consider doing that. [/quote] Jack's correct that flats are less keen on the break angle of through-body stringing and may be more likely to break at the bridge. However, having tried it with several kinds of flats I'd say TIs are safest in that way. I'd still always string through bridge myself as I've never found any advantage to through-body stringing.

[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1363723456' post='2016641'] Not at all clued up on the science of anything string wise, what's the difference here? [/quote] [url="http://liutaiomottola.com/myth/perception.htm"]http://liutaiomottola.com/myth/perception.htm[/url] and other pages at that site.

[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1363723555' post='2016643'] Why would you I guess if you hadn't had read their books, the same applies here I think. Purely trying to put it into perspective. By the way if you do like reading then definitely check out Michael Chabon and Jonathan Franzen! [/quote] Just realised that there's a Franzen on our shelf and Ms ET has been telling me to read it for ages.

[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1363721090' post='2016582'] Love flatwounds, got one of my two P-Basses strung with them right now. The Thomastiks are great, especially if you like lower tension (or compliance or whatever!!). [/quote] TI Flats are low tension but high compliance.

[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1363720695' post='2016571'] Same for me, although I suppose (for example) that we can all be into different authors but at the same time loathe reading Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, modern guys like Michael Chabon or Franzen, it's just good to keep them in the back of your mind when we read because they're the ones that set a lot of the benchmarks whether we consider it to be interesting or not. [/quote] I like and read both Shakespeare and Dickens - I would never think of them as 'virtuosos' but great storytellers. I've never heard of Chabon and Franzen - I looked them up on Wikipedia now.