Cosmo Valdemar

Too vague. I might plump for Glam, expecting Slade and Sweet etc., only to end up with some horror like Poison or Steel Panther...

From the man himself: "When we recorded Black Sabbath, I had a 70-watt Laney guitar amp and a Park 4x12 cabinet with only three speakers in it—and two of them were wrecked! That’s how I got that really distorted sound. Actually, I hated the tone of that record at the time, but I’ve gotten used to it now. It’s nostalgic. I didn’t have any alternative; I couldn’t afford to buy new speakers. We had only two days to record, so we just plugged in and performed our live set in the studio. We were allowed one take for each song and stopped only if someone made a horrible mistake. It was out of our hands. No time to dial in the perfect bass tone." From experience the key to that sound is a P bass played hard over the neck, similar to early Entwistle. Get those strings bouncing off the neck.

Another vote for the Yamaha BB424. Fantastic basses.

I am now the happy owner of not one but TWO phasers thanks to Ieuan - I couldn't decide which one I wanted so we brokered a unique deal by which I ended up with them both. And a lot of fun they are too. Top chap to deal with!

What gear are you currently using?

I think you need to look at what you're playing and your tone in general rather than a specific effect to use during guitar solos. Really, the bass and drums should be the real body of your band's sound, so if the guitar goes on on a flight of fancy you know the bottom won't drop out. Also it may be that the guitarist needs to look at his/her approach - if they are blasting everything into oblivion with amp far too powerful for the band (amazingly this does happen) it's obvious that the band sound will change dramatically when they solo. It may be that your guitarist needs to step back a bit and play more for the band. By all means look into the overdrive option of course, there are some wonderful pedals out there, but perhaps more for your overall sound rather than an occasional space-filling effect.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1450199277' post='2930479'] There you go, the only way is up from now on. [/quote] I've yet to hear cover band play anything by Yazz.

The clip on the website sounds awesome! Very King Crimson/John Wetton. I want one.

I remember seeing a load of Grassroots basses on Denmark St years ago, just before the LTDs started to appear. We're talking late 90s.

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1449527448' post='2924450'] Lemmy plays 'rhythm bass', no distortion but lots of Mids. [/quote] No distortion?!

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1449399473' post='2923116'] I think that the 4004 would be a lot more popular if it wasn't so darned expensive. I'm a Ric player (4003) but you can get a heck of a lot of bass for that kind of money from other manufacturers. I'd love to try a 4004 but they are kind of hen's teeth, and I very much doubt I'll ever see one in the flesh let alone own one [/quote] Guitar Guitar seem to have a few, if there's one near you...

[quote name='howdenspur' timestamp='1449398028' post='2923095'] A band of two halves - they needed that creative tension to make their best stuff. IMHO of course. [/quote] Undoubtedly.

Although prone to smart-arsery, I do love 10cc. I could listen to Kevin Godley's singing all day. Nice to see them get their own documentary but as always with these things it felt a bit hurried.

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1449248388' post='2921968'] Or just buy a 4003s [/quote] There is that I suppose They are much harder to get hold of though!

[quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1449237910' post='2921853'] Thanks Ben you've answered my real question without me actually posting it! Kudos. I am much more of a trebly player and I had a hunch the humbuckers would produce a darker sound. I'd probably prefer the single coils too, I'm just curious why the cheyenne is more! Would you have to use Rick pots or can you use any pots? I can imagine rick charging a fortune for parts [/quote] To the best of my knowledge, any pots. A relatively quick and cheap fix if you're handy with a soldering iron. For some reason RIC use 330 pots in all their guitars and basses even though they are often not the most suitable. Interesting bass, the 4004. It fixes all the problems people have with the classic Ricks - uncomfortable body, noisy pickups, upsetting holes in the body, 'unique' bridge - but they remain very much a curio, and rarely seen. I think they are beautiful and I would love another one - with different pickups

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1449064813' post='2920480'] I noticed he offers an 8-string version as well...anyone have any idea what the damage might be on one of those? [/quote] Not sure, but probably cheaper than you would imagine! You can email Carlo via the website, he'll give you a quote.

The question should really be "4004 vs. 4003" - the 4004 has two variants, the Cheyenne and the Laredo. Laredos are maple, whereas the Cheyenne is maple and walnut (I believe), and tends to have a nice top wood. Laredos have solid colour finishes. I've not compared the two but the Laredo is said to be slightly brighter - however, as stock both basses are on the dark side, and don't have much of the trebly clank you would expect from a Rick. However this is easily fixed - for some reason Rickenbacker see fit to install 330k pots which combined with the humbuckers give that dark sound - swapping them for 500k brings them to life a bit. I used to own a Cheyenne very briefly but the neck was very cluby and cumbersome. Modern ones have the same neck profile as the 4003 which is good news! I would love a Laredo but in all honesty I would probably swap the pickups for single coils, thereby having the modern comfortable Rick bpdy but with the classic tone.

I'm [i]very[/i] close to pulling the trigger on Cataldo number 2...

[quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1449014724' post='2920191'] Hey guys what are yer thoughts on this one? Cheers Taran [/quote] That looks uncannily like my old one, even down to the chip in the finish...

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1448972786' post='2919656'] Another sell tickets for us and you'll get no money out of it competition. [/quote] Read the small print. I know the promoter Mick - definitely not a pay to play merchant!