Cosmo Valdemar

Just traded my Roadworn Jazz pickups for Will's VFE Triumvirate pedal. I'm very happy with it and can't wait to have a proper fiddle when the opportunity arises! An easy trade, Will is a trustworthy BCer.

I've just received a rather special 'bass of mystery' from George, and can only echo what's been said before - superb instrument, exactly as described. George really looks after his gear. We had an unexpected bit of hassle thanks to the courier, and George went out of his way to make sure it was sorted to our mutual satisfaction. Cheers George!

St Anger and Music From The Elder. And Never Say Die!

I think the B424 is about the best bass you can buy for the money. I have the X version which is the same, just a bit flashier -looking. To my ears it nails the P sound if you want it to - a lot of folk on here disagree as the P pickup is apparently a couple of mm out but it certainly does the job for me. My only dislike is the feel of the back of the neck which is indicative of basses in that price range, but that's purely personal preference and a very easy fix.

Well done that man! Looking forward to pics!

I know nothing about them but I'm a bit disappointed it's a P bass copy. From the name I was expecting something pointy that lights up.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1445524123' post='2892134'] What would James Cameron's Avatar have been without Roger Dean?! [/quote] +1 Obscene that he recieved no recognition - if only for inspiration. He took Cameron to court over it but guess who won?

[quote name='zawinul' timestamp='1445450779' post='2891621'] fretlesses [/quote] [i]fretlii. [/i]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1445431498' post='2891405'] It was Wals first full production model in the late 70s, had a fetching leather scratchplate. Named after the first guy to order one john gustafson I beleive... i think they only made 46 (or maybe 48?). Quite a few notable names amongst the original owners as shown on this list from Trevors website. [/quote] I see! When I was at school in the late 90s me and some like-minded mates used to use our 'free' periods to call in at the guitar shop up the road. I vividly remember an early, single-pickup Wal they had hanging on the wall for about £500. It was there for years! Wish I'd had the foresight to grab it when I had the chance...

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1445408272' post='2891194'] Ideally I'd love a JG one ([/quote] What's JG? Probably something obvious and I'm now looking like a wally...

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1445109763' post='2888911'] I had a combustion, I really enjoyed playing it, it was a nice bass to play and it was a thing of beauty. However, somehow for me the sound just didn't inspire, and I couldn't seem to modify it in a way that changed that. It just seemed.. I don't know, too polite for what I wanted to do. The band also didn't go for the sound, so I changed it for my ibanez which suited me more. I still think the dingwall was one of the nicest basses to play, and I certainly wouldn't be against trying a different model. [/quote] That was my only issue with the ones I tried. The tone just wasn't up my street. Everything else - playability, build - was exceptional. And Sheldon is a gent, friendly and very enthusiatic about his basses.

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1445037178' post='2888436'] They're not EB-0s, but EB-3s. The EB-0 only has the neck pickup. [/quote] And the current SG basses have very different pickups to the old EB basses.

These are truly excellent basses. My only wish is that the finish was a bit creamier, like the old Gibsons, and indeed your JC!

Apologies for the thread resurrection but I would love to know the outcome of this experiment!

[quote name='GM10' timestamp='1444824793' post='2886382'] What i have noticed is the guitar wah wah drops in volume when engaged and you lose bottom end which is fairly predicatble really [/quote] This. If you try it in a band situation you will notice your bottom drop out when you engage the pedal. The bass version does not do this but be warned it is a very different 'wah' sound to the guitar version - the bass one leaves the low end clean and only applies the effect to certain frequencies. A quick Youtube should give you some idea. If you love the effect of the standard wah but want to use it in a band setting you could always split your signal so you always have a clean tone running alongside the wah. There are also some wahs out ther that work very well with both guitar and bass - the Ibanez Weeping Demon springs to mind.

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1444638455' post='2884603'] P.S. Arthurs bass player is Jevons Beaumont and i agree he is excellent. [/quote] That is a truly outstanding name.

If it's the same as my old ABM, you need to remove the 4 plastic buttons from the top of the case, then unscrew - the inside should slide out. It's a very simple job to replace the valve but be aware that different valves will affect the sound. The first replacement valve I popped in really changed the nature of the drive, and not for the better!

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1444130168' post='2880481'] Its funny hearing him on a P bass - it makes me realise that on a lot of his early recordings featuring the J basses (Moving Pictures in particular) he clearly didn't have both J pickups on full, but favoured the neck pickup: giving a rather Precision-esque tone. Limelight being a good example of this. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-kQsVk8K4c"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-kQsVk8K4c[/url] [/quote] Indeed. The Jazz on Moving Pictures is neck pickup only. My old Roadworn Jazz absolutely nailed that sound. People often say it's difficult to tell the difference between the Rickenbacker and the Jazz, but they really do sound very different - on Signals for example, the difference is night and day. It's a bit trickier on Moving Pictures as the bass tracks had a load of distortion added on after recording.

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[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1443780931' post='2877604'] I've posted adverts looking for experimental musicians to collaborate with, and gotten replies from 'classic rock' bands wanting to know if I'd be interested in auditioning for them. [/quote] You really don't like Classic Rock do you

Welcome back that man!

[quote name='Jecklin' timestamp='1443606866' post='2876093'] From my earlier post: [media]http://youtu.be/ja8WduMfv5I[/media] [/quote] I'm no Hucknall fan, but that is a wonderful bit of song placement there. Suits the scene perfectly. Incidentally, the only time I've really enjoyed Simply Red was the time I was having an ingrowing toenail removed in hospital. I had some sedative or other running in the back of my hand so I was fully away in happy land, and what 'Stars' came on the radio I started hallucinating to the music. I can remember singing along too, in my confused state. Lord knows what the surgeon thought.

I'm always amazed that the bass part to 'Something' can be considered 'busy'. It's far from simple root notes, but to my ear it slides around the melody perfectly.

[quote name='geofio' timestamp='1442343553' post='2866277'] As the guys who own this bass know what i am talking about it has a fantastic feel to it this bass, sound wise it is just soooo right !!! lots of bottom end with fantastic bite at the same time, a fantastic feeling bass, whether it has Geddy lee's name on it or not i would still want it, this is a well designed instrument with a lot of nice touches, i haven't picked a Ric up since i have had this bass !!!! [/quote] If you decide to sell any of your Ricks let me know

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1442396761' post='2866577'] Oh yeah, any mention of that kind of stuff is instant invalidation from me. Somewhere between Germany and the UK... [/quote] I like that. A lot.