thodrik

The website is full of millennial social media influencer speak containing unverified responses to unverified claims and lots of marketing speak but very little information. I wish them well but certainly not something I would consider.

Congratulations! I have been through this recently as we currently have a 9 week old baby girl. Essentially, I don't think that music really matters in terms of relaxing our baby, at least while she is at the newborn stage. When she wants to sleep, she will sleep through anything. When she doesn't want to sleep or she is hungry and not being fed, no amount of relaxing music is going to help calm her as well as the act of picking her up and giving her a cuddle and speaking to her. In terms of quiet relaxing sounds with slow low sounding groans and no loud unexpected noises, I have found that watching a Scottish football match on the TV is as beneficial as any type of whale music or compilations of background noises.

I like to try the basses or guitars before I buy them, particularly if it is a Fender or a Gibson and especially if it is a vintage example. In terms of high quality/boutique stuff, I would be a happy to buy new/used without trying it out first once I have tried one example that has impressed me. For example, if my mate bought a brand new Spector and let me try it and I loved it, I would happily buy a new (or used) Spector without trying it. If my mate bought a 1983 US Fender Jazz and I tried it and loved it, I would not be willing to buy another 1983 US Fender Jazz blind without trying it.

Most basses should be able to fit a 110 gauge E string, as it is only slightly larger than a standard 105 E string, You really shouldn't have have any problems going back to a 105 E string. Most basses come strung with strings of 105/100 E strings, but you don't need to get a new nut if you decide to move to an extra light set of 90-40 strings.

If you want high tension and low action and like your current strings then I would just get a heavier set of Rotos. Drop C # isn't too low, I used to use 105-45 D'addario pro steels or EB Hybrid Slinkys for that. I generally had to change them pretty frequently though when gigging to retain that clear 'piano' tone I wanted. I tried DR DDT's but I thought that they were good, but very expensive and unbalanced from string to string once you moved to the heavier sets of 115-55. I ordered a custom set of Newtones and while the strings were good, they didn't deliver the gauges I actually ordered (which meant that they were not optimised for the tuning I had specified when I placed my order- 'heavy core' or not) which kind of irked me for the price I was charged. For the tunings I use now (D standard drop C) I find that the D'addario EXL160BT 120- 90- 67- 50 set are superior to any DR DDT set, Dunlop Heavy Core set or the custom Newtones I have tried over the years. The 120 will be great for drop C# however it might be a bit tight for E flat unless you set your bass up to cope with the extra tension.

To be fair, any number of different combinations would work for 70s rock. In terms of the mainstream brands. Geezer Butler has been using Ashdown stuff for a while (with a Lakland P-bass no less). Roger Glover used TC Electronic for years. Orange has really been trying to capture that 'modern' 70s rock revivalists with a slightly retro vibe (I think Glenn Hughes endorses them). Fender Rumble stuff is good too. The new Gallien Krueger Legacy series heads look really nice as well. For the 'plug your own gear' part of the post, for 70s rock tones I love my old Mesa Walkabout. It is 'only' 300 watts so there is limited headroom compared to a 600 watt amp. However from owning a 600 watt amp, I discovered I really didn't need that much headroom anyway. The 'kinda' new version of the Walkabout is the Mesa WD800 and it will cover similar tones to the Walkabout but with a lot more headroom and capability for tonal variation. It will hurt your wallet at £1300 though (don't even look at the price of the matching Mesa cabs...).

Cracking looking bass that! Congratulations!

Love King Hobo. And Kamchatka.

Generally I have never been in a brand new originals band that gets offered three gigs for the same night at the same time. Generally, so long as the offer was half decent and the band were free and keen to play, the band would do gig (a), (b) or (c) in the initial stages of gigging. The big no-no to me was saying you would do a gig and then ditching it to do a 'better' gig. Such tactics were only acceptable to the newly offered gig was a fantastic offer (i.e opening for a very established/semi-famous act).

For me the classic three are their run of albums of Blast Tyrant, Robot Hive/Exodus and From Beale Street to Oblivion. I saw them about 5 times from 2003-2008. They were a phenomenal live band back then. Their newer stuff is still really good but doesn’t really grab me as essential listening. Saw them live in 2015 and while still great it just didn’t have that same level of magic, at least to me. I do like Elephant Riders too.

It happens with amps too. At the start of the year there was a massive spate of Mesa Boogie gear for sale, which previously I have found to be pretty scarce. I mean a few years ago, I actually had funds to buy a second hand Wal, but one never appeared. By the time it did I had already bought a bloody car.

Okay, following my previous review of the album (which seems to have magically vanished and then reappeared from this thread) where I marked it as 7/10, I would now like to say that I have grown to enjoy the album more than I initially expected. I hereby increase my score to a massive...8/10.

From experience of owning a Fafner (mk I): Even though it is only a 3U head, EBS recommend using a 4U rack case. This is on account that the fan is located on the side and there is the risk that there is not enough space in a 3U to give the fan enough space to be effective. A 3U rack might be okay, but I have never wanted to take the risk. You can always contact EBS directly, I'm sure that they would be able to confirm. I ended up getting an EBS 4U rack which is fine, but being wooden it is much heavier than a Gator equivalent.

Absolutely that! Gorgeous.

I don't own one, but in the 70s Fender did walnut coloured finishes on some of their basses. I love that finish, particularly on a P Bass . Also Walnut finished Gibson SG guitar...yes. Also, I love translucent black as a finish, particularly on a Fender-type bass.

Okay. Finally listened to it. Firstly, I’m glad it was made. There is some really good stuff on this album. Descending and Culling Voices are tracks which are really good additions to the Tool catalogue. 7empest too. The drawback to me is that I feel that I have heard variations of most of the ‘heavy riffs’ from previous Tool albums. Lots of fairly similar drop D riffs and drum fills and bass parts with delay. I don’t think it is a complete retread though as on the whole it seems a lot more mid paced and less aggressive than previous releases. It seems that Maynard has taken his crooning A Perfect Circle approach to this album. I quite like his vocals taking a different approach and I like the parts that are focusing on creating layered soundscapes rather than ‘let’s play a riff that kind of sounds like [insert riff from earlier Tool song] but change one note’. My taste in music is a lot more eclectic now than it was when I was 20. Tool were a band that acted as a gateway for me to explore heavy post rock, instrumental and psychedelic music. The fact that this album doesn’t make me go ‘wow’ is probably due to me rather than the quality of the album. Probably a 7 out of 10 for me.

I might be wrong, but I think he was using them prior to that as well. I'm sure I saw him using one when I saw them on the Blood Mountain tour and I'm fairly sure that was what he was used to record the album. Frankly though it is tough to keep up with the basses he uses as they change so often!

Delay on bass is also a great way to do post rock volume swells to make your bass sound like a dying whale. I used it to shockingly mediocre effect for a couple of years before I moved back to playing heavy riff rock.

Still not bought it. I am old fashioned and I would prefer to buy a physical release, however there is no way I am paying £80 for a CD. So a download it is. Also, there is a really good interview by guitarist Adam Jones on the Chris Jericho podcast (he of Fozzy/pro wrestling fame). It might not be a thrilling listen for people who don't like Tool and/or pro wrestling. However, it is a really good podcast interview by Adam Jones covering his background, his approach to music videos, the background to how Tool started and his friendship with Tom Morello. It is also pretty much the only podcast interview ever done by Adam Jones.

One of the best things about having a Sadowsky Metro is that people who have no clue about basses just think it is a cheap Fender copy which I play into when I say that it was made in Japan. 'Wow, your bass sounds great, you'd sound even better if you had a proper Fender!', is one of the best lines I have received from a sound engineer. Frankly, I'm not sure I believe half of the bass forum or gear review comments along the lines of 'after the show the sound engineer complemented my bass tone, stating that it just sat perfectly in the mix, was phenomenally balanced, had great mid presence and even had a bit more girth in the fundamental than my usual 'go to' instrument. Some of the audience members even came up to be to complement how the maple fingerboard really helped to emphasise the slap bass passages in the set.' I am usually impressed if people even remember I was in the band, let alone what bass I was using or what hell the bass actually sounded like.

I have 6 basses which is just about my limit. I regularly use about 4 of them for gigs, recording, rehearsals etc. I have two different projects, in which I use different tunings so I generally use one bass for each different project with a back up for each. I might just buy one more inexpensive bass as a backup. I don't like having to bring two expensive basses to a gig when I am only intending to use one. A Squier Jazz is accordingly now being considered, however I used to own one andended up selling it on account that I had never used it in 8 years. I tried using a five string in standard tuning to cover everything but given the technicalities of some of the riffs and the fact that ringing open strings are important to both projects, having basses tuned to the same as the guitars is frankly just a lot more convenient than a five string tuned to concert pitch and having to constantly transpose things and work out new fingerings for parts on the fly. However, I always need at least one bass in standard tuning, just so I can practice funk music and double thumb techniques that I love learning but will never use as part of a rock/stoner/doom band.

I love my Precision, but I find it takes a bit of EQ on the amp in order to get the tone I actually like, which generally finding the sweet spot of adding a bit of bass/lower mids (around 300-500Hz) and taming the upper mid and treble 'clank' by rolling off the tone knob ever so slightly. This is opposed to an active bass like my Sadowsky, where I can pretty much dial in a tone on the bass and the amp EQ is basically untouched. If my first serious bass was a Musicman with a really powerful active EQ, I would perhaps have struggled if I then went back to a passive Precision armed with just a volume and tone control. A passive Precision sits wonderfully in the mix with a sound engineer who knows what they are doing (well so should just about any quality bass). Also, I'm pretty sure that the Fender marketing team will have gone to great efforts to ensure that as many bassists as possible were using Fender basses during the Reading and Leeds festival. There is nothing wrong with not liking Precisions though. There are plenty of other basses out there.

I have only owned (and still own) two five strings. A Vigier Arpege V string, one of the 'modern' Series IV with a bolt on neck rather than neck through. There is a 3 band EQ on each pickup set up which is mad and a composite 'phenowood' fingerboard. In terms of design and fit and finish it is nearly flawless. My only gripe is that the space between the front pickup and the end of the fretboard is pretty small so you have to play pretty accurately when slapping and popping. Not sure I like the monorail bridge system compared to the big hulk of metal that is the Vigier Excess bridge. Drawback of the Vigier is that lots of guitarists listen with their eyes and don't like a bass that doesn't look like a Fender. I have had this bother a few times over the years. Sadowsky NYC Jazz Bass. Sadowskys don't get the glowing praise on Basschat that they do on Talkbass, but I personally love them. The two band EQ plus VTC on the Sadowsky doesn't offer the flexibility of the Vigier, but I love the slightly more vintage voice of the Sadowsky which the Vigier just can't really do with the pickup, phenowood fingerboard and 10/90 carbon neck system. It also looks like a Fender so aforesaid guitarists don't get uncomfortable. I don't have pics readily to hand. Other fivers I want to try but I am unlikely to own: Musicman HH - they just look cool, I would also happily own a four string too. Wal Mk II - my favourite Wal shape Clover Xpression 5 - I just think that they look like a great all round bass, but I don't know of anybody who actually owns one. I will probably buy a six string before I buy another five string bass.

Ooof, class bass that! Congrats.

I played double bass as well so I am used to a fair amount of challenges of getting to the upper notes. If I am spending £1800 on a 24 fret bass I would want all 24 frets to be reachable. Not so much for gigging, but certainly when it comes to practising technical playing I like to be able to get to all the frets. My old Vigier Excess for example, has great 24 fret access, though it now has a broken jack socket after about 15 years of wear and tear... I'm certainly not ruling a Spector out, but I think I would need to try one out to see if I could live with the ergonomics. Cheers!