thodrik

I'm Scottish and even I think the Three Lions is a great football song. My choice for the 'least optimistic and most realistic' football song ever: Del Amitri: Don't Come Home Too Soon. Its 1998, Scotland have qualified for the World Cup and they are in the opening ceremony against the defending champions Brazil. Hopes are high after Scotland qualified in impressive fashion, finishing ahead of Sweden (who finished 3rd in 1994) in their group. Hopes are high to the point that some people think that Scotland might have a hope in hell of winning a game and maybe even getting out of the group (Norway and Morocco were the other teams in the group). The unofficial song, 500 miles by The Proclaimers whips the nation into a frenzy. Finally the SFA team up with Del Amitri to release the 'official' anthem, a complete dirge of song written from the perspective of 'usually we are rubbish but maybe this time we won't be really rubbish, but we probably will be'. Including class lyrics like: 'And I don't care what people say, We can laugh it all away, But if I have a dream at all For once you won't be on that stupid plane' Add that to the music video. featuring Colin Hendry doing some keepie-uppies in Prestwick Airport. That famous Nike advert with the Brazil team, this was not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T68AXsUAEI

That would explain the difference. I'm a big fan of proggy non-traditional song structure so the proggy vibes of the Crack the Skye were right up my street. That said, one of my favourite Mastodon songs is Tread Lightly, the one that opens Once More Round The Sun. I just detest The Motherload (I don't like Brann's singing) and High Road (I'm Scottish so whenever I hear lyrics including 'You take the high road' it makes me think of The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond, so I will automatically hate the song).

Okay, on the Mastodon front, I really don't mind Emperor of Sand. I really tried to enjoy The Hunter and Once More Around the Sun, but they seemed pretty bland to me after (in my opinion) a run of classics of Remission, Leviathan, Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye. The albums since Crack the Skye have just sounded a bit generic to me. Perfectly decent modern rock/metal affairs, but nothing that left me going 'wow'. Also, I don't like Brann Dailors clean singing on The Hunter and Once More Round the Sun. However in his defence I think his singing on Emperor of Sand is a lot stronger. His singing live was also a lot better when I saw them live last year when I saw them touring The Hunter.

Okay, just a few for now: Radiohead: Hail to the Thief - I can listen to each track individually and think 'this is pretty great', but when I listen to the whole album, after about three songs my brain goes 'this is depressing boring stuff'. Black Sabbath: Heaven and Hell - I like Dio, I love all Sabbath albums prior to Never Say Die, but I just don't like this album. Nirvana: Nevermind - I know it is an absolute classic, but it is one of those albums where the songs were so ingrained in my head at a young age, that by the time I actually listened to the album, the whole album was too familiar to me to really enjoy it. Not the album's fault. Biffy Clyro: Vertigo of Bliss - an ex girlfriend gave me a copy when it came out. I tried to like it, but I just never could never listen to the whole album in full. The album starts starts with Bodies in Flight, which has an intro which is initially very similar to Tip your Bartender by Glassjaw from 'Worship and Tribute'. I loved that Glassjaw album, so the Biffy album was getting unfair comparisons from the start. Metallica - St Anger - I listen to this every year just to check whether I am missing something and it is actually an under appreciated classic. I still think it is terrible, but I will keep listening to it just in case. To date it is on of my most listened to albums and I still think it is mostly terrible.

All of this. I was sure that with Rick Rubin at the helm that Death Magnetic would have been great sounding, given it was produced not long after he worked on Christ Illusion by Slayer which in terms of mixing and mastering is pretty damn great. Death Magnetic is an uncomfortable listening experience at high volume as the snare drum is clipping the whole time The guy who mastered it tried to say that it wasn't his fault on the basis that the mix was pretty much unusable by the time it got to him. There is cool article on Blabbermouth about how bad the finished product is (http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/metallica-s-lars-ulrich-breaks-silence-on-death-magnetic-sound-quality-controversy/). It can really be summed up in two quotes: Ted Jansen, the guy who mastered the album: "In this case the mixes were already brick-walled before they arrived at my place. Suffice to say I would never be pushed to overdrive things as far as they are here. Believe me, I'm not proud to be associated with this one, and we can only hope that some good will come from this in some form of backlash against volume above all else." Lars Ulrich: "It's 2008, and that's how we make records. Rick Rubin's whole thing is to try and get it to sound lively, to get it to sound loud, to get it to sound exciting, to get it to jump out of the speakers. Of course, I've heard that there are a few people complaining. But I've been listening to it the last couple of days in my car, and it sounds flipin' smokin'." Arrgh.

If the tech in the shop is muttering about damaging the neck by simply changing to a slightly heavier gauge of strings then he really shouldn't be a tech in a shop. You might have to do a slight set up adjustment, that should be it.

I always get my strings but the service has been much slower in the last year or so compared to previously.

I have been using mine for nearly ten years now. Brilliant amp and it has got more than enough power to cope with louder gigs if you pair it with a good 4x10 or larger cabinet.

No.

My Trace Elliot V6 has ‘deep’ and ‘high’ pre shapes and push/pull mid frequency alteration setting, all of which serve to detract from the sound from the amp.

I see this as positive news. Yamaha have a track record for delivering quality products. This isn’t a Gibson buying Trace Elliot situation (or Gibson buying anything frankly). My prediction is that the US Heritage line is kept as is and the construction of the non US SVT line is vastly improved.

I lived in Tain for two years and then two bands I was in were in Glasgow. 3 hr 40 min commute to practice each way. Not ideal but we managed to keep going. In the USA it’s not uncommon for some band members to live in different states, so I tried to use that logic. Wouldn’t do it again though! Now, about 20 mins.

High end jazz basses are not all the same product. They might look similar, but construction, pick ups, sources of wood, type of electronics and many other variables will make them different products from one maker to another. Unless Sei capture a bigger share of the US bass player market, then I would also argue that the basses are also competing in different markets, or at least different levels in the same market. Sadowsky has a fairly big presence in the USA. Sei does not, at least not to the extent that there is Sei club on talkbass. The sizes of the two companies are not really comparable for a price comparison purpose.

Different products, different company, different country, different markets, different levels of demand, different company overheads. Both nice basses.

D’Addario make a balanced tension set of 120 -50. I have used them for drop B before and they worked fine. I did think about ordering singles or a custom Newtone or Circle K order but, the D’Addarios are less than £20 a pack and do the job for any tuning from drop B up to D standard. They are also useable for drop A Mastodon tuning (D standard with the lowest string tuned to A). A lower bottom string would be ideal but if you need to change tunings it’s a lot easier to change tuning than change bass during a gig. Frankly if D’Addario discontinued that gauge I would be pretty upset!

Thread resurrection, but I see that Guitar Guitar now have these available to order: £1799 for the five strings and £1699 for the four strings. Pretty much the same price as a Sandberg or Fender American Original. Pretty tough competition at the price point. Would certainly make for a fun visit to one of their shops to compare the three! Will there be a noticeable difference in quality between the Metro Express and the standard Metroline? If the answer is no, then what is the appeal of the more expensive Metro line? If the answer is yes, then surely you would be better off buying the Sandberg or Fender or just save up for the standard Metro line? NAMM 2030: introducing the Sadowsky Tramline: made in China, one colour scheme (black), maple board, special 'Sadowsky designed' pre-amp, bridge and tuners!

I have a bit of amp and cab envy there!

I would love a 4 ohm Mesa 2x15. Far too expensive, far too heavy, completely unnecessary, not very practical and inefficient compared to modern lightweight design. However I have a Trace Elliot V6 that is also all of these things and I think that the two pieces of gear would be a perfect match. The amount of heft on tap would override all other negatives.

Not really. Most of my recordings have been done on my Precision or a Sadowsky Metro rather than the Vigier. Also most of my recordings are in less heavy genres unfortunately. Never really managed to get a truly heavy band going and when did get to the demoing stage I recorded it on an old Precision! https://khydra.bandcamp.com/ This crap demo below done in 2005 is about the only slightly heavy recording I have of the Vigier Excess. We were all drunk at the time. Think it is tuned to C sharp: https://myspace.com/nythsco Did some alt rock demos with my old band in drop D, back when I couldn’t grow a beard but had a full head of hair: Might have something recorded later this year though with my new (to me) band, Electric Mother. Heavy rock in drop C for the most part. Not decided what bass to use for recording purposes yet. Might end up being the Excess. https://m.facebook.com/electricmotherband/?locale2=en_GB Sorry for spamming in advance!

I own two Vigiers, an Excess and an Arpege 5 string. In terms of downtuned heavy rock/thrash, I actually prefer my Excess to the Arpege. The Excess has a slightly less complex EQ system and is definitely more of an all out rock bass. The Arpege is more of a refined bass and was my bass of choice for doing modern metal/prog stuff. In terms of old school downtuned metal in the High on Fire/Baroness/Mastodon/Saviours/Kylesa stuff, I would pick the Excess over the Arpege or Passion every time. One thing to consider is that the scale length of the Vigiers is slightly under 34 inches, so if you are tuning down to C you might need to use bigger strings than you would if you were using a 35 inch scale bass or a fanned fret alternative like a Dingwall. I don't find the scale length on the Vigier to be an issue, but saying that I love the sound of a downtuned Rickenbacker bass which only has a 33 inch scale. Also be aware that the Vigiers have no trus rod, so you will never ever be able to adjust the amount of relief on the neck. On the plus side, the neck should never move, so the relief on the neck on the day you buy the bass should be the same relief when you pick the bass up again ten years later. I have had the Excess for nearly 14 years now and no neck issues so far. Though saying that I've had an 1974 Gibson EB3 and a 1978/9 (ish) Fender Precision for nearly 20 years and not had any neck stability issues with them either. I don't think that carbon fibre necks are essential. I would really recommend trying as many basses as you can just to see what neck shapes/pickups and EQ systems you prefer.

Just wow! I have a V6 myself but haven't used it because it only works on 2 or 4 ohms and I stupidly downsized to a single 8 ohm cab... I would love to see and listen to a V4 or V6 in person.

In terms of the site at Dalmarnock site, the rent is generally dependent on the size of the room you are using. You are honestly just best off contacting the company to see what they have available. A general guide would by £280 -£400 per month though it has been a couple of years since I was renting directly from the company. There might not be anything free either if all the rooms are currently rented out. In practical terms to most likely chance of getting a room there is via an official 'sub let' from the main tenant who is renting the space from the company and sharing with one of two other bands for costs sake. Spaces on it can be advertised on Gumtree etc. I am aware that there used to be rehearsal spaces for rent behind Viper in the West End. Given the location though, the rooms were pretty small and the rent was higher as well.

I used various units in that the development over the years. Cracking set up once you take the time to set up the room to your liking.

That cab should be incredibly bright and incredibly loud. Is it possibly to do with the settings on the amp? The classic 450 is designed to give more of an 'old school' sound, so if you push the drive on it might make things sound a bit muffled. See if you can try the head with a different cab and the cab with a different head.

I would take the tug bar off personally but apart from that I think it is a totally gorgeous bass. I don't think that the mis-build aspect would really hurt the re-sale value of the bass, especially since Fender have confirmed the authenticity of the bass. I personally quite like the idea of owning an American made 'mis-build' as makes it an (accidentally) unique bass. Just think of it as a custom build that was custom made for somebody else. It is an American made Fender, it will be a class bass.