thodrik

I'm not a massive fan but you can't deny that they are such a huge entity (ie not a band, but a big massive business) that it is difficult to compare them to any of their contemporaries. In terms of popularity and levels of wealth, Metallica are closer to being Madonna or U2 than they are Megadeth. They did originally grow out of the thrash movement though and I am pretty sure that Lars is aware of that

I used the 1518 by itself and it was fine. It does do highs, it just doesn't have a tweeter. In my opinion, Trace Elliot erroneously have stuck to theory that bigger speakers always have low end and less high end. In fact, the more technically minded folk on here would suggest that mixing large and small speakers is a bad idea anyway.

Very flexible amps. I have the Fafner and it can anything from heavy rock/metal through pop to funk. Generally the amps and cabs don't have a massive amount of bottom end/subs compared to an Ampeg/Mesa, but thet generally cut through a mix fairly well. They are capable of obtaining a lot of glassy high end but I usually dial that back.

I probably wouldn't sell the V8. Save up some cash for an 'additional' amp rather than a replacement. In terms of something that 'feels' like a valve amp that isn't, I really like the Mesa Walkabout. It was something I bought instead of a valve amp when I had the money.

For me I prefer the LH series by a distance. HA amps are great and flexible for tone shaping but the LH series are just great for plug in and play.

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1378573896' post='2202029'] Isn't the Jaguar a shorter scale? I could be way out here but thought that was the case, if so that's a bit counter-intuative for the low tunings Mastodon use [/quote] The Jaguars are 34 inch scale. A lot of Mastodon's stuff is in D standard so it isn't exactly earth shatteringly low. Troy also has different basses set up for every tuning he uses (drop C and drop A generally). I would guess that these basses will just be set up in standard, since the Biffy series of instruments were as well, and Biffy play most of their stuff in drop D/ Drop C-type tunings.

Not sure how I would pick out the 'definitive' valve amp. I'd guess my ideal amp would be a Trace V8 or a Sunn 300T but they are impossible to find and even if you do they are bloody expensive. I have a Trace V6 which is a bloody great amp, but doesn't really break up at all compared to an Orange or Matamp. It really depends on what you actually want. In terms of new non-custom amps (ie Matamp), I'd probably look at the Ampeg SVT Heritage and Fender Super Bassman. The massive delays on the Mesas are not exactly encouraging, also I am not a fan of the cosmetics, so I would probably just pick a Big Block 750 over them even though it isn't all valve.

This thread just confirmed to me that I just don't like tortoise shell pick guards...

EHX English Muff'n is great for gentle grit. Even better than my EBS Valvedrive, though not made as well. I also use the Aguilar Agro for a bit, though it is pretty 'clanky' rather than a gentle classic bit of fuzz/grit. Generally play a few and get one that you like the sound of.

Black Sabbath - Junior's Eyes. Audience might not know it, but it is a lot of fun to play on bass.

EBS Valvedrive is good as well. Pros: can do vintage or modern sounds and sounds good used clean or with a fair amount of dirt. It is also a lot more transparent than the Sansamp Bass Driver (I own both). Cons: Massive footprint on the pedal board, annoying 12v power supply which comes with a two prong Euro lead as standard. 'Glowing' valve via red LED is a bit of a pointless gimmick. Good build quality but the fact that it is a valve pedal means that it lacks the natural sturdiness of the Sansamp, Microbass II or other non-valve pedals.

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1377625020' post='2189593'] This would have been January 2010 when my old metal band toured up there, I remember bringinf my rack-mount Fafner head in and being surprised by there being almost the same amp on stage already. Not a bad little venue, shame we didn't fill it more tbh, but then we were trying to punch above our weight in the touring stakes. [/quote] I think the PA has been upgraded recently. It is still a pretty decent venue. Also, the Fafner is a great amp!

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1377614888' post='2189416'] I think it was called Rockers, had lots of band t-shirts on the walls, Audio is a possibile name too, but I think it was Rockers. [/quote] It is the same venue. It is called Audio now though the general set up of the venue has changed a fair bit now. There isn't an EBS backline now but there certainly could have been EBS backline at Rockers before it went under. I never entered Rockers after 2007, though I can't remember any house backline being there when I was playing there prior to that (though I can remember trying to carry my old battered Trace Elliot combo to and from said venue!).

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1377595749' post='2189074'] That's interesting, I played at a small venue in Glasgow where the house amp was an EBS - TD650 and Proline cabs if memory serves, from that I assumed they had a fairly good presence north of the border. [/quote] Can you recall what venue that was? I have never seen an EBS rig the as house backline at a local venue. There are a few HD350s in a local rehearsal studio, but not many Proline or Neoline cabs about. I actually only know one bassist who owns such an EBS rig of EBS amp and cabs. It might have been his rig!

Being in the EU it is fairly easy to source (ie buy) most kind of amps. Being in Scotland though, I don't see many of the boutique brands like Bergantino, Genz Benz or even much EBS stuff. Lots of Ashdown, Ampeg, Hartke, second hand Trace Elliot. Fair amount of Aguilar too.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1377085262' post='2183097'] IMO the usual arguments for a bolt-on neck come over as a solution is search of a problem. I've never seen a bass or guitar with a neck damaged so badly that repair by a good luthier wasn't an option, that didn't also have extensive and often worse damage to the body. [/quote] I have seen some messed up necks with neck warp. It isn't exactly a mythical situation. You might also have the situation where the body is wrecked but the neck is fine (ie a guitar who throws a guitar in the air and it lands body first). Or you want to try something like a Fenderbird or switching the neck for something else (Precision neck of Jazz body etc). With a set neck as well, changing the neck angle is a complicated process, while the certain models of Gibsons with set necks have been known to be fragile (not factual, but it is a perception). All that leads me to personally consider bolt-ons to offer the least amount of hassle, although I don't really think there should be inherent advantages on one design or the other on a well-constructed bass.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1377084199' post='2183087'] What's wrong with a set neck? [/quote] Nothing really. If I am paying for a £4000 boutique EB3 though I think I would want a neck-through design just for the sake of it. Generally I prefer bolt-on construction though as if something goes wrong with the neck, you can just replace it.

[quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1377082153' post='2183036'] But on reflection, there's probably no need for Lull to do a Stingray anyway - what Lull is trying to do (as he says in the quote above) is improve on the J and P designs in subtle but clever ways, and thus offer the buyer a 'great pre-CBS' sound without having to pay £10,000 for a good (i.e. playable) example of the real thing. This is also the reason why he is now doing Thunderbirds, as mentioned by thodrik above. Hey presto, no more T-bird neck dive! But with Stingrays, in contrast, there is nothing really much to improve on. Never mind what people say about Pre-Ernie Ball MM, the quality of EBMMs is amazingly good and amazingly consistent for the price, IMO, so there is no need for a Lull-type builder to step in here. ... Unless he could figure out a way to deliver the Stingray sound whilst keeping the bass at Mike Lull weights (i.e. well below 4kg). If he could do that, I might even consider trading in my beloved Stingray, which has Death Star levels of sonic power, but which weighs a friggin ton! (Not a trivial issue for me as a chronic back pain sufferer!) [/quote] I really think there is a lot more scope in terms of improving the designs of Gibson basses compared to Fenders. With Fenders all you need to do is improve the bridge and achieve consistency in production. With my Gibson EB3 for example you have neck drive, excessive weight, poorly thought out bridge system, set neck construction, tone pots which act as on/off switches rather than a gradual shift, unbalanced pick ups where the mudbucker generally dominates, pick up selections which make no difference regardless of the setting. If you are reading this Mr Lull please get started!

[quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1377076741' post='2182921'] Interesting quote from Mike Lull, who many folks say makes the best 'Fender 2.0' basses, on what he is trying to achieve as a boutique bass builder: "Bottom line, I’m a Fender guy. I have owned hundreds of basses. In the mid-seventies I collected everything. The prices back then made these things affordable. As a pro player, for me there is nothing better than a great pre-CBS Precision or Jazz Bass. There is no better bass to record or play live with. If you could compile a list of all the recordings made with these basses, it would be staggering. I wanted to take all the goodness, along with all the idiosyncrasies, and build a better bass. Leo was a genius, but the basses were built to a price point. I want my basses to sound as good but play better and be more consistent." A Lull PJ5 for me, please! [/quote] I prefer the look of his boutique Gibson Thunderbirds myself. Nobody else is really doing them.

Its not a bass but I have an American Deluxe Fender Toronado. I've not seen too many of them about to be honest (a couple of the Mexican ones with racing stripes though). Should be a few out there I would guess.. I don't see many of those Fender 'Boner' Jazzes about, although there is perhaps a reason for that.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1377015396' post='2182255'] I always make a point of bringing something weird to the first rehearsal. If the other musicians don't like it then it's obviously not the band for me. I find it a good way to weed out dull bands who won't have any idea of visual presentation and stagecraft. [/quote] Interesting idea. I quite like that despite it being the complete opposite of my own approach. Although my own decision to take a Precision is usually out of waryness of other peoples ideas on visual presentation and stagecraft (ie, everything must look retro). Essentially I just use the Precision as a blank canvas and take it from there. I suppose in a way if I went to rehearsal and was told that a Precision is 'too boring' I'd know that it wasn't the right band for me, even though I know I could bring a modern five string if I wanted to.

I think that a lot of it is down to practice. A lot of funk bassists play light/medium gauge stainless steel strings (40-95 or 45-100/105). If you are playing 80s metal in standard tuning, the same set should be fine. Steve Harris generally uses a 50-110 set of flatwounds though, which provide a different sound altogether. Lighter gauge strings have less tension than larger strings tuned to the same pitch.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1377013827' post='2182232'] This isn't confined to Fenders. Producers really can listen with their eyes! I was on a recording session and used my Lakland on day 1, then as the day was scrapped due to a technical problem, I brought the Wal to day 2 and even though they EQ'ed both basses to pretty much the same sound, everyone agreed the Wal sounded better! IMO, a little less EQ and it really would have sounded better. [/quote] Yeah, it does happen sometimes. I have seen sound engineers get into giddy levels of excitement when a fellow bassist took out a Warwick Thumb at a gig.

Lots of people, including many guitarists, sound engineers, music producers, listen with their eyes. They see a Fender design and immediately think 'I know how to make that sound good' compared to the 'what will that sound like?' uncertainly of a non-Fender design (in my case a Vigier). Some are even of the opinion that anything that doesn't look like a Fender isn't really a proper bass. The existence of such a stigma is cited by Roger Sadowsky as one the main reasons he stuck to Fender designs. In the current Black Keys, Graveyard retro scene, you are pretty limited in terms of what you can use before you are considered to be using the 'wrong' bass (essentially anything that isn't a Fender, Rickenbacker or Gibson). It is complete rubbish but I have faced it enough myself to the point that I will always bring a Precision to my first rehearsal with a band and just take it from there.

This is so much fun. I tried to the make the ugliest bass possible, but ended up getting one that I actually liked. [attachment=141814:Disco bass.jpg]