alexclaber

[quote name='The Funk' post='211270' date='Jun 2 2008, 05:59 PM']...Who came up with the riff during a jam with Stevie.[/quote] He did? I thought Stevie wrote the song for Jeff as 'payment' for guesting on one of his albums but was told it was too good a song to give away! Alex

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='211237' date='Jun 2 2008, 05:14 PM']I'm thinking of kidnapping Alex's Drummer.[/quote] Are you sure you can cope with the incessant moaning about acoustics, monitoring, other bands' drumkits, rehearsal rooms, venues, etc and the constant claim that he's too busy to rehearse? (The latter is fine by me, I too cannot be bothered with rehearsing, just learn the damn songs, it's not like I'm Frank Zappa and and throwing in all sorts of weird time and chord changes! - well maybe just a few odd bits...) We've had a bit of a sabbatical this year because I'd got sick of rehearsing etc. And what happened? Suddenly a whole load of gigs get booked, we have just two rehearsals and lo and behold we sound better than ever! Rehearsing is totally overrated... Alex

They usually turn up when I haven't written something for a while or even done any practising at all, and often when I'm playing someone else's classical guitar not my own bass. I do seem to be quite prolific with them, probably coming up with enough riffs for a good dozen songs every year - I know I have an ever growing stockpile of songs waiting to be finished! Some composing happens in my head before I go near the bass but often it's more the problem solving that happens there - how to transition from one section to another, etc. At the moment I'm putting together something in my head involving vocal/sax harmonies which I think could be rather cool. Need to sit down with the bass and work out what exactly is going on before it vanishes into the ether... Alex

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='211219' date='Jun 2 2008, 04:56 PM']Personally I think he's too lazy to be bothered to learn his parts properly. That's fair enough and each to his own, but to bail out with no notice is bad darts.[/quote] I think because drummers don't have to learn chord changes, melodies, etc, some of them expect to not have to actually learn an arrangement in detail but think they can just wing it every time. Now if they're good enough and the music is simple enough then that's fine but when they find they're out of their depth they find it quite a shock! I'm fortunate to have an amazing and generally easy-going drummer but he doesn't half get grumpy when he can't get the hang of something straight away! Alex

Does anyone else feel that most problems in bands seem to be tied into rehearsing? Either too many rehearsals or too many band members being ill prepared for them! Alex

Well I now have two 3015s, two 3015LFs, one 605Nd, one 6ND410, and enough hardware including grills for 10 cabs! Unfortunately my local woodshop's panel saw was out of commission last week, so once that's fixed I'm heading in to get to basic panels cut for all the cabs (they do it much quicker than I can with a circular saw). Have drawn up cunning cut sheets to minimise number of cuts - really helps to work in batches because you can make one sheet of ply just into sides, one into backs, etc. Then I'm going to start assembling the first cab as that's needed like yesterday (!) and then I'll make a whole load of braces etc so I can get on with screwing and glueing without having to keep stopping to fire up the circular saw. The 3015 and 605Nd are both really nice looking speakers - the former is concentrically ribbed to get greater treble response then the LF version (which I suspect will give it much better off-axis response than basic theory would suggest) whilst the latter features a very smart aluminium phase plug for improved off-axis response and cooling. Alex

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='211033' date='Jun 2 2008, 12:03 PM']I've got the Beck, Bogert and Appice version if that's any good? It is after all the best version![/quote] Well it was written for Jeff Beck! Alex

One of the great basslines! It was transcribed in Bass Player in the last few years, Rusty Allen played the original line though it was inspired by Larry Graham's playing (which in turn inspired Sly's playing on the demo). I'd say this was a funk song, just a somewhat atypical one - that super laidback 'quiet' funk like Chocolate City. I play a similar bassline on this: [url="http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=24044925015"]http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=24044925015[/url] Alex

I really want to try a 16H and a Flightcase. However I know that the former is way too big for me to cope with (245lbs) and the latter too quiet to cope with me. I'd love to find out the T/S parameters for the various 5" speakers PJB make (the original Piranha, the Briefcase speaker (also used in the Suitcase?), the new Neo-Power speaker (and does the Flightcase use a different speaker again?)) but as they're not only their own designs but they also manufacture them then I can't see that happening... I exchanged some lengthy emails with Phil when he launched PJB and his depth of knowledge is almost unparalleled in the industry. Alex

[quote name='Musky' post='210977' date='Jun 2 2008, 10:33 AM']...was wondering how the bottom end would compare to the 4x12 - I found [url="http://www.aikenamps.com/Marshall4x12response.htm"]this[/url] the other day[/quote] Great link, very informative! If replacing the speakers in a Marshall 4x12" with bass guitar speakers, I'd replace just one vertical pair, block the the other slant speaker hole and block the other lower speaker hole with a suitably sized tuned port. That would give the woofers enough volume to operate well for bass use. However, it would weigh a ton compared to a modern 2x12", it may be a bit wobbly and need extra bracing to perform well for bass, and generally be a bit of a silk purse out of sow's ear scenario... Alex

I'd look at the SWR Interstellar Overdrive, the Warwick Quadruplet or the DHA preamp with the same concept (power tube driving dummy load) plus a lightweight power amp (QSC PLX or PLX2 are a sound choice). Alex

The amazing thing about my new bass is that it has so much happening throughout the frequency range that it sounds good even through the worst amp in the world! Last night I played a gig where the backline consisted of one of those funny little slot-loaded bandpass Trace Elliot combos and I could still hear myself just fine (evidence linked in signature) though I wouldn't have wanted to use such a tiny amp with decent PA support. Alex

Thanks Nik! We're on a mission to become a legendary live outfit, I'm becoming convinced it's the only way to get the word out, short of being ridiculously lucky at being in the right place at the right time... If you're facebooked, I've just uploaded videos of the full gig up there: [url="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Reluctant/13382252282"]http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Reluctant/13382252282[/url] Alex

[quote name='Huge Hands' post='158327' date='Mar 16 2008, 11:21 AM']The hoodie guy in The Roots as well?[/quote] Hub is bad. Flea is still going strong and he really is damn good! Alex

I used to. When I have a heavy moment nowadays, Geezer is the main inspiration. Alex

I should add that for once we do have some upcoming gigs: 29th May (tonight) at The Providence in Hove (Western Road) 16th June at The Joogleberry in Brighton (Kemp Town) 29th July at The Hare & Hounds in Brighton (Preston Circus) all kicking off about 8:30pm And based on our last rehearsal we will be quite fantastic! Alex

Inspired by Nick's thread on Sussex/Surrey gigs, I thought I'd see if anyone can recommend venues amenable to The Reluctant's unique brand of original Brit Skunk (yes, we have our very own Anglo Ska Funk genre). Please post away! Alex

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='208842' date='May 29 2008, 01:43 PM']:O:O *shock horror* I change my strings like i change underwear – almost as often anyway, but you get what I’m saying. No longer than 2 weeks without at least a good old boil up and then a fresh set at least every 8 to 10 weeks.[/quote] Maybe you need a brighter bass! My old Warwick sounds bright with a year old set of strings - fortunately my RIM Custom is a bit more mellow. Alex

My '87 Warwick Streamer cost £650 including a multi-FX, gigbag, flightcase, strap and some 30' leads. Such a bargain that I knew the bass to supersede it had to be absolutely outstanding for me to spend £1k+. However I ended up with the best bass I could have ever imagined for little more than that! Do not spend money you don't have, that's the key to all this! Alex

[quote name='Galilee' post='208806' date='May 29 2008, 01:13 PM']I'd suggest trying a 5-string bass. Your strings must be flapping all over the place and that's not going to help the clarity of your output.[/quote] Presumably he's using the bottom four strings off a five string set! It seems that many five string players would be just as well served by doing this than having an unused G-string. Alex

In the IP cabs' defence, the DSP in there adds a ton of max SPL to the cab by virtue of cunning compression and limiting, plus compensating to some degree for the cabs' inherent sonic deficiencies. I love the Acme cabs. Am hoping my own designs will measure up to that standard, maybe you'd like to try one of them if they do! Alex

P.S. It makes everyone else go "Oh Yes!" too. Alex

Oh yes, we bad. Alex

No, you can't change a cab from 8 to 4 ohms or vice versa without replacing the speakers. Alex

Body wood makes more difference on bolt-on/set-neck basses. On thru-neck basses it can be a good move to chamber the body wings to encourage resonance in the system. I would say though that if you have a good luthier who understands the importance of rigidity in the string support system (tuners/headstock/neck/fingerboard/frets,neck to bridge area, bridge) and resonance in all other areas (the tonal filtering of the body wood as the vibrations run from string witness points and back again) and executes these concepts effectively, then you will get a bass whose sound can be tweaked in almost exactly how you want with pickup and electronics choices. You can be totally anal like me and spend years researching and planning a bass (which thanks to Robbie @ RIM Custom turned out even better than I had hoped for) but it's neither necessary nor normal to do so! Alex