EMG456

Let me think back... 30th Wal 5 40th Alembic 6 50th Chapman Stick 60th (coming up) ACG

Just bought a Phil Jones Bass Double 4 combo from Dan. Very easy to deal with. As described, well packaged and promptly delivered - you can't ask for more! Thanks Dan.

Yeah, I didn't really exaggerate (much)

I have an ACG EQ02 (only 1 low pass filter shared between both pickups) in my Status bass and If you like filter pre's then you'll like the EQ01. As you surmise, it does all the Wal/ Alembic stuff but with much greater flexibility. Both low pass filters have such a range that they can even be used a treble boosts as well as going down to virtually sub bass depths. If you're anything like me, you will need to spend some time with it if you're going to be switching loads of tones around in a live setting but it doesn't take long. For recording, it's excellent - you can dial in just about any sort of sound you imagine. In one of the bands I play with, we do house rehearsals and I play through a wee "busker" combo which is the most horrible, boxy sounding amp I've used for decades. The EQ02 equipped Status is the only bass I have which can completely cancel out all the bad aspects of that amp and provide a beautiful, full, rich and crisp bass sound with no help from external eq's etc.

OK- I'll bite. Back in the late 70s when I was young and foolish, I had joined a band run by a Keyboard player. It was generally a soft rock band, playing Steely Dan, early Toto... that kind of stuff. It was all a bit airy-fairy and I don't think we even made it to a gig so I decided to move on. Couple of years later, I get a call from said keyboard player to say they had a last minute gig on the Saturday night and their bass player couldn't make it - was I available? Well yes, as it happened I was and could they pick me up in the van? So on Saturday afternoon, they turn up and we load my gear in and set off. Keyboard guy, guitarist who is driving in the front and me and the drummer in the back. This drummer was a good player and a nice guy but he always insisted on wearing an ancient afghan coat which stank to the high heavens. The gig is apparently in Dunfermline which in those days was probably about an hour and a half's drive away. I made it without asphyxiating and we arrive outside the venue which turns out to be the Kinema ballroom - a big cavern of a hall which big name acts have been known to play in. I start to get that sinking feeling. As I wheel my Acoustic 301 along the corridor leading to backstage, I am passing posters advertising past and coming attractions - it seems there's something on every Saturday night- The Skids, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, The Rezillos etc. We set up on the massive stage - I can't remember what the PA was - something that came just after WEM columns no doubt - but whatever it was, it was totally inadequate to fill the space. We are trying to perform this sort of American tinged easy listening rock to a crowd who seem to have turned up to pogo, throw beer and spit at one another. It was never going to happen. We got paid off by the manager at half time and scurried out with our tails between our legs! I didn't ever play with those guys again.

This is a strange thread... DrT, you are correct in what you say about the general reach of Graham Central Station versus EWF or indeed the Brothers Johnson with their Quincy Jones connections. Up here in Glasgow, the talk was really all about Louis Johnson. There was a great player called (I think) John Mambie who gigged with a funk/soul outfit up here who was very influential with the local players simply because none of us had ever actually *seen* that type of playing being performed before. the impact was similar to going to see Weather Report at the time and watching Jaco casually strolling out to the front of the stage to play the opening bars of Birdland in false harmonics on the bass - everybody had assumed it was played by Zavinul on an ARP synth! "What?! That's a bass??" Mambie's main man was Louis Johnson so that's who we investigated. Also, here at that time, most of us who were playing came to it through rock music, not funk or soul. There were many more would be rock/pop bands than funk/soul. Bass players of the day who were interested in taking the bass out of it's traditional comfort zone had already been influenced by guys like Chris Squire, John Entwhistle etc. and had dumped the flatwound strings and extended the high frequencies to cut through the mix better. Stanley Clark, Alphonso Johnson, Jaco Pastorius were all heavy influencers as well and using similar clear, bright sounds So the funk crept in through the Jazz/Rock/Fusion stuff and from the rock side through the likes of Steely Dan with the Chuck Rainey/ Bernard Purdie/ Steve Gadd rhythm section and the likes of Little Feat etc. It's a big melting pot!

Well yes, I’ve actually got four of them and my original L2, which I’ve owned from new for over 33 years is still my “go to” bass for any situation where I need a bass that will easily fit into any musical setting. The Steinberger got the reputation as an 80s fashion icon just because it looked so distinctive but for me it was always about function over form and for utter functionality, the Steinberger has never been beaten. The reason no one makes them is that Ned Steinberger sold the rights to the design to Gibson, who unfortunately shut up shop on Steinberger in around 1998. Also, although the design addressed many of the drawbacks of traditional instruments, it was never optimised for mass production, so the manufacture cost of each instrument was high and production could not be scaled up to reduce costs. These were always going to be expensive instruments. I don’t think Ned and his partners realised that the appearance of a guitar was of such importance to the guitarists and bassists who would be buying them- “One day all guitars will be made like this” was one of their ad slogans- but it turned out that the market was so enfatuated with vintage designs, no amount of improved functionality would ultimately outweigh the lack of a headstock or traditional body for the mass market. So we are where we are. There will never be any new Steinbergers built again but they are durable and long lasting so if you want one, there are usually a few available for sale at any given time as long as you aren’t looking for a rare configuration. One thing is certain- nothing that came before or since sounds or feels like a Steinberger- they are truly unique.

This may or may not be stating the obvious but I’ll go ahead anyway. if you would like to have the sound created by “digging in” but from a lighter touch, you’ll need to set up your bass a bit differently, perhaps with a lower action and also maybe with lighter strings. Then you can get all the clank and rattle you want with less physical effort but of course if you like to vary your tone by playing lighter sometimes, you’ll need to modulate that down as well.

This is so well executed and very musical - thanks for posting.

Second that about Synergy. Local engineer got in touch directly with PJB in the states to try to sort out issue with my 10year old Briefcase and more or less hit a brick wall. I contacted Alan Greensall at Synergy. Sent the amp down to them and was sorted within 3 days. Superb service. Again, I only paid shipping one way.

Just looked at that FretTrax video with Victor Wooten - very impressive. A lot of ideas taken from the Industrial Radio system like using a different notes to send patch changes and left hand only triggering. The big innovation here is that it doesn't need split frets - there must be some sort of analysis going on to determine which string was fretted for each note, including multiples. Also noted from their website that it does not do open strings - only fretted. It's a long time since I hooked my Wal up to the midi interface but I'm pretty sure it does open strings as well as fretted.

That’s correct- there’s no latency in a pickup. The latency arises when you try to use the signal from that pickup, analyse it for volume and frequency and then send an appropriate midi note message for it. A GK pickup/ Vbass setup does no midi conversion so no latency but also no actual midi. The Industrial Radio/ Peavey/ Wal setup uses frets split for each string with resistor chains all the way up the fingerboard for note sensing. So again, no audio analysis is performed for pitch sensing- just for note volume information so very low latency and consistent across the entire fingerboard but does actually send midi.

Bought a Zoom effects unit from Loz. Great to deal with and super rapid delivery. Highly recommended!

That is a nice example. It has both the original Steinberger style bridge and the contoured neck/ body joint with the graphite going all the way, none of which you would get on a new Status.

Or just get a fretless with a two octave neck! I suspect that's why I have never noticed this before. Really interesting thread about one of my favourite Jaco tunes. Thanks for posting. Now away to checkout Black Crow for non standard tunings!

In which case, you must keep striving. Some luthiers don't push action adjustments for basses very far simply because most players don't demand it. So if it's not right, take it back and have them look at it again. Do take note though that the lowest of actions can only be achieved when all aspects of a neck are perfect. It must be straight after truss rod tension is applied, the fingerboard must be fastidiously levelled and the frets must be dressed to perfection. If one luthier can't get it, you may need to go to a different one. Lighter gauge strings will help simply because they are under less tension and so are easier to fret but remember that the lighter the strings and the lower the action, the softer you must play before the dreaded clank/ buzz appears. It's not easy- you'll need to work at it but players like MK prove that it is a viable approach. Best of luck - I hope you can get something sorted out.

[quote name='Manton Customs' timestamp='1489433049' post='3256906'] Sadly, there is no easy trick to be able to play like your bass heroes....other than practice and practice some more. I'm sure the likes of Mark King could play really well on a crap bass with a poor setup. That's not to say setup is not important...it is. But you may be overlooking the fact that you're already there setup wise...this observation is based on your other threads where you say your luthier has already setup and addressed the frets on your bass. By all means take it to another luthier, but don't expect miracles. [/quote] This is exactly right. Back in the dim and very distant past when I was starting out, I obsessed with a low action for my first good bass - a Rick 4001. I've always been quite hands on when it comes to understanding how things work and I fettled that bass endlessly but still couldn't get the action I (thought) I wanted without a lot of fret buzz. I took it to a local shop which was run by a pro bass player to see what he thought could be done. He played it and announced that it was one of the best set up basses he had ever played! "What about the buzzing?", I asked. "Well," he said - "can you hear it buzzing just now?" I couldn't. He explained that the problem was me and my technique or indeed, the lack of it. He could make the bass buzz if he wanted by hitting the notes harder or not by playing with a lighter touch. It was a sobering but excellent lesson to have. I have since set up all my basses with exactly that sort of action and it has stood me in good stead. I believe that players like Mark King use a similar type of action but they tend to be unconstrained as to what type of sound they use and it usually is a full range, bright sound. Players who prefer a more traditional bass tone or who are constrained by having to provide a particular sound to suit record producers or band leaders/ musical directors may well be forced into higher actions on their basses just to eliminate the possibility of rogue fret buzz/ clank creeping in.

Ah, the black and red Washburns - Force 4?

Flats just aren't my thing. You don't get the mwah without having the higher frequencies available. Flats don't go as high as rounds. You can take away frequencies using tone shaping but you can't put back frequencies that aren't there in the first place. That said, a lot of people are using flats again, something I never thought I would see after the '70s. There will be less wear using flats but again, I don't think that should be your main criterion. If you remove the laquer from your fingerboard, you will get a warmer tone. Ed

Looks like a nice idea to me - fretted and fretless at the same time - superb. And a very reasonable price.

Very nice - I have one of these in the original white but like what you've done. It's really similar to what I did to my old Aria - build diary here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/234069-1977-aria-rescue/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/234069-1977-aria-rescue/[/url] Are '70s sanded finishes coming back into fashion? It's been a while! Ed

Well known fundamental design flaw in the BBOT bridge. (runs for cover)