ARGH

[quote name='Alun' post='41254' date='Aug 4 2007, 01:23 PM']I'll have to try that - sounds wonderfully bizarre. At the moment, my tunings are quite reserved. Apart from standard, I mainly dabble with the B string on my six string - CEADGC and AEADGC but have written solo pieces in CEACGC and AEACGA. Have tried GCGDAD but didn't really come up with anything that exciting. Cheers, Alun[/quote] It was..... Harmonically very weird,quite droney if I recall (if that isnt a word it is now)

Im just going to dig out an old preBowie interview with her... She has been an amazing musician for years.

The weirdest one I tried during my school days was D-A-D-Dsharp. Ive had a fretless tuned to 5ths (CGDA) to try and extend the range.

Sod that Amps...Tech 21 Bass....depends Strings......Elites

ERB? Gregory Bruce Campbell [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aAevLpGHsxs"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aAevLpGHsxs[/url] And the sub contra dude Stuart McKinsey [url="http://www.myspace.com/stewmckinsey"]http://www.myspace.com/stewmckinsey[/url] or www.subcontrabassist.com or you could just natter with me in a month or 2.

Yeah THATS an improvement. Whats the cost of the top change?

[quote name='Higgie' post='39083' date='Jul 30 2007, 05:01 PM']I have a Tech21 Comptortion for £60 (inc. postage)...It's a great distortion pedal. Ant and Toasted will tell you the same [/quote] ANYTHING by Tech 21 is good in my book!

After seeing a few Woot vids,I have to agree,though Its actually Bill Dickens thats made me try it. [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kyUCOeUTM7E"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kyUCOeUTM7E[/url] It is a bit mental. this is tasty,What cant all slappers be this tasteful. [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NHdN_O5k3WM&mode=related&search="]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NHdN_O5k3WM&...ted&search=[/url]

Good ol banging Soul fills the floor everytime... ^_^ 1-nil to the Band!

Coz its hard and Im trying!

Want to get noticed....? Move about a bit.

Agreed,I would rather go to a shop,and pay a bit more,if the staff actually give a damn and seem to know what they are on about. Im a bit sick and tired of the "Well the guy that knows about Bass stuff isnt here/has gone home" line. In my job I have to know EVERYTHING or as much as dammit,and get checked regularly to see if my knowledge is up to date,ok so is it nesserecery to have everyone fluent in midi and protools and active systems and amplification,in a shop,maybe,maybe not,but it would really really help. Even a customer care course...or ANYTHING would be a start. A Fred Perry with an embroided logo doth not the expert make..... I know selling music gear can make you jaded as hell (Ive a friend that owns an independent) with all the kids coming in just to do crappy versions of Metallica riffs,and tossers who want super expensive boutique gear,but dont want to pay a deposit for it,or give any details (so what do you do ? Order it and pray they come back and show interest?) and then they slag your shop off for selling "cheapy jappo stuff" Best shop in the UK for me is Mansons in Exeter,They actually say hello for a start.

[quote name='Shockwave' post='38293' date='Jul 28 2007, 11:08 PM']I have known for at least the past year the huge finanicial problems they have. I know the Bristol SC's manager and a freind of his. Basically yes your all correct, SC has expanded too quickly and failed to realise that unlike supermarkets who get loans to expand where 100% of the population needs food. Music shops are unfortunatly not the same less then 1% of the population are musicians, They took loan after loan and bought out a number of companys and they just cant pay back their debts. We thought they would have gone tits up last summer but have somehow managed to hang in there. The Bristol one is usually quite busy And with relatively good salesman (The reason i say salesman is because they only hire based on how well you can sell a product, Not how much you know about it). Expect a decent sale at somepoint.[/quote] Thought so,that 5 string gold hardware'd Spectors mine

Isnt soundcontrol what used to be 'Academy of sound'???

[quote name='paul, the' post='37938' date='Jul 27 2007, 06:51 PM']Don't confuse me, I'm wearing a towel.[/quote] What colour?

Ok,I keep hearing this on the grapevine. Soundcontrol are on the verge of folding because they havent paid their importers or something,and shops are to close. Now is this a Leeds only thing (As they have 2 shops in the city,both in really dim places that are a sod to get to or find). Any light? I personally think its not happening,but I do go into the stores and see sodall being sold or persons inside buying.......... soooo???

[quote name='mr_russ' post='38050' date='Jul 28 2007, 09:07 AM']I've owned and played basses with maple necks that I've loved, and others I've hated- I've owned and played basses with wenge neck that I've loved, and again others I've hated I'm certain in myself that the wood does affect tone, but the variation between seemingly identical instruments can be so profound it's almost impossible to say without doubt which I prefer. I've disliked most wenge necked warwicks I've played- and swiftly connected the main outstanding feature (the wenge neck) with that dislike. Yet my old Sei original 5 was made almost entirely of the stuff and it was fantastic. Like CK said, it's all a balancing act. I try not to judge a bass by the wood it's made of anymore- if it sounds good and feels good- it is good, whether it's made of ash or mdf.[/quote] Is wood good? Good wood is!

[quote name='alexclaber' post='37552' date='Jul 26 2007, 10:02 PM']but the electric bass is first and foremost an acoustic instrument. Alex[/quote] You have outdone yourself there Alex,I thought 'Positional playing on an ERB is laziness' was the pinnicle,but hats off.....I applaud. Ok,Take your pickups out and the electronics and see how far you get on your next gig. The is NO Alchemy or absolute to building an instrument or within an instruments construction re:tone. What you ,and others are failing to take into account is that although a species does have certain properties,the scope is wide and varied. For example maple 'will' be more trebly than Mahogany,but in reality there are some REALLY trebley Mahogany guitars and bassy maple guitars...Luthiers have to work within trends,as said there aint no absolutes. You can get two Basses made of the same wood,even the same tree,with exactly the same elctronics,and they will feel and play differently thanks to density,grain direction,pickup winding pattern,many factors..etc etc Not only does it vary in species,the same species,but it wil vary across the length of a board/neck..attach that neck to another bass with the same body material and that sound you have been enjoying is different. So it was not the neck governing tone..was it the body..no....telling the difference between maple and Wenge is extraordinarily difficult Its the player,and the scale and the electronics. Dear Alex. Fret a 3rd fret G,on the 36" custom when you get it..then the same note on your regular 4 string,Downtune the 4 to B,then play the 5s B. Thats the difference. The constant factor is you....or whoever picks up that instrument,the scale is the change. Why would a luthier make 2 guitars the same just to see if they sounded different? (Fender/Gibson do that every day). It just astounds me that a few weeks back everyone was saying ,when I pick up an instrument it sounds like me,and now we are saying the neckwood governs our tone,so what is it then.... Neckwood is personal choice,I dont like Wenge much,I was brought up on P basses so I like Maple under my thumb,but dont attribute it to X Tone is better or makes this noise,because thats just rubbish.

Where was this in the mid 80s,and when the peppers craze kicked in!

[quote name='Tinman' post='37272' date='Jul 26 2007, 12:17 PM']Surely (and don't flame me for this) if that was the case, wouldn't more manufacturers be advocating the use of plexiglass etc?[/quote] If market demanded hell yeah! If (INSERT FAVE BASSMAKER HERE) insisted that Tapioca rice lam'd between Gnatwood was the new tonal nirvana,Im sure a quantity of people on here would be insisting of having it installed asap. Its taste,but then Reality kicks in,when the next 'tonal craze' comes along.

[quote name='Wil' post='37283' date='Jul 26 2007, 12:32 PM']Of course wood choice affects tone! Different wood = different grain, resonance, and density which affects the way your bass vibrates. The way your bass vibrates affects the way your strings vibrate, so clearly it will have an effect on tone. I have a graphite neck on one of my Status basses, and a maple neck on the other. The tone difference is staggering (the necks and bodies are exactly the same profile and size btw). The maple definately adds a midrange hump that is not there with the graphite neck.[/quote] No I think how and where you pluck the string will effect the way your strings vibrate the most,and yeah a different material,such as ultra stiff Graphite will make the instrument sound different,but if it was the holy grail,we would all be doing it,but then again...forgive me if Im wrong,you are still pressing down on metal frets. And perception of the player is a person to person thing,but when it comes down to it,banging on about 'vibrations and resonances and densitys' means little when the mathematics of scale come into play. And surely bodily vibrations are the last of what an instrument wants...feedback. late 60s semi hollows vibrated wonderfully,but their failings gave us the experiments in active systems,and very different sounds. having similer dimension basses..profile etc,isnt really a great judge. I always remember some guitarists trying out strats...the tales of 'having to try out x until I found the one i liked' Its just taste,aesthetics,trust me if you could make a neck from purpleheart I would buy it tomorrow,but thats coz I like the look of the wood in the light. But you cant argue with the fact that Scale affects tone over pretty much all factors,wood being one of them. Now I know you will start saying "But X maker says this" and yes X maker says that...but Y maker says different from X....and hes been making Instruments longer,yet Newbie Makers Q and J have a different opinion again. Do you like maple as a neckwood..ok,good,do you prefer Wenge? Well great. But discussing it beyond what is stable,and looks/feels nice is kinda... well...dumb.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='37295' date='Jul 26 2007, 12:55 PM']So you're saying that the massive variation in stiffness, hardness, self-damping, density, and so on, between different species of wood has no bearing on how the string vibrates? Alex[/quote] a little bearing,but not as much as is made out. What are the strings pressing on? Metal frets. ok I'll give you fretless has a lot more to do with wood,but thats personal choice,what one man likes another hates.. All you are wanting a neck to do is remain stable,so it keeps true and the string stays in tune,if it looks good then you have a bonus. Scale changes sound,because that physics,electronics change sound....active vs passive..tone controls..boost/cut etc. I just find this kinda funny.....

Its Hokum... Just use good wood.

OOOOOH GOOD SONG!

Size and scale affect tone,the actual woods influence is minimal. All else is personal taste and aesthetics,If you like the look and feel of it,choose it.