Chris2112

One of my favourite techniques! Just keep working at it and they'll get better.

[quote name='lozbass' post='982355' date='Oct 9 2010, 09:29 AM']Littleal - gorgeous and befitting your talent! Mine is a 2002 Mk2 in Walnut (talent utterly un-befitting of the bass)[/quote] Good grief, it's so attractive! What a beautiful looking Wal, one of the nicest I've seen!

They need to bring back the king of the SR range, the 3006!

I spend a lot of the time just playing solo to a click track or a drum track, so hopefully I'm not too bad. I'm more comfortable in a band setting though where there is a bit of cover if you mess up!

Funny, I can't get it to zoom in so I can't really see what is for sale!

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1077836' date='Jan 4 2011, 08:33 PM']Thanks Marvin...didn't realise it was you. I always stress to the staff that emails need to be dealt with quickly. It doesn't always happen, especially if we're really busy or short-staffed, but I know it would piss me off, too.[/quote] Cheers for the amp Pete, I love it!

[quote name='daz' post='1077508' date='Jan 4 2011, 04:53 PM']ps: re: Jeff Berlin. Actually I couldnt tell if Victor Bailey was doing a subltle pisstake of jeff berlin on stage at the last bass day. When he talked about guys who were wizzards on the bass as far as technique were concerned but had 'no groove' whatsoever![/quote] Victor Bailey has no room to badmouth Jeff, he's done some bloody awful things in his time and is a byword for mediocrity! This has to be one of the most painful things I've ever heard, and I always think of this particular tune when I see "bad covers" threads. And here is a particularly bad bass solo. I know he had massive shoes to to fill after Jaco but this really is some awful, sloppy and aimless soloing. I'd like to say the start is a particular low point but there are howlers everywhere. I sometimes wonder why Joe Zawinul picked him to replace Jaco. He started off as a bad Jaco clone (in a way) and there were so many fantastic players around at the time. Maybe Joe didn't want to have to share the stage with another "big" bassist (his clashes of ego with Jaco are well documented), especially since Wayne Shorter seemed to have disappeared from Weather Report in the 80's!

Having seen Sterling Ball stomping around the internet I'm not surprised to see that EB don't really care about their customers. Again, I've heard of lots of trouble with getting in touch with Joe Zon but the Zon operation is extremely small and extremely busy. Still, how long does a quick email take? There can't be much worse than worrying while you wait for a £2000 bass!

[quote name='Lozz196' post='1077189' date='Jan 4 2011, 12:18 PM']Compare it with American customer service. I e-mailed Avatar Speakers on New Years Day, and got an e-mail back from them yesterday. No excuse really, think its a case of the American way is that a reply may generate a sale, whereas the British way seems to be "too much messin abt mate".[/quote] I used to email Phil Kubicki when he was based in California and even though I'd bought my bass second hand, he always offered good advice and even gave me his workshop phone number incase I needed to chat via telephone! Excellent customer service.

In no particular order... [b]Stuart Hamm[/b]: Stu inspired my tone, and his records are a masterclass in good bass playing. He shows excellent ability in both grooving and being up front with fantastic bass parts. Stu was the reason I got into Kubicki basses! [b]Geddy Lee[/b]: Geddy got me thinking about this "perfect" basslines. Rush are probably my favourite band of all time, his lines are just incredible. His tone on 'Power Windows' and 'Hold Your Fire' is a masterclass in getting bass sounding good in rock bands and the production is just right, its what I strive for. Geddy encouraged me to unclutter my playing and just concentrate on putting the right notes in the right place. [b]Mark King[/b]: Mark inspired me with British Cool. It was that cocky attitude I loved, the fact that he constantly let other players on the 80's pop scene know that he was the best with his bombastic solos before dropping back into some of the best songs of the 80's with that unique percussive, melodic style he has. [b]Jonas Hellborg[/b]: a further influence musically and tonally. I've spent hundreds of pounds tracking down my Hellborg record collection, and it's all been worth it. Hellborg has always occupied a niche, but he always focuses on the music so intensely. In the past few years, he has detached his ego completely from what he is doing and has created some of the most incredible fusion around. 'Escape' from the [i]Icon[/i] album is about as good as music gets IMO, every note is placed so perfectly. [b]Bakithi Kumalo[/b]: The absolute master of fretless bass playing. He has that driving South African style, with it's obvious rhythm and frequent melodic flourishes. I love it, and thats what I try to bring to a lot of my bassplaying. I love South African music.

[quote name='Marvin' post='1077200' date='Jan 4 2011, 12:31 PM']Apparently there's a very nice man who works at the Academy of Sound .[/quote] If it's someone round here (Pete Academy, maybe?) then the shop is excellent wih customer service and sells great stuff. An Ashdown MK500 combo for £500? Excellent!

I've never really bothered with emailing shops, but I did buy my Ashdown MK500 amp from a shop called Academy of Sound. I ordered it online, but when I rang up to ask about the shipping they were very on the ball, excellent customer service. However, the top luthiers in the country like Rob Green, Alan Cringean and Jon Shuker are excellent at replying to emails with the answers you seek!

They're just basses to me.

[quote name='funkypenguin' post='1075780' date='Jan 2 2011, 09:40 PM']At the moment my sound is fairly close to Anthony Jacksons. If i had to change i would go for something close to Tony Grey (fodera not Yamaha)[/quote] Are you using the gear in your signature to get that sound?

They look awesome, and they've got loads of comparison videos on the site that I'm looking forward to watching! I can't seem to find the prices though...

[quote name='bigthumb' post='1075365' date='Jan 2 2011, 03:10 PM']It was a nice Thumb, played and felt just right. Julian (slooj) now uses a 5 string G&L as he [i]needs[/i] the extra string! I though the Kubicki was bonkers but wow, what a slap machine![/quote] Aye, I do love the Kubicki. I first had one when I was 16 and I sold it when I was 18 (silly me...) and spent years wanting another one. So I was well glad I found one, as I don't think I could be without one again! I did love that Thumb though, it was superb. At the time I was playing a lot of Big Country stuff and the Thumb did the job fantastically.