Chris2112

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1052454' date='Dec 9 2010, 09:46 AM']Im sure your right, they definitely radiate quality, even from the pics but still, paying that sort of money and compromising on looks means i probably still wouldnt want one.[/quote] Probably best you stick to Fenders then! As for the colour issue, just look at what Alan can get for you if you ask, woods as colourful as you like! My bass has an incredible orange hue to it...

Ah, I was playing my Thumb through a Trace Elliot 4x10" with no tweeter, I suspect things may be a bit "harsher" though my Ashdown MK500!

[quote name='mcgraham' post='1051463' date='Dec 8 2010, 10:58 AM']I don't agree with this - just 'trusting' you'll find the right technique for you and that you'll do it correctly is nonsense.[/quote] It worked for me...I realised one day I could do both styles and I'd never gave it any concious though. However, judging by the amount of mugs who play their basses round their ankles, perhaps it takes someone with common sense to benefit from this "natural development" approach.

Anyone interested in reading about ACG basses, please see the link in my signature, I've done a fairly in depth review of the Harlot singlecut I bought this year. If I had to sum up ACG I'd say they are quite simply the best basses being made in the UK today. And with Wal and Status Graphite here that's a good effort! I recall reading recently that the bloke from Luthier's Access Group in the US had ordered an ACG to see what they were all about and he thought it was excellent. That's a good effort too, saying as the LAG has had some amazing basses there.

[quote name='lojo' post='1037367' date='Nov 26 2010, 08:39 AM']Where is the line between a buying guitar whilst on holiday visiting a musical tourist spot in the states as a souvenir, much like you might buy a bongo drum in africa, and importing[/quote] As soon as they smell some money to be made from it they'll sink their teeth in, even if it is just some piece of sh*t SX bass you're smuggling in!

I remember the walls of the stairway leading into Howards in Newcastle were thick with adverts back when the shop was open! Those were the days...

"Bliss Factor Part II" by Guitar Prasanna with Victor Wooten playing the bass...the end has one of his most incredible grooves of all time. Savage.

I have always tended to use a variable of both techniques, and I have developed both to the point where changing between them is as fluid as possible. In fact, I actually had to picture the bass in my head to work out how I do it as it's not something that I think about! I probably rely more on having my thumb in a "transitional achor" technique, where it's resting on the string above the one I'm playing as it can really help you to get a nice even, powerful pluck on funky 16th note passages. In the end though, I don't think too much time should be spent working on the technique if it does not feel immediately "natural" to you. I could probably play everything I do with both styles, and I think there are much more important things to focus on. I certainly never dedicated any time to these techniques specifically, unlike I did with say; slap or four finger plucking. In the end, if you're meant to be using a certain right hand plucking technique it will probably develop itself (unless you're thinking of something wild like Billy Sheehan's three finger "rolling" style!)

I'd say a lot of of this pain may be caused by the angle your wrist is at. Is your wrist straight or is the joint at an angle when you're picking? I always say that picking comes from fractionally small movements of the elbow modulated by the wrist. It should not be about swinging the wrist or flexing the fingers. If there is an angle in the joint of your wrist (IE there is not a straight line between your elbow and your hand) you could be compressing the inner workings of the wrist. Blood vessels, nerves and tendons will not react well to being squashed. For some people, they can get away with playing with their bass round their knees and their wrist bent like a fish hook. For others, they get a lot of pain quickly. My advice would be to try raising your bass up if you wear it low. I find that, if you were to draw a horizontal line over your body where your elbow naturally hangs when standing, optimum picking is achieved by keeping your picking hand on or above this line. Hold the pick lightly to avoid muscle craps in your hands and take it slow. As has been said, never play through the pain as you could due more serious damage. It may well be worth investing time in a good warm up routine prior to playing, as adivsed by the likes of Stuart Hamm and Billy Sheehan.

What about the days when you used to put up an advert just inside the door of the guitar shop?

I'd to take this opportunity to once again mention how much I like my ACG; I was playing a friend's Ken Smith today and while it was very nice, I have to say the ACG was quite considerably better. It's quite a shame that I'm missing this event, as I know a lot of people there will have never played an ACG before and I'm sure they'd quite enjoy my Harlot singlecut along with the other ACG basses there!

I'm a total hobbyist. I enjoy the occasional ditty on a bass and I've spent a bit of money getting a nice collection going. I'm not a particularly fantastic player but I like a bit of a go.

[quote name='Badass' post='1050650' date='Dec 7 2010, 03:48 PM']Cheers Chris, I thought there would be plenty to choose from. No worries, I'll add that 'Return to forever' DVD to my Chrissy list. You never know what Santa may bring [/quote] FWIW, I bought the "John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension" DVD at the same time as the RTF one and it is significantly better as a whole!

I love Pino's playing on that track, it's just a shame you have to listen to Numan warbling away over the top!

That looks fantastic, and I'm glad to see you've gotten a result as far as the preamp goes! I never much minded the MEC preamp in my thumb but it didn't exactly set the world on fire like a Kubicki or ACG preamp!

[quote name='Sheldon Dingwall' post='1050081' date='Dec 7 2010, 12:01 AM']I'm surprised to hear a Kubicki owner argue that increased scale length doesn’t make much difference. That's one of the basses that made me realize how much richer the drop-D was with a longer scale.[/quote] You know Sheldon, I had never thought of it like that. I was looking at the varied scale length concept on Dingwall basses when I had a chance to look at it on one of my own. For the benefit of this thread, Sheldon definitely has a point. If I detune the E to D, it feels flappy and the bottom end loses clarity, punch and sustain. If I lift the D Clip (changing a 32" scale E string to a 36" scale D) the D rings through much stronger, and feels much much better to the fingers. It's tighter; but not excessively so, and feels much more satisfying and responsive. You get a lot more feedback through the string to your fingers, which in turn enhances to playing experience. I wouldn't want the whole bass to be 36" scale, but in terms of making that D note a real "stand out" thing, it certainly works. However, I do still find myself drawn to thigns like Overwater as I'd like to try owning a full 36" scale bass at some point. I think it has to be said, that a lot of people stick doggedly behind your basses. I recall one bloke on Talkbass who valued his above any Kubicki, or Fodera, or Alembic or whatever. The same has been mentioned here, that those that find the fanned fret thing to be a real boon enjoy it so much it effectively reshapes their bass collection to centre around Dingwall, and Dingwall's ability to make basses that fit their needs (the introduction of a Dingwall jazz bass for instance). I'd say Dingwall are quite comfortably the market leaders in this type of thing, and I expect that in years to come people will view Dingwall as the absolute in terms of the fanned fret concept, much like Status Graphite are seen as the ultimate purveyors of graphite technology in basses (no offense Modulus, Zon etc etc). However Sheldon, your contributions here are much appreciated. Seeing your thought process and vision behind the basses put here in respect of what we've been discussing has been an eye opener. Perhaps I was guilty of focusing on the fanned frets instead of the bass as a whole (thats not to say they wern't great basses). Hopefully I'll have a chance to play a few more, but this time I'll concentrate on your vision of the basses rather than what I expect!

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1049587' date='Dec 6 2010, 05:06 PM']I nearly set my neck putting my gear back in the car afterwards, mind. Glad I used the BFB Compact... anything heavy would have been a nightmare.[/quote] You'd have to slide it out of the venue!

I was having a look at the Laklands in Guitar Guitar today and they really are quite expensive for what they are! I mean, they look nice enough but there was one there (not even that attractive either) that was £1199 or something outrageous like that! Cor blimey!

[quote name='KevB' post='1049525' date='Dec 6 2010, 04:32 PM']Still can't get over WOT getting his own riser and TWO monitors...utterly spoilt [/quote] It does have an air of the "dunce's riser" about it though! I'm surprised anyone made it to the gig, I was walking past the city hall today by chance and the snow outside has turned into a sheet of dirty ice, and the road has been coned off from car access!

[quote name='Bassassin' post='1049202' date='Dec 6 2010, 12:52 PM']Can I just take a moment, while there's a general atmosphere of bloodyminded intolerance here on BC, and while I'm sitting here looking at the 4 inches of f@cking snow that has fallen this morning, to point something out that bugs the living tits off me? RIC, or Ric: Acronym for Rickenbacker International Corporation, the company which manufactures Rickenbacker instruments. [b][u]Rick: Abbreviation of Rickenbacker.[/u][/b] Thanks for listening, I feel better now. As you were. Jon.[/quote] ...? Since when did this become "the rule"? You're hardly likely to mistake what someone is talking about simply because they call it a Ric rather than a Rick. On the subject of these instruments though, Geddy Lee did get a nice tone from his Ric, although I noticed when I saw them live the jazz the jazz sounded better, so Iw as glad the Ric only came out for two songs!

Yep, the Berzerker and Impaled Nazarene have used them... I'd say the Berzerker stuff is about as good as it gets with programmed drums in metal, although they found a guy to play those tracks live...scary!

The only other one I can really think of is the Return To Forever Live one from a couple of years ago. It's a really good DVD, very well filmed with a good sound quality. The only thing that really lets it down is Chick Corea, he uses a lot of crap sounding patches and often seems to think it's all about him. It's sad in a way, that the band ended up like this, slightly off form. This is really evident right before one one of the tunes, Al Di Meola gets this awesome groove going on, Stanley joins in on the bass and it sounds fantastic. Then Chick starts soloing aimlessly over the top, Stan gets bored and starts playing Lopsy Lu and it all falls apart! So thats a bit of a shame, but it's definitely a DVD worth having.

I can see why you'd want it, it is a stunner...