Chris2112

The big shame with Spector is the price hike. I remember a few years ago when you could get an NT Euro with EMG P/J pickups for £1000 new at Sound Control. They were incredible, they sounded like Victor Wooten's Fodera basses! Sadly, they're a bit overpriced now IMO. Warwick's new prices, on the other hand, have always been absolutely ridiculous, whereas Spector used to be reasonable!

If it's anything like my old 80's 4X10" Trace cab then it will weigh a ton! Moving them is a two man job! Impressive sound though.

Yep, those finishes can be a bit much! I really liked the Flea basses with the maple tops, they look awesome.

[quote name='bubinga5' post='982667' date='Oct 9 2010, 04:31 PM']Well ive been playing for 15 years and im a good bass player...i know many L42 songs and i love them,but i dont know any of the bass lines...does that make me a bad bassist.. some of the plodding along you refer to can be the most musical bass playing...it doesnt have to be technical to be great bass playing...ever heard willie weeks on Donny Hathaways tracks..?[/quote] For a start, Wojtek is very talented but just seems to apply tricks from Mark King's trick bag without the great note choice that makes Mark's playing so compelling. As for your playing, I see you talk a lot about that Meshell D'Negeocello or whatever her name is. That kind of music, to me, is about as naff as it gets and if that your style, then no I probably wouldn't like your playing and it would fall into what I would call "bad" or at least the type of thing I wouldn't want to listen to. But I play for myself and listen to what I like so YMMV, everyone is different. At least we can all be united under the common banner of Mark King and agree that he is class. As for Mark being a an LJ copyist, I don't buy it. He borrowed a lot from Stanley Clarke to start with, but almost immediately improved on it. "Dune Tune" was like a better version of the School Days interlude and the solo from "Foundation and Empire" was better than anything Stan had done IMO despite using his signature triplet feel! Mark was lucky to bring a new style of playing to a new sound much in the same way that Jaco and Wooten did.

In the 80's there were two blokes who I think were as good as Mark King: Geddy Lee and Stuart Hamm. Plenty of great bassists around at the time but these three really knew the score.

Bubinga, no I'm not joking. When I see amateur bassists who can really play they've usually got a few King licks up their sleeve. But then I do like bassists who aren't afraid to really work the bass rather than just plod along on it!

[quote name='steve-soar' post='982647' date='Oct 9 2010, 04:04 PM']Ouch, aching forearms.[/quote] I forgot just how incredible your stamina has to be for that song! By the first chorus my arms were starting to ache! I ended up slapping with a much lighter touch from the thumb and that allowed me to rattle the song off without my arms seizing up!

In keeping with the recent Level 42 theme I went back to "Lessons in Love" and got it tight with the drums!

Mark King is of course the boy! And despite the fact he could play rings around anyone here on the forum, he remains to be a nice guy. I think his impact goes far beyond the fact he was the face of bass in Europe in the 80's, and I don't think there has been anyone since to have dominated the scene in the way he has. I think today you can spot a good bassist a mile off, usually if he has his Level 42 licks together. A little bit of "43" here, a bit of "Mr Pink" there, most of the guys who have got their chops together now did it with Level 42 records! I do think he would have been great in other musical situations but he enjoyed so much success with Level 42 that he didn't need to branch out. When I think of this, I always go back to the Princes Trust video with Mark playing bass on Midge Ure's "If I Was". Mark forms a huge groove with Big Country's mark brzezicki on drums, incredible stuff.

I loved having my Thumb. It was one of those basses I had always wanted to own and it was very useable. Would I want to own another Warwick? I could be tempted by a Streamer, but as it stands I'm not really wanting to rush back to them. I'd rush back to Spector though!

Very nice basses to play and quite a nice aggressive sound too. Definitely a "studio" bass though, unless you play in a disco or cabaret band!

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=105372"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=105372[/url] I've written up a few notes on my time with an S2 here, a quick review of a 1986 S2 through my Ashdown MK500.

The first time I saw Level 42 live was at the Sage on the Retroglide tour! Good show too!

As much as I love Wals, they can lean towards being "boat anchors". The MKII and III were suitably trimmed down and look much more stylish though. They play well (IMO) but the curious V shaped neck profile can be disconcerting to some. Watching Jonas Hellborg playing his Wal double neck can sometimes make [i]me[/i] feel exhausted!

You'll lose a bit of cash value in the trade, but if you can sit down and try it first and like it then I don't think it's that bad a deal.

Trends are of course trends, no matter how long they last. I think one day Wal basses will be uncool. Remember the Warwick boom at the turn of the millenium? People realised the old ones were the ones to have and their values rose, people bought the new ones by the shedload and they commanded good prices used. Now they're doing extremely badly on the used market. A good Thumb NT will struggle to make £800, Streamer Stage 1's seem to do pretty badly too. Wal were once in this position themselves!

I can remember when Wals were considered old hat and sold for next to nothing! They were like the ultimate pub bassists instrument, naffer than naff! Of course, I do not subscribe to this school of thought. They are amazing, utterly unique basses. However, in terms of just how good they are, I do feel their prices have been vastly over-inflated and this has had a knock on effect to the new build ones.