Chris2112

It's like it's 1999 all over again!

I'd just go for it. 5 strings may not be for you. For years I avoided them and only played 4's and 6's. Now I'm happy playing a 4, 5 or 6 string. A good bass is a good bass and having a good 5 string doesn't mean you'll never like another 4 string, or your current 4 strings will become redundant.

Why do you want talked out of it? The top end Ibanez SR basses are, and have long been, top quality products!

My old bass! Sounds great in the videos but it has to be heard in person to hear what it can really do!

What I can remember from the past few years Warwick Thumb 5 String BO wideneck Warwick Thumb 4 string BO Status Matrix Status Series II Status Stealth 6 string Zon Sonus x2 1989 Kubicki Ex Factors (pre-fender crossover) Status Rebop DLX 4 string (Zebrano) Ibanez BTB405QM Zoot fretless bass Fender Jaco Pastorius fretless jazz bass ACG Harlot Singlecut Warwick Streamer Ltd Edition 1990 Alembic Epic There will be others I have forgotten about too!

Asking for pictures? Common sense really. You wouldn't buy something you haven't seen. Even if they do have the item, if they're too lazy to take pictures of it they can get stuffed!

It is definitely a beauty.

The 'Lightwave' pickups have always been a bit pump, really. I never thought they were going to change the way basses were made.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1350158281' post='1835367'] Ok so, the wedding & function band route is very lucrative and probably a young man's game. [/quote] I wouldn't say that. The best wedding and function bands round here have all been together for years! And having worked for four years in a hotel, I saw just about every function band going round here. When is it time to hire a crew? When you're getting the gigs that pay for them. The most 'big time' band I saw play at the hotel was a serious outfit. I can't remember their name (they weren't that good), but the stage setup was immense. They turned the back of a function suite into a stage. A backdrop, a lighting rig that covered the whole stage, the bassist had a Fodera Emperor and a Genz Benz rig.

It's a great track. The bassline isn't perfect and it's better for it!

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1349998213' post='1833505'] Don't mis-quote me. i am familiar with wooten. I said i didn't like his slap style, and that i find a good groove within a song more interesting than a song that IS a groove, i.e.- Wootens songs. [/quote] But then you're talking guff. As Wooten's songs are about more than just a groove, in most cases. He'll provide a groove. Usually there will be melody, harmony and colour added by other instruments or in some cases, Vic himself. The point being that Vic no doubt strives to put a good groove into his songs, but they aren't just grooves exclusively, if you wish to categorise things in such an unwieldy and pedantic manner.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1349993375' post='1833444'] I don't like wooten's slap, for a couple of reasons... but i would rather hear a tight groove in a song [/quote] I see you are largely unfamiliar with Victor Wooten then. He is one of the tightest groovers around. This track is awesome, Prasanna with Vic on bass. From about 04:40 until the end of the song, he is bringing the house down with that massive groove. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQQVbfam06s"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQQVbfam06s[/url]

[quote name='urb' timestamp='1349957450' post='1832666'] This is superb - sure the gurning is what it is, does it matter? How many of you *never* pull a face when playing...? [/quote] It's distracting from the actual music though. Not just that, but it looks so forced and false. Although when Patitucci did it it didn't seem quite as contrived as this. I remember seeing a .gif on ebaumsworld of Patitucci endlessly repeating some gurning at Chick as he played a little solo. It's like his face was reflecting what he was tying to do with the instrument, stuff like raising his eyebrows as he bent a string or whatever. I found it incredibly irritating to watch too, being a .gif! Overall though, I do find Continuum a bit worn out. Maybe it was hearing Victor Bailey's 'Do you know who' cover. Still makes me shudder. The best version of Continuum I've heard in a while was the Trio of Doom recording. McLaughlin's shimmering guitar intro and the interplay with the bass at the start makes for fantastic listening and breathed some life into this tune which I mostly feel like I've heard one or two many times before.

The first thing I thought when I saw the bassist was 'John Patitucci'. Patitucci was always going on like that when he played Chick Corea; gurning and swaying his head around whilst looking at Chick and trying to look 'jazz'.

Definitely you being a grumpy old man as Victor Wooten is awesome. Mind you, his party trick skills tend to get mentioned more than his music which is a shame. He is an awesome bass player, but most people are more interested in the jaw dropping slap solos he does for fun than the many, many albums of music he has recorded as a band leader and sideman. Victor is, I would say, probably the most competent and complete bassist out there.

[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1349718008' post='1829581'] I have 5 string alembics which others have described as heavy but I doubt if any are 11lbs. Maybe I should check. [/quote] I've played some real boat anchor Alembics in my time. And I love them! But some of them are really heavy. Make my Thumb 5 string feel like a feather pillow. That said, I mostly play sitting down these days so the weight matters little to me, especially since if I am standing I will have the bass very high on the strap meaning my lower back is saved the job of propping me up.

The Arpege also has the cooler name.

I've never really been here nor there on Rickenbacker basses. They sound great through a cranked amp for playing rock, but then most things do. They looks do nothing for me. The thing that really bothers me is the way the company conducts business now. I respect their right to protect their trademark but they go about it in a fairly ugly fashion. I have also played Ric copies that would blow a proper Ric into the weeds, so I'll be unlikely to shell out top whack for one any time soon.

And as mentioned above, it's some real rock, not the robotic, quantised rubbish that gets batted about these days.

Is that from a live recording? The studio version sounds similar but actually comes across as pretty tight when the drums are added in. In a live situation, particularly a live one, we all know it can be a bit of a crap shoot sometimes! Lovely tone too, never though I'd say that about a P bass unless Tony Butler was playing it! Queen couldn't half knock out a good tune.

Nice playing, though I'm not sure the microphone is doing the bass justice as it sounds very lifeless. Dead strings?

[quote name='Mr Fretbuzz' timestamp='1349628773' post='1828446'] I was at this shop last year and a guy was playing one...he had GAS but when he saw the disgust on my face, [b]he put it down, decided to save for a real one [/b]and left the shop :-D It did sound ok though on an Ashdown combo. I've not heard a real Ricky yet but I seen one in a shop and I've got GAS [/quote] No he didn't, what a load of bollocks. He probably made a quick exit, stage left, after he spotted some judgemental mouth breather looking at him with a look of disgust on his face. The kind of repellent, arrogant fool who likes to hang round guitar shops on a Saturday afternoon.

I'd love a Rockinbetter. They rock better than a Rickenbacker.

Not to mention the fact that a lot of the time, the stuff you see in official tab books is wrong!