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Love gigging. It's the absolute life's blood of my music making. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy studio stuff - fresh from recording a four tune CD - but getting up in front of people is generally a thing of joy for me. meeting up with mates for practice is good too - especially when you try something new and get unexpected results, that can be very satisfying. I play bass in a 4-piece funky-jazz band. It's mostly original material, some of which I write. It's definitely not mainstream music, so the reaction that we get is even more rewarding when it's people enjoying our tunes. I also play guitar in a quartet that plays jazz-y arrangements of popular tunes, or pop arrangements of jazz tunes. Much satisfaction with gigs for that outfit too, though of a different nature. It all works. Yes, admittedly the time spent setting gear up/taking it down is a bit dull, but a little bit of work has got that down almost to a fine art, so it's not as much of a chore as it might be. And there's plenty of recompense for the moments when we're up there in front of people...…

This looks interesting. The Classic Vibe range has a great reputation so hopefully that will carry over into the new Mustang. At that price it's very tempting https://www.kennysmusic.co.uk/squier-classic-vibe-60s-mustangr-bass-laurel-fingerboard-sea-foam-green

I could say the same mate don’t you read previous post Reggaebass posted the same link 3 hours ago.............😜

One step further

I think you may actually be the coolest dude on this forum 😎

...so to speak

Some pics of the finished product! Truly incredible. I can’t wait to pick up this bass.

As if on cue... I think it looks fantastic!

In hindsight, I could have perhaps worded that better.

Not sure we needed to know that Johnny, but when you're finished feel free to record a clip!

Oh man, I absolutely love it. As soon as I plug it in, I instantly hear that sound thst I've loved from all my favourite recordings using Ken Smith basses. I know the original pickups were designed and built by Bill Lawrence and in 2008 Ken said that Kent Armstrong had taken over making the pickups and had done so "for about twenty years", I guess your 1984 is Lawrence and my 1991 is Armstrong. I doubt the specs and design for the pickups changed much, if at all. As the company approaches its fourth decade of trading, he still makes, almost exclusively, double soapbar basses, one pickup in the middle and one right up against the bridge. I think Ken's vision, unwaivering as it is, has defined these instruments. He doesn't let customers go nuts with wood combos as he said he likes to work with what he knows will work well. The construction no doubt gives them a good portion of the sound too, like you said when I bought my bass from you, they're thin but incredibly resonant. I've got a review written up, I'll post it up here when I get a chance. I think it is without question the finest instrument I've ever had the privilege of playing.

New bass day for me - and quite a special one for me personally. I've always loved the 'Smith Sound' and grew up listening to John Patitucci playing his early six string Smith. I recently realised my dreams of owning one when I bought a beautiful BT5 from Basschat last year. However I'm not really a five string player, but I can adapt. Smith basses tend to be 5 or 6 string so there wasn't much choice. But then I saw this. Not only is it a 4 string, but it's a very early one built just two months after I was. It was finished in January 1984. The serial number is 151. Early Smith basses have a few differences from today's models - first of all the brass fittings on the headstock, especially the 'S' logo in a brass disk which I remember seeing on those early Chick Corea vids, whilst my brother watched and analysed every move Dave Weckl made. I got some info from Ken about the bass who said the neck joint is a hidden mortise which I believe was inspired by a damaged double bass from a car accident in the 70s. The preamp is made by Haz Labs; it has volume, balance, treble, bass (not sure of frequencies but the treble control always feels very musical) plus a phase switch which Ken said they subsequently removed because it's not very useful. It's quite unusual to see Smith basses without an exposed centre block like my 5 string - I think some of the Hadrien Feraud models have a solid top like this one. It has a walnut top and maple back with an ebony fingerboard. The whole bass has a very light satin finish which feels great and shows minimal wear except usual playing in. It's been well looked after! I wasn't able to play the bass first so I was kind of nervous but Smith basses are so consistent I needn't have worried - the neck is dead straight and the action was pretty bang on right away. I've got the G string a little higher than my 'strings painted on' Vigier because I find it makes double stops on the G string more pronounced. As usual have the neck with almost zero relief and the other strings very low. Someone described the sound of their Warwick Thumb as 'digital' here the other day; that's quite a good way to describe this. I'll do some sound clips asap to show you. So yeah I'm really pleased. I think that's my bass buying escapades over for a while. Some pics!

My 37 year old "BFL" '57 JV has a new pal! Tasty, and sounds awesome... I also made a mistake with the new strings for it.... ordered some new Elixirs (all my basses get Elixir 14077 Nickels) and without noticing I accidentally pulled the trigger on Stainless Steels.... however, I am a complete convert! lower tension, and easier to play....

My first 5 string bass had a ramp. It was an Ibanez BTB33 and I really liked having the ramp. A few disclaimers though - if you play with a pick or like to dig in a lot, you may find the ramp to be in the way. Also, as has been said, it’s not a magical fix for poor technique. Nor is it a necessary component for developing good technique. To be honest, it’s just a matter of personal preference. You may find that not being able to dig in too far helps your ability to play faster or play more consistently. You may find it limits your dynamic expressivity. The only way to know if it’ll be useful to you is to try it out yourself.

^^^This. However, they do provide a nice, big thumbrest.

Who could forget The Captain and Chenille?

Keep your eye on the strings for sale here ,you get some good bargains sometimes, I enjoy trying different strings 🙂

Flying Vee The Gibson Custom shop knocked out lovingly handcrafted a limited run of 300 Hendrix V's in 2007 for sale at a mere $12k apiece (rolls eyes). But you're right. Anyone would think they'd have something out there for a couple of grand. That Gib-Strat Returning to the Gibson Hendrix Str*t, let us never forget that the guitar was only part of a complete entry-level guitar package that also included " a Hendrix signature Voodoo Child amplifier, and a Foxey Fuzz pedal ... an instructional DVD and a USB drive containing exclusive Hendrix media content and a “Hendrix inspired tie-dyed tee-shirt and bandana.” ' Who among us aspiring to Mr Hendrix's spirituality and technical prowess might not eagerly don the included apparel and headwear. After all, tone isn't in your fingers; it's all in the bandana. Above: Not remotely exploitative marketing exercise by Juskiewiecz-era Gibson

Looks like Gibson missed an open goal here.

So, 2.8 is now out, guys! This is a pretty big update so I'd advise reading the release notes and perform the install as it it says (I.e back up, upgrade HX Edit, update unit) https://line6.com/support/page/kb/effects-controllers/helix/helixhx-280-release-notes-r913/

Benjamin Zephaniah 🙂

I just got asked to do this again in February. Oh... go on, then. As usual, I have no idea who might be on the bill (and I couldn't say even if I did), but I'll post a new thread nearer the time.

This company seem to have a very short memory. Does anyone remember when Gibson announced this Jimi Hendrix monstrosity? Looks familiar? I really just don't understand how they even went as far as building prototypes without someone at Gibson going, 'You know what? I think this is a bad idea, doesn't anyone think it looks a little too much like one of our competitors instruments, so perhaps we shouldn't build any.' Perhaps the R&D team were just too feeble to say no to the captain of the ship, but mind you, when ol' Henry was at the helm, it was probably very much a case of any goes, eh?

And here was me all excited thinking this was a thread about my country.😕

He looks delighted! I once suggested as much on a forum about a prominent endorser and I got a very interesting (and polite!) email direct from the guy, who explained that once you reach that rarified level, its as much about the artist support than the actual gear per se, so company X may be able to offer greater logistical support than company Y, even though to the outsider their products don’t seem ‘as good’.

He has fanned knees.

My Jazz quartet play 'The Girl From Ipanema' . I knew nothing about the origin of the song but was shown a Guardian article today about the author. https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2019/jul/06/joao-gilberto-obituary What a contribution he made to music!

You, sir, are in need of a Sandberg!

You haven't even weighed it you lazy goit!

the whole "only turn 1/8th at a time" is not correct.I think the advice stems from being given to beginners typically, thus turn a little bit at a time as they wouldn't know how much it needs. If it needs a whole turn, do it, why do eight 1/8th turns? Ease off the tension and give it what it needs. Of course, you have to know that it needs a whole turn or not , that's experience.

Never underestimate in-house lawyers ability to sniff out self serving work. No job too petty

Not a great performance, we're not tight and the parts are not great but it's where we're at and what we're doing this summer. Blue

Just to stray moderately back on topic ... a) that Lemmy / stripper cameo has to be the weirdest sequence I've ever seen. Do you suppose the Frankies knew any of that was going to happen? b) isn't that one of the Calm Down Scousers on drums?

I came here thinking this was going to be about Pete Townshend, as you were.

As another guitarist turned bassist I just bought a Squier VM PJ. Tried a few different Precision’s including a few Mexican ones for 4 times the price and the VM was I’m my opinion the best of the bunch, can’t fault it, especially for the price

@skankdelvar have to say I 1000% agree with that. Would be awkward to play as you say but much more authentic to Hendrix and I bet they’d sell!

Fatty!

I know where you're coming from! However I'd regard this as being 'semi-preset' rather than 'zero preset' which would indeed be a pain if it was! You can select variation and type precisely i.e. 121 presets to pin down which of the sounds you want e.g. Variation 3 + Bass 'Effect' and 'direct' are just volume controls for your effect and clean, I believe, - that's just quite a neat feature. For me: set the balance and leave and likely to be something like 1/4 clean 3/4 effect overall. So the only real variables are in the second knob's two controls of tone/rate and depth - and I think it won't be too bad to remember your settings for those to go with your favourite variation and type and take a pic = you're only ever likely to need a small number for a given live gig I suspect. But yup, presets would have put this into another league up!

Less of a diary and more of a look at wot I made. I got a Line6 G30 from BC and it came complete with the they-all-do-that-sir broken strap clip. So I made a little pouch for it. I've left the flap unsecured as I'm not sure what to do with it, glue on some velcro or put a popper in it.

ditch the iphone and get an android