velvetkevorkian

I believe any of the NS basses can be used with either the tripod or a spike.

Er... what he said. Sound advice all round.

There's also a lot of chatter about the Micro300 having various (noise related, IIRC) issues, so you might want to wait until they get those resolved before picking one up, especially if you're paying UK prices. That's a pretty badass instrument BTW.

Practice does indeed make perfect. I think I'm going to go through all my DB method books on BG- that should help my reading and my shredding

In my orchestral experience the brass section is usually pissed by 11am, but thats a different story. It does sound remarkably realistic. Salutations!

I can read pretty to very fluently on upright bass and I can get by reading on the bass guitar, although I'm going to work on that. I started out playing classical double bass in school, so it came along with that. I can read treble clef painfully, and tenor slightly better. The way I see it, there's no disadvantage to being able to read, and it makes analysing and understanding music much easier, as well as giving you the ability to jump straight into gigs; for instance I depped (badly) in a musical for one night, but I got by sightreading it and following the cello player. Tab is next to useless in ASCII format, and only worthwhile for fingering difficult things when accompanied by notation. The fact that it doesn't show rhythm hamstrings it IMO.

I really like that. The pizz strings and the big swells with gongs sound excellent in particular. Did you play that all in, or was any of it programmed/notated/whatever?

Which, upon further reading, is what it actually says in your post. Oops

Indeed. You can lose yourself in that quilt.

Is that a solid flamed maple body, rather than just a top?

Between the ramp and the bridge? Or on the top "horn"? Looks bloody brilliant in any case!

Not sure about availability in Greece, but for £1000 you're most likely looking at brands like Zeller and Stentor if you're buying new. These are generally pretty solid (I've heard good things about the Stentors, although I haven't been able to try one). Your best bet, if possible, is to play as many as you can. Are there any shops near you that sell them? The main thing to look out for when buying is cracks in the body and the positioning of the bridge. edit- re: 3/4 vs 4/4, the vast majority of players use a 3/4, although the lines are pretty blurry so you get large 3/4s which are the same size as a smallish 4/4. If you can try before you buy, go with whatever's comfortable but if you're buying blind I'd get a 3/4, especially if you're a DB beginner.

For a ton or thereabouts on eBay, the VF1 is a great piece of kit IMO, especially when you consider they were £400 new. You can also use a standard one or two button footswitch if you don't want to go the MIDI route.

One day I will get a 7 string. I just want to see my guitarist's face when I turn up with more strings than him. And I want to cop Malmsteen licks on bass.

Will keep an eye on Cash Converters...

For value and rugged construction I would go with Peavey.

[quote name='chris_b' post='27992' date='Jul 6 2007, 05:04 PM']Sorry, but I don't get your point. It's obvious that everyone goes for "their" sound and uses "their" equipment to do that. The question I was asking is why is transparent such an important objective these days and why do so many people think transparent sounds "better"?[/quote] Er... because they can? As Ped said, personal preference.

[quote name='chris_b' post='27869' date='Jul 6 2007, 12:25 PM']....also, I think this transparent amp business is a bit of an "emperors new clothes"! What's so good about transparent? I'm sure my amp and cabs add all sorts of "gunk" to my sound, [b]but I think it sounds great like that.[/b][/quote] [b]You[/b] think it sounds great, but not everyone goes for the same sound. This is why we don't all use the same amp. Its not really that hard to get your head round...

[quote name='BassManKev' post='27806' date='Jul 6 2007, 10:48 AM']when the 506II is in a loop, some of its effects are decent such as the phaser, which i love though ye, it is mainly used as a tuner [/quote] I found the tuner on my original version to be a piece of useless poo. Whatever floats your boat, I guess...

I'm pretty comfortable with the definitions and use of polyrhythms/crossrhythms/whatever, I was just curious to see which terminology people used since everyone seems to think I have it the wrong way around. In fact, everyone else has it the wrong way round

[quote name='tayste_2000' post='27660' date='Jul 5 2007, 11:01 PM']Don't take this the wrong way but are you on crack?[/quote] +1 I can't stand the f**kers.

[quote name='The Burpster' post='27366' date='Jul 5 2007, 11:49 AM']Beauty is they say in the eye of the beholder.......! Looks like an old knacker to me, but then what do I know? [/quote] I'm inclined to agree. Other people's dents don't really do it for me.

Coooooooooool. I was hoping to see them with Gnarls Barkley last year but they pulled out of that one Glasgow show. Might try and make it through for this.