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The Dark Lord

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  1. The Dark Lord
    [quote name='paulconnolly' timestamp='1384347417' post='2275488'] You minght want to amend the thread title. i thought he was dead [/quote] I think it's grammatically accurate. I didn't say Grim Reaper.
  2. The Dark Lord
    I guess burning the candle at both ends has its downsides. Get better soon to one of my heroes! [url="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2502812/Lemmy-changes-lifestyle-doctors-fit-pacemaker.html"]http://www.dailymail...-pacemaker.html[/url]
  3. The Dark Lord
    I liked his short-lived stint with Fast Eddie. Good luck to him.
  4. The Dark Lord
    Small for aesthetic reasons? Or small meaning lightweight? If it's lightweight he's after - Gibson SG all the way.
  5. The Dark Lord
    Yeah. I noticed that. I have been playing with the snare rather than the kick drum.
  6. The Dark Lord
    Interesting to see that this is a normal practice. We think it works well and adds to our energy levels. There's a certain buzz about doing new songs ...... e.g. we are playing House of Fun by Madness and Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangles for the first time this Friday and have been frantically swapping notes about whether the bass or guitar will carry a representation of the keyboard and or horn section parts. It gives us a buzz when it comes off ........ hasn't failed so far, although we've only been doing this "on the fly" thing for about a couple of months. Probably possible as we have become quite tight as a band. Incidentally, there have been songs that we have dropped at the soundcheck - worked on and played next time 'round. I don't think we are "just a pub band playing in front of 6 drunks". We get about £200 to £300 per pub gig. We're getting a bit of a reputation so can often charge high for repeat gigs. Had a couple of party bookings for higher than that recently - but what they want is exactly what they have just seen in the pub ..... a real high octane energy. I fully get that if you play something like a corporate gig or a wedding, then being slick and professional is paramount - and that rehearsal can add to that. However, we're a pretty tight outfit with top drawer gear all 'round and very good skill levels and that in itself is effort that goes into the end product surely. We also DON'T play songs exactly per the original. We do that deliberately. Of course, it sounds like the original and you can sing along to it - but we make no effort at all to make it sound identical.
  7. The Dark Lord
    How do other bands learn new songs? I'm talking cover songs here in a pub band. After a couple of years playing about 3 times a month, my three piece combo (guitar, bass, drums) don't rehearse any more. We just learn the songs as per the record, discuss the changes we'd like to make - and then the first time we play 'em live is on the night of the next gig. We try any tricky bits during the sound check and then, if we're okay with them, we just go and play 'em live. One thing that helps is our drummer is a full-time pro who teaches, plays with us and with an orchestra. We pay him for every gig. He listens to the songs, writes up his own sheet music - and plays EXACTLY that. That's a bit help, as we have a stable basis on which to play. It's also part of the problem - as we would have to pay him to attend rehearsals .... so we don't. It makes for very energetic songs and, after a few plays, they just become part of the set. Anyone else do this? I guess this is pretty commonplace?
  8. The Dark Lord
    This appears to me to be a poorly written article by someone with an agenda. A pub landlord/lady should enter into a contract with his/her eyes open. If it's a contract they think will be of benefit to them, they should enter into it. No point bleating when it doesn't work out. To me, very good pubs who have a market are thriving. Dead end old boozers, poorly managed, are closing. What's the problem? We're also changing our culture a bit in the UK. Moving away from pubs to having alcohol in cafés and restaurants. That's a good thing.
  9. The Dark Lord
    Still for sale!
  10. The Dark Lord
    Bump for a good solid mixing desk!
  11. The Dark Lord
    It's a Markbass. It will sound better this way.
  12. The Dark Lord
    [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]My trusty Road Worn [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Strat is for sale. Had this up for sale a year ago on here - but changed my mind. Now, it's gotta go.[/font][/color] [media]http://www.flickr.com/photos/91866150@N00/sets/72157632169165920/[/media] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Black (of course) - the 50s replica one with the hotter Texas Hot pickups. Bit more output than your normal Strat - but still that Strat sound is there in abundance.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I have used this in many gigs for my band Daphne Don't Float. The guitard often nicked it too.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]About 4 years old. Need space on the guitar wall to make way for [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]an ESP LTD MH-1000ET.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]In perfect nick - all of the "wear" you can see was there from new.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]One very cool looking guitar.[/font][/color] [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]Not looking for a trade unless you have a guitar with an Evertune bridge fitted. [/color][/font] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The RRP on these is over a grand. The GAK price is £820. Mine is £425 - bargain.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Pickup from somewhere on the South Coast between Worthing and Southampton or we can mutually agree a courier.[/font][/color]
  13. The Dark Lord
    [i][color=#ff0000][font=Helvetica][What was I thinking?][/font][/color][/i] [font=Helvetica]For sale, my 1999 Fender Hot Rodded Precision bass. Black with a maple fingerboard.[/font] [media]http://www.flickr.com/photos/91866150@N00/sets/72157637421947834/[/media] It has Seymour Duncan SJB1 and SPB1 pickups. Stereo output. Individual volume and tone controls for each of the pickups. String thru body. Cosmetically top-notch with no dings or buckle rash anywhere. Comes with Hiscox case. Looking for £650. This is a real belter of a bass. Looks fantastic and has a really strong sound. Flexible too, as you can blend in the volume and tone of each pickup individually (something you can’t normally do on a Fender PJ). I usually use the Precision pickup on full-bore with a touch of the Jazz pickup – I roll the tone off the Jazz a little and then dial in the volume until it just starts to make a different to the tone. Some history of the bass: I purchased the bass on here in August 2011. At that point, it was supposedly a “stock” Hot Rodded model with three knobs on the scratchplate (volume, volume, tone) and a single side jack. When it was delivered to me, it was in great cosmetic condition and had a real resonance to it – like all turn of the century Precisions tend to have. It’s my favourite era for Precision basses. The only problem was the electrics and the pickups. Somebody, somewhere had installed two very cheap pickups in it. Also, the internal wiring was very poorly executed. It also had a little preamp in it – supposedly making the pickups active. The actual result was the worst sounding bass anyone could possibly imagine. So, after some words with the seller, and some compensation money coming my way, I got to work on the upgrades. Seymour Duncans went in, together with new wiring throughout – fitted by a pro (Dave Walsh of Eternal Guitars). The pots and knobs were changed at the same time so that I could control both volume and tone for each of the pickups. I used concentric pots for this, meaning that I could have an extra jack socket fitted to the pick guard – in the normal place. This is good for the aesthetics, as it looks more “normal Precision-like”. That also means that it now has two separate output jacks. I therefore had the top (pick guard) jack configured via the concentric knobs to give volume/tone control for each pickup ….. and, after much discussion with Dave, had the side jack used as a way of routing the Precision pickup straight to the jack (with no volume or tone controls). So, it now has one jack which will give you Precision or Jazz or a mix of both …. and another which is just pure Precision. If you really want to change it back to stock volume / volume / tone wiring, it would be easy to do. All you’ll need is three knurled Precision knobs and a soldering iron – but that would be a shame. I’m selling this as I need the space. I’ve just purchased a couple of Fender Jazz basses and also my burgeoning 6-string guitar collection means I don’t have any more hanging room on the walls in my guitar room.
  14. The Dark Lord
    We use 4 x QTX SP-SW for our pub band. I think they have been replaced by the QTX SL-SW version though. Two working in unison on a speaker stand with a T-Bar on top behind the band on a slow cycle through all of the available colours. One in front of the band to the right (so as not to blind us right hand players) on a yellow (limelight) setting to light the band up. One just beside (and pointing at) the drum kit - this one is on a sensitive sound to light setting. About £90 to £100 per light. Have a look at the pics. They are not "photoshopped" in any way. Those are just snapshots from video footage. Quite good we think. [attachment=147763:Daphne.png] [sharedmedia=core:attachments:134901]
  15. The Dark Lord
    On its way to the Cruel Experiments Department in the dungeons of The Fortress of Ultimate Darkness!
  16. The Dark Lord
    Just bought a Mackie. 2 x DLM12 - 1 x DLM12S with a DL806 digital mixer (plus one additional DLM12 as a monitor for me) Sensational.
  17. The Dark Lord
    I'm out of this topic. I wasn't insinuating anything incidentally. That was a wider comment not aimed at you personally. I just disagree with you on this. I don't think basses mature in sound and get better with age. You think they do. That's fine by me. You will note that I have not said anything disparaging about you personally in this thread. I have no reason to do that. I just disagree with your view. I also disagree with the experts as you quote. I will not speak on this subject again. There's no point. You know my views and I know yours and neither is likely to change. I will leave you with this though. I think differently from a lot of the "experts" who you allude to. What about Dick Fosbury.
  18. The Dark Lord
    [quote name='molan' timestamp='1383659620' post='2267175'] You must send us a link to your Bass Player Magazine cover article: [/quote] Still doesn't answer the question on, if he has been playing Precisions for roughly the same amount of time as me, what makes his thoughts any better than mine. There is another thought that occurs to me too. There are some people who have a vested interest in believing that old instruments are worth more ..... because they are old and better etc. Namely, people who work in shops where there may be, from time to time, second hand basses. I am unencumbered by that vested interest. That is all.
  19. The Dark Lord
    [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1383658220' post='2267128'] And there's your market. "Hey guys, I bought this early 60s Fender...sits on my wall for me to gawp at." And that's the reality for most of these basses that are bought. Funny you say, "But it won't be that great a car to drive by today's standards" - I know many Classic Car enthusiasts that love their cars because they don't drive to the standards of todays, safe, unexciting in comparison, cars. [/quote] Yep. I agree with all of what you say there. Some people like old stuff. I like more of the modern angle to everything. Things ain't like they used to be (thank heavens ...... IMO).
  20. The Dark Lord
    [quote name='molan' timestamp='1383658129' post='2267125'] I'm actually still chuckling. I genuinely can't believe that you think the hundreds of experts on guitar ageing and tone are all universally wrong and that you are right. I guess it takes all sorts. . . So I assume you are saying that a highly respected player like Juan Alderete who has specifically said his bass sounds better now than when he bought it in 1994 is also wrong? This is a guy who can actually go back to his master tapes of recording and hear the differences (or maybe he's hearing different recording techniques?). [/quote] That well-known bass player called who? I've been playing Precisions probably just as long as he has. What makes his thoughts on the sound of a Precision any better than mine?
  21. The Dark Lord
    [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1383655648' post='2267048'] Question, which would you rather have in your garage? Any why? I get your BMW point... but it won't be a pristine Ferrari 275 GTB Spider, of which there were a limited number to begin with and very few in the condition above, that's if they are still with us. Its a piece of history when cars like this weren't made on automated production lines, with computers etc... it's about the car that was made at that time by arguably the best sportscar makers in the world. Oh... and BMWs can be seen ten a penny on the roads. The same could be said almost anything. Technology has advanced... but why is the Spitfire, Vulcan etc.. held in such high esteem? Especially when they are fundamentally crap compared to what is out there today? It's what they stand for and the nostalgic value which they bring. Why do antiques command such a price? Rarity, desirability... and who they were made and when they were made. There are so many factors that it's difficult to quantify. Same goes with basses. Old vintage basses... made by craftsmen as opposed to computers. The romantic notion that they may have been touched by Leo Fender himself. Who knows... but they were considered the pinacle of instruments back in their day and they have since become iconic. There is something to be said about the difference in tone between new and old basses. The construction of the pickups alone, e.g. the magnets, the wire... all were different back then. Does it make the tone better or worse? Well, who knows... all we do know is that it's not comparable to what we've got going on now with the super high precision machines that make the components and wind the pickups. Moving onto the interconnecting wire between the pots, the lead based solder, the capacitors - they are all different to what is out there now... and as a consequence has some novelty value and hence add to the desireability of an old instrument. Whatever the reason, they are of limited supply and there is a market for them... hence the prices are only going to go up. [/quote] I agree it looks great and has loads of mojo - and if wanted an ornament in my garage for people to look at it would win hands down. But it won't be that great a car to drive by today's standards. The brakes will be wooden and it won't go that well.
  22. The Dark Lord
    [quote name='molan' timestamp='1383655746' post='2267051'] This genuinely made me laugh out loud, and very little on BassChat does that. I'm sure the zillions of threads about what happens to a guitar and its electronic components as they age and change tonally must all be incorrect but I guess all those experts in the business just have a different opinion to you. [/quote] Laugh it up. How can you tell that the old bass you are holding sounds better than it did 40 years ago? You and your present ears weren't around then. So you don't actually know. If you are saying that old basses generally sound better - then I say there will be plenty more old basses that sound terrible than good. If you are being specific to the bass you are holding at any one time ...... "this old bass sounds great and has matured over the years" then you are being subjective to [i]that[/i] bass alone. How do you know that the bass you are holding didn't sound that good all those years before? In short, you don't. If you go to a shop with a load of Precisions, and play them all, you'll find they are all more or less the same but subtly different. There will be a consistency of tone in a way, but you will find one you're not so keen on and you may well find one which makes you grin. It has that certain something. A glueing accident? A particular piece of wood with good resonant properties. I think THAT is what you're noticing when you say an old bass sounds good. That one probably ALWAYS sounded good - and that's why it is still around as someone thought it worth keeping. Experts shmexperts. There is no reason to pay more for a bass than the current list price of a new one. In my opinion.
  23. The Dark Lord
    [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1383648864' post='2266924'] Bought new for $14,500 in 1967 Sold $27.5 million 2013. Sorry, what's this talk of basses? [/quote] And, it will be outrun, out handled and out everythinged by a decent new 3 Series which would set you back about £25K nowadays. It only looks good. In every other respect, new is better. Just like bass guitars.
  24. The Dark Lord
    [quote name='molan' timestamp='1383645989' post='2266875'] I think the answer to this is a fairly simple yes. Instruments definitely change in tone as they age, whether this change has a tangible value depends on what someone is looking for. E.G. One person's mellow is another's dull or someone's clean and crisp is another's harsh. Anything vintage, and of decent quality, will eventually rise to a value greater than when it was first purchased. That's just the simple economics of inflation. [/quote] I just don't agree with this point of view. There is no way of measuring this unless you have recorded the sound years ago on comparable equipment and compare it to today's sound. Where can the proof be? If someone claims that their instrument has changed and improved in sound over the years .......... they are forgetting that their own ears will change as they get older. I just don't believe it. It's a myth to me which people go along with for all sorts of reasons. Poppycock for other people - I think. But you are untitled to your view just as much as me.
  25. The Dark Lord
    Does a guitar or bass [i]really[/i] get better or sound better with age? You may get more accustomed to it and it might "fit" you better, the more you get used to it. You might also get to hone the set up of it to your taste over time. But I very much doubt if it ever sounds "better" the older it gets. I suspect it will sound the same for most of its life until the components malfunction and it then will sound worse - or different when you have to change the bits. So, in my book, it should never be worth more than the money you paid for it in the first place.
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