cetera

27 minutes ago, geoff90guitar said:

How can I pull out of this topic, seems to be going on & on?

Unfollow at the top of the thread

17 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Hey! My bass is as ugly as sin (and is crap in all sorts of other ways) but it sure sounds good!

 

That Kay Tulip was my first bass!!

10 minutes ago, MikeTheMisfit said:

David Elleffson, Jason Newstead, Ian Hill. I suppose an 80's metal sound.

 

I just want to add a bit of grit, nothing fancy.

Sansamp - Punchy, grindy tone without distorting

Then add a:
TC Electronic Spark Booster - adds as little or as much grit as you want
or:

Joyo Double Thruster (budget copy of a Darkglass B3K and just as good IMHO)

You don't need anything more than the Sansamp plus one of these.

Nickel is warmer than steel.... but still has a nice zing. A basic set of Rotosounds, D'Addario XL's etc should do the job.

If you prefer the feel of flats then something like EB Cobalt flats may suit you as they are still quite bright.

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

Personally I think there is too much music available nowadays. The figure being headlined is 60,000 new tracks being uploaded to Spotify every day. Various attempts to to debunk this have resulted in revisions down to between 5000 and 40,000 track daily. However, just 5,000 tracks a day is staggering, considering that in the days of vinyl there were probably significantly less than 1000 new singles and albums each week (That's just a guesstimate - I have been unable to find any serious stats on this if anyone has them please post). This combined with the dwindling number of listeners prepared to buy recorded music, means that there is an ever growing number of songs vying for an ever shrinking audience's attention. When anyone with a computer, an internet connection and $50 can produce and album and upload it to all the download and streaming sites, it's not surprising at lots more people are doing it. Unfortunately all that "background noise" makes it much harder for listeners to find new music that they like.

 

And as a listener in the 70s when I started getting into music beyond what was on TotP, my sources were John Peel and Alan Freeman on Radio 1. I'd probably hate at least half of what they were playing and be indifferent to a lot of the rest, but there would be a handful of new records played every week (out of the 120 or so I'd heard) that I would like enough to consider buying. By contrast last week I listened to a 500 track modern post-punk/goth playlist on Spotify. That's 500 songs in specific genres that I really like. However I found less than 10 new bands that I enjoyed enough to warrant further listening. What particularly struck me was how derivative and how poorly recorded much of it was. I've always been worried that my band's home-produced recordings weren't up to scratch, and while so far we've not managed to emulate Trevor Horn or Martin Rushent, by comparison with most of what I heard we are doing pretty well. When someone like myself is struggling to find interesting new music from curated playlists what chance do most casual listeners have?

 

Also when you consider that if my band puts out a single we are in effect competing with every other song ever released for listeners. In the days of releases on vinyl and CD a single (unless it was very popular) had a life of no more than 3-4 months, so it was only ever competing with a few thousand other songs at any one time. These days Spotify and other on-line sources have to apply negative weighting to streams of "back catalogue" tracks otherwise hardly any new music would make the current charts.

 

It's not the cost of living that is crushing new music. It is the sheer amount of music available

This ^

The one good thing that could be said about record companies etc back in the day was that they acted as 'pooh filters'. A band or artist had to at least have a modicum of talent, or a decent song, in order to be invested in and released. Now, should you feel so-inclined, you have to wade through hundreds of thousands/millions of bedroom-made tracks to find something half decent. It's unsurprising that so many people just don't bother.

The 2 or 3 huge media companies that now own all the radio stations don't help either as the 'knowledgeable DJ playing exciting new music' is now a rarity and people are force-fed the same homogenised nonsense (new or old) over and over again.

Spent all day yesterday in the huge cold industial unit 'venue' that is KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton where we were filming the new promo video for "The Bootleg Rock Show featuring Leather & Lace", our 'rock anthems & power ballads' theatre show....

Huge stage, lights, video screen and sound. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!
 

18 minutes ago, Ed_S said:

I had a white one as my main bass for ages - only moved it on fairly recently when I decided to go fully 5-string again. Went with a BAII bridge and the catchily named Delano PMVC 4 FE/M2 pickup in mine. Fine as it was, don’t get me wrong, I just preferred the look.

 

Damn, that's lovely!
Can you PM me with details of who you sold to? Cheers!

2 minutes ago, Shaggy said:

Great score cetera 👍 looks lovely.

Out of interest, were import duties / VAT comparable to shipping from the US? (ie around 20% on top).   Every vintage instrument on t’bay I fancy seems to be in Japan.     

Yep. I calculated approx 20 - 25% on top and it came in within those margins.

5 minutes ago, Chewie said:

Oooooh, any chance of a pic or two?

 

Here you go...

Just now, Wolverinebass said:

About 15 years ago, Fender did a "classic 70s reissue" which was Olympic white body (or sunburst), black scratchplate with black blocks, binding and a maple neck. They started off as Japanese models then production got switched to Mexico.

Yep, I have one in sunburst with maple fingerboard and black blocks. Stunning instrument.....

I want to form a double tribute.... to Camel...... and Toto....

.....called CamelTo

"Hey buddy, what you doing Friday?"
"I'm off out to play with CamelTo!"

etc

Obviously it relies on you not pronouncing it as Too

Yep, that's what I meant.... I was already thinking about the Impact basses while typing about the Scarab. I've edited my original post....

Oh go on then, I'll play 😉

I have a Hamer Scarab, white and just like the one Rick Savage played with Def Leppard around the Hysteria time....

I also have 3 (yes, three!) incredibly rare Hamer Impact basses. These were designed with Kip Winger and are amazing looking and sounding instruments...

One in black marble, one in red and one in copper....

Love them all!

Browsing the web one evening just before Xmas I came across a fabulous original Japan-made Aria Integra IGB85 active bass from approx 1990 for sale. This was the top of the range custom model favoured by Billy Gould of Faith No More back in the day and quite a rare beast....

The bass was in Japan and the price was already very low but there was a 'make an offer' option so I calculated shipping and import taxes and thought "sod it, why not..." and put in a silly low offer.

Imagine my surprise when 20 mins later my offer was accepted!!

It turned up today, beautifully packed, with a nice note from the seller and some lovely free Japanese sweets/gifts included. 🥰

So, how does it feel/sound?!

Well, it plays beautifully with a low action, slim & playable neck and comfortable curved top to the body.

Soundwise it has a lovely full tone when flat and the EQ takes it into the Spectorish 'clank' I love....and you can hear on Faith No More's best known tracks.

Preamp appears to be a Mighty Mite Hazlab clone or similar which is a wonderful surprise and explains the Spectorish tone...👍😎

A very satisfactory purchase and a bass I can highly recommend, especially if you see one at a competitive price!

NYE was the usual annual shindig at the 5* Grand Hotel in Eastbourne with The CoStars.

A great night, we all played well, happy punters and hotel.... and good food and drink enjoyed. Home at 4am and slept through till early afternoon

36 minutes ago, Merton said:

Just played at two of the annual Great Ormond Street Christmas parties.

Met Lewis Hamilton’s W14 and, far more excitingly, Emma Bunton.

 

The actual playing bit? Can’t remember. I met Emma Bunton 🥰

 

So you also play in another band with another female singer I work with? Not just Wendy.... but Sally as well?! Small world!

Thankyou, but after PJ, there is Todd Cooke: https://www.spectorworld.com/ and possibly one other guy, Gene Fox https://www.spectorworld.com/genefoxpg1.htm....both in the US 

I've definitely got the biggest collection outside the US though...

Here's my white Kramer Spector NS2 on 'Empire'. Classic Eddie Jackson tone....

That headless guy above is ME! That's my channel
I'm headless because when I watch bass vids I'm only interested in the bass, the sound and the fingering....unless it's Marta Altesa doing her bass vids

Glad you like them

Twas not me...

A song rather than a band, but I always thought this track by Orleans sounded SO much like The Doobie Brothers.
 

An EPIC night out at Portsmouth Guildhall last night! His interviewer was none other than his bandmate Alex Lifeson (😲😲).... AND I got to actually meet Geddy beforehand, have a pic with him and get my book signed too! Just wonderful.... 💜🎶😎👍

@Hamster and his Sound of AC/DC band at the Camphill Social Club in West Byfleet, Surrey on Friday night!

Two hours plus of classic and not so classic DC performed brilliantly with Hamster holding down a solid foundation on a gorgeous sunburst MusicMan

24 minutes ago, Simon C said:

That’s some going Gary. 5 basses in a year. That’s more than I’ve bought in my life (3 I think). If I add in keyboards, pianos, guitars, drum kits (multiple cymbals counting as 1 kit) and a cahon I think my life time instrument purchases just about manage to double your 2023 acquisitions (and 5 of them were for my kids).
 

I think I’ll store your 2023 story up to relate to my missus when a new bass adorns the remaining hanger over the piano. Top job.

To be fair, I'd planned and sold 2 basses before the 4 Spectorbirds came along, so only had to finance 2 of them....
I also sold 2 other basses and some amp/pedal gear to finance the purple Spector and GK head...

Otherwise I'd be broke! lol!

@Hamster's AC/DC band at a club in West Byfleet, Surrey, on Saturday night!