mcnach

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1476267919' post='3152800'] That's my mate Alan - he used to do some mean swirling on guitars... but the chemicals was beginning to have an impact on his health so he gave it up. I still think he is/was the best swirl painter ever. Anyway, this is his new bag now. Top guy. [/quote] Oh, cool! He was great to deal with. I saw some of his swirl work on the website, really good stuff.

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1476268102' post='3152803'] Not if a Wal costs the same as an imported Lakland! [/quote] if an imported Lakland cost as much as a Wal costs now, then I would not be able to have one of those either

I'm completely ignorant about this... so excuse me if my question makes no sense Would it be unrealistic for just one band member to go IEM? As in... this bass player here Would it be possible to invest on something that I can carry with me and give to the soundguy to provide me with my own mix in my IEM earphones? I don't think my band is ready/willing to move all to IEM, and I play in several bands. If there's a relatively uncomplicated way that I can be independently IEM'd wherever I go, I think I and my ears would love that.

[quote name='scrumpymike' timestamp='1476260364' post='3152697'] OK then, who would be up for a UK M-Club factory visit in Spring '17? Perhaps based on cheap flights to a nearby airport (assuming there is one) and local B&B-type accommodation with at least a full day available in the factory. If there's a demand for a group of, say, 6-8 of us, I'll run this by Adrian, get some prices, and do the organising. Do you think Adrian would be OK with this pierreganseman? [/quote] I'd be up for that. Sounds fun

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1476239168' post='3152616'] And we'll all play our Wals through them! [/quote] you're a cruel cruel man

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1476234682' post='3152611'] Don't Barefaced cabs use imported materials? Like neodymium? What british materials could you replace that with? Also - even though they're great - what if that's not the sound you're after? [/quote] My comment was in jest, as JTUK doesn't particularly like BF cabs

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1476215060' post='3152456'] and most of them done in a pretty average way. [/quote] ... by definition

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1476198695' post='3152211'] Only used PJB 850-H [/quote] I had a pair which was ok but I never loved them. It started dropping the sound on one side (it wasn't the cable) and got rid off them and now I use Audio Technica ATH-M50 which I feel are a lot better.

[quote name='Sammers' timestamp='1476197106' post='3152197'] Audio Technica ATH-M50's for me. First saw them on the Snarky Puppy live recording videos and thought if they're good enough for those guys they're good enough for me. Use them with a Peavy practice amp, works perfectly at any volume! [/quote] That's what I use, I quite like them.

I wanted to get a pair of Area J pickups, and for some reason not many places in the UK sell them. In addition, they're all black. I came across a place where you can get anything DiMarzio makes, and order custom pickups too. So if you fancy some unsual combination, this would be a good place to go. The guy I dealt with was great, and very fast to respond. My cream Area J pickups should be here some time next week... [url="http://www.pickupmagnet.co.uk/store.html"]http://www.pickupmagnet.co.uk/store.html[/url] Nothing to do with me, I just found the shop very useful and I thought others may benefit too.

[quote name='deksawyer' timestamp='1476199967' post='3152235'] I have a 1980 Custom, and it does sound great - it sounds very compressed on the bridge pickup fully on with a very nice attack/bite to all the strings - I rarely use the neck pickup although I sometimes blend a wee bit in to add a bit of girth. No other bass sounds like it, although a Stingray can sound close (ish) in my opinion, but is a bit more aggressive. My Stingray (and my RAY34 for that matter) feel nicer to play as well, and the weight is not so bad with a neoprene Mega strap. I'm gonna have a local builder make me a fretless neck sometime... D. oh, and here it is.. [/quote] That is a beauty!

[quote name='scrumpymike' timestamp='1476202087' post='3152267'] Tidings of great joy!! Just discovered that the tone pot on my Cazpar 4p is also a push-pull knob that switches the humbie to single-coil mode. That puts the cherry on top of a very nice cake. [/quote] Ha! I had the same on my first Jake... cool surprise!

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1476035710' post='3150687'] If I had £3k ear marked for a bass it wouldn't be going anywhere near a Metro. Yes, we need a revote, so we can have nice cheap basses what were people thinking..!!! [/quote] If things keep going this way, one day you would only be able to afford Barefaced cabs. Think about it

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1476112819' post='3151411'] Tanglewood it is then. Everyone looking forward to their new Tanglewood british bass? Mm, i can't wait. Or will you splash out on that chinese Squier once Mexican Fenders become unaffordable? Or just go the whole way and remortgage your 6 bedroom house for an MIA? (unless MIA now stands for Made In Africa, in which case it'll be fine). Does anyone actually want to live in a country where no products from abroad are available, (unless they're cheap pound shop garbage, or immensely expensive)?? That's what happened in Eastern Europe under communist rule, no? [/quote] Maybe we'll stop being so extravagant and own maybe a couple of basses, or three... instead of the collections a few here seem to hoard Even £3000 is not a huge amount if you think of it as an instrument that you might use for decades. be grateful you're not a pianist... or even a tuba player!

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1476047662' post='3150871'] One potential customer last week wanted us to sell below cost simply because prices have risen so much recently! [/quote] Ha! I should try that next time I go shopping

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1476182526' post='3151981'] There's a difference between not liking, being indifferent and being too picky and choosy. I've come across musicians who just won't play certain tunes for no other reason than they don't like the artist. Put 4 people like that in the room and you start to severely limit the music you're going to play. Playing in a band is all about compromise, if the members of the band aren't going to compromise on anything then you won't get anywhere. [/quote] absolutely. even in my originals band there's a few songs that not all of us like that much... but if a couple of the members really liked them, we developed them and we play them. Some songs I enjoy more than others, big deal... if I chose only to play the ones I really liked I would probably be at home a lot more There are a few songs I *hate*... but even those I could play from time to time. I think I like music above all, and playing a few songs that don't 'speak to me' sometimes is a small price to pay for all the other moments.

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1476135118' post='3151735'] Haha yes they must look kinda familiar to you ;-) [/quote] I thought so but wasn't sure

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1476139035' post='3151767'] I think the posting of Wal based threads should be banned . [/quote] I think I'm with you on this one... I keep getting flashbacks to Saturday's gig... I'm so happy he was a lefty, as otherwise I'd have tried that bass, and I might now be out there selling my body to get the funds

[quote name='Highfox' timestamp='1476124470' post='3151574'] Are the MK1's that fugly? Hope not I have one on order. [/quote] Well I like it! But it's more of a... 'ruggedly handsome' kind of appeal

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1476124235' post='3151571'] Whatever you do don't play one - if you like Stingrays you'll be hooked........ I'm waiting till they can increase their profit from the favourable export rate to the US, and recycle funds into lowering the price for us UK guys, post Brexit 😏 Lol - strolls into the distance to the strains of Rule Brittania!!! Seriously though, they're awesome and I badly want one!! [/quote] If I could keep only one bass it'd be my Stingray. No, the Wal is out of the range of cash I could justify spending on an instrument at the moment, so I don't want to even try one, just in case. As there are ways to get the cash but I don't want to get there

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1476110022' post='3151379'] Suggest you visit the S.E.BB blog to see a whole room of the blighters....! [/quote] After checking out their price tags... I think the farther I am from further Wal contact, the better

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1476104027' post='3151270'] I used 2 TKS112 cabs outside up against a loud drummer and 5150 gtr..and my sound reached further back on the Camera we recorded it on.. (where the sound was mixed by stage/backline only as we were running Vox only thru the P.A) So, these things run very well, IMO.... After using them for 2 years, I think they are very well thought out, well designed and built cabs and they have always done whatever I've asked of them... I've not found their limit yet.... but having said that, I'm glad about that...AND I always need to use plugs on my ears so these gigs are too loud, IMO. [b]I'd describe my sound as FULL but not deep ( as in bassy)... [/b] and these cabs continue to surprise me. [/quote] That's it. As long as you don't need too deep a sound, these cabs can do very well.

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1476099771' post='3151199'] Oh yes - when I say they're not the loudest I don't mean they are quiet, they can go very loud & I can't see a need for anything louder for me ([b]in fact I'd like to be at a gig where people feel these cabs have ran out of oomph - I just can't imagine the situation[/b]). I just meant that it is possible to buy cabs that have the ability to go louder, be that due to box size or speaker design - but it's all swings & roundabouts they those cabs [for me] either aren't defined enough, are too harsh or are too heavy! [/quote] Oh, it's not that hard... It's not just loudness,, you can dial in a very midrangey sound with no bottom and be really loud and be heard but... it won't be very... dare I say it... 'hefty' edit: I'm not saying that that's how these cabs sound... just giving an example that you can be loud but not sound great. The S112 do have a very sweet sound. I love their sound, and like you say, I found other cabs that can be louder/bigger sounding but then they're either too bulky/heavy for me to be worth it, and/or they just don't have the well defined sound I love in these. It's because of this that for a while I actually had 4x TKS S112s. That sounded really sweet. But it was no longer practical, even if each individual speaker is light and compact. So I'm still with 2x TKS S112, and they do very well... but in some gigs they're really near their limit.

On Saturday I was playing with Urang Matang, a ska band I'm depping in while their bass player gets better (healthwise, not playing... I suspect he's already much better than I am ) in Dundee. I thought we were the only band playing, so we arrived at 6ish and start setting up. Then I find there's two other bands before us and the sax player comes to me "I've been asked if you'd be ok to let the others use your amp, I said no". I love the guy, he is like me of the "if you're playing, bring your stuff" school. Yes, we do end up sharing sometimes but it should never be assumed. Anyway... I leave it at that. There's plenty of room onstage, so I just put my bass away and leave room. One band arrives. Bass player, Ralph, I think, approaches me. He's oddly familiar, I can't put my finger on it. The band is Joe Viterbo... I'm pretty sure I've seen them before. But that's not it. He says he's got his big Trace Elliot combo in the van, he can bring it or maybe he can use mine if I'm ok with it... we chat a bit, he also does sound in a bunch of venues, and I think that's where I know him from although he doesn't seem to remember me... Anyway, totally cool guy, he seems he knows what he's doing so I just tell him the speakers I'm using are not the most powerful, so go easy on volume/low end (we are going through PA anyway so it's just for stage) and he understands. They were the second band to play and they only played for about 30 minutes... but they were sweet, in a very energetic punk kind of way. The first band, Buffalo Soldiers, take their time to arrive. Just when we thing they're a no-show, they appear. Three africans and a scottish guitarist... they looked great and played even better. Mostly Bob Marley covers, but with their own twist. Guitarist played a bit too 'rocky' for my liking and never managed to have a fully clean sound, but it sounded alright. Singer also strummed an acoustic guitar. The drummer was a monster. He was small but chunky, wore sunglasses all the time and a hat that looked like it had just fallen halfway onto his face and got stuck there... he didn't smile... he seemed to be the leader, a little bossy... in fact he reminded me of James Brown in many ways... but he was on fire. It didn't look like he was playing anything extraordinary, it wasn't flashy but when you paid attention... he was just amazing at playing busy yet it fitted so well it just didn't seem like he was trying hard... His voice was great too. But for me the highlight was the bass player. I was standing outside and I saw them being shown the stage and bass player talking to the soundguy... so I decided to approach him. He was older and seemed like a very cool guy, so I just told him the same... he was very nice and gracious about not having to bring his amp and he pretty much left the amp controls like I had them, as did the next guy. But I started writing this about his bass... he opened his case to reveal a Wal of some description. It was a beauty. Satin finish... could me mahogany?... simple grain, nothing ostentacious but very very pretty. Right handed, but lefty bass player strung it as a left-hander. And then he played... he was AMAZING. The reggae lines he was playing were just beautiful and that bass sounded mighty... fat, thick, very well defined yet deep... he played lots of cool fills yet, like the drummer, managed to make if 'feel' simple... I enjoyed watching him play a lot. The only trouble is I now find myself looking at Wals... They're so ugly they're beautiful. Like a Bison. Powerful beast. It look much like this one:

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1476033358' post='3150653'] Sorry everybody, but lots of meaningless questions and queries get posted on here all the time, it was only meant as a bit of fun to find out what people who don't, or rarely gig, do if they don't gig very often. I started off just collecting guitars when I was in my early twenties, I will be 65 next month and I only started gigging in 2007 when I was 56, so I have spent more than thirty years where I have owned instruments, but did not gig, and because I might have to stop gigging myself soon, I was wondering if I can get any ideas from other BC'ers to find an alternative to gigging. Once again, I did not intend to offend anyone, it was just a light-hearted question, but if you think this post is offensive, I am more than happy to ask a mod to delete it, because I feel genuinely upset that it could be taken the wrong way. [/quote] don't worry, it didn't come across as judgemental to me either. You can't always prevent someone from mistakenly reading something into your words that was not intended. As for your question... I gig regularly, but when I started being interested in guitars gigging was not even remotely in my head. I just liked playing guitar, and recording stuff, just for me. It was a very unusual circumstance that saw me onstage in front of people for the first time... and loved it. So after that I decided to try properly. It took me 4 years to find the right situation. By then I was in two bands, a RHCP tribute and a hiphop/funk originals... I played my first gig on bass with the hiphop one, and the following week with the RHCP one... and it just went on from there. I can't imagine stopping.