Rayman

On 06/02/2023 at 15:35, cetera said:

Gotta say I prefer the Fender. Much nicer, characterful tone. It has an 'identity' that the Sadowsky seems to lack....

I had a Metro UV4 jazz many years ago. I didn’t like it at all, purely because for me, it had no soul. I preferred my Highway One Jazz at the time, which became my main gigging bass for a long time. The Sadowsky was sold soon after.

Filter, Manchester, Awesome.

Best gig in ages, Richard and Co are absolutely fantastic live. Top night.

I thought I went through some gear, but Nicks revolving door never stopped spinning. I had a fabulous Stingray 5 that was a “keeper” and the “best bass I ever owned”….. until I flogged it to Nick a month later. I think he had it about a week before he sold it on. 

I can’t believe this one…… I didn’t know he was ill…… that’s horrific. We met up a couple of times buying and selling, but conversed a lot on here. That’s desperately sad….. 😞 

The Aries bass was interesting to me, but I was a bit put off by some bad press regarding Mr Kiesel’s attitude towards some of his customers. So I went no further. Well….. I did…… I bought another Thunderbird instead.

Brilliant little amp, loads of tonal options, in great condition. To be honest, I think I’ve used it half a dozen times.

I’ve suddenly noticed these popping up on all the usual suspects YouTube channels…… so Cort are obviously pushing this thing out there…..

I don’t trust the likes of Patrick Hunter to give us a real evaluation, as he’ll rave about anything if it’s sent to him for free….. hopefully our own Dood will give us a non biased and accurate assessment.

Never give up, ever. Whatever it is that rocks your world, whatever it is that feeds your soul and gives you purpose, never let go. When you’re gone, it’s over. Until then, f**k everything and do it. 

1 hour ago, Dood said:

 

What is it with men who simply can't aim? Seriously, how do they find it SO difficult? 🤢

I find it absolutely unbelievable. Just “point in the general direction” seems to be the norm….. AND, the number of men who don’t wash their hands afterwards is totally staggering. I’m in motorway services a lot, and it’s at least 50% of blokes don’t bother 🤮, THEN go and use the McDonald’s touch screens.

4 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

I've got to start gigging my 1991 Gibson Thunderbird. 

 

Daryl

Absolutely mate

Particularly great stage sound last night…. Which is unusual for us, because we normally turn up and use the house drum shells and bass cabs, whatever they are…. but my TC BQ500 into the Ashdown 8x10 was ace…. and nice and loud. 

Absolutely outstanding last night. The bass is perfect, so no alterations required. Just the white one to fettle now, with a James’ Home Of Tone look, and that’ll be that.

FREEZING night in Wrexham, taking part in the Metal For The Masses competition…. lots of fun though, and delighted to be through to the semi final.  
 

The Greco Thunderbird was awesome, and the TC head into an Ashdown 8x10 sounded great.

I’m literally just about warming up now! It was COLD!! 🥶
 

24 minutes ago, TimR said:

That's posh. I usually change my t-shirt in the men's toilets.

Like this?

Show us yours…..

Here’s ours tonight….

An hour was always my limit, if it was worth the effort for a good band and good music. I’m lucky though, we all live in the same town more or less. So rehearsals are 5 minutes away.

Not sure yet about the active addition, I’ll know more after tonight’s gig.
 

Nice basses sir. Yes this Greco I have here is a very cool bass indeed. Very old school vibes, beautifully made…. what I didn’t know was that the previous owner has stuck an active Bartollini circuit in it, with a concentric pan/tone control. I didn’t know that was there until I picked it up. At this point I don’t know how I feel about it, other than the bass sounds incredible, and the output is ridiculous. There’s a little trim pot in there that I had to turn right down because it was driving the amp too hard. 
 

It’s had a full clean and setup with new strings, and plays great.

Gig tonight, and I only plan on taking the one bass, so I’ll report back tomorrow.

Nice

I saw Ian McNab use one with the Icicle Works back in the 80s… I always fancied one after that…. but I’m thinking the cons outweigh the pros on reflection.

Forgot to say…. BIG shout out to ‘James Home Of Tone’ for his fantastic pre wired harnesses…. absolutely my first stop before thinking about spending hundreds on new pickups.

Have you never seen Nils Lofgren bouncing off trampolines on the stage? I wanna do that. While looking like Janet Jackson (I’m a middle aged white man). 

As the lead singer and bass player of the band, I’ve often wondered about a headset microphone instead of our usual SM58s on a stand. 
 

Anybody do this? Any good? Any recommendations? Am I stuck in the 80s?

Agree with the above… nice basses in their own right, but as the owner of a few German examples, in my experience the RB range are a very different proposition. A little bit uninspiring tonally, but hey, they’re not cheap basses, they’re well made from the ones I’ve tried.

Well, joining in with this resurrected thread....

I assume the upshot of the OP was that they gave up and looked no further. All I can add, is that my Chinese Tokai TB is my absolute number one bass. The Warwicks barely leave their cases at the moment, awesome as they are.

In my case, I have to admit, that mine is heavily modded (thread in the build diary section), however the wooden bits and more importantly the pickups are stock. I changed everything else, and the result is my number one, that's as good as any Gibsons I personally have played. I find it very comfortable indeed to play and it sounds incredible, albeit with an "upgraded" wiring harness coupled with the stock pickups. Another example, again in my own personal experience, of upgrading the pots etc first, before spending a load on new pickups. Often the stock pickups are absolutely fine hooked up to a decent harness. That's what I have found anyway. Same with my Sunn P basses. The first thing people do is rip out those "cheap" off white pickups and bin them. Big error. They sound incredible with a good harness put in instead. They're just magnets that's all.

So, I ended up buying two more 'birds, a Tokai and a Greco. The Tokai will get the same treatment as my first one, and I'm sure it'll be awesome.

Horses for courses. I love 'birds, they work for me, and someday I hope to find a Gibson that's worth buying, but for now it's Tokai all the way.