jazzyvee

i switched from mesa powerhouse 4x10 to a Barefaced Big Twin II and a mesa powerhouse 2x10 to Big Baby II. Although i thing the boogie cabs have a great sound, the BF cabs bring me closer to the hifi sound im looking for. At one time in the past i toyed with the idea of a PH1000 but the weight and practicalities of getting it into my car persuaded me to think otherwise. for me going lightweight without losing power and quality was a win win. Actually i hardly ever use the big rigs at the venues we gig at because, apart from maybe a couple of gigs, they alway sound like they have been thrashed and it's impossible to get a clean sound. Exceptions were markbass 8x10 and a brand new ampeg 8x10 rig

Aston also plays a 5 String Alembic bass

Go for a new one if you can stretch the finances that far. However a used alembic in good condition is a great investment in your bass playing. The reality is that whichever route you take, they are not gonna come around cheap and just like all other things to do with music, we don't all like the same things so whilst I love them to bits, I appreciate the sound of them is not everyone's cup of tea. There are however quite a good selection of alembics around for sale these days on ebay and reverb, more than I have seen in a good while.

Being a big Stanley Clarke fan I bought into the signature thing with an Alembic Stanley Clarke Signature Short scale bass and I have to say it's been a fantastic bass purchase. Never regretted it for a moment. It does take a while to get used to the way the low pass filters work and how to get repeatable tones but I've cracked it now and it's more instinctive than standard bass eq controls for me.

My experience with BF cabs has been all good. I have replaced two of my Mesa boogie Powerhouse cabs with them and they certainly deliver a much better cleaner sound. Not that there is anything wrong with the sound of the boogie cabs. I just wanted to downsize to lighter cabs and get a better off axis sound with a fuller bottom end. I have three bf cabs (big Twin II, Big Baby II and Dubster 2) and I can't think of a situation I would play in that I wouldn't be able to cover with those three. I did a dep gig at the weekend with a Ska reggae band and the loved the sound. I can highly recommend at least the ones I have experience with.

Aston Barrett

I haven't been here since my gig on Friday night so this is a belated nast night's gig posting. My band played on the main stage at Birmingham Symphony Hall for a Jazz night. It was a last minute upgrade from the usual location of the Jazz club there which was one of the conference rooms. No complaints there. We did a Grover Washington Jr set which went down great.

The quietest smooth roundwounds I've tried are Alembic Strings and D'addario NYXL

Just as an aside, it looks like yours has a vertical front rather than the slanted one I have on mine. All the best with completion of the sale.

That bass has been on sale for a good number of years and the price seems be creeping upwards. At that price it seems the seller really doesn't want to seell it. Someone who knows about alembic would know the price is unrealistic and someone who knows nothing about the brand is unlikely to splash that cash on an unknown bass. I admire the optimism but feel it's misguided.

hard to put any pecking order on these but 10 albums i would choose today would be. Romantic warrior - return to forever Burnin - the wailers natty dread - bob marley and the wailers Blackheart Man - Bunny Wailer Equal Rights - Peter Tosh Edge - Lenny White Don't be afraid of the Dark - Robert Cray Moving Pictures - Rush Kismet - Martha Szebestian Moonflower - Santana

I would suggest you do a search on the Alembic Web site forum as someone there must have resolved that issue at some point. www.alembic.com

This Friday night I got an Ampeg SVT and an 8x10 cab on my backline for a 80's weekender reggae gig I was less than a year old. Now I get what the deal is with them. That said I still prefer the sound and weight of my barefaced cab. But I was just pleased to hear for myself what all the fuss was with them.

I've had mine for about a couple of years and it does seem to work better in gigs where the volume isn't too loud. I used mine on some open mic gigs and as long as it's mostly on the opposite side of your head to your cab it seems fine..

I went to one of JackPlug's gigs and hear this played live. It sounded incredible, it is indeed a powerful and sweet sounding bass and blended tonally superbly with the character of the tracks the band played. When the filter was opened up later in the gig that crispness in the mids and upper frequencies was classic alembic. On a personal level it was great to be able to hear someone playing an alembic bass on a gig so at least I have some idea of what the sound of my own bass is like to the audience. Also Jack Plug is a great player.

I got one from a member here and wondered where is the best place in my signal chain. I use a separate preamp and power amp rig and no effects. I have a walkabout head as a spare so that needs considering too. In my separates rig, should I have it before the input so that i filter out the bad stuff before any thing gets to the input of my preamp, should I have it in the send/return loop or on the output of the preamp before connecting to the power amp.? For the walkabout should it be before the input or in the send/return loop?

Is it played with a b*t plug or a p***s?

I got my Gig Skinz bag for my walkabout head from Bass Direct.

I got my DB last year and had about 4 lessons earlier this year and that has helped me get started with the right stance and fingering. The Simamdl book was recommended to me by another db pro player and im working through that though it is quite boring. I also use the Ireal book app, take the bass line put if the tracks and play along so i get to play along with the score. Im not a strong reader but it helps to play along.

Is that a "P" bass?

A guitarist friend of mine contacted me yesterday for advice. Her studio landlord has a Black Fender Precision Lyte bass and a Fender Rumble combo that he wants to sell to raise money for charity and wants an idea of how much it's worth. From what i can see on the photo is that is is made in Japan and the serial number starts with T and comes with a Fender case. This isn't a for sale posting as it will be sold at a charity event not on here. Any advice on pricing will be most welcome. Thanks

All my basses get used regularly for practice, rehearsals and gig action.

Trade not memtioned so just wondered if you would you be interested in a trade for a PJB M-300?

The hardest tracks I have tried to learn to play are, Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Beyond the seventh galaxy by return to forever and Slam the Clown by Alain Caron. I'm sure there are a array of bass lines beyond my scope but these are the hardest ones I've actually tried to learn.

Hard to pick an ultimate moment but one right up there of my proudest bass moments was when I recorded my band's version of "I shot the Sheriff" for our album. It was a one take live recording at a concert we did and only my take on the bass ended up on the finished album, everyone else re-dubbed their parts in the studio. Then the icing came on the cake when the producer showed me a letter from Marley's publishers stating how they loved the bass on the track! As this was my first ever reggae track playing bass on a commercial album and Aston Barrett was my inspiration for taking up music it meant a heck of a lot to me.