jazzyvee

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' timestamp='1472832340' post='3124651'] It uses a lithium battery that lasts up to a year. The important thing to note about this device is that it doesn't work the way that you (probably) think it does. It communicates using bluetooth. So it will only report its location if you, or another person with the TrackR app on their phone, is within bluetooth range of it. Otherwise, your bass stays lost. S.P. [/quote] Absolutely I contacted the company when they first came out about that and they confirmed what you said. They also didn't know if it would cause interference or noise in your instrument since they had not anticipated that it might be used for that purpose, However I do know a guy in the states who put one inside his guitar and said that his guitar does not pick up signals from the transmitter in the device but then his guitar does have a noise cancelling system inside it.

I notice that when doing outdoor gigs even in warm weather the strings feel more gripping so less easy to slide around. I asked Jimmy Johnson about it on another forum and he suggested rubbing your fingertips on the side of your nose as there is always some greasy stuff there which can lubricate your fingers so that's what I do these days but my nose is not really greasy. I've also read that Jaco sometimes had a greasy chicken bone in a pocket to lubricate his finger tips. I have also seen James Earl put his plucking fingers in his mouth before executing a breakneck speed chick corea run on his bass at a concert.

I have never carried a spare bass on a gig. Some I have taken two because I wanted to use a 4 string and a 5 string on a gig. So far none of my basses have let me down. However one multi band gig the bass player from the band on before us came into the dressing room mid set asking if he could use my bass because his had failed. I said politely no and that my bass is only for use by me. Moments later he was back on stage with his bass playing normally. I remember him looking intently at my bass during soundcheck so I guess he wanted an excuse to try it out. The guitarist in my band never carries a spare instrument either nor the drummer, or any of the three brass players but both keyboard players use two keyboards each so I guess there is some backup for them.

I had the same experience when I bought a new 5 string bass some years back and only when it arrived I realised the string spacing was tighter than all my other basses which have the same spacing. However I have not found it a problem unless I'm doing the double thumbing technique. I interchange between the two string spacings with no problem. That said I do use the narrow necked bass primarily for reggae so my fingers seem to understand that when I pick that bass up.

Kashmir by Lenny White from the album Edge. Superb

The ACS ones offer up to 27db of reduction.

Currently I'm playing in two bands and they both play loud. I've used earplugs for a long time as i gave up on trying to get bands to play at sensible levels. Recently I joined the house band for a weekly jam session and after a couple of sessions I told them that the volume far too loud and was a deal breaker for me. Even with the custom 17db earplugs I use they were far too loud. Two guitarists with open backed cabs using high wattage valve amps distortion and a drummer was ridiculous and its a small venue too. Since my complaint to the band leader the volume has reduced by about 50% but I still wear my plugs. I would walk if I couldn't deal with the volume. If you are not wearing earplugs It might be a good idea to try these out first before quitting. Even for bands that don't play loud they are really good and I wear them when I go to watch concerts too.

Fortunately for me my other half loves my basses, they way they look and sound, and doesn't like the idea of me selling any of them. I've thought about doing that a few times when I wanted to buy another bass and she has successfully talked me out of it. I have also had her name engraved on the truss rod cavity cover on her favourite of my basses and usually play that bass on the gigs that she is able to get to. She has a hobby that she is passionate about and I help her with that whenever I can and recently I donated some of my old d'addario pro-steel bass strings and made a frame for a rose bush she wants to grow against a wall. [attachment=225730:Rose_IMG_2603.jpg]

As a long time alembic player I would say depending on the year and condition that sounds like a good price. They are really tough basses and personally I love the sound. Two main things to check, serial number to confirm the year of build, the first two numbers tell you the year it was made this should be on the back of the headstock, the next one should be a "W" to confirm its an epic. Then also get the seller to send you a photo of the inside of the electronics cavity. Sometimes owners change out the original electronics for other stuff and that would be an expensive cost to put back to standard. If the electronics are alembic they there are two usual types you see for that bass. Standard is Vol, Pan, Bass and Treble. The other option sometimes found are Vol, Pan and Low pass filter with or without the Q-switch. This is a post from the alembic site. Standard Epic has the same setup as this bass shown. http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=235.0 Also some reference details. http://www.alembic.com/support/reference.html Anything else you want to know about things alembic drop me a PM.

I always unplug my bass when not in use, like others have said leaving the cable plugged in runs the batteries down in a few short weeks rather than months. One of my basses uses 2 x 9v batteries and are supposed to last only 20hrs! Fortunately the batteries in that one are primarily for backup and the main power comes from the external mains power supply. Even so I don't leave leads pugged in when not in use as they are an accident waiting to happen.

I saw one of the the wailers guitarists using one of these a few years back and it looks like they are ok for bass too. [url="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/226556796/slinger-straps-neoprene-waist-pad-guitar?ref=shop_home_active_2"]https://www.etsy.com...p_home_active_2[/url]

I just watched the Dragons den pitch on BBC iPlayer and either the BBC did some serious editing of the pitch or they just didn't have time. It didn't come over as s really great pitch and i was left with a lot queries going round my head.such as: If they are trying to sell the lead on the quality of the sound, why then have someone playing using a heavily distorted guitar, surely someone playing some sweet toned jazz guitar would have been much better in showing the clarity? If you use effects you will need at least two of the leads. One to your pedal board and one from it to the amp. As you undoubtedly be putting copper back in the loop between effects you kind of lose the benefit there and you only need one dodgy lead in there to negate your investment. Battery dependency which is not an issue with standard jacks. Could you imagine a stage with dozens of those leads for microphones, guitars etc plus spares and spare batteries. Quite a big investment for someone to take on. I like the idea though and i will at least give it a try depending on cost.

I have actually had the opportunity to try this cable out at a guitar fare a few years back and like many posters here I was sceptical about whether it would be snake oil. However I tried it out on a really basic non premier brand cheap passive bass and the difference was incredible and not anything you have to listen hard to hear. Everything was much clearer fuller and more dynamic. That I use an alembic series bass which is active and with a low impedance signal path so designed to combat the problems of noise and signal degradation experienced with copper cables and I did mention that I would need to hear the cable effect with my own basses before deciding if there was any benefit to me having one. [url="https://www.facebook.com/lightleadglobal/photos/a.744431562259437.1073741827.731497853552808/752464701456123/?type=3&theater"]https://www.facebook.com/lightleadglobal/photos/a.744431562259437.1073741827.731497853552808/752464701456123/?type=3&theater[/url] A couple of times since then the guys from the company have been en-route near where I live and called offering to bring the cable over for me to try but it was never an opportune moment.

This version by Bobby McFerrin is my favourite of that song. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd9p_KqVCQs"]https://www.youtube....h?v=Yd9p_KqVCQs[/url]

I have still got these on my bass since the beginning of the year and have recently done 4 more gigs with them and they seem to have maintained their tone better than I expect regular strings to last. I did a jam session last week with them as the house band and it was a 3 hour set and they were great, still very clean sound crisp but not harsh at the too end and the smooth feel is still there so I'm able to make the fast passages really cleanly. The set involved many different styles from 50's rock n roll, through beat bands of the 60's and Eric Clapton stuff, Baker Street, blues and some soul and funk tracks requiring some slap sound. The the bass sound with those strings was great on everything. I have a couple of festival gigs this coming weekend so they will get another chance to shine. Totally impressed!!

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1464989606' post='3064555'] I use a Harvest leather one. Specifically designed for Alembic SS basses but works perfectly with my Ritter. Stunning quality and loads of protection along the neck - party because Alembics have that back angled headstock so they need to be really secure. Big money but I don't think they come any better [/quote] What he said. I have one that I bought from a member of this forum and it's also great for electric guitars too.

Just this week with a reggae coming up I decided to swap the strings onto my Alembic Europa 5 with all maple body, maple and purple heart neck and ebony fretboard. The strings finally found their resting place. This bass has a huge punchy sound anyway with my regular D'addario ProSteel strings and a really tight focussed sound. But being reggae I don't need as much in the upper end other than a bit for note clarity. As I use this bass mainly for reggae because of it's bottom end and punch I have the Low pass filters closed on the neck pickup and only add a little of the bridge pickup when I need to get a different feel for a track. The settings on my Mesa boogie walkabout head was the same as usual and the bass just came over much warmer and the punch seemed lower down the frequency than I recall it usually being which really I think gave the band a different feel from usual. I resisted the temptation to eq it from the bass but left it for the whole gig. At the end of the night our sound guy came over and was raving more about the bass than usual and I said to him the only thing I've changed is the strings. He does all our sound and hears extremely well. So I think I will be sticking with these on my reggae bass for the foreseeable future. One thing though, I'm not sure I understand is how the string allergy I've read about works because I always end up having painful finger tips after playing nickel strings even on smith strings like these and also on guitar and now use coated ones for that. I'm not sure if this is an allergy or the fact I'm playing harder to get a brighter tone or merely psychological. But I'm gonna run with these strings for a while and see how that works out. If you want to send me some more or any others that would be great. :-) Thanks again.

So, if a group of people are sitting in an apartment and a conversation starts between some of them that includes language that is disrespectful towards another racial group not present. Are you saying no-one has a right to intervene because the racial group they are talking about is not present in the room so can't be offended?

Nothing you have said has any relevence to my initial posting.

If that is indeed the case then wouldn't it be more respectful to praise that by using a more direct and positive title that reflects and respects that view of Japanese quality.

Moderators: Why is a thread with this clearly racially offensive heading allowed on the forum!? Here is what a Japanese culture web site has to say on the matter. [url="http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/is-the-word-Jap-derogatory"]http://www.japan-tal...-Jap-derogatory[/url] Wouldn't a more friendly title like "Japanese & Far Eastern Basses" be much more appropriate and have less of a negative overtone?

You could try Stanley Clarke's approach. Here is him on School Days. [url="https://youtu.be/rdRG-hD5ZKo?t=2m50s"]https://youtu.be/rdRG-hD5ZKo?t=2m50s[/url] If you watch the video there are a few of the other players there using chords in their solo so you can observe their methods.

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1458577592' post='3008757'] Improvements stop as soon as you're happy with your bass. [/quote] Dead right however then you may find yourself wondering if your rig is doing the best for your bass.

I get told the same thing even though I feel like i'm really having a great time on stage, it doesn't show on my face most of the time. I'm gonna try this next gig :-) [url="https://www.facebook.com/junior.groovador/videos/1659004251032235/"]https://www.facebook...59004251032235/[/url]