jazzyvee

[quote name='DavidMcKay' timestamp='1444757388' post='2885698'] Honestly - you can't spend 10 minutes on the Basses For Sale forum without someone posting an update about the latest Wal for sale and how the guitar is a 'stunning masterpiece', 'gorgeous beyond belief', and 'why did I ever sell my own one years ago?!?!' (Hint - you probably sold it because it wasn't worth keeping, or else you would still have it). 'Oh - but the intonation, the Wal growl, the tone - it is sublime!'. Eh..... this is a bit like full HD or 4K TV. Most mere mortals don't have the eyesight to discern the difference - and I would argue most listeners to Wal don't 'get' the nuances either. I also believe there is a 2 year waiting list for these (rolls eyes to ceiling). Seriously! Really! If you have too much money burning a great big hole in your pocket then go buy a couple of iWatches or something. Every - and I mean every - photo of a Wal that I have seen looks like an over-varnished by-product from a Prison Workshop. Bits of wood glued together (helps if the woods don't match - I think it is called [i]character[/i])), put in a vice, sanded and then varnished with a Bill Posters brush - multiple times. Not just the ones from the 80's - but the new ones as well! And don't get me started on Mick Karn and how he was the master of the fretless Wal. All Mick Karn ever did was play [u]as [/u]Mick Karn on the fretless Wal. Even where he was guesting as part of a 'super group' type of set up for the Princes Trust or whatever - he still sounded like Mick Karn [u]being [/u]Mick Karn playing a fretless [u]like[/u] Mick Karn. That's not a signature tune or sound - that is someone who was incapable of playing any other way. I will never be able to play like Mick Karn, I will never have enough money to own a Wal, and I will never feel about the Wal bass the way some of you do. But I am OK with that. Wal-lovers. I'm calling you out. Let's have some grown up critique (ooh - get me, after said rant above!) about the pros and cons of the Wal and not some knee-jerk fanboy reaction everytime someone posts an image or a for sale post. Honestly - if you want a Wal. Dip your bass in Cuprinol repeatedly for 8 weeks and you'll be there Thoughts?........ [/quote] LOL I know nothing about Wal's but this post was worth reading twice. :-)

If you want the ultimate low pass filter to give you the ultimate, natural sounding, cleanest, powerful, choose what you want to shake off the wall, filter for dub bass I can highly recommend the alembic SF-2 I've had one for about 12 years. It's awesome. Not cheap unfortunately but they come up now and again on ebay. [url="http://www.alembic.com/prod/sf2.html"]http://www.alembic.com/prod/sf2.html[/url]

Interesting question now you mention it. I haven't ever asked that question. One bass I did buy on-line I couldn't add any relief in the neck, the nuts were completely loose and the strings were so low as to be unplayable without buzzing. I was advised to get some higher tension strings ,RCocco, and that solved the problem. Great sounding strings but very rough to the touch when new.

I popped into my local music shop this afternoon looking for a replacement for my small rig head which is currently a Peavey Tour 450 which is great for reggae but I haven't found it hi-fi enough for my the other gigs where I need a full range clean sound. I tried out a used Genz Benz ShuttleMax 12.0 which is a Class D amp with a tube pre-amp channel and a solid state channel. I tried it alongside a Aguillar D751a nd an angular 4x10 cab which was only because it was there not that I'm after an angular rig . But I actually preferred the Genz benz to the Aguillar. It sounded much more hi-fi and cleaner and seemed to respond to the filter changes on my bass much better. Any views on it especially if you are using it for Jazz-funk, RnB, soul and funk gigs?

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1429286357' post='2750083'] Nothing in the instrument makes a single bit of difference to the tone other than pickups and electronics. [/quote] How is that possible when I've read the forum here many times that the tone is in the fingers???...... :-) I'll get my coat. :-)

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1429203118' post='2749223'] My thinking on this is that you want to keep as much of the string vibration stuck inside the strings for as long as possible if sustain is important to you - transmission of energy beyond the fixed ends of a vibrating string, at the nut into the headstock, and at the bridge saddles into the body are, from a physics point of view, just dumping energy into heatsinks. Effectively both nut and bridge should act as mirrors. Bridge rigidity is more important in this context than sheer mass. I also believe that neck rigidity has a big part to play in sustain. Again, all in my humble opinion. [/quote] I'm with you on that and that is pretty much Alembic's take on the subject of sustain hence the huge sustain block and machined brass bridge and nut.

I had a good gig last night with a Jazz big band even though, if you exclude number of family members and partners of band members, we outnumbered the audience. But we got them dancing and a good time was had by all.

My bass weights range between 10.5lb to just under 13lbs. So far i've not had any problems carrying that weight at all even on the occasional 2 hour gig or rehearsal session.

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1444375531' post='2882604'] ive never been able to get a tone i like out of an ashdown amp so i know which id go for but it depends what you are after i guess, im sure theyre fine though once you spend a bit more time with them. the cabs i have found more usable. [/quote] +1

I own one of those basses and my view is that in excellent condition, you should expect to pay up to about £1400 max, I think you should be able to get one between £1000 and £1200 if it's been a working instrument with some bumps and bruises.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1444283119' post='2881785'] Totally agree Blue, gigging is why I`m in a band. Yes I love rehearsing and recording, but gigging is the main thing for me. The whole buzz of it, driving to a new venue, seeing new audiences get into our music. Playing venues regularly and seeing the same faces at many gigs and chatting to them about the music plus making friends with them. I also love the solitude of a quiet drive home in the early hours. [/quote] That

I'd say I use the neck for about 60%, the rest equally share about 35% and bridge on it's own only at most about 5%

I had a new set of those made last year from a stand a LBGS. I lost them within 6 months and about 3 months back I had a new set made. Would you believe it i found the original set. The little case they were in had somehow lodged itself into the pack of spare strings I keep in my gig back pocket which is why I never found them for looking. I guess it's good to have a spare.

[quote name='Naetharu' timestamp='1443016909' post='2871478'] Hi folks, Having just started out gigging I'm looking to insure my gear and I was hoping that some of you more experienced folks could point me in the direction of a good insurance company. Any points would be greatly appreciated. James [/quote] I'd suggest Insuring at replacement cost not used price value. That way if anything happens to your gear you can always replace it with a new instrument.

Actually, I started to learn Slam the Clown by Alain Caron earlier this year and I'm nowhere near getting through that track yet. The bassline is really a finger twister for both hands.. Another hard one would be "Got Tuh B" by Tribal Tech which has a great bass line, but haven't tried to play that one so I guess it doesn't count. :-)

I've noticed that many of the local gigs I go to regardless of the genre, bass rigs always seem to have the sub bass button pressed in. By that I mean the button like on ashdowns that adds an octave of the note being played to your sound. Are the basses players use these days so bass shy that this is standard practice. I see them all the time on back line rigs provided for us and even though we are a reggae band I always turn them off. Recently I was rehearsing with a band as a Dep and the bass rig had a Lo in and it really made the sound incredibly muddy. Am I missing something?

Hymn of the seventh galaxy.

I recently went in a local CC to get an idea of a price they would give me for a brand new bass cab I have and they said there is a facility on their web site for you to find out how much they will give you for anyting. I haven't looked for it but it might be worth checking your stuff on there before lugging it down to the shop as thats what they check in-store before offering you a price.... apparently.

Saturday, I had two gigs. One at the launch of the new WBA fan Zone with reggae band Musical Youth Stu Hartland from the Twang and the other was a blues, Rock n Roll, Reggae band gig in the evening.

Wow that sounds just up my street musically, give me a shout if you are gigging up in the Midlands area.

I think I will pop down there sometime during the day to check it out if it's not raining.

Try an anaconda

Strung my bass up with some last night and my first impressions are. a) Not as bright sounding as my usual D'addario's which is ok for reggae. b} Much smoother feel and not like the sandpaper feel that I usually experience with new strings. c) I may be mistaken but they feel like they have less tension than my normal strings which isn't a problem Have a band rehearsal tomorrow so I should get a better idea of what they will sound like live.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1441445714' post='2858912'] put the strings on, and stretch/pull them. it pulls the windings to there optimum capacity.thus pre-empting there natural stretch and going out of tune over time. its a must when putting on new strings for me. tune up, then pull on a string then check your tuning. [/quote] yep that's what I've always done and I'm amazed at the number of players who don't do that and they leave loads of windings on the peg too.

Yeah, all makes sense but I'm gonna try some new, to me, elixir's and see how they hold up. Perfect opportunity to oil the fingerboard as well. Thanks for your relevant comments and the humour in the irrelevant ones... :-)