danhkr

His main live rig for the last 10 years...wonder when it was last re-valved

Tried some of the new Fenders recently. Very good - definitely better than they were, apparently now made by D'Addario and still only £12-£15! Still love Elixirs though.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1339999' date='Aug 14 2011, 08:26 PM']Blimey. At least it sold. [/quote] Actually, it didn't it was mine and the seller pulled out. To be fair to him he had a genuine reason to do so and was very honest. In a way it's not too bad for me as although I need the money, I was hoping it might have fetched a bit more. I guess stuff just isn't really moving at the minute and as amazing as the Big Al is, it probably doesn't have the commercial appeal that certain other models do.

Easiest way to tell is from the front of the headstock which he/she has ingeniously decided not to photograph. The little anniversary label on the back (60th I think) suggests it's from the late 90's so I doubt it'll be Japanese unless it's some sort of special edition.

[quote name='bassman7755' post='1324668' date='Aug 2 2011, 06:43 PM']The thing that doesnt add up in my mind is that, given that what you say is probably true ... how do all these specialist bass shops stocked to the gills with all this gear, and the various custom bass builders stay in business ?.[/quote] There aren't that many 'boutique' dealers though, so fewer stores take up that part of the business. Also selling one £2500 amp would probably make them as much money as a 'cheaper' shop selling maybe 8 ashdown electric blues. [quote name='Chris2112' post='1324681' date='Aug 2 2011, 06:49 PM']Of course you're not going to see great gear down the Dog and Bollock public house, where a P bass will do and your amp is resting on a beer crate. But then, the good gear has to turn up somewhere right? When I worked at a hotel we'd get lots of bands coming in for functions and weddings (my department). Some of these were content to just turn up and slog it out with a P bass or a Jazz bass but there were many bands who took a lot of pride in their performance and brought better gear with them. Of the few I can remember quickly; there was a bloke who played for a jazz ensemble who had two 5 string Overwaters. An Asian bloke who played for a covers band with a Yamaha TRB. The bassist for the Newcastle University Jazz band used to play a green Warwick Streamer Jazzman. Another bassist who played for a covers band used a Warwick Thumb and a Trace Elliot amp - his tone was great. Another covers band bassist played a Pentabuzz and a 5 string Spector (which ended up for sale at Guitar Guitar). He was a real gent and let me try his basses too, how cool! And then there was one very professional band (with their own stage, lighting rig and soundboard) whose bassist played a Fodera Emperor through a Glockenklang amp. It's out there! When I used to play live I would take my first Kubicki among other things![/quote] Hmmm, I actually prefer a good P or Jazz to any of those other basses you mention both in sound and playability. I'm not saying they're better basses, just different and it's each to their own. Having said that the vast majority of non-pro/semi-pro bassists I've seen who use 'boutique' guitars and amps haven't particularly impressed me with their sound or playing which is what 'taking pride in your performance' is all about. Nothing to do with having expensive 'labels' on stage.

[quote name='bassman7755' post='1322364' date='Jul 31 2011, 07:03 PM']It strikes me as odd that, given all the boutique gear begin discussed on here, and on parade in the specialist outlets, I never actually see any of it in use when I'm out watching a local (wiltshire/avon area) band. All I see is endless parades of precision/jazz copies going though commodity gear (peavey/behringer etc, maybe trace or ashdown on a good day). Makes you wonder how aware people are of all this high end gear.[/quote] It's not odd at all though is it. The 'endless parades of precision/jazz copies going though commodity gear' is simply down to the fact that the vast majority of people simply don't a spare couple of grand plus to buy top end stuff. Why do you think there's a thousand times more fords/vauxhalls on the road than mercs/jags?

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='1315296' date='Jul 25 2011, 12:24 AM']I wish I could turn up and play roots and fithes with a pick and a bit of distortion, but it's not interesting enough for me at all and I'll just give up playing.[/quote] Whilst constantly pushing yourself is never a bad thing, you do sound a little bit like a frustrated guitarist being made to play bass. Suggesting you may even 'go back to guitar' further suggests this. [i]Just try keeping it simple, lock in with the drummer, don't see bass playing as some ego trip to impress people[/i]; all these things and more have been said in this thread and this is a massive +1 on that from me. It's great when someone comes up to you and compliments your playing, but your main priority should be doing what's best for the band and the song. I really hope you take on board what a lot of people are saying here and start having fun again.

[quote name='steve-bbb' post='1319206' date='Jul 28 2011, 12:21 PM']dirtyloops is good but just a couple of odd occasions where it seems like theyre throwing in just that little bit too much syncopation and trying to be too clever - and nobody likes a smarty pants do they[/quote] I agree. The melody of the song (that's what it is is, yeah?) is lost trying to fit it round all the syncopation. It grooves, but a bit w*anky for my liking and sounds a bit like a flashy demo on a posh keyboard.

Lifted mine a bit recently after some hand/wrist pain to keep my left wrist straight rather than bent up all the time. I don't have it as high as if I was sat though.

Sell it. The only stuff worth keeping is stuff you wouldn't dream of selling and if that was the case with this you wouldn't have started this thread.

If I was you I'd jump in the car on my day off and go check out a couple of shops that have them in stock. At least that way you know what you're getting and if it's right you walk out the shop with it the same day. If the dealer has anything about them they'll even tweak the set-up to your liking at no extra charge.

[quote name='Green Alsatian' post='1295105' date='Jul 6 2011, 07:54 PM']I like 'em - if the build quality/feel/sound is comparable to the other MIM Classic series then this should be a cracking bass.[/quote] These are Japanese, although they are adding them to the classic series. I thought they might put them in the new 'pawn shop' series as they're not strictly authentic. Street price will probably be £900!

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1273086' date='Jun 17 2011, 07:25 PM']I only have one very high post count.[/quote]

I have three, but could quite easily do everything I do with just one of them. In fact, I'd bet the vast majority of 'multi-bass owners' do so out of luxury rather than necessity.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1258628' date='Jun 6 2011, 05:10 PM']EBMM aren't really the company to pioneer new things now. Just look at the success of the classic Rays![/quote] How do you mean?

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1254926' date='Jun 3 2011, 01:11 AM']Only cool people think they look good, fact.[/quote] Correct. All [i]I[/i] do is set it to sound similar to an active jazz or p. I knew for a fact before I bought mine that I would only use one or two settings and hardly touch the eq. It didn't and still doesn't bother me in the slightest because it's not a variax, it's a real EBMM guitar with top draw build quality and playability but totally different tonewise to Stingrays and Sterlings which is exactly what I was looking for. I also know that if a job/band cropped up that required something different, chances are the Big Al will cover it. Maybe people are moving them on because they're finding that despite every setting sounding good, they end up only using a couple of different tones so perhaps subconsciously feel a bass like this is wasted on them? I've certainly seen no bad word said against the Big Al from any of the sellers.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1244684' date='May 25 2011, 07:44 PM']The only coated strings I found that were 'sticky' were the original Elixir Polyweb with the thicker coating. I haven't found any of the thinner-coated strings on most makes to be like that. You really can't tell there's a coating at all.[/quote] Yeah, don't think they make the 'polyweb' strings for anything other than acoustics now. For some reason that thick coating just never worked on bass or electric guitar. The current 'nanoweb' Elixirs are fantastic though. I found they sounded as good as the DR's, lasted longer and were a smoother feel. Each to their own though.