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KK Jale

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Posts posted by KK Jale

    I don't really understand Rickenbackers

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    I heard a really great Rickenbacker sound the other night; the guy in the Dreaming Spires. He was using flats on a 4001 into a SVT and some kind of H&K 4x12. No clank, just fat. Nice.

    Very fine band... a three-piece fronted by two brothers, with the guitarist doubling on keys and both singing harmony. Some top songs and more than a little taste of Big Star and Teenage Fanclub, if you like that sort of thing (which I very much do).

    http://www.thedreamingspires.co.uk/#/home/4568942287

    play for free

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by KK Jale

    I have played for nearly free... a long time ago... drinks, maybe a cab fare.

    Last few years I've taken things more practically. Band A and band B don't go out for less than a few hundred, generally. And it's not straight covers... band A is a rootsy psychedelic affair with half originals, band B is obscure jazz/blues instrumentals. Guess I'm lucky in that I've fallen in with a bunch of hard-bitten (yet still hilarious) pros.

    Feel sorry for my flatmate drummer, who's on the originals circuit (doing americana). Last week they went 100 miles to support a kinda-ex-name band for £40... all in. And I was so pissed off, as I know some of this ex-name band, and I wrote them a very nice email asking as a special favour if the support could borrow a tiny bit of backline to save them taking two vehicles all that way, and told them they were good sensible chaps who wouldn't mess with settings or anything, and got a flat no. Now I fully understand being careful with gear, but these are guys who are living off the goodwill of the '70s get-it-together-in-the-country vibe. Their sadly deceased leader would have handed you the dobro off his back. How things change.

    Guitar buying advice - expand my mind

    in Guitars

    Posted · Edited by KK Jale

    Hmm. Slightly fringe you say? Well after listening to that track I would jump on something like this, plus a fab delay pedal... no personal connection with this auction...

    [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HOHNER-JT-60-ATN-PROFESSIONAL-Jazzmaster-Jaguar-Mint-Condition-Fender-Pick-/271025489729"]http://www.ebay.co.u...k-/271025489729[/url]

    It's 20 years old, suitably oddball and cool, very well made (Czechoslovakia AFAIK), with good pickups and an adaptable ATN tone circuit w/thicker sounds on tap designed by Alan Entwistle. Weight can be the only drawback.

    Edit: oooh I missed your (totally ill-advised :) ) twin humbucker preference.

    Consider 70s/80s Ibanez or Matsumoku (Aria, Vantage, Washburn etc).

    Or a DeArmond.

    Acoustic guitars

    in Guitars

    Posted · Edited by KK Jale

    ^ I agree with Senor Beer! :)

    Phil-osopher, I think solid tops are hugely massively important. Sometimes people will say ‘Oh, well my '70s Yamaha has a laminated top and it sounds amazing,’ but I've never played a GREAT laminated top guitar, ever.

    Back and sides are a different matter. There's an effect, but it's much less IMO. For instance the majority of Gibsons from the late '30s to the late '70s had laminated sides, and some of those (the early ones) are in holy grail territory. Some really good Guilds had laminated, pressed backs. Selmer Maccaferris had laminated rosewood backs and sides and they're fanatically sought-after and worth thousands and thousands.

    You can get solid top guitars well below the £200 mark these days, but the trick is to find one with a good neck angle, as lots of them are in need of a neck-set right out of the factory. Lots of info on spotting that (and more besides) here:

    [url="http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/NeckAngle/neckangle.html"]http://www.frets.com.../neckangle.html[/url]

    Big Stu - Texans from that year are fairly rare I suppose, I've found I think traces of three on the interweb, and I've looked pretty hard.

    Acoustic guitars

    in Guitars

    Posted

    My Epiphone Texan.

    [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/transalp1998/EpiTex1web.jpg[/IMG]

    Put together by Gibson in 58, it's basically a J-50 with an older long-scale neck they salvaged from the Epiphone factory.

    Nash Basses

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    To side with the mob...

    I've played any number of Nash basses and in terms of weight and feel they ALL paled in comparison to a Bravewood, or even a Custom Shop relic.

    I'd wager that other relic partscasters from people like McGuire, Eternal or Deltone (all readily available in the UK) would be better too, judging by their six-string guitars.

    Apologies to the Strat owner above, from what you say yours sounds and plays damn good, no disrespect intended.

    Basswise my 2K would be spent on a personal parts bass with luthier help, possibly with MJTele's input, or a Bravewood, plus wine women and song... or a Custom Shop. Probably in that order.

    Orange Bass Terror

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted · Edited by KK Jale

    I've thrown mine around over a year and 80 or so shows, and it's been perfect. And I love it.

    As far as I can tell, the majority of any problems have shown up early (as with all electrical goods) and I haven't personally heard of any trouble with service from Orange.

    In fact I damaged mine early on (bent the valve contacts by cack-handedly inserting a used 12AX7) and Orange generously sorted me out for free, even though the blame was entirely mine.

    So a big thumbs-up here.

    Transporting gear.... are there cheap inovative methods?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='subaudio' timestamp='1333378400' post='1600816']
    How about [url="https://www.streetcar.co.uk/sc_welcome.aspx"]Zipcar [/url]or the like?
    [/quote]

    I've looked at this for London use.

    Weighed against car ownership (£1000 pa for me before fuel and before it goes wrong... again) it does seem to make some sense... but only for intensive trips.

    With gigs, there’s a three-to-five hour hole in the middle where the car just sits there with the meter running, as it were.

    If anyone's done proper sums on car share deals, I'd be interested to hear their conclusions...

    Depressing things your bandmates say.

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by KK Jale

    [quote name='seashell' timestamp='1333544836' post='1603265']
    I feel your pain. I am new to this bass playing lark, and I am beginning to realise I have a LOT of things to learn. The above being one of them.
    [/quote]

    I may be guilty of over-simplification when it comes to singers always being right... :rolleyes:

    To be semi-serious (only for a second, honest) I see the job as linking the singer with the drummer. That's it.

    In terms of tempo I'm always fighting on the drummer's side, but the singer can do anything: sing two verses, add a chorus, be late into a verse, go round again... and if I miss it, that's my fault. Gotta be on that sh*t in a nanosecond.

    (Soloists usually get the same luxury treatment, but we have a sax player who's the butt of all jokes, and when he jumps in early we all have a special look which means "Stick to it.... f*** 'im." :lol: )

    But as for the singer, if there's a good song that he wants done a certain way or else he probably won't do it, then I guess I have to go along with it.

    I can still bitch about it on here though.

    God bless this forum *sheds a tiny tear*

    Depressing things your bandmates say.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    At a recent gig, the singer called Inner City Blues. We'd never done it before but it had been on the setlist when I joined, so whoopee. It went like a train (our drummer is fabulous).

    Next gig:

    Singer: You know Inner City Blues... I'm not sure the bass goes like that. It's five notes... then five more... and it ends on the C. [We play it in A].

    Me: Erm, I know what you mean. It actually varies a lot, it's an unbelieveable bassline, but mostly it ends on the root. Nearly always, in fact. There's a couple of places it does end on the third, though. I think I did a few last time.

    Singer. Well... it just feels better ending on the C, to me. Oh, and there's one thing you do and it kind of sticks out and it sort of puts me off.

    Me: Oh, which bit?

    Singer: it goes dur-dur-dur-dur-dur... and then you do that funny bit.

    Me: Okay. The way I see it, if you strip it down, it's basically those two five-note runs, but there are those little links in between. The first link is pushed, the second link is late but straight. [demonstrates]

    Singer; Oh. Well do you think you could sort of not do it?

    Me: Thinks... **Listen mate, you're the one who changes the chords on f***ing Dylan songs, and you can't play a f***ing barre B minor, and you have obviously never listened to this song in 20 years, and it's one of the greatest-ever basslines, and you want me to SORT OF NOT DO IT???**

    **thinks some more: the singer is always right, the singer is always right, the singer is always right, the singer is always right...*

    Me. Oh, okay.

    Weak, I am. Weak.

    Michael Davis

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Really sad about this.

    A few years ago, a mate called and said ‘Michael Davis is in town, he needs a spare bass. Take him yours, you'll have a good time.’ So I went along to John Henry studios and met Michael and the MC5 (okay, the MC3 by this time really), all rehearsing for a gig at the 100 Club with Lemmy, Dave Vanian, and other guests. They were nice: I'm met Kramer before. Then I got the bass out, and Michael didn't know or care that it was a Squier JV. All he knew was that it was a sunburst Precision with a tortie guard. He goes 'Wow, man, Jamerson! That's amazing!' And he was running around to all the band saying 'Look! Just like James Jamerson!!' So I sat in a corner and listened to the rehearsal, and later on Michael's wife ghosted me into the gig, and it was bonkers. And Michael used the bass for the encore, probably just to make me happy, and he was such a sweet, cool guy, and I'm so sad to hear that he's gone….

    Work of art or tat?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Top money for a '70s LP Deluxe would surely be no more than £3k, mint… and the article says this one arrived 'covered with plastic triangles'.

    Personally, I think all Deluxes should be turned into tasteless, useless wall-hangers. Top work, sir.

    The tale of last weekend on the road...

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    ...the breakdowns... the swivel-eyed punters... the daft blonde with the cigarette ash trick... plus clowns, lethal paraffin heaters, elastic bands, Cock Boy and, for some reason, flashbacks to an incident at the age of six. Written by genius keyboard player Garry. Warning: long story. Hope you enjoy...

    http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=367814539913548&id=180029812025356

    FENDER, Japanese Vintage Series Porn , JV Serial Numbers...

    in Gear Gallery

    Posted · Edited by KK Jale

    Happy to join in...

    1982 Squier '62 Precision, serial JV20xxx. Jason Lollar pickup. I was living in Cambridge and got a call for a last-minute dep the same night. Lacking a bass, I wandered into the local shop with fingers crossed and found this. I traded them an indifferent Tokai Strat I'd bought for £80. The gig paid £100!

    1982 Squier '57 Precision, serial JV15xxx. Aftermarket anodised guard. Found in a shop in Croydon for £200. I once had another of these but it was heavy and had neck issues, so it went. This one is ridiculously light and super loud.

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