funkypenguin

All of these less well known players influence different facets of my playing Scott Ambush Munir Hossn Damian Erskine John D'Ercole Evan Marien Tony Grey Nick Blacka Rich Brown Me'shell N'degeocello

I've not gigged my Warwick Hellborg rig yet, the first gig can't come soon enough!!!

Thats interesting WH as far as the pickup types vs string types is concerned The thing that made the biggest difference to my bass was having an East U-retro preamp put it, it totally transformed the bass. To my ears, the MEC pickups/preamp have a thin top end with a harsh edge to it, the East pre really sweetened it a lot while still retaining the Warwick growl. I'd never heard of a Warwick being fitted with alembic pickups before, they must be a rare beast indeed! Ben

Thats Andrew Gouche. And he was the MD when he was playing with Chaka Khan.... If you want to find out what the actual show was like, the record is called All The Hits Live. The band is absolutely smoking IMO. Ben

I'll add Hadrien Feraud, Matt Garrison and Tony Grey to that list not people that need any sort of crutch whatsoever for their technique Ben

Thats what you're saying here.....

+1.....

If you get the kind of bands from situation A, thats fantastic and I would be very appreciative of you setting up a Berg/vanderkley rig for me to play through if I were in that situation. Unfortunately I've come across a lot of situation B (younger) in the past. I think its fair enough that I don't want players like that anywhere near my Hellborg amp.

Practice is the simple answer, The more you work on it the more second nature fingerboard navigation becomes. Personally I find it harder to go back to 4 strings because I'm used to having more options in each direction on the 6er. I would also second what Doddy already said, you can do everything on a 6 you can do on a 4 but not the other way round. The additional weight can be compensated for with a wide padded strap. Ben

They can be addictive, I switched to 6ers full time in 2008 and have never looked back, though I still own a P bass for teaching and when I need a passive sound. John Patitucci, Anthony Jackson and John Myung opened the door onto another world of possibilities (and later Tony Grey, Damian Erskine, Oteil Burbridge and Bjorn Meyer) that I don't think I'll ever tired of exploring Ben

I’ve seen too much gear being treated like s*** at multi band gigs to let anyone near my amp. The cabinets maybe, provided that the other bands had asked ahead of time. If they just turn up and expect to use it then no

Thanks very much and thanks for checking it out! 🤘 Ben

This is the most recent of the lockdown projects I've gotten done from my laundry list, and It also happened to tie in nicely with the odd meters challenge thats been running over on SBL! This is taken from Dream Theater's Live At Budokan DVD, it was built around The Dance Of Eternity and features music from various other instrumentals. This is Instrumedley! Its a particular thing (as is all of progressive music) but hopefully some of you will dig this. Ben p.s - props to any of you that make it through all 12 minutes!

One of the greatest songwriters and musicians? Yes. Greatest guitarist? Never. I can't think of any Prince guitar part that would even crack a guitar players top 10. You will never convince me he's greater than players like Vai, Slash or Hendrix. Ben

This is where taste comes into the equation, as opposed to being able to split them simply by looking at the spec sheet. I can't stand the voicing of the MEC pickups or their preamps, for me they are the weakest part of any Warwick bass especially at the top end. My own Warwick has Seymour Duncan pickups and the East preamp, and the bass sounds fuller and a lot sweeter to my ears. I have no idea about any of the technical specs of Johns preamps (or any preamps for that matter), I only know that I prefer how they sound to the MEC units Ben

I have an East U-retro in my Warwick (it replaced the old MEC 2 band unit) and it sounds a lot better in both active and passive modes. John makes seriously high quality circuitry that I don't think any mainstream manufacturer can match for the reasons that @Dood has already mentioned. Top quality = top dollar, which extends to Johns after sales care, after part of my preamp came loose (my fault!) he had me over to his workshop and sat me down with a brew while he fixed it free of charge. I would recommend his preamps to anyone, for me they are the best retrofit preamps available anywhere Ben

Fodera 32" Monarch 6 string

Pulled the trigger on the dream custom build

Really enjoyed that Bilbo, you have a lovely sound on that fretless! Ben

Everything on John's preamps is plug in or screw terminal so you don't need to worry about your ability to solder! Shoot him an email if you want to discuss your requirements, his knowledge and customer service is second to none. When a part of my preamp broke, he had me round to his house and sat me down with a brew in his workshop while he fixed it completely free of charge. I've never come across any manufacturer that comes close to his level of customer care and after sales service. Ben

Seymour Duncan pickups and an East UNI preamp I have the older East U-Retro in my Warwick and it totally transformed the bass! Ben Edit: just spotted you went with Seymour Duncans after all! Great choice!

I've just pulled the trigger on a custom order through Bass Direct and its been an incredibly positive experience thus far!

Yeah, between Thomas Haake's kick drums and Thorendal's right hand it was one of the most brutal gigs I've ever seen!

Toto - Falling In Between Live In Paris Earth Wind And Fire - Plugged In And Live Stevie Wonder - Natural Wonder Jamiroquai - Live In Verona Those 4 are still regular players for me 8 or so years after I first heard them Ben

Meshuggah - Manchester Academy 2013. The loudest and most aggressive gig ive ever been to! Ben