dc2009

looks like delberthot is up in scotchland, and I'm in london, but if you're lucky there'll be one of these basses a bit closer to you to try out. I wholeheartedly recommend it as a fantastic bass, and just within your budget too

[quote name='risingson' post='1370959' date='Sep 12 2011, 07:33 PM']With the greatest of respect then, you can't have spoken to many people under the age of 30. I regularly play cover gigs at bars catering almost exclusively for those under 30 where we play out the likes of Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson etc. etc. and response is always the same: favourable. People singing along word for word, people specifically coming and asking me for more Motown. The popularity has undeniably been carried down to my age group, I can account for it on multiple fronts. And of course the sound has stood the test of time, you only need to listen to Adele or Cee Lo Green's latest release to see how far reaching Motown's influence has been. 50 years on! That's insane longevity. Unparalleled in many respects. There's nothing notable about Lady Gaga in a musical sense. She relies on her quirkiness as the thing that identifies her (not a criticism, in fact a great way of marketing), but it doesn't make you musically talented or unique. You listen to Dusty Springfield or Aretha Franklin sing and you know who you're listening to in the first few bars. Total unbridled talent, whether it's your thing or not. I don't expect we're going to come to any logical conclusions arguing on this subject, so apologies to stray from the OT.[/quote] I'm at university in London, active in a department and sporting sense, and work in a student bar, I can safely say I know hundreds of people under 30 (being 20 myself). IMO a sound standing the test of time and a present day artist taking influence from an old sound are not the same thing. I dare say I could pick out a Gaga song in the first few bars, and wouldn't be able to tell Dusty Springfield or Aretha Franklin apart if I heard the two alongside each other. I agree that we won't come to any conclusion, but I've read all your posts with great interest so apologies about the thread hijack too!

[quote name='risingson' post='1370847' date='Sep 12 2011, 06:17 PM']I don't think we're going to agree here dc! Lady Gaga is talented in as much as she has managed to amass a small fortune through being musically talentless (she has other talents). I don't think she can sing, I think she's a terribly mediocre writer and I think people are numb to this because there's been far too long a time passed since the last truly exceptional female singer and writer. Her music's production lack depth, and the majority of her output is bereft of substance and quality. And on the Motown front, well of course everything is personal preference, including a person's choice to listen to Lady Gaga. But if you were to tell me that Lady Gaga had the same level of skills that were displayed by the Motown songwriting and arranging team (HDH), producers and performers (both in-house and vocal), then the argument kind of starts to fall apart. Continuing to use the Motown as an example, the production team at Hitsville did their level best to put something together that has ended up really standing the test of time (50 years and counting), in spite of their technological disadvantage in direct comparison to what even the most basic studios run today. All preference aside, it sounds brilliant. Unique too. There's nothing unique about Lady Gaga, a million and one people could do what she does, providing they had the money behind them, leading me to think the comparison between the two pretty redundant.[/quote] She was a successful writer for many years before writing for herself. In my book, that makes her musically talented. If the Motown guys were 'talented' then they might have written songs that didn't all sound like each other, and I might actually like some of it. IMO they were boring musicians and producers and you'd have to pay me to listen to said dross. As for standing the test of time, I can honestly say you're the first person I've encountered under 30 years of age who is a Motown fan, the lions share of Motown listeners are people who grew up with it. I'd argue it really hasn't stood the test of time, because so few young people these days choose to listen to it. As for saying preferences aside, it sounds brilliant, that really isn't preferences aside, as I think it sounds terrible. I can think of several people, in contrast, who put lady gaga on their playlist, and no Motown, and IMO, she sounds a lot better. As for saying a million and one people could do what she does, so could all of the Motown writers be classed as the same. I'm sure plenty of people were skilled enough musicians, and would rather have been pro musos than factory workers or unemployed. To draw it all together, those guys were using the best they had available to them, just as miss gaga does now. They were also both enormously popular in their own right, not caring too much because in the end, it's all going to sound very similar on that LP through that gramophone. I don't see anything wrong with using the best equipment available to you, or with writing music that you know will sell fantastically well, and be very popular.

[quote name='risingson' post='1370724' date='Sep 12 2011, 04:46 PM']It depends what you're aiming for though. Not everyone wants to hear cleanliness and evidential proof of hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of hardware/software behind a track. Maybe that's why Jamerson's comments are more important than ever in fact, I feel very strongly that popular music has lost its way in this respect. Motown was a production line, but it was a production line with soul and humanity behind it, but the likes of Lady Gaga (IMO I should stress) have bastardised this legacy.[/quote] motown's soul and humanity is dubious, I swear half the time those terms are use to describe that music it's due to nostalgia and listener's preference, not any factual basis Whilst a lot of modern pop is poor musically, Lady Gaga's stuff is some of the best. Some really well written songs (from a musical standpoint), she's actually a big iron maiden fan etc If a modern band doesn't sound good production wise, I'd be the first to say why not? The audio quality should augment the listener's experience, not hinder it (IMO of course). What do I think sounds good production wise? I like stadium arcadium and for the more extreme stuff, Gorod's Process of a New Decline. These records have had lots of care and money spent on the instruments, recording equipment and production to final sound, something jamerson clearly didn't care for and something (again IMO ofc) I think his music suffers for in comparison to the two I just mentioned.

[quote name='redstriper' post='1370623' date='Sep 12 2011, 04:00 PM']I couldn't disagree with you more if I tried The 60s recordings I love touch my soul more than anything 'these days'. Music is about so much more than audio quality and I don't find any significant improvements in the past 50 years anyway - in fact I can't listen to a lot of modern recordings.[/quote] Meh I spent many of my recent years listening to a lot of metal, and if that has poor sound quality it usually sounds like sh1te, hence I like my music to be well recorded and produced, and ideally listened through something with Bose written on it. I think audio quality is what helps a crap band like Coldplay sell millions of records and an awesome band like _______ who sell none because their CD sounds like crap, even though the songs are amazing. It has significantly improved in 50 years and I can't listen to a lot of crappy old recordings, partly because I think the music sucks but largely because I find the sound unlistenable.

[quote name='chris_b' post='1370580' date='Sep 12 2011, 03:38 PM']"It's all in here, in the heart." JJ's comment is as relevant today as it was when Bach and Mozart were gigging. It's always the person that makes the difference.[/quote] You can't disagree with the rest of my post though, I doubt? Which makes JJ's comment on the gear side of things irrelevant in today's world, as for heart, judge that as you will. And as for heart in classical music, I'd say it's fairly irrelevant there when the writer can't control the heart of anyone of the orchestra members who are playing their piece, nor the conductor who then styles it after his own ideas anyway...

[quote name='redstriper' post='1370533' date='Sep 12 2011, 03:11 PM']"Bass players call from all over, wanting to know what type of equipment I use, what type of bass, what kind of strings-- things like that. I'll tell them, but that's not what's important; it's the feel. The strings don't make the sound, it's the feel. It's all in here, in the heart." - James Jamerson, 1979[/quote] IMO that was relevant when the bass track you laid down was recorded through a tin can, copied onto a terrible music format and played through a crap hi-fi. These days, where everyone has access to some seriously high quality audio, and many like myself invest hundreds of pounds in precision engineered devices to listen to it through, if the bassist was playing on a rusty stringed piece of crap through a cardboard box amp, with all of the 'feel' in the world, it'd sound like crap and you'd laugh at the record, let alone ever buy it. Therefore I think that statement is completely irrelevant to today's world.

I feel that in my free time, I play bass as much as I want to. I just don't have as much free time as I might like.

[quote name='throwoff' post='1370423' date='Sep 12 2011, 01:42 PM']My only beef with a $$ is the open pole pieces giving that click if you slap a bit hard. Personally I always dig a $$ with Barts[/quote] Can't slap, won't slap here so no worries at all. Also if I do slap I do it right at the base of the neck, so still none of the same problem.

[quote name='ped' post='1370235' date='Sep 12 2011, 11:19 AM']The sizes are very generous yeah, I'm wearing a medium in the pics.[/quote] How tall are you for reference? I'd take an L usually, but looks like I will probably be an M, if not an S! Loving these, will be getting a black one. Would also gladly invest in BC sweatbands if they ever became possible, as I've discovered the need for them at hot and sweaty gigs lately!

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1369224' date='Sep 11 2011, 11:09 AM']The Dolphin is great! It looks strange but balances well and sounds great. Tonally, it's not far off the sound of a Thumb, which is a good thing. I have always considered the Thumb to be Warwick's best bass for a number of reasons, not least because of it's amazing tone. It is the most 'Warwick' sounding of all Warwick basses! Warwick really seemed to go downhill a bit when the $$ came out. That was where it all started going a bit wrong for me, moving away from the great designs and great wood choices. I remember when that bass became very popular with jazz bass fans, who loved the big, open sound. Sadly, that was just Warwick moving away from the cool niche they occupied. Mind you, I suppose you could argue that Warwick have been becoming more and more mainstream since the early 90's. Funnily enough, Warwick were considered boutique at one time![/quote] I love the $$s and hence am on my second one of them. I know mine is a special edition, but the regular ones still have great wood choices: standard wenge and ovangkol neck/fretboard, with an astounding ash body! As for designs, they implemented the most versatile set of pickups and electronics I've ever come across (never tried a Wal mind), capable of a range of lovely sounds!

Thinnest spacing I've tried on a 5 is on my non-Reverse TB V, delberthot has one up for sale IIRC, if you're near him it may be worth trying it out. Great sound from that P pickup too!

I'm Warwick GAS-free at the moment, having only had my new one a week

I don't know whether or not my post on installments was read, but I don't see why you guys couldn't be a retailer that supports this scheme: [url="http://www.takeitaway.org.uk/"]http://www.takeitaway.org.uk/[/url] The Bass Merchant do, and based on how Bass Direct do their installments schedule (exactly as said scheme outlines), I think they might well do as well.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='1367017' date='Sep 8 2011, 09:34 PM']just bass strings and amps here .... sad sad git [/quote] This. Although I do have some from eastcoast trains, probably because I used them to get a train to get my new bass last week, and I can tell you, never again! I also assume, being that Hartke is in my signature, is one of the driving factors behind me getting Hartke adverts - lol

[quote name='throwoff' post='1367160' date='Sep 8 2011, 11:38 PM']CC in Norwich used to be a Warwick dealer as it is technically not a CC. Long and boring story as to how, I know they are not anymore though.[/quote] That why they aren't on the CC website then?

[quote name='phsycoandy' post='1367138' date='Sep 8 2011, 11:24 PM']Was in CC in Norwich today, on a non bass related search! and they had a sign up 25% off all new Guitars including Warwicks of which they had quite a few including special editions etc etc, just a heads up, not sure if its country wide.[/quote] Gah all mine has is a vintage

I just sold mine. It was great while I had it but money is tight and I play on too small a stage (typically) to justify it, though being able to walk out front during soundcheck is an absolute joy!

I bought Antonio's splendid Warwick Corvette $$ 5 SE. He picked me up from the station in York, drove me to his house where I was treated in fine style by himself and his girlfriend. I had plenty of opportunity to try out and look over the instrument, as well as trying out his wonderful GWB-35 Antonio was a real gentleman throughout the proceedings, and even dropped me off at my friend's house a few miles away afterwards. A pleasure to deal with and I sure love the bass I bought off him. Don't hesitate to deal with Antonio, he is one of the good guys! Cheers and thanks again, Dan

[quote name='StigVR' post='1356237' date='Aug 30 2011, 01:19 PM']Ieuan...no recordings yet, best off coming down being as you're local. Dan...where is the rehearsal situated?[/quote] 5 mins walk from South Kensington tube, right next to the albert hall

Some of the stuff they threw out must be terrible, they seriously released the dolphin, after all!