Kiwi

Have you thought about sending him a PM? We'd hate for widespread panic to break out. The UK has had enough rioting for this year.

OK here's my thing. Its fair to say I've got a bit of kit. I bought most of it in anticipation of using it either live or recording at some point. I'm not using it though and I've reached a point where I've started to wonder whether I will. The band scene in the earthquake striken city where I am is mostly pub based and the rock orientated set lists haven't changed in 20 years which is a bit...disturbing and disappointing too. I don't plan on leaving NZ until the global economic situation picks up which could be 5 or 10 years maybe, assuming a new financial world order hasn't asserted itself by then which could mean that NZ is a better location anyway. I don't use 4 strings much, but I like having access to them if the mood to listen to them strikes me. If I gig its normally with one bass, I would take the '00 Spector since I've modded it for gigging. Love the sound of the rest of my basses but just feel they don't get used enough. Same goes for amps, love the Shuttle 6.0 when I'm feeling lazy and the rack sounds great in stereo. I'll keep the MIDI rig until I've satisfied myself whether I can make it work (waiting for a piece of kit to arrive). But the Trace V8 is a rock amp through and through, and I've never felt satisfied playing rock. Some of you have already been through this rationalisation process, did you make the cull or cave in? PS: The Alembic and Shuker are staying with me to my grave. The Spector WILL probably stay with me because its so highly customised.

Do you mean L and XL basses? They stopped making them some years back. The synapse series is an updated version of the L/XL series but its not made in composite. You can still get hold of 4 string XL basses off Ebay though, they were made from 1980 through to sometime in the 90s'. I bought mine a couple of months ago and I really like it. Very warm sounding and the simple one pot eq is incredibly effective. Very cool bass. [i]Good:[/i] Warm sounding Very stable Compact Replacement face plates can be used to customise without devaluing the instrument Cool looking [i]Bad:[/i] Small body may take some adjusting to (nothing to rest your wrist on) Still a touch of headstock dive (which can be compensated for in the fixing to the boomerang strap plate) You won't be able to do burpy jaco impressions on it

[url="http://www.thebasspalace.com/"]http://www.thebasspalace.com/[/url] Some of you may not know much about the Bass Palace. I bought my first Ken Smith bass from the Swamii, and it was a great exchange. However later on others weren't so fortunate, which left a bit of a sour taste in people's mouths. However the one thing I do remember was that he had by far the most interesting range of secondhand gear I'd seen online anywhere. So I'm glad he's back, probably the cheapest place to find a 70's jazz bass in my opinion.

I have 3 band parametric preamps by Klaus Noll on my main instruments (and paid full retail for them, I'll add). However inspite of my preference for Noll, I still think you should start with an East preamp mainly because you have an odd pickup choice with potentially different impedances and outputs. The individually variable gain controls and input buffers mean the East circuit can be used with pretty much any combination of pickups so would be an insurance policy. The frequency centres are located at useful points as well (at least for the MM +midshift circuit that I have). Klaus can do input buffers as well but they'd be additional to the standard circuit. I've had Seymour Duncans in my Spector too, they were a little raw sounding for what I was looking for but that could have been down to the bass as much as anything else. The Wizards are pretty sweet though.

hope you have a great gig

FWIW, I make a point of buying the cheapest possible strings I can find, and I've not been let down yet. £5-7 a set if you choose your Ebay seller carefully, mostly when they're selling NOS.

Woof! Looked at getting one myself a while ago but went rack instead.

Nice one Sibob, congrats!

I agree with BigBeatNut, sounds like you've just saved yourself a whole load of hassle and lost potentially very little. People who take the business too seriously before it takes them seriously usually end up disillusioned, frustrated and generally a bit obnoxious. They invest too much of how they value themselves in their music and not enough in themselves as whole people with a range of needs and values. So when the business overlooks their band, they take it personally...like they as people are being ignored, rather that what is being played. Next thing you know, they can't handle the rejection and take it out on the band mates...

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1316677825' post='1381176'] The control pklate says European burl maple [/quote] European maple is another name for sycamore

Server's back up Cheers for that Clarky Is that maple or sycamore? I know Wal used sycamore a fair bit because it was easily available. It typically is a lot paler than maple.

Can't see any images atm, I'm hoping the server is down...

I'd suggest its all circulating around forming values for the band. It might well be that the idea is a solution to a percieved problem. If you, as a band member and presumably someone with an equal say in things, think that its a bit of overkill then I suggest have an honest, calm discussion with your band mates. Use phrases that start with 'I feel...' and then articulate what is on your mind. Your bandmates can't deny the validity of your feelings, only how the way you perceive things compares to how they perceive things. Its all about perceptions. Ask them whether they see a problem in the band, Try and clarify whether their solution is to a problem that they see is happening or whether its a solution to a problem that hasn't happened yet. Is one individual trying to impose their values on the band without giving enough respect to the values of the other members? Can you accept those values? You might find there's some room to negotiate. If anyone decides they're not going to negotiate then it makes your choices a little clearer.

Its actually a conspiracy. Shhhh.

Most of my time on bass these days has been spent investigating other bass synth options, putting together non MIDI patches that I hear on modern and classic dance songs. In any case here are some tips and quite possibly the longest post I'll make this year : I avoid any synth pedals that just add a waveform tone to the original pitched sound. The Boss SYB is one example. I think the EHX Microsynth does a similar thing. Nothing wrong with that if it makes someone happy but they're not really synthesisers in my opinion, they're waveform generators. The waveforms don't track the pitch of the note you're playing so you'll just get the same monotone regardless of whatever note you are playing. Some bass synth pedals that DO track pitch include: Mark Bass Super Synth Programmable, USB interface, relatively cheap, tracks pitch but only generates a sawtooth waveform Korg Toneworks G5 Discontinued, programmable, only generates fast and slow sawtooth waveforms plus a square subharmonic. So farly limited in potential. Akai SB-1 Deep Impact Discontinued, programmable, eye wateringly expensive in whatever condition, impossible to get spare parts for if it breaks, no info on waveforms but the 9 presets are very 80's in flavour so could probably cover most songs in some manner. You'll need chorus, phaser and pitch shift to emulate some 80's tracks with all of the units described above. Alternatively there are also the following; Roland V-99 V-bass Features include a choice of pitch tracked square or sawtooth waveforms plus an exhaustive range of multi effects and modelling options, plus MIDI output if you need to trigger real bass synths. Its an absolute beast and has a great user interface which includes USB connection and computer editing software. However its not cheap (used prices are about the same as a used Deep Impact), you'll need to install a GK3B pickup on your bass next to the bridge AND programme the pickup location and other aspects of your instrument into the V-bass so it can both model and track properly. You will also need a dedicated MIDI foot controller if you want to change patches or patch parameters mid-song. Chunk Systems Octavius Squeezer Absolute swiss army knife (four waveforms, envelope filter, fuzz and multi effects), fully programmable, pricey if you are outside Australia (still less than a secondhand Deep Impact however) but...only two buttons to do the programming!! So it's not the sort of pedal that you can make stuff up on the fly with. You'll also need a lot of patience and good visualisation skills to navigate that menu with only two buttons. (If ever there was a pedal crying out for a USB interface this would be it). My pick would be the V-bass if I didn't need anything other than square or sawtooth waveforms and I anticipated needing a bass synth capability for a while. However I'm still annoyed by the fact its no longer a floor unit. Not only is the emphasis on using the hands rather than feet inconvenient, I'd also need to take a stand to a gig to avoid bending down between songs or pay extra for a MIDI foot controller. You mentioned Human League in your post, I've managed to get both the introduction sawtooth patch and the verse/chorus bass line for Don't You Want Me Baby with the Deep Impact. Not sure what the latter waveform is though, I've just thought of it as 'rubber bandy', it could be a sawtooth with the dynamics dialled right down. A similar rubber bandy patch is used in Madonna's 'Holiday' too. If I needed more than square or sawtooth then the Octavius Squeezer would come in second but I'd still be reluctant to buy one if there was a remote chance they'd release a Mark II version with a USB interface. If it did have the USB interface then I'd place it ahead of the V-bass because the modelling options aren't really going to come in useful on the V-bass. I've also recently discovered this piece of kit which might make arpeggiating a breeze. Eventide Pitchfactor It's pricey at US$500 but a marvellous box of cutting edge pitch effect tricks from what I've seen so far. I'd like to get one and run it next to the Deep Impact to get some trancey stuff going on. If none of that suits, the alternative is to go down the pitch-to-MIDI route which I've also done but that's another thread entirely.

Poor spidey, looks like he's been outted. I think hypnogoat has had his day so will be looking for another avatar anyway. Peds right about the server capacity. At times like this we either weed out content or expand the storage and bandwidths. The user generated content is what gives the site its search engine ranking on specific keywords so if we started mucking about with it, we'd be shooting ourselves in the foot.

J, it can do a passable P sound.

[quote name='Mark Latimour' timestamp='1314864052' post='1358432'] I have a pitchfactor. Its an amazing pedal! [/quote] What do you use it for, generally? Where did you get yours from?

I don't understand what the fuss is all about. I remember him using them in the mid 80s.

[quote name='Linus27' post='1267503' date='Jun 13 2011, 04:32 PM']Thanks guys, interesting, I wonder why Warwick are going down this route. I can't see the logic in it as they are pushing themselves out of the market.[/quote] Judging by the other comments on here, the cause is fairly clear to me; arrogance and being totally out out of touch with not only their market but also their dealership network both of whom are providing them with constructive feedback. The company values what it makes more than the relationships it has with the people they rely on for support. They've always tended to be arrogant in my experience, I had dreadful experiences back in 1997.

Aaaaah, they're so awesome. The only rock band I'm a real fan of.

Awwww, I'm gutted that I've missed both tours in the UK.