Kiwi

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

I've tended to view Julian Crampton and Gene Perez as equivalents. Gene seems a little more formulaic to me but his grooves are classics and instantly recognisable. I've used a few of his licks in cover songs, like American Boy by Estelle. Shame there isn't more footage of him on Youtube. This is my fave vid out of those you posted, love how he interacts with the keyboardist. Not sure thats a graphite neck though check around 1:25-1:28.

For a great P bass sound, an 80's graphite necked Steinberger might do the trick. The XL's are great and have a neck pickup tone to die for.

I always thought teak would be an oily and heavy wood to use in luthery but this article has made me think again. I have potential access to a lot of Burmese teak and amboyna burl if I can make it to the sawmills in Myanmar next time I'm over there...

Obligatory photo on the bed... [attachment=88421:DSC05469.JPG] This bass requires some getting used to, form follows function in a very single minded kind of way. But the narrow string spacing not so difficult to get around, the strap saddle does feel comfortable eventually and I've managed to adjust to the lack of body. Fabulous neck pickup sound - deep, smooth and warm, so much like a p-bass through valves. Love the hazlabs eq. as well, it fattens up the bass in exactly the right way. Now I know why reggae bassists liked Steinbergers so much. It's probably the coolest looking bass I own.

[url="http://www.fractalaudio.com/p-axe-fx-ii-preamp-fx-processor.php"]http://www.fractalaudio.com/p-axe-fx-ii-pr...x-processor.php[/url] Just discovered this little number which already has an arpeggiator setting plus all the features of my MPXG2 and more processing power. But at US$2600-3000 plus whatever I lose on selling the MPXG2 units, I don't think I'll be buying one soon.

[url="http://www.eventide.com/AudioDivision/Products/StompBoxes/PitchFactor.aspx"]http://www.eventide.com/AudioDivision/Prod...itchFactor.aspx[/url] I'm a rack effects guy, I prefer having a patch per song that is available with one button press rather than tap dancing over a pedal board between songs and mucking the settings up if I miss. But the harpeggiator patch has me seriously interested. So while I'm thinking these features will eventually make it onto rack effects, or I might figure a way of achieving the harpeggiator patch with delays and feedback in my MPXG2, I'm still seriously tempted to be lazy or impatient. Hooking one up to my Deep Impact could sound incredible... ...anyone tried it yet?

And Lee learned that whole performance in a week.

Pretty much what I have. But would like a pair of active, stackable lightweight wedges. The EBS cabs would then just be used for the V8.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=96539"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=96539[/url] FYI

Nice bass but I prefer the sound of the maple capped ones, much growlier.

I've had mixed results. I owned an AH250 which I didn't like because it lacked warmth and was too scoopy, even when the midscoop wasn't working. I played through a couple of Series 4 combos which were pretty good, very clean sounding but really needed better speakers. I've also gigged through a Series 6 4x10 combo which sounded really growly but no sparkle. The various valve amps I've tried (Quatravalve/Twin/V4/V6) have been awesome and of course I own a V8 now which sounds like nothing else. Horses for courses. I prefer my Shuttle 6 for gigging though.

[url="http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/5518499/Twelve-fingers-and-Cuban-man-is-proud-of-it"]http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/5518...-is-proud-of-it[/url] Imagine if Jaco or Victor Wooten or Billy Sheenan had six fingers on each hand...

[quote name='urb' post='1353355' date='Aug 27 2011, 09:04 AM']she wants to bring improv back to the mainstream - which sounds good to me [/quote] Hell yes. Can the woman do no wrong?! If she ever releases a funky/disco house improv album with Prince, I'll be erecting a modest shrine in her honour...she even makes a flabby sounding Fender Jazz sound good.

[quote name='retrohelix' post='1353265' date='Aug 27 2011, 01:48 AM']ffs quitting bass[/quote] I felt the same way. She grabs the brain, the heart and the balls all at the same time. Here's an interview with her: I'm utterly transfixed by her bottom lip when she speaks BTW. I can never predict which way its going to bend...

If I could afford it, I'd pay up to 5000 quid for an Alembic Series II graphite with a deeply grained top.

Well there's a spot of good news on this. Turns out the Deep Impact doesn't need repairs for now. Plus I figured out a patch that gives me the bass part to Donna Summers 'I Feel Love' on my MPXG2 using a LFO controller on a volume pedal patch. Woooo!

Awesome, I've also found a bloke here who has offered to take a look at it. I've discussed getting a replacement PCB made and reinstalling all the original components just because I'm fed up with the pedal breaking down on me and the tracks can't really take much more soldering as they're starting to break after being lifted. I'd prefer the problem is fixed as well as repaired. Maybe that will involve soldering insulated wire between the power socked and the damaged PCB rather than direct mounting.

Having the perfect bass and being able to play what you feel aren't opposite ends of the spectrum. Its possible to have both. Whether someone has the patience or luck to find the instrument that does exactly what they want it to is another matter.

Cheers Paul

I figured out the patch for "I Feel Love" over the weekend. Basically I used a square wave LFO to control the volume using Guitar Rig Kontrol on my laptop. However for me to replicate the same setup with my MPXG2, I need a tone generator. While I could look at the offerings including the EHX Micro Synth and Chunk Octavius Squeezer, however I'm also mindful that my trusty Deep Impact pedal is lying in a drawer after one too many repairs to tracks on the PCB around the power socket. I was always fond of this pedal and I'd love to get it up and running again but last time I looked, Akai weren't doing any repairs or offering parts. I did also approach the distributors in the UK before I left and they couldn't help either. Could anyone please advise whether this situation has changed in the last 2 years?