Kiwi

Well, unless he gets in contact with me I'm suspending his posting facility. He's not returned any PM's or voicemail. I've already launched a paypal dispute to get my postage costs back as well. Plus I'm not the only disatisfied member it seems. Faultyy if you value your standing on this forum please get in touch with me and supply a despatch code for delivery.

[quote name='bnt' post='226855' date='Jun 25 2008, 06:51 PM']That was my first thought too, but that's a passive bass. Unless it's been modded, of course.[/quote] Well he did mention checking the electronics. Passive basses don't really have electronics to speak of.

[quote name='crez5150' post='227100' date='Jun 26 2008, 07:39 AM']Tell you what I'll give you 8p and then you come out on top!! Seriously I reckon you should be able to get £250 for it[/quote] I saw one sell on Ebay a couple of weeks ago for £276, I think thats a a little on the high side. But there does seem to be a bit of a demand for them second hand.

er, change the battery?

Basschat is a charity, albeit an unregistered one because it doesn't meet the income threshold for registration.

Let's not also forget that if the cabs are too light may not actually sit still on the floor when running at full tit. The cone excursions may very well end up making the cab vibrate all over the stage unless the cabs are tied down or anchored in some way.

[quote name='wazz' post='225905' date='Jun 24 2008, 02:28 PM']Are strings more likely to break if strung thru body rather than thru bridge? I found that they last about 4 gigs when strung thru the body before the e or a string goes kaput. They dont break at all when strung thru the body.[/quote] You're breaking bass strings? I can't begin to imagine what your playing style is like. If the bridge is well designed it shouldn't be doing that.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='226226' date='Jun 24 2008, 09:15 PM']Nope - I don't get out much - what with a day job, gigs and writing a book, I can't find time to travel to London to try out gear I can't afford [/quote] Well for gods sake man, get a life!

[quote name='paul h' post='226197' date='Jun 24 2008, 08:29 PM']It would have to be fully shielded too of course, that would probably cost a bit.[/quote] and sound proofed, imagine the grinding of teeth from the assembled relatives. EDIT: Well if you're dead anyway, its not going to matter a great deal is it?

goodness me, that's gorgeous. Its likely I'll be in Dubai next week, working at the DSO building. Where are you based?

[quote name='paul h' post='226161' date='Jun 24 2008, 07:50 PM']Mine will have to be sold off to pay for the spalted maple coffin with purple heartwood and ebony accent stripes, and mother of pearl inlays.[/quote] Hahahah! I like it. Imagine being buried in a 5A maple coffin with MOP inlays and ebony purfling.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='226156' date='Jun 24 2008, 07:46 PM']Could be ... I'm a HUGE Pratchett fan. If I wasn't [i]Happy Jack[/i], I might well be tempted to call myself [i]The Patrician[/i].[/quote] That one is already reserved by another huge Pratchett fan.

[quote name='ped' post='226138' date='Jun 24 2008, 07:31 PM']Me then Kiwi my old chum?[/quote] [quote name='ped' post='226151' date='Jun 24 2008, 07:42 PM']I want mine auctioned off, the money being split between Basschat and the Dogs Trust.[/quote] Only if you stop sending me links to Morgan Roussel's beastiality website.

For a rectangular cabinet, i think you would still end up with the same problems of sympathetic vibration if standard thicknesses of 3-4mm were used in the production of graphite composite cabs. This issue has been dealt with in basses by filling the hollow core of the graphite neck with polyeurathane foam but I can't imagine that working with a speaker cabinet. Part of the design beauty of speakers like the Nautilus is that the conical shape helps dampen sympathetic vibrations. But the moldings are a total bastard to make. Hence the price.

Don't get me started on wilkinson bass bridges. Some of them are a step backwards in my experience. I had one where the break angle was so poor that the saddles actually lifted off the base plate!!

I think that bassists are far more progressive than guitarists. They are much more demanding too, hence why you don't see many neo cabs for guitarists. We should be proud that lightweight gear is available. Guitarists don't really get much of a choice by comparison.

Believe it or not, I've planned for a number of them to be auctioned off and the proceeds to go towards Basschat. Others may be distributed according to those I know who might appreciate them the most.

I like Spectors, so long as they have a decent preamp in them. They're a really nice combination of function and elegance.

Cool, I'll see if there are any website with demo tracks to check out. Thanks

[quote name='mcgraham' post='224484' date='Jun 22 2008, 09:39 PM']I love the look of Ritters, and the prestige that they carry is undeniable. BUT! ultimately it's about sound. Have a search on Talkbass, there's a few clips floating round. Personally, the sound reeeeally doesn't do it for me. Maybe you can dial an amazing tone or several amazing tones in... but for the price I'd expect [b][i]serious[/i][/b] plug n play action. Mark[/quote] I've played a couple and the all maple bodies mean the basses sound very bright with a very tight and compressed low end. They feel nice for slapping but I'd really need a warm rig like an SWR to get the best out of them. If I'm paying that kind of money, I'd expect more versatility tonally. You could probably get a very similar sound from a Pedulla MVP if you swap out the pickups for super clean sounding models like EMG, Rough Crystal or Alembic plus an East preamp. There again, with that insanely beautiful wood it seems almost a shame to take them off the wall hanger.

[quote name='lowdown' post='225649' date='Jun 24 2008, 09:32 AM']Well Steve.... If you ever need a dep over there...[Next time the flight f...ks up] I should be living there by this time next year. Things in early planning stages at the moment But looking good.[/quote] Good luck with that. Construction cranes were rarely out of sight regardless of where we were so there's a lot of development going on by the looks of it. However, I was having a chat to the videographer and she was telling me that she has to compete with spanish crews who do things on the cheap. So for her at least, it doesn't seem to be the cash cow she was hoping for, despite all the development there. The strength of the euro means that the pound sterling doesn't stretch as far as it used to.

Eventually we get everything set up. I have been given an Ampeg B4 and I don't discover until later on in the gig that the cabs are impedance mismatched. The 2x10 is 8ohm and the 1x15 is 4 ohm with the effect that I keep turning up the 1x15 so I can hear myself through the 2x10! I look happy enough here during sound check, only because what I'm thinking is the sound coming out of the 2x10 is actually being projected past my ankles by the 1x15 and bounced back at me from the other end of the room!! Result being that I'm providing a low end onslaught into the audience but barely able to hear myself above the drums on stage. Unfortunately I don't actually discover this until the end of the first set but unplug the 1x15 completely and everything is fine after that. The first number we do is a Hora medley prior to dinner where I can't hear myself or the keyboards and so end up playing as quiet and as staccato as I can so the bass ends up sounding like root fifth thumps rather than notes so the impact of me playing out of key is minimised. Our percussionist is by the sound desk and he doesn't notice me playing any wrong notes so the strategy worked!!! Pris and I doing Paul McCartney's 'Calico Skies', she sung this beautifully. The first set was better than the Hora medley not because I could hear myself any better (even after angling the 2x10 at me a little more) but because the songs are more familiar and I can play them just on fingering. We seemed to be going down well but the organisers kept distracting the punters with more food and coffee and stuff so we never got a core of dancers on the floor settled in for the first set. Because the speeches went on too long (as they ALWAYS do) we took a reduced break out the front. The girls still ended up singing 'More Than Words' over Tim's guitar during their break! The machine never stops . Second set gets cut back by three songs and we still run 15 mins over. The crowd by this time are finally free of distractions and are nicely warmed up three songs from the end. When we play the final number 'We Are Family' they cheer and yell for an encore but the venue manager tells us no more. So we set the crowd against the manager and while the manager is discussing things with the client we decide we might as well play an encore anyway while we wait for them to make up their minds. The encore is Aretha's "Think" which goes down a storm (Asya REALLY nails this one every time) and that provides the perfect finish to a night that started off poorly for me because of monitoring issues but got better as we found our feet. The clients are overwhelmed and can't thank us enough, bish bosh, job done. With the contacts we've made over there, and how well we went down, I anticipate we'll be doing a load more gigs in Marbella. The organiser had even arranged her own video crew to film us for a promotional DVD for the rest of her clients. The stage looks good dressed Me in full combat fatigues.

We came, we played, we funked Marbella's ass. We played the Flamingoes Spa and Golf Resort in Estepona, just west of Marbella on Sunday. The event was a jewish wedding and we were the finale to a 5 day event which began with the marriage ceremony on Wednesday. Getting there was a nightmare however. The rest of the band arrived on Friday and I flew out by myself on Saturday from Gatwick. The plane was late leaving the terminal because of congestion on the runway. Our flight joined a queue of about 9 planes waiting to take off in between a similar number that were landing. Finally we got into the air an hour after boarding but 20 mins into the flight the Captain announced we had to turn back because of an instrumentation problem. Apparently there was a Gatwick engineer on board the plane and he could do anything to help the situation either. So over northern France we turned around and flew back towards Brighton when the Captain then announced that we couldn't land yet because the weight of fuel on board took us over our safe landing limit. So instead we were going to fly around for a bit until we'd lost enough fuel to lighten the plane enough. Cue groans from the passengers on board. 45 mins later landed under close supervision of two 4WD Emergency vehicles and a fully prepped and staffed fire engine came in and inspected the underside of the plane after we pulled up at the terminal. About 15mins later the Captain advised us that they were going to transfer us to a spare 737-400 they had and were waiting for buses to arrive. That was remarkably well organised but it was too good to be true as they also told us that they didn't have time to move the food over to the new plane. Basically they needed a catering truck to shift the trolleys over and things were being run on such a no frills way that there was no time to get another catering truck over. Some of us offered to carry the sandwiches over with us but the crew didn't take us seriously. So, off we get and onto a couple of buses that take us to the replacement plane after the security cabin checks have been carried out. We take off again and this time we manage to make it to Malaga - 3 hours late, damned hungry but at least I didn't have to get back to the terminal and try to book another flight. So anyway, my driver has been waiting at the airport for three hours and when I see him, he's not one bit grumpy despite the fact his only job this weekend is to collect me. What a star! So we get to the hotel, wherein they book me into the wrong room because there are a number of bookings under the clients name. I call the percussionist and he tells me the name of the villa we're in and I get shifted over to where the rest of boys are. The girls have their own separate villa a couple of doors down from us. Finally I get to relax! I shower, rehydrate again and organise myself then call the percussionist again to organise where to meet up. We were all supposed to meet up at the flat but they've gone on ahead without me to Peurto Banus, which is a bit of a Port Solent on the Med type development. But there are Ferraris and Lamborghinis instead of Nissan Skyline GTS's and souped up Citroen Saxo's We arrange to meet up at a restaurant but they don't know where the place, so I jump in a taxi and go down there in the hope its somewhere near the main drag. However I can't find them and, given its 9pm and I haven't eaten since 5am I decide to get something to eat. So I grab a table in a restaurant with a decent view and enjoy a fresh sea bass and a glass of chilled white. Eventually the percussionist calls me to find out where I am and tell me where to meet them. Turns out the restaurant is set well back from the main street and I'd never be able to find it unless I was looking specifically for it. But anyway, I manage to find it and meet the rest of the guys. Much sangria, champagne and assorted meats are had and the stresses of the day finally melt away! We get to bed around 1am. After a mountainous breakfast the following morning, we have a quick rehearsal in the boys villa and then make our way to the venue after lugging the gear over to hotel reception. The venue is 10mins drive up the hill from us but we have to take a coach there because of the heat and we have a load of heavy gear to take. We unpack the gear and take it into the ballroom where we're playing. [i]Here we come, a-walkin down the street...[/i]