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Kiwi

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Posts posted by Kiwi

    Best Disco Bassist?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    As well as Bernard Edwards (Chic/Sister Sledge), its worth checking out

    Verdine White (Earth Wind and Fire)
    Louis Johnson (Bros Johnson)
    Rutger Gunnarsson (Abba)
    Johnny Flippin (Fatback Band)
    Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool and the Gang)
    Hamish Stuart (Average White Band)

    and I guess you could also include

    Maurice Gibb (Bee Gees)

    Claims to fame

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='The Funk' post='53373' date='Aug 31 2007, 02:19 PM']When Norman Foster walks into a meeting does everyone shout out "Norm!"?[/quote]
    Generally in my line of work, shouting at the enobled would be frowned upon. :) I must admit it is interesting finding out how closely talent matches reptuation. Generally, reputations are well deserved.

    Claims to fame

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I could name drop just about every London-based British star-chitect, the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, a few Lords and Sirs and a handful of Mayor's Advisors as part of my day job but musically I'm less fortunate.

    I used to be in a motown pub band with Steve Jackson, co founder of Games Workshop and he co-wrote the Fighting Fantasy game books in the early 80's with Ian Livingstone. The same band had a singer who was briefly with Desmond Decker and the Israelites too (before they made it big).

    I've not yet played with any famous musicians yet though although I've met a few like others here. Came close to getting lessons with Julian Crampton at one point, but he kept going on tour...

    Project Overwater

    in Build Diaries

    Posted

    [quote name='Rich' post='53178' date='Aug 31 2007, 10:10 AM']Plank? :)[/quote]
    Sorry matey, it should have been written like this:

    [droll mode: ON]
    "plank" to spank
    [droll mode: OFF]

    It looks like its been crushed at some point over the control cavity because the wood around the knobs is stoved in slightly. You'll probably need to put a new facing on the front to reinforce it I think. I've got some fancy curly redwood if you want some :huh:

    Project Overwater

    in Build Diaries

    Posted

    [quote name='Happy Jack' post='52872' date='Aug 30 2007, 04:51 PM']Another of these came up on eBay about a year ago, Rich.[/quote]
    Its far from perfect condition - will need some laminations I think to restore some structural rigidity but might make a decent plank to spank. The fretwork, pickup and bridge are pretty decent.

    Photos taken this evening...

    [attachment=2000:overwate...nk_front.jpg][attachment=1999:overwate...ank_back.jpg][attachment=2001:o
    erwate...eadstock.jpg]

    GONE: Pentium 3 550Mhz PC + monitor, mouse and keyboard. No takers!

    in Completed Items

    Posted

    [quote name='Mcgiver69' post='52579' date='Aug 30 2007, 01:15 AM']And much more, so don't let CK take this unique piece to the tip and get yourself a spanking new recording studio.

    Ok CK where's my cheque?[/quote]
    lol

    In the post mate :)

    Thanks for the bump. The PC is still here, they only reason I haven't gotten rid of it yet is because the council won't collect it for their recycling programmes. Its still in perfectly good working order though.

    Claims to fame

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='52415' date='Aug 29 2007, 04:40 PM']Played in a band with Beverley Knight at university[/quote]
    I saw her supporting the Prince gig a couple of weeks ago - she's an awesome performer. Talk about intense!! She was really going for broke at the Aftershow party. I'd like to go see her at the Albert Hall when she plays in London in November on her 2007 tour.

    Fret buzz after trussrod adjustment

    in Repairs and Technical

    Posted

    [quote name='The Burpster' post='51633' date='Aug 28 2007, 11:15 AM']This might be a stupid question but, did you change the strings at the same time? You may have a rogue string! I have known several set ups that have been spoilt by old/ tired/ or unstable strings.......[/quote]
    Hah, I took the Smith 6 into Charlie Chandlers for a plek set up thinking the buzz around the 13th fret was due to duff frets and they showed me it was actually a flat spot on the underside of the string. Saved me a bundle, that did.

    Difference in volume of Stingray 4 vs. Stingray 5

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    [quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='51922' date='Aug 28 2007, 08:07 PM']I guess my question is, is this normal and do Rays sometimes have a significant difference in output. I've tried a couple of amps and had the same outcome each time.

    Any help or advice would be much appreciated. :)[/quote]

    Did you have the pickup selector on the SR5 set to series or parallel? If it was set to parallel, the resistance through the coils would have been lower, and would have resulted also in slightly lower output levels from the pickup.

    Is agathis really that bad?

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    [quote name='Sharkfinger' post='51576' date='Aug 28 2007, 09:39 AM']Well, I have a korean Spector with basswood body (bubinga top) and it sounds amazing to my ears. I've heard that basswood can lack mid, so maybe it's the active EMG pups and BQC preamp that are compensating.[/quote]

    Basswood (a type of lime, [i]Tilia spp.) [/i]to my ears has a fairly prominent midrange but lacks the upper range snap of maple or low end definition of ash. Its not a particularly dense wood.

    I tried Luke's Ibanez Gary Willis at the SE Bass Bash and it had a basswood body. Its not a bad bass at all, basswood was probably a good choice for a fretless although, as a matter of taste, I did find myself wishing it had more power in the lower frequencies. Basswood is also great for guitars (which picks up on Edwards earlier comments) because it sits in the sweetspot of frequencies that some guitarists seem to like.

    Is agathis really that bad?

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    [quote name='EdwardHimself' post='51550' date='Aug 28 2007, 08:30 AM']1. it's a cheap wood so it's going to be used on cheap guitars. People might actually blame the wood for it sounding crap when it could actually be the pickups or their hearing (if they've not been playing for long/not played enough nice guitars)[/quote]

    In my experience the wood is the predominant foundation for the tonal character of an instrument. Other elements tend to enhance or detract from that character depending on how they contribute to structural rigidity of the instrument or match in terms of frequency response (aka tonal character).

    No.1 consideration in my view is a very rigid and dense neck, preferably mated to a softer body wood. However if you use a greater proportion of softer woods that are matched to one another in terms of their frequency responses (like old Fenders) the result can be equally pleasing and even more distinctive.

    Black or Gold?

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    [quote name='BigRedX' post='51466' date='Aug 27 2007, 10:00 PM']Ta CK,

    Can you tell me a bit more about your Alembic Activator Pickups? I had a look on the Alembic site but there wasn't much info and they only seemed to be available with a pre-amp and as a JJ set and what looked like a pair of Soap-bars. Obviously I need a P-J set...[/quote]
    Mine's a PJ set. Pic of my other set (now fitted to the Pedulla) below.


    Preamp circuit is here:


    This set of pups doesn't have the solder free connectors, but the set I have spare does. They're passive so can work with any preamp system assuming the impedances are precisely matched. Alemboid was interested in them as part of a trade but he's in France at the mo, so if you're interested then let me know. I'll send pics of the actual set so you know what you're getting.

    Is agathis really that bad?

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    I posted about this on Bassworld but that info doesn't seem available any longer on Google.

    Agathis is the pseudo-latin name for Fijian kauri ([i]Agathis macro-phylla[/i]) which is often grown in large commercial plantations not only in Fiji but also around the Pacific in developing nations (such as Indonesia). Technically its a conifer although nothing like a pine or redwood. Its better known (and rarer) cousin is the NZ Kauri [i](Agathis australis) [/i]which grows about 40-60m tall in the north of the North Island.

    Fijian kauri is cheap to buy and easy to work but it lacks as solid a fundamental compared to denser tonewoods. Ultimately whether its bad or not is a question of taste but you may find the sound less satisfying than other woods depending on the kind of music you play and what your expectations are.

    Black or Gold?

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    I'd say keep it the way it is. I've fitted a set of alembic activator pickups to my Pentabuzz which freed up a whole load of midrange growl. A set of EMG's might have a similar effect. If you fancy a set of alembics, I do have a spare set going but they're not cheap.

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