Kiwi

[quote name='Telebass' post='54392' date='Sep 2 2007, 08:14 PM']In a great many ways, though this is far from 100%, if properly used, the actual wood makes less difference than might be supposed. Although not directly related to solid basses, think of Bob Taylor, he of acoustics fame, who decided it was his skill, more than the wood, that made a good guitar. So he made a top-flight acoustic out an old oak pallet from his factory dumpster. The whole guitar is made from this! And it sounded awesome. Like most of these things, it matters less than you'd think. Further confirmation comes from the likes of Bob Benedetto, doyen of archtop builders, who has stated that close-grained spruce is almost always given the nod for tops, when, in actual fact, the closeness of the grain is of no practical importance. And if he don't know, who does?[/quote] Rob Green says more or less the same thing in that there are some pieces of ash that will sound like some pieces of mahogany. But I think its important to recognise there's limits to the idea. Noone's gonna make a piece of balsa sound like a piece of ebony no matter how skilled they are.

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' post='54312' date='Sep 2 2007, 06:17 PM']I'd love to know who played bass on 'Somebody Else's Guy' by Jocelyn Brown. Anyone know?[/quote] At a guess, Randy Hope Taylor?

Thats Gary's forum, its not a rival at all. Its more for jazz focussed bass players. He's had issues with maintaining the site while overseas and has his hands full with Bassday. But he can explain that himself given he's a basschat member too, Basschat is sponsoring Bassday BTW. Gary's a great bloke and the site doesn't compete with Basschat at all so I'm not sure what the problem is.

[quote name='beerdragon' post='53881' date='Sep 1 2007, 04:22 PM']I'm puzzled by the Maurice Gibb one. apart from the early days i'd of thought he would have never been near a recording seesion with a bass.[/quote] He wrote all the music for the Bee Gees and took charge in the recording studio. He was a multi instrumentalist playing guitar, organ, keys and bass. He may have been the quiet one but he was also the creative glue between the three of them. His bass playing style was very similar to Paul McCartney and John McVie in that it was uncomplicated but he made sure every note was placed where it counted, to carry the groove. Listen to Jive Talking and Night Fever for good examples of his playing.

Marc's trying to sign up at the moment, he called me this afternoon to say he's been having problems with his email. However I've validated him and hopefully he will be able to contribute directly soon.

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)

[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.

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...

[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

I started on drums (and I still have a hankering but not enough space for a kit) and decided to teach myself guitar this year as I wanted to be able to lay down my own funky rhythmn parts. Hopefully I might be upgrading from an £120 guitar to a Parker P38/P40 soon...

Ground/half wounds are worth considering but they only come in a limited range of gauges.

Here are both of mine: My Pentabuzz which used to be one of a slightly mismatched pair of 5's. and of course the Smith 5.

[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]

[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.

[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.

[quote name='paul, the' post='52370' date='Aug 29 2007, 03:12 PM']I have pins and needles in two fingers.[/quote] DIY acupuncture?

[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.

[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.

[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.