Wolverinebass

So, here we go for one more. I needed a backup bass as it seems quite likely that I'll be on tour next year I'd been casting my eye around for a backup which could also double as my active studio bass. Anyway, I got a backup (No 10) and it kills. Kind of like a Stingray on steroids and it only cost £240! 1. Fenix by Young Chang (short scale) 2. Alembic Stanley Clarke Signature Standard 3. Status Graphite John Entwistle Buzzard 4. Warmoth 8 string Explorer 5. Hamer Chapparal 12 string 6. Eko Florence acoustic 7. Wal Mark 2 8. Fender Classic 50s Precision 9. Rickenbacker 4003 10. Schecter Raiden - Custom

The 1975 are awful. I try to not listen to bands like that as it makes me feel sad that they've got a deal and someone, somewhere with better music didn't.

Blue, if you're going to leave your band, do so. If you don't know what you want from your playing by now (other than money), you never will. Look for new opportunities. It's what we all do and fair play. Enjoy the journey. I've found that by being more open to things and people in the last few years has resulted in some of the best musical experiences of my life.

Not at all Lozz. Just putting our potential customers at ease that we're not going to walk out the store with a huge bag of basmati rice grinning for the CCTV. Or worse still, fret wraps. We've got the organisation covered. No storing bounty in our own wardrobe waiting for a knock at the door. Alibis have already been procured from high ranking politicians who quite frankly will say anything for a cheap holiday and a kickback.

So, just to make sure we have pre-arranged roles here. @Frank Blankis in charge of wheels, I'll handle "the shootahs," @fleabag can arrange for a cash paid lockup to store and then fence the goods and @hiram.k.hackenbacker will be in charge of "fitting up" one of our rival firms in the aftermath to divert attention in case an unfortunate store assistant should be accidentally shot in the head for refusing to open the Dingwall and Fodera rack. We've got this covered peeps. DM us any orders of gear you want and we'll see what we can do in the 5 minutes after the alarm goes of and before the cops turn up. Relax. We're professionals. All basses will be delivered with filed off serial numbers. Untraceable. Okay, someone might have been kneecapped for your new NG2 Combustion and Darkglass Microtubes amp, but if you can look yourself in the mirror afterwards, we'll take your money.

REM were a band I never liked too much as I found them a bit boring and dare I say it too safe. That's not to say they don't have good songs, but most of them said nothing to me. They certainly hung around too long. Then again, most bands do. Not everyone quits at the top like The Jam. My theory is that The Rolling Stones are the model of what happens when you try to carry on forever especially after you're incredibly successful. U2's career has followed that pattern and if you compare the ages of the members between the two bands and the albums they released at similar ages there are some very interesting parallels. Not necessarily interesting music I hasten to add, but interesting "time of life" parallels of waning creative juices and the occasional good song.

Get an estate car. It'll come in useful for the ram raid as well.

Yeah, go on then. I'm up for it!

Tech 21 are brilliant. Like Lozz, I favour the para driver for its sweepable mids. I use the Dug pedal in one of my bands and it just kills. I quite like the GT2 as well. That's great. The Red Ripper is really good too. Plus, for my insane rack setup I use the PSA 1.1, which I consider to be the best preamp ever made due to its flexibility through midi control. Pity they've discontinued it. If the Dug amp had mid presets I'd have that, but it doesn't sadly. Bummer. I love their stuff and quite frankly they have very few "so-so" products, if any. Just ones that don't work for what I want (cough - give me an endorsement, cough).

I have been waiting for this pedal actually. We are now reaching the £400 mark for a distortion pedal. Which is getting mental. I wouldn't mind trying one though. I have an AO ultra for my studio and personally, I find it more suited to 5 string tuning. However, it's good for standard, just not as good as playing in drop A. It's not my sound so I'm not using it personally. The X7 ultra would be a good thing to compare against the Tech 21 DP-3X pedal. On paper, it should be better with the flexible crossovers and EQ, but I'd like to hear myself. If it's more fuzzy than sharp then it'd be no dice from me. Personally, I think Darkglass have played a blinder in marketing their products. In saying that for the price you can get a Helix Stomp for the money which I'd really like to have a play with. You could argue the Darkglass/Dingwall/Djent association is getting stale now. However, I wonder what they'll come out with next. They won't get anyone more high profile than Jon Stockman unless they got say Justin Chancellor which is never going to happen. Where do they go from here?

The joys of auto correct Russ. I went back and changed it. 😂

I have no idea. Do people buy Hartke because Billy Sheehan uses them? I wouldn't know either. Yeah Mark King can get loads of fanboys to buy stuff and Marcus as well. The main other I can think of is Nolly Getgood. How many 5 string Dingwalls and Darkglass pedals have been sold because of him? The guy practically defines a whole genre's bass sound.

Plus a truckload of cash from Hartke I believe. I guess the fact that Ampegs were somewhat unreliable at the time didn't help.

I'm pretty sure Markbass have offered the only support that would matter to Mark King. Support to his bank account. From the stories I've heard Ashdown are great for tour support.

Will be along. Don't know what I'm going to bring. Will think of something. Updated Attendance & Gear List:  01. Silverfoxnik - BC Rich Eagle, Ander van der End JB5, RBV5, Ampeg V4BH head and matching cabs. 02. Hamster - Tea, Coffee, Pastries, the Wife - might bring a bass! 03. @Frank Blank's Acoustic Corner - Rob Allen Mouse, Godin A4, FRFR setup (QSC K12.2 and Fishman preamp). 04. RodFunnell - '78 Stingray, Assorted Warwicks, Vanderkley Spartan, Mesa Prodigy 4:88, Barefaced Big Twin T and it's still a few months away so maybe more! 05. obbm - Sadowsky Metros, Handbox WB100,Bergantino cabs. 06. Cetera - Spector USA NS2, Spector USA NS2X 'Spectorbird', Spector Euro LT, Hamer Impact, Dingwall DBird Standard, Hagstrom Super Swede, Italia Imola GP, Fender FSR PJ, Fender FSR 70's Ash P, original Gallien Krueger 400RB, GenzBenz Neox 2x12 07. @NancyJohnson Lull JAXT4 & Lull JAX/NRT5, Darkglass A/O Head, 2xAguilar SL112s Barefaced Big One (the #000) 08. Rumblefish - Rumblefish bass,Wal Bass, MB Mpulse 600,Berg CN212 09. Steve Browning - SVL & Fender Precisions, Mesa Walkabout 15 10. @Stingray5 - MM and Tune basses, Trace Elliot or Eden combos, Boss GT-6B. 11. ChunkyMunky - Builds of mine (P5, J5 etc), SWR SM900, a Greenboy/Fearful build or two and some other assorted goodies.  12. samcrabtree00 - Warwick Streamer Stage II, USA MM Sub, Genzler Magallen 800, Barefaced BB2, Various effects 13. TrevorR - Wal Custom and Pro, Aria SB700, MarkBass LMII & Traveler 2x10 14. @Graemeross 4 Ps, 3 Js, 2 Aria SBs , Darkglass MT900, 2x Barefaced BB2, HX Effects with Line 6 G75 wireless. 15. prowla - Rics, Warwicks, Statii (whatever I chuck in the car!), Markbass EVO 1 & 1x12. Maybe a Minitaur & 12-step (if I've got 'round to figuring out the 12-step by then). 16. OrangeFriday - Third build - J bass - may contain LEDs... 17. Wolverinebass - haven't decided what to bring yet.

Am going on the Sunday if anyone fancies meeting up.

I didn't look. I remember it being £1199 on release.

It's quite simple really. The "Doom" knob only gave an overdrive towards a slight fuzz tone to my ears. You could get a much better sound with just an ABM and a pedal. Say something like a Wounded Paw Battering Ram EQ or a Cog Effects. So let's look at this objectively regardless of sound. Unless you're a Geezer Butler fan (I am as it happens), you'll probably not buy this due to several reasons. Weight being one. Cost being another when you could get say a Darkglass A/O head for about the same price at £1100. That's just one head with an overdrive built in!! That's before we list others and there are quite a few. Hence my comment of it not being worth the money. Dismiss my views all you like, that's your right and I'm not bothered. I should say that I was very interested in the Geezer head until I tried one and didn't really like it (especially for £1200). Just my opinion and all that. I have no particular axe to grind here on Ashdown at all. Some of your stuff is great, some not so much. Like quite a lot of bass amp manufacturers.

Maybe Mark King has confused endorsements with Pokemon. In that he's trying to get them all. Mesa, Ashdown, Trace Elliot, TC Electronic, Markbass. Not many more to get now is there? I'm waiting for the 10th model Kingbass from Status with baited breath as I'm sure that a whole bunch of middle aged Level 42 fans will lap it up before playing slap bass less than an inch under their chin then flogging it for a marginally different one 6 months later. I must admit I find that more funny than his constant endorsement round robin every 6-18 months. Every time he's on tour and plays something new the phones must ring off the hook at Status. This time it was the t-bass and everyone went out and got one of them. Is there anyone else who inspires this level of rig copying? Especially on the instrument level. Just bonkers.

Pity it sounds like a second rate fuzz pedal that costs £60. It's not great for the money.

John Entwistle. It's simple really. He developed the strings in cooperation with Rotosound in the first instance. Secondly, anyone who suggests Billy Sheehan, Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Steve Harris should probably realise that they were all influenced by John Entwistle to a greater or lesser extent. Taking away his influence alters rock bass playing in an incredibly negative way. The world of music would have a lot less excitement and lightning in it and more dreary, boring playing where no chances are taken. Nobody has played like him since and that is the mark of a true innovator.

That orange bass is amazing! Nice work!

Some of us got in before the hammer came down and don't have to paint ourselves blue and rock in the foetal position worrying how much Alembics might have went up in price by next year.

The correct answer to the question is no-one cares what colour it is. All that people care about is how does it sound played in drop E through loads of Darkglass pedals by Nolly Getgood. Does it djent? Does it sound "sick?" We'll never know the answer to these questions if we stop to think what colour it actually is depending on what angle the light strikes it at.

Honestly, don't waste your money. The Warwick buzzard is garbage. Warwick's pricing is tonto as well.