Wolverinebass

I remember I had to get my Buzzard fixed and Rob told me that there would be a new kingbass and then something with a large body similar to the buzzard. That was in 2007. So clearly he's got a lot on. Plus developing new instruments must take ages. I just wished it was something totally mental and brutal sounding. An explorer shaped all graphite? The Chris Wolstenholme thing sounds interesting, but if it's just a graphite skin, I wouldn't be interested. Sure it'd still be great though. I certainly thought your 5 string graphite S2 was very, very impressive.

On a personal level, I wished they'd make more all graphite instruments. The constant volume of different Kingbasses has now started to grate a bit on me. I mean, how many models do you need? Naturally they're brilliant instruments, but do we really need 7 different versions when the options are all there anyway? Don't get me wrong here, my buzzard is the best instrument I'll ever play and status make fantasitc cakes so to speak, but I'd be holding out to see what Rob's new B1 is going to be like.

This looks very interesting. What are the final specs going to be and dare one ask what might the damage be for one of these puppies?

My current GAS list: Hamer Chaparral 12 string bass Or alternatively, get someone to build me a 12 string to my own spec which would probably cost more than the deficit. Silddx's bass looks magnificent!! I can see why you would only need that one!! Yamaha looks lovely as well. I'd be going for the black, but it's just personal taste.

[quote name='Clarky' post='1208070' date='Apr 22 2011, 10:49 AM']Why don't Tech 21 wake up and smell the coffee and make a small Class D amp with a Sansamp EQ section? They have one of the strongest brand names for DI/EQ and yet insist only on applying this to pedals or relatively heavy (>20lb) 'old school' type amps[/quote] I'd sooo have that. Give me the PSA 1.1 with a digital power section and I'm there!!

I used that 4x10 MB pictured in the post above at a rehearsal a few months ago. In a word - rubbish. I just could not (no matter how much fiddling I tried) get a decent sound out of it. If I can't get a good sound out of an amp with a Buzzard after 5 minutes (generally 30 seconds suffices), then something is generally wrong. I then switched to my Alembic. Same again. The one thing I would agree with posters is that it is very loud. But when you can't get a decent sound out the damn thing, it kind of defeats the purpose. I'd never use Marshall stuff as every experience I've ever had with them has been wholly negative. If this is the make you want, then I'm hoping it'll work better for you than for me.

I've been playing 8 string bass for a year or so and am seriously thinking about stepping up to 12 string bass. Plus as one is a Kings X/Doug Pinnick fan I've always fancied it. Now, I appreciate that there aren't many 12 strings on the market and most are not manufactured in the UK or even the EU for that matter. The question is, is there anyone on this forum got one and if so, what do you think of it? Why did you go for say a Hamer or a Dean or whatever you've got? Now I appreciate, that there are a lot of folk who think that even a 5 string is sacrelige (I don't subscribe to that view myself), but I'm quite interested in folk's views. This has of course nothing to do with meeting Doug Pinnick after Kings X's gig in Camden last week...

I've never found guitarists who mainly only play chords worth dealing with. In a trio format, space has to be given and taken in equal parts by all the members. Sometimes I'd go bonkers, sometimes the rest of the band. To fill all the space all the time is futile and in many ways fatiguing on the audience. It just doesn't work in practice and in a way becomes a kind of onslaught that just isn't that good. In regards to your question. Try playing to the vocal (if there is one) and ignore everything else. That's more often than not how I learn a song or solidify the part I'm working on. Quite often I just completely ignore the drum patterns for a while and then come back to them for some push and pull. Or I might focus on the guitar if it's quite complex. Just an example. By comparing what you're doing with the pattern/melody of each, you'll get something that more often that not will be pretty decent. Leaning more toward one will probably give you some reasonably differing results as well. Everyone's different though and I'm sure that you'll find something that works for you.

[quote name='gafbass02' post='1191453' date='Apr 7 2011, 09:54 AM']It's when I see a guy that can blatantly hardly play and not that interested in bass making a living as a bass player that I get pretty fed up. Feels like I've spent years learning my craft and my instrument for nothing. Shoulda spent more on haircuts and practicing tickling a (inevitably) p bass or Rick with a plectrum while staring at my feet.[/quote] Tell me about it. That sums my attitude up exactly. I accept that there will always be someone that can do something better than you. Such is life. Like Doddy, that just makes me practice more and try new things to improve my playing. But when people who can barely play make squillions when there are others on this forum who would wipe the floor with them and have put years or even decades into learning to play well, I feel physically sick and begin to wonder why the hell I ever bothered.

That's a bummer. Everyone's had them. I had one where I looked down at my hands thinking that the song sounded all wrong. A song I wrote I hasten to add. I had the most hideous mental blank for at least 20 seconds where I just continued playing what I was doing. Afterwards this was commented on by the band at the bar. Like I was in some sort of trance when I was playing. Naturally I didn't mention that I didn't have slightest idea in hell what I was doing. The odd thing was that apparently I played the right notes as I listened to the gig the next day. To this day I have not got the slightest clue what happened.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I think I'll start off at 1mm and see how that goes. Grab a few and see what works for me. I guess trial and error in this case will be the order of the day. I'm not intending to switch to pick playing exclusively by any means, I just think that it's a good thing to be able to do properly. Am sure I'll have to endure insults from my guitarist mates for a while until I get reasonably decent at it.

Drummer problems? Tell me about it. About 18 months ago the band I was in lost our drummer as he moved up to Sheffield. Fantastic guy and an amazingly talented drummer. We tried for (I kid ye not!!) a year to find someone who was even decent. Not a hope in hell. In London. My brother said "so what you're saying is that in a city like London with the population of Scotland you can't find someone even remotely decent?!!" The final straw was when I saw an ad on Gumtree which was for an available drummer. I clicked it open and read it. The influences were all there and I thought this might be worth a go. However, getting to the bottom of it, it said (this isn't a joke either), "I've been playing for 4 months - PAID WORK ONLY." I felt physically sick. Look anywhere these days and all of them say that. Paid work only. Funny thing was how most were only just okay and didn't really stand out as anything special or great.

After trying lots of different techniques over the years, I've began to think that I'm missing out on having any pick technique. I found one at a rehearsal about 3 years ago and at the weekend, I was fiddling about on my 8 string and my fingers were getting a bit chewed so I thought I'd give it a go. Whilst the tone wasn't really that different, I figure it'd be a good alternative to turning my plucking fingers into cheese when I'm playing in a hot room. It was quite a thick pick (2mm Dunlop) and whilst it was great for an 8 string, I tried it on a 4 and it just felt too stiff to get any sort of motion going, so I assume that more flexibility or a lighter guage is needed? Doing 8ths was just impossible. I appreciate that there are many different types and materials and whatnot, but what would seasoned pick players recommend to get the best from both worlds in terms of flexibility/tone and ease of playing? Grateful for any suggestions.

I really wanted a Kilo. When it was announced. Three years ago. After asking when it was going to come out every so often I just gave up waiting and got loads of rack gear. Whilst I'm sure it'll be a great amp, the fact that they kept it off the shelves for in effect 2 years whilst they re-designed it and apparently made it lighter seems a bit mental to me. Some of the buttons seemed to have moved but that's about it. It's going to be heavy regardless as Hartke haven't done the whole Class D amp thing that mostly everyone else has and fair play to that. Like Dood, I'm a gizmo sort of person and frankly in the interim, I've accumulated so much stuff, I'll never need to get a Kilo as what I've got really works for me. Will still have to try one though....

You know Gareth, I wondered about the fact he's been guided by the foundation. If the money was going to the foundation you could almost say fair enough, but I bet it isn't. Also, Chris - I mentioned the same thing to Rob - couldn't you just keep the moulds and wait for the license to run out? No. They would have been sued even for that apparently.

It's beyond any level of stupidity. If you're going to get a Spyder, get an Alembic one. The warwick buzzard is inferior in every way to the Status one. Yes, I've played both. To shed some light on this whole Buzzard thing. I took my bass to Status about 3 years ago to get it fixed (after the bass centre made a mess of something) and had a nice chat to Rob afterwards. He was rather upset (I'm being euphemistic) at Chris Entwistle whom he said he'd spoken with a few days after John died and who assured him that Status buzzards would still be able to be made. The rest is history. Warwick threatened to sue Status back to the stone age and Rob had to destroy all the moulds. That was in about mid 2008 so that was almost 3 years after the whole thing happened as I got my buzzard (the last one) in September 2005. As for the insidious suggestion that "John would love them," I beg to differ. When did he ever play anything other than top instruments with every single bell and whistle you could possibly imagine on them? Discount pre 1975 periods. It does look suspiciously like Chris is doing this for the money. I would have thought that extending an olive branch to Rob with this might have been the way to go, but what do I know. I'm sure Rob's got enough going on with all his other new basses this year. Regarding Doddy's thought that the Wickershams at Alembic might have something to say about Dean ripping off their design in such a garish way, I'd hope that he's right. They've even ripped off the "only 25 to be made" from when Alembic re-issued a cut down version of the Spyder in 2003 (25 four strings and 25 eight strings were made). On the other hand, the body shape was first done by Gibson wasn't it? I don't know if that's right though or if that would make any difference as I'm not a lawyer... Shameless, shameless cash in.

I agree with Chris. A parametric crossover is a must on all amps like this. Even the largest Trace Elliots have one though I think they fumbled the ball by making it fixed at 220Hz. That was a mistake. I use a crossover myself and I'd never have it set lower than at least 500Hz if I was adding fx. In relation to the Kilo, they've had this announced for 3 years if I remember correctly. The product page hasn't been updated since it was announced then. I was planning on grabbing one myself, but then after a couple of emails to Hartke, I just got sick of waiting about for it to be released and got insane amounts of rack stuff instead. From what I understand they re-designed it to make it lighter hence the gap between the LH series and this. On the other hand, does that really take 3 years? The sad thing is I really like Hartke stuff and I've went elsewhere now. I'd bet that the joke will be that after all that time to take the weight out of it, it'll probably still weigh 20kg!!

The difference between the 1 and 1.1 is that the 1.1 has twice as many locations to save and has an on/off button, as well as the "afterburner" zone on the input gain which is a lo cut/high boost function. I gave serious thought to buying Mr Foxen's, but what put me off was that it was 110V, had it not been I would have bitten his hand off for it. Changing out the transformer sounded too problematic so I just saved up and got one new. Mr Foxen is quite correct as well that they don't come up that often either because not that many people have them or that nobody wants to sell them. I watched Ebay for 4 months and there wasn't one that went for less than £290 whch was more than I was going to pay for one 2nd hand.

Well, they're not cheap. You won't find one for less than £500 if you're going for new. 2nd hand maybe £290 if you're lucky. There aren't really that many sold on ebay. Depends what you want to use it for really. If you want loads of different types of distortion then that's great. If you only want say one or 2 then it's just total overkill. The midi switching is covered in the manual. It's not that difficult to work out if you sit down with it. If you want to preserve the clean sound of your amp, put the PSA in the loop. There are 2 bypass channels on it so you can remove it from the signal chain if you wish to.

Mcnach is quite right. I've had loads of fun making patches on headphones then trying them with the rig and having them sound rubbish. Nowadays what I do is do parallel patches. One for live and one for the studio. So I can get the same sounds whenever I want and in which setting.

If the big guy with the beard is an improvement I shudder to think what the previous people were like because that guy that Happy Jack mentions has been a complete and utter tosser every single time I've went in there. To give a specific example if you will. This incident happened maybe 8 or 9 months ago. I had been looking out for a gigbag that will fit my 8 string explorer. I've been compensating by using my bag for my buzzard, however this was far from an ideal fit. I go on the web and look at Ritter's stuff and notice that they have a bag which will fit. I was in the bass cellar a few days before and remember them saying they sold Ritter stuff. Now for the fun. The same beardy guy (and another bloke with long hair) tell me that Ritter have went bust (within the last week) and that the conversation I refer to above - NEVER HAPPENED. Nice. Call your customer a liar why don't you. This is different to "I don't remember" before anyone suggests I'm over-reacting. It was a "I/We never said that" conversation. It then gets better. Idiot No. 2 suggests that Warwick do a bag which would fit an Explorer. I decide to play along. I know they mean the one for the buzzard. For those of you who know, this bag can be obtained from Thomann for £65. I decide to wait and see how much they want to fleece me for it. The bloke checks through a big book for a few seconds - no doubt entitled "How to rip off your customers - Vol 5" and then turns to me and says that this bag - (a GIGBAG!!) is going to set me back (WAIT FOR THIS!!) £138. Yes, you read that correctly. ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY EIGHT POUNDS. For something I can get for half that elsewhere. I then thought about this after walking out confused as to whether I should be laughing heartily or extremely angry. However, I then contacted Headstock distribution who told me that Ritter had not in fact went bust (as if I believed that pile of crap to start with) and suggested a much saner place to shop. As it turned out they had what I wanted so all was well. I will never, ever, for any reason whatsoever, regardless of emergency or anything shop with those utter tubes in the Bass Cellar ever again. If only they could follow the Bass Centre into "internet only" oblivion. This is not an isolated incident. These people don't care about repeat business or customer service.

It depends what era of his sound you want to emulate. The Live at Leeds sound is pretty easy to do, but the late 70's/early 80's tone is impossible. Amazingly impossible to get. I tried for ages to do it and I just gave up. Whilst I can say that El Capitan's comments are probably true especially his tone from 2000 until his death it's brutal cutting treble and I would say his bass sounds more like a banjo in places. That in itself is quite sad. Before that 2000 - 2002 tour I think his tone on "The Vegas Job" or at any time round about 1999 is brilliant. Very bass heavy, but with a mountain of chorusing. Link below for a sample. Anything from 5 minutes in. This is at the House of Blues. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2jVSQrEAiw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2jVSQrEAiw[/url] And this is from the Vegas Job (from 4:25). [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW9azvZbVlU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW9azvZbVlU[/url] Try to get that sound and it's almost impossible unless you have the stuff he was using. I went through a quest to get a Digitech 2120 which took months, but that bonkers octal chorusing sound is pretty much the only way you'll get that sound. Digitech don't make anything that's even comparable to that unit any more. Muppets. I suspect that I'm in a minority of 1 of people who like that as a bass sound. Oh well.

The best compliment I ever got was playing a gig one night and some bloke came up to me at the bar afterwards and said that he hadn't heard anyone play bass like that since he saw the Who at Charlton in 1976. That's the best big up I've ever had and probably will ever have. I have had periods like everyone I'm sure when I thought I was great (and seriously wasn't) and some when I though I was awful (and wasn't). I suppose that like everyone who doesn't do covers bands you wish that you'll always sound like you playing bass if that makes sense. I think that is all one hopes for really. I do have some mates who play in properly signed bands who moan about how indistinctive their own style is. I find that odd as it's not like they're rubbish. They seem to think that they're "bland" in some way. I've certainly never thought that about their stuff. Their thought is that their parts sound like nothing but I always sound like me. I'm not entirely sure if that point of view is valid but it's not mine. I know I'll never get anywhere with my stuff or bands, but I accept that. That's why I can take a 5 minute solo if I want (I have done that but only either for a bet with our singer that I couldn't keep a solo going for the time it took for him to go to the bar and get a round of drinks for us or because the guitarist's amp blew up and he was changing to his backup). I feel fine with that.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1051361' date='Dec 8 2010, 09:28 AM']I tend to find I get responses from 15 year olds who like Paramore. Now dont get me wrong, we all have to start somewhere, but Ive never met anyone in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties through those sites, which is a shame.[/quote] Tell me about it. I got so sick of dealing with idiots I've virtually given up. Whether it be through websites or whatever it doesn't matter. In response to the OP's question Forming Bands is rubbish. Or at least, the people on it are rubbish. All pay for contact details sites are a waste of time in my opinion. Easy cash. Although I have found bands or people through them, I still think they are a con.

Less bass, more mids and treble. Whilst using loads of cut isn't to everyone's taste, nobody will ever hear you with the settings you're using. Very wooly. In my experience you have to play with a much brighter sound live than you would if you were recording. Usually involving more mids or treble. Heard on it's own it's not necessarily pleasing, but live it'd work a treat. It'll probably be very alien to you for a while but you have to get away from your amp to hear how everyone else hears you. Play with a wooly setting and nobody will hear you as it'll just sound like mush and it'll detract from people's experience of your band and hide your playing as the bass will just become vibration for most people with no note definition to speak of. On the other hand, you might think that compromising on this is too big a price to pay for how you want to sound.