Wolverinebass

Anyone got any thoughts? Anyone? If it's total pants, please feel free to say.

In retort to the original question I'd just say no unless it was for a mate. I refuse to play stuff that won't challenge me or that I find interesting to play (regardless if I enjoy listening to it) as it's just not worth it. I'd rather play stuff I've written in a band format rather than whatever cover is the order of the day.

This may come over as somewhat snobbish. I'm about to elucidate to why I think like this. A few years ago I was between bands so I thought I might try a few cover bands. So I went for a few auditions. At one of them I asked if they wanted the bass EXACTLY as it was recorded and they said "no." I took this as a sign to fill out some simple songs. I then got asked to play exactly what was recorded - I wasn't even trying that hard or even being flash. No problem, I know the songs.

It then got ridiculous, I asked what they were specifically looking for in a bass player - "someone who can push the envelope" was the reply. How can you do this I asked if you're doing everything exactly as it's recorded? I found this somewhat ironic given that they were playing the wrong chords on quite a few songs "Pinball Wizard" and then played "Jumpin' Jack Flash" in the wrong key!! Do as I say not do as I do? Indeed.

I'm sure as a multi-instrumentalist quite a few people don't have to listen that carefully to tell if someone's playing the wrong version of a chord to a song they know well especially say if you can play it on different instruments. If you can see their fingers on a guitar you can usually tell.

Needless to say these morons actually still get gigs and frankly this one experience has put me off ever doing cover stuff again as I was very close to losing my temper in a rather extreme way at the ludicrous patronisation on offer.

Maybe this should be a reply to "should I stay in my bedroom as opposed to doing covers with folk who have delusions of grandeur and aren't actually that good."

Sadly that topic doesn't exist. Yet. Sorry for the vent, just had to get that out my system!!

I need some opinions on this. Myself and my guitarist have been reasonably busy of late and I was wondering what folk thought. I've attached a couple of songs below. Both are unmixed, but you get the general idea. One I've put 2 versions of. With keys and without.

I wrote Nothing To Lose and my guitarist wrote Sweet Angeline after a jam and I wheeled out the 8 string bass for that just to make it sound more chunky. For some reason he hasn't recorded the chorus vocals yet.

Opinions gratefully taken on sounds, technique and even if you like this sort of stuff. Obviously I'm mostly referring to the bass, but all opinions are welcome.

A fair point that you get what you pay for. I certainly never got on Carlsbro amps. I can usually get a good sound with any amp I try (as you would imagine you would have to if you played an Alembic), but they were just awful.

However, a while back just to illustrate my point here I played a gig about 500 yards from my house. The bass amp provided was a 1x12 Carlsbro. On seeing that I immediately went home and got my stack after trying it. Imagine if you will. A Status Buzzard sounding flabby and generally a bit rubbish. Virtually nothing would sort it out so I got my own rig for my own soundcheck.

Every single other bassist sounded awful during their soundcheck (if you could even hear them) and all of them asked to use my rig. Nothing spectacular, just a Hartke head and Markbass cabs.

On the other hand, I agree with Sarah. New strings and good ones are always worth it.

A new amp is the order of the day. I played a Carlsbro a few years ago and it was just ..... awful. Never again. They make Ashdowns sound crisp and I regard them as being very wooly indeed. I think as well, you're playing something that's 45w against a full band? Ouch. No wonder you're struggling.

Bought a Bass Pod XT Pro off Jamie. Really quick delivery and everything was all good. A top bloke. Couldn't ask for a better guy to deal with.

I don't know. It's all relative really IF (and I can't stress enough the IF in this statement) you think it's worth it. I spent 4K on a buzzard and that to me is the best bass ever made as I've always found graphite superior to wood in terms of stability and tone. Sod the fact that I had to give up smoking/drinking/eating for 9 months whilst I was skint to get this. To me it's worth every penny. I'm sure loads of folk will disagree.

However, I'm just as sure that there are folk who think that their beat up Precision copy from Indonesia is the best bass ever. It's what works for you and what sound you want.

Would I pay 5K for the G3? Er, no. Nothing to do with looks, it's just the circuit. It's all boost. What? No cut function on a bass that costs as much as a 2nd hand BMW?!! I think not. NEXT!!

A Corvette is a very nice bass though I've never got on with Warwicks at all due to the neck profile. A bit too chunky for me.

I'm sure that there are just as many people who think that say an Alembic or whatever isn't worth 3 or 4 Musicmans or Fenders. That's not my opinion, just a statement of what I'm sure is fact. I would imagine my profile signature says what sort of bass I like. Just choice really. But a personal one nontheless.

After some recent experience, I'm now going to say that the Bass Cellar is the worst bass shop ever.

For the last few weeks I've 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 is 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 guy (and another bloke) 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.

It's not the Who anymore. I had the privelige of seeing them in Glasgow in November 2000 and that's the best gig I will ever see unless someone re-invents the musical wheel in my lifetime. When I watched them on TV playing Glastonbury a few years ago, I was almost sick. Nothing has changed since, but for opinions here are my own.

Zak Starkey is about as close as anyone will ever get to replacing or emulating Keith Moon.

But Pino? Err, no. I have nothing against him as clearly he's a talented player, but for the Who it's in the "Kenney Jones was the wrong drummer" syndrome transposed to bass. The tone is all wrong (bland in the extreme) and he just plays sooooo simply (otherwise you wouldn't need a 2nd guitar player to fill all those gaps would you?) and frankly I think they should have quit on the spot 27th June 2002.

I'm sure that there are people on this forum who could stylistically give something more to the Who than Pino ever will.

To me it's a safe, boring and utterly wrong choice probably instigated by Roger who can now tell Pino to "turn down" as the bass player is now the hired help as opposed to an equal.

I'd look on Facebook. I tracked down someone for a a mate who had something very similar happen to them (i.e. scumbag who had nicked loads of gear from them). Unless he's got an insanely common name you'll probably find him then it's rather easy. Hope you get it back.

I find it ironic that Adam Clayton was actually the reason I learned bass in the first place. However, the more I progressed I found it a bit boring after I got into the Who and other bands with more technically involved playing and certainly everything U2 have done post Pop is the most dull uninspiring tosh to play ever as it's not challenging or to my money interesting in any way to play. Maybe I'm being harsh though. It could just be U2 went a bit rubbish after 97. At least in my eyes.

For me though, the crime is not the fact that someone who plays relatively simply should play an insane looking bass that is in fact merely a precision with an upside down explorer shape, the crime is that of Warwicks for thinking that any number of pseudo John Entwistle rip-offs are acceptable.

What's with the buzzard headstock on everything? Just. Stop. It.

I think that for what Clayton does in U2 he's great at it, it's just not my cup of tea.

On the other hand, think how bad it might have been if Warwick had got Guy Berryman from Coldplay to endorse a really flashy bass. Now that would just be totally wrong on every level imaginable. To paraphrase someone else's comment, that's not even 8th note plodding, that's quarter note plodding....

The Bass Cellar seemingly never have what I've went in for. But that's not to say they don't get it for me.

The Bass Centre is a completely different kettle of fish. Whilst I got my Alembic from them whilst they were at Wapping and were very nice then, the moment they moved to Liverpool St. it all went wrong really.

Pricematching? What's that? Take it or leave it at the price we offer.

However, the best one was when I left my buzzard with them for a couple of days. All I asked them to do was lower the action. I specifically said "DON'T DO ANYTHING ELSE." So, what did they do? They attempted to change the batteries. As some 9V batteries have the small plastic caps on the ends, whatever moron tried to do this had jammed the batteries into the slots with them still attached. This screwed the electronics. I take it to rehearsal the same night. Nothing.

That was very annoying. So I had to take it to Rob Green at Status to fix it as I didn't know what they'd done. I'm glad they don't have a shop anymore.

[quote name='molan' post='707571' date='Jan 10 2010, 12:36 PM']I found this which looks very similar but the image locator caption says it's 2 pup Stryker:



It doesn't look a lot different to this:



Warwick Adam Clayton Signature Reverso E-Bass

* Signature Bass
* Mahogany Body
* 3/9" Quilted AAAA Maple top
* Flamed Maple with Ekanga Veneer stripes
* Tigerstripe Ebony Fretboard
* 24 Frets
* Scale 864mm Long Scale
* Nut width 36,5mm
* 1 x MEC P active Pickup
* Warwick 2pcs. Bridge
* Finish Natural Satin
* incl. Rockcase and Adam Clayton Signature[/quote]


It's just disgusting. He also seems to have not noticed that the shape of an explorer lends itself to leaning your elbow on the top wing if you will, hence relaxing your wrist. What can you do with that now? At the height he's playing it at he'll probably destroy his kneecaps with the reverse wing every time he takes a step. Plus you know it's going to cost at least £4K. Good luck with that. Given that price bracket I'd get an Alembic or a Zon any day. Plus it's just a P bass with a bonkers shape. I'm sure that some of the great craftsmen that frequent this site would be able to build something to similar spec for £500.

For me, Warwick have just milked this John Entwistle association way too far now. First they stop Status making their buzzard (superior in every way to the Warwick version - I've played both versions) and then they did this whole rip off of the Alembic explorers he used to play in the 70's (surprised they didn't try to sue them too). Again, ditto the above situation. Do they not have any original ideas, other than not very good ones?

I bet Clayton will barely use it.

Last year I set myself the goal of being able to slap better. After following Stuart Clayton's book I did it, but I wouldn't pretend to be anything other than "okay" at it.

This year, I'd like to gig loads. It's not too much to ask you may think. However, this is unlikely to happen. I'm about to move house, my wife is pregnant and there's a reasonable chance that I'm going to lose my job reasonably soon. That's just the first 6 months of the year.

Stranger still, my drummer recently moved to Sheffield and it appears finding someone as good as him is going to be rather difficult to say the least. That's even before I get to the problem of getting a good singer.

I haven't played a gig in a year and haven't even went to a rehearsal/jam since August. It's times like this that I wonder why I don't just jack it all. Though maybe not. I'd have to sell some seriously great basses.

In light of all this, I'll settle for perfecting my typewriter style.

I agree. Get the GK.

I've never really found the MAG amps to my taste (wooly) and I'm sure I've read some not so very nice things about the Little Giant build quality. Obviously, that could be hearsay as I've never owned one.

The Hartke gets a good write up but I can't help but thinking if it's that good, why are loads of folk flogging them not just on this forum but on ebay? I think it'd probably be quite good, but the thing that puts me off is the fact the controls are so simple. On the other hand, a lot of people find that refreshing. Plus, that's made in China as well, if that is an issue.

I'd go GK.

I've always quite liked "brutal."

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='697222' date='Dec 31 2009, 02:51 PM']A mini mixer will put the signal back together. I have one that is large pedal sized made by Monacor.[/quote]


Ahh, I see. You've got the MMX-31? Seems like a plan as it doesn't need any power. Or are you using the MMX-4?

Still, have to find a decent crossover or see if there is any way to combine both devices like Silent Fly suggests. Thanks for the advice!!

Thanks for the info. I figured I might need a crossover, but where my problem lay is how to merge the 2 signals back into one and keeping it all in mono so it'll all go back into the return section of the FX loop. Whilst this is getting into bi-amping territory in some ways, I'll be doing this with full range speakers so it's not worth doing the change in amplifier system to get what I want.

I've had a look at some of the stuff suggested and I don't think the Boss is what I want. I have the sound I want and can acheive it in cubase by recording 2 channels, but I want to be able to do so live and sadly, I don't need any more effects!! Ha!!

The Behringer crossovers seem something like what I'm looking for but they're XLR ins and outs and I'd prefer 1/4 inch sockets just for ease of use.

Small would be good, so that I don't have to cart about 300 million feet of wires with me.

What ideally I want is the crossovers which you get in the bass pod. Where you can set the Modulation and Delay crossovers, but keep the signal in mono. Yes, I have one, but I'd be attempting to do the same thing with a different fx device which doesn't have this function.

If anyone has any more ideas, I'd be very grateful.

I'm not sure whether this should be in FX or Amps forum, but here goes.

Say you have an amp which has a mono FX send/return jack. You want to apply a particular effect (say chorus or distortion) to only the uppermost part of the signal - say above 800Hz - 1kHz and leave the rest unaffected preserving your bass end. Is it possible to do this either by using an EQ module or splitting the mono signal into 2 bits (the uppermost one being affected, the other lower portion being clean) then merging them back into each other to give a mono signal again which has been processed to your specification.

Is this is any way possible? If anyone has any ideas or suggestions they would be most welcome.

This is utterly brilliant. If I could actually do more electronics than changing a plug or soldering wires on a scalextric car, this would be the sort of stuff that I'd want to do.

Seriously good work there!!

Thump Boy has rather kindly posted the FBV board above. That's really good. I've got the shortboard version which is pretty decent, but the FBV is the better of the 2. The only thing that annoys me about the pod is that it's not seamless transfer between patches. So when you change patches say you're using delay, the tail of the signal gets chopped if you turn it off. Really annoying.

On the other hand, that doesn't bother everyone.

As Thump Boy says, get a rack case. You don't want to be carrying it about without one.

Is it? GAK doesn't seem to say it's in stock and that page has been there for at least a year. Even Thomann have had it on "2-5 days notice" for ages. Before that it's been "on order" with the date being pushed back in increments for 2 years.

If that's true - great!! I can upgrade a bit.

However, much more tellingly, when I asked Hartke about specifics of it (like weight, dimensions and what footswitches are compatible etc.) around 3 weeks ago there was no hint that it was out or when that situation would change. If it were out why is there no online manual or even a rear panel photo on the Hartke website? As much as I like their amps and gear in general, I'm not buying an amp without knowing anything about it other than a front panel photo. That photo of the front panel is the only image you'll find of it anywhere.

Anyways, when I asked, they replied with this which doesn't suggest it's going to be out before new year or anytime soon come to think of it:

From: Anthony DiMaggio
Sent: 01 December 2009 17:45:18
To:
Cc: 'Joseph Antonelli'

Andy,

Currently, the Kilo is still in production phases, and is not yet available. Information won't be final until the unit is. For further info, contact your local distributor.

Thank You,

Anthony DiMaggio
SamsonTech Product Specialist

The Pod XT Pro is footswitchable. Get the FBV shortboard which is really good or the FBV board which has more control.

I've tried the Live (floorboard) version and whilst the amp models and whatnot are the same in some way it's just a bit flimsy feeling in terms of the footswitches. I'd go with the Pro version and a controller. I wish I'd bought the rackmount version instead of the kidney bean version. On the other hand, I tend not to use it live very much now as I use the Digitech 2120 which again is a rackmount with floorboard controller.

When is the Kilo coming out? It was announced when the LH500 and LH1000 were announced with the whole hydrive line. That was at least 2 years ago. Am using a 5500 at the moment and would like to upgrade a bit. Can anyone shed any light?

[quote name='crez5150' post='677854' date='Dec 8 2009, 01:34 PM']If your sending to FOH why don't you just get them to give you a mix of your bass in the monitors?[/quote]


Because whenever you trust a sound engineer not to screw you, they invariably do. Messing with your tone or not turning you up loud enough in the monitors so it's like miming with your own band. Looking down at your fingers moving and what do you hear? Nothing. Regardless of how much you ask nicely for some changes or get frustrated and and turn yourself up, they just turn you down by more. You can't win.

That's why I gave up using just a pod XT when I went out live. Despite how convenient it was, I just got tired of sound engineers messing with my tone or not being able to hear myself. Why spend a bit of time getting a tone that would tear the head off a thick necked rhino when the sound guy thinks, "Ooh, I don't like that. Not very conventional. Let's tear all the treble and mid off and turn the bass up." In other words, it sounds like a wet fart and everything above E on the A string is inauduble. Sod that. That actually happened to me and after a few more incidents like that (frequency pans DURING songs being the best example - banjo sound to fretless in 2 minutes!!) I got tooled up with my own small stack.

My advice echoes Stylon's - Get a power amp.