BigRedX

[quote name='JJW' timestamp='1430862196' post='2765455'] These are actually quite cool basses, I have a similar one, it's terrible to play as you could have guessed but I still like to have it. [/quote] [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1430897828' post='2765591'] Slightly lighter than granite, I believe ... [/quote] I used to have a four string version that had been defretted by a previous owner. For my purposes it was a vastly superior instrument to the Squier VMJ Fretless that I bought to replace it. The acrylic used might be heavy but the Wesley bass has a smaller body so it doesn't weigh more than your average J-style bass, and the reduced body size made it a lot more comfortable for me to wear. I might have a punt on this if the price doesn't get silly.

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1430895173' post='2765568'] The headstocks look different? [/quote] John Birch made Rickenbacker copies with both his own style headstock and one that looked very much like Rickenbacker's. Mid to late 70s was a time when lots of UK artists were using John Birch instruments especially if you wanted something that wasn't easily available from the US manufacturers of the time. Double neck Ric-style instrument fits the bill perfectly and there were several pictured in the JB catalogue of the time.

Are we sure that's an actual Rickenbacker and not a John Birch copy?

What are you missing? Apart from some specialised devices that work on different principals, the vast majority of pre-amps don't do anything that you shouldn't already be able to do with the gain and tone controls on your amp. After all this part of your amp is a pre-amp too!

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1430831579' post='2764966'] Can anyone answer my OP? Do you have to ask permission from the [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]copyright holder before performing or recording a cover version?[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Is it a legal requirement?[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]There are a lot of videos of covers on youtube - have they all been cleared by the writers? [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The reason I ask is because a friend recorded a cover version and posted it on youtube[/font][/color], without getting any permission from the copyright holder. The original composer has gone mad and demanded it be removed, which it has - but they are still very angry. [/quote] Basically the rule is that a live performance of a cover does not require any permission while a recording for public consumption (irrespective of whether any money is being charged for it) does. However whether or not unlicensed/unsanctioned recordings will be tolerated by the copyright holders is down to a number of factors so that in reality there is no hard and fast rule as to which covers will be allowed and which will be served with take down notices.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1430825126' post='2764856'] There are some very interesting instruments being created by Atlansia. (BigRedX, did you find a buyer for your solitaire?). However, while I like the idea of a stick style instrument, I'm not convinced by the method of holding the pickup in place for this one. But, as mentioned, it's good that he's trying different things. EDIT: One problem would be that if you move the pickup from 'upstream' to 'downstream', then it'll be held way off the strings at any position except for the two extremes. But, perhaps with the movement allowed by the sliding thing where the pickup attaches, perhaps that's all the 'top' adjustment that is necessary. [/quote] Yes the Solitaire has been moved on to someone who is intending to use it in a bass and drums "Royal Blood" type duo. I've asked the buyer to let me know what he's doing with it as that should be interesting! The way I see the pickup on this instrument working is that it slides back and forth on the rails below the "neck" but the arms allow two different starting positions. From my ownership of various less conventional instruments I've found that a lot of these devices don't really make full sense until you are actually playing the instrument in question. Also many of the ideas that Atlasia showcases on their Facebook page don't actually make it onto production instruments until they've gone through a lot more development and refinement. I expect that this is a starting point to test some ideas and if it ever surfaces on a instrument that is for sale will be a lot more elegant.

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1430827434' post='2764899'] Landlords used to have to submit setlists to PRS in case of cover infringement, is this no longer the case? I know the Exeter Arms in Oxford fell foul of this a few years ago [/quote] Set lists are submitted to the PRS so that the writers (and publishers) of the songs preformed can get the royalties due to them.

I love the way Atlansia work. They may not always get it right but they are continually pushing the boundaries of what is possible with stringed amplified musical instruments. It's certainly a lot more interesting than yet another P or J bass copy.

I used to have one fitted to a Squire VMF Jazz. It's OK I supposed but it didn't really do anything that I couldn't already do with the tone controls on my BassPod. Also fitting it required routing out another couple of mm from the depth of the control cavity and then having to re-shield everything. IMO too much hassle for no appreciable gain, but then I'd have probably said the same about any of the similar pre-amps available for the J-Bass. I personally can't see the point of fitting something in your bass that doesn't really do anything more than you should already be able to do elsewhere in your signal chain.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1430321095' post='2760271'] WOW! Nice bookings Blue [/quote] Thanks. It's going to be "interesting". Personally I'm not a big fan of festivals as a punter because IME the British summer weather isn't really suitable for them. Audiences invariably end up with trench foot or occasionally sunstroke. My favourite festival to attend as an audience member was just 10 minutes walk from where I was living at the time so I could go home if the weather or the bands were sh*t! Organisation at some of them can be a bit too relaxed for my liking. In previous years we have played events where we've had to cut out set short due to bands before us over-running. On one occasion we were left with 20 minutes in which to set up and play before the curfew! And having done the first festival of the year on a day when it has mostly been raining nothing so far has changed my opinion. The stage and a good deal of the audience are was under cover, but the bit just in front of the stage was open to the elements, so the atmosphere for the bands playing earlier in the day wasn't great. Luckily the rain had stopped before we were on so people were actually down at the from for our set, but it could have been a pretty depressing gig. Lets see how the rest of the "summer" turns out...

Our first festival gig of 2015 at Puzzfest in Sowerby Bridge. We were the last of the bands playing the outdoor stage before the final band of the day played in the pub. Typically for a bank holiday weekend there was a slow and study fall of rain all through the afternoon and into the evening when we turned up. The stage and a large portion of the area around it was under cover, but the section just in front of the stage was open to the elements and consequently the audience was huddled in the sheltered areas away from the bands. Luckily by the time we came to play the rain had stopped and some people were actually down the in front of the stage. After a few lack-lustre gigs recently, the extra rehearsal we've been putting in for our forthcoming album recording played off and we played a stormer, with Mr Venom climbing up into the rafters and some of the more enthusiastic (drunken) members of the audience joining him in a state of undress. The cold weather played havoc with the tuning of the semi-acoustic guitar and bass, but we managed to sound reasonably in-tune for most of the set. [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/Dick%20Venom%20Live/11210515_10153250914127836_5616556718067456548_n_zpsquxsbw97.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/Dick%20Venom%20Live/11150692_10153250914637836_3978842837679579347_n_zpslro71cbg.jpg[/IMG] Next week we're in the studio and then it's Strummercamp in Manchester on 22nd May.

[quote name='Stompbox' timestamp='1430463810' post='2761583'] I like the idea of a semi/hollo body bass - but feedback may be an issue. [/quote] My current main live bass is a Warwick Starbass. Feedback is only an issue when I want it to be and it feeds back very nicely when I do. Unless you play very loudly with lots of gain and/or distortion it shouldn't be a problem.

Looks like a modified Fender Coronado I.

When you buy an expensive bass you are mostly paying for playability and an exceptional standard of fit and finish. IME what this does is it inspires you to play better. It certainly works for a very ordinary bassist like me. When I got my fist really good bass (an Overwater Original) my playing and consequently the sounds that I was making improved massively since for the first time the only obstacle to being able to do what I wanted musically was my lack of ability and not any restrictions the the instrument I played was putting on me.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1430319489' post='2760239'] Here is some info about modding the bridge on these: [url="http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/38132/ngd-mosrite-style-baritone-deko"]http://thefretboard....e-baritone-deko[/url] [/quote] Thanks for that link. However on mine it's a combination of both the intonation and height adjustment screws that are preventing me from having the strings in their ideal locations. I'll have a play with the suggestions in that thread (at least I've discovered how to adjust the overall bridge height from it) but I think that if I'm going to keep the guitar, the supplied bridge will have to go and be replaced something a bit more robust and easily adjustable. If I could find a Tune-o-matic type with individual height adjustable roller saddles that might be the best bet.

Dick Venom & The Terrortones have a whole bunch of festival dates coming up: [url=http://www.puzzlehall.com]Saturday 2nd May: Puzzlefest Weekender, Puzzle Hall Inn, Sowerby Bridge[/url] [url=http://www.strummercampfestival.co.uk]Friday 22nd May: Strummercamp Festival, Manchester Rugby Club[/url] [url=https://www.facebook.com/events/854544004588079/]Friday 29th May: Alice’s Wicked Tea Party, Lytchett Matravers, Dorset[/url] [url=http://jsouthgat7.wix.com/deerstock]Friday 24th July: Deerstock Festival, Newton Cross Country Course, Nottinghamshire[/url] [url=http://www.outciderfestival.co.uk]Saturday 1st August: Outcider Festival, Fernhill Farm, Compton Martin, Somerset[/url]

Bi amping is great if you do it right and have a definite need for it other than it sounds like a good idea. As others have said the upper signal range needs a lot less power to be heard so most of the time you won't be utilising the full power potential of your amplification. On the other hand you do have the possibility of much more control over your sound to get the just the right balance. Off course you need the right cabs to do this - most bass cabs are designed to be full range which isn't what you want at all in a bi-amped system. When I used to run a bi-amped system my top cab was custom made based on the speaker housing of my favourite guitar combo with 2 x 8" speakers. The bottom cab was a standard 1 x 15 with the tweeter removed a more bass focused driver installed. For me the biggest advantage to bi-amping is if you use a lot of effects you can distribute them in the signal path where they will do the met good and have the least adverse effect on the overall bass guitar sound. The only disadvantage to this is that you will need supply separate DIs for the high and low portions of the signal to the PA and this often requires a bit of re-education for the person mixing the sound.

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1430259948' post='2759696'] Yep! I have two Peavey Zodiacs.. one is the DE model, the other is a BXP.. I thought they were identical until I put Entwistle neo pickups in both (and the same strings, Elixir stainless). They are noticeably different! The white one sounds more aggressive in the upper mids and the black one sounds "cleaner", more solid. The difference is even bigger once you apply some overdrive. Since the body woods are both painted and glossed the only thing I can think of as being different is the wood underneath! [/quote] Are you sure that it's the wood that is making the difference. Have you tried swapping the pickups between the two instruments? That's the only way to be sure.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1430303030' post='2759966'] Style over substance ..?? no..!! [/quote] But style is part of the substance. It's far easier to do well as a band if you have an image. If you don't have the confidence to look good on stage then IME you don't have the confidence to be a decent live performer from a musical PoV either. Those musicians who think they can get away with "letting the music do the talking" are deluding themselves.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1430301343' post='2759936'] I'm not a fan of more than one volume control, so I've also pondered this, but I don't think I've seen a pan-pot on a passive bass... is there some reason to do with buffering and/or other clever electric stuff for that? [/quote] Shouldn't be a problem. On the cheaper pre-amps that get fitted into the majority of far-eastern basses both the volume and pickup blend controls are passive, only the EQ part is actually active.

Well I think I know what has given the Baritone guitar its deko status. I restrung it with D'Addario Medium gauge baritone strings (14-68) which has made a big improvement in the playability at the bottom end although for my tastes I'd be happier with an even heavier low B. However fitting the new strings has shown that it is impossible to get even string spacing with the bridge that is currently fitted, as the height and intimation screws get in the way of the ideal positions for the stings. Looking at the Eastwood version, I see that they have a more conventional Tune-o-matic style bridge rather than the Jaguar style that this Harley Benton sports. However Tune-o-matic bridges are fixed radius so I'm going to need one that matches the radius of the HB fingerboard. There's no specs given on either the Thomann site or for the Eastwood model, so how do I measure the fingerboard radius to ensure I get the correct replacement bridge?

I find the phrase "smart casual" hilarious since the men wearing it invariably look neither smart or casual.

TBH I with a few highly specialised exceptions, bass rigs aren't designed to be transparent. What most musicians consider to be transparent is actually something that sounds pleasing to them with the tone controls in their mid-way position. I'm sure that if you actually looked at the waveforms going in and out they wouldn't be identical at all (which is what you are hoping for with a transparent system). If you are really after something that changes the sound of the bass as little as possible I would look at an Avalon DI going into a high quality PA power amp feeding a full-range PA cab. However I have a feeling you might not like the results much. For me finding a rig with the right kind of coloration of sound is far more desirable than being totally transparent.

6v6 are you playing covers or originals? The market is completely different for each.

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1430205195' post='2758795'] I used to have Peavey Midibass - it tracked fine but was less than inspiring as an instrument! [/quote] Of all the guitar synth systems that I have tried the Peavey one was by far the best on account of it actually working. Like yourself I've pretty much abandoned stringed instrument as a method of controlling synths in favour of the string triggers/fret button devices. I have a Yamaha EZ-EG which is very limited in what it can do compared with the recent systems, but works perfectly well for controlling synths when I need a guitar like device rather than keyboard to get the feel I am after. I think when the next generation of these controllers come out with expression in the fret buttons, it's going to kill off "conventional" MIDI guitars for anyone who doesn't need actual guitar generated guitar sounds.