cloudburst

Well - it is the second hand forum after all. :-) CB

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1399034092' post='2440245'] Oh please, no clock puns. I'm ticked off already. [/quote] This bass would suit a metal band. :-) CB

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1399235496' post='2442359'] When you took that thing home, did you only have the built-in sounds, or connect it to MIDI equipment? [/quote] I actually just had the built in sounds. Not good at all. But it was enough of a spark to relight an old unfulfilled ambition, so I'm happy about that. :-) [quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1399237224' post='2442383'] So how easy are these things to make tuneful sound come out of? I understand midi very well in terms of synths, but I don't understand these things at all. What do you do, in terms of blowing, and in terms of making it play notes that are in tune? And do they work with any midi sound source? Or do you need a special synth/software/sound-producing device at the other end? [/quote] They are easy to make a tuneful sound out of. However, if your sound generator is not capable of dealing with breath control and doesn't have appropriate patches that are suited to breath control and a load of other aspects such as modelling of transitions between blown notes, then you will have no dynamics and no expression. In that case pushing a key on the wind controller is the same as thinking about what key you're about to press on a keyboard and blowing into the wind controller (in any way at all, doesn't matter how) is nothing more than the equivalent of pressing your chosen key on the keyboard. However, if you have the right sound generator loaded with the right patches, then you have an instrument that's pretty much as expressive as a real sax, with a range of 7 octaves and with a range of sounds - realistic or synthetic. CB

Regarding your Casio wind controller - a DH perhaps? - I think this is what finally started me on sax. I'd played bass guitar and trumpet from about 9 years old. But always had wanted to play clarinet or sax (I guess because I'm not an alpha male, so the trumpet didn't suit me). Finally one day in the early 90s, a colleague in work gave me a Casio wind controller to bring home and try over the weekend. That did nothing for me, only to persuade me to go out and buy a real sax - which I did that Saturday morning when I came home the proud owner of a secondhand Yamaha Alto YAS52. I taught myself sax by practising 3 hours every night for a couple of years and then ended up playing sax in the Belfast Jazz Orchestra. I think the sax is one of the easiest instruments to play. All of the controls are exactly where you need them to be when you want to 'express' yourself, if that makes sense. I'm looking forward to getting some serious time with the WX7. And sorry to bore you all with that little bit of reminiscence. CB

Do we have any EWI-ists or WX-ists on here? I'm a long time sax player and I bought myself a lovely mint (it's a bit mad to be able to call these things vintage) Yamaha WX7. And last night I bought a Yamaha VL70-m tone generator which I haven't yet received. Any other BC-ers in this space? CB

I think it looks great. If James Jamerson had bastardised his p-bass like this back in the day, we'd all be talking about how awesome this listing is. CB

My word Ed - this is either a case of great minds, or similar minds with some sort of 80s related mental disorder :-) CB

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1398011864' post='2429520'] This thread is good [/quote] Do I detect a hint of irony? :-) CB

[color=#37404E]Regarding my CZ-5000, I had a very productive Sunday afternoon last weekend. Against my better judgement, I repaired a strange problem with the synth, where the left channel would take about 7 minutes to stabilise after power-on.[/color] [color=#333333][font=Helvetica, Arial,]When I said mint - I meant mint. It had been sitting in its box since 1986. This is one of those exercises that could easily go very horribly wrong![/font][/color] This is the output board. After looking at a schematic, I reckoned that the problem lay with the relay, since it is in the path of both L&R Line-Outs and the Phones output. This is a close up of the offending relay with its little cover off. I powered on and realised when I saw the two contacts clicking up after a 2 second delay and clicking down again immediately on power off, that this relay's function is to protect your speakers from the power-on clunk. So my theory was that one contact was for the L channel and one for the R channel, the former possibly being oxidised. The relay, deoxidised (using contact cleaner very lightly sprayed on and rubbed lightly between the contact surfaces with a piece of card) and with its little cover back on. Back together. Unbelievably, my repair worked perfectly, first time! And - strangely enough the piece of card I had selected - purely based on its texture and thickness to apply the contact cleaner - turned out to have been a Thomas Dolby gig ticket. I only realised this afterwards. How appropriate was that? I've spoken with him a couple of times in the past and know he'd just love that! CB

OMG. Who writes this stuff. Can you imagine Shakin' Stevens with a CZ round his neck? CB

"So easy to play... they're Rocker-Launchers". Please tell me I heard that wrongly!?! If that's what indeed was said, then would anyone like to buy: - A Casio CZ-101 with Casio AC adapter, owners manuals and genuine CZ-101 (silver) carry case, made out of real space-suits - A Casio RA-3 (32 patch) RAM cartridge - A Casio CZ-5000 (as new condition in original box) with owners manuals and metal stand with Casio sticker made out of real sticky-back plastic - A Casio VP-2 volume pedal (as new condition in original box) - Supporting CZ reference books CB

Glad to know I'm amongst friends! I'm also quite likely to add a CZ-1 to the collection. I'd be interested to know how the velocity/aftertouch feels and manifests itself and how the overall feel compared to your CZ-500 when you first tried the CZ-1. Thanks for the tip on step-1 of the DCO envelope. I'll give it a try. CB

I've recently discovered how much of a superb underdog the Casio CZ range is in bridging the gap between analogue and digital synths. I love the fact that these are soooo good but so few people ever realised. Probably because they expected Casio only made home keyboards. I've started a collection and now have a CZ-101 and an absolutely mint CZ-5000 together with a growing list of period Casio accessories. Do I need medical attention? CB

I just bought the aforementioned Warwick $$ 5 from Rob and he was fantastic to deal with. Very relaxed and trusting. Didn't want payment until I received the bass. How cool is that?? Deal with total confidence BCers! CB

This was because Rob packed the bass extremely well. Thanks Rob! CB

Could any one of you very clued up effects masters advise me how to achieve that bass tone eg. in the walking bass passages on the first track Fascist Groove Thang. I'm useless when it comes to effects. CB

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1393200369' post='2377377'] Seems to be mostly the only people making a fuss are people who don't appear to use Markbass gear anyway, odd . [/quote] I guess those who don't have any Markbass gear and are thinking of a purchase might be more tuned in to what the company are doing with new products than those of us who already own all the Markbass gear we need. Who knows. Welcome to the forum Marco - I've got a couple of your combos and absolutely love them. The build quality, portability and sound quality are all I could hope for. Thank you very much for creating them :-) CB

For those of you who haven't seen it - I don't want anyone to miss this little gem. Beautiful, well filmed, bass playing and a great live gig. Absolute viewing heaven for bass players. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThTUkDKTcA0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThTUkDKTcA0[/url] CB