molan

I'd forgotten about these guys. I remember seeing a few snippets, and some complete songs, where they recorded individual band members recording their parts. This was a favourite of mine: http://youtu.be/TDz2swd3LMg

Also - depending on whether yours is front or rear ported, it's worth experimenting with position near a rear wall. Some rear ported cabs can really use proximity to a wall to chuck out more low end. In fact some get too boomy and can be overpowering. Worth experimenting though

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' timestamp='1377725594' post='2191109'] Remind me to avoid Twyford for the next couple of weeks! Sonic Blue eh? Thanks for the kind comments guys [/quote] I think you're safe for a month or so. Looks like the new Pino will arrive first and the Sonic Blue won't be here until October. It's an NOS model with aged white guard. Probably £2,125 from what i can make out. The Oly White one will be a mild relic with tort guard. The relic adds about £250 - £275 to the price though

I think most MarkBass heads are 6ohm so I guess it's possible the TTE500 may not be chucking out enough watts to really get it moving air if you're up against a loud drummer and some 4x12 guitar stacks. However, it should be pretty loud if you've got your gain stage set ok. I'd think it's the issue (as outlined above) that you're not hearing what it really sounds like out front when you're right on top of it. I've definitely had this with 4x10's so maybe a 6x10 is 50% worse

I have a fairly chunky Maplins step down transformer for mine. It was recommended by Andy Baxter who brings quite a few very nice B15's over. I've used it in an environment with lots of other electronic equipment around and it's been rock solid and never suffered from any noise. I know it's a small thing but my B15 is entirely original apart from the valves and I didn't want to start changing things internally

In Saturdays you can usually track down a residents' bay space. The resident parking in much of the area is restricted until 6:30 on a weekday but open parking on Saturday and Sunday. The further up towards Holloway Road you go the easier it gets

Some of the Warwick sig basses are really nice. Just a shame they plummet in value like nothing else I saw a stunning early custom shop Streamer go for just £999 a couple of weeks ago. Good time to buy if you can find something like that one though

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1377724076' post='2191053'] When I went to get a bass last I tried the Squire VM fretless and the Fender fretless (that was £300 more). The squier sounded better than the fender and was nicer to play. I don't really care if anyone takes it seriously, it was just a better bass Although, maybe it because I am the type of person who wouldn't take anyone with a harley seriously! [/quote] I didn't say they weren't any good (in fact lots of the instruments described here as being dorky might be great) - just, for me, a bit dorky. Kinda like Skoda compared VW. Lots of the same parts but just lacking something for me Can totally understand the Harley thing - it was intentional. Harleys themselves not that great so the many cheap copies lack even more credibility

Anything with Squier on the headstock (apart from the original JV series). So easy to get a used version of the 'real thing', why bother with cheap copies. Bit like Japanese versions of a Harley - never taken very seriously

Not great apart from Saturdays. Generally resident parking everywhere during the week.

I wonder if all the hardware is hypo-allergenic?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1377680207' post='2190148'] That's if you can find any in South Oxfordshire. [/quote] All the girls in Henley are virgins, dahling

I am now planning to have all my basses upgraded to feature "pickups wound by virgins"

Oly White is one of my favourite Fender colours. We've got three CS Jazzes on order and I'm really looking forward to them arriving One is an Oly White with matching headstock, there's also a Sonic Blue with matching headstock and mild relic Sunburst stack knob. Couple of P's on the way too might be here next month with any luck!

Pleased this rhread was started. It reminded me that I've got a stack of ludicrously expensive Analysis Plus cables sitting around doing nothing. All brand new and never used. Must stick them up in the for sale section

Vintage Ampeg B15's - or the American Heritage ones for that matter. Most brands seem to be easier to find these days if you look hard enough.

Thanks for all this guys. I really am a novice when it comes to pedals! I'm working for a few days so won't get a chance until Thursday to try things out properly

[quote name='Pinball' timestamp='1377522016' post='2188405'] I think that's fair enough except that 45 sounds a little excessive to me, unless you have lots of arms that is. Note: lucky him I couldn't afford to keep them strung [/quote] I don't think he pays for strings

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1377520427' post='2188371'] Just because you see you're favourite pro on stage with a burst and tort fender don't think for a minute these people done have a healthy personal interest in music, I know a pro who is a member here who has a fantastic collection of rare and custom built basses but they are mainly for his pleasure in the studio rather than his main gig although they do on occasion get out. [/quote] I know just such a person - usually gigs with a new'ish Fender P. Has 45 other instruments that only get used in the studio on session work Everything does get played though.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1377516776' post='2188320'] If you want to know about buying guitars for investment look no further. Here is an article from the 'Wall Street Journal' quoting a world renowned, vintage guitar collector and expert. [url="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324436104578579071945355516.html"]http://online.wsj.co...1945355516.html[/url] [/quote] These are vintage and not new though? I certainly agree that it's possible to make some money on vintage instruments (although the market is still pretty dead at the moment).

So I've spoken to a pair of very high end manufacturers and asked them if they thought their new basses were ever bought as investments. The answer was a unanimous negative. Neither of them thought their instruments would rise in value in any sort of short / medium term market as they immediately lose value as soon as they are sold. This was believed to be just as true of limited edition runs - the additional rarity of a limited run may increase desirability and help them to sell quicker but, in the main, they didn't think they'd go beyond the price when new. Both said they realised that this may not be true over a longer period. EG If an instrument costs £1,000 now and the new price rises by £100 a year for ten years then it would be judged against a £2,000 value. Taking an average used value of 40% of the new price into account his could easily mean the £1,000 bass could be worth £1,200 = £200 profit. However this would almost certainly necessitate new prices to rise ahead of inflation. If you were buying purely as an investment you'd need to look into cost of capital (as in what else could you have used that money for and how much would it have risen). On this basis a new guitar is rarely going to make any significant profit for a very long time. Of course it's never as clear cut as that and most people aren't pure investors so they are getting some sort of personal gain simply from owning and playing and some will literally earn money from them as pro musicians. The net view was that it would be fairly foolish to be buying new guitars purely as investments (because there are a lot of other ways to make money more efficiently) and neither of the builders were aware of anyone doing this at the moment. They'd certainly never heard of a business corporation buying new instruments as investments, although one mentioned the effect that Hard Rock have had on 'artist owned' authenticated guitars. N.B. They both said they hardly ever sell to members of the public at trade shows. Anything nice is either pre-sold (this is really common for both NAMM and MusikMesse) or snapped up by dealers before the public get a chance. Again, the few private buyers that go direct are very much keen players and not investors. Of course two builders is a small sample but their views were more or less identical so hopefully reasonably representative.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1377388659' post='2187084'] I like your arithmetic. The next time you have a surplus bass, could you send it my way please? [/quote] I think we've only ever given one bass away - it was a competition prize. Unfortunately it appeared for sale on EBay very soon afterwards We have sold a few basses at below cost to very young students though. It's not really our standard customer base but every now and then we get a low cost bass in PX and we've let a couple go cheaply to aspiring young players

Damn - just checked and the web site says closed on bank holidays

Wunjos is about he only decent place near Covent Garden. The trick on going to the Gallery is to dispatch the girlfriend off to Camden Market. Loads to see and plenty of bars, restaurants, coffee shops etc to meet up later. It's just a few minutes walk apart so she can browse the market stalls whilst you partake of much bass goodness As previously said - definitely need to check if it's open on a BH Monday though.

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1377430486' post='2187354'] I've read the reviews and heard all the one trick pony stuff, and to be fair it is, but what a usable tool for that money. [/quote] If that one trick is the one you're looking for then it's brilliant I must admit that I often find very little use for loads of tonal trickery on a bass. I generally set everything flat and just make minor tweaks. About the only inboard control I use is to cut a little high end on certain songs. I had a real cheapo EBO type bass for a while, Aria I think. I really liked the sound but the neck dive and cheese grater action eventually killed it for me. I gave it to a young teenager who desperately wanted to learn bass. A few years later I heard he'd become a decent drummer, often wondered if the Aria put him off bass for life