molan

I swapped a bass for a mountain bike here - suited both of us down to the ground, lol. I've recently had a laptop & a mobile phone thrown in as potential PX deals - to be honest neither of these was of much interest but I could see where the potential buyer was coming from in terms of the new 'barter' economy that's out there at the moment.

Here's the official new vid for Lowdown - if you can take your eyes off the stunning girl at the beginning then the Atleier is featured a fair bit here too [url="http://homepage.mac.com/manexsfx/.Movies/TotallyFinishedNewChaka.mp4"]http://homepage.mac.com/manexsfx/.Movies/T...hedNewChaka.mp4[/url]

I don't think of my '78 Jazz as being particularly 'vintage', it's just a bass that I sometimes play. I don't gig it simply because I have other basses I prefer to play live. Does that count?

[quote name='dood' post='945465' date='Sep 4 2010, 03:55 PM']I'm tempted by one of the eBay ones - refurbished with a free foot controller![/quote] The ones from New York? Assuming these are in good nick then they are a pretty good price even with shipping and duties. I looked at the Staccato but it still carries quite a premium and they don't include the footswitch (at least the one I saw didn't anyway).

[quote name='bobpalt' post='944686' date='Sep 3 2010, 04:20 PM']I thought that there probably would be a lack of output, but it wouldnt even drive my tuner! I was using an Orange Bass Terror, so I presume that should have been ok?[/quote] I'm not clever enough to know, lol. You'd think so though!

Just found this in a review: [i]Note that the pickup system is completely passive: There’s no preamp, no volume control, no EQ knobs, not even a passive tone—just plug a cord into the endpin jack, fire up the amp, and you’re off. As with most passive piezo pickups, for the best sound you’ll need to use an amp with at least a 1 meg-ohm input impedance or add a separate preamp box.[/i] Don't know if this helps or not though

Which may just be Bubinga 5 & me Anyway - here's the link to part 1 (parts 2-6 all linked from part 1) [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC7bzLib0GY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC7bzLib0GY[/url] Some good stuff in here if you have the time/patience to watch them

[quote name='TheGreek' post='943797' date='Sep 2 2010, 07:06 PM'][size=3] We recently went to a Victor Wooten seminar (that's his [b]Zon bass [/b]I'm holding) - what about these? He wouldn't be using these if they were s**t..or is it just that it was free?[/quote] Whilst Joe Zon might be happy that you're quoting his basses might be very good I have a feeling that Vinny Fodera might not be quite as happy that you went to a Vic Wooten [b]FODERA[/b] clinic & failed to register what make of bass he was promoting, lol. From everything I've heard VW is a pretty tough task master & absolutely would not be playing Fodera if he didn't think they were the best basses in the world. He purchased his first Fodera Monarch in '83 and still plays it to this day (although he now has a few others as well!). As it happens I think Fodera would be pretty near top of the list for me based on personal experience. A Vic Wooten Yin Yang (like the one in your pic) is going to set you back about $12,500 plus shipping & duties which would take it up to circa £10K in the UK. Would I buy one if I had £10K kicking around - without hesitation! Fabulous basses, stunning build quality, ludicrously 'playable' and, to my humble ears, a clean focussed tone to die for Whilst we're up in stratospheric price land then the higher end Alembics are also stupidly well put together & many have gorgeous wood finishes. Quite different from a Fodera but every bit as desirable. Looks of some models can be a bit love it or loathe it but attention to detail is phenomenal. As far as 'vintage' type builders go then I'd be voting for Jimmy Coppolo. The best of his LG range, currently called Classic Supreme, are just such nice basses to play and his in-house pre-amp and pickups are really 'musical'. Some of the design features aren't to everyone's taste but they've really grown on me Gimme a couple of weeks and I should be able to write a much better comparison as I hope to have one of each of these to try out back to back

Cool thanks guys, I used to own one of these in the mid 70's - traded it for a synth in the early '80's I seem to remember They were only £100 brand new then but it seemed like a fortune then - especially when you consider what you can get today for very little money as a 'starter' bass'!

Having read some of the posts here I do wonder if it just because he was using cheap Roland kit. It only had 10 pre-sets apparently. I asked if it had a nice 808 sound and he had no idea what I was talking about but proceeded to try and use a really nasty sounding syn-drum patch instead.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-MusicMaster-Bass-1974-ORIGINAL-CONDITION-/200514006645?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV#ht_500wt_1108"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-MusicMaster-B...V#ht_500wt_1108[/url] Headstock doesn't look quite right to me or is it just the perspective & angle of the photos?

Auditioned a drummer last night who arrived with a Roland kit. My first impressions were quite good, I was thinking that it was easy to transport, really quick to set up, easy to turn down etc When he first started playing I thought the core sounds were Ok with the possible exception of the snare which lacked the snap & sizzle of a quality snare. However once we started playing I found it really hard to lock in with the kick or snare & everything just sounded a bit middley & mushy. Just didn't sound like a drum kit to me I think this one was a pretty basic version but I've heard a few live and always thought they sounded a bit processed and lacking a live kit sound & have yet to hear one with a decent snare. Maybe I'm just an old fashioned kinda guy & need to be a bit more open to new sounds?

[quote name='dood' post='942637' date='Sep 1 2010, 08:41 PM']Hmmm - definitely interested in A/Bing one out of sheer interest. It puts up a good argument [i]for[/i] it thats for sure.[/quote] Not sure where 'predator country' is but if it's anywhere near me then you're welcome to have a play on mine any time

So I got to use my RH450 for the first time at a rehearsal last night (I've gigged with it but obviously I can 'play' a lot more whilst rehearsing). I dialled in three nice pre-sets, one relatively flat with a little low end boost to match the 10" cab I was using. Next up was an older school type sound with low boost, some tweaking of mid range frequencies & a decent wedge of tube tone. Last up was an attempt at an SWR kind of low mid scoop & compression. First two had the preset volume set at about 1:00 & the mid scoop needed some extra boost here to get it up to the same level. What a revelation! Best sound I've ever managed through a small rehearsal sized rig, all three of the presets worked really well. Had to drop the tubetone right down as it got too growly for my needs but other than that it just worked really well at some decent volume. Got some more of those - "how do you get that tone / volume from such a small rig" type comments from the rest of the band. One thing I really noticed was how well the amp/speaker combo seemed to respond to playing nuances. You could really hear a difference when digging in a bit harder. I loved just watching the notes appear on the pedal as I was playing too, lol. N.B. I should add that it's also the firs time I've taken a Fodera ('86 Monarch) to rehearsals so that probably helped a little

Did you spot that Fender '75 RI signed by Marcus M that went for £599? That was a good £150 less then I'd have estimated.