molan

My main bass is a tiny headless Zon VB but I also own a pair of Modulus basses, a VJ and a Flea. I can genuinely say I've had an issue with either of them in terms of neck heaviness compared to my Zon. I often play them sitting down without a strap with no problems at all. All three are 4 strings so maybe it's more of an issue with 5's? I am going to sell bot of my Modulus basses though, only because I'm in lust with something else!

Just got back from a rather splendid evening of classic French prog rock from Ange. They've been going for about 40 years and the latest incarnation has a few younger members who are excellent. Absolutely wondeful guitarist and a very good bass and drums. Bass man is a great mover and quite possibly seemed to be enjoying himself more at a gig than anyone I've ever seen! Played Pedulla Rapture through an SVT with a 4x10 and had that typical slightly overdriven French prog bass sound. They never come over to the UK these days but well worth looking out for if you're in France.

There are some classics here! Two of the guys who first got me wanting to play bass back in the early 70's were Chris Squire & Mike Rutherford. Both Rickenbacker men in those days of course and amongst the few bass players that really cut through the murk of some of the mixes around at that time. Shame Rutherford decided he wanted to play lead all the time and they lost that wonderful punchy Rick sound. Um - thinks to self - must get the nut repaired on my '73 Ricky, get a pick out & try some Yes & Genesis songs!

I've bought loads of stuff. Getting some decent dialogue going with the seller is a great idea. Makes you feel much more comfortable. I've heard of people getting things sent as "gifts" which avoids tax & duties. . . . .

Ready Freddie Washington's part from Forget Me Nots I know loads of people seem to have this off pat but I've never been a slapper so can't even get close to a version like this one: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmlImQTRlio"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmlImQTRlio[/url] I remember reading in interview with him years ago where he said it had earned him a fair old wedge of cash (and how many bass lines can you say that about?). He got a full writer's credit on the Patrice Rushen original and it's since been sampled by Will Smith for Men in Black, George Michael, Randy Crawford etc. giving him a true "multi-platinum" status as he gets writer's credits on all of their versions as well I think!

[quote name='the_house123' post='198436' date='May 14 2008, 03:47 AM']I'm sorry, how can you not like funk!? Go and listen to some Parliament songs and if they don't bring a smile to your eye then you're just cold. Oo[/quote] As a little example of this - I recently bought one of those Auto wah Q effect pedals. Every time I stomp on it and play even the simplest stuff it makes me (and my other band members) smile. A bit clichéd but it the "funk in a box" bass toy makes me happy. Of course the first thing I played when I got it was Dr Funkenstein

I bought a Euphonic head back as hand luggage & sailed through customs both ends. obviously a bit different from a bass of course! I have a lot of experience of shipping expensive bike parts over from the USA but, again, these are probably more robust than any guitar. I'll PM you with some thoughts I don't know what the latest import duty on guitars is. If you declare anything then you have to pay both import duty and VAT usually.

Ah ha - I thought that might be why you asked! Was it via EBay a couple of weeks ago? If so - here's a question for you. Did you ever notice some slight "warbling" effects from the MP3 section? I only noticed it through headphones on a couple of tracks I transferred so it could be the source material was a really low sampling rate. Not a big issue but just wanted to check if I need to up my sampling rates in the future. Nice little toy though. Exactly what i need for home practice at the moment as I often sit in the lounge noodling along to stuff and now I can be way more productive in playing along with songs I need to learn. I could dot his before with a separate MP3 player & headphones etc. but this cuts down on a few sets of wires and the "plug 'n' play" capability will simply mean that i use it a lot more!

Yep, and John McLaughlin I think.

[quote name='tauzero' post='198566' date='May 14 2008, 10:50 AM']It's probably very non-PC of me, but both the future Mrs Zero and myself were rather tickled when the question for a programme featuring John Barrowman and Graham Norton was "Who will be my Nancy?" That, admittedly, is as far as we've ever watched...[/quote] You missed this week's classic line from Mr Norton then: "So there you are just getting into the bath and six nancies turn up - who would have thought a thing like that might happen"

[quote name='Machines' post='198468' date='May 14 2008, 08:22 AM']Strange - my 'Asdown' always sounds how I want it to, that being bright and punchy. A few people tried it at the bash and commented that it sounded great, and no - they weren't other Ashdown users .[/quote] Was that with your 2x10 cab? Could be the 1x15 I used that was causing the worst of the problems.

[quote name='spike' post='198289' date='May 13 2008, 09:40 PM']Make my funk the P-funk, I wants to get funked up[/quote] Aw, we want the funk Give up the funk Aw, we need the funk We gotta have that funk

[quote name='bassicinstinct' post='198268' date='May 13 2008, 09:07 PM']Bugger!! Oh well, pleased you and your wife enjoyed it. Funny you should mention the desk. I thought that I'd get a decent mix from there and actually went and stood behind it and the mix was truly [b]AWFUL[/b]. Unforgiveable at that sort of level IMHO.[/quote] I saw them the year before at the Forum & stood right down the front (as close to the bass as I could get!) and the sounds was definitely better. Sound is good at the Jazz Cafe but never sure about the atmosphere there!

Ok - so I'm hoping the owner of the rig isn't a regular here! Three different basses and we all played a little with the EQ and I listened closely to both of the other guys and they had very different basses from me and yet both had a similar boomy sound and lacked definition. One of them used a Jazz and the other a Precision whilst I had my trusty Zon. The poor guy with the P bass was really lost in the mix. I tried to set everything as flat as possible as the Zon usually sounds fine with little EQ. In the end I was dialing in a lot of top end striaght from the bass itself and trying a pre-set on the head to try and get rid of the wallowing bottom end. We were playing on a suspended wooden stage which probably wasn't helping much. Could have been that the PA was boosting the bottom end too much but having listened to both of the other guys out front sound compared to my stage sound I'm guessing there wasn't that much bass in the PA. I think I could probably have got something more to my liking if I'd more time with just the 4x8 cab but there really wasn't enough time to check this. I'm definitely buying a radio mic for sound checking in the future!

[quote name='bassicinstinct' post='198244' date='May 13 2008, 08:39 PM']I was there for that anniversary gig and I'm sorry to say that my entire evening was pretty much ruined by the terrible mix. I couldn't find a single spot in the venue where I could hear any bass other than an indistinct rumble. [b]PLEASE[/b] don't tell me it was fine from where you were standing. On the plus side, I agree, it was a great atmosphere. [/quote] As it happened my wife wasn't feeling great so we sat upstairs - sound was Ok but definitely not brilliant. We got there really early and had front row upstairs seats right above the mixing desk so maybe that helped! Normally I never go upstairs unless I'm really desperate.

Got saddled with someone else's rig at a gig recently - an Ashdown Evo 500 head with a 1x15 & 4x8. Absolutely hated it, boomy, woolly, lacking in any kind of definition. I think it was the 15 that was causing the most problems but when I pulled it out of the rig the 4x8 wasn't really doing it for me either. Shame as it was my first gig for ages & I could easily have bought my own gear but as we were one of three bands on the bill we all agreed to use the same rig to avoid hassle of swapping stuff out. Nice of the Ashdown owner to let us all use his rig but I really didn't get on with it at all. Have a vague feeling it might have sounded a bit better out front but not 100% convinced!

Funk is its own reward Free your mind, and your ass will follow. . . . . .

Just bought a little Tascam phrase trainer & it came loaded with a track from this guy - his version of "Get Down On It". Not exactly my favourite song ever but some very cool bass playing so I thought I'd look him up. Seems he played pro NBA for 12 years and scored about a zillion points & when he retired he decided to take up pro jazzy funk using his, left handed, style to play lead parts in a style vaguely similar to some of Stanley Clarke's "poppier" workouts. Picked up a lot of tips from Marcus M apparently. Really very listenable of you like this sort of thing. Check him out at: [url="http://www.waymantisdale.com/"]http://www.waymantisdale.com/[/url] Or nice little EPK sampler on YouTube: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD4tDYRz_tA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD4tDYRz_tA[/url]

[quote name='bassicinstinct' post='198147' date='May 13 2008, 05:55 PM']Good grief!! I've heard of Citrus Sun but I had [b]no idea[/b] it was Mr Mullen on guitar!?!? That's a recommendation if ever I heard one. I shall be checking that out for sure. Thanks alot for that.[/quote] Me too - I love both Incognito & Jim Mullen. Both great live (for very different reasons!). Mullen's style & technique are awesome. If they are instrumental I could imagine them falling into the "wonderful musicianship but a bit bland" category though? Anyone see Incognito at the Forum for their big anniversary gig? Must have been 20th I think. Great gig, Randy H-T was back for a few songs, Maysa & Joyce Brown on vocals (plus others) - really amazing atmosphere as well. These days they seem to play the Jazz Cafe rather than the Forum but I always preferred them in bigger venues. I was such a fan of them for a while that I bought Randy's Modulus when it went up for sale after the Jeff Beck tour. Some pics in the bass porn section & my avatar is the inlay on the 12th fret. I'm probably gonna stick it up for sale soon if there are any Randy fans out there!

Completely hooked! Been away for 2 weeks and only just watched the episode when Sarah got kicked out - I thought she was one of the favourites. Bit too smiley though. Have to own up that the missus & I have booked tickets for the show next February!!

Ummm, interesting thread! I think my gear in some sort of vague order would go: Laney G300 with a big old Fender silver face 1x15 & a dinky Laney 2x10 extension cab - surprisingly "OK" combination although the Laney 2x10 wasn't up to much! Trace Elliot Twin Valve 1x15 combo - fell for the valve sound for a while but a bit of a beast to lug around Gallien Kreuger MB150 combo - my antidote to the weight of the Trace but only used for rehearsals & it even struggled at those (and blew a power section without too much provocation!) Trace V-Type pre-amp with a Trace 2x150 power amp and a Trace 4x12 cab - none more rock but a bit limited in sound (the V-Type was a trade for the Laney 2x10 so that was a most excellent deal). Didn't get on with the 4x12 so tried a standard Trace 1x15 with a matching 2x10, much nicer and more usable rig with the V-Type, which I still have but never use it. Trace GP12SMX 1x15 combo which I generally used with the 2x10 extension cab - at last, the "true" Trace sound! Succumbed to GAS and sold the lot for an SWR SM500 & a Triad cab, definitely one of my faves. Then did my back in and went for a much smaller Euphonic i-Amp 350 combo with a CXL 1x12 extension cab Best looking rig was probably the SWR with the Triad - always looked so classy compared to the green carpet of my Trace gear Best live sound is definitely the Euphonic - almost every time I use it someone appears and asks me what it is and how it's both so loud and punchy from such a small setup. Played with a couple of dep drummers who took one look at the size of the combo and openly laughed - they both came over at the break of each gig and said what a great sounding set-up it was (both times partnered with Modulus basses) Worst sounding/most difficult rig I've had to work with was at a recent gig with an Ashdown Evo 500 head paired with Ashdown 1x15 & 4x8 cabs. Absolutely horrible boomy sound with little individual note definition. Really struggled to get a decent sound out of it!

Doesn't sound very positive! I see they have a mahogany bodied version so maybe that has a fuller sound? It's quite a bit heavier than the original version though which seems to be getting away from some of the "Fly" concept. NB - My baby Zon only weighs 7.5 lbs and has a very full sound if required so the simple weight argument can't really be why the Fly doesn't sound that great (obviously mass is pretty important here!).

Just wondered if anyone out there had played a Fly bass at all? I tried one of their guitars when they first came out and thought they made even my rudimentary guitar skills sounds surprisingly OK! If anyone's played one I'd be fascinated to know what they thought about the feel, handling, playability etc. as well as the sound.