Sean

[quote name='paul, the' post='66638' date='Sep 27 2007, 09:42 PM']I am the bass tree, come reap my bassy fruits.[/quote] Paul, you'd be the panacea for all our GAS attacks. I'd love to come and pluck one your low hanging ripe fruit and then use it to make beautiful music. Sorry couldn't resist; I've been hanging with smutty drummers too long!

[quote name='paul, the' post='66634' date='Sep 27 2007, 09:32 PM']That looks fantastic Sean! Those Laklands are really growing on me.[/quote] What? Like fungus on a baglady's feet?

[quote name='phsycoandy' post='66624' date='Sep 27 2007, 09:04 PM']Man Thats sweet, are the Barts or the new Lakland pups?[/quote] They are the Lakland Pups. It seems there's nothing this bass can't do. It has so much authority with those pups and the LH3 pre-amp coupled to the 35" scale; last night I was on stage thinking, "F*** Me, the is fantastic!" It's smaller brother the 44-02 is a completely different animal, it's faster, lighter (7.4 lb Vs 9.25lb) , much more slap-able but doesn't have the, "Get outta my way or do I gotta kick yo ass!" thing that this baby has. I love 'em both and they are definitely keepers but as well as they do a passive Jazz I don't think you can beat a DJ4 in that department.

Of course another reason that some of us gig is that it gives you easy access to easy love! Last night we played a Student Halls of Residence (UWIC Cardiff) and for the first time in a while we got at least half a dozen offers between us. Of course, we are all far too professional to accept!

It had the PG fitted a couple of days ago and was gigged last night and had lots of positive comments. The pick guard is Black Abalone and came from Jeannie's who gave superb service. This is a stock standard 44-02 with DR Extra Life Mellow Yellow strings.

I've always gigged, it's a way of life. I go cold turkey if I don't gig for a few weeks. As Soulfinger says, it's all abot the interaction with other musicians but I'd add the audience to that too - I love watching them reacting to the band playing. Knowing that your playing is making the audience happy and providing a bit of escape always gives me a real buzz.

[url="http://www.daddario.com/DADProducts.aspx?ID=3&CLASS=ACCA"]http://www.daddario.com/DADProducts.aspx?ID=3&CLASS=ACCA[/url] Try these D'Addario half rounds. I use them on my 55-02 to get a mellow sound for soul and blues.

In no particular order: Ibanez Ergodyne 600 EDB USA Fender Jazz Deluxe FMT w/ Badass CIJ Fender Aerodyne Jazz w/ Fralins 1980 Ibanez Roadster EBMM Stingray 5 Lakland 55-01 Peavey USA Dyna Bass (current) Lakland 44-02 (current) Lakland 55-02 (current)

I've decided to put a pick guard on my Lakland 44-02 but just can't decide on a colour, I'm not keen on white or black or even brown torty... A clear one, white pearl, black pearl or something else? What do you think would suit this?

[quote name='bassman2790' post='63929' date='Sep 22 2007, 09:26 AM']I'll give that a go. I noticed the same lack of growl on my old MIM Fender Jazz V. A Schecter I had had a really nice low B but that was a 35" scale. String spacing was too close for me to get on with so it had to go, shame.[/quote] Looks like a job for a Lakland 55-01. Good string spacing (19mm), 35" scale, soap bar pups. Fabulous pieces of kit.

[quote name='bassbloke' post='63644' date='Sep 21 2007, 02:59 PM']They're still in business because the British public still cannot grasp the concept of voting with it's feet. We're renowned for tolerating long queues, crap food, dirty expensive trains and being kept on hold for 15 minutes by our telephone or cable company because they've screwed up our online bill.[/quote] Hurrah! Couldn't agree more. This is exactly the reason I shop at Waitrose now and have abandoned Tesco. Vintage English Perry 8% ABV at £1.49 had nothing to do with it! Seriously though, get yourself down to Waitrose and ask to be shown to something you can't find, or ask to taste something on the deli counter before you buy, it makes you feel valued as a customer - what a feeling! Why can't I be made to feel the same way when I buy £1000 worth of bass as I do when I buy £30 worth of groceries? I bet the olive counter in Bass Centre is rubbish too!

My package finally arrived yesterday (strap locks and strap ordered on 3rd July) and as I was fitting it to my bass I vowed never to deal with the Bass Centre again. There are so many other people out there providing excellent service that we do not need to tolerate Barry & Co's behaviour. Big up while I'm at it for Jeannie's Pick Guards in the USA - ordered a pick guard Wed night and it's already on the way via USPS Priority. I overpaid the postage and it was refunded within minutes. All questions answered promptly too. They may have dodgy foreign policy over there but they know how to treat customers.

I've tried Labella flats and didn't get on with 'em and just thought it was me too. Then I tried Rotos and they didn't feel nice under my fingers so then I said whatthehell and tried Roberts Flatwounds from ebay which are one of the [i]products[/i] I've ever bought. I then tried TI and now I'm happy, they are exactly what I was looking for; I have them on my US Peavey and with the P pup on full it sounds very authentic jazz/soul.

I'm looking for notation for these disco songs: 'We Are Family' – Sister Sledge, 'He's the Greatest Dancer' – Sister Sledge, 'Dance Dance Dance' - Chic, 'I Want Your Love' - Chic, 'Everybody Dance' - Chic, Anyone help?

Yesterday, I blew my Korg AX3000B again and though Korg are great and fix things pretty quickly, I'm bored of multi-effects units - I didn't get on with the Boss ME-50B I had. I can live without effects for the Blues Brothers tribute except for my EBS Multi-Comp and Sansamp BDI if we're playing a big gig but for this new Disco/Funk 70s band I'm going into I'm going to need a good envelope filter at least and a volume pedal so I reckon I'm going to go down the route of quality effects pedals to keep it simple. I tend to find that gadget-type things with big menus and lots of buttons suck up huge amounts of my time as I become obsessed with tweaking all the time trying to find the perfect sound much like a surfer sitting on his board all afternoon waiting for the 100 year wave that never comes. Over to the For Sale threads now to find a filter!

Francis "Rocco" Prestia from Tower of Power is one that springs to mind but [i]the[/i] bassist that shines through as part of a big band arrangement is James Jamerson on much of the Motown material. Darryl Jones playing on the live Rolling Stones shows is fantastic - check out Live Licks for that. Duck Dunn from any of the Blues Brothers albums - that's a big band with very prominent bass. Nathan Watts who plays with Stevie Wonder always shines through a very big mix. Wow, I've got myself all worked up and I'll be listening to that lot before going to bed tonight.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='61629' date='Sep 17 2007, 01:02 PM']Sean, can we assume that BC responded so positively [i]because[/i] of this thread, or would it have happened anyway?[/quote] I'd like to think that they responded positively because they were trying to sort out a customer issue and that's the way it should be done - I have no doubt that Andy at BC is a stand up decent chap who likes to see satisfied customers - who wouldn't? We must remember that communities like ours are quite powerful at spreading the word about anything and they certainly can influence consumer behaviour so retailers who are aware of such forums would be missing an important line of feedback if we were ignored, especially in such a niche market. As long as we keep our criticisms aimed at the business and not at individuals within the business than I think our issues will be listened to and hopefully acted upon.

Andy from Bass Centre phoned me today and has apologised for the poor service and answered some of the questions raised in this thread. He has promised to get my goods shipped today and I thank him for sorting it out. I've edited my initial post as I made an unfair reference to a member of their staff and I by no means wish to cause personal offence to any of the shop assistants. So apologies to the guy I spoke to on Saturday. I had poor communications with BC 18 months ago when I waited weeks for my Ashdown rig - it wasn't the wait that upset me it was the lack of updates and vague replies when I chased them. When I came to order my GK combo I went elsewhere despite BC offering better prices. I hope that threads like this one have the desired effect and that retailers learn that poor customer service is not acceptable. In our shrinking world consumers have the freedom to take their business overseas and with such superb service and a very attractive exchange rate Bass Central in the USA is bound to benefit if UK suppliers fail to reach expectations.

DR Extra Life are fantastic. Great sound, last for ages and funky colours too. You can find 'em for a good price from US shops on ebay too.

I played a Levin 5 at a gig about a year ago and thought it was very good, then when I found out how much the guy paid for it I thought it was really brilliant. If you can live with the colour and the string spacing suits you, go for one.

[quote name='Basszilla' post='61162' date='Sep 16 2007, 02:00 PM']Compared to the service I've had from Bass Central in the states these guys are a joke.[/quote] Couldn't agree more; I bought my Lakkies through Bass Central and the level of customer service is superb. All the guys there are great to deal with and Beaver kept me informed of the process all the way through and they called me to say when they had been shipped. It seems that Barry and his crew are super-arrogant and give the impression that they are doing [i]you[/i] a favour. Maybe one day I'll pop in there after a couple of pints of Thatcher's and a kebab and stink the shop out for them!

I was having thoughts about open strings versus fretted strings earlier last week when our band went to see another Blues Brothers tribute band playing (checking out the competition!). The bass player was playing songs in position and fretted "up the neck" whereas I watched Duck Dunn footage and just copied his positions. I spent yesterday afternoon sitting in the garden playing lots of the Blues Brothers songs without using open strings and it definitely gives a different feel. It was a worthwhile exercise on my part.but for this type of blues/soul I prefer the open string sound and as far as the "other" tribute band were concerned I'll never know as they had the bass buried in a very muddy mix.