EliasMooseblaster

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1457612199' post='3000081'] They're identical under the hood. I prefer the look and form factor of the LB30 I had (it's slightly narrower), but the CTM30 I have now came up at a killer price so I jumped on it. [/quote] Do they have the same controls then? I know the main difference on the front panels of my LB30 and CTM100 is that the former has no input gain control. I seem to remember the CTM15 I owned for all of 24 hours had one, so I wonder whether they've put one on the CTM30.

[quote name='Merton' timestamp='1457558686' post='2999722'] Ashdown Little Bastard or CTM30 (they're the same amp but the LB is the cool teenager and the CTM wears the grown up clothes) is what I'd look at, superb little beasts. [/quote] Yep, another vote here. I believe the CTM30 has now replaced the LB30 in their production line - which is a bit of a shame as the LB30 is definitely the best-looking amp I've ever owned! But if the CTM30 sounds even half as good, you'll be laughing. (LB30 review if anyone's interested: https://thecrowfrombelow.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/gear-review-6-ashdown-little-bastard-30/ )

BUMP. It's this Saturday! Any Oxfordians who fancy a good dose of dark, atmospheric music, do hasten yourselves toward the Jericho. We still have a few t[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]ickets available from [/font][/color][url="http://www.wegottickets.com/event/334382"]http://www.wegottick...om/event/334382[/url]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1457525481' post='2999317'] Ive enjoyed reading this thread. Its actually made me want to try a few of these basses. Ive never played a Rickenbacker, now I really want to see what there all about. [/quote] Likewise, it's reignited my own curiosity. I quite like the look, in a perverse way, but I hear such mixed reviews on the tone and feel. Seems I must try one for myself, if only in the name of SCIENCE!

Another vote for The Who - not only Quadrophenia but also Tommy (which I've always preferred). I'm undecided about Scott Walker's [i]The Drift. [/i]It's brilliantly dark, macabre stuff, but does it needs to fill two LPs? Every time I put it on, I come away thinking the length is justified, so I'll probably put it on the 'yes' list after much umming and ah-ing. I'm afraid I'll have to chalk a vote against [i]Physical Graffiti,[/i] but I think that's more to do with Zeppelin generally than its length. For a long time I've found most of the albums after LZ IV quite uninspiring overall. (Though I have begun to doubt whether I actually enjoy Led Zeppelin full stop...)

[quote name='colgraff' timestamp='1457098060' post='2995320'] But then what would we squabble about? Oh, wait......yeah. Lots of things! [/quote] BUT WHICH IEM IS BEST FOR METAL??????

Another vote for the Fender Jazz, but going slightly more specific: I've never got on with fretted Jazzes. My fretless Jazz, I'm really quite pleased with (though I'll probably trade it in for a Tony Franklin when the finances allow!), but I've tried a few fretted Jazz basses - even borrowed an original '60s one for a gig in Germany - and I just can't see myself ever wanting to buy one. I think the problem is that I usually solo the neck pickup and expect it to sound like a Precision, but it never has quite the right "bark" to it. So it's probably my own fault for expecting it to sound like a Precision!

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1456910240' post='2993360'] I wouldn't say 99% of startup bands never see their first gig. Perhaps the bar is much lower over here but I'd say the vast majority of (especially cover) bands that form get to see at least one gig as long as they can all play! [/quote] ^ this. I'd guess that 99% is a bit of an exaggeration, though it depends on how one defines the threshold of being an actual start-up against "this was an idea we had in the pub the other night and are following through in a half-arsed fashion." Anyway, for my own ha'porth: Band 1 will probably be the ideal setting when I'm older. Band 2 sound like they've got their act together. It's unfortunate that I don't like their genre. Band 3 I'd like to think I would give the time of day to. I certainly wouldn't write them off without having a chin-wag with them first to see what exactly they were planning to do with said start-up. Band 4...well, I can't see the genre appealing. But if I did, I wouldn't rule them out either; youthful energy and enthusiasm can go along way with the right guidance. (Not that I'm suggesting I'm the right person to provide said guidance!)

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1456495500' post='2989637'] That's just plain stupid. Why ? Good for you wearing earplugs though. Loud music, and playing loud is one of my pet hates. [/quote] There's a band that occasionally rehearses in the studio next door to us, who play so loud we can hear them quite clearly through the soundproofed wall. It's not a problem when we're also playing, but there have been some evenings when they've been loud enough to disrupt our conversations between songs.

Is Seasick Steve downsizing his collection?

Hmm... Kit-build Precision: my father and I built it together, and it's travelled around with me since I was 16. Unimaginable sentimental value. Epiphone EB-3: budget attempt to get closer to John Entwistle's Quadrophenia-era sound (it was more convincing than the Epi T-birds in the same price range), and became a staple bass in defining Cherry White's sound. Frankenbass built from eBay parts: an experiment. Good fun to make, and I'm actually quite pleased with the results. But I doubt any bugger would buy it from me. Schecter Model T: halfway-house between a MIM and MIA Fender. It was entirely justified in the period when I was still building the Frankenbass and refurbishing the kit-built Precision. Less justified now but it sounds awesome and plays like a dream. Hagstrom HB-8: first 8-string bass I'd ever seen in the flesh. It would have been rude not to buy it. Gibson Thunderbird: BECAUSE IT'S BEAUTIFUL. Though I do wonder if it's made the EB-3 kind of redundant. Maybe I should view the EB-3 as an important backup in case either (i) something unthinkable happens to the Gibson, or (ii) we don't have space to get the Gibson's enormous coffin case in the back of the van. Fender MIM Fretless Jazz: it's a fretless. And I did part-ex my previous fretless (Warwick RB) to buy it, so it's not like I'm clinging on to [i]all [/i]of them... (Or, in full, https://thecrowfrombelow.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/why-do-you-need-this-many-guitars/ ...well, I've since added a Fender Jazz fretless to the lineup, so it's already slightly out of date!)

[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1456319809' post='2987767'] Well if anyone has any links to someone playing clean fretless bass playing with no effects at all I'd be interested in hearing what it sounds like. [/quote] Here we go: no chorus, no other effects, and minimal sliding around the place http://cherrywhite.bandcamp.com/track/angel [/shameless self-plug]

Afraid I can't get onto YT at work to provide examples, but "Come On in this House" by Byther Smith is probably a good starting point. Don't know if it would really count as blues, but if you've got a dynamic enough frontperson then Nick Cave's reimagining of "Tupelo" could make a bit of a showstopper.

I've never let it bother me...so I was a bit surprised when I first saw a thread about this over at TB, and the strong opinions being hurled back and forth! Bassist, bass player, bass guitarist, "the weird one," I'm quite happy with all of them. Yes, the instrument's role is entirely different from that of a conventional guitar, but then you wouldn't ask a double bass player if he or she played the same thing as the violinist or the cellist. (I have even been known to refer to "the guitars" when loading up the van, referring to our guitarist's and to my bass guitars...heresy, I know.)

[quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1456104089' post='2985485'] Any standout mistakes in particular from leeds or IoW? [/quote] There aren't a great many, to be fair - though listen out for Daltrey fluffing the lyrics in one of the later verses of [i]Go to the Mirror [/i]on the IoW performance! (And I seem to remember Townshend misses the high notes at the end of [i]I'm Free [/i]on both versions.)

It's probably safe to admit to liking them now, isn't it? I can remember getting a feeling that they were considered deeply uncool around the early 2000s, but I did enjoy those first two albums.

[quote name='casapete' timestamp='1412526024' post='2569583'] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg8-2mWfExI[/media] And this is another beaut- around 2mins 2secs. Tuning issues with bass as well as guitar too. [/quote] 'tis a great live album, though, isn't it? (I think my mother still has an original copy on vinyl!) There's a few live performances from the late '60s/'70s that are great in spite of the bum notes or forgotten lyrics - The Who at Leeds and the IoW I can almost listen out for the mistakes these days, and Deep Purple's [i]Made in Japan [/i]is a great "warts and all" recording. Nice to hear bands jamming a bit rather than just repeating all the songs verbatim.

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1455539762' post='2979953'] But I also find him strangely entertaining. Not his music (although I do quite like Gold Digger and Stronger), just his bemusingly laughable cartoon persona. It’s like the mind of a 7 year-old boy transported into the body of a [s]grown man[/s]. gay fish [/quote] Fixed.

All I can do is facepalm. A while ago, I wrote a blog post in Mr West's defence (or, at least, saying that it was a bit over-the-top to ask that he be removed from the Glastonbury headline slot), on the grounds that he was just a bit of a prat, but otherwise quite harmless. I'm wondering whether recent developments are going to prove me wrong.

[quote name='stuckinthepod' timestamp='1455291403' post='2977900'] Grand Magus. One of my fave bands but every song title and lyrical content is basically picked from the same pot of words: Steel, Iron, Fist, Silver, Hammer, Ravens, triumph, power. One of the one on the last album was called Steel Versus Steel. Bloody great band though. Listen if you like traditional style metal. [/quote] Ah, yes - I loved 'The Hunt,' especially the title track, but it does get very repetitive over the course of a whole album!

I don't know if I can describe the modern bass player, but I'm pretty sure I'm not one of them!

[quote name='colgraff' timestamp='1455265630' post='2977541'] Middle-aged, bitter and resentful of his lack of commercial success. Spends his days online denigrating those players who are younger, better looking and more successful. <Runs away fast> [/quote] Ha! Yes, if I were a few years older that would be me in a nutshell.

[quote name='Manton Customs' timestamp='1455194793' post='2976886'] As to pricing, even without tools you're probably looking at close to £600 in parts if you bought the Carvin neck through beam and decent quality hardware/pickups...that'd be a deposit on a custom! . [/quote] Yeah, the more I look into it, the more expensive it becomes. Previous builds, I managed to keep down to £2-300, but then I was happy to use a lot of inexpensive hardware - whereas on this I'd like a pair of T-bird pickups...and I'd probably want something more substantial than a "BBOT" bridge, for example! Plunger's advice above sounds quite sensible, though it then makes me wonder whether I'd have the time to fashion a quick-and-dirty neck out of softwood. Perhaps I would be better off approaching someone who does this professionally.

Is it me, or is it increasingly a problem with a lot of modern rock bands? I'm basing a lot of this on groups who are "breaking through/on the way up" that I've seen live (and not knowing their studio albums in many cases), but I've found a lot of them sound like they're repeating themselves after the second song. (Or am I just turning into a grumpy old git?)

Hi Manton, sorry if I gave the wrong impression with my OP. My fear of disappointment relates more to the configuration of the bass - I have no doubt that a custom builder would do a superb job, but I'm one of those naturally apprehensive people who would umm and ahh over such an idea before actually pulling the trigger on such an investment! Hence the prototyping idea, I guess - though I could easily end up spending a few hundred quid on that. And even then, knowing myself, if it was a disappointment I'd wonder whether to blame my own woodworking skills. (The idea is basically a Gibson hybrid - combining the bits I like best of a T-bird and a long-scale SG.)