EliasMooseblaster

When we were still playing the Camden toilet circuit on a semi-regular basis, you could bet your bottom dollar that if the other bands looked like f***ing hipsters, their bassist would be going onstage with a Fender P or J. (Not that I have anything against them; I have lusted after a US Precision for most of my bass-playing life!) It's always nice to buck the trend and whip out my SG or, more recently, my T-bird. They certainly turn heads. Didn't actually see that much variation in basses around those gigs, now I think about it. Too many f***ing hipsters, I suspect.

A bit of a shot in the dark, Clarky, but how do you think the Queen's Ravens would feel about sharing a bill with a band like Cherry White? Only, I'm working on a night up in Cambridge on 17th May and am looking for at least one more band. Since I'd already got local band Bouquet of Dead Crows on board, I thought it'd be nice to have a female-vocalist theme connecting the bands (not to mention a corvid connection with two of them...) We're at http://cherrywhite.bandcamp.com/ and BoDC can be heard at http://bouquetofdeadcrows.bandcamp.com/album/together-we-fall-2 - I realise there's a pretty big gap between us all stylistically, but I'd been thinking we could always step it up from folk-flamenco-pop to hard rock via blues-rock...just a thought!

In a controversial move, I'm going to stick up for both Laney and Ashdown! My current rig is an Ashdown LB30 connected to the cab of a Laney HCM120B, and I'm rather pleased with it. I, like many of you, never used to like Ashdowns as I found the overall sound to be too woolly. Until, one day, I cut the bass frequencies a bit, and a lot of clarity and satisfying clank emerged from the fog - and this was from the battered SS stuff in rehearsal rooms, before I'd decided to look for a small valve head. I can see the sound would not be to everyone's ears, but it suits me. Laney and I have a bit of a history - not that Laney know about it - but my first bass amp was a Laney Session 40 Bassman that I bought S/H. When I upgraded, I went for a bigger Laney (the aforementioned HCM120B) because they were more within my budget than a lot of the other options in front of me at the time. And when the head on that one failed - after a good 10 years of abuse, no less - I scored myself a Laney RB8 off ebay. I just find them quite versatile, and the more modern ones seemed to have a relatively bright tone (with the EQ at 12 o'clock) that suited me but, as I say, possibly not everyone! Still, in the spirit of this thread I ought to slag something off, so: Line6. I'm sure it's very useful to have four different channels and numerous exciting effects built in, if you like to completely reshape your tone for every song. Unfortunately, I'm more in the set-a-tone-you-like-and-tweak-if-necessary camp, and I just don't like the standard clean tone. I also find them very unresponsive to dynamics.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1394809459' post='2395487'] Exactly. You never get threads where people say "I'm sick of all this finger-style playing" or "Why do people play with a pick, it sounds horrible". [/quote] Well...maybe not here, but have you looked through the threads on Talkbass lately? I don't like the sound of it, but then I don't listen to a lot of funk and fusion anyway so it's not often there to annoy me. I have heard it in contexts where it actually detracts from the music, though these are usually only in the same places where kicking in some crazy envelope filter, or two-handed hyper-speed tapping, or just dropping your trousers and flaying your genitalia against the strings would have been similarly inappropriate. For example, desperately slapping away underneath a sonic wall of two distorted guitars and straight-eighths drumming just ruins any feel your music might have had. I also wanted to punch the guy at that blues jam who thought it would be ever-so-clever to do a super-fast slap solo in the middle of a slow 12-bar. The kids in guitar shops slapping badly are surely no different from the young metalheads guitarists who are trying to shred their way through some Pantera in a shop where they don't realise no one gives an airborne sh**e. On the other hand, the first time I heard Marcus Miller playing a particularly tasteful solo piece which featured slapping and popping, I began to understand what the fuss was about. It's not really for me, but to each their own.

But...but there is no bass currently in my hands. Does this render The Best Bass an abstract concept? Or is The Best Bass, in actual fact, my computer keyboard?

Jesus H Christ, did he dislike the contouring on the body and decide to iron it out?

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1394718033' post='2394358'] If you can check out the state of the loos within 30 seconds of entering the pub, you're likely to be greeted with "[i][b]Oi! You buying a drink or what?[/b][/i]" as you leave them ... [/quote] To which you reply: "Oh, I'm sorry, I was looking for your events manager...I'm used to playing the Camden toilet circuit, you see..." [quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1394715423' post='2394309'] What a waste of good tea..! ([i]Shudders[/i]...) Almost as bad as putting in milk..! Thanks for the info, though; I've learnt something today. [/quote] [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1394716600' post='2394327'] Gross! Though I think it would make quite a decent enema liquid. [/quote] Don't knock it 'til you've tried it! Bergamot and high alpha hops complement each other surprisingly well, at least in this case. (Though I'm guessing Dad's not a huge lover of beer in the first place...)

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1394714979' post='2394299'] I'm not going to get far with my 'Earl Grey' scale then, am I..? Teabag or leaf..? Porcelain pot or in the cup..? Slice of lemon or juice from plastic squeezy..? Damned..! [/quote] You'll just have to start booking in Manchester: best of both worlds http://www.marblebeers.com/our-beers/earl-grey-ipa/

Oddly enough, I had arrived at a similar theory. Though, I would like to test it more extensively, because I think there's another factor, and that's the preferences of the crowd. Which is to say, there's also a very strong overlap between the people who like a well-kept pint of ale, and the people who enjoy classic rock and/or blues-rock. I won't pretend that every pub Cherry White plays is awash with beautiful cask beers from around the country - in fact, I think our next two London dates are in boozers which only have bottled ales (albeit a wider selection that just Newky Brown)! Nevertheless, your theory doesn't so much strike a chord as a full-on Pete Townshend windmill.

Nice stuff Mike, there's some really great stuff on here. Very atmospheric in places, and, of course, exemplary bass work!

That's fantastic! Bass sounds really nice on that - what were you playing?

[quote name='Hutton' timestamp='1394702311' post='2394104'] I notice that there is currently a Hagstrom HB-4 in the for sale pages. I know that it is a bit out of your range but it is well worth considering and making an offer. These basses are just short of £500 brand new. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/227846-price-drop-l280-hagstrom-hb4-34-length/"]http://basschat.co.u...-hb4-34-length/[/url] [/quote] I'll second that - I have the 8-string version and it is an excellent little bass - both of those humbuckers are coil-tappable so you get a ridiculously wide range of tones. But yeah, if the budget's more constrained then you can't go too wrong with a Squier Bronco. I started out on one of those and look at me now...actually, don't, it's not a pretty sight. The Epi EB-0s are also good instruments, but maybe more of an acquired taste.

They sound really good! Hope it goes well on Saturday!

'morning all, Cherry White have two London gigs coming up in the next few weeks: [b]26th March at the New Cross Inn[/b], in South-East London, and [b]9th April at The Troubadour[/b], in West London. [b]26th March[/b] is a gig that we're booking and running ourselves, so all proceeds go straight to the musicians! We have Buffalo Fish and Stoneface Travellers in support, so the vibe of the night is very much in the classic rock/blues rock vein. £3 on the door, or free if you bring a valid student ID. More info at http://newcrossinn.com/?p=2&id=1288 and there's a FB event deelie at https://www.facebook.com/events/219392564919979/ [b]9th April[/b]...we're still waiting for a bit more info on that one. I'll update this post when we hear more, or you can follow the FB event deelie at https://www.facebook.com/events/214087282126692/ http://cherrywhitemusic.com

Just bought a little Laney amp from Ellis - amp works fine, sounds great. Nice feller, a pleasure to do business with!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1394627250' post='2393419'] Re: about a million threads on tone, fingers, gear etc. McCartney's Ric sounded very different to Squire's Ric (for example). I think most bass gear can be made to sound like most other bass gear. It's just down to personal preference, imo. *Nomex suit ON* [/quote] *clutches fire extinguisher* I think you're right - compare late '60s John Entwistle with James Jamerson and you'd probably struggle to believe they were both playing Fender Ps. Certain tonal characteristics of the bass will probably still come through - e.g., people buy Precisions "for the thump," or they buy Rics "for the clank" - but you can radically change that tone through various means. Which probably explains why no one can decide whether Geddy was playing his Ric or his Jazz on [i]Tom Sawyer[/i]!

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1394561389' post='2392759'] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkwBOSAfr1w Nothing new? Our new EP, recorded and released this year, 100% Ric. Available to buy and stream from all leading sites (shameless plug!) [/quote] Great stuff, that! (And lovely Ric tone as well!) Can I get your EP off Bandcamp?

Cheers Clarky, glad you like it!

I notice JHS are still shipping the Vintage VS6 with gold hardware...afraid I don't have a photo of my own, pre-Wilkinson one, but I'm sure the body finish used to be a shade darker than the one pictured. Closer to burgundy than to cherry, if you will. I reckon gold looks alright against a suitably dark background. (That said, I'm glad my tobacco-burst T-bird has black hardware...)

I know we've had a Lemmy clip already, but just to represent the other extreme of what you can do with a Ric: http://youtu.be/5wfzGkldPnc

Yep, definitely in the first category, although I think it comes down to the "£1000 on guitar/amp/lessons" question. Arguably, I've got two tones, broadly speaking, depending on setting, band and bass of choice. But I think in all settings the playing style comes through, and so a lot of "my tone" is down to me playing in my particular style. (I was almost going to say "idiom," but I thought that would sound a little too pretentious!)

[quote name='elephantgrey' timestamp='1394126464' post='2388234'] You would need to get ones with midi to sync the tempos. That to put them into a feedback loop with a delay at the end (set to single delay for feedback loop), i find delays help sync up modulation effects. [/quote] That's a good point: I could always just boot up Pod Farm and simulate it for myself. Much easier to sync them if I can just type the tempos in!

So are you running the signal simultaneously out to both sets? (And if so, is it actually safe to stand in the same room when you're playing through it all?)

Isn't the Ibanez Double Tubescreamer basically just two TS-9 circuits built on top of one another? (I had the opportunity of trying several variants in Guitar Guitar when I went searching for a Bass 'screamer, so I've been able to compare the double and standard side-by-side.) Would be very interested to see what happens if you start chaining modulation effects, mind...though I suspect it could get very messy very quickly!

That's not bad, that - definitely some catchy tunes in there! I'm with DorsetBlue; [i]You are OK [/i]is my favourite of the three.