cytania

‘Long After This Night Is All Over’ was so good it brought tears to my eyes 😎👍

Stonking cover of Ray Pollard’s ‘Drifter’ 😎

Thanks to everyone who made the event happen, great venue, excellent cross section of basses that no shop could ever assemble. It was a privilege to try so many fine instruments and many of my bass prejudices are now in shreds. Eyes opened to the D-Roc shape and the Mustang Bass and amazingly the Teisco, oh and an upright bass and… 😃

Cytania and MarillionRed should be dropping in with Spears and Warwicks 😃👍

The P bass pickup is a humbucker just with two coils in separate units. Gibson bass humbuckers have a reputation for lacking definition and top end and were dubbed ‘mudbuckers’. Active electronics then came along in the 70s and big MusicMan or soap bar pickups offered a wider more full range sound, although these typically use two coils so are technically humbuckers.

Anyone been to Bass Direct and worked out what the 78 P in Honeyburst had scratched into the back? Somebody made an attempt to sand it out; I think it might read ‘Luv Your Weller’ 🤔🤪

I stumbled across the B90 when I was browsing on ‘dummy coils’ and it’s one of the few times I’ve been impressed by tone in a bass demo video.

Single coil pickup? Surely that’s got to hum alot? Unless there’s a dummy coil concealed within? I have been impressed by the Horne Section’s bassist who uses a 51, it almost sounds too good 🙂

Watch Bart Soeters YouTube video. He plays a variety of basses that give a jazz sound. The problem with old school basses like Hofners is they are muddy and thuddy. With a modern bass you can contrive through EQ, mutes and foam to get an old school thump but you can’t take a semi and give it clarity and definition. Shortscale tends to make the D and G strings ‘pop’ a bit more. On typical Fenders the G is often a bit weak with deadspots. The Precision E is clanky and percussive. It sort of suffers the ’odd one out’ syndrome that alot of 5 strings have with their B string. Modern basses with compound necks try to balance the strings more but some would say they lack the character of a P.

You can see the similarity between the Big Stud and this Tokai.

In the high numbers of the presets were some great synthscape simulations that worked really well with bass and could unleash your inner Hawkwind 😎

Cheap multi effects units are a great way of learning what the plethora of effects do without having to buy each pedal. I had a Vamp2 and before I moved it on I was struck by how synthy the effects now sounded. My ears had moved on but it served it’s purpose.

Classic Stax - surprised to find it’s version of Time Is Tight has a long intro that cheekily riffs on Theme From A Summer Place and an extended outro that wouldn’t be put of place on an Emerson Lake and Palmer album.

They’re at it again!

Two last minute attendees. MarillionRed and Cytania.Two last minute attendees. MarillionRed and Cytania.

Selling and buying online are visual acts, which is odd given that a bass is there to make a nice sound and audios/videos are just as easy to create, but high end basses seduce with their gorgeous finishes. It’s just paint or veneer but a stunner sells quickly.

My Spear basses don’t distort when the battery is about to go, in fact they have a really nice responsive tone right up until they disappear. Switching to passive mode is my ‘get out of jail’ card in these situations.

I have two half active 18v basses and playing them equally usually an hour every day plus 2 hour rehearsal and a weekly jam session they last 112 days. If I had just one instrument it would be 2 months battery life.

Interesting P bass, sunburst finish wearing away to reveal a white coat...

It’s not unknown for luthiers to send artists instruments on spec in the hope of striking up an association. In this case Prince tragically died before things really got going. However Gus guitars are so glamorous and futuristic they are a natural for Prince’s style. I’m sure Prince would have used it for photo shoots at the very least.

With you on Fiesta Red Japhet. Guitars can be hot and firey but basses shouldn’t be trying to play catch up, unless you’re in a Shadows tribute - then it’s all about matching gear, matching suits and synchronised headstock waggling. Bass is an earthy, primitive instrument and tobacco burst suits that, like an old pub table all polish and beer glass rings. My pet peeve is three tone bursts where the red hasn’t been sprayed under the pick guard. Looks horrible when the guard is removed, ooh hold on that’s another kettle of fish...

No prizes but he could have picked a better pickup, the bridge seems about an inch too far up and to round it off he winds strings guitar style ensuring they ride high. When he plays along to Money the intonation immediately sounds off 🙉

Is YouTube filling up with junk advice? Bumped into this supposed restoration video but the guy has done at least 3 things that ruin the bass. Can you spot them?

Open strings sound more retiring, so are useful if they fall in part of a line that is supportive not shouty. However sometimes they are just wrong if you need that note to jump out.

I'm the dep bassist in a local big band. Most gigs I'll be on the mixer desk which is just as well as I'm in at the deep end, there are alot of songs, alot of styles and some fierce arrangements. My reading skills have come on greatly but sight reading the scores live is a problem. Partly because some have been copied many times they are getting unreadable and partly because I get caught up in the music and lose my place! Some songs I've memorised, some I've tabbed out myself, some I have charts that just tell me keys and repeats. The regular bassist is very talented. Now I know the dots I can hear him add tasty fills and scale runs that aren't in the score. Being around a better player certainly spurs you on! Playing with the big band is a pretty amazing experience. The bass doesn't have such an immediate interplay with the drums and the horns, it's like piloting a luxury yacht, it turns slowly but the feeling of being on the bridge is wonderful.