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donkelley

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Everything posted by donkelley

  1. Only song you know with two bassists? Just some fun trivia here (by the way this is an awesome Phil Lynott thread... cool double neck... and for what it's worth I have a double neck guitar/bass that shares the same output - silly, but true) anyhow.... other songs with >1 bass Walk on the wild side and big bottom are two classic examples of 2 or 3 bassist on the same song (3 I think in each case but I'm not honestly sure - although big bottom is only arguably a real song... ;-) My instrumental jazz fusion band Charivari back in the 90s had two bassists for at least two songs in one of our studio albums... of course I wrote both the songs and having been the original bassist before moving to guitar with another bassist joining it was only a matter of time before we had duelling fretless bass stuff going on LoL. Doesn't really count though - nobody knows who I am or who that band LoL donovan had some songs with two bassists, or at least two bass parts... mostly in his big hits that were produced and arranged by John Paul Jones (no surprise there is lots of bass in those tracks ;-) does it count? not sure: much of the early beach boys stuff in the studio (carole Kaye with Brian also playing and sometimes another cat also) Pink Floyd's One Of These Days (David is a heck of a bassist too... back in the waters days they experimented more) Aerosmith - back in the saddle (6 string bass for lead parts!)
  2. [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1388599391' post='2323881'] But the 3EQ is not "a 2EQ plus a mids control", it's a different design and it is not a surprise they do not sound the same. Not saying one is better than the other, just that they are different. The John East MMSR 3-band *is* a 2EQ plus an extra mids module. [/quote] I'm glad that people have been pointing this out. The problem with the 3 eq is the exact opposite of what was originally described... it actually WAS redesigned from scratch and completely screwed up as a result. The John East is an example of a real stingray 2 band with an extra circuit add-on for mid sweep, and it's outstanding. I use similar add on mid sweep modules myself these days (have an emg one added onto the 2band in my carvin bass) and intend on doing the same thing to my fretless ebmm 5 string USA sub (which is effectively a 5 string version of a 4 string vintage 2 band stingray).
  3. ok quick list: I haven't played yet, and want to play: - kubicki - f-bass - wal - fodera - fender starcaster bass I'm fortunate that I've owned or borrowed almost one of the industry standard basses for long enough during my lifetime to feel like I've experienced it all, pretty much. Fender P, Fender J, Alembic, Stingray, Rickenbacker, multi string basses, modern active j style bass, asymmetrical necks, neck throughs, Hofner, Gibson, Steinberger, custom luthier builds... owned or extensively played them all. never played a wal or kubicki. NEVER played a warwick other than at a store. hated the feel. have no idea what it was but prob a corvette or thumb since it was many many years ago and those were the talked about models here in north america at that time. never plugged it in. loved the sound of the strings hitting the brass frets... disliked the rest of the unplugged tone so never went further. So many subjective things can turn someone off an instrument. I love the sound in the right case though, just not my thing to play. I use modelling now to get the sounds of different basses from the bass that I think feels best (which is either carvin or ernie ball depending on my mood). I've discovered that, for me at least, I don't often like the feel of different bass brands once I stick with them for a while and want to come back to what is most comfortable and responsive in my hands. Once I find a bass that feels really good to ME, the main thing I look for in others is the tonal differences (aside from number of strings and spacing and setup variations of course that can be desirable).
  4. I totally get that they are attractive to some. Interesting how they've grown on some people here... I've experienced that before so it could be something I will find later on. I've played them and really like the sound and build quality. Some people like furniture basses, others like painted sparkle finish. It's such a wide and subjective crowd to sell to, so I do understand how these are attractive to some people. That example above does look pretty good I have to say.
  5. For me they're simply not very physically attractive. Come on, there has to be at least SOME sexiness in a bass for me to want to play her! The BB series is one of the most utilitarian looking things I've ever seen. The feel fine, nothing special imho but certainly sufficient if you're into their neck profile, and the sound very good in a classic fender bass kinda way. Very well built, also, with solid hardware. Body shape turns me off, so does the headstock, so do the LOOK of their pickups and general mounting area for everything. If I close my eyes I can really enjoy playing one though for a while.
  6. Real men, you mean like Flea himself? Can't get much more male than him and his bandmates! Off the top of my head, here are some other legendary players of "girly" coloured guitars (pink, yellow, purple, neon green): - Jimi Hendrix (pink and so forth) - Steve Vai (everything!) - George Harrison (pink tele) - Ritchie Blackmore (yellow! and others) - Frank Zappa (and son) (literally everything if you include Dweezil's axes over the years)
  7. Could be that the new string accidentally (or without knowing of the possible side effects) was twisted 1/4 to 1/2 turn or more between the bridge and the nut.... this happens pretty easily when you're stringing up if you aren't careful or aware of what this can do: - a twisted string can end up sounding like it's going through a chorus pedal (multiple tones at nearly identical frequencies will sound at once, specially so at certain fret ranges more than others). And once you've done that one time, putting that full tension on the string in a twisted setup can actually make it return to that same multi-pitch tone even if you take the string off and then put it back on again. IE: the damage is done sometimes by this point. I have made that error more than once, and in fact it can almost sound cool in some ways, but the inconsistency of sound combined with shortening of string life (not to mention inability to turn that chorus sound OFF again LoL) isn't really a due reward in the end. It happens by accident sometimes, sometimes because it's a phenomenon you have never encountered before and didn't know to avoid twisting the string, and it also happens much more with certain brands of strings on certain basses than with other combos. Worth watching for this when stringing up again just in case you did it by accident. Let the ball go where it likes, don't try to twist it into line to look good or whatever unless you MUST by the design of the bridge, in which case you have to be extremely careful when installing onto the tuner that you don't twist it at all (...this is NOT easy to avoid so I always try and let the ball go where it likes instead). IMHO YMMV yadda yadda
  8. [quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1382989876' post='2258913'] Nice to know I'm not the only one that hates Rotosound... Actually I thought Fender and D'Addario nickels were the same strings? I use both types and can't say I've noticed a difference? [/quote] interesting! I wouldn't be surprised to find that fender doesn't actually make their own strings ... rebadged d'addarios are much more likely.
  9. yea. recent Elixirs are WAY better than the old ones.... very good strings for sure. I've used them happily. I loved rotos when I was 14.... hate them when I'm 44. way too rough. always hi beams (or fat beams, same thing imho) or sunbeams (for more mids, less sizzle) for me. for cheap d'addario XLs are a close replacement compromise between those two models. used fender flats once.... couldn't shift out of first gear. used EB slinky styles a few times.... always hated their feel and lack of longevity. They make great guitar strings though.
  10. I'd have Alembic build me a Musicman (with Gibson Ripper pickups/wiring on either side of the MM pickup) / Rickenbacker 4001 / Fender Jazz setup with 3 necks (fretless 5, fretted 6, fretted piccolo 6) oh and it would have some wild colorful in-your-face wood grain finish (burled something or other in translucent glow in the dark rainbow-on-angled-viewing blue/pink) oh oh oh and I'd definitely get my fretted SUB's 14th fret evened out too since it would no doubt STILL be my #1 fretted bass. I'd also get my fretless SUB's fingerboard slightly leveled up at the highest area (20th fret area) since it's a tiny spec buzzy there if I am being really really picky) since it will always remain my #1 bass to play.
  11. [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1382992206' post='2258947'] I have a classic, I took the preamp out and put an east in [/quote] crazyman! LoL living on the edge ;-)
  12. [quote name='Damonjames' timestamp='1382344397' post='2250742'] I would love to hear from someone who has owned or played both the sub 5 and the sr5 regarding the neck feel. Are they similar in dimensions? I know the sub is painted so will probably be a little stickier, but I'm more interested in the neck thickness front to back? [/quote] the neck feel/shape is identical imho (to my hands at least) between both of my 2 band 5 string subs (fretless and fretted) and the sr5s I've played (but never owned). Also, to the guy from september who said to put a John East preamp in a USA sub ------- WHY? the USA sub (active models, which is most of them) is the same 2 band preamp used in the stingray classic!! it's an insane preamp... brilliant. why put in a john east? anyhow - yea they're absolutely fantastic instruments. love 'em to death. wish it wasn't slab shaped but for a few hundred canadian dollars each I've got 2 of the best playing/sounding/feeling/built instruments ever made. love 'em to pieces.
  13. cool answers :-) I'm learning too here.... I've dealt a lot with craigslist and while I tend not to deal with the sort of basses that anybody would bother faking (hahaha), it is something I'm fearful of. I've seen a few obvious fakes but one of these days I'll hit an intentional and hard to distinguish fake. Gibson les pauls are infamous for faking.... and some have pretty subtle flaws compared to the real deal. there are dedicated websites all about how to tell if it's a fake, and it's amazing the knowledge some people have accrued through their musical lives!
  14. I'm not sure if the OP changed his post in these critical ways, but as it reads now the OP states clearly what he's looking for in his responses: "[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I'd like to know if anyone out there knows more about the black market on basses and how we can avoid being stung"[/font][/color] He said he knew by the price is was a fake ("The price kinda told me it was a fake"), so his intelligence or gullibility didn't need to be questioned.... He asked good questions that I don't know the answers to, but maybe you folks here do know: [b]- Does anyone know more about the black market on basses?[/b] [b]- How can we avoid being stung (if, for example, the price and control layout wasn't a dead giveaway)?[/b]
  15. anyone who won't play a starcaster because they're old fashioned is forgetting that starcasters were a VERY highly rated guitar in the 70s when they were made. I've played two original authentic starcaster guitars - both were, by a slim margin, the nicest playing and most expressive and responsive semi-hollowbody guitars I've ever played. And I've played a LOT of semi hollows in my life so far. Personally I think starcaster guitars are far sexier than anything Gibson ever released, and with a nicer neck and more aggressive tone. Amusingly enough, both of the guitars I played, one of which I nearly bought (intended to but it was gone when I went back to the store the next day) ended up owned by the same guitarist in a band I ended up joining a few years later, completely by coincidence. amazing fluky situation.... so I've always had my heart on a bass version, and now they exist! Great to read the positive reviews.
  16. [quote name='blablas' timestamp='1382108595' post='2248146'] My twins. And triplets. [/quote] um..... whoa!
  17. yea, my usa subs are both 5 strings, one is charcoal (black) fretted with a black pick guard, the other is wine fretless with that sub metal pick guard... both are (pardon me) orgasmic instruments. not sure what settings for each style of player since so much depends on the amp and setup of that amp too.... I'm not hte best guy to suggest that stuff, I just experiment with my own rig until I get it. for strings, I finally found THAT sound, the sound I LOOKED for ever since I played a session recording gig a few years ago and the producer had a stingray already setup for me to record on when I got there, the knobs were even taped to the position they wanted (!!).... and I found that tone with my fretted sub by using DR Sunbeams. sunbeams are nickel but with a round core, so nice, soft, flexible design wiht plenty of highs but more mids and more, um, sexiness LoL than DR Hi beams or similar round wound round core steel strings have. So for me it's DR sunbeams. Sunbeams aren't dissimilar from D'addario XLs but XLs ARE brighter.... and brightness isn't something we need any extra of with the stingray preamps eh?
  18. [quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1382352645' post='2250911'] Natural/maple is THE classic Stingray combo IMHO. Maybe worth trying some in shops to keep the GAS burning strongly! Best of luck with getting one anyway. [/quote] yes, but they all sound like a stingray... subtle differences aside, you can count on any color scheme or 2/3 band pre or type of string to still be the amazing stingray tone. I know that's a classic stingray design, natural with maple, but I personally am not a huge fan of the natural finish stingrays because they look like the gibson ripper knock off to me at first glance. Remember, the ripper came first - 3 years before the stingray... and the standard ripper finish was natural with maple fingerboard! another great, iconic, if VERY different... bass guitar.
  19. [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1382289944' post='2250173'] I hung on to my beloved Ray fours for a while, but they are all gone now [/quote] haha I like what you replaced the ray 4s with ;-) (checking your sig)
  20. 2eq rays (or usa subs in my case) are the single coolest bass I've ever come across after playing or owning an example of nearly all major brand basses over the decades. little known facts of 2 band music man basses: - the treble control is boost/cut and it's eq frequency is different depending on if you're cutting it or boosting it. - the bass control is boost only.... there is no bass cut. - those saying you can bring out mids more by keeping both knobs not set too high are correct - despite bass being boost only, there is a lack of bass without the boost engaged, so most stingray players actually keep the bass knob set higher than the treble. I personally like almost every combination of settings the bass provides but typically like treble cut a little (in other words slightly LESS than half way) and the bass turned up to roughly 70 or 80 percent (of the entire knob's travel). There ought to be a center detent on the treble to indicate that it's boost/cut, or at least some kind of numbers on the knobs with -5 to 0 to +5 on treble and 0 to 10 on bass, but whatever, it still sounds the same without those marks. USA subs (2001 to 2005 or whatever the years were) feel exactly like stingrays and sound exactly like stingray classics - if you want a cheap usa stingray bass then a used USA sub is an incredible deal.
  21. As opposed to Axe FX (which only has an SVT in it), how about something else high end that's targetted at bassists? I just started using a Roland VB-99. Yes yes yes I have the fancy hex pickup mounted on my carvin bunny 5 to emulate a rick, jazz, precision, stingray, hofner, flats with my rounds, synths, and sound like a les paul LoL... and yes it's absolutely the single coolest way to downsize your number of basses with the singular best sounding jazz, precision, and rickenbacker bass tones (I own ernie balls already so have the stingray tone down). BUT aside from that you can also just plug your normal bass into the thing and use it's insane array of brilliantly (perfectly, imho) modelled bass amps. I've used a lowly behringer bass v-amp pro for years for professional session work - it's great, for sure. EDIT: note: I also have used line 6 modellers for years on guitar and bass and also own an 11 rack and zoom g3 for guitar. This is only so you understand that I'm very modelling aware and experienced. The axe fx is incredible, just ask Devin Townsend, but for bass I highly recommend the roland unit! This BLOWS the other bass modellers away with depth, sensitivity, expression, realism in your room when playing. I can grab any of my basses, plug them in, and have insanely perfect SVTs (even two of them running in stereo), the geddy or chris squire classic two-different-amp setups, a flip top that is beautiful sounding but without the noise of the real thing.... I HIGHLY recommend the vb-99 just for the effects and amp sims alone. And with the VB-99 you can go one HUGE step further than the axe fx or other amp modellers and actually model basses and string types and synths etc, all with no latency (a few ms that you can't feel or hear, all a/d d/a conversion has similar latency), so grab a hex pickup (gk-3b in my case), mount it with double sided tape on your favorite FEELING bass (tone isn't relevant and it doesn't even need working pickups), and you will have quite literally perfectly modelled classic basses and customizable modern active basses and any combination you can think of, all with one instrument and one effect module. Yes I'm in the honeymoon stage - I JUST got it and started playing it, but this is after a LOT of research, listening to extensive sound samples from forums and the like, and it truly is superior to any other dedicated amp and effect modelling system for the bass guitarist (eg: behringer, zoom, line 6... axe fx isn't dedicated to bass so I'm not counting it here), and if you get a hex pickup it is QUITE superior in tone to a variax, to the point that you forget you're not playing a rick 4001 or hofner violin bass or alembic series II. I played a variax bass for 3 week straight and own a variax guitar... cool, but the more you use it the more you grow to realize it's limitations and drawbacks... of which I can find nothing similar in the VB-99 no matter how picky I am about little subtleties in my playing and listening. IMHO YMMV and all that stuff. Just trying to help you find the best solution to your requirement, which axe fx imho might be but this roland might also be. Big investment, but not as big as an axe fx that, while also resulting in fantastic modelling, is clearly not targeting the working bassist with it's one (Great) amp and cab model and no bass-intended fx (like bass overdrive and well known bass compressors etc). I heartily recommend the vb-99. I don't understand why it's not the obvious most-desirable-product for working bassists in forums. Certainly as a session player it's going to be invaluable to me. I'm already polishing up my hagstrom 8 string in preparation to sell it - with my vb I have a 10 string stingray (which doesn't exist in real life) that is easily the best octave string bass tone and feel I've ever experienced.
  22. I wish yamaha BBs didn't LOOK like yamaha BBs. Personally I feel they are one of the most unattractive, utilitarian, style-agnostic things in the world. There has to be SOME degree of physical attraction or it's hard to become exciting by a woma... I mean by a bass. However the tone of the BB is outstanding. Like a dream fender-built PJ with properly matched pickups that each stand on their own as great tones but work beautifully together... very unusual in a PJ. I find it interesting that the most amazing feeling basses built to modern standards are often considered somewhat anemic sounding compared to a great vintage jazz or precision bass. I adore the feel of my carvin bass (for example), and it's tone is amazing.... but definitely nothing like a great jazz bass despite having a typical jazz bass pickup configuration. my musicman basses, on the other hand, feel amazing (which is annoying to me, the carvin is way better ergonomically than the musicmans), and sound incredible. But I love a great jazz bass tone too.... so I'm trying to decide how to proceed with my carvin.... put in vintage style jazz pickups and give the preamp a passive switch option? hmmm.... what to do, what to do. I've learned that I actually dislike fodera tone quite a bit.... which is disappointing to me. I'm sure though that they can be made to sound like a great vintage jazz bass with the mods or custom configuration done to them... it's a choice to sound like that, not a limitation. Anyhow - great great work here, love it all. Don't you folks wish you were rich enough to own them all? I know I do ....
  23. just pointing out my alternate opinion - I've personally played one VM jazz, one USA jazz and one affinity jazz side by side, all 5 strings. I prefer the affinity in playability and amplified tone. unamplified it sounds worse, but through an amp I prefer the affinity pickups to the duncan designed pickups in the VM, at least the ones in the affinity jazz 5 are really good but might be different from the 4 string ones. I bought one, used, for a few bucks (pretty literally). had to do a huge setup on it including neck shim, foam under pickups, bridge setup, truss rod adjustment, and new strings. but the frets were great, sound was AMAZING with d'addario XLs. I kept it for a long time without intending to. Now I'm flipping it, but it's still one hell of a bass. If I wanted a passive jazz tone I'd keep it, but I'm all about active and specialty basses right now.
  24. general reply to this topic (sorry I didnt read it yet, but I will!) for me, the best depends on the bass, to add output in the frequency range the bass is weakest in, as a sort of compensation mechanism: my usa sub 5 fretted (like an industrial finish stingray classic 5): DR sunbeams. nickel and steel. round core. great feel. pushes presence mids out well, not as zingy as steel/steel strings. my usa carvin bunny 5 fretted: D'addario XL nickels. same specs as DR sunbeams. cheaper. happen to work insanely well on my carvin. slightly brighter than sunbeams imho. I love the way they work on this bass. I do'nt love them on ALL basses though. my import ibanez BTB 566 6 string fretted (mahogany body with multi-layers everywhere, a dark bass): DR hi-beams. this bass needs these strings. it adds the zing the bass is missing otherwise. this bass is dark and middy with nickel strings - it's AMAZING with hi-beams. my usa sub 5 FRETLESS (identical features otherwise to my fretted one): DR hi-beams. I want lots of zing on my fretless basses. it can be IN YOUR FACE, it can be slapped, funked, rocked, lead solod. but it can also be beautiful, mellow, deep, or middy present and jazzy. these strings are amazing on this fretless. my chinese hagstrom hb-8: D'addario steels for octave bass, little bit of mid scoop and tons of treble... gives me that john paul jones solo album sound. Edit: apparently theres some other kind of invention called "Flats" ;-) They sound like mule gut over cardboard on every solid body bass I've ever had them on. Other people can make them sound good. I think they're garbage for my fingers for whatever reason. but I've been paid to play them at times, and I do what I can with them.
  25. I'm honestly not sure which I'd choose - my USA sub 5 fretted, my USA sub 5 fretless, or my usa carvin bb75. they're all insane instruments. I have a dirty suspicion that I'd choose one of the fretted ones - I owned only a fretless for years a couple dacades ago and that actually hurt me a few times in paid gigs. Thing is, maybe once I'm done the mods to my carvin it'll be the most versatile bass I own, but right now it sounds SO much like a bright, middy, in your face, carvin, and I can't tune that out very well. My sub (essentially stingray) basses are actually more versatile imho with their single pickups and 2 band eq than my carvin is with two pickups and an additional blend knob. But once I'm done adding a vari-mid to the carvin and some passive tone switches (which will work with the active electronics), I'm hoping to be able to say that my desert island bass would be my carvin. Then there's my hagstrom 8 and my ibanez btb 6.... but they're each more effort to think about and play and with less touch sensitivity in the tone department... I guess... ok I'll say a qualified Carvin bunny brunel 5 string, if my mods turn out great. Otherwise my USA Sub 5 fretted (probably). if I'm only playing for myself, not for other people, probably the fretless USA sub would be my desert island bass though.
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