72deluxe

Hello everybody I have a 6 string Warwick Corvette which sounds great (clarity from the bubinga body) but I find it lacks power, and I'm cranking the gain on the preamp all the time. I have an FNA Jazzman that has a massive humbucker on it and the output from that bass is significantly higher and punchier, so I was hoping to upgrade the pickups on my Corvette. It has a dodgy treble/bass pot which needs replacing, but I would welcome suggestions for preamp or pickup upgrades! There was another thread from some years ago (http://basschat.co.uk/topic/175134-warwick-pickups/) that discussed something similar but I would really welcome suggestions. I had a look on the Bartolini site but I'm not sure where to start! Thanks in advance Rich

Hello! I'm in Worcestershire too! Where are you? What stuff are you into? Hello anyway! Rich

BigRedX: I get what you are saying about the pickup in the middle position - the weight of the neck pickup seems to boom through more. Apologies for the 32" scale comment - it really is 34". Thanks for the comments Stephen. It really was a jam, but sadly just with myself and the electronic drummer... (he wasn't very inventive)

Great track, great slap-back reverb on the vocals. It sounds mildly overdriven with middle pickup selection but more neck PU than bridge?

Ah! My mistake! I will have to go and remedy all the mentions of 32". It certainly felt "shorter" to me but that might because of the giant body on it compared to other shorter Corvette types (entirely psychological). I bought it from a helpful chap up North - do you know him?

Do you have any recommended reading or listening for harmony? I ask because I play very linearly ("let's run up and down scales in different patterns"). I must stress I don't play like this in the bands I am in - they're all oldies: The Eagles, The Beatles, Free, Robert Palmer, Steppenwolf etc. Is the glaring problem mainly timing and duff fingering of notes? In anyone's opinion, is the left or the right hand the sloppiest?

No need to apologise! Really!

As the old joke says: "I don't think you understand what 'patronising' means; would you like me to explain it simply for you?....." I'll dig out a metronome.

I don't suppose there was an easy way of putting that though. All valid points! In my defence it was hastily done (just grab and record) and it wasn't really a "musical" composition, more a demo of the bass and it's range of sounds. The timing is off (that's putting it politely) in a range of places, you're right. Thanks for giving up part of your life to watch it though.

After a quick tinker in Logic so that the DI track is the only one accompanying the drums and a lifetime of uploading to YouTube, here is the same video but with the DI bass sound instead of the preamps. [url="http://youtu.be/3KZye6VPTfk"]http://youtu.be/3KZye6VPTfk[/url] Again, comments welcome! Play spot the difference between the DI and preamp versions!

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1413805256' post='2582043'] For a "demo" I'd have liked to hear the bass in it's "natural" state - no OD etc. [/quote] Thanks very much for even watching it, and thanks for the comment! You're in luck regarding the tone though - as I recorded it DI'd and then reamped it I can redo the audio [i]without[/i] the overdrive (just the bass sound itself) and will post that as another video, for comparison purposes. I'll do that tonight if I get chance.

Hello I recorded a video of this Warwick that I bought off this very forum. It's a Warwick Star Bass, but the Pro series. They no longer make the Pro series Star Bass in Korea apparently; they are now only making Chinese ones. Although it's coloured gold, it's not actually made of gold and isn't too heavy at all. It's a 32" scale so the low B doesn't quite have the same ring as a 34" to my ears but it's good. It doesn't sound like a "normal" Warwick to me but sounds more like a Fender, although it does still have some "growl". I hope you don't mind the mild overdrive - I enjoy some dirt. I played along to Logic Pro drums and recorded DI, then reamped it through both a BBE BMax-T (some mild lo-boost and BBE processing and pushed mids) and also a SWR Interstellar Overdrive (blended to more DI, but with pushed overdrive, you can really hear it). I did this because instead of having a DI recording, when we play we also run through amps and cabs which colour our sound. But instead of micing up and irritating my wife beyond belief, I just put it through these preamps for some gritty colour. Comments and criticism welcome (both on tone and playing); I know it's a tad long but I enjoy playing... (I also confess that there's a Fender strap on it). Please excuse the stupid face and mistakes. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbwsQjwBZYM[/media]

OK, to encourage the disappearance of these items I have a picture! About £4 postage for these btw.

Mark at Bass Direct used to work for Warwick so knows a lot about them but it'd be fair (and polite) to say that they're not his favourite basses.... Anyway, I have played some Rock Bass Warwicks and although terrific value for money, they just don't sound the same to my ears or feel as nice as the German or the Korean ones. I would look out for a second hand German one if possible - some incredible bargains to be had on here. I have basses from the "fat neck" period but never thought they were baseball bat necks at all. I can still whizz up and down them to add too many notes. They are quite heavy. I have some FNA Jazzman basses and I love them. You don't see them come up for sale often but the massive humbucker on them is incredibly punchy but you can still blend to the warm neck pickup. I also have an active Corvette which weighs a tonne but has crisp tones thanks to the bubinga wood, like a Thumb. Incredibly clear, and with a low B to die for. My FNAs have fantastic low Bs too, so I would recommend 34 scale instead of 32 as a PS Star Bass I have doesn't ring as clearly (semi hollow doesn't help but it's a 32). I can do some video sound samples if you want? What sort of rig do you run through?

I grew up listening to Satriani and think he has some excellent playing. Admittedly, if you're used to listening to "vocal" songs then it might be a bit alien. But cleverly his melody lines typically are things that you can hum. In fact, he says that to work something out, sing it first. His phrasing is also very interesting, and instead of just playing endless linked melody lines, he puts breaks in them in the same sort of place a human would breathe if they were humming it. Contrast this with someone like Malmsteen, where there are few breaks. He seems deeply rooted in the blues instead of just "rock" like Michael Schenker, and did have lessons with the blind pianist Lennie Tristano when he was younger. He also taught a few guys like Steve Vai and Kirk Hammet I think? When you listen to them play, you can see where they got some of their styles from, and in my opinion Satriani carries off playing in a neater way than Hammet, without sounding too "alien" like Vai (who also has phenomenal technique - look at his bends!). I appreciated Satriani's playing more after trying to play guitar a bit myself, and realising that he was doing really really difficult stuff; I also appreciated "guitar" music more after reading a book explaining jazz because, like jazz, I had been listening to it wrong - instead of listening to it like pop music and expecting something you can sing along to and repeated simple hooks, you need to listen to the interplay between the musicians. This doesn't necessarily apply to Satriani so much, more Vai (particularly his Passion and Warfare album, where the music behind is the most interesting thing going on). Anyway, Satriani has an amazing technical/theoretical knowledge, and there is a video somewhere on YouTube where a guy has a lesson with him and Satriani plays something very very basic, yet it is very clever. If you check out his early stuff on "Not Of This Earth" you can hear some pitch axis theory stuff going on. His guitar sounds super 80s-scratchy on early stuff though. I do enjoy his stuff even though the bass lines can be quite "samey" note-wise, but the same goes for Roger Glover in Deep Purple. You could probably swap the bass lines between songs by them and you wouldn't notice! There is some interesting slappy stuff when he worked with Stu Hamm. If you listen to his recent album "Unstoppable Momentum" there is more "band stuff" going on behind, which makes for a refreshing change. It's very good, although on tour the Wolverhampton Civic was very empty! They missed out on seeing Bryan Beller, Marco Minnemann and Mike Keneally playing Satriani's songs in a very very different style than the videos above. It felt more like a band, and with drive and feeling (particularly thanks to Marco). That video does indeed feature Dave Larue; I saw him on that tour and you wouldn't never know what a whizz-bang bass player he was from his playing. He just stood there doing an excellent rock-bass-player job instead of a technical wizardry session. Well done to him. Nice MusicMan bass too.

Bump bump.

Yes, the Pro does indeed have a clip light. This didn't though. Sold now, but hopefully someone will find it useful.

Hello I have an ancient Bass Blues Jam Trax book but have lost the cassette (!). This book is 20 years old but still fine. I also have a "Rock Bass Basics" (Ultimate Beginner Series Steps One & Two Combined) book that came with a CD; I will dig the CD out if I can but if I recall it was rather blatantly lifted from a video, including such helpful audio tips as "look what I'm doing with my hand here" and "as you can see, I'm playing it in this way" which is obviously impossible on a CD... Anyway, it was quite an interesting book and worth going through, with the introduction of the pentatonic etc.; the last chapter has tapping and harmonics, with no explanation on how to do either (I'm really selling it, right?) Anyway, if you could cover the postage I will post within the UK. Thanks Rich