peted

Warwick Black Label strings are tapered at the ends so they fit into the Warwick 2 part bridges.

[quote name='edstraker123' post='316626' date='Oct 28 2008, 12:37 PM']I've just received Overwater's newsletter which details the basses in stock and there are 2 Progress 3's (absolutely gorgeous they are too) one for £3000+ and the other not far behind. I'm not sure if the woods these are made from are more exotic or they are a special spec but they do seem a bit pricier than usual. Has anybody noticed the price of customs increasing ? I suppose if makers are being hit by increased costs they will need to pass this on to the customer to stay in business, as I imagine the profit margin on customs in not very high.[/quote] I believe that Sei increased their prices not too long ago. Everyone has increased costs now with the increased cost of utilities, borrowing, and travel. Luthiers will price their basses at a point where supply meets demand. If people wouldn't pay £3000 for an Overwater, the prices would come down, but people do as they are amazingly well crafted instruments. I too think that luthiers put a huge number of hours into building each bass, which translates into a very small hourly wage for the quality work they do. If you think of it as paying £2-3000 for a luthier to spend 6-8 months building your bass, it seems a tiny amount of money. I would be surprised if bulk-produced basses with CNC and foreign/cheap labour take more than a couple of days to produce, and they retail for £2-300.

I voted for Natural and Black. My Warwick is natural and has a lovely looking grain. My next bass is going to be a black gloss finish as I think it looks classy.

None of the options. You can't quit via email (it's almost like sending a Dear John via email, which is just wrong). I wouldn't wait until a rehearsal to announce that you are leaving as that's not really what you are there for. You'll need to call them all on the phone and tell them your intentions. Should they wish to discuss it futher then you can do that at the next rehearsal. The initial announcement should be done in person over the phone. My 2p (and it's worked for me in the past).

[quote name='tauzero' post='315934' date='Oct 27 2008, 04:05 PM']But a piano only has 10-note polyphony unless you're from Norfolk.[/quote] The sustain pedal on a piano lets you have far more than 10 note polyphony

I'm far too much of a wimp to even contemplate risking my livelyhood on my bass playing. I'm happy with the tried-and-tested stability and regular income that a 9-to-5 office job gives me. Playing bass is a hobby for me. A hobby that I like to think I approach with a professional manner. When I'm in an established covers band it's a hobby which pays for itself, but not much more. I am envious and respectful of those who have taken the plunge and chosen a career in music. I do think that the difference between a pro and non-pro (con?) is just that, a decision.

Even with the supply difficulties, they've still managed to maintain my interest. I'm waiting to hear of people's experience with these heads, and what sort of sound they will put out (vintage or modern?).

[quote name='JD1' post='315304' date='Oct 26 2008, 07:30 PM']+1 on the GK. Haven't Hartke just released a 2 x 10 Hy-Drive wedge combo?[/quote] [url="http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1937&brandID=3"]Yes they have![/url] I haven't heard the combo itself, but the new HyDrive cabs and amps sounded great at the London Guitar Show this year. The prices have been very reasonable too.

Go for it. They will soon let you know if you're not good enough, and it could be a route to regular paid work!

[quote name='bnt' post='312751' date='Oct 23 2008, 09:38 AM']I think I'd rather have a piano than one of those ERBs.[/quote] I'd rather take an [b]E[/b]xtended [b]R[/b]ange [b]B[/b]ass on the bus!

The definite cut-off date is a good thing. I offered to help out a mate with a 3 week tour when their bass player left. I ended up playing for 3 months because they were hoping that I would make it permanent. In the end I had to put my foot down and gave them a date that they had to have a replacement in by. It's difficult, but sometimes you have to set expectations.

Currently my Warwick seems to be depreciating considerably quicker than my car! My 53 Fiesta is definitely worth more than my two basses combined. A prospective new custom bass early next year will tip that balance though

Nicely done! We bassists are suckers for flashing coloured lights aren't we?

Surely the *ultimate* amp would be one which is the size and weight of a credit card, infinite headroom under any load, takes its EQ settings from the sound in your head, and is given away free in cereal packets. Now THAT is an ULTIMATE amp (oh, and it should also provide you with tailored bass lessons, like a Fender G-DEC but better)

If you've got gigs booked I would honour those bookings, but make sure that the rest of the band are aware that any new bookings will have to be provisioned by a new bassist. Hand in any tabs or copies of music you have accumulated to help the next guy (provided they aren't copyrighted). Make sure the band appreciate the reason that you're leaving and stay in touch.

WOW! That'll be a looker alright! What an excellent combination of figured woods.

[quote name='dood' post='307158' date='Oct 15 2008, 03:40 PM']Hey matey! Hope things are good down in Ipswich for ya! - Yeah, I'm not sure how many basses Jon has on the go at the moment.. but he seems to have settled into his new workshop alright which is good news![/quote] Ipswich? Nay! I'm back in my home [i]taaan[/i] of Essex, innit. Your Doodle has come up when discussing specs with Jon I'm hoping it'll be similar to Doodle, but with something "a bit special" (ooh i'm a tease!)

Glad you're still around to tell the tale. I'm sure your words of warning will see an increase in popularity of RCDs on here.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was disgusted by the windings on the headstock picture on the BassDay ad. I make sure that my strings are chopped about 2" past the tuning peg, this gives me about 1.5 turns when up to concert pitch. Not only does this look so much neater, but I also feel that it improves string tension (could entirely be psychological...). I've never had a string come off of a tuning peg and I do tend to dig in quite hard while playing.

[quote name='Galilee' post='307064' date='Oct 15 2008, 01:33 PM']Glad it's not just me....[/quote] This has never happened to me? Is this just when you first put the string on, or just tweaking between practices? I would be horrified if I couldn't rely on my strings staying in the bridge every time I touched a machinehead!

I have a Badass bridge on my Squire P. The reason they are so popular on here is because the Fender stock bridge is shockingly bad, and the Badass is designed to be a direct replacement (all the screw holes line up exactly with the existing ones). I don't know the weight or material of the Warwick Rockbass bridges, but I doubt there's any discernable difference between that and the Badass. The real difference is between the Fender bridge and the Badass (and ease of installation).

I like to see people's basses being built, even if they are not doing it themselves. It can be very interesting to see a list of specifications turn itself into a real-life bass guitar. I don't tend to follow the 'standard' builds, but if its got something special, or if the spec is being developed as the bass is being built (e.g. 'mock ups' with hardware placed on a blank bass, or woods put side-by-side) then I find it very interesting. I'm with Dood on being a geek. I love to see how things are put together to make the final product, regardless of who is doing the work

[quote name='dood' post='307008' date='Oct 15 2008, 12:31 PM']he has been kinda busy and kept his head down this year![/quote] That's good news, as I've sent him an enquiry about getting a custom bass made. I haven't treated myself to a new bass in years and there's not much point sitting on savings with interest rate cuts.

I had piano and keyboard lessons forced upon me as a child and rebelled by wanting to play guitar. I got an old spanish guitar for a birthday present and learnt about 4 chords, this was enough to be let loose playing along to the piano during the school morning assembly. At these assemblies I was fortunate enough to be sat in front of the school electric bassist and soon forgot about practicing on my Spanish guitar. It wasn't until a few years later when I saw a mate of mine play in his first band in our early teens that I remembered how cool the bass was and immediately pestered my parents to get me a bass guitar for my next birthday (they were already unimpressed that the spanish guitar they bought me had collected a fair amount of dust by this point). I've practiced and gigged ever since. The bass is definitely the instrument most suited to me.

In my teens I used to gig with an 80 Watt 1x15" Crate combo as it was all my pocket money and birthday allowance could afford. Didn't have the best sound ever, but seemed to keep up with two 100 Watt small guitar combos. In the last year I've actually chosen to leave my 350 Watt Hartke rig at home and gig a couple of times with my Line6 Lowdown Studio. That's 75 Watts through a single 10" speaker. Did it once with PA assitance and that was fine for me (guitarist didn't like it as he couldn't hear me). Did it another time without PA assistance and it really struggled to get much sound out to FOH.