Al Krow

Being a mediocre covers bass player, you'll need to please bear with my lack of an artist's perspective, but if what your audiences think has no bearing on your art, why "inflict" it on them? Why not just create something and enjoy the process and the outcome and keep your art to yourself? Or do you actually, deep down, want others to enjoy it too and you appreciate their reaction when one of your creations is positively received? What is your motivation for being a live musician? For me, the greatest artists throughout history from Leonardo to Shakespeare to Beethoven, and beyond, were all mindful of their patrons and their audiences. It didn't stop them creating some of the most beautiful art which will continue to echo down time - being appreciated not just by the audiences of their day but but also by each and every succeeding generation.

There's something very special and distinctive about the Pedulla sound, I have to agree with you Dave. For a solo bass sound IMO it's pretty hard to beat for its clarity and musicality from the clips I've heard. I say that as a by-stander who's never had the privilege of owning a Ped. Speaking of which, I guess there's a very good reason why our very own @ped decided on his avatar name rather than being "Fen" or "Sandy" 😁

I think the difference in outlook is driven by what we're both seeking to do musically. I play in covers bands and we're paid by pub landlords to bring in punters off the street and keep hold of the ones already there to increase bar sales, or to help get a birthday party or wedding bash going. So, yup, what we do is completely driven by audiences' "utterly random and disagreeing priorities". We love playing together and the set lists we do and if our audiences are really enjoying themselves that makes for a great night for us. The fact we get paid (sometimes very handsomely for function gigs) for enjoying our musical passion, is icing on the cake. And because we are paid, we have to be mindful of our customers. If you're an "artist", which I certainly don't claim to be, then caring more for your art and less about what the audience thinks is much more understandable and, of course, your prerogative.

Really? I suspect most live artists care deeply about what their audiences think. Given that none of us has unlimited time, I'd certainly recommend focusing first on aspects of a band's live act that has a bigger impact vs spending time on stuff that's not going to make much of a difference to our audiences eg playing technique, choice of great set material or something as basic, but important, to an audience experience such as band lighting, as a priority over tiny nuances of bass tone.

Yeah - that's not dissimilar to my own experience. Had two separate BB735As and really wanted to like them - on paper they seem to tick so many boxes! But in the end I kept coming back to my purely passive 1025. Having said that, my recently acquired neck-through BB2005, which is pretty much the same vintage as your 415, is managing to put even my 1025 in the shade - which is saying something! So it's definitely not just a purely active / passive thing for me.

And reissue the 2004 and 2005. Fabulous basses.

That is sweet! Congrats! Did you hold onto your 734A or did that get moved on? Kinda makes me feel that Yamaha got it right a long time ago, and their subsequent tweaks haven't materially changed what was a fantastic core product. And in terms of colours on offer with matching headstocks, well there's a decent argument to say that they've since gone backwards.

Sounds like a great year...now where did you mis-lay that pic of your full rig & bass? 😊

Ah two DP3Xs at once? Oooh very posh! The only (self-proclaimed) multifx I've ever had more than one of at once are the cheap-as-chips / incredibly good value Zoom units.

You've clearly been spending too much time in proximity to a black hole or in a Tardis, Doc...my recollection is more like over 3 years ago when you, and a bunch of others, first got a DP3X!

Great post, thanks.

Yes. Andy is still looking very much looking forward to getting that beer with you when you do fancy getting out! Hope the Stella is living up to expectations. If you want any tips on it, then feel free to drop @51m0n a line 😁

Love the look of both of those basses! And that Laney Digbeth Pre seems to have finally nailed that elusive "bottled valve amp" sound in a package that doesn't break the bank - definitely been added to my 2022 wish list!

Btw - I think you've touched on a key point in relation to all our gear purchases. I'm totally with you that so much of our kit only makes a very marginal difference to what an audience hears or gets out of an evening - and most of that really is "in the fingers" and how good we are as bass players. But if, as the bass player, you personally do notice a difference or you get more enjoyment, either at home or when gigging, and you can comfortably afford the bit of kit in question, then my counter would be why not treat yourself?

Chris - the fact that it's only just dawning on you, with your decades of experience, doesn't bode well for the rest of us "relative newbies" does it? 😁

I think for a lot of folk it's exactly that Dave - although the fact that an item has been moved on doesn't necessarily mean that it's not been used a fair bit both at home and / or on gigs (although obviously not everyone on here is in a band). E.g. I've just traded a bass which, together with its predecessor 4 string, was one of my two go-to gigging basses for several years. But a couple of new-to-me basses I've been privileged to get this year: the Yamaha BB2005 and Elpick Evo5 I've previously mentioned on this thread, both from fellow BC'ers, have blown me away and my traded bass was just not going to get used anything like as much, so I decided it was time to move it on. But that's a totally commonplace thing for a lot of us BC'ers, I suspect. Other bits of gear can simply be an upgrade, or even a downgrade if you find you don't need something quite so fancy and something more budget will do the job just as well - certainly been the case on a few things this year and last e.g. Zoom B1-4 in place of a Helix HX Effects. I guess the beauty of buying used on BC is that you can get to try out a fair bit of gear from generally trustworthy and lovely fellow bass players and, if it doesn't suit, move it on without too much of a hit to the wallet. Sometimes curiosity, sometimes pure GAS. But pretty much all of the time, good fun!

Errrr...if your comment below was referring to my response to this post from Sid: It was meant as a pretty obvious 'take a hike, mate'! 😊 (Smiley face inserted to confirm that it was a good natured retort to an obvious wind-up). I mean wtf eh? Lol! If someone said that to you having no real idea of how / where / when you used your gear I think you'd tell them to take a hike, too? No? One day soon, we can but hope.

Lol, you don't really need to concern yourself with my gear buying habits; I'm certainly not concerned about yours 😉

Hi Biscuit Bass. Absolutely! Mark at Talking Bass is one of the very best online tutors out there IMO: he provides, excellent, clear usable lesson tuition and materials and often at around £1 / lesson it's fantastic value for money. But maybe dip into his free material first to give yourself a flavour of his style and approach? Here's a link to a thread that might be of interest: Paid online bass courses you've done & can highly recommend

What are your PB(s) currently laden with - any new 2021 pedal acquisitions you're particularly pleased about?

Good fix with the SG! Be great to hear some sound samples of both if you're able to rustle some up for us?

Thanks. Yup very happy with the pedal board and have slotted a Thumpinator underneath for good measure. It will shortly start to be used in place of the Zoom B1-4 solo at rehearsals and gigs; settings and songs to be worked out when it does. Will need to invest some time getting up to speed on the FI editor, as I'm determined to avoid another D-grade on my homework from @Quatschmacher! Bear in mind that the rig pic I posted just refers to my best gear purchases of 2021, rather than of all time, and it's certainly not the case that e.g. the BB2 struggles at all. It's just I know how phenomenally good Berg cabs are, having previously had a CN212 and when I was able to get my hands on an almost-new NXT in part-ex for a bass in my herd that wasn't getting much of a look-in currently, it was too good an opportunity to pass up. I've actually failed @bassfan's 2021 Gear Acquisition challenge spectacularly: I've had quite a gear churn this year including 7 basses, although I'm ending the year with the same number of basses as I had at the start. But the overall content of the Al Krow bass-ment feels like it's in good and very usable shape and, touch-wood, hopefully there will be plenty of opps to use them at home and with my two bands in 2022.

Duplicate post.

Great review, thanks! PS @gobasserk I should have added: I actually really LOVE your clean tone, too! What's your full clean signal chain in terms of bass, strings, amp and cab?