tonyf

[quote name='OldGit' post='203656' date='May 21 2008, 12:28 PM']Either that's a very old magazine or he's not using the new rig [/quote]

Seems to be the latter. He was certainly using the old Series 6 Trace and the 2x15 cab pictured in Mr Fudge's post when I saw him a few weeks ago.

T

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='203370' date='May 20 2008, 11:45 PM']Having a tidy up of my pictures tonight and took a picture of Norm's rig when I had the privillege of supporting the blockheads last November. I did post at the time but I'm sure I didn't include a picture of his rig at the time. As far as I remember there was just a lead from amp to guitar.

and guess what ... he sounded incredible.[/quote]

I saw the Blockheads a few weeks ago at the Solihull Media Centre. Fabulous gig at a great venue (my first time there). Being a small theatre type venue, me and my mate were second row in, literally yards from Norman and it felt like the band were playing in someone's lounge.

Gotta say, just the best sound and performance I've seen for a fair while. These blokes have been doing this for bloody years and it shows. Tight as a nat's chuff and they're playing with the same enthusiasm as they probably had when they were half the age. I was just blown away by the band and being just feet from Norman and seeing his playing up close.

Regarding the rig, beat up Trace Series 6 AH300 into a couple of 15's, exactly the same as the pics from Mr Fudge. He was using a purple-ish Moon Jazz 4 string. The tone was absolutely fabulous, looking at the EQ on the amp, he's obviously a fan of punching the mids and from the sound of it (being so close, heard what was coming off the backline), was no doubt on the bridge pickup of the Jazz.

Someone's already said that it looks like an EQ "to be heard". I'd agree, totally nail on the head punchy sound that worked marvellously considering there were drums, 2 guitars, keys, 3 vox. Obviously the experience over the years from both musicians and crew to know what tone fits within a live context.

What made it such a great night was the whole absence of "us and them". The band came out into the bar afterwards and spent the best part of an hour just talking life, music and all kinds of bollox inbetween. Me and my mate Neil spoke to John Turnbull at length about ukeleles. We then had a chat to Normal, again, absolute diamond of a bloke and we chatted about the hazards of wearing suits on gigs!

Again, the old saying about not meeting your heros couldn't be farther from the truth. Top night, top band, top blokes.

T

[quote name='finnbass' post='195591' date='May 9 2008, 05:41 PM']Neither is my '88 [/quote]
+1

Owned a 90 4 string and a 91 5 string fretless (wow, mwaaaaahhhhh a go-go).

Neither had JD on the truss rod cover or any reference to JD. Thumbs throughout.

T

PM'd!

Coming up on the rails......

PM diddy M diddy M M M!

[quote name='Jase' post='165222' date='Mar 28 2008, 01:19 PM']Nah, you're not mad, it's good to be that busy learning songs for a covers band, I don't think covers need to be note perfect at all, stick to the drummer like glue and you'll fly it. Good luck hope you enjoy it [/quote]

+1 on that. Totally.

The thing I love most about covers is that it's very often about the interpretation of parts in support of the song rather than absolutely nailing each note and making sure it "sounds exactly like the original".

Most of the stuff I do with my band is done in the style of "us" rather than trying to totally copy. It's not a tribute, I don't need to sound/look/play like the artists material we're doing, more an interpretation of the tune in the spirit of the track. "Spirit", "Feel", "Vibe"...all important things from where I look at it.

If there's anything practical I can suggest, try not to be too precious. As others have said, learn the basic structure and then start to gradually polish the songs as you go. You'll probably "know" (ie be able to work out the structure and key changes etc) more of the material than you think as you start to get familiar with the material.

Play with a smile on your face, don't get stressed if you miss a few (or more than a few) notes and people will catch onto the fact that you're having a good time.

Hey, it's only Rock'n'roll, enjoy it.....t's not as if you're playing "proper" music....

T

[quote name='martthebass' post='149817' date='Mar 2 2008, 01:35 PM']....daren't let my Precision go tho (however the GAS is killing me...[/quote]

Need a Precision as well?! Greedy! I would thought that the wonderful DJ5 could cover all the Fender'esque malarkey you'd ever wanna get up to. Perhaps getting shot of it to a good home (!!) would leave space for a MM fretless which would beautifully complete your sonic requirements?!

Lol

T

Doing the "Bumpity bump" cuz I really want a Precision!

T

[quote name='Jayfaedoom' post='150232' date='Mar 3 2008, 11:36 AM']I have a Warwick Streamer and yesterday when i was practising and playing about with my bass pod it fell off me and hit the floor. I thought "bugger, strap must a broken" But alas no, the strap didn't break the rear strap button came out of the body, lncluding the screw and everything. I tried to just screw the screw back in but alas it just spins and spins.

So how do i fix this?

i guess either a fatter screw, or fill it with summit and use the screw i have

any advice on this would be great as using duct tape the now makes it look horrible.

cheers[/quote]

Ouchy! Still, "relic" is the new buzz word apparently!

In terms of the strap button, pretty easy to fix. The quickest is to use a slightly fatter longer screw but this may not go through the button itself.

Alternatively, get a matchstick and split it length ways so you're able to pack a sliver of wood into the hole. Then simply screw the button back into the bass. What the sliver of matchstick does is to compress some more wood into the hole so that the screw can "bite" again (a little like how a rawlplug works). The important thing to remember is not to overtighten the screw though.

HTH

Tony (aka "Bass Bodger")

Hi bassist bros!

For sale is my Musicman Stingray Fretless. When I say for sale, I'm actually looking to get myself a Precision so maybe it could be for trade on a P-bass or Lakland Bob Glaub!

Only had the bass a couple of months, traded with P-T-P because I wanted to pursue the fretless thing but have decided it's really not for me and it's never gonna get a look in with the covers band I'm playing with. A real pity because it really is an absolute stunner.

The Stingray's has been tastefully modified. Originally it was a 3-band EQ model and along with the unbelievably great Status neck it also features a Seymour Duncan Basslines pick-up and SD 3 band EQ. The controls are therefore push-pull volume (coil tap), mid cut/boost and then stacked bass/treble cut/boost. The jack input is now on the control plate however the original side-mounted jack socket/plate is still on the bass so you could easily switch back to standard MMan set-up if you'd prefer.

The finish is, as you can see, just beautiful, though there are a few dings here and there. The neck is perfect, I can't begin to say how good it is... low action, solid as a rock, great feel in your hands etc. and the whole package sings like a bird at the dusty end and snarls like a beast at the bottom end. It's currently sporting a set of Thomastik flatwounds and had a set-up done shortly before I collected it from P-T-P so it's an absolutely flawless player.

Ideally looking for £600.

Cheers
Tony



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[quote name='TonyRamwell' post='144872' date='Feb 22 2008, 10:43 AM']Hi All,

I'm after a bit of advice, I am rubbish with the whole impedence thing...
All I know is that in theory if you connect 2 8 Ohm cabs you should get 4 Ohm, I think I'm right.

I have an EBS HD350 head that was running a Hartke 2.5XL 8 Ohm cab. I recently bought another cab the Hartke 115XL also 8 Ohm.
So the question is should I be using the 2 speakon connectors on the head, 1 per cab, to get the best config; or connect a cab to 1 speakon and then use the extension jack on the cab to go speakon -> Cab -> Cab.

Any help here is much appreciated.
Tony[/quote]

+1 with using them in parallel ie using one out per cab. this will give you a 4 ohm load with your 8 ohm cabs giving you more power than linking them in series.

fyi, the HD350 will go down to 2 ohms. i'm using two EBS cabs at 4 ohms each in parallel giving the full 2 ohms. think there's a marking above the outputs on the back stating "2-8 ohms" which confirms this.

T

[quote name='nottswarwick' post='144740' date='Feb 21 2008, 10:22 PM']Rudd is the drummer I think, and now Williams is mentioned I remember he is bass man.

BTW, wish I still had that jazz bass Jase![/quote]

Cliff Williams, bassist for the band from about 77 onwards. Phil Rudd is playing drums throughout the history of the band save for the late eighties to mid to late nineties.

Gotta admit, I grew up listening to Accca-dacca and most of their back catalogue is permanently etched into my subconcious. I can easily hum Angus Young's solos easier than any of the lyrics in any of the songs as I worshipped his "axe-itry" long before I ever took up bass and permanently left "the dark side" lol

In terms of the basslines, I've since discovered that they're one of those bands who's music appears to be much simpler than it actually is and rhythm/groove is the key. Cliff's lines are deceptive, there's a lock in with the rest of the band that only comes from years of devotion to the song rather than the performance.

Totally agree with Malcolm Young being a big part of the key to the groove of the band as well. A recent re-purchase of a remastered "Powerage" (1978 album i'd only ever had on LP) panned the guitars left and right of the stereo picture. It was such a joy isolating and discovering the two Young brother's differing but complementry guitar parts.

Yup, off to pick out "Highway to Hell" for the journey to work tomorrow!

T

Genius. Probably my favourate player ever.

I got the 1996 "Live at the Bukodan" DVD a few months ago on import. Brilliant playing and professionalism knowing that he was so ill and would die within 48hrs of the recording.

A sad sad loss.

RIP Bernard Edwards

T

Loads of minor dings over the years inflicted on my "Money Shot" Nathan East (so called because it's the ever present, wonderful sounding when recorded, never sell it ever ever).

However, the most obvious major dingage occured one New Years Eve at the dearly departed Railway in Curzon Street in Brum. A combination of amazing audience with us playing really well, fantastic vibe and my first ever gig in front of my wonderful wife (then a new girlfriend). Did the "1812 Overture" ending to the last number in E, I ended up repeatedly thumping the body of the bass with the bottom of my fist whilst holding an E chord to get the full on theatrical effect. May I add at this point I did not have my foot on the monitor so at least i maintained a modicum of "cool".

Anyway, packing away afterwards, I noticed loads of tiny circular pock marks just below the top of the cutaway on the front of the body. It slowly dawned on me that the shirt i was wearing had had the sleeves fastened with cufflinks (yeah, I know, serves me for being a fashion victim and wearing a poncy shirt) which i'd repeated rammed into the top of "me babby".

Still, regarding the wider question of dingage, dunno if it's just me but there's something strangely warming i find about being responsible for (and having a story to tell about) every single bash and crash on a bass you've had for years and owned from new.

T

[quote name='dub_junkie' post='128470' date='Jan 26 2008, 10:23 PM']The bottom end on G&L's is huge,the cherryburst Asat semi hollow I traded on these boards a few months ago was a bit of a beast in this respect.If tonyF chips in he'll confirm this....[/quote]

I am the accused, had the semi hollow ASAT off Keir a few months ago and absolutely love it to bits. Bless ya mate! ;-)

Having owned a L2500 in the past, I'd agree with the "P-Bass on Steroids" description. Being a Leo designed instrument, I think it's more Fender than Musicman to be honest. I've had/got Rays and Sterlings and love the MM vibe but the G&Ls kinda "do" Fender more than "do" Musicman. If I'd lived in a box for the past 35 years and didn't know better, I'd say that Musicman followed G&L followed Fender on Leo's CV.

Neck profiles are the key with G&L, there's a lot of options in the sizing. The neck on my G&L ASAT is really Jazz like whereas the L2500 I had was completely different and felt almost cricket bat like and one of the reasons why I eventually let it go. Tonally though, it was a monster and the closest thing to a P 5 string I've heard or played.

The balance on the ASAT isn't the very best but I played worst. Someone mentioned Thumb basses and I personally found these worst because of the smaller body. My ASAT is worn fairly middle to low so it's not a huge problem and something which bothers you for the first half hour until you get used to it. The double strap button helps vary the balance options.

My ASAT hollow sounds a little more open than the L2500 I had but like Kier has said, it's not "acoustic" at all and is an amazingly phat sounding bass. Used it for the first time in anger on Saturday night and it was just wonderfully warm and punchy, a perfect sound through the pretty transparent, arguably clinical EBS rig.

[quote name='dub_junkie' post='128470' date='Jan 26 2008, 10:23 PM']I miss that semi-hollow [/quote]

All that said Kier, still really fancy the Gold Sparkley one....perhaps I shoulda taken you up on that at the time!

T

[quote name='P-T-P' post='121951' date='Jan 17 2008, 08:58 AM']I'd feel worse had I not caught him stroking the chunky neck of someone called 'Ray the other night! [/quote]

All this talking about me, my ears are burning.

Don't worry about the cheating on the Sterling, I'm already looking to trade the Ray for a P-Bass!

T

[quote name='chris_b' post='101404' date='Dec 8 2007, 04:14 PM']That's Ronnie Wood playing lead bass, probably after a few brandies as well. If I was playing Maggie May I wouldn't put any of that stuff in. A much simpler bass line would be far better.[/quote]

Sorry fellas. Gotta disagree.

I think the charm of the song (and the bassline) is that it is so "loose" but absolutely genius in it's chaos. It effortlessly "oozes" swagger as it's being sung by a laddy half cut cocky good looking red-blooded scot with a band of equally p*ssed other blokes but there's a feeling of artistic abandon which is so endearing! Fair play to them, lets face it, if I had half the talent/wealth/good looks as Rod had then, I'd still give it all up to write half as good a tune.

Agreed. Ronnie doesn't play it like a "proper" bass player. He overplays and drops a couple of enormous fluffs but it just "works" because it fits the song perfectly. That's exactly who Ronnie is and that's why we all love him.

Putting on my flame proof pants now

T

I think this seems to be an issue with G&L's from my limited experience. My old L2500 had to have the original replaced after it started to have the dreaded "crackly connection" problem and now my ASAT's going the same way.

+1 with the good quality Switchcraft and having already done the L2500's, it's only a five minute job so it's not such a huge problem.

IMHO, all in all, I guess the problematic socket is minor blemish in an otherwise perfect bass.

T

Wonderful cabs, great sound! Have a Bumpity Bump!

T

[quote name='Machines' post='82678' date='Nov 2 2007, 10:39 AM']And I quite like the Jazz 24 - loads of balls to them.[/quote]
Yowsah!

Spot on Matt, I love the Jazz 24's as well. Really punchy sounding thanks to the good EQ and the Seymour Duncan 1/4lb'ers. They're good looking and playing basses with slim modern necks and a modern vibe.

IMHO, if you're after a 24 fret Jazz, I'd go for this rather than the Warwick. Not that the Warwick isn't a 'treffic bass but it's not as close to a Jazz as erm the Jazz.

Oooops, kinda made a idjiot of meself so I'll shut up now....

T

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='78722' date='Oct 24 2007, 10:45 AM']Bet that sounds huge.[/quote]

IMHO, they're great sounding cabs, especially for the price. Big phat big punchy tight sound with the horn and 6x10s.

Gonna miss it to be honest and I'm only getting rid of it because I had the opportunity to have G Major's EBS cabs.

[quote name='3V17C' post='78716' date='Oct 24 2007, 10:37 AM']just out of interest - how did you get rid of the big 'W' - spray over it or just turn the grill round? gotta admit that normally puts me off the warwick cabs.........[/quote]

Unfortunately, I had to spray it as the grill isn't reversible. Bit more hassle than simply turning it over but it was worth it.

T

[quote name='Machines' post='78026' date='Oct 23 2007, 08:42 AM']The ABMs have a tube circuit which can be blended in.[/quote]

Word up Matt!

I think you'll find that the Solihull/English term is "Valves"......

tut, you youngsters and your new fangled t'internet.

lol

T

Bumptity bumptity bumpster!!

Buy this wonderful amp from this top fella!

Hello all,

Due to the recent "headrush but totally chuffed now I've drunk away the guilt" purchase of a couple of stunning EBS cabs from the diamond geezer G Major, I've now got going spare my Warwick 611 PRO 6x10 cab.

Usual spec's available here.....
[url="http://www.warwickbass.com/amps/amps07.htm#611"]<a href="http://www.warwickbass.com/amps/amps07.htm#611" target="_blank">http://www.warwickbass.com/amps/amps07.htm#611[/url]</a>

Originally purchased earlier on in the year when I'd got shot of my Ampeg 810E, mine is the 6 Ohm version rather than the only recently released 4 Ohm version. However, I've been assured by Warwick themselves that the 6 Ohm is actually around the 5.3 Ohm mark. Not that it matters, it's still a huge sounding cab. IMHO, a great "rawwwwkkk" punchy cab for such a small price.

The 611 is absolutely mint and I've had the front grill refinished so there's no longer the F'ugly "W" logo on it.

Looking for around the £300 mark. Due to the size, pickup only (or a "meet somewhere in the middle maybe") based in Solihull in the Midlands.

Cheers
T

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