Balcro

[quote name='OldGit' post='691875' date='Dec 22 2009, 09:36 PM']I've got a new reggae band possibly happening in the New Year so I'm looking for tracks to play that really work. We have the "floor fillers" thread for pop/rock etc [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=8685&view=findpost&p=90010"]here[/url] but I'm looking for the reggae ones. Complete sets for reggae bands would be good as well. Chuck in your ska top tracks too if you like though this project is decidedly more reggae than ska Thanks[/quote] "Return to Django" by the Upsettters. Oh, I'm old. Balcro.

[quote name='rip-da-cut' post='687124' date='Dec 17 2009, 10:51 AM']In what ways do some amps/cabinets colour sound? Do any particular bass guitars have a distinctive character? I'm trying to find/or explain a distinctive sound I keep hearing in a lot of old reggae/dub numbers, maybe you guys can help me out, the sound I hear could be described as almost "vowel" like, for example in this Dennis Brown number, the bass appears to me to have a slight "e" formant/characteristic. [url="http://dl2.musicwebtown.com/rip_the_cut_/playlists/283991/2983425.mp3"]http://dl2.musicwebtown.com/rip_the_cut_/p...991/2983425.mp3[/url] I'm wondering if maybe bass tones recorded through distinctive sounding amps could cause the sound to lean towards particular vowels, maybe one bass/amp combination might have a subtle "e" voicing, the next an "o" could this be possible? Are amps or bass guitars ever talked about in these kinds of terms such as formant characteristics?[/quote] I think "stevie's" right. That may have been a plain bass line at some time, but it sounds very processed to deliberately remove normal note definition. That way it matches the rest of the sounds. Balcro.

[quote name='guybrush threepwood' post='686223' date='Dec 16 2009, 12:26 PM']Cool, cheers Balcro. Yeah, I realised Warwick owned Framus, but I thought that they only made guitars nowadays...[/quote] A bit of self correction. I've seen a '96 Streamer LX that has the P/J configuration. Maybe it'a version of that. I can't seen any basses on the Framus web-site and their vintage-framus section is really vintage. Balcro

[quote name='guybrush threepwood' post='686068' date='Dec 16 2009, 09:17 AM']Looks nice, but no idea about it... Can anyone enlighten me? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Framus-Fretless-bass-guitar-MINT_W0QQitemZ190358218125QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item2c523be58d#ht_500wt_1051"]Framus Fretless[/url][/quote] Framus are part of the Warwick group. The body and headstock look like pure Warwick copies, but I don't recall any recent Warwick stuff with P/J's. Try the web-site www.warwick.de for the e-mail contact. Balcro

[quote name='maxrossell' post='682941' date='Dec 13 2009, 12:48 PM']I know what you're saying. Unfortunately we're locked into using this space for various reasons that are frankly too boring to go into right now. Also, due to the nature of our arrangement with the space owners, any changes we make to the space are pretty much limited to hanging stuff on the walls and putting stuff on the floor. I wouldn't seek to attenuate all of the reflections - for instance I have a feeling that the ceilings, which are a series of brick arches, might actually help to provide room ambience in a far more random and therefore pleasing way. I think it's mainly that we need to break up the broad expanses of bare breezeblock that are currently reflecting the hell out of the drums and guitars. I think we might try experimenting with dampened risers for the bass and drums as well, just to get them off our rubbish floor.[/quote] I would try getting hold of some 8x4' sheets of 12 / 15mm fibreboard and rest them against the walls. If the building owner will allow, I would suggest you just use 1 screw for each at the top to prevent them falling forward. Place them so as to fill up the wall spaces between (and or overlay) the foam mats. Balcro.

It's a +1 with "Brave Sir Robin". + The Ibanez SRX 360. Balcro.

[quote name='bassjamm' post='675343' date='Dec 6 2009, 12:01 AM']By the way...does anyone have any, or know anywhere to get some sound clips of any of the Gibson/Epiphone basses?[/quote] Try here. [url="http://www.epiphone.com/news.asp?NewsID=500"]http://www.epiphone.com/news.asp?NewsID=500[/url] I couldn't get the EB-0 clip to work, but all the others did. Balcro.

Have a look at this: - [url="http://www.dv247.com/guitars/squier-p-bass-special-left-handed-bass-guitar-antique-burst-rosewood-neck--40758"]http://www.dv247.com/guitars/squier-p-bass...ood-neck--40758[/url] It is a P/J and if the description is correct, it has a jazz width neck. Balcro. PS. I think yorick beat me to it.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='669836' date='Nov 30 2009, 10:50 AM']Who makes these bits of cr@p?[/quote] These people. [url="http://www.formula-sound.com/nc-overview.php"]http://www.formula-sound.com/nc-overview.php[/url] and - [url="http://www.castlegroup.co.uk/noise-activated-warning/view-all-products.html"]http://www.castlegroup.co.uk/noise-activat...l-products.html[/url] - the originators of the electronic orange. Them and perhaps 2 or 3 others. Don't blame these guys. Blame the venue operators who haven't upgraded their systems. The old fashioned/obsolete red,yellow and green light devices [u]on their own[/u] are useless. Balcro.

[quote name='Mecklenburg' post='657916' date='Nov 18 2009, 11:08 AM']Hi all, Looking at starting a new musical adventure - well a drummer and I have been talking about it for long enough! It will just be me and the drummer. Anyone else done this sort of thing before? Obviously there's the doom band OM, who are great. What have you used in terms of gear, I'm thinking of using my AB/Y box and two amps with different FX on each. Any tips on filling the sound out, don't want it to sound empty - if that's the right word? Cheers![/quote] Why not have another bass player, one playing a short-scale bass. They can do counter melodies and fill in the middle. Balcro.

Thank you "thisnameistaken" - Simply no need for words. This used to be called power-dressing. All the shoulder pads you can muster. Judging by the faded stencil paint on the amp it's £27,000 worth. I think that means you're serious. No one in the audience will be taken prisoner. Ampeg - I've arrived. Mesa - I'm on the same bill as Paul McCartney. Balcro.

Thanks for the tip. Very interesting. Looks like the fretless version is quite new. Available in the US and Australia but not over here yet. Balcro.

I think ebay is in decline. Ever more examples of dodgy sellers and manipulated feedback. I came across this today - well, he could be mistaken - [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/EPIPHONE-BY-GIBSON-BASS-GUITAR-EXCELLENT-CASE_W0QQitemZ150387677152QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item2303cdd7e0"]http://cgi.ebay.com/EPIPHONE-BY-GIBSON-BAS...=item2303cdd7e0[/url] Yea, of course, Balcro

Where is bass and where can it go? What do do now that you've reached that technical plateau? Well, I think bass is suffering from the historical forces of pop/rock etc., and how that in turn has taken over a huge part of "western" culture. Cast your minds back to recordings by Cream. Three musicians playing their socks off and very much equal contributors to the whole. What happens at the end of "Crossroads" (with it's storming bass line). Some transaltantic announcer pops up with "Eric Clapton, please; vocals." Huh, he got recognition for that? See what I mean. Jump forward 40 years and consider "Later with Jools Holland" and the Jonathan Ross show. Are you constantly driven mad by the producer switching cameras back and fore to home in on the lead guitar, then the drums, then the keyboards, then the backing singer. We're lucky if we get a fleeting chance to see tha bass player - usually the quiet man at the back. Even if "Sting" is playing and holding centre stage, there's little camera focus on his bass playing. Yes, bass is still in the shadows. Yes, I would like somebody to push the boundaries (I don't have a problem with anyone pushong the boundaries), but I don't think the super bass technicians either help or hinder the cause. While demonstrating such virtuosity, they're only appealing to a knowledgeable minority. Where is the performance going to get a hearing? Probably not on TV or radio. Doddy's right, there are no bass heroes in modern mainstream music. I'm fully in agreement with Doddy's opinion - Why shouldn't the Bass be used as a lead or solo instrument? Just because people are currently conditioned into believing that the bass just plays riffs and chugs along on the bottom doesn't mean it should stay there. Remember...the guitar wasn't always the predominant lead/solo instrument. It's still common parlance to refer to a lead guitar. So why not lead bass. Rename that 6-string thing a treble guitar. Steal the guitarists clothes - see that link to Flea playing the bass before the Lakers v Rockets game. Here's the link - it's sheer indulgence, especially from 1.05 onwards - [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGuEagHDL9M&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGuEagHDL9M...feature=related[/url] [i]Not bad for a 35 year old reconditioned bass stack. No idea how old Flea is.[/i] There are thousands of other lines/themes/jingles to be stolen, appropriated or tunes re-arranged. Bass led trios/groups/bands, Twin bass bands; one long scale the other short-scale. Writing songs with stand out bass lines. I think the answer is in the music. Go there. PS. Treble guitarists not included. Balcro.

Aye, that's a canny lass you've got there. The way to a man's heart is through his bass as well as his stomach. BurritoBass is cool. Balcro.

That's an Acoustic 408 cabinet. It appears to have a slot port in the upward facing driver baffle. Quite why they were built that way I don't know, but there's probably only one place you'll find out - here: [url="http://unofficialacousticcontrolcorpmessageboard.yuku.com/"]http://unofficialacousticcontrolcorpmessageboard.yuku.com/[/url] Occasionally they have a technical wizard on the forum called Harvey Gerst from the original Acoustic Co. Put an enquiry into the apropriate forum and you should get a reply. Let us all know why they built it like that. You have to be an Acoustic owner to get on the forum. Balcro.

[quote name='KiOgon' post='624504' date='Oct 12 2009, 10:29 PM']Now you've got me looking at Ashdown & I think I'm in love :rolleyes: with the new Ashdown five fifteen mini bass stack! Of course it's £50 over budget but WoW. What do the panel think? Cheers, John[/quote] I've got a 5-15 combo and it has all the necessary for home practice and small gigs. Headphone socket & CD input. Essential for near silent home practice. For some silly reason, many "practice amps" leave out one or the other. The 5-15 mini-rig seems to be more expensive than the combo, but it's cabinet handles and amp strap make it much more portable. The 5-15 is quite heavy, lacks cabinet handles and the square shape is much more awkward to carry. Balcro.

[quote name='nash' post='622119' date='Oct 9 2009, 10:54 PM']the series one stuff is terrible. why would anyone make a 200 watt valve guitar amp? also do you me mott as in mott the hoople? when i saw them he was using an SVT 2 clean as a whistle and he use the blackstar 30 watters for his baritone[/quote] Why not. I wouldn't say no to 200w of valve amp. Yes, Mott as in Mott the Hoople. I guess you saw them at the Monmouth warm-up gigs. By the time they got to Hammersmith, I couldn't see any Ampeg gear. OW appeared to be using the Blackstar separates. Couldn't tell if he or Verden Allen was using the adjacent twin Ashdown stacks. VA also had twin Leslies. All 3 basses sounded really driven. Balcro

Why does she call herself Horse! She may well have been given the nickname by an ex-partner. Could be seen as an inverted jokey compliment. Hoarse she isn't. Otherwise, it sounds like too much self deprecation and it gets in the way of her talent. Super voice with character, deserving of a wider audience. Balcro.

[quote name='Finbar' post='621211' date='Oct 9 2009, 12:34 AM']Looking to buy a new head in the near future. Money is (virtually) no object. I will save for the right thing. Basically I'm running an Ampeg SVP preamp into a poweramp right now, and I have the drive control maxed out, but it still isn't driving enough for me. I want an absolutely filthy sounding amp, that still sounds like I have control over it, not like I'm fighting against how noisy it is. The solid state power amp feels like its telling me to wind back a bit, whereas the valve amp I used to have felt like it was always encouraging me to push it more and more. So I'm definitely after a valve head. But I don't want something which only sounds good when you're running it at mega volume. Has to be able to do the same kind of sound at lower volumes too, for rehearsals and gigs where I need a lower onstage volume. So I was thinking of maybe a lower wattage head? I don't need or want 400 clean watts. Any help mega appreciated! :)[/quote] Having heard one of these at the recent Mott concert, I was mighty impressed by the sheer drive of this gear. Reading between the lines, it seems to have circuitry that maintains the gritty overdrive sound even when turned down to low volumes. Maybe a trip down the A1(m) might prove interesting. I'm sure they can oblige if money is no object. [url="http://www.blackstaramps.co.uk/products/seriesone/index.html"]http://www.blackstaramps.co.uk/products/seriesone/index.html[/url] Balcro.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='621593' date='Oct 9 2009, 01:47 PM']Cabs that you may have seen without damping should be considered defective. There are two reasons for not fully lining a cabinet. One is that the manufacturer doesn't know any better, the other is that the manufacturer does know better but prefers not to go to the expense. :angry:[/quote] Having both eyeballed and stuffed my arm up the port of and old Trace-Elliot 2x12 (a la James Herriott) in Cash Converters earlier this morning, I'm pleased to hear you say that. Could the manufacturers also do this to deliberately give the speakers a rougher sounding edge? Balcro.

That's nice. Good luck with the upcoming dates. Balcro.

Thanks for the Zadok reminder "mrcrow". Singing bass in the school concert. Full orchestra & big choir in the Great Hall (posh school in central London). Awesome piece of music and two choked parents in row 14. School founders thanksgiving service in St. Pauls Cathedral. In the choir stalls with the school choir. Wow, I'm here moment. Gentle thunder and echo from the organ. However hard you try, your voice just dissipates out into the ether. Ooo, the chills. April '69. A small pub on the north circular road called "The Cooks Ferry Inn". In a hall only 20 yards long, me and 15 others listening to the original Mott the Hoople. A different kind of thunder. Hooked for life. Balcro.

[quote name='Monz' post='609482' date='Sep 26 2009, 07:08 PM']OK I'm fairly new to this bass game so likely to get gazumped by nearly all of you 58 for the 60's/70's/80's covers band 22 and counting for the rock band 15 and counting for the ska/reggae band These are numbers that I would be confident playing on stage tonight if I had to... Probably another 20 or so that I learned purely because I liked the bassline[/quote] Respect. Balcro

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='609171' date='Sep 26 2009, 12:36 PM']I was asked recently by a guitarist (just starting out in bands) exactly how many songs I 'memorised' as he was amazed that I could play with 2 bands at once (though I have been in up to 4 at any given time ); this was prompted by the fact he'd seen me at a one-off gig that I did with a band that I've not played with for quite a while. I tried explaining that I actually have a rubbish memory but these clips on youtube probably sum up my (ahem) [u][b]ability[/b][/u] quite well (give the first one a minute or so as it does get better/entertaining). [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_f6pfabQk&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_f6pfabQk...feature=related[/url][/quote] Wow, the video! You've found the fourth chord! Please e-mail to - [email protected] They'll be pleased to hear from you. My simple answer; about 7; and 4 of those need the 5 min refresher. Balcro