Cato

I think Bass Direct have a few, but I don't think many US G & L instruments reach these shores.

I've been keeping half an eye open for an Asat to try for years and I've only ever found a couple in stock in the whole of the UK, usually at the other end of the country.

Edit : Just had a look on BD's website and it all seems to be tributes at the moment, sorry. Might be worth speaking to them though.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1476042143' post='3150789']


I hate the fact that most guitarists I've played with buy this as their first pedal and feel that they need to use it all the time...
[/quote]

A good distortion/drive pedal is very useful for quiet home practice but I'd agree that a lot of them don't sound great in a live band situation.

There aren't any effects that I intrinsically hate, but I've heard a lot of guitarists use effects that I didn't think worked particularly well with the music they were playing.

That's largely a personal taste thing.

A bit of funky guitar through a wah peddle is a wonderful thing though.

Since reading the 'how much for a Sadowsky Metro' thread and doing a bit of online research, a Sadowsky Metro.

I got my hartke 3500 in 1990 and it's had a fair bit of use over years and never given me a moments trouble.

The 4x10 Carlsboro I bought at the same time is another story though.

I play Jazz basses and pretty much always go for the classic 'everything on full' approach.

That sound is why I play jazzes.

If I do want to try and match someone else's tone I generally tweak the amp or cycle through the presets on my zoom b1on.

Robert Glasper, 20th November, Birmingham Town Hall.

I suspect a lot of us know more theory than we think.

We know which notes work with various chords & keys- we just don't know the technical name or explanation for that knowledge.

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1475839023' post='3149086']


Gary Day who played with Morrissey is a member on here. I wonder what he thinks of this?
[/quote]

Fair enough I should amend that to 'apparently Morrissey doesn't think Andy Rourke or Mike Joyce contributed to the success of The Smiths that much'.

Certainly not enough to justify what they were awarded in their court case, which Mozza is still quite bitter about going by his comments about the judge in his autobiography.

Morrissey apparently doesn't think bass players (or drummers) contribute that much...

I definitely think that steels can be 'grippier' (is that a word?).

As in they feel a bit rougher, are more resistant to slides and generate more noise from your fretting hand.

But they do have more of the bright zingy sound characteristics I love for a clean & punchy tone.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1475761455' post='3148550']
Why not just play regular DR strings.? Playing with a pick make the strings last way longer anyways. DR make long lasting strings, this coating stuff I just don't buy.
[/quote]

I've had a set of hi beams on my favourite bass since February.

They taken a load of abuse as I've spent most of my practice time this year trying to improve my slap technique.

They still sound great.

I reckon Sea Foam Green or any of the more surfy vintage fender colours would look great.

Really not a fan of the sunburst though.

Lovely looking thing.

Before I saw the headstock and got a proper look at the controls I was thinking it was probably a Sandberg or a Sadowsky Metro.

There was a fretless Yamaha on eBay the other day that I'd have had in a second if it hadn't been collection only from Cornwall.

Mind you a large part of that is down to my inherent laziness and unwillingness to spend most of a day driving from Warwickshire to Cornwall and back or spend the additional money required to do so on a hundred quid bass.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1475582611' post='3147055']

That's how musical exchanges in Birmingham was in 1990, and guess what, all those annoying kids grew up, got jobs and spent loads of cash in there just a few years later,my originals band must have spent nearly 10k in there over a few years.
[/quote]

I reckon that shop gave all the regulars unfeasibly high expectations.

It might be the rose tinted memories of youth, but every guitar shop I've ever been in since has been slightly disappointing by comparison.

They just had so much variety and they'd let spotty 15 year old me and my mates try anything.

Needless to say when I had the money that's where all my gear came from.

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1475586751' post='3147106']
An Axe bass as advertised in the pages of Kerrang...
[/quote]

My first bass.

They weren't too bad actually, inch high action and noisy back pickup aside.

Post modern plagiarism.

I wouldn't let the drunk guy in the pub have a go, but if someone I knew was another bass player (as opposed to the drunk guy who tells you he can play bass) asked, I wouldn't give it a second thought before handing it over.

Mind you, neither of my basses are particularly expensive.

Maybe it goes back to when you first start playing?

You concentrate on your dominant hand just hitting the strings and making a rhythm while the other one slowly and awkwardly frets the strings, probably not at the same time.

As you progress both hands become more and more dextrous in the roles you initially assigned to them?

I got into Anthrax and Megadeth in about 88, it wasn't until the Black album that I really started listening to Metallica. ( Though I learnt the easy bits from Anesthesia before that to impress my non playing mates).

So I was a bit of a populist bandwagon jumper in that respect.

I was never a huge Slayer fan though, I think it was the vocals which put me off.

Even if the current owners went to the wall the creditors would still be able to sell the brand along with the US factories to a new set of owners as a going concern.

As I understand it's not the original core business that got them into trouble, it's all the other shenanigans and corporate take overs of other businesses which have then failed which has left them with huge debts.

I believe Fender are in a similar though not quite so precarious position.

Playing along to Ramones albums.

I reckon one of the keys to learning and sticking with an instrument is enjoying your practice time, especially early on.

My sister reached grade 8 on the flute, but gave it up when she went to uni

My parents really weren't that keen when I started teaching myself guitar, but I've been going for 25 years now and even made a bit of money from it along the way, assuming you don't offset money earned against equipment bought.

I noticed these on the Anderton's website the other day.

£850 for a four stringer.

If they are USA made then that's pretty cheap for a Gibson anything.

I still wouldn't touch one with someone else's, but I imagine some people looking for a 'brand' bass may well be tempted.

Probably a BC Rich Warlock or Mocking Bird.

I was very metal back then.

I actually wouldn't mind a Mocking Bird now, beautiful looking basses, though I'd probably go for a natural finish rather than the late 80s/early 90s neon-crackles-on-a-black-background that I fancied then.