TrevorR

Gary, you said it! You know it's true! ;-)

And back this thread comes from the dead, shuffling and moaning like a zombie.... Uuuungh... Urrrrrnggggh...

So now it's two full months in and the flats on my MK 1 Wal continue to equal parts impress and surprise me. After a couple of months the strings seem to be settling in really nicely. Now, I don't know if it's my imagination, but they somehow seem to be doing the opposite of what round wound strings do. With rounds you put them on and bash and hammer them as much as you can to tone down the initial new string zinginess. After a couple of weeks that has gone away, the strings have toned down and the sound mellowed a bit. However, with the flats they seem to be revealing more openness in the upper mid range on the upper strings in particular. It seems to me that the D and G strings in particular seem to be adding a little bit more upper mid back into the sound. Is that normal? Maybe my ears are just getting more and more attuned to the sound of the strings and that means I'm hearing more detail. But I don't think so. We're back in wine tasting territory here trying to describe the sound but it seems like they are giving back more "parp-iness" to the sound. You know that kinda "Percyness" on fills and stuff.

Combined with the lovely woodiness which the E and A strings have it is a killer combination.

And I'm finding I'm enjoying playing with a pick so much more. I'm not much of a pick user but there are some songs where it's what is needed. The flats have so much more solid and round a tone that it sounds like the pick sounds I've had in my head. Gone are all the elements which I used to dislike when playing with pick on rounds. The scratchiness of the plectrum on the winds and overpowering top end if you got if you strayed too close to the bridge.

Now, I'm not a great pedal user either but I do use a touch of chorus or tremolo here or there for texture and the odd bit of wah every so now and again. And they just sound so great with the flats. More subtle, yes. But all the elements which, again, bugged me about the way that the string zing interacted with the pedals are gone. The effects may be more subtle but they are also so much more classy and produced sounding.

This is all very encouraging because I'd read elsewhere on here on the various "should I try flats?" threads a few comments like "And if you just want a dull thud withi no sustain at all then try La Bella strings." Which filled me with a bit of trepidation since that it not at all what I wanted. Not at all. In fact I've found quite the opposite. The strings are no where near as trebly but they are still full of guts, punch and definition.

So it's pretty clear that so far I am a fan. In fact, when there were some La Bellas going for about £25 line a while back I snapped up another set. Last night I put them on my Pro Series Wal. It's a more old school sounding rock bass to my ears than the Mk 1 so I wonder what it is going to sound like with flats on. Absolutely massive, I am guessing. Rehearsals Thursday night so I get to try it in anger... It also has a a few tone settings that always sounded a bit too harsh and toppy to my ears. Can't wait to hear what those settings sound like with flats. Absolutely rocktastic I'm guessing, in a 1970s Johnny "Gus" Gustafson kinda way. We'll see.

I guess I'll see you in a couple of months to say how I got on, judging by previous performance!!!

Also, if you have a Facebook account you can upload a photo there and then add it to a post by taking the URL of the photo and adding [ img ] before it and [ /img ] after it - no spaces... Just make sure that the privacy setting for the photo or the album it is in is set to Public.

You can use the same for any other photo on the web. E.g. From my Facebook...

[...img]https ://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t31.0-8/12698181_10153741666230860_8197166403200525338_o.jpg[... /img]
(With redundant spaces and dots "..." to mess up the code and show the general format lose the dots and you get the image below)

[quote name='JB2016' timestamp='1455922707' post='2983775']
Maybe a bit old school!!......again in no particular order
[/quote]

Hey, there ain't no school like the old school!

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1456643918' post='2990938']
What are those speakers that look like they are from Maplin called?
[/quote]

Highly rated at the SE Bass Bash bass cab shoot out... You know it makes sense...

Wow, what an amazing bass, and this coming from someone who usually into heavy relicing... Wow!

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1456053126' post='2984797']
I suppose everything boils down to the criteria you set yourself when you go out looking for a new bass/guitar/whatever.

Not only does it have to meet it's performance requirements (plays well, sounds good etc.), but it also has to meet your aesthetic requirements (as well as budgetary requirements).
[/quote]
[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1456079453' post='2985196']
I'd buy anything that feels and sounds perfect, but all of the categories you gave would hurt my aesthetic pride! To be honest, the one I'd struggle most with would be the "road-worn". Anything fake, no thanks
[/quote]

These two kinda reflect my view. I'd have to like the look of a bass no matter how well it played. Look wouldn't make me buy a bass but it might stop me.

On the relic thing, I'm a bit in two minds... A beat up, aged over the years bass that I liked, or had reliced myself over years of gigging... No probs... A new-built bass I loved the feel and sound of which had some very light relicing... Yeah, fine, so long as not too daft. "Mr Bass Maker, please beat up the new bass you're making for me." Never ever, ever, ever! I'll have it nice and shiny please.

As a reference point, the very very lightest level of relic I've seen on a Limelight is probably just about pushing at my limit... Tho, to be fair the real deal breaker for me on the options would be the SC, even over the metal monster (close behind).

Not just basses. It's also worth noting that pretty much every (or every other) traditional body shape steel strung acoustic guitar you've ever seen is a copy of a Martin model developed sometime between the mid 1800s and the 1930s...

Back in about 2000 or 2001 when I was on the look out for a Wal Pro series bass I popped into Denmark Street to see if anyone had had recently. Went into Music Ground (I think) and chatted to the bloke behind the counter. He said, "No, not had any of the old style ones in for a while. But we have just had those two in, if you're interested." and pointed to a pair of Wals hanging on the back wall. There was a maple topped fretted and a walnut fretless. But the maple one looked strangely familiar and it had a thumb rest down below the G string. I asked the assistant. He said, "Yeah, we're selling it for that bloke on Eastenders." Yes, Martin Kemp from Spandau Ballet. And they were pretty much going rate for a second hand Wal at the time. But I already had a Mk 1 Wal and I was look for a Pro Bass so I wasn't interested.

But it kept niggling at me. About a week later I broached the subject with my wife who reluctantly agreed that, if still there, it would represent an investment as well as something I would enjoy and cherish... Of course, when I went back they were both gone.

And pretty much every day I regret the day I didn't buy the Wal that Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet used at Live Aid... Arrrrgh!

Got my Pro Bass in the end though.

If I didn't already have two Snarks (brilliant) I'd probably have bought a Polytune by now...

Yeah, the two things which struck me were it's not clear if you're looking for a replacement or a temporary dep. And dial down the "hey we're a bit zany and kooky". I guess that they're intended to show that you both take the music seriously and look to enjoy it. However in an ad they com across as a bit naff.

I'd have said... [size="1"]"This means we are looking to find someone to front the band and sing occasional male/female twin vocal songs/duets, we’ve..." "[size="1"]We're all working professionals aged from 30 to 40."[/size][/size]

Having "childish" members will be an immediate turn off for any applicant. This will read as "[i]One member of the band is an utter dick. Probably the drummer. And you'll need to sing with him.[/i]"

Mo Foster plays some lovely fretless on his solo albums...

http://youtu.be/ribitQEUA3A

http://youtu.be/xGKilB2xalE

http://youtu.be/pZpx-rswKiA

There are no wrong notes, there is only "Jazz"!

Gordon Giltrap tells an anecdote that when he was an up and coming guitarist he was chatting to Hank Marvin who said to him, "If you ever play a bum note then always play it again the next couple of times that bit of the song comes up. That way people will think it's not a wrong note but an arrangement and assume that they're not musically advanced enough to understand."

Apparently, many years later, when he was playing in Sir Cliff's Heathcliffe musical doing acoustic interludes between the scenes as "The Troubadour" one night he dropped a bit of a clanger in one tune. He dutifully incorporated it for the rest of the tune. Apparently Sir Cliff sidled up to him afterwards and said... "I noticed that a little bit of, ahem... Jazz... crept into that tune tonight." Gordon nods sheepishly, "I noticed that you deliberately repeated it a few times." Gordon nods sheepishly. Sir Cliff looks him straight in the eye and asks "Have you been talking to Hank?" before bursting into laughter.

Played a few nice ones when I was in a function/wedding band too... a lovely old brick cellar with suprisingly good acoustics near Waltham Abbey, on the grand marble staircase in hte entrance hall at a public school in Surrey, in a converted barn in deepest darkest Surrey which had been beautifully done, similar venue in Oxfordshire/Bedfordshire (next door to Ozzy and Sharon's gaff - which was ironically the reason for the super strict 11pm curfew!!!), The Pump Rooms and the Guildhall in Bath (both sumptuously Georgian in their decor), a gorgeous riverside hotel near Henley where our function room opened up onto the lawns which rolled down to the river, Ascot Racecourse...

But also some lovely venues where I've seen music too...

Ginglik - a nightclub under Shepherds Bush Green which is a converted Victorian Gentlemen's lavatory complex - the sort where you would have had a barber, a cobbler, a tailor etc all in the same place underground. Used to have the very best acoustic showcase night in London (The Big Secret), sadly not any more. They used to have an artist live illustrating the music which was then projected up onto the wall... Sooooooooo cool!



Bush Hall in Shepherds Bush - lovely venue.

Riverboar on the Thames - saw British Sea Power doing a renewable energy corporate event...




Soho Revue Bar (formally the Raymond Revue Bar), London - saw Paul Carrack doing an album launch show case gig there. More alcoves with poles and red velvet wall coverings than you could shake a... I'll stop there...

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - saw Nerina Pallot there supported by Jon Allen many moons ago on a balmy summer's evening. Totally magical.

St John's Church, Farncombe - venue of Farncombe Music Club. Always a lovely place to see acoustic based music (and noisy stuff too).



Green Note, Camden - teeny tiny venue cum veggie restaurant in Camben. Wonderful place. Fave ever venue.


Red Sky July - couldn't get far away to get a full band shot with my 50mm low f-stop lens... too intimite!

Minack Theatre on the cliffside in Cornwall... say no more!

Eden Project in Cornwall... also say no more.

My back room - when we used to do "house gigs". Here's (this year's Grammy winning) singer songwriter Amy Wadge from about 6 or 7 years ago doing a gig at our place...

Well, 15 years ago! And priced to the "current market value" price quoted in an article in The Guitar Magazine... So, yeah Both my Wals for about 500 quid each (many moons ago)... "Engaging 'Smug mode', Mr Rimmer, Sir!"

Full stories here... http://walbasshistory.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/my-basses-1978-wal-pro-series-bass.html

And here... http://walbasshistory.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/my-basses-1985-wal-custom-4-string-bass.html

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1456234270' post='2986846']
I've never seen Phil play a Blazer... He did play a Roadster for a time, the active single pickup model with an aftermarket scratchplate IIRC.
[/quote]

Hmmm...Roadster? Blazer? It was still just a P Bass copy with an ugly wrong way round headstock curve to me at the time... brain made/advancing age/memory going.

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1456316312' post='2987689']
Check out Paul Rodgers - Muddy Water Blues. There's some quite heavy interpretations of some classic blues numbers on there.
[/quote]

He also did a live album called Live: The Loreley Tapes whic has some top stuff on it. Geoff Whitehorn on guitar duties.

For that rock/blues thing also definintely check out some of Gary Moore's blues albums.. Still Got the Blues, After Hours and his "Scars" band album spring most readily to mind. You might also check out BBM (Bruce, Baker, Moore) for some Cream-alike renderings...

As others have said, the real answer is because I could afford them and I like them (nay, love them)! But for the purposes of craic...

Aria SB700 - my first ever bass. Not played much now but great sentimental value (18th birthday pressie from mum and dad). Too lovely ever to sell.

Wal Mk1 Custom - fell in love with the Wal sound watching Robbie Burns demo some Marshall amps at the London Music Show in 1988 and thought, "I'd love one but could never justify the price". Bought mine second hand in 1993 for £500. Been my main bass ever since. Will never sell.

Wal Pro II E - thought it would be cool to own one since they are lovely basses and sound great. Found a second hand one in a local shop and after a haggling session that lasted 18 months (it really was stupidly over priced) bought it in 2001 or 2002 for £550. Has been my second bass ever since - always took two basses to the gigs when I was in a function/covers band and used both across the set. Will never sell.

Frankenjazz - bought cheap off eBay as a project bass. Turned out properly lovely and got used regularly for many years until I loaned it to a producer chum. It now earns its keep in his studio and I suspect I may never ever get it back...

Tony Revell Custom acoustic bass - bought as an indulgence from my share of the band recording fund when the folk band I played in split up. Lovely, unique. Paid dividends when I was effectively housebound with ME for two years in the mid 90s.

Faith Titan Neptune Bass - bought a couple of years ago because we started doing acoustic nights at church and the TRevell has no pickup and is too delicate to drag around.

Markbass LMII, Traveler 2x10 and Traveler 1x15 - a really great sounding flexible rig which has seen me right in a myriad of different contexts and venues... Back line only gigs, clubs with PAs, marquees, hotel function rooms, church, prison gigs, local festivals, wine bar gigs...

Polytune pedal - essential piece of kit
Tech 21 Sansamp VT DI - because we've now gone amp free at church
Ancient Boss CE2B chorus, EHX Pulsar tremolo (a gift from a friend), Morely Bass Dual Wah - all I need for additional textures and more.
Lehle 3@1 - for switching basses when I was in the band and used two on stage

Lozz, don't sell yourself short. Since this hypothetical person is hypothetically saying "Money no option" at the very least treat yourself to a Masterbuilt Custom Shop P bass...

Scott Devine is giving his top 10 tips for flying with a bass in this week's Scott's Bass Lessons video blog...


http://youtu.be/_7zbE8bpkyM

Easy, two choices for me...

A Wal MkIII Custom series bass... Probably an olive ash top, maybe in trans blue... 4 or 5... Not fussy...

A 64 YOB Jazz Bass (or maybe a Hofner... Nah, deffo a Jazz)... For no other reason than that would be cool.

PS Happy Birthday!

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1456004028' post='2984528']
Is that John Sykes on guitar as well?
[/quote]

Yes, from the farewell / Thunder and Lightning tour in 1893. Saw them on that tour and the Renegade tour in the summer of 81. On that tour Phil was playing an Ibanez Blazer bass with a mirror scratch plate.

I ended up ditching Bose ear buds after a few years. The performance of the buds was a fine but the cable at the mini Jack went far too easily and quickly for gear in that price range. And of course, the earbuds were hard wired so that was a terminal case. Complained and sent them back on a couple of occasions but even when replacements came back with a redesigned style of plug and cable they still didn't last nearly as long as I would have expected gear of that quality. And I'm pretty gentle and anal about looking after that type of thing. Between use they lived in their own little case, not tightly wound around my iPod.

Moral, if you're going for expensI've ear buds splash out on a brand with replaceable cables. Not used them but the Shure in ears look pretty good for the price.

Now for the iPod I just use cheap as chips Sennheiser CX3000 buds which, don't sound appreciably different for iPod use and have lasted three times as long. Anything more esoteric and I'll use my in moulded ears...

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1455876336' post='2983119']
The TE website doesn't appear to have been updated for some considerable time.

It's won't be long until TE is no more I imagine.
[/quote]

...again... A sad piece of deja vu for a great, badly mistreated brand.