Russ

Scratch that. It's on the BBC now. RIP Jack. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-29772926?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central

Supposedly, it happened on Thursday and it's not being reported by any legit news sites yet, so I still think it's a hoax. He probably used the same passwords for Twitter, Facebook and his site's CMS or something.

I coded up a much better musician search website a few years ago. Far better than Joinmyband, Bandmix, etc. No bugger used it though, so I took it down. I also think, reluctantly, that people would rather use something they already know for music networking - ie, Facebook. I kinda miss the days where you just answered ads in Loot. If you do want to go outside FB, StarNow is fairly good and seems to get some reasonably high-profile gigs, but you have to pay to use it, which most people won't do.

I tried one a few times. Not brilliant, but adequate for some things. It works better if you play clean, possibly with a pick, run the bass through a compressor then play high up on the neck and use the MIDI device to transpose down an octave. It didn't track the low notes too well, and adding treble with active electronics tended to add overtones which confused it and made it go a bit "wobbly". Adding mids seemed to work pretty well though.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1411573498' post='2560820'] If it's that good . . . . why? [/quote] Because I like having an active bass and onboard tone shaping beyond what a passive tone control can do. It'll make an already good sounding bass sound even better. You've got to start with something that's good to begin with - you can't polish a turd.

I played a Revelation 5-string today - spectacularly good instrument for £200. It's from a British company, with a natural ash body, pearloid scratchplate, blocked maple neck and great pickups with chunky MM-style polepieces. It was as good as any mid-to-high-end Jazz-type bass out there. I'm thinking of getting one and sticking a J-Retro in it. I've got some high-end gear (Sei, Spector, etc) but I still love a good cheapie.

Sounds intriguing and potentially right up my street. So, where in South London are you (ie, where do you rehearse), do you have anything we can listen to, and are there any requirements age-wise?

I haven't been in a proper band since 2009, but I still play more or less every day. It sucks, as I'm probably a better player now than I ever was. It's just that there's not many bands who want to play original progressive metal locally who'd be willing to deal with a hairy 42-year-old with two kids and no desire to get signed or any of that sort of thing (been there, done that, didn't like it much).

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1408087050' post='2526887'] Question for you cognoscenti please: What's the difference between a 'standard' Flamboyant and and Offset Flamboyant? Couldn't find anything on the website about this. [/quote] This is a regular Flamboyant: ... and this is an offset one: The "waist" of the bass is offset forward, you can see it most in the top bout. It's OK, but I like the non-offset one better.

I remember seeing a Wal for £200 back in the mid-90s. I'd have had it if I'd had £200 at the time! Back then, they weren't very well informed, and didn't have the internet to check the value of things. Nowadays they can just go on eBay, see what similar gear sold for, then offer you 50% of that.

Had my Sei Flamboyant singlecut 5 for 11 years now. It's a wonderful bass, and I shall never be parted from it. I've also owned 3 other Seis over the years, and they've all been brilliant instruments. Three of the four Seis I've had have been custom builds. Martin has been building basses at The Gallery for 22 years, and knows pretty much all there is to know about it. It pays to do your homework though, come prepared with ideas about neck dimensions, possible wood combinations and maybe some recordings of bass tones you like or might be trying to recreate. If he suggests something you hadn't thought of regarding tone or feel, take his advice - he knows his s**t. Then comes the painful bit - the 12-18-month wait... but it'll be worth it.

Bumping this again. Still bandless...

I've been looking for a 1305 or 1306 for quite some time. They're rare beasts. I have an 1206 right now and it's a great bass, with the Nordstrand Big Singles, but I'm still craving a bit of mid-90s padauk goodness.

Dev. [color=#333333][font=Helvetica, Arial,]April 13th n[/font][/color]ext year. Albert Hall. With Ziltoid. Hell f***in' yeah.

[quote name='bluesparky' timestamp='1404770513' post='2495635'] I'll need to get some of his stuff now - he's got some great praise in the previous posts. Where should I start? What are the "go-to" albums he's done? [/quote] His most accessible albums are definitely Addicted and Epicloud, both quite recent, so jump in there. Ki is also great, if not typical of his usual style. Beyond that, and going back a little, Terria, Synchestra and Accelerated Evolution are awesome, Ocean Machine is sublime, and of course his body of work with Strapping Young Lad is essential if industrial-tinged angry yet melodic metal is your thing (go for City and The New Black first). And, for sheer fun, there's his "rock opera", Ziltoid The Omniscient. All of his albums have great stuff on them, just some more than others. Some of his late-90s records (Infinity, Physicist) are a little on the weird side, but contain some great tunes in amongst the strangeness (Christeen - with Ginger Wildheart, Kingdom, Bad Devil, etc). More recently, Deconstruction is a great record, very heavy and ambitious, but almost unlistenable in parts! And, much as I'm a Dev fan, I haven't really got into his latest, the Casualties Of Cool album.

I'm a massive fan. Met him on several occasions too, never anything but fun and gracious for the support he gets. I always had him pegged as "the best rock musician you've never heard of", so I'm glad to see him getting his props a bit more often lately. Saw Strapping and the DTB several times back in the day, and I went to the Retinal Circus show last year. What a gig - something for everyone, commentary by Steve Vai, Anneke van Giersburgen singing wonderfully (and looking gorgeous as usual), stuff from more or less all of Dev's back catalogue, including a couple of Strapping tunes (with Jed Simon on guitar), and plenty of additional theatrics. I think Addicted and Epicloud are two of the best rock/metal albums of recent years, and I'm looking forward to the Z2/new DTP double album coming soon. All hail the mighty Dev. I hope he kick's Sonisphere's arse tomorrow.

Very nice bass. The US-made Peavey basses are absolute bargains used, and the Millenniums were gorgeous (especially with the tiger eye finish). I've been on the lookout for a GV for a while now.

[quote name='Mr H' timestamp='1400513946' post='2454520'] A few years ago Fishbone played at a small venue in Ashton-under-Lyne, on a boiling evening during which they weren't allowed to open the side doors because of the volume. Norwood was wearing what appeared to be a richly-embroidered rug with a hole cut in the middle for his head, perhaps some kind of priestly garb. Anyway, he wasn't wearing anything else aside from his bass and strap, and from the regular side views I got I can add that he also touts quite a spectacular cock. [/quote] Who knows... he might want to try out a new form of slapping. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XmMI9OhqcY[/media]

Give A Monkey A Brain.... didn't come out until 1993, so it was probably supporting The Reality Of My Surroundings (great record). They did disappear for a while after GAMAB came out when they had various lineup issues (including Kendall Jones joining the Moonies and having to be basically kidnapped to get him out). They got dropped by Sony and have survived on indie labels ever since.

Always legendary, fun shows. Norwood is, and always has been, an amazing player, touting a great range of Warwicks, serious chops and groove, one huge dreadlock and a towel. I first saw them in 1993 supporting RHCP (with the Rollins Band also on the bill) at Brixton. It was the classic lineup with Kendall Jones, etc at the height of their power, and was utterly blown away - they blew RHCP off stage that night. I saw them a couple of years back at the Islington Academy too - much smaller show, obviously, and with an almost completely new lineup including Rocky George (ex-Suicidal Tendencies), but still awesome.

Make sure it's plugged directly into the wall, not into a power strip or extension lead. The signal degrades badly if you do - the cheap wiring used in those was never designed to carry data at high speed.

Out of any kind of gig, I'll take originals over and above anything else. But I'll take a tribute band over a regular cover band.

I like tribute bands. I prefer them to regular cover bands, especially when they make an effort with the look and performance as well. Although some of them take it too far. Fake American accents, ridiculous between-song banter, etc. Reminded me of that movie Rock Star with Mark Wahlberg. That was rather well observed.