Russ

[quote name='patrikmarky' timestamp='1421794651' post='2665236'] Ibanez atk 405 ..why oh why did I sell this ...like hens teeth now [/quote] I had one of those for a while. Spectacularly good instrument for the money, and probably the best recorded sound I've ever had. The newer ATKs just aren't as good.

There's a few I've sold over the years that I'd buy back in a heartbeat if they were to show up. There is one bass in particular, though. Back in the mid-90s, I was craving a Sei, but couldn't afford one. So I hit on the idea of buying a bass body with through-neck from Brandoni, and got the guys at The Gallery to transform it into a pseudo-Sei. I loved that bass - I helped design the body shape. I had to sell it back in 2001 during a particularly difficult personal period, and would pay good money to get it back into my hands. I sold it to the guys at the old Bass Cellar in Denmark St, no idea what ended up happening to it after that. It had a Bartolini MME pickup, Schack 3-band electronics and a Kahler tremolo bridge. Sounds a bit melodramatic, but that bass probably saved my life back in the late 90s. This was it:

I love my Barefaced stuff, but if Hartke decided to start producing lightweight 2x12" cabs, I'd be in. Love the tone of the HyDrive gear, they're just a bit big and bulky for me. I had a nice chat with Larry Hartke last time I was back over in the States (he works part-time at Sam Ash in 48th St, NYC, a stone's throw from Times Square), and he's a top bloke, very genuine and interested in what people think of his gear.

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1417900670' post='2625010'] Wish I'd bought one of these years ago when I had the chance. [/quote] The Gallery had one up until quite recently. First one I'd seen in years. I used to see them occasionally at Andy's in Denmark Street back in the 90s. Only bass I've ever seen where you actually needed an allen key to tune it, due to his unique headstock design. Great instruments though. Beautiful, light, wonderfully made, fantastically skinny neck, and "mwah" for days. I wonder what happened to Mr. Eccles?

There used to be a UK bass builder who made basses like that - Eccles. His basses were short scale and entirely made from one piece of wood. He also made all his own pickups, hardware and so on. They were pretty unique.

Only ever got to see him once, with BBM at Brixton back in '93 or so. Great show. To be honest, I loved his voice more than his bass playing, although he did play a mean bass. Only Ginger left out of those three now.

He hadn't really been well since his liver transplant. When Cream did their reunion a few years back he sang and played great, but looked dreadful (then again, Ginger Baker looked worse). That press pic that's on the BBC site right now is not flattering.

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]