Russ

This might be the most audacious piece of thread necromancy ever - nearly 17 years old. Anyway, are Catch-O-Matic stands still available anywhere? A quick Google doesn't turn up much other than a few used ones here and there. I had a couple of them back in the day, and I'd like to get a couple more!

I think custom SD pickups are the default for new FB/FU basses right now, and I've seen SD Basslines pickups on older models. I think the ones they use now have plain black plastic covers, so that is likely to be what we're looking at here. Initially, the standard pickups were Lane Poors, followed by Bartolinis after LP shut up shop, but they've always given buyers the option of others.

How did you find the Unity in terms of overall volume? I really enjoyed its sound and the variety of tones available, but it felt very anaemic in terms of output. From what I understand, you can only get the full 700W at 2 ohms.

I've mentioned this bass on here before, and it's never shown up again. No idea if it even still exists! But, back in 1996, I desperately wanted a Sei but couldn't afford one. So I bought a through-neck body from Brandoni for £200 and took it to Chris McIntyre, back when he worked at The Gallery, and he transformed it into this lovely beast: I loved that bass, it got me through some difficult times. Ended up selling it back in 2001 when I desperately needed the money. I sold it at Notting Hill Music Exchange, never to be seen again. I'd love to be reunited with it if it's still out there somewhere. I wouldn't mind getting that old Mesa/Boogie rig back too, although I doubt my back would be too grateful...

He's not a great player, but he's a big supporter of the bass "scene", and especially small custom luthiers. Here's a nice pic of him with Marek from Stradi at the NAMM show the other week: As was mentioned, he's friends with Les Claypool, and has a custom Carl Thompson and a Pachyderm. He's also got multiple vintage Fenders.

Not really a band, to be fair. Two singers, one of whom occasionally played guitar. But then we're getting into that whole difference between "band" and "vocal group"...

That’s part of the “mystique”. On one hand, Paul could have made an absolute fortune if he decided to introduce an import range to fulfil demand, but that might devalue their brand, and dilute some of that mystique and rarity value that Ian and Pete spent so long building up before him. Personally, I think they should do a Spector-style approach - yes, have an import range, but that would still be high-end, maybe made in Central/Eastern Europe. Cheaper and with higher availability than the UK-built instruments, but still built to a quality that wouldn’t impact their brand.

It also coincided with Tool’s Aenima coming out, and everyone wanting Justin Chancellor’s bass tone. All of a sudden, the nerdy British studio musicians’ tool of choice became the coolest bass with the most coveted tone in the world. With only Pete involved in building Wals at the time, it was impossible for him to keep up with demand for new basses, and so the prices of used models went stratospheric. Then he retired, and sadly passed away. Before Paul Herman picked up the reins a couple of years later, there were no new Wals to be had at all, which added to their scarcity value.

I'd forgotten how heavy old Trace gear was. I was in my local music shop the other day and they had an old BLX-80 sitting there. I always remembered those being louder and bassier than they had any right to be. Then I went to move it so I could plug it in... holy crap. The thing weighed more than my Barefaced BT2, and it's only a 1x10". They do still sound great though.

A Modulus is like a scientific instrument for producing sound. They're fantastic in almost every way. The only problem is that they're boat anchors - never played a Modulus that weighed less than 10lbs and my ageing back would not approve! They do offer a lightweight option on the Funk Unlimited basses now using something called Rev-o-lite, which is some kind of composite material, but I've not had the chance to try one. Personally, when it comes to composite instruments, I'm looking forward to trying out the new Aristides range. They're not graphite, but, by all accounts, the material they use (something they call "arium") is equally solid and just as resistant to climate/humidy differences.

They're not out in the US yet. They usually show up on Sweetwater or Zzounds' websites before they're released with the option to pre-order, but they're not up there yet. Another couple of months, I reckon.

I dislike the guy intensely. But, when it comes to the music business, he does know what he's on about, since Oasis did start very much at the grassroots level and work their way up. The problem is, they started back in the 90s when the old music business model still applied - the whole grassroots > get management > get signed > put out album on CD > tour > get lots of press coverage > repeat cycle. I'm not sure many people of his generation have acknowledged or adapted to the new reality of this streaming world. I'd be more inclined to listen to some of the younger musicians who have succeeded in the current environment.

There's always been "scenes" - groups of people who'd listen to certain genres of music, dress a certain way and have interests and personal/political beliefs in common with other people in that scene. Thinking metalheads, goths, indie kids, teddy boys, skinheads, New Romantics, punks, beatniks, mods, rockers, etc. They still exist, but one side effect of the whole streaming revolution is that, for people who actually listen to music instead of using it as audio wallpaper, they seem to have broader tastes these days. A lot of kids listen to a bit of everything and don't feel the need to partition themselves into a "scene". Anything from metal to R&B, to West End showtunes, to video game music. They just pick and choose what they like, and this extends beyond music, to fashion, etc too. This is a good thing since it means many of the prejudices that some of us faced for our taste in music is fading, but it does kinda dilute the influence a "scene" can have on attracting its own audience, and hence how many die-hard fans they can sell stuff to.

From what I understand, the "Transporter" range used cheaper, less sturdy speakers compared to the speakers in the XL range, and the Transporter speakers were the ones used in my old combo. I got them replaced for free too, but after a while I just got too annoyed with it breaking and sold it on. When Hartkes work properly, they sound great - they have punch and clarity like nothing else, and a ton of bottom end too. I just wish Larry would pay a bit more attention to QC for the stuff that carries his name. I also find the branding rather garish - huge logos and ugly colour schemes, although not quite up there with Markbass in that regard.

They look like Herricks to me, with the Lusithand preamp (the knobs are a dead giveaway :D). Herrick make great stuff - all handwound to order - but they're not cheap. https://www.herrickpickups.com/

🤣 I had a Hartke 2x10" combo years back that went through three speakers in less than a year. It sounded great, when it worked, but I never trusted them again after that. I've met Larry Hartke several times. Nice bloke with a magnificent mullet. But I really can't vouch for the quality of his stuff. Supposedly the newer HyDrive speakers are a lot better and less prone to ripping than the old full aluminium ones, but still, once bitten and all that.

It was a great show. My highlights were Nirvana - having a succession of very different singers made those all-too-familiar tunes sound fresh, and they were obviously enjoying themselves. And Violet Grohl has a bright future ahead of her. Pink was fantastic, and Joni Mitchell smashed it, even at 82. She was accompanied by a bloke playing fretless guitar, and it sounded amazing. And Billie Eilish surprised me. You can tell how good a singer is when it's just them and an acoustic guitar, and she passed the test and is worthy of at least some of her hype. As for the others, No Doubt - Gwen not sounding great. Standard issue stuff from them. Chilis - same. Was nice to see Flea show up with Stevie to do Higher Ground though! Alanis - good. She's still got it. EWF - super funky. Verdine killing it on his white Sadowsky. Stevie Nicks - not bad. Sting - excellent. Stevie - amazing.

FWIW, here's some DR Neons on my Maruszczyks. I think they fit the colour theme pretty well. They sound pretty good too.

That's a shame. Brandoni was a goldmine if you liked new-old-stock stuff. They'd put together some interesting hybrid instruments too - I always remember a Tele-style bass they did with lipstick pickups, and the entire front of the instrument was covered in an abalone-style finish. The Eko acoustic basses they sold were interesting, and surprisingly loud. Everybody used to use their gig bags back in the day too - they were hard to avoid!

I've always liked them. Got to be the steels though, never liked the nickels. However, they're not sold in the US - the Bass Centre will ship them (and I still get "mate's rates" from them!) but I'd rather pick something up locally. Been using mostly Ernie Ball and Rotosounds, since that's what's most widely available. I am going to try some DR coloured strings on my Maruszczyks - the fretted one has a blue theme, the fretless a red theme, so this is just taking that look to its logical conclusion. I did dabble with Picatos for a while back in the day - they were good, and reasonably priced. Not sure what happened to them, but they seemed to vanish from the shelves about 15 years ago. I think they're around US$3,500. Saw someone on TB talking about ordering one a while back and I seem to recall that was what they were asking for one. If that's the case, it's not terrible, since it's now a custom-order instrument, and they seem to go to relatively silly money on the used market - not Wal-silly, but silly enough.

Still available on a made-to-order basis: https://kubicki.com/store/basses/ They also sell the pickups and preamp - would be interested in hearing what they sound like mounted in a different instrument.

They were great for promoting UK-made gear - I'm not sure Trace, Status, Jaydee, Wal, Overwater, etc would have got where they are without them as a storefront. That got them into the hands of players. That's kinda what's missing these days - actually having places where you can try out all this fancy high-end gear you read about in places like BC. I do wonder if there's some correlation between losing shops like the Bass Centre and people moving back to more generic Fender-style instruments, since they're the "default". Maybe, without specialist retailers, people are just getting what they know will work rather than potentially something that might work even better?

I always remember a white Zon with a Kahler, signed by Mark King, that was always hanging by the door. I wonder if they ever sold that?

I didn't start going there until the early 90s (didn't pick up the bass until '92) but once I did, I went there regularly. Got to know most of the staff pretty well, and played many fantastic basses. Even met a few bass "celebs" along the way. What that place had was a sense of community - like a little oasis of like-minded people, where you could go, try stuff out in a low-pressure environment (nobody ever actively pushed me to buy stuff in all the years I went there) and kinda be shut away from the world for a little while, while you pursued your passion for basses! When it shut down, we still had places like The Gallery, which is fantastic, but it's a much smaller place - with more than two or three people in there at a time, it starts to feel a bit crowded! I'm glad there's newer places like Bass Direct that are bringing some of that bass community spirit back. And, of course, Barry and the Bass Centre gang are still out there, even if the shop isn't, so we can all still get our Elites strings and so on! I'd love it if they could get a "physical" shop again though - these days, so many people buy instruments without ever getting the chance to try them first, or even speak to anybody knowledgeable, and, in that regard, we've definitely lost something.

He was also occasionally playing Warwicks - he was sometimes seen back in the 90s with a Thumb 6. He's pretty much always been a Trace Elliot endorser too - he was the first person to be seen with the new TE-1200, several months before it was released. He's also flirted with Ashdown (after TE shut down the first time, before Peavey resurrected them) and I vaguely recall him briefly being involved with TC Electronic and Markbass as well.