Russ

[quote name='urb' timestamp='1346582424' post='1790718'] Sorry I should clarify - I need a lift rather than being able to offer one - hope that's cool M [/quote] Mike, can you get up to Croydon? If so I'll give you a lift.

If they did a fiver in Candy Apple Red, and possibly with an active preamp, I'd buy several.

[quote name='eude' timestamp='1343307138' post='1748639'] Room for one more? I live in darkest Surrey these days, well Sanderstead anyway, and so far it looks like I have the 29th of September free. I can bring along a couple of ACG basses to show off, plus a few pedals and odds and sods. I'm also going to be the proud owner of one of the prototype EAD Foundation 112 cabs very VERY soon, not soon enough of course. I'll be able to bring it along for you guys to have a go if you fancy? Eude [/quote] Sanderstead eh? I'm down the road in Selsdon.

My Sei Jazz 5-string fretless - I love it.

I haven't played in a band properly since late 2009. Admittedly, plenty of things have got in the way - first-time fatherhood, family bereavement and an international move, for starters. But now our little boy is a bit bigger and that we're back in the UK, I'm going for it again. Hopefully going to start something up with some old musician friends. I'm 40 now and don't have any aspirations of record contracts or stardom anymore (been there, done that, sort of), but I still want to play - I think I'm a better player than I've ever been, I've got great gear (which I resolutely refused to sell), and I think I have a lot to give to the right band. It's easy to lose confidence in your playing abilities, and your ability to be an effective member of a band, especially when you've had a bad experience, but this is my second "hiatus", and, based on the first one, it's just a matter of keeping up your abilities and looking for the right group of people. Got to agree with BigRedX when he says it's more or less all about the people you play with and how well you get on as friends first and bandmates second.

Also, any chance of persuading Larry to ditch that current big, blocky Hartke logo? I think it looks a bit "cartoony" and cheapens the gear...

[color=#666666][font=verdana, arial, sans-serif][size=3]So, I'm back in the UK after 5 years of exile in Bumblef**k, USA. And, guess what, I'm looking for a band... [/size][/font][/color] [color=#666666][font=verdana, arial, sans-serif][size=3]Let's get the usual spiel out of the way - great gear, fretted/fretless, transport, can do fingerstyle/pick/slap/whatever, commitment, image, etc all present and correct. Influences from Meshuggah to Miles Davis, Jane's Addiction to Joni Mitchell, Devin Townsend to David Sylvian, Tool to Take That. [/size][/font][/color] [color=#666666][font=verdana, arial, sans-serif][size=3]OK, maybe not Take That.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#666666][font=verdana, arial, sans-serif][size=3]I like heavy guitars, long solos, good songwriting, talented singers and a bit of proggy weird widdly-diddlyness. [/size][/font][/color] [color=#666666][font=verdana, arial, sans-serif][size=3]I'd prefer to play with older, 30+ guys who aren't desperate for that whole being signed malarkey - been there, done that, got a box of screen-printed T-shirts, and not all that interested in going there again. Let's write some cool tunes, gig them all over the place, throw in the odd ironic cover, do lots of recording, release stuff on the internet guerrilla-style, and tweet a lot. [/size][/font][/color] [color=#666666][font=verdana, arial, sans-serif][size=3]I'm based in Croydon (yeah, I know), and I'd prefer to play with local guys - not got all that much time to commute to rehearsals, so if you rehearse at Scream or Rockbottom, I'm in. [/size][/font][/color] [color=#666666][font=verdana, arial, sans-serif][size=3]Anybody? [/size][/font][/color]

[quote name='jc_riffs' timestamp='1341762767' post='1723708'] Afternoon all. Just managed to get myself a Sei jazz 5 from a fellow basschatter. It has Kent Armstrong hand wound humbuckers on at the mo with east pre. Anyone got any suggestion on a suitable replacement pickup arrangement for these. Awesome bass already just after a different sound. Cheers Jc [/quote] My Sei Jazz fretless has Nordstrand MM & J pickups with a tweaked J-Retro (with MM frequencies) - the thing still astounds me with its sound. It's the best-sounding bass I own by a long shot. I'd recommend that setup to anyone.

Ol' Larry's building up quite the endorser list as of late, isn't he? I must admit, as a former user of the old Hartke gear, I wasn't a fan (sounded great, but I must have blown and replaced 6 aluminium 10" speakers over the years I had it) but I do like the more recent HyDrive stuff. They need to join the lightweight gang though... even Ampeg has now!

Great player - the late 90s and early 00s were a good time for rock and metal bass players, with Martinie, Katunich, etc showing what could be done. I think a lot of his tone is just the growly sound of a Thumb Bass, not a lot of processing to my ears, although his recorded tone changed after LD50 - it was more subby and less middy. Shame, the character of a Thumb's sound is in the mids. Maybe the producers wanted more sonic space for the guitars. Technique-wise, he owes a lot to Doug Wimbish, looks like he's stolen quite a few of his moves, but he does it very, very well.

I'm in - we'll be living back in the UK by then. Time to pop my bass bash cherry.