bnt

I used to think [url="http://www.bryanbeller.com/"]Bryan Beller[/url] was underrated, through the years he's worked with [url="http://www.keneally.com/"]Mike Keneally[/url]. Well, I suppose touring with Steve Vai this summer pushes him over in to the Rated category...

Just about anything by Peter Gabriel, I think. Or King Crimson - hard to imagine that...

I must be about the 4th person here to cite Talk Talk's [i]It's My Life[/i] - a big push towards the fretless for me, and one of those basslines that has you grinning like a loon when you crack it. No Doubt? No Point. Old School: Beach Boys - [i]Wouldn't It Be Nice[/i] (Pet Sounds) (Carol Kaye) Beatles - Fixing A Hole (Sgt. Pepper's) Big Country - [i]Inwards[/i] (The Crossing) ([url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0m83u_O6P7s"]link to video[/url]: caution, contains Kilts From the progressive dept: Radiohead - [i]Airbag[/i] (OK Computer) Yes - [i]Our Song[/i] (90125) Rush - [i]Leave That Thing Alone[/i] (Counterparts) Marillion - [i]Gazpacho[/i] (Afraid Of Sunlight) Peter Gabriel - Don't Give Up (So) (T-Lev's "Super Wonder Nappy Bass")

BTW, in Ireland the place to look seems to be the [url="http://boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=171"]Bands & Musicians[/url] forum on boards.ie. I haven't gigged for 15 years now, since I returned to the UK from South Africa, then moved to Dublin in 1999. For most of that time I've been working (busy), or looking for work (skint), and I don't drive (which makes transporting gear very problematic). Excuses, you might be tempted to say, but gigging is not something I [i]have[/i] to do, obviously, not if it makes life harder than it already is. I have had the experience of trying to carry gear to and on the Tube, then being nearly unable to play because the 50lb combo amp screwed my hands up. So the availability of the new light combos (MiniMark, Briefcase etc.) might give me some hope - if only I hadn't just started university, and need to save all my money for rent. Yeah, I know - excuses, excuses... Edit: just spotted the Briefcase on eBay: opening at £300: [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/Phil-Jones-Briefcase-Bass-Amplifier-100W-Combo_W0QQitemZ150163909772QQihZ005QQcategoryZ58719QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItem"]link[/url]. Hmmm... BassChatter?

[quote name='ste_m3' post='17145' date='Jun 13 2007, 07:40 PM']Aha, ive always had a few issues with how to say some manufactures names! like... Pedulla... Pedyula or pedyoola Behringer... Bay-Ring-er or Ber-inj-er Epifani... Epi-Fanny or Epi-farn-ee[/quote] I always thought Pedulla rhymes with Medulla (as in Oblongata) i.e. [i]peh-Doo-la[/i]? Don't know how Mike Pedulla says his name, or how Epifani says their company name, but I have to disagree about the origin of that one. It's an alternative spelling of Epiphany, which can be traced back to ancient Greek, and is usually pronounced [i]eh-Pih-fah-nee[/i].

[quote name='3V17C' post='64814' date='Sep 24 2007, 03:50 PM']that video clip of JPJ is sweeeeet. was that nuno bettencourt playing the explorer?[/quote] 'twas indeed. I wonder if JPJ actually had 9 strings on there, a single G? I personally "rediscovered" JPJ after I found a bargain copy of [i]The Sporting Life[/i], the album he did with Diamanda Galas. A lot of 8-string on there too, and he needs it, for Ms. Galas is quite mad...

Believe it or not, my Hohner B2Afl (headless & fretless) has one as standard. There's a little isolation / impedance matching transformer between it and the rest of the circuitry, because XLRs on mixing desks are low impedance (typically 470Ω or 600Ω, some lower). Just two wires from the standard output.

[quote name='Tee' post='64843' date='Sep 24 2007, 04:36 PM']What, no 'Stick it Out'? ^_^[/quote] No, Leave That Thing Alone!

I've got one book I can add to the Library: who wants to read Tony Levin's [i]Beyond The Bass Clef[/i]?

I've sold one item on eBay, but it went OK. It was a TL-Audio FAT-1 preamp/compressor in excellent condition. I put a reserve on it, but I needn't have - it went for a little more than I'd paid for it new, a few years earlier.

In my experience, you can roughly generalise Rush fans in to two categories: those who think Rush stopped doing anything worthwhile in 1981 (with [i]Exit Stage Left[/i]), and those who think they've been doing good stuff all along. I'm in the latter camp, and didn't even discover them until [i]Power Windows[/i] in 1985. That was the album where Geddy first used a Wal, the lightly-strung one belonging to producer Peter Collins. I used to be on The National Midday Sun ([url="http://www.t-n-m-s.com/"]TNMS[/url]), the UK Rush forum, which has a good proportion of members who say Rush is their favourite band, yet have very little good to say about anything they've released in the last 25 years, and wish they'd play only old tunes in concert. Well, if a band's Progressive, they're naturally going to Progress, and fans don't get to pick the direction they Progress in...

I know Jim Glennie of James plays a Sterling, and I like the clear yet smooth tone he gets from it - never a problem hearing it at a gig. Here's a bassier example.

[quote name='MB1' post='64150' date='Sep 22 2007, 07:47 PM']JPJ has been using Manson basses for years he has several multistrung manson basses. Ive never actually seen any body else endorse Manson but JPJ.So this comes as no suprise, really!.[/quote] For an idea of what JPJ can get up to with his Manson 10-string, have a look at [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sGHWxLruLvA"]this[/url]. He's not exactly "the guy at the back of the stage" any more... PS: There is one other famous Manson endorser: Muse's Matt Bellamy. I think Matt tapped Manson because he grew up in Devon, where Manson is based.

What a FCheese-Head - can't even spell Hohner, even though it's printed on the headstock...

Spector all the way for me. The only Warwick shape I've ever liked is the Thumb bass, since I saw Jack Bruce with one. I thought about getting one, but was put off by the price, and the fact that that the body size might suit Jack, but not me, since I am about 18 inches taller than JB.

If I think of songs with clear 5-string bass, the first band that comes to mind is Living Colour. Especially the [i]Stain[/i] album with Doug Wimbish, songs such as [i]Ignorance Is Bliss[/i], and [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DwZo1Kaq8aw"][i]Auslander[/i][/url]. ps: [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-mJUUAfZF1o"]here's[/url] some Bach on a 5-string, but there's a catch...

Just been looking at Phil Collins' website forum after he was mentioned in another thread here, wondering if he was still working with [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leland_Sklar"][b]Leland Sklar[/b][/url] - another Great Bass Player. There's an [url="http://www.philcollins.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=101"]Ask Leland Sklar[/url] thread there where I found out more: Phil's done his "First Final Farewell Tour", so that's that for work with Phil - till the next final farewell tour. Meanwhile, Leland toured with Lyle Lovett last year, has recorded with Rod Stewart, and this year he's subbing with... Toto! (Mike Porcaro has a hand injury... but Toto is in good hands.)

In Ireland, I've heard that [url="http://www.chrislarkinguitars.com/"]Chris Larkin[/url] is the man. "tel and fax +353 66 713 9330"

I've bought High C (roundwound headless) 25-105 sets from [url="http://www.status-graphite.com/"]Status Graphite[/url] by specifying the single gauges, and they packed them in to "custom" sets for me. Their website doesn't have custom set ordering of flatwounds, but they might help by email? The gauges you'd get would be 30-45-65-85-105, which is a bit heavier than you mentioned, but I have the 4-string 45-105 flatwound set on my fretless and I like it.

Colin Moulding of XTC fame is one of those off the wall" bassists I should get more of - see Mayor of Simpleton for an example of what I mean: I also think Pete Trewavas (Marillion) matches your description - a bassist who really makes songs work.

[quote name='Machines' post='62013' date='Sep 18 2007, 07:27 AM']Myung has had it for a couple of months I think. EB made it for him but there is no endorsing or contract from either side. It will go into production next year I reckon... There is a very long thread about it here, but tells you everything: [url="http://www.ernieball.com/forums/music-man-basses/23659-bongo-6-update.html"]http://www.ernieball.com/forums/music-man-...o-6-update.html[/url][/quote] That thread's a bit old - try [url="http://www.ernieball.com/forums/music-man-basses/25761-welcome-family-john-myung.html"]this one[/url]. JM has officially taken a (toilet) seat on the EBMM roster.

[quote name='funkysimon' post='55138' date='Sep 4 2007, 10:27 AM']i.e. alternate high string with my index finger, low string middle finger, make me start turning my wrist so my fingers point back towards the bridge of the guitar and generally feels a bit unnatural.[/quote] That's odd - I find myself doing the opposite, pointing my fingers towards the nut. I suppose it's a related to how you wear the bass in general, neck level or angled up, low or high. When I see Mark King doing fingerstyle I wince, his wrist seems to bend at an unnatural angle.

[quote name='ped' post='61083' date='Sep 16 2007, 11:26 AM']Searching google is pretty useless - I tried 'Dodgy basses' and it came up with a GB ;0)[/quote] Doesn't help that there's a band named Dodgy. What's that about - reverse headology? I'm a fan of the [url="http://clusty.com/"]Clusty[/url] search engine, which categorises results, and a search for "weird basses" leads to a few interesting sites, such as [url="http://altguitarbass.com/weird/"]http://altguitarbass.com/weird/[/url] , or the [url="http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om25550.html"]Wishnevsky[/url] site.

I've also heard Gear Avarice Syndrome being used as the meaning of GAS. As for the OLPs - I've been wondering about those too. There is a Tony Levin Signature OLP (MM 5), so if they're rubbish, maybe we ought to let him know..?

Three: Hohner B2V (w/ EMG 35s), Hohner B2A fretless, Tune TWB43 Bubinga (new). I haven't included my Chapman Stick (10-string) in the count - it was a bad idea, and I intend to offload it on my next visit to England.