silverfoxnik

[quote name='Sibob' post='78394' date='Oct 23 2007, 04:37 PM']So I'm just interested in what difference (sound, structural etc etc) it makes when a bass body is made up from a number of different pieces of wood!? What would the characteristic differences be between say a 4 piece body and a 1 piece body? Cheers Si[/quote] Hi Si, Really interesting question this and it's not one that I think will get you a definitive answer... Personally, I prefer the sound of basses where the body is not made up of lots of different woods (..sometimes called multi-laminate, I think). With Wal basses which I've used for years, I have always preferred the sound of the old Pro models as opposed to the Custom models and that's because the Pros were made of Ash and the Customs were made of a mahogony core with different laminates on top. Though the Ash bodies were made of 3 pieces glued together, I think that the use of one tonewood made for a more resonant body. Fans of the Custom models will say differently of course, and point to the fact that the electronics were radically different between the two models so a straight comparison can't be made, which may well be true. But having owned and used both designs, I think the Pro models were better for being one wood. Dave Wild, a very good luthier based in North London always argued the case for simplicity in designing and building basses and pointed to Fenders as being the best example of that. His point was something like (a) in the body of a bass, it is better to have good wood resonating than lots of glue and that ( different woods resonate differently, therefore they may not work well together tonally.. How true that is is part of the debate I suppose and something for others to add too. For my part, over the years that I've been playing, my preference has definitely swung back towards simpler design in basses. Sorry if I've strayed off the point a bit, but you've got me thinking with this one, which is always a good thing! Nik

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='74346' date='Oct 14 2007, 11:49 PM']Played through a brand new borrowed Ashdown stack at a gig the other night and it was woolier than a sheep in a jumper shop. And we're not talking the cheap range either - this was an Evo head and top of the range cabs. It was awful. What's all the fuss about?[/quote] +1 That's been my experience of Ashdown as well. The first time I used an Ashdown set-up was the house rig at Walkabout's in Shepherd's Bush, London and it was dreadful. Looking at it cynically and given their pretty impressive 'market penetration' on TV or in venues etc, it seems to me like Ashdown have won the marketing war with this formula: Retro logo and fascia design + tubes + VU meters = good old traditional British engineering = must be bloody good!! Of course, we're all different and what gear we use is dependent on what music we like and what music we play in our various bands etc, but every now and again, there's definitely a brand that comes along which is a triumph of style over content and I've long thought that Ashdown are that brand of the last few years.. Just my view of course but I wouldn't spend my money on any Ashdown gear... Personally, I'd rather look at my late Dad's 1930's radio sets if I want to indulge in a bit of nostalgia for good old British engineering!

[quote name='BeLow' post='77911' date='Oct 22 2007, 10:32 PM']Hi Homer When I first started playing bass (shortly after electricity had been invented) the advice was to always have speakers with power handling well above the power output of the amp, but that was when a 100watt bass amp was the norm and the 250watt machine was a real pro rig, and a 200 watt speaker was approximately the size of a garden shed and the weight of the speaker magnet created a gravitational field which could pull the earth's orbit closer to the sun.[/quote] LOL +1 to Al and Crazykiwi welcoming you back - extremely pertinent post but very very funny too...I've had flu for 2 days and that's really cheered me up! Looks like you've got the all clear on this now Al, subject to being extra careful in certain situations? Nik

[quote name='TheRev' post='78155' date='Oct 23 2007, 11:46 AM']1) The spaces you leave are just as important as the note you play. 2) Never, ever leave a drummer alone with the rider.[/quote] LOL and +1... My 2p worth would be: 1) Always listen to all of the other musicians in the band, especially the singer 2) Remember that bass is a melodic instrument as well as a rhythmic instrument

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='77737' date='Oct 22 2007, 02:44 PM']I've just bought a GK 112 neo as a 'multi-purpose' addition to my rig which consists of a 1001RBII head and GK 212 neo cab. Primarily, I bought it to use for quiet practicing in my bedroom and to use at band rehearsals but I've stacked it with the 212 and at (fairly loud) bedroom volume and it sounded absolutely wonderful! I would imagine that having that extra speaker closer to my ear will help me to hear myself better on stage and might even let me turn down a bit. I'd like to use the pair together at gigs occasionally if it's possible without damaging anything - and, being conscious of the imbalance of the 2 cabs - ie; 300 watts 98db and 600 watts 101db, was wondering how far can I go volume wise without damaging the 112? My usual settings on the head are - Contour & Presence off, EQ flat, input volume at 9 o' clock, boost at about 2 'o clock and woofer on about 11-12 o' clock. I play in a soul band and use PA support at all but the smallest venues.[/quote] Hi Alan, The danger is going to be that at close to full volume you could have almost 350 watts going into the GK 112 which is obviously too much, but if your woofer setting is about 12 o'clock, then you're not near maximum output so it should be OK. But it's all a bit of an inexact science isn't it, hence your concerns? I think you're right in thinking that with this set up you might be able to turn down a bit because when I've used stacked cabs with one nearer to ear level, I find it helps a lot and I don't have to turn up as much. Hopefully, there's more knowledgeable members here who can advise you best, Nik

Very cool.... The sunburst/black scatchplate combination looks great to me!

[quote name='jwbassman' post='77214' date='Oct 21 2007, 10:07 AM']+1 for OBBM Top bloke and quality cable and workmanship, enough said...[/quote] And here's another +1 for OBBM!!

[quote name='BeLow' post='76705' date='Oct 19 2007, 07:59 PM']Tribal planet GX40 on ebay - there is a dealer there selling them, come up from time to time from as little as £17. Good protection - almost a hard case in fact but not as compact as others.[/quote] +1 for the Tribal Planet products - excellent quality!

[quote name='ahpook' post='76854' date='Oct 20 2007, 08:39 AM']plus the one...and some sturdy staples as well...[/quote] I've had the same problem as John - silly, but very annoying! But just the mention of the staples is like having all the light bulbs turned on at once! Thanks..

Hi Folks, I used to have an MTD Kingston and it was a great bass for the money and apparently, the MTD Grendel is even better. Gail Ann Dorsey who plays with David Bowie uses them (along with her Stingrays) and she certainly knows her stuff so this could end up being a real bargain for someone! I don't play fretless, otherwise, I'd be be very tempted.. Anyway, here's the link: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2001-Michael-Tobias-MTD-Grendel-5-string-flame-bass_W0QQitemZ140167477132QQihZ004QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2001-Michael-Tobias-...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] Nik

[quote name='Gwilym' post='76151' date='Oct 18 2007, 07:51 PM']give me feedback dudes[/quote] Hi Gwil - how's it going mate? OK, here's my 2p worth... I bought my brilliant Wal Pro2e from Gwilym over two years ago and consider myself really lucky to have got such a great bass at a fair price. It's the one bass I have that I will never sell... I'm happy to say that I've kept in touch via Bassworld and Basschat with Gwil ever since.. IMHO, Gwil always looks after his basses and gear, really knows his stuff, is very cool to deal with and is absolutely 100% honest! So, I'd be really happily to deal with you again Gwil, if only I could afford some of those lovely, boutique basses you've had for sale from time to time That Sadowsky Metro 5 was particularl nice... Anyway, hope all's well! Nik

[quote name='neilb' post='74821' date='Oct 15 2007, 10:01 PM']Its a fake....Fender didn't start fitting pubes to basses until well into the 80s.[/quote] LOL

[quote name='bassmandan' post='75317' date='Oct 16 2007, 11:04 PM']big trade-y, live-y, type event full of manufacturers, retailers, musos, er.... and Brummies etc [url="http://www.musiclive.co.uk/"]http://www.musiclive.co.uk/[/url] normally a pretty good place to bag a bargain or two![/quote] Ok. Thanks bassmandan!

Sorry to sound stupid, but what is 'music live' for those of us who don't know? Nik

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='74160' date='Oct 14 2007, 03:24 PM']Here's my latest - used to belong to Platypus and Psychoandy and now it's mine. I've had it about 3-4 weeks now but wanted to wait until my new pickguards arrived from Jeannie's Pickguards before posting - it had a boring plain white on before. It has Aero pups, a J-Retro Deluxe, a Hipshot drop D thingy and a new set of DR Sunbeams on it. Oh and I bought a new Hiscox case for it - very nice too.[/quote] That's simply beautiful.. And at the risk of making a discussion of the aesthetics of your bass sound like a 70s porn movie, I definitely prefer the the 'black on black' look

[quote name='ped' post='70257' date='Oct 6 2007, 11:42 AM']Ok folks, here is the idea. Several people have been looking for free loops to download and play along with for practice/recording at home. There have been some great examples of sites listed buy also several people said they were able to make some loops at home for others to use. I was thinking if we had this forum split into genres people could look for a style, e.g. Hip Hop and then a tempo and find some loops to try. Members will be able to upload loops too, and there will be a forum to upload loops with your bass lines for discussion and to make requests for certain things. So take part in the poll and be honest - if there are not enough people to make it work we can abort the idea. You don't have to create the loops yourself, you can link to free loops you find or upload them here if you have permission. One good example of such a site is this link: [url="http://www.drumslive.com/freeloops.htm"]http://www.drumslive.com/freeloops.htm[/url] We can discuss file types etc later but I think .Wav or even MP3 files would be good all rounders allowing people with various audio programmes to use them. Let me know what you think - do the poll and post your ideas! Cheers ped[/quote] Great Idea! I don't have the technology to contribute but would love to find ways to improve my playing and this would really help that, so a big thumbs up from me Nik

Thought I'd post up a thread for Mxm, namely Matthew, who's just sold me his Marshall 412 which I'm still getting my head around... Matt's a very easy person to deal with, knowledgeable , honest and best of all, he has a great sense of humour!! Would definitely deal with again..just for the funnies! Cheers Nik

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='73805' date='Oct 13 2007, 03:24 PM']You know what, I think after buying and selling a few basses and couple of amps in the last year or so, I've finally found my sound. Using the G&L L2000 Tribute I've just got and my Warwick mini-rig, I'm getting the growly, punchy, clear hi-fi sound I thought I would from my Stingray. With no pedals, effects or anything. It's spot on for what I need it for (punk, rock and indie covers) and the whole kit (bass & amp) came to less than the price of a new Stingray. Goes to show, it's not what you spend that counts, I guess. Won't stop me GASsing for something else, mind.... Anyone else happy with their aural lot?[/quote] That's good to hear Matt! Mind you, I've played your L2000 and it's an absolutely fantastic bass.. Interesting point you make about money, because it's definitely true that spending loads of cash doesn't always get you the sound you want.. Personally, I've some way to go to get my sound right for gigging.. My basses are cool and I love the GK 700 RB head I've got. But it's getting the right cab that's the problem.. Maybe getting there with this Marshall 412 but it's early days yet.. Nik

[quote name='OldGit' post='73753' date='Oct 13 2007, 01:21 PM']Excellent process .. It was so easy when it didn't matter if you had the same name as a band in San Francisco, or Scunthorpe .. These days though you'd have to pre-empt the process with "each band manber comes up with 10 names that are not already in use by a band or a myspace or so common that no one would ever find us using google, that says what we do and that fits easily on a poster" .. Might be tougher [/quote] +1 to that.. You're 100% spot on because, these days the internet is where so many bands start to promote themselves and of course, that is a global marketplace. At the risk of sounding like a Monty Python sketch, [i]"it was much tougher in our day"[/i] because there weren't the same ways to promote yourselves as a new band. But equally, the competition is much more intense now as each new band is fighting for attention in amongst hundreds of thousands of bands as opposed to just the UK ones.

[quote name='Bidd' post='71499' date='Oct 9 2007, 12:17 PM']After a new lineup (different drummer (who is absolfrickinlutely amazing), one guitarist instead of two, and no keys/sax) my band (The Gravel Shifters) have decided to change band name, as our musical style has changed from Chicago/Texas style gritty blues to a more audience appealing "Funky-Blues-Rock-Latino" quartet. Problem is we can't think of a name, and I've wondered if any of you have been in the same situation By the way we're going to play songs like: David Bowie - Let's Dance Jamiroquai - Deeper Underground (I have a cool effect through my Boss GT-6B) Santana - Black Magic Woman (Funkier with a Latino style jam ending) James Brown - Play That Funky Music Gary Moore - Oh Pretty Woman (Funkier version)[/quote] Maybe we all worry about band names too much? After all, the biggest band ever "The Beatles", had one of the worst names ever IMHO. Mind you, having said that, I was in a band once and we were really struggling to find a name and it was stopping us moving forward.. So, to try and take the emotion out of the situation, someone we knew suggested we use a scientific approach to finding a name in order to stop us continually arguing and disagreeing over the issue. IIRC, it was something like this: 1) We each came up with a list of 10 names we liked. With 5 band members, we had 50 names in the pot. 2) Over a pint or three and by voting for the ones we liked, we whittled the list of 50 names down to just 5 names. 3) We went away and each asked 10 friends to vote for their favourite names from the list of 5, scoring their favourite name with a '5' and their least favourite name with a '1'. 4) We then added up the scores and the name with the highest score was the name the band chose. The name we came up with was 'Kickback' if I remember and though it wasn't brilliant, we all liked it enough and for the time i.e. late 1980s, it was pretty good. The best thing about it though was the fact that we didn't actually choose the name, our mates did it for us. And as it them who came to all our gigs, it was a very democratic process.. Band was pretty rubbish though!!