benebass

I think they're Korean (definitely not Japanese), but I'm not 100% sure. Cheers, B.

Been to see the Herbaliser a few times - amazing live band & well worth a look if you have a chance. My favourite track of theirs is 'A Mother For Your Mind' off the Flexistentialism Ninja Tunes comp: - This samples an obscure Dennis Coffey tune called Outrageous (Mind Excursion) from an 1970s album called Instant Coffey. The original album is worth a listen too - it features several ex-Motown musicians including James Jamerson & his bass playing on the cover of the Enter The Dragon theme is beautiful! Cheers, B.

Heard Jah Wobble being interviewed on the radio a while ago & they asked him why he wasn't involved in the PiL tour - he said there was no animosity, but he'd turned it down & would only be up for doing it if they were going to write some new stuff. Was quite impressed by that - must have turned down a massive wedge of cash to stick to his principles. Still wouldn't have minded seeing this PiL tour though - shame they never made it to Newcastle... B.

My pair of Yamaha BEX-4s - love them, but need some space so they're up for sale [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=66599"]here[/url] [attachment=38567:IMGP1110.JPG] [attachment=38568:IMGP1112.JPG]

Bought a Lowdown 110 amp from Gafbass02. Great guy to deal with - fast delivery & great communications - cheers! B.

[color="#4169E1"]1. What basses like the Ibanez above come close to that tone and vibe if I can't find one?[/color] I'm actually selling a couple of Yamaha BEX-4 basses [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=66599"]here[/url] that are similar in terms of style. Single magnetic pickup, piezo in the bridge & 3 band active EQ - really broad range to choose from. When I was looking for a semi-acoustic I couldn't find much else apart from the Yamaha & Ibanez that felt decent without spending a lot of cash, although you might want to try the Epiphone Jack Cassidy bass. [color="#4169E1"]2. How upgradable or easy to modify are basses like this comparable to solid bodied instruments (if needed)?[/color] It depends what you want to upgrade really. Without a scratchplate there's no way to hide woodwork & many have electronics mounted Gibson-style through the pickup hole, so it isn't easy to pop in a preamp for example without some woodwork. [color="#4169E1"]3. Which models offer good balance and don't suffer from neck dive?[/color] The Ibanez AGB140 & Yamaha BEX are OK with a decent strap, but can't really comment on anything else. [color="#4169E1"]4. Is feedback likely to be an issue with hollow bodied basses?[/color] My Yamahas both have central blocks so aren't true hollow body basses, but that means that feedback isn't an issue - think the AGB140 does too. You may find that full-bodied hollow basses might not be so forgiving played loud - had a hollow jazz guitar that fed back whenever I took my fingers off the strings... [color="#4169E1"]5. Does anyone recommend certain amplification for instruments of this nature?[/color] With a magnetic pickup then it shouldn't be too different to a solid-bodied bass in terms of amps. [color="#4169E1"]6. If anyone has an Ibanez ABG140 for sale, let me know [/color] Had an automatic search on eBay a while ago & they crop up from time to time - might be worth a shot if nobody has one on here... Cheers, B.

1990 (I think) - must have been about 17 & had just started playing. My mate played guitar in a punk band that already had a bass player, but they told me they wanted to try something different & have two bass players to do a rhythm/lead thing. Sounded great to me (I was well into Joy Division & Peter Hook's lead bass thing at the time), so I was in. They had a gig booked in a couple of weeks & they wanted me to join them, so I only had a single rehearsal (& a dodgy tape of a gig) to learn the set. Turned up at the studio & was told the other bass player couldn't make it, but we did the set anyway - it went OK & despite being REALLY nervous, was looking forward to the gig. On the day of the gig we all turned up & the other bass player was in a right huff - didn't know why though. We set up & sorted out our tuning then went off for a pint. When it was time to play, I went on stage, put the bass on...and it was COMPLETELY out of tune. I'd been sabotaged! Managed to sort of tune up by ear during the first song (it was in E!) & then turned round - the other bass player was stood there looking pretty smug & had obviously been responsible. I was furious, but thought I'd keep playing & try not to let it show. However, justice came a couple of minutes later - his bass completely cut out! We didn't have any spare stuff with us, so it meant I had to do the majority of the gig without him. He managed to borrow a really horrible pointy Flying V copy off another bass player on the bill & came on for the end of the set, but his mates stood in front of him heckling him with his 'Rock God' bass - what goes around comes around, eh!?! Found out later that the rest of the band were trying to get him to leave, but it was his band - they thought bringing in a new bass player would do the trick. It did - the band folded for good after that gig! Cheers, B.

I tried stringing one of my Yamaha BEX-4s (on sale [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=66599"]here[/url]) with a set of D'Addario EXL280s a while ago & didn't need to make any adjustments to the nut (it was set up with Thomastik flats before) - maybe I was just lucky there, but for £15 it might be worth buying a set to see what you think (Strings Direct have them [url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/2413-d_addario_exl280_nickel_wound_piccolo"]here[/url]). Really enjoyed the whole piccolo thing myself & thought it sounded great - the BEX has a piezo pickup in the bridge, which worked really well with the higher tuning... The only downsides were that the unwound G string took a bit of getting used to and, on a 34" scale, the string tension was a bit tight when tuned EADG. Depending on your tastes, a short scale bass may be the way to go (that's probably what I'll end up doing at some point), although the harmonics probably won't be as rich. Mind you, opting for a non-standard tuning on a piccolo can give you some great results & probably won't be such an ordeal on your fingers: - [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NNwmwWX4LM&feature=channel"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NNwmwWX4LM...feature=channel[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY4Ra2KOyas&NR=1"] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY4Ra2KOyas&NR=1[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGOWUcGEaGY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGOWUcGEaGY[/url] Cheers, B.

[quote name='spacecowboy' post='658245' date='Nov 18 2009, 03:57 PM']Gah someone beat me too it! Definitely a massive +1 on checking this band out! Energy Personified! I saw them once about 3 years ago and i can still hear my ears ringing! You may want to check out Fingerthing too, not necessarily a live drummer and bass, but a double bassist and a non flashy DJ who primarily just drops beats and soundscapes! worth the view![/quote] +1 on Fingathing - Sneaky the bassist now has a new project on the go, which is mostly just him & a drummer. Saw them at a festival this summer & they were amazing! [url="http://www.thisissneaky.co.uk/videos/"]http://www.thisissneaky.co.uk/videos/[/url] Cheers, B.

Well, I had a reply - not impressed! [color="#0000FF"][font="Courier New"]Thanks for contacting us regarding the negative feedback you left for "xxxxxxxxx". I have reviewed your case again and I'm sorry to inform you that as the feedback you left has fitted one of our feedback removal criteria, I have removed it. Please note that our decision to remove the feedback does not constitute us finding that the identified feedback is defamatory or otherwise unlawful. However, please keep in mind that due to eBay's privacy considerations that are in place to protect us all, I am unable to provide you with specific details of the investigation or the actions that will be taken against the member's account. I trust this information, if nothing else, reassures you of the level of privacy that your own account with eBay holds.[/font][/color] Seems like a fob off, but I was interested in the bit about the investigations into the member's account - not sure if they mean me or them - what do you think? Cheers, B.

Hi - thanks for the comments. I have followed it up with eBay & I'll let you know what comes back. The scary thing is the fact that eBay never asked me about the feedback removal - I was sent a request from the seller to modify the feedback & when I refused they went ahead & removed it anyway. Makes a mockery of the whole system - if an eBay admin had asked me about it & had voted to go with the seller then I'd have been happier, but this is a bit of an Orwellian cover up. Watchdog could be a good one if eBay don't reply with anything decent - not sure if I'd fancy meeting Anne Robinson though! Won't name the seller on here until I hear back from them as it could be detrimental to my case (it's amazing how fast posts on here can be found via Google!). Cheers, B.

Hi - had a really terrible eBay transaction a couple of months ago. Bought a packaged couple of Danelectro 63 basses (long scale & short scale) from a so called 'Power Seller' at a pretty good price. When they arrived, the invoice said they had been set up. However, one of them played really badly & buzzed beyond acceptable for a new bass, along with having problems with the finish (Danos have side tape & this was peeling off). I contacted the seller & returned the items straight away. However, I heard nothing. I chased this up & they told me they lost the package in their warehouse, but would let me know when it had been processed. Again, heard nothing. Eventually called them & was told that, due to e-mail problems, only some of their e-mails hadn't been sent, but they didn't know which ones (which sounded suspicious...). Heard nothing again. Eventually, after saying I was going to escalate with eBay, they refunded me the purchase price through PayPal. I'd opened a return request stating the bass was damaged & they'd accepted it. Now the thing that rattled me was, although they refunded me the purchase price, under UK Distance Selling regulations the seller should refund return shipping for faulty goods, although there is no obligation to do this if goods aren't faulty. When I asked the seller about this, they claimed there was nothing wrong with the bass & so had no obligation to refund shipping. To quantify this they went on to say that there can't have been a problem as they sold the bass to someone else & having to adjust the action for buzzes was a standard maintenance task, so was not a fault! I was tearing my hair out at this point so I contacted eBay, but they said they couldn't help as they only provide a marketplace to trade (thanks for that!), so I did the only thing left & left negative feedback. Didn't say anything emotive or nasty - simply said that I had received poor after sales service & they refused to refund shipping on faulty goods (i.e. what happened). A couple of weeks later I received a request to retract the feedback - the seller claimed my feedback was incorrect as there was no fault with the bass, but I declined this as I felt I was right to say it was poor service. Thought nothing more about it until I logged into eBay & noticed that the feedback I'd left had disappeared! It seems that sellers can have feedback removed if you don't agree with it, without the agreement of the person who wrote it! Surely this can't be right - it means that feedback can't be trusted if it can be removed without agreement from both sides. Does anyone know anything about this? The cynic in me is wondering whether a high-volume seller has enough clout to get feedback removed - the worying thing is that, if this happens regularly, then you can't trust feedback to reflect what a seller's like. What do you think? B.