IncX

here's the news: i have not received the money, and from what i head, i have NO PLANS to receive the money! some of you here are just too ???? as far as i am concerned. i never asked for donations, all i asked was moral support. i did my best to be transparent to you guys ... but looks like you see me as some money hogging arse now? rubbing you the wrong way cause i said i thought about spending the money on credit card bills and then custom's tax? this really leaves a bad taste in my mouth .... i would like to thank the ppl who helped me in getting the bass ... and to those at the warwick forums, who for some reason wasnt bothered with the extra money in the fund gman created. so there... you want it? you can have it!!! do what you want with it. i am thru posting updates here. sheesh... i ddnt even receive a pm regarding the issue ... it really hurts. i'd rather borrow and beg money rather than receive a SUPPOSSED DONATION that actually had a contract that said "you can only spend it on ____" here's what i can say... the next time you make a donation, send one of those "agreement" letters with it. ive always believed that donations were given from the heart... *lol* ... seems like it's not the case here. to those who are concerned, i will be posting updates on the warwick forums. i am done here.

i love my bass low when i play stuff from the E and A strings ... in that way, i wont have to curve my wrist in this "bassist" angle, that looks really cool, but of course, hurts and will injure you someday. i tried strapping low, i had to hunch my shoulder in a really weird way, just so my thumb can hit the strings *lol* when i play a lof of string skipping stuff and always find myself going to the D and G strings, then i like my strap high enough just where my forearm can rest on the bass's body. i tried strapping the bass high... i ended up conking my head on the body with those headbanging stuff we do onstage *lol* so what i do is, i sert it with the upper part of the body slightly above my belt buckle and when i play lots of low notes, i raise the bass's headstock a bit (guitarist's do this with Flying V's all the time) and i position the bass where my left elbow so i can rest it on my hip while playing stuff from the 0-5 frets. when i play those busy, string skipping lines, i just reposition the bass's body where my right hand will be near the bridge PUP area. of course i do this to avoid fatigue with long gigs.

ironically ... the vampyre was only insured for 500 gbp ... the company wont insure past that. i still havent paid the taxes ... so thats the current update.

yes it is 480 USD -*- and with Jake, i actually asked him to value the bass at 250 GBP, as so i wont be dealing with huge taxes ...

after my appeal for a request ... i ended up being slapped with $480 ... and i guess, i really really need that 100 gbp now ... i really would love giving out to charity or any institution ... but i need it... and there goes the EHX POG i wanted to get from low down ... still ... its 100000x better than not getting my bass! so its all good

the bass is in customs now ... and my tax is a whooping $600!!! i am still begging them to lower it since it is nowhere near brand new and i wont be selling it... i will really need the 100 pounds for taxes after all... from experience, i they usually dont lower it that much. but still, it is up to you... if you guys plan to let it go to charity, then i suggest Gman not send me the 100 pounds (paypal will just be very happy to take % off it as it goes around)

[quote name='coasterbass' post='184339' date='Apr 24 2008, 09:14 AM']It measured approx 10m x 5m at best, and contained everything you'd expect in someone's front room. The PA company had gone slightly overboard and had turned up with the rig used the night before at Nottingham Rock City. It was a 30kw Martin Rig with 4x 12foot towers. The Midas Desk they had brought with them was approx 12ft in itself!! Needless to say, most of the kit got left in the truck, but some was unavoidable including the 20" diameter cable snakes : ) The Midas Desk they had brought with them was approx 12ft in itself!![/quote] mine was the opposite... we were asked to play an outdoor gig and found ourself with 30 watt guitar amps with these $5 toy mics ... ?? wattage bass amps that apparently was a Boss Ds1 turned amp ... and a distorted PA system. drums has 2 mics ... one for the bass drum and one for everything else *lol* for some reason ... ppl did enjoy it. but still... maybe it was the alcohol ... i can barely hear myself so i just w***ed onstage and just made sure i got the first note right *lol*

i live in the Philippines and i have items shipped to me all the time, the post office dont ask for my ID anymore *lol* here are some tips: -ask how the item will be packed and give the seller an idea of your country's temperature -ask for a tracking number... no tracking number after 1 week or so, make a paypal claim and NEVER lift it off until he sends you the tracking number. then check it and confirm it... if its a ? ... then DONT lift the claim. i have learned my lesson. -dont expect to have guitars delivered to your doorstep if its USPS or something... always go to the post office and check for your guitar there. -always leave a phone number with shipping companies like USP... if they cant contact you, theres a good chance your guitar will be filed under "rejected and unclaimed." -when you get overcharged for shipping ... write a letter to the customs explaining it is not for resale. i ddnt know it before and i ended up paying expensive bribes or custom taxes. -in case of minor damage, you cant do anything about it... in case of bigger damages, you can make a paypal claim... i doubt that you will win though. so there... just make sure you are buying from someone who has really good feedback or from a well known forumer. if its used warwick ... i dont think i will ever buy from anyone again except from well known forumers (here and the warwick forums), Rocket Music (warwick retailet) and Equipmant (used warwick seller from from ebay). there... thats all i can think of for now ... best of luck!

i like the Bad Monkey if you want a basic overdrive sound and dont wanna spend too much. if you are willing to commit on spending on Fuzz/OD pedals... maybe you could get the wooly mammoth? as for me, i want to get a wooly mammoth, but ive had enough of bass dirt... they really dont do anything much and would just bury you in the mix. having said that, the wooly mammoth is probably my last fuzz and i can always use it on guitar for those smashing pumpkins stuff ... thats the back up plan anyway, what sound are you going for?

just want everyone to know that Gman has shipped the bass and its already in my way ... he has re-strung it and included a set of Warwick EMP strings as a gift the shipping cost 250 pounds and theres an extra 100 pounds that he will send to me... i could use the money (after seeing my credit card bills). i will post proper thanks, pics and soundclips when i get it.

timing and groove is really what makes me suffer ... its just sooo hard to master! and oh... ear training too.

this was discussed in the warwick forums... it got off topic in the later end *lol* [url="http://www.warwick.de/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5917&highlight="]http://www.warwick.de/forum/phpBB2/viewtop...&highlight=[/url]

i started playing guitar in '94 ... and became decent enough to have very few gigs as a rhythm guitarist for metal bands... my right hand was decent but my left hand was just terrible. moved to a different city in '97 and lost the interest for music... kept the guitar and occassionally strummed them or just jammed on E5 chord with some friends... after '99, i stopped playing altogether (still kept the little gear i had though) in late 2006, i decided to go back to playing music and discovered my guitar playing was almost back to zero... so i learned theories and did drills and such. i tried forming a band with my cousins and since nobody wanted to play bass... i ended up picking it because im the best guitarist among them, so it was natural for me to adopt to bass. pretty soon i got so interested with bass playing... after buying some entry level basses, i sold my '95 Washburn Dimebag Darrell signature and bought a Warwick Darklord... and thats it... i have no interest in guitars whatsoever, except for keeping them in the house in case ill be jamming with some guys (i also have a drum kit that i sort of semi-spent for)

i owned it and without the help of things like sansamp ... this pedal is useless... it eats too much low end and it doesnt really sound that special. i sold it at a loss and was very happy to get rid of it. bad monkey owns this pedal.

i love the Snarling Dogs Bootzilla Fuzz/wah so much! it is the first pedal i bought, and i havent sold it - and i ahve sold the rest... even my sansamp PBDI. here's a clip of me doing things with it along with its fuzz and an HBE Hematoma (which i also sold). [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72VvOC85CbU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72VvOC85CbU[/url] i controlled the feedback with the wah... thats my fave part in that clip... playing with feedback, hehe.

one thing i noticed is that i had a better experience in terms of tone and playing effect with an Aphex Bass Xciter rather than an Aphex Punch factory... yes, they are apples and oranges, but both are subtle... its just you can hear one, and the other is invisible. i am with warwick hunt RE compressor... you wont miss it when it isnt there, you will wonder what happened to your playing when it is there.

wah's rea really fun.. its just i cant use them often... i still, i would never sell my bootzilla...

ive had those times too that ppl thought i was gay (not in gigs though)... i kinda do look a bit feminine... here's an old pic of mine where i looked like some gay anime character... either that, or james iha *lol* [attachment=16738:10803882623571l.jpg]

oh please feel free to add of those popular basses i just made the list in a hurry ... and you are right with the: Pedullas, Smiths, Statii, Yamahas, Gibsons -*- there's a guy here in the philippines (very down to earth, amazing bass player) who owns 3 Foderas (and they arent those Jazz bass types). i dont know anyone who owns a Ritter

OK, here are basses: 1.) Fodera 2.) Fender 3.) Ernieball Musicman 4.) Warwick 5.) Wal 6.) Alembic 7.) Lakland 8.) BC Rich 9.) Ritter 10.) Ibanez and here are musician profiles: 1.) solo player (high chops, one man music station) 2.) metal guy (up front, agressive, volume on 10) 3.) jazz guy (walking lines, smooth basslines) 4.) funk (slapping, high treble, really up front... undistorted equivalent of a metal guy) 5.) fusion (mix of jazz and slap guy) 6.) behind the scenes guy (plays with the purpose of serving the music, even when it means being 'invisible') 7.) bedroom musician (rich, busy, no band, plays and loves bass though) 8.) beginner (bases his taste on magazine ads and such, usually not ready to commit to expensive gear) 9.) fanboy (just like the beginner except he is willing to spend more!) 10.) blues (mix of behind the scenes guy and jazz guy) -*- so there, match it! ... you can fit more than one guy in a certain bass brand -*- why did i do this? just to get an idea of what bass appeals to what personality type... because for the most part, i dont get to try those high end brands above... and oh, this is the way i can think of to get over the 'apples-oranges' thing.

[quote name='Grissle' post='341603' date='Dec 1 2008, 02:04 AM']Do you have a favorite bass hero or band who's bass tone you really get on with? If so, find out what kind of bass they're using and use that as a starting point.[/quote] this is how i ended up with my first real bass, a Yamaha BB604 ... i kinda like Alex Webster's OD sound, and having limited gear in the Philippines, i ended up with a Yamaha and it was amazing! i actually regret selling it... now, i play warwicks just because i fell in love with the shape of their Vampyre models, and after i got my first one, i couldnt wait to get more!

i'd post soon ... along with pics and my special thanks

here's a vverrry interesting Gibson related article and its quality control practices: [url="http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/240"]http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/240[/url]

i think the script version sounds less muddy compared to the newer non script phase 90's i got to borrow one (non script), and if i didn't have a Moonphaser Deluxe, i would keep it! go for MXR phase 90 because: 1.) they are easy to mod repair 2.) they arent expensive 3.) they are easy to set, and sell too! ... and you can go conservative with them too, as to not bring too much attention on the effect instead of the bass line.

i slap some things i cant play with my fingers... like Master of Puppets *lol* it is a lot easier to double thumb and pop it rather than play it with 2 or 3 fingers. im also a firm believer of "getting a few bars of slap in" as oppossed to doing it thruout the song. dont get me wrong, i only get to slap in 1 out of 4 songs i play... i pretty much slap when im alone... and never do it in public just because there are too many bassists out there who owns me with that technique