jmstone

[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='463920' date='Apr 16 2009, 01:41 PM']Vitriola![/quote] Silverfish were great: You kill what you're afraid of Are you afraid of me? Hips tits lips power.. Big bad baby pigsqueal... Fantastic stuff! And my opinion is the (alt) music scene is better than ever now - more accessible and more innovative thanks to those evil downloads that put the fear of god into the oldschool industry, James

[quote name='cetera' post='462953' date='Apr 15 2009, 01:09 PM']Hey James! Good luck with the show! I'm the friend of Guy & Iz that met you after your gig at the Comedy Bar. Can't make this one but all the best! [/quote] Ah yes! Thanks for coming along - it was really great to meet you. I will have to try to make one of your shows sometime! James

Absolutely!! At a rehearsal in a covers band I joined recently, the (professional) sax player noticed me getting my bass out.. He came rushing over and said "is that a Warwick? A friend of mine, who is a really excellent bass player had one of those, and always said they were the best basses he ever played".. I told him I was by no means an excellent, or even a good bass player. He said "who cares? You've got a Warwick!" (needless to say that was before he heard me play!!!) James

My band\'s third gig together.. We are recording earlier in the day, so we should be nicely practiced!! Be great to see some of you there. Our music (from our first ever gig) can be heard here: [url="http://\"http://myspace.com/kittencakeband\""]http://myspace.com/kittencakeband[/url] 25th April - 8pm The Troubadour. 263-267 Old Bromptom Road London, SW5 9JA UK Cost:£7 Description:Full info about event here: [url="http://alturl.com/d37i"]http://www.troubadour.co.uk/programme_view...p;view[id]=1886[/url] Please try to overlook any bass-playing disasters - I\'ve only been doing this for about 6 months now! James

Hi there, and welcome! Nice band by the way! Sounding great. James

[quote name='Bassassin' post='458016' date='Apr 9 2009, 12:29 AM']Only in terms of kit - the RS924 is active & has 2 pups whereas the RS800 is based on the Precision template. Construction & materials will be equal quality, Fujigen was incredibly consistent across the board quality-wise. The guitarse in my band still favours his ancient Roadstar II - his first guitar from 1980-something - despite having a vintage Gibson SG & Telecaster & all that stuff. J.[/quote] That's interesting. With the placement of the pup on the RS800, I would have thought it might sound more like a MM Stingray than a precision (although it is a single coil), but I haven't actually played either. It does have a very nice sound though - nice and solid but not too boomy. James

Congrats! I still prefer MMIV tho! James

[quote name='Bassassin' post='457345' date='Apr 8 2009, 01:16 PM']Personally I'd plug a hole like that with cocktail sticks (several if it's a big hole) & epoxy adhesive - sets in no time and easy to trim flush. You can then re-drill & the strap button will likely cover the repair. Although it does sound like there'd been a previous repair anyway. The original Ibanez knobs would probably have been Sure-Grips: Black on this bass, as far as I can tell. These things are ridiculously rare & Ibby anoraks pay a fortune for them if & when they ever come up. I'd think bog-standard speed knobs or LP-type bell knobs would be an OK compromise. Other than that, a stripdown & thorough clean-up should sort it out - I recommend T-cut for the lacquer, & I like to soak hardware & screws in WD40 for a day or two & then scrub with an old toothbrush. Quite likely it might need a bit of solder on that loose pot, but that's no big deal. That could be a lovely bass over the course of a weekend. J.[/quote] Fantastic info. Thanks! Any suggestions of a good place to buy knobs from!? James

[quote name='Bassassin' post='457241' date='Apr 8 2009, 12:00 PM']I can't see that you'd need to spend much money on it - it looks like it needs a couple of knobs and a nut & washer for one of the pots. Otherwise it looks pretty tidy for a largely neglected 30 year-old bass - the serial tells us it's August 1979. The bass looks in fair cosmetic condition for its age, and I'm confident it would clean up very nicely - to be honest most of the basses I gig with came to me looking far more dilapidated than this one. It's worth taking some time & care to do the work well and properly - these are rare & collectable basses and bodges (like your strap button fix, unfortunately) will have a negative effect on its value. On the other hand, allegedly having once been owned by an obscure member of a band that most people won't remember too well probably doesn't affect its value! It might be interesting to watch this auction to see what these are doing at the moment: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-Roadster-Bass-Series-Rare-Vintage_W0QQitemZ110374262550"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ibanez-Roadster-Bass...emZ110374262550[/url] Have you asked your mate for a ballpark idea of how much he's looking for? Jon.[/quote] He hasn't really said a price. He said they would be happy with whatever the "going rate" would be. I will definitely keep an eye on the ebay auction. Take your point about "bodges". In my defence, something much nastier seemed to have happened to the place where the strap button is supposed to go - there is a gaping hole about 1cm across, which won't hold anything.. next to it is the snapped off end of a screw (not sure when this happened), then the place where I sited the button (which fortunately covers all the nasty looking mess underneath). As a matter of interest, what would be the proper way to fix this? Fill the hole with something? What other things would you advise fixing? I would quite like to add some non-ibanez knobs (although I know it would make it less collectible). Any suggestions about this? James

[quote name='Bassassin' post='448769' date='Mar 29 2009, 04:55 PM']Like any JapCrap these don't really have a specific value, although the brand makes it a bit collectable. I'd probably expect a nice example of an RS800 to go for up to £200 on Ebay, hard to say what this one might get without actually seeing it. Missing parts, tatty condition & potential playability problems (high action) might realistically knock it down to around the £100 - £120 mark. Do you think it needs pro attention to make it properly playable? Have you tried setting it up to see if the action can be lowered, are the frets in decent condition & does the truss rod work? If they really no longer need it they might not be bothered what they get for it - if your conscience can stand it, make a low offer & see! Do post some pics if you can, but there's not really an absolute answer to the value of these things. Jon.[/quote] Thanks for the suggestions. I have attached some photos (still looks quite dusty!!). Basically, it is very tatty. The guitarist who owns it says he doesn't like it as it has fret buzz when he plays it (I didn't notice any problems with that though) and it is heavy. The strap button is falling out of the end, but I reattached it a couple of cm away from its original place. The action is high, but I reckon it would come down quite a bit. Frets are good, and neck is straight. Not touched the truss rod as it doesn't need it at the moment. Not sure whether this increases or decreases the value, but it used to belong to the keyboard player from m-people! The way I look at it is I'm not particularly attached to it, but I think it's a nice guitar, has a nice tone, and it is a shame not to spruce it up a bit considering that the main problems with it are cosmetic. However, I don't want to spend time/money on it unless I can buy it off my friend... So I wanted to make a reasonable/low offer.. if he takes it then fine, if he doesn't, that's fine too. James

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='447785' date='Mar 27 2009, 11:27 PM']Need to see some photos to get a better idea really...[/quote] Yeh.. I realise that.. Tried to take them this evening, but the light wasn't right. I am just off on a trip tomorrow, but will do the photos when I get back (will have to revive this thread then).

Hi there, I have been borrowing an Ibanez Roadster (RS800 Sunburst, 1979 model) from a friend of mine for some time now - was my main bass until I bought my lovely Warwick from Gaf here! The Ibanez actually belongs to his Dad's church - they have replaced it now with a "modern lightweight bass" (not sure what) and so apparently have no further need for it. I keep asking him if he wants it back, but he is in no great hurry (mainly 'cos of its weight and the fact he is usually lugging a guitar pedalboard around). So, I have been thinking it might be easier if I just bought it off him/his Dad, but the problem is I have no idea what it is worth. Basically, it is in pretty poor condition - chunks of the finish have been knocked off the body in multiple places, and it has no knobs for the pots (and one of the pots is missing a bolt so it slips inside the body.. All pretty cosmetic stuff - the bass itself works fine, and is pretty nice (but very high action at the moment). I would be grateful if people could give me some kind of idea of what he might realistically expect for it if he was to sell in the current market. I will try to post some photos later. James

Thanks for all the replies. Has anyone tried getting a guitarist to play the higher part? James

As a side project I am playing bass in a covers band - they want to do walk on the wild side, which I thought is cool - has a good bassline etc. But now I listen to it, I hear it has 2 bass parts sliding in opposite directions. Any suggestions how to handle this (apart from getting another bassist!)? James

[quote name='Eight' post='417889' date='Feb 23 2009, 09:32 PM']I think the bass and vocals sound good. The drum sound is horrible but the volume is ok... guitar lacks presence in some of the recordings though. I'm no mixer etc. those are just my thoughts. What I do know, is that recording live is not easy at all. So get in the damn studio and let's hear the real thing. Those are originals are then? I really like the songwriting and style. You sound like a band I'd really enjoy seeing live - quirky. "Back into your box boy" <- great title. Lol.[/quote] Thanks for listening! We didn't have any control over the mix - the sound guy at the venue did it. I was really chuffed as he let me record straight from the desk onto my mp3 player tho! The drums were pretty shot - the bass drum sounded a bit weak - then we noticed the back skin was completely ripped! Glad you liked the songs. They are pretty much 50/50 either my songs or Candice's (the singer). We are planning another gig maybe sometime in March. Would be great if you can make it! Oh, and I agree about the recording studio idea - once we manage to scrape enough together between us we will do it! James

[quote name='Eight' post='417040' date='Feb 22 2009, 11:19 PM']Kitten Cake is a cool name - BUT - after misreading the subject line, I've decided Live Kitten Cake is even better. Will give the songs a listen though anyway. [/quote] Haha! Yeh.. Sorry if the title was not worded very well. Live Kitten Cake is definitely a good name. At one point we were almost called "the flaming kittens", but in the end decided Kitten Cake was more ambiguous and possibly sinister, depending on your mind! Be interested to know what you think of the songs (and suggestions for the bass sound - which was mixed too loud in my opinion, and also just dialed in in 3 seconds on my Warwick Stremer.. I'm wondering if a bit of extra "grit" might be good?) James

My band's first ever gig last night at Bar Rumba went pretty well - managed to get 40 of our friends and family along, so pretty happy about that. It was a real buzz.. Can't wait to do it again! There were a ton of mistakes all the way through. Lots of (very) bad mistakes on the bass courtesy of me!! We stopped without playing the bridge or the last chorus of the first song (well I played the first note of it!). Also, after our soundcheck, the band before us moved all the mics and probably changed the volumes on the guitar amps, so when we came on the guitar was really low, and various other problems.. However, I was pretty happy overall, and we had a very forgiving crowd! I just wish we had sounded as good on the performance as we did on the soundcheck (we did a note perfect version of our first song).. Anyway, I would appreciate any thoughts about our songs - what's good, what we could do better etc.. I uploaded the songs to our myspace page: [url="http://myspace.com/kittencakeband"]http://myspace.com/kittencakeband[/url] James

One thing I'm half trying to learn at the moment, which seems pretty challenging is "watching the detectives".. the bassline seems to change for each bar! James

So, this is likely to be a disaster, but my new band "Kitten Cake" is playing its (and my) first ever gig in front of a paying audience... 21st Feb, Bar Rumba (London, Shaftesbury Ave) It is one of those cram as many bands in as possible nights, but still quite nerve-wracking! The order of appearance is: Vadoinmessico7:50 Juke 8:20 Kitten Cake 8:50 Mariano Godoy 9:20 Gay Blades 10:30 The Silvery 12:00 You aren't going to get much in the way of amazing bass playing by listening to us, but it would be good if anyone from here wants to come along to give some moral support! Some of the other bands sound pretty good to me.. Flyers (for £5 instead of £6 entry) are here: [url="http://www.crucialmusicclub.co.uk/flyerD.php?DN=12416"]http://www.crucialmusicclub.co.uk/flyerD.php?DN=12416[/url] James

That's absolutely terrible Gaf! I'm 36, and I have only just started in an originals band (first gig in 2 weeks time)! That being said, I am auditioning next week for the "Dad's band" at my daughter's school, which plays Rhythm and Blues covers.. Still, gonna stick with using your Warwick Streamer for that one, so should be quite an amusing look. (not been too tempted by the sunburst option tbh!) James

[quote name='urb' post='394787' date='Jan 29 2009, 06:25 PM']My suggestions were more in the area of making a better quality demo rather than a really professional, polished recording as it sounded as this band might not quite be ready for the full monty studio session - I think I was also assuming that he had some experience of recording stuff - which among the people I play with is quite common (albeit not half what a true studio expert would have).[/quote] Yes. I guess it is a toss up, because, granted, the band is not that fantastically good, but we definitely sound better than my recordings so far suggest. A low-cost demo recording would be good, but unfortunately as I don't have any of the required microphones, mixers etc. It would actually turn out to be more expensive than paying for a studio, for the first few recordings at least. I think we will probably go along the line of going down the recording studio route for the first recording as suggested, and then I will have more of an idea of what is needed to get a half decent recording. Still, my interest has been piqued with the home recording/laptop thing. I would be very interested to know what kind of interfaces (usb or firewire or whatever) you suggest to go with the mac to record multi tracks in one go. However, it looks like my initial question still stands! I was looking at Brick Lane recording studios: [url="http://thelondonrecordingstudios.com/rates.html"]http://thelondonrecordingstudios.com/rates.html[/url] (most likely the Hackney site) Anyone know anything about this place? James

[quote name='urb' post='393790' date='Jan 28 2009, 04:21 PM']+1 on a good sounding room - but also you can always 'turn down' a bit - I know it's a radical idea but in terms of recording stuff being loud 'in the room' is completely different to it being loud on record - and if you can separate the vocalist from the rest of the band via a baffle then that will help. You can also DI the bass to get a good clean sound - but obviously that won't work if you aren't all on headphones. M[/quote] Good stuff.. The studios I was looking at are around £100-120 for a 7 hr session (so ultra-cheap!). Looks like I would need to spend at least that on a USB mixer to record all the instruments at the same time, or is there a different way? I do have a cheap USB sound card with 2 mic inputs (sterero I think), so I could maybe get 4 channels recorded at once using that. Should there be an individual output for each channel on the PA mixer (never seen them, but then I haven't looked too closely), or do PA mixers only have monitoring outputs for all channels mixed together (I assume the latter is the case)? Alternatively, I guess I could make up some cables that are 2xfemale XLR -> stereo jack.. but that seems like a lot of work for something that might not work at all well! James

Great tune. Love the arrangement! Sound of all the instruments is very tinny, though. Not sure which one I like least! Guitar sounds quite digital and clipped - maybe that is a function of the recording though!? Bass sounds a bit feeble, and the drums sound like tin cans. But overall, I think it is a great piece (arrangement wise). Would benefit from slight tightening of the timing in places. Great guitar solo! Also, the rhythm guitar at the beginning is very nice. James