WHUFC BASS

Sorry, haven't updated this thread in ages. I tried out a Traben Chaos and found it quite nice indeed. It was selling for £189.00 but it had Traben stock pickups and pre-amp, not the Rockfield pups which I'm told are better.

I did buy an Ibanez K5 instead of the SR505 and the sound is reminiscent of my old Gibson Thunderbird (must be the mahogany body). Nice bass, not tried it live or at rehearsal yet but it feels nice to play. Not as nice as my Rockbass Corvetter though, which has the best neck I have ever played on any 5-String.

[quote name='Metalmoore' post='492867' date='May 20 2009, 12:37 AM']Is anyone familiar with this make? Seen them on GAK and bought the Chaos 5, never got it since i waited 2 months and every week they would say "due to be sent out next week" and in the end cancelled it even though i was wanting a nice 35" 5 stringer for some metal. So yeah, anyone seen/played/owned one? They seem pretty interesting.[/quote]

I had exactly the same problem Orderd a Chaos Core 5-String with Rockfield pickups and Aguilar pre-amp and I kept getting fobbed off on the delivery times. I cancelled the order in the end which made me think that they never had it in stock in the first place. Shame really, I'd like to try one out.

[quote name='Basszilla' post='503649' date='Jun 2 2009, 12:01 PM']Exactly! Clean is for losers Ci! haha. You're right tho, they are best for full on metal, the clean channel is useless!

He's selling the amp as he's kind of come to the end of the road with it, been using it for over 10 years so is looking for a new sound...[/quote]

Funny that because I heard the same thing from a death metal guitarist who's band uses our rehearsal studios. He'd gone for a Peavey JSX after the 5150 as he said it was more versitile.

[quote name='tombboy' post='503689' date='Jun 2 2009, 12:25 PM']I think Eddie has a warped sense of humour... the combo weighs a bloody tonne and they gave you one poxy little handle on the top!!! [/quote]

You are not kidding there. Mine weighs an absoloute ton and if it wasn't for the great sound I'd have got shot of it ages ago - but I love the sound so much. Hence the reason I want to get a 5150 head.

[quote name='ashevans09' post='503789' date='Jun 2 2009, 01:54 PM']Damn straight. Moreso than Rectifiers IME.[/quote]

I never got on with the Mesa stuff at all for guitar. The 5150 has a more creamy distortion as well as being warmer sounding.

[quote name='Kongo' post='504017' date='Jun 2 2009, 05:24 PM']LOL actually that was the downside when my guitarist went for one...We use clean sounds too and well...the Peavey only does grit...Distortion even on clean haha!
So he bought an Orange Rockerverb. :)n Unfortunatly...this amp BLEW my bass rig appart...it just couldn't keep up...So I had to change mine aha...still am!
Damn Orange amp...LOUD!

Great if you want the grit but it's worth saying that modern metal bands do use clean for sections too.[/quote]

Burn the heratic! Clean just ain't mean ha ha! Never really heard much of the Orange stuff but what I have reminded me of the Marshall type crunch sound which I just don't like one bit. I know they are legendary amps and so many bands have used them but I've used JCM 800s, 900s, DSL2000s, TSL2000s and never really got anything out of them that comes remotely close to the 5150. I won't even metion Marshalls, solid state stuff which to me just sounds horrible.

[quote name='Basszilla' post='503205' date='Jun 1 2009, 07:19 PM']No worries Ci, looks like it's sold pending now anyway.

Yeah recorded the entire album with the 5150, they are great amps. In fact i've done a bit of recording with it recently on bass and it sounds evil! Too big to fit to my pedal board tho otherwise i would of had it

The combos are supposed to be beautiful sounding (less wattage yeah?) wouldn't mind hearing one of those in action.[/quote]

The 5150 is a monster amp. Yeah the combo is 60watts which belive me is plenty loud. I swapped the stock Peavey speakers for Celestion GK12-100 and a Celestion Classic Lead. Its the best amp for punk / metal / hardcore that I've ever heard or played through. The only thing that comes remotely close is an Engl. The clean sounds ain't fantastic but who the f*** wants clean guitar??

f***ing gutted. I knew I should have bought this... oh well... I'll learn.

Them Series 6 heads are very underatted. I am finding myself being drawn back to Trace Elliot over all the new gear that's coming out. Its the one brand you know you'll get a decent sound out of.

Bit much for me at the moment as I need some bass amplification too I'm afraid, but they're great amps. Did you record your CD using a 5150? certainly sounds like it. They sound mustard when cranked up. I've gigged with mine on a number of occasions and it blows the competition out of the water.

I'm seriously looking at this... if it was a 1x15 I'd have snapped it up. 2x15 is a bit bulky for me.

Ooohh how much? I use a Peavey 5150 Combo and was looking for a head too.

you pointy eared caaaaaaaaannnttt!!!


LOL!

[quote name='Rayman' post='501263' date='May 29 2009, 09:58 PM']My advice is don't try it.

Solvents will penetrate the timber by up to maybe 2 or 3 mills, maybe more depending on the substrate (wood). You'll never be able to remove the oils enough to guarantee a good key for the new coat, and sanding back will definately not achieve it. Water based products have no chance with oils and waxes that have been applied, even if a degreaser is applied, as that will only remove survace contamination, and not the solvent within the grain, it will come out patchy as pointed out above.

In my trade (joinery coatings), customers often ask whether they can re coat the inside of their hardwood windows with water based stain or paint after years of lovingly using furniture wax to clean them. The answer is a definate no. Even solvent based product will be repelled by wax, there's no getting around it I'm afraid.

If you can find a coloured [i]wax[/i], in a darker colour than the one you currently have, that's your best bet.

Me? I'd leave it alone.[/quote]

Cheers for your input mate! point definately taken.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='501243' date='May 29 2009, 09:20 PM']I think I should meet myself at a neutral pub and have a word [/quote]

Dang tootin' there boy...,


have a word with that avatar...

It annoys me when people on guitar / bass forums slag off their opposites. If you play music, does it really matter? You all have to get on when you're in a band together. The crux of it is to just avoid bad music - we play the bass / guitar to enjoy it. If you're playing music you don't enjoy and when I say music you enjoy I mean music you would actively promote and say to your mates - "this is the band I play in and this is the music I play" and listen to in the car and on your iPod and if it doesn't give you a buzz then forget it. You're in the wrong band or listening to the wrong sort of music.

It ain't easy to find the right band - almost as hard as finding the right woman but if you can find at least one then life ain't that bad at all.

Nice cushions!

You have to be aware that the SR and SRX are different basses. The necks on the SRX range are different, they're more bulkier. Also, the finish on the SRX range is poly as far as I can tell - in the SR505 and 506 they're oiled mahogany which chips easily. The SR505 and 506 have great necks, very thin and comfortable and play very nicely.
Pickup wise, the output on the SRX pickups is high for passives but these basses were designed with the metal player in mind. The SR505 and 506 have active Bartolini pickups installed which will do almost any style. I've heard the SR505 and 506 lack bottom end but I have not really noticed that on the occasions that I've played them.

Wigs and Spandex..... Allah on a Kawaski !!

I reckon you've had a lucky escape there. Join a band doing original stuff... music that you actually enjoy listening to and gives you a buzz. Playing that will be a much more rewarding experience.

Thanks for the replies chaps. I'm hoping there's a tinted oil wood stain out there that will do the job, doesn't have to be black, very dark blue, green or grey would do. Good thing is, the wood is a dark brown colour do it might make for some interesting colour options.

Has anyone got any idea how to prepare the wood on an oil finished bass for re-staining a different colour? I was wondering how hard it would be to stain a bass body black (its mahogany). Would I need to remove the oil finish with some sort of spirits and apply the stain or is there another soloution?

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='498864' date='May 27 2009, 03:16 PM']Do you seriously take Harmony Central reviews as anything but with a pinch of salt? The amount of people who review them bassed on a 30 second dabble in a shot is ridiculous. Similarly, you get the metallers reviewing a Hofner jazz box saying that it's sh1te because it just howls the second you put the overdrive pedal on. This Marshall TSL sounds crap for jazz... you get the idea. Most of the people on there are idiots.

[i][b]Thats a bit of a sweeping statement - usually its easy to spot the idiots from the ones who know what they're talking about. I agree, it has its idiots, but there's also a high number of sensible reviewers that get on there. You can't dismiss the whole site just because some idiots get on there. [/b][/i]


Nobody - but how many times do you revisit an interview on the web - or rewatch a youtube video of an interview?

[i][b]A few times, if there's sensible content on there.[/b][/i]


...and a lot of tab sites are wrong... and the people playing them on YouTube are wrong. But if thats cool... that's cool.

[i][b]..and a lot of magazines are wrong too. Thing is, if I've paid money for a magazine with transcriptions then I'd expect them to be right on numerous occasions I have come across mistakes. Again, you are dismissing the web as being full of idiots and wrong information when in fact there's a wealth of information out there. [/b][/i]


A free DVD or CD is alot of extra work and will require an increase in the price of the magazine. Are they going to do this for what is quite a niche market. At the end of the day, BGM is still a business. They have to make it pay for itself.

[i][b]I'm no expert on marketing but surely there needs to be a bit of incentive here. If they churn out the same old boring formula then there's nothing to inspire me to buy it. A little investment may go a little way in renewing interest in the mag. As it stands, its just plain boring. [/b][/i]

This has been discussed many times - they need to make it look more pro - with proper editing... etc, do a search for some of the past discussions.

My main gripe is that they need in depth reviews with people that know what they are talking about. Anybody can go to a website, lift the press photos and present them in a magazine. It's the credability of the person reviewing the products that give a magazine review some weight... and that only comes with providing reviews with edge and convincing the readers that you really do know your stuff.

[i][b]Thats why I prefer the web. Despite dismissing it as full of 30 second dabblers and Metallers there are some knowledgeable people who post on Harmony Central - from stuff I've bought, a lot of the reviews appear to be spot on. Many are very critical, not biased or connected with any manufacturer. If someone states they play and listen to a certain style (say Heavy Metal) and then buy an instrument which isn't suited to that style and say so in the review - then guess what, I think I'd find that helpful if I was buying the instrument with that playing style in mind. Granted, if you bought a semi-acoustic bass to play metal then that's just ridiculous but for other instruments it may well be pertinent.

I think we're in agreement that the magazine needs an overhaul - my point is that it needs to compete with whats on the web by being more professional in its outlook and content and offering better value for money
[/b][/i][/quote]

I've often said about magazines and papers, they'll really have to up their game as the internet offers vastly more than a mag can without the price tag. Let's look at what they offer:

ADS!! The ads I can do without however, they need this to generate income so its a fact of life. Mags will have ads in them. Some enjoy them but generally from a punters point of view they are just space fillers.

What else do they offer? Not a lot. Reviews can be had on Harmony Central and numerous other sites and will be brutally honest if something is bad - often mags won't be for fear of upsetting manufacturers. On the web, you often get a cross section of players reviewing a particular item which is a whole lot better than just one person reviewing an item.

Secondly the interviews they do are mildly interesting but again, after reading them once or twice, who goes back to them?

Then there's the transcriptions which again can be had on numerous tab sites with many youtube clips available showing how its done.

I know that BPM has a website and it isn't that bad, but for a mag to be successful these days they really have to do something special. Many don't. As mentioned, free DVDs or CDs might be an option but if they're going on content alone, they're going to struggle.

What can they do?

Difficult one. Maybe by doing special features month such as some guitarist mags have done - for example, devoting the mag to one paticular style each month with a free CD of transcriptions and / or lessons.

Discounts negotiated with manufacturers for readers.

that's all I can think of at the moment !

Just my two bobs worth...

I love Trace Elliots I aspired to get one more or less since I started playing bass. Used a couple in rehearsal studios and bought my first one in the mid 1980s. AH250 with a 1x15 and 4x10 cab. I used to get goosebumps when I turned it on and the UV light kicked in. It looked the dogs bollocks on stage all lit up and sounded absoloutley killer at the time. It was a nightmare to cart around and I sold it in the end. Then I got a Series 6 GP7 combo bought new from the bass centre in Wapping. I gigged it extensively with my Status 6-String for years, must have done around 100 gigs with it and it never let me down. Great sound, easily transportable and reliable. I sold it when I gave up playing bass and forgot how great they sound until I used one the other week at an audition. It sounded amazing with my Sansamp VT running through the effects loop. I also used to own a 1x15 GP12 SMX combo with the solid state/valve tuning (sadly women didn't take their clothes off when I dialled in a valve sound) but that was also a great little amp. I sold it on Basschat years ago.
The one thing I've found with Trace Elliot amps, as soon as I do a gig or turn up at a studio where I am borrowing an amp, if its a Trace I know its going to sound OK without massive amounts of tweaking and dialling in. I love 'em. If they did something like the Genz Benz shuttle which gave you that Trace sound. I'd beat a path to their doors and buy it without a moments hesitation.

If I were him I'd lose them demo vids. They do absoloutley nothing to inspire me on how the bass sounds.

We're in Sweden in August. Can't f***ing wait.

Squier do two models of Precision with Jazz necks - the a P-bass special and a Pete Wentz signature model.

Funny thing happened the other day. I had an audition for a band who are quite well known on the punk scene, they have a few CDs out etc. Anyway they asked me to learn ten songs in a week which I did, but I didn't have two of the songs. I downloaded them off the web but whoever recorded them used a record player to convert them from into an MP3. I didn't think this was a problem and duly learned these songs. When it came to playing them at the audition I was a semitone out - and I had been using open strings on my version. They off-handly told me everything was a semi-tome lower and began to count in again. Cue manic transposing on the spot which thankfully worked and I didn't bother arguing with them about the key as they were the ones who wrote the songs in the first place.
For the life of me I couldn't work out how I had much such a bad error until it dawned on me that the record player speed was slight slow and as a result altered the pitch slightly. I've also noticed this will MP3s that have been sampled at various different rates.