WHUFC BASS

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.

Best strap I've used is a Comfort Strapp...if you've got a heavy bass, this is the one for you.

[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='494878' date='May 22 2009, 08:51 AM']...but don't you realise that this is important in maintaining the snobbery around musical instruments and keeping the prices of the Big Brands artificially high?[/quote] In the words of Bill Hicks - "If you're in marketing, kill youself now. This isn't a joke, really...kill yourself now. You are Satan's little helpers". Dead right about Yamaha and Ibanez. Same can be said for Washburn too...have stuff made in Japan, Korea, Indonesia etc. and all make high quality instruments. The thing to be borne in mind is that many are made in the same factory using the same machines and just differ in design. Schecter are a good example of how they get the best of both worlds, parts manufactured in Korea and assembled in the U.S. - which in my mind doesn't make any difference to the end result. If the parts of an Encore P-bass were transported to heaven and assembled by God, it'd still be a sh*t playing and sounding bass due to the cheap components used in the first place.

I don't really buy into all this "Its all about what country its made in". A lot of people slag off Korean-made instruments but I've had quality guitars and basses made in Korea and I mean really nice. It was the same in the 1980s when people were knocking Japanese instruments but they have stood the test of time and are top quality, easily on a par with U.S. instruments. Then you've got the Mexican Fender argument - they are great instruments in their own right, there's nothing wrong with them. I think you've just got to take each instrument on its own individual merit. Individual quality control comes into it a lot, and to be honest it's not down the country of manufacture which determines the level of QC. Take Gibson for examples, they do have QC isues and some of the guitars they pump out are really bad QC wise. I noticed one in Denmark Street (a Gibson Explorer) which had a section of paint on the back that looked like the surface of an orange peel. How it got through QC I'll never know. Thats not an isolated case either. In 90% of cases you'll get what you pay for. A £99 bass will never have the quality and workmanship of a bass costing over £500. However you do get the odd diamond in the dog-sh*t like the Squier Vintage which are great.

[quote name='AM1' post='493126' date='May 20 2009, 11:36 AM']Thanks for the tip. I think as I get older, I sweat (sorry, glow) more! Haha. Now this has changed my reasoning about gig clothes - let me give you an example. On a recent gig, I ended up mega sweaty as usual, flat out punk bass gigs tend to do that plus if you're a natural sweat-machine, well, it's ten fold. Anyway so I got mega sweaty, ended up extremely pissed and woke up on a random sofa, having slept in said sweaty clothes, overall situation normal, that top then went in the washing basket, anyway it came to the next gig and...shameful confession time, I thought f*ck it, I'm not getting a clean top sweaty, so I got the previous rancid one out of the basket, put it back on and played in it again! The plus point of this is you can dodge buying a round all night cos no one wants to get near you to challenge your skinflint ways. HAHAHAHA!!!! I think we should have a poll - how many gigs in a row, have you played in the same, stinky, sweaty, damp old threads. Haha.[/quote] You dodge rounds anyway and when you do buy one, its like trying to get blood out of a stone. You nearly took the pattern of that Jagermeister glass the other night, I thought you were going to try and ring it out.

[quote name='Spoombung' post='425153' date='Mar 4 2009, 04:11 PM'] I can't believe I've still got exactly the same gear as I had in 1985. It was old then! Still, [i]I thoroughly[/i] endorse H&H products - the finest bass amps ever made. Before that I had a Selmer Treble 'n'Bass valve amp which had more warmth and depth but didn't suit the Wal so much. Most modern amps sound rubbish to my ears. I tried for years to find an engineer willing to extract the pre amp from the main amp head ... to no avail. It would have been really handy to take it in a little box with me when I was doing loads of foreign gigs in the 90's. If anybody knows someone who can do this let me know.[/quote] I used to have a H|H Bass Baby in the late 1980s, used it with a massive 2x15 H|H cab. sounded - MASSIVE - I was playing in a metal band at the time using a Fender 62 re-issue Precision. The sound was great. By the way, I know a man who can do your pre-amp for you. If you're interested let me know.

[quote name='Russ' post='493446' date='May 20 2009, 04:49 PM']To be honest, every Westfield I've ever tried has been cheap, unplayable and boxy-sounding sh!te.[/quote] That describes the Stingray copy I got my nephew to a tee. I've just seen a Vintage Stingray copy go for over £100 second-hand. I know Vintage have a slightly better repuation but I couldn't help seeing the similarities. Not sure if they're made in the same factory or not though.

You must have got a half decent one. I bought one for my nephew and it wasn't that great to be honest. It was one of their stingray copies. Wasn't impressed at all.

I think he sells stuff on Ebay under the name "dazgixer" he's in Gillingham, Kent.

Get a Sansamp VT. Problem solved.

[quote name='Jase' post='397477' date='Feb 2 2009, 03:03 AM'][url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=y6eri4-BcB4&feature=related"]Metallica[/url] ....sounds like a barking pig![/quote] Thats an excellent bass sound I reckon. Its the sort of sound I try to get on recordings. Overdriven with some mids in the mix.

[b]Very interesting... [/b] Real life experiences The following statements are from our supporters, and do not necessarily reflect the views of HSE. Paul Gray, rock guitarist, Musicians' Union Regional Officer, Wales & SW England Paul Gray, rock guitaristI spent over 20 years touring and recording internationally as bass guitarist with Eddie & the Hot Rods, The Damned and UFO. Eighteen of them were tinnitus free. When I realised my ears were still ringing 2 weeks after a tour had finished, I saw a doctor who referred me to the Audiology Department at University Hospital Wales. The tests showed I had significant hearing loss, tinnitus and the onset of hyperacusis. Against their advice I continued touring, during which time the tinnitus levels rapidly reached such high levels in both ears that I was unable to sleep or concentrate. Additionally hyperacusis rapidly precluded me from going to pubs, restaurants etc, performing onstage became stressful (even with the earplugs available at that time), everyday noises seemed excessively unpleasant and I had to concede defeat. Changing a successful career as a musician was a hard decision to make but I had no choice. Had suitable earplugs been available (eg with a protection factor of 30 dB), I would not be in the situation I am now, having to wear ear protection for everyday life, not least whenever my 2 year old boy gets noisy - which is pretty often! The implications of permanent noise damage go far beyond the working environment - 24 hours a day ringing in both ears, hearing loss, sensitivity to normal noises. And I was one of those who never thought I'd get problems!

I wouldn't send 1p to Russia. The amount of people I know who have bought things from there and never received anything is really high.

Maybe I should have made this clearer.. there's no routing or wiring involved, the battery pack simply takes up the space of one 9v battery and delivers 24v. The battery in the picture on the right is for size comparision. No need to wire anything, it just slips in like a normal battery.

Firstly, I'm not connected to this seller in any way shape or form but I've bought from him in the past and the product he's selling was great for my guitars but they could also be used for bass. its a 24v battery pack that's the size of a 12v battery. I know EMG pickups are rated at 27 volts but are mostly run at either 9v or 12v. This little mod increases the voltage and doesn't half make a difference to the tone and sound. Not sure if it'll work for other pickups, you'd need to check what voltage they can be run at. Link is here, not sure if I'm breaking any rules... please feel free to move, zap or smite me down if I've done wrong... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EMG-pickups-24-v-modification-for-81-85-60-S-SA-Bass_W0QQitemZ300293260667QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item300293260667&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]24 Volt Modification[/url]

[quote name='solo4652' post='414623' date='Feb 19 2009, 07:13 PM']The standard reply would be something like; "How many pairs of shoes do you have?"[/quote] ...or how many pairs of tits do you have? One? Well why so many bras??