BottomEndian

[quote name='iconic' post='705173' date='Jan 8 2010, 09:45 AM']love the look of that bass too..anyone know what it is?[/quote] [url="http://www.pedulla.com/html/mvp_buzz.html"]Pedulla[/url], innit?

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='703165' date='Jan 6 2010, 05:44 PM']Unfortunately that's where the idea of me already owning my ultimate rig 'fails'! The TF 550 can only run @ 4 ohms (hence I run a pair of DB112's)[/quote] Assuming it's happy to run at 8 ohms as well, couldn't you wire up two series pairs of 8-ohm cabs in parallel (in other words, wire two cabs in series and another two cabs in series, and run those two pairs in parallel with each other)? That'd give you 8 ohms over four cabs. I have no idea how this could be achieved with real-world cabs, but that's how you can make (for example) a 16-ohm 4x12 guitar cab with four 16-ohm speakers.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='703647' date='Jan 6 2010, 11:18 PM']Always loved visiting it, so we are going to give it a go [/quote] Top stuff! Best of luck in the Toon. I moved up here from Yorkshire for university, and I couldn't imagine moving away again now (well, I mean, I've gone all genteel and moved out into Tynedale, but it still counts ). Give it a couple of years and you might have figured out enough Geordie to hold a conversation... Can't offer any direct help with finding a band, I'm afraid, but there's a cracking scene of heavy/punky/screamy stuff in Newcastle. A lot of energy and ambition. You should find something pretty easily.

[quote name='bluesparky' post='702701' date='Jan 6 2010, 12:21 PM']It's the only version i've got, it's an old scan from the defunct bassist magazine. Every little helps. [/quote] Absolutely, so thanks again. I can use it for some on-the-fly-transposition practice!

[quote name='bluesparky' post='702655' date='Jan 6 2010, 11:49 AM']OK, there you go! I think it's attached now.[/quote] Ta! Very much appreciated. But I'm going to sound all ungrateful now... it's in the wrong key! Should be a semitone lower, but obviously that makes it harder to play without detuning or using an octaver. Strangely, they've chosen a three-sharps key signature throughout the body of the song, presumably basing that on the chorus being based around F#m. I would've written the verses with four sharps (E major) and probably changed the key signature for the choruses. Yes, I would have had to write naturals in before all the flattened sevenths in the verses, but the E chord just doesn't feel like the dominant of the song's key. It's the root in the verses, and it just happens to be played with a flattened seventh. Maybe that's just me and the way I hear the song. Having said all that, I would have transcribed it in Eb as well.

[quote name='Moos3h' post='702579' date='Jan 6 2010, 10:50 AM']It's really not too hard - there's a couple of youtube vids to get you started (not exactly correct, but it's ballpark).[/quote] No, I know. I just like to have transcriptions lying around for sight-reading practice!

[quote name='bluesparky' post='702570' date='Jan 6 2010, 10:43 AM']PM'd[/quote] Oooh, if you've got it, I'd be interested too!

[quote name='funkygreega' post='702187' date='Jan 5 2010, 09:51 PM']You mean 'finger'? Otherwise known as 'The Hook'?[/quote] He had two hands, as far as I remember. It'd be a right swine to play "Bernadette" with only one hand.

[quote name='51m0n' post='701351' date='Jan 5 2010, 10:43 AM']The only real thing to note is turn your tweeter down (if you have one and can) or get a distortion/overdrive that you can turn the treble down on if you cant negate the tweeter. Or go with a tweeter less cab if thats what you're asking.[/quote] +1 on this [b]for fuzz and distortion[/b]. For tube/tube-style drive, there's still a little room for tweeters IMO/IME. But YMMV. I'm a fuzz-lover anyway, so I'm tweeterless all the way.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='701347' date='Jan 5 2010, 10:42 AM']My comment was more aimed at amps than cabs[/quote] Ah, got yer. I'd probably agree, then. I like a lot about my LMII, but by far the most "me" tone I've ever produced was from an old Traynor all-valve head. (Actually, I think it was the sawn-off top of a combo, but... y'know... same thing.) If the owner was ever thinking of selling it, I'd bite his arm off at the elbow. Apart from the fact it weighed about 30kg.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='701303' date='Jan 5 2010, 09:42 AM']I dunno... I'm beginning to wonder if 'light = lite' when it comes to tone.[/quote] Are you forgetting a certain light 2x15? Effortless bottom, thick mids and lovely rolled-off top? Quite honestly, I'd be prepared to take a hit on tone to save some weight (anybody who's done the load-in/out at the Dog & Parrot in Newcastle will appreciate the value of not having a ceramic-loaded 8x10), but I've managed to find a solution that gives me tone [i]and[/i] lack of weight.

I thought he had his bridge mutes on for everything? I'm no aficionado, but AFAIK the key Jamerson sound is from fat, dead flats, nuclear-baboon-grip action and bridge mutes. Oh, and having Jamerson's fingers too.

[quote name='donut' post='697596' date='Dec 31 2009, 09:26 PM']Has anyone tried fitting a D-Tuner to the 4th (E) string of a 5-string bass? Is there room?[/quote] Probably not enough room for the lever to swing, but you never know. What's the bass?

[quote name='Conan' post='696514' date='Dec 30 2009, 05:40 PM']Such as?[/quote] Behold Bass Direct's amplification section: [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Amplification.html"]http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_sp...lification.html[/url] BTW, I'm in Corbridge with a MarkBass Little Mark II head running into a Barefaced Vintage (2x15"). If you want to try it out at some point in the New Year (a bit snowed under at the moment... almost literally...), I'd be more than happy to meet up for an A/B against your Ampegs. We might even be able to rope some other locals in for a mini-bash. I got together in August with warwickhunt, wateroftyne and The Bass Doc (the local legend that is Howard Satterley), and it was a real education in amplification tastes!

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='697005' date='Dec 31 2009, 10:17 AM']Not that I'm aware of... The Fender Bass Book is a great reference, though![/quote] And guess who got book tokens for Christmas...

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='696987' date='Dec 31 2009, 09:56 AM']Heh... I'm TV-logo all the way![/quote] OT, but does anybody know of a website that shows the evolution of the Fender logo over the years (like [url="http://www.musicmanbass.org/mycustompage0008.htm"]this one for MMs[/url])? I keep hearing different terms for different logos, but I don't necessarily know what they mean...

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='696415' date='Dec 30 2009, 03:54 PM']I wouldn't buy any amplifier with a knob marked [b][i]PRESCENCE[/i][/b]. If they can't spell [i]Presence [/i]properly, what makes you think they can solder? [/quote] I think it's supposed to say [b]PRESCIENCE[/b], but an "I" rubbed off. Basically, that knob makes it go so loud that it rips a hole in the fabric of reality, allowing you to see 2 hours into the future so you can tell how your gig went.

I fulfilled one of Steve's fantasies last night... by selling him my Akai G-Drive. We only arranged it about 3 hours before it happened, but it was one of the smoothest transactions I've had. Lovely fella, and we ended up blathering for over an hour about basses, amps, effects, computer programming... and he let me fondle his Rickenbacker, which was one of the most beautifully constructed instruments I've seen. Top stuff, great man.

Took John's Fender P/J off his hands last night. The moment I arrive, I'm offered tea/coffee. "No thanks," I say, "but I'd love a glass of water." John returns with a bottle of sparkling water and a glass with ice. What a true gentleman. Top class. Had a lovely little time talking all things bass and admiring John's collection. I wouldn't hesitate to do business with him again... if my bank account wasn't doing the hesitating for me.

I used to have a BTB775PB: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=58591"]behold me trading it here[/url]. For me, the downsides were: [list] [*]Size [*]Weight [*]Tonally a touch "polite" for my tastes [*]35" scale ([i]just[/i] too much for my hands down the bottom end) [*]19mm string spacing at the bridge was too much for me on a 5-string (although it doesn't bother me on a 4...) [/list]But the upsides were: [list] [*]Enormous flexibility from the EQ -- roughly ±15 dB in each of three bands makes for many, many tones! [*]Neck -- a bit wide side-to-side, but extremely slender front-to-back [*]Aesthetics -- yes, I'm a bit shallow, but it looked superb [*]Monorail bridge units -- [i]really[/i] easy to chop and change between string sets [*]Price -- I got mine before the Great Ibanez Price Increase of 2009, so it was £400-odd rather than the £600ish it goes for now [/list] All in all, it was a cracking bass (with the loudest output I've ever come across) that ended up surplus to requirements. Seeing as you're looking at a 4-string, chances are it'll be that little bit lighter than my 5, although I think the body will be the same size. If you're short like me, you might look a bit silly with it strapped on. I certainly did. When I say it was tonally "polite"... it was a little too "dark" for me. Although the EQ helped a lot, I never managed to get it to sound quite right for me, with rounds or flats on it. Now, given that this BTB780 (which I've never seen before, BTW -- it's not even on the Ibanez website!) also has a piezo bridge, if you can mix that in it might help give you back some of that bite and zing. So it could be an absolute winner. It really depends on the funk tone you're going for. I've just got hold of a passive P/J for funk purposes, and I'm not sure my BTB could ever [i]really[/i] have aped those tones. Like Purpolaris says, it's a lot of money for a blind buy and if you don't like it, it's not like it's a popular model that'll be really easy to shift, especially at the 2009 prices. If I were you, I'd see if you can find a BTB to try (even if it's not this particular model), just to see if you like the ergonomics. It's a big, big body and a long neck.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='694710' date='Dec 28 2009, 09:38 AM']Nice Precision? Yep. Nice Jazz? Yep. Nice fretless? Yep. Nice amp? Yep. Nice, modular cabs? Yep. Nice combo, with removable head in case main amp fails? Yep. Nice strings? Yep. Nice straps? Yep. Nice cables? Yep. Nice headphone amp / tuner? Yep. Nice hard cases? Yep. Ummm.... what do I do now?[/quote] You get a nice MM Stingray. Two, actually: fretted and fretless. Seriously, no love for the 'Ray? To me, there are three basic rock bass sounds: Precision, Jazz and Stingray. You're one down, Mr B.

Two more little things I'd change about this magazine I keep saying I like : 1) For every bass reviewed, I'd like to see full-length shots of the front and back (and it's nice to have the full-page shot of the body like they usually do), and I'd like the other pictures to be of relevant bits of the instrument [b]without duplication[/b]. There have been a few times (although no specific examples spring to mind now) where the text has mentioned a point of particular aesthetic interest, but there's been no picture of that point, while there are three pictures of the neck laminates or something. 2) Captions. Sweet baby Jebus, this annoys the p*ss out of me. [b]So many[/b] of the pictures in BGM are uncaptioned. If there's a picture of a band without instruments (or even a group of bassists), more often than not there's no indication of who's who in the picture. I know it doesn't really make that much difference, but it'd be nice to put a name to a face.

A little request to any BGM instrument reviewers that might be reading: We don't need to be told that "the bridge has individual saddles that allow you to adjust string height and intonation". That is surely a given in this day and age, even on the cheapest basses. It would be wise and prudent to point out if that [b]isn't[/b] the case (like on a vintage bridge reissue), or if there's a particularly unusual way the saddles adjust (y'know... spin round three times, invoke the goddess Artemis and eat a caper before loosening a locking bolt). I'm sure there are other little cliched phrases throughout all the reviews, but that's the one that slaps me in the face. Every time I see that little sentence (and I see it or something like it in a hell of a lot of the bass reviews in BGM), it makes it look like the reviewer's got a dog-eared "writing a review checklist" next to their computer. "Hmmm. Hardware... checklist item 1... [i]does the bridge have individual saddles that allow you to adjust string height and intonation?[/i] Why, yes it does! I'd better put that in." I should point out that, although every month I come on here and point out a few of the glaring mistakes I've noticed, I like BGM a lot and it's improving every month.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='695280' date='Dec 28 2009, 11:54 PM']I also [i]used to[/i] be able to produce any pitch I was asked to...[/quote] Reading that back, I've remembered another point I was going to make: I've pretty much lost my accuracy in that respect. I'm bang-on if you play me a note/chord and ask me what it is (after all, there are only 12 discrete points it can be, so that's a shedload easier). If you say, "sing an F#", then I can and I'm usually pretty good... but I might be up to a quarter-tone either way. Especially if I'm tired or ill. Again, I'm sure practice would get those juices flowing again, but it's pretty interesting for me anyway.