EssentialTension

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1324325099' post='1473086'] Cool, can we lock off topic now? He he he!!! [/quote] But where would people go to complain about off topic being locked?

[quote name='fryer' timestamp='1324321770' post='1473034'] thank you all for your comments. I didn't realise it changed the sound that much but now having tried a pick, I see what you mean. My main concern was about speed tho', not sound, so I'll keep trying the pick and see if I can get a bit faster. There is mention of finger nails. I use my fingers, not my nails. Is this normal ? [/quote] I use the pads at the end of my fingers with nails cut extrmely short so that no nail catches the string. Some people like a slightly longer nail so it catches the string. I know one guy who plays fingerstyle with long nails - which makes me shiver. It's up to you.

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1324316044' post='1472947'] Done. I called it 'General Discussion' and put more info in the subtitle. [/quote] Excellent.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1324311882' post='1472885'] I was trying to avoid getting musical subjects that weren't expressly bass-related from being lumped into the "Off-Topic" ghetto. Ped, Kiwi, there seems to be a bit of support for this - how about it? [/quote] BRX, I think we're in agreement really, music stuff shouldn't really be in 'off topic' and so there should be a music forum beyond 'general bass discussion'.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1324298447' post='1472647'] IMO most musical subjects aren't really off-topic. They just need there own area for non-bass specific musical topics. [/quote] Yes, that's the kind of thing I meant.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1324247021' post='1472291'] I'm still disappointed that this isn't real... :-( [/quote] I'd like to see a 'music off topic' and a separate 'off topic off topic'. If you see what I mean.

[quote name='JakeFoordBass' timestamp='1324238879' post='1472205'] Also, saw a label inside saying Made in Czechoslovakia which I hadn't seen before so it's definitely 18 years or older! [/quote] Unless they were just using up the old stock of labels.

Bless you too.

Very good, Chris, I'm very glad you're happy. Tell me more about the Rickenbacker strings please. I'm still playing the La Bella black nylons and they are fine but I keep imagining there might be something better. Are the 4445s black nylon too? Where did you get them? On the matter of the action, mine is 7/32 at the 12th on the E string. How does that compare?

As usual, some people like them and some don't. However, contrary to popular opinion the Precision bass is not a one trick pony and that's why it's been used in countless gigs and countless sessions in countless styles over fifty years. They are highly reliable, don't damage easily, repair easily, and you can pick them up quite cheaply or pay a fortune for one. Some Squiers are better than some Fenders, the Squier Classic Vibe is excellent, but many Fenders are better than most Squiers. Lakland, Sadowsky and others also make Precisions even if they don't call them such - they are pretty good too. Try before you buy is good and buy second-hand is also good - but if you're a lefty that may be more difficult.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1324146726' post='1471310'] I would look at how the original songs were played. If they're played with a pick then use one, if not then don't. Playing bass lines that were originally played with a pick using fingers (or vice versa) never sounds quite right to me - the articulation is always different. [/quote] [quote name='Chlo_treacher' timestamp='1324209015' post='1471742'] this x1000000 if its covers your doing, the band leader will generally want the song to sound like the original recording. I never used to pay much attention to this until I got to uni where they would take marks off the performance if the tone wasn't matching the original....make sure I now pay attention to detail and it seems to be working, more and more band leaders are calling me up for work so cant be a bad thing! [/quote] If this was correct then you'd need not only a plectrum of the correct gauge and type or fingers (with fingernails the right length) but also the right strings, the right bass etc etc. to do a proper version of the song ... and you'd still have to cop the correct feel. I can't see it makes any sense.

[quote name='BigAlonBass' timestamp='1324164850' post='1471502'] Pound Shop. Three for a quid. Use one for a gig, then throw it away. Never been caught with a flat battery on stage-ever. [/quote] Never been caught either and I only ever changed them about every six months.

[quote name='the_krysh' timestamp='1324154259' post='1471397'] here is a clip with the bridge bisonic of my 1965 guild starfire, this is what the dark stars should sound like, only a bit hotter: [url="http://snd.sc/iD9Nk0"]http://snd.sc/iD9Nk0[/url] [/quote] Very nice.

[quote name='henry norton' timestamp='1324150372' post='1471354'] I s'pose it's down to the listener (I can't tell much difference). I like the sound too but I like the fact that they're not soapbar, P, J or MM shaped more... I like mudbuckers, wide-range Fenders and chrome T.Birds too so I'm kind of prejudiced. [/quote] I didn't mean to suggest that the looks didn't matter. There was definitely some nostalgia for the oddness of the looks but always, I think, alongside the sound.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1324122863' post='1470989'] A Beatles tune....if you don't get this, you have no soul. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IyrETsYM8w[/media] [/quote] I've got that album, excellent too.

What a lovely thread for a Saturday afternoon.

[quote name='henry norton' timestamp='1324118860' post='1470929'] ... I've heard the Dark Stars sound is quite a way off the original Bi-Sonic sound, so maybe Fred just did it the way he thought was best rather than slavishly copying every detail. Let's face it, with Dark Stars it's as much about the looks as it is about the sound [/quote] The Dark Star sound is not that far off the Bisonics and I'd say it was the sound that mattered most, not the looks.

Kay Guitars today: [url="http://www.kayvintagereissue.com/index.html"]http://www.kayvintagereissue.com/index.html[/url]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1324074104' post='1470711'] I didn`t get a tracking number or phone call. But, they told me I would be contacted within 7 - 10 working days about the delivery of my item, and it turned up in 4 working days, so I have no complaints. [/quote] If mine arrives as arranged it will be three working days.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1324069283' post='1470642'] If Hammon's website is still up ... [/quote] [url="http://www.hammoneng.com/index.htm"]http://www.hammoneng.com/index.htm[/url]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1324067693' post='1470617'] One of the bits that makes them particularly complex and expensive to make is the polepiece adjustment mechanism, which doesn't really affect the sound AFAIK. Otherwise they're arranged like a guitar P90, except with a laminated steel core through which the polepieces pass. I wouldn't be surprised if someone started making a functional equivalent without necessarily copying the adjuster mechanism and cosmetics. They wouldn't have any problem shifting them if they did, especially if they were sized to fit in existing soapbar routes. [/quote] I'm not an engineer so I wouldn't strictly know if it was a functional equivalent but the Lakland/Hanson Chisonics were designed to replace Dark Stars in Lakland Decade basses because Fred Hammon couldn't make Dark Stars fast enough for Lakland. The Chisonics do have some of the sound qualities of the Dark Stars and the Bisonics.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1324056814' post='1470451'] Again I wonder how hard they would be to make? ..... [/quote] Again, I'll take two when they are ready.

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1324033220' post='1469953'] I [b]love[/b] Perfume. I only wish I could read it in the original German, though the translation is so beautiful. [/quote] [i]Perfume[/i] is a great book. I need to read or see [i]The Double Bass[/i].