Krysbass

I never cease to be amazed at how irritatingly uncompromising some people are in a band situation. I constantly compromise on song choices to keep other people happy and I therefore expect to see a certain amount of magnanimity coming from everyone else. But no – my last couple of years re-discovering the band scene has unearthed more than its fair share of control-freaks and prima-donnas who selfishly put their needs and aspirations over and above every one else’s. Maybe it’s the way of the world? To be honest, it’s things like companionship, that it continues to improve my playing and that I get to go gigging that keep me doggedly persevering with the constant stream of set-backs. I’m just grateful I don’t do it for the money – but then professionals might perhaps behave more, er, professionally?

[quote name='alexclaber' post='445747' date='Mar 26 2009, 10:15 AM']Anyway, extra loudness is not the solution - learning to play together is. Alex[/quote] +1 Whilst I’d love to give the git-tarrists a taste of their own medicine just once to make my point, the pa chucks out 2,500 watts, so even if I had an LG1000, I’d still be on a loser. I’m hoping that a lot of our problems were down to everyone trying desperately to hear themselves over that ****dy drummer. We have our first rehearsal next week with the new drummer (who can play soft as well as loud, depending on the needs of the song – luxury!!) Hopefully everything will start to fall into place and the guitarists will realise that they need to let me handle the bass department. Not a nice feeling though when your rig should definitely be loud enough, but somehow it isn’t!

I can definitely second the comment about the guitarist going thru the pa and having too much bass in his sound. This very problem has been multiplied in my band by there being 2 guitarists thru the pa, made worse until a couple of weeks ago by a very heavy-handed drummer! My Superfly500 and two 2x10 cabs were seriously struggling. We had to sack the drummer a couple of weeks ago as we were fed up telling him to play quieter and him saying that he couldn't. The new drummer is much better, but we've still to fully test that with the full band. I've also tried telling our guitarists that they need to lose some of their bass thru the pa, as they're stealing my frequencies - I've yet to win that argument and if I don't, I might have to be the next one to leave...... By the way; I was considering upgrading to the LG 1000, but I haven't seen too many 4 ohm 2x10 cabs capable of handling 500 watts+ The Yamaha cabs I use with my Superfly are rated at 250 watts RMS (same as the amp)

If I had not only the funds, but the space, I would probably have more of a collection of basses. But I don’t, so when I bought my first good quality bass, it was features and the tonal variation it offered that sold it to me – with build quality and looks thrown in for good measure! My thinking was that if I can only have 1 bass, I need it to be as versatile as possible. I can honestly say that the name on the headstock was an irrelevance to me and I rejected a Fender Jazz in favour of the bass that I’m still playing 24 years later. A 1984 Fender would be worth a lot more money now, but then accountancy is probably best kept as far away as possible from music!

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='436826' date='Mar 17 2009, 01:20 AM']Westone - I remember lots of people learning on Thunder models. OK then - [b]Not-American Classic[/b] - but ugly![/quote] ... but then beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I learned on a Thunder 1A and always loved the individual look of those basses. So when I upgraded to a more "professional" bass, it was the Thunder III that I still use now. Every time I open its case I'm pleased I had the will-power not to be lured by the chance to own a ubiquitous-looking Fender Jazz for almost the same money. But aesthetics aside; I can confirm that my Thunder III has been an extremely well made bass that takes gigging in its stride.

Our drummer is heavy-handed to say the least, so everyone else has to run their gear loud to compete. I tried using normal health & safety type foam earplugs a few times, but found they blocked out too much sound – particularly the bass. So I recently bought some Elacin ERS20-S ear-plugs for about £14 and have found these to be really good. These are described as “hi-fi” ear plugs in that they reduce the volume of sound entering your ears without killing all the bass or otherwise altering the quality of sound. They are comfortable to wear too. I’d definitely recommend them.

I used to have that problem, (pains down my arm and everything) until I got myself a much wider strap to spread the weight a bit better. If you haven't tried it yet, this might be a better solution than switching to lighter basses.

[quote name='rjb' post='407292' date='Feb 12 2009, 08:49 AM']The thing that draws me to Warwicks et al is the choice of exotic dark hardwoods (bubinga/wenge/ovangkol/ebony). If Fender, for example, made a US P fretless with those woods I'd happily spend a chunk of cash on one. If i'm gonna drop a wedge on a bass I want to see some nice wood action! Perhaps Fender should do an exotic wood range...[/quote] I think that pretty much sums up my argument too. If a bass is going to be expensive, it shouldn't just sound good and be a joy to play - it should look good and should look worth the money you paid for it - or better still, look worth [i]more[/i] than the money you paid for it. Unfortunately, to my mind at least, Fender basses only have that name on the headstock to proclaim their heritage - however good they are beneath the skin, they are a victim of their own success and are much too copied. Build quality, exotic woods and laminated thru-necks is where it's at for me; the brand name is secondary. - But this debate proves what a highly individual thing our choice of bass really is.

I respect the judgment of the countless professional players, many of whom are more accomplished than myself and who swear by Fender basses. But I'm sorry; I just don't get it. I don't accept that a bass from the 1950's made from fairly ordinary materials without the resource of any of the technological breakthroughs made since can be as good as its devotees claim it is, here in 2009. Then there's the prices for the USA models. I just couldn't live with paying all that money, to own something that at least visually, is little different to the £99 copies you see in music shop windows.

Ever since my mid-teens when I started listening to music, it was usually the bass-line that caught my attention. It was only later when I became a student and my 3 best mates all turned out to be guitarists, that I decided to buy my first bass and have a go myself. It was a secondhand £20 short-scale Fender copy with a plywood body. My first proper bass was a Westone Thunder 1A. I liked everything about it, so a couple of years later I upgraded to the Thunder III that’s still my main bass, getting on for 24 years later. No regrets whatsoever.

I was using up the last of my 2008 holiday allowance last Monday, so decided to make a trip to a music shop whose website indicated they stock Traben basses (I really like the look of the Chaos Obsession model). I was looking forward to this, not having tried any bass out in a shop since 1985! I play in a rock covers band so have plenty of material in my repertoire and strode into the almost empty store ready for action, only to find the full extent of their stock was Fender, Squire, Yamaha and some other brand beginning with “F” none of which “float my boat”. I asked about Traben basses, but the guy in the store hadn’t even heard of them. I left without being inspired to try any of the basses on display. This is another reason why many of us don’t waste time visiting music stores and go the online route instead, even if that has its own problems. There’s good advice on this thread on how to try out a bass properly – but it’s not always easy to find the bass you actually want to try.

Having latched onto the up-front bass that made the “New Gold Dream” album, I was massively disappointed at how the bass was pushed right back in the mix on “Sparkle in the Rain”. The clangy, messy sound of that album is tiring to listen to (well, it is if you’re straining to hear articulate bass work) and was a criminal waste of such a talented player. I’ve always been a Simple Minds fan, because they still make some great music, but none of the “hired guns” that have filled the bass slot since then, no matter how talented, have ever quite re-captured the magic.

The drummer in my last band used a Yamaha electronic kit and its biggest advantage was that getting the volume levels right was a doddle whereas my 500watt bass rig only just makes itself heard over our current heavy-handed drummer and acoustic kit . IMHO the acoustic kit looks and sounds better, but it takes longer to set up/dismantle, needs a reasonably large hatchback to transport it and takes up more floor space at gigs or in the rehearsal room. Through lack of space and not being able to turn the volume down enough, our acoustic drummer says he can’t practice at home between rehearsals/gigs – not good! BUT... our band with the electronic drums folded because electronic drum heads apparently don’t have as much “give” as acoustic ones, so the drummer got some sort of repetitive strain injury and had to give up playing! – Worth a thought perhaps?

A bit like Marmite perhaps (you either love it or hate it) but Ashdown do a good selection of wearables on their website and the t-shirts are pretty good quality. "Well, that makes a change" I can imagine some people saying.....

I run my Superfly with a couple of Yamaha 4-ohm 2x10’s and only bought the second cab recently. This setup is very portable and although with one or both cabs the rig sounds fine, (I usually have the EQ flat) I have to admit to being a bit disappointed at the relatively small increase in volume I got from hooking up that second cab. I thought that unleashing all those extra watts would have the rest of the band telling me to turn it down, but no. In fact, last week I did a jam where the drummer was extremely heavy-handed (never seen so many dents in a set of drum-heads in my life) and I had to put the volume up to over three-quarters just to hear myself! I now feel that no matter how many watts you have, someone will come along and prove it just isn’t enough.

I'm not keen on Fenders, purely because they are so copied. I freely admit; it's snobbish and superficial of me, but if I was to make the significant investment of the price of a USA Fender, I couldn't handle the thought that someone could mistake it visually for one of the £79 copies in the window of the music shop down the road.

[quote name='Musky' post='165748' date='Mar 29 2008, 10:15 AM']As Jon points out, Westone was just a brand name so they don't actually make the basses. A manufacturer would just be contracted to make them. Until sometime in 1987 that would have been Matsumoku, after which production shifted to Korea and the production of more nondescript copies. The brand seems to have disappeared for most of the nineties before being revived. The reputation for quality was established when they were made by Matsumoku, who knew a thing or two about making good instruments, and these are the ones to watch out for. There's nothing to suggest that the instruments made under the Westone brand now has anything to do with these pre '87 instruments - the Matsumoku factory was destroyed in 1987, and the brand name has probably been sold on. Doubtless the factory that is making these copies also produces identical instruments with other brand names slapped on the headstock. It's really a case that it's manufacturer you have to keep an eye out for rather than the brand name.[/quote] As far as I'm aware, Westone started as an "own brand" of Matsumoku in Japan, at least up to the point where the Matsumoku factory was destroyed. This is why it's no accident that the Westone Thunder basses in particular have many similarities in appearance, materials, and quality with the original Aria SB basses, which were made by Matsumoku for Aria.

I've only owned 4 basses since I started playing in 1982 and still have 2 of them. Having kept the bass I bought new in 1985, I can understand where that guy is coming from. I'm still happy enough with it to feel that I'd have to spend more than I can comfortably afford to improve on it. Doesn't stop me window-shopping though! Could be that my weakness is more directed at amps - I've been through 7 of those, but then that's not much either, seeing as it's spread across 28 years.

[quote name='Jase' post='156536' date='Mar 13 2008, 10:07 AM']It'd be the biggest book in the world.[/quote] +1 I've just been given a copy of "The Bass Book" by Tony Bacon and Barry Moorhouse, it has plenty of useful information and some great pics, but in its mere 108 pages it's had to leave out sooo much. I suspect our Basschat effort could run to several volumes

Gary Willis uses a ramp on his basses. I think it's something to do with stopping you digging in to the strings too much, which can spoil your tone and kill the sustain of the note. Apparently the secret is to play lightly and instead turn your amp up if you need more volume. It's easier to play faster if you play lightly too.

I wouldn't argue with any of the names mentioned so far, but no list of '80's bassists would be complete without the sadly underrated Derek Forbes of Simple Minds. His up-front sound is well evident on the "New Gold Dream" album, which on the Simple Minds website has been voted their best album by a considerable margin. Derek Forbes is a versatile player too, playing fretted and fretless and being adept at pick, fingerstyle and slap.

[quote name='Ghost Rider' post='156088' date='Mar 12 2008, 03:38 PM']I don't think he will split the yamaha combo with the yamaha 2x10 cab (I think the yamaha 2x10 matches the 500 1x10 combo) for output ect, I think the 2x10 cab is only 2 OHMS so I'm not sure if it would be ok with the ashdowm ABM 325 Head. I'm hoping that someone on here has had a yamaha BBT500 & can give me some advice on them. Cheers, Anth. [/quote] I use a Yamaha BBT-210S cab with my Ashdown Superfly. This cab is 4 ohms and is rated at 250watts RMS. Although it's only a 2x10 cab, it's front ported and has a good low end. I was using it last night at a rehearsal with my rock covers band and it has no problem cutting through the noise fron 2 guitarists a drummer and vocalist. If you can find one for sale separately, I'd recommend it. Sorry, but I've no experience of the BBT 500 amp - by the way, this amp and the BBT cabs have now been discontinued by Yamaha.

[quote name='Machines' post='153166' date='Mar 7 2008, 03:51 PM']Enter the LittleGiant.. 350w: [url="http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.asp?section=labs&ID=211"]http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.as...labs&ID=211[/url] 1000w: [url="http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.asp?section=labs&ID=212"]http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.as...labs&ID=212[/url][/quote] If the new Little Giant amps overcome the QC problems, then I'd probably consider one as my next amp. However, the Little Giant has no progammability and no illuminated display, both of which were useful (if not exactly critical) features on the Superfly. I'd imagine the parametric EQ takes a bit of getting used to as well?

[quote name='Stan_da_man' post='151925' date='Mar 5 2008, 06:30 PM']I recently purchased a Ashdown Superfly bass head. As soon as I turned it on, the head starts emitting a high frequency pitch which is very noticeable, especially at low levels. I tried new leads, basses, speaker connecters and different ohm settings but the noise still remained. When the head is not plugged into anything and turned on it emits no noise, but as soon as its plugged into a cabinet the high pitched noise starts again. Any ideas?[/quote] I bought a Superfly not long ago and mine also does the high-pitched whine, but only through the output furthest from the mains input - the other output is fine. When using the noisy output, the whine totally disappears when I switch off the tweeter on my 2x10 cab. As I only use a single cab at present and am otherwise well impressed with the Superfly, I haven't bothered sending it back. If I ever do hook up a second cab, it would most probably be a 1x15 (no tweeter), so the whine problem most probably wouldn't be audible. I still think the Superfly is a great concept and can't understand why Ashdown have dropped it totally, rather than sorting out the QC issues.

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='148911' date='Feb 29 2008, 12:54 PM']A heavy 'E' string is probably 110 where a light 'B' will be 125. Think you'd find the 110 tuned down to B a bit flappy. Having said that I've regularly tuned a 110 down to D without much problem. If you're thinking of saving pennies , singles will probably work out as expensive as a set of 5s so I'd buy a set of 5s and save the G as a spare for the other bass.[/quote] Being honest, I’m probably just looking for excuses to not step outside my 4-string comfort zone! As I could do with a low B for the rock covers band I'm with, I think I'll start looking at 5-string basses again!