ARGH

METAL!!!!!

You have to have faith...do you drive..go to Leeds...Ripon,Bradford....Hell I do a 90 mile round trip twice a week,because,there was not a band to join,when the covers band folded...I lost alot of money,time,and frustration mounted...Everyone got jobs in other bands asap,but no-one needed a Bassplayer...there were many a Bass owner or 'Doubler' per se..I was gonna sell up and say balls to it,it was a loooong few months...as an originals idea of being in a band,it was a longer...7 years....

Then it happend,I sh*t myself for 10 days,nailing the tracks ..for that shot....I didnt know who I was up against,hell,until I'd done the audition,frankly I didnt care.....

But I got the job (Hell..the drummer didnt want anyone else....which was nice)

its hard...travelling...but I remember the waiting and 'abyss' of having nothing....


I travel to Burnley,as a result,Im in a band that has an lp coming out next week,and are being booked nationwide,and in Europe...even the USA is being mooted.

its an effort,but Im with a bunch of good guys...good people....and its working.*

Beerdragon,outtoplayjazz, and ESP JASE,...a few others gave me encouraging words...

YOU CANT QUIT...Let no-one call you a liar,coz you will just be bullshitting yourself,or become a lazy son of a bitch,have ambition,sharpen your playing,KEEP playing...If you can get covers work,do it,its not a deathknell,its a program to build stamina....to be better...your hands will become strong,and you will get cash on top.


*Irony being,I get into I.C.O.N,and 3 days later 2 fulltime functions/weddings groups,one Metal group,and 3 local covers,and 2 depping jobs came in via email....over the space of 2 weeks.

PM me

Dont stop playing

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='429497' date='Mar 9 2009, 04:09 PM']Insecure??[/quote]
He means crap

Wal's I love them....

But they are ,or were,studio Bass's...remember an often awful tone plugged in,can be a godlike one in recording...Wals were known for that..heavy as sin,but sturdy and reliable...and ALOT of options to sculpt tone

Bilbos right ,there ISNT a Wal sound per se,just the player,Percy Jones's sounded different to Karns,to Geddys,to Newsteads etc etc.

Very much a player to player instrument.

It could just be a dud...Some instruments just are!

I have to say,the amount of people working on an 'Older' Warwick,would have been the same in number as Alembic.

Can we define 'Custom' please...is it a bass designed,in an original body shape,with electronics fitted as you wish,be they in house or company made.neck/body/headstock all hand carved....neck to your specs,as is the hardware...its an instrument made for you...a...one off shall we say.

or is it a 'Model' with options?

The latter isnt custom to me,not totally....

(waits for that to be taken out of all proportion)

[quote name='nick' post='428931' date='Mar 8 2009, 11:03 PM']"Bonzo Goes To Bitburg" brings back happy memories for me [/quote]
+1


Or the whole 1st LP....and Ive a soft spot for their version of "I dont wanna grow up".

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='428434' date='Mar 8 2009, 10:26 AM']I've met a bunch of you - happily I've yet to meet a BCer I haven't got on with - been a pleasure. I know some of you quite well and have seen some of you play. I always try to take something from another players playing but it honestly wouldn't occur to me who's 'best' - and even if it did I wouldn't post it on here in case , by implication , the abscence of someone's name might suggest I don't rate them when it's far more likely I just forgot.[/quote]


GIVE ME BACK MY TENNER!!!!

Thing is,Ive bought cheap basses in the old days,an they work and sound ok in the bedroom on a 15w amp,but they fall apart,or bits break off,or at loud volumes they just sound dire...

Saying that I know of a million tales of boutique instruments crapping out onstage.....Alembics (Jason Newstead) Gretsch (Billy Duffy)..Status (me)...Warwick (me again..and Entwistle).

Cheap sh*tty pre-amps and bad pots,2 bnd eq's,bad soldering......

Thank the lord for the instrument,but curse the worker that plays,thats Gods plan...5 mins before stage...or 2mins in to the 1st set....

[quote name='4000' post='428170' date='Mar 7 2009, 07:15 PM'][i]You[/i] don't see the point in paying much more. Others do. Taking your argument to its logical conclusion means that you don't need anything better than a Squire with a decent setup. Which in a sense is true. But the reason for spending that money is to get a handmade piece of art that plays amazingly, sounds spectacular (if that's your thing) and has a unique aesthetic (again, if that's your thing). Nobody [i]needs[/i] a bass that costs more than a couple of hundred quid, the same way nobody needs a better car than one that can get you from a-b, or that nobody needs a painting by Van Gogh. That doesn't mean nobody should desire them or have them.

Do you (yes, you personally) buy the cheapest, most functional clothes you can? The cheapest functioning car? The cheapest functioning tv? The cheapest pc that actually works? Because your argument says you should and that anyone who does anything else is nuts.[/quote]
Bourgeois scum...worshipping currancy,buying revolution!

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='428169' date='Mar 7 2009, 07:15 PM']Well the point I wanted to make was that the basses aren't really crafted in the sense that one instrument is made from scratch by one person as soon as the order comes in. Ken has a stock pile of bits and pieces that get assembled like a kit on an assembly line. The basses are sort of half way between being manufactured and being crafted, but admittedly that will probably help keep the prices relatively reasonable too. You do get very good quality at the end of the day. Despite my own personal opinion of the guy, I still think his instruments are good value.[/quote]
Wickersham does the same thing,as does Chapman....

The fretless line from 'Northern Exposure'.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='427839' date='Mar 7 2009, 08:33 AM']I don't think so. Have you checked the factory tour video?[/quote]
Yeah..its his old cleaning factory,I think he may have moved since...less than 20 staff actually building the instruments (we talk REAL Smith's here),and Ken doing the setups...and attitude.Nowt like the old days eh?

Maybe I should have said Fodera or Bee or Nordstrand

[quote name='YouMa' post='427818' date='Mar 7 2009, 07:08 AM']Alembics do seem a little over priced to me they do look nice i suppose but i couldnt really see the point in getting one unless i was famous. I think id rather spend the money on some vintage effects or a yamaha cs-80 synth.[/quote]Thing is,what you are paying for is both name,and labour time to build,Fender...100s a day,regardless of where they are from,and right now,over here they aint making good ones...

Alembic is Ron and family,and about 10 others in a Garage in California....same with Emmett Chapman,same with Carl Thompson,same with Ken Smith...

See it as this,A Sadowsky LOOKS like a Fender...so why the higher price,its because your buying reliability,and attention to detail.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='427808' date='Mar 7 2009, 03:02 AM']So two grand for the pickups? Three?



Countless more country tracks feature Fenders, I imagine those records sold better too. Fusion doesn't sell all that well, except to bass anoraks.



I should've known you'd be the first one with his head over the parapet!



It's unfortunate that you didn't compare it to Warwicks, because I bought my Warwick for dirt cheap and it pisses all over your Alembic and doesn't look as gay. Incidentally I don't pay any tax through PAYE, most of my tax is collected through corp. tax as I'm a company director and take most of my earnings through dividends. I'm glad you got a silly-priced bass though, even if you did justify it to yourself as tax-deductible. You still could've saved yourself thousands and got a bass that sounded and played just as good and looked a lot less stupid, if you hadn't got suckered by the name and the blingy wood on the front.

f***ing mug.[/quote]

I do believe there is a Fender headstock in Jakesbass's avatar.

Considering,there is an 'Alembic' setting in Nashville.....Stanley Clark,Fleetwood Mac,The 'Dead....',no those guys didnt sell that many records.

I reckon the most expensive instrument is an upright that one of us owns....now thats REAL Bass.

Hardly,I think he's happy...Ive been hearing a few stories of Scott's behaviour from friends in the US,and I would say theres some loose screw in a department someplace,but he is happier now.

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='426809' date='Mar 6 2009, 12:01 AM']I listened to that but either my headphones couldn't reproduce G#00 or my ears don't hear because it appeared not to be there. I could only vaguely hear G#0.[/quote]
Knowing Gerry...it probably was not.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='426805' date='Mar 5 2009, 11:58 PM']I don't really think going any lower than I am is practical, I flipped the detuner on my p bass down to a G with a .145 at 34", not really useful, maybe if it was 36" scale it might have had some noise.[/quote]
You're gonna need at least a .165 at that note....to be honest .175 still has not got the touch.

Ive convinced the guys Im with to write the next lp in drop A,and write a couple of tunes in B...regular 4ths.

Not the most regular of keys to play or tune in is it?

Geez...You still think he's bitter now???

[quote name='SteveK' post='425942' date='Mar 5 2009, 11:21 AM']'fraid he comes across as a bit of a fruit-cake to me.

Doesn't matter how good you are, or [i]think[/i] you are, if no-one will work with you it means jack-sh*t.

FWIW my good friend and colleague, Mick Rogers, played bass for Frank Z for one show (mid 70s) when Tom Fowler couldn't make it. Had to busk a 2 1/2 hour Frank Zappa set

Steve[/quote]
They do 'Adult' nappies dont they.

[quote name='The Funk' post='425717' date='Mar 5 2009, 03:41 AM']Not going to say that noone could find a use for it but I'm not going to bother.

I totally get Dood's comments about not wanting to be outdone in the low notes by a keyboard though![/quote]
You just did

But I think this is a ...bit..too far!

No,but reread the interview,and put yourself in the mans shoes,at that point in time....

We all hate playing somedays.