ThomBassmonkey

It's a very good venue, it's my band's "home" gig. There's a video of us (I'm not playing on the recording because I'm pretty new to the band but I'm on stage in the vid) playing here: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnKio9pXkM0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnKio9pXkM0[/url] hopefully you get some idea there. It's a great venue, everyone's friendly and apparently every gig attracts a fair crowd regardless of the band (though it's not my local pub so I haven't been to many gigs myself to confirm).

Having been at college and asked to learn some basslines, the two that really caught me out were my generation by the who (I just didn't really know the song at the time and wasn't expecting it to be anything like that on bass) and a song by Alanis Morisette, you oughta know (I think it was called that, but Flea basically jammed over it and compared with the rest of the album, the bassline's far more interesting though a pig to learn in a short period of time when nothing's repeated).

[quote name='Steve_nottm' post='742298' date='Feb 11 2010, 05:18 PM']A somewhat related question. In my (now on a break) covers band everything was 1/2 step down to help the singer hit some of the high bits. All fine, no issues with that. What would you recommend setting up differently on a bass that I would be using tuned this way? Different strings? Action? anything else. I haven't made any changes, and it seems fine, but just wondering.....[/quote] Check your intonation too, changing string tension (including by keeping the same tuning but changing string gauges) can sometimes send it a bit out.

My mate's first guitar was a westfield strat, all it needed was a setup and it was beautiful. I actually ended up lifting the action because he was complaining it was too low compared to what he was used to. The sound wasn't there, but a couple of new pickups and it would've been a nice all round guitar. Though I've seen some terrors. I think that there's just a few corkers that get through.

Just wondering what people do with tweeters when you're recording? Are they just something that you let influence the sound from a bit of bleed into the main speaker mic or do you use an ambient/specific mic for it? My band's going into recording in a couple of weeks and I've only just got a new amp (in fact the cab hasn't even arrived yet) and since it's a GK, I assume the tweeter's going to become more important in my sound, especially after moving from a single 15" speaker. Thom

[quote name='bigsmokebass' post='741638' date='Feb 11 2010, 12:22 AM']i dont think bongos are in your price range unless EXTREMELY lucky =/[/quote] I have seen one or two around that price. I'm still far more interested in the Warwicks though. Gonna head over to a music shop in thr next few days to try some out and see if I can narrow it down any. They stock MMs too so I'll give a ray a go.

I have an oldish Carlsbro Bassline 150 that's easily loud enough to play with a band (I've played gigs without going through the PA before plenty of times) and would probably be £150ish. I need to check the volume pot though since it needs to be gaffa taped at the moment to stop it vibrating and cutting out some. If I get it sorted soonish, I'll let you know if you're interested in it.

[quote name='HollyDTVGE' post='741344' date='Feb 10 2010, 07:22 PM']not too worried about that, i'm currently sewing pedal board cases for 2 friends and i made my own wooden pedal board with lid so i'm careful in terms of that, it'd be more so the unit as a whole would take up less space and would depend on what i got, for example i'd make small runners for the amp to fit in inside the cab if there was room. still lots to figure out.[/quote] Funnily enough, I bought a separate head and cab because of the issue of room (and options for future expansion). Yeah, a combo might take up slightly less room, but with separates you have more manoeuvrability. I don't think a GK700RB-II/210 combo would fit in my fiesta, but I think (hope) the 210RBH will go in the boot and I can have the rack case on the back seat (though really I could do with a shallow one, but maybe in time).

After looking around, I think I'm swaying towards a Warwick $$ (Streamer/Corvette still depends on what's available and which I prefer when I get a go on them but the amount of variation in tones on them looks awesome). They just look awesome and I've loved them for ages, not to mention a lot of my heroes play similar basses. After looking around though, a few sites have said that there's some problems with definition in the low string, does anyone know anything about this either way? Thanks again. Though I do still love the look of the bongos, so it's still very much an open book.

Beautiful bassline well played. Nice one!

I'd put a boot up his arse. How dare they replace you and not even tell you? Earlier in the thread you said it was a social thing too, do you really want to be hanging around with someone like that? He obviously has no respect at all.

I used to keep my 6 strings tuned down a step, the guitarist in one of my old bands used to play in drop D and used loads of open D riffs so I needed an open D string but didn't want to screw with my intervals between strings.

While I agree that a bass's tone* is one of the least important qualities, I disagree that it's not important. If you pick up a bass with a nice rumbly deep sound when you play with your fingers but you want it to sound like a punk p-bass, you're going to lose a lot of character from the bass. I prefer to have all my EQs set flat if poss, if I don't like the sound of my equipment as is, I wouldn't use it. I usually EQ my bass a bit but I'd rather mess with the signal at the source than lose signal there then try and boost something that doesn't exist at the amp. I can understand the possibilities with using digital equipment, but after playing guitar with a GT6 or studio amp sims for a number of years, I know that the tonal character is never fully there. Amp sims and multi-FX are great for deciding what you want IMO, but once I know, I'd never pick a sim over the real thing. But then I only like 1 tone per gig. For people who want to be playing a different bass through a different amp every song, they completely make sense, but then that kind of player would never have a signature tone anyway. *Disclaimer: I'm calling it tone because I think of a player's sound as everything including style, genre, proficiency and of course tone.

If you're worried about your amp being damaged while in transit, you can get rack ears for most heads, then for a bit more cash get a night flight case. Only probably is they're about twice as big as the head, but you can get shallow ones if you look around.

In fairness when I posted this, I was still frustrated. It's not the worst place ever. They just seem very disorganised. Noone's been rude or actively done anything wrong, it's just a lack of communication. There hasn't really been a lot of hassle (compared to some place) but on the other hand, if stuff isn't going as expected I'm very on the ball about ringing up and getting it sorted out, so I don't know how it would've been if I'd let it be longer. Mark's sent me a PM so I'll let him know what's going on, hopefully it'll all go smoothly then. On the upside though, I've just had my first practice with the head I ordered last time and it sounded amazing, so hopefully the cab is pretty swift and I can have my new setup booming out asap.

Just wondered if it's only me or do they seem to have HORRIBLE service? Ordered something from them a while back and after being told a delivery date, it failed to arrive. After ringing up I'd been told it hadn't even left the warehouse yet. I managed to get that sorted out and they kindly refunded me some money. Then today I decided to give them another chance and rang up this morning at about 9:40. The person I was told I should speak to was busy but I was told he'd be free in 10 minutes so I decided to hang on. An hour later I rang back and he was still busy, so I left it again assuming he'd be free soon. I rang back after another hour and just placed the order with someone else (which was all I wanted to do in the first place, I don't know why I got told I should order from a certain person). I just (4:45) got a call from the person I wanted to speak to originally and he said he'd only been told I wanted to speak to him within the last half hour. They didn't have the item in stock but they say it should be with me in a week at most, I really hope I don't get messed about any more. I'm very unlikely to use them again which is a shame as they have a lot of nice gear for nice prices. The problem seems to be with communication between their different areas rather than individuals, it seems very sloppy though and I'm surprised that such a successful store has these problems. EDIT: I should add that they've been polite and quick to sort out the first delivery as well as the partial refund and that they've given me a good price on my current order which is good of them. I'm just still quite frustrated at the whole thing.

I'd suggest a GK700rb-ii/210, can be picked up new for around £800 so I'm sure that there'll be some about 2nd hand under £500. I'd seriously look into getting a head too. If you're touring with other bands and they use cabs (which a lot of touring bands will) then maybe you could buy a head for your full budget and use their speakers which will give you more options than having to buy the speakers too. Or you can rent a cab if you're not gigging much for a few gigs then sort one out later on when you have more dosh to spend.

I'm seriously tempted by either a passive Corvette or (finances allowing) a $$ (I'd have to try the Streamer and Corvette out to decide) but I've heard varying things about the low B. I like a nice clear tone and some amps I've used at gigs over the years have been a minefield in squishy Bs. How do the various models from Warwick hold their low end?

As someone said earlier, if someone buys something, it's their right to do to it what they want. For a regularly gigging rock/metal musician, I know that people turn up to gigs to see the show, if they wanted to just listen to the music, they'd put on a CD. If you're terrified of damaging your instrument then you end up stood still or trying to avoid the guitarist who's giving the audience the show they came to see. One of the CLASSIC guitar moments is Hendrix lighting a candle on his guitar, that's hardly respecting his instrument but it's something that I'm sure everyone knows about because it's not just a guitarist stood about playing. In saying that, I believe any instrument should be looked after. It's ok having a pristine guitar but if none of the electrics work consistently, what's the point? I've seen FAR more guitars that barely look used but barely work than guitars that're battered about but never cut out and still have their original tone. None of my instruments are very battered (a few scratches, a ding where it fell on the edge of a cymbal etc) but without close inspection they all look near enough perfect. It's purely chance though, they've been battered about, they're just holding up incredibly well. But none of them cut out or have lost any tone which is way more important to me. And this ties in with the tools thing too, you don't keep your tools perfect because you want them to look nice, you keep them perfect because you want them to work perfectly. Edit: I ought to add that of course it's up to the owner and of course different music requires different stage shows. Just because you're not diving about, it doesn't mean you're not putting on a show.

I'm not sure I've played the SR specifically but I have a BTB406 that's never let me down. Had it for 8 years and the only repairs it's ever needed were a tuning head that'd snapped and some matchsticks in the strap pin holes. Both of which were problems when I bought it (somehow missed the tuning head in the shop ). Can't ever fault Ibanez on their prices either especially in the budget ranges.

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='739518' date='Feb 8 2010, 10:47 PM']Rattle and Drum in Derby are a Warwick dealer. Bought my corvette from them last year, and although I could have bought it cheaper online, I felt it was worth the extra for the personal service and the opportunity to try as many basses as I liked for as long as I liked.[/quote] You leg end! I'll be off there to check them out at some point. Cheers mate.

I intend to play some before I buy, I just want suggestions so that I know where to go because none of the basses I'm looking at have stockists in the area. There's no point going 50mi in one direction, then 50mi in the other when I could just go 60 in one. That Corvette is a nice find! My preference is swaying towards the $$ though, not sure about Streamer or Corvette, I'll need to play them to get a good idea but with that amount of pickup settings, there must be a lot of available tones. They're both around for under a grand new though so there must be some deals to be had if I keep my eyes open within my budget. Like I said though, this is all just the kind of first look for 5 strings. I've been so happy with my Ibanez for so long that I've fallen out of touch with what's out there and even back then I had a much better idea of what I wanted so I went straight after the Ibanezes. I'll make sure to check out the G&L and Laklands too. I'll have a look around on the net tomorrow.

I like the first Warwick. It seems to have a nice amount of bass without losing any definition or punch. The other clips don't manage to hit that holy trinity in my eyes.

I played one of these at LIMS last year before they were officially released and it wasn't bad, but I wasn't massively impressed (though the Gallien that I played through left enough of an impression that I now own one). I was expecting it to be more along the lines of a squire price to be honest. I'm not a big fan of Fender style basses (very loosely Fender styling though) so my opinion was probably a bit bias anyway. In saying that, each bass is different and if you found a corker that you get on with, grats on your new bass.

I know £500 isn't really enough for some of the things I mentioned, but like I said, it's just a very rough idea as I've only just started thinking about it really. Probably £6-800 is more likely for a budget. Though I am very tempted by a 5 string Rockbass, they look amazing value for the money. What's the kind of minimum price a Warwick 5 Corvette could be had for usually? I have to be honest, that's the bass I've been drooling over for years. I've just never really liked the neck style, but after playing Ibanez for so long I think it'd be a great change. I wouldn't especially say I'm bored of Ibanez, I've just been playing the same bass (the BTB) through the same rig (Carlsbro Bassline 150) for years and years, by the end of the week I'll have a new amp (already have the 700RB II, ordering the 210RBH tomorrow), so I just thought a new bass for a bit of inspiration in feel as well as sound would make a nice change too.