Chris2112

If meeting with friends to jam we'd meet the pub across from the rehearsal room and have a pint and share a pizza. Not enough to have any effect on our playing, and in any other setting or with any sort of audience then we'd tend to abstain. I've known plenty of players who think a drink or three helps to loosen them up and get them playing their best. It really doesn't. You might feel like Yoshihiro Naruse up on stage entertaining thousands and playing like a wizard but you will sound sloppy and bad. Whether or not your audience can tell or care is another matter.

I'm going to order with Strings Direct today off the back of this. I ordered some strings (and other stuff) from Bass Direct on the 4th of June. They took payment but then emailed to say they didn't have the strings in stock but would send them as soon as they came, if I didn't want a refund first. Well, I'm still waiting so I guess it's time to take that refund and look elsewhere. Strings Direct it is. You can tell Lee that good customer service pays dividends next time you speak.

That does look really crap. I guess Lakland are just trying to pump them out as cheap and as fast as they can.

They definitely struggle with their stock keeping system. I ordered some strings and a couple of other bits the other day. In fairness, whilst the money had gone from my account via PayPal they did email me promptly to say the items I'd ordered weren't in stock but they could order them in. They offered me a refund but I said I was happy for them to just send the goods when they arrived in store. Of course, I would have shopped elsewhere if their stock system was good enough to tell me they didn't actually have the gear I wanted. Maybe they don't want to miss out on those sales? 🤣

Man, what does that weigh? 😳

Vic is an amazing player but this nonsense line of his is one of the most oft-quoted of his and it makes my toes curl just reading it. I get that when he first came out with that line he was probably just trying to ease the anguish of bassists who hit a bum note (his whole 'you're only ever a half-step away from a 'right' note' concept). It's unfortunate that it ultimately gained so much traction and continues to hang around like a bad smell over almost 25 years since it was first recording publicly (to the best of my knowledge, 1998 was the first time Victor made this comment). Perhaps it was popular because it fed into a wider movement within the bass community to disregard the importance of the notes in favour of 'groove', as if groove could be anything other than the end product of a well-rehearsed endeavour. However, Victor certainly didn't get to be one of the most notable bassists by being blasé as to whether not he was hitting the right notes. I can't imagine many reputable bandleaders would be happy with that either. I don't particularly enjoy listening to walking basslines but in those lines the 'off' notes are usually carefully chosen passing tones and approach notes used to create movement, outlining an harmonic quality or setting up a resolution. I know this rant is a departure from your original point OP but we've a suffered under the aforementioned quote for a long time. It seems to me that just learning the notes and then playing them in time is a safer and more professional attitude than being ready to hammer on or pull off if you hit a clam.

It is an early Euro, all maple with EMG electronics.

Clickbait tactics aside, Lobster is definitely one of most watchable bass YouTubers. I really think he demonstrates the notion that a decent portion of what any bass sounds like is in the hands of the player and how it's recorded as a lot of his basses sound very similar.

Yes, his wife Gabi drew the design. There were apparently a series of designs intended to be released but they ended up only doing this one (it does remind me of a mountain scene). I guess the cost of having to do the cut and match was enough for Cort so they went with a one piece top for the five string. I've had my Rithimic for about five years now. Probably closer to six. Still the best passive bass I've ever played and one of the best basses I've ever owned. I absolutely love the tone, the balance and the playability. It is also incredibly light, which I know matters to some players. In all the time I've had it, it's had one professional setup and has been absolutely mint since. Very low, very clean action with excellent fretwork.

Not every fretless, no. But of every type of bass I've tried, Stingrays tend to suffer the worst from dead spots and particularly for the Stingray, bad string to string balance and a weak G string. The dead spots I can live with but the weak G strings really irritate me with Musicman basses hence why I wouldn't buy one that I couldn't playtest first.

You misunderstand, people weren't in the main attacking Lobster or even the issue he had raised with the pickups. In the main he had flipped off after a short while leaving others to argue ever more nebulous and tedious points against each other. It was the typical one poster Vs another online dogfight, anyone who didn't see the thread before it was pruned missed nothing of note.

In fairness, Lobster wasn't the one doing the arguing. In typical clickbait fashion he lit the touchpaper and ran.

It was getting quite catty before it was locked with the usual arguments within arguments and petty semantic dissection coming before the main point in hand. I expect it was locked for review behind the scenes for any potential legal issues it might have caused as TB is massive on that these days. Most of the useless arguing was scrubbed.

You think? It wouldn't be the first time. Spector incorrectly labelled the Michalik Tonepump preamps used in their basses as 'boost only' for decades. Even when it turned out this was incorrect (and apparently stemmed from a translation error in a manual), the misinformation persisted. I know that PJ Rubal was actually informed of this personally and said he'd see to it that it was rectified but the incorrect description remained on their website for years afterwards.

Amazing singer, writer and guitarist. I could never believe how two blokes from another awful punk band decided to change direction and ended up making some of the most sensational prog rock records just a few months later. There are just so many amazing Big Country pieces that I would struggle to name a favourite. Truly one of the all time great rock bands.

Just one of these things, I'm afraid, when it comes to flats. Keys will produce a stronger, cleaner bass sound more easily than almost any bass rig but especially so when you're lumbered with mudbuckers and flats. Try some roundwounds and something with a bridge pickup or tell the guy on the keys to do one.

I still think Status should have continued making basses with wooden necks, they feel and sound great.

No bridge pickup. About the only bass I'd even entertain without one would be the Yamaha Attitude. When I'm playing I sometimes (and sometimes often) use the neck pickup but I always use the bridge pickup. Another one is 35" scale. I've played some nice 35" scale basses but none that wouldn't have been better as a 34". That was a critical feature in me buying a Spector NS-5CR. I love Spector basses but pretty much all of their modern five strings are 35" scale. The NS-5CR is 34" (I think it may actually be 34 and 1/4 inch in scale). Just feels better and sounds better to my ear.

Just go for it, you only live once. I am in constant penance to my Pentabuzz after my foolhardy mission to sell it. All it took was a year in which I didn't play much fretless and I former some daft idea to sell it (for £1500, IIRC!). I'd gone as far as to box it up ready for shipping to a buyer but I had told him that I couldn't give an accurate weight as I didn't have a means of weighing it. Stating it's 'a bit heavy but not that heavy' was probably as accurate as I could manage. I polished it, recorded one last video to show it in working order and sealed the box up ready to get the shipping instructions. I went out to get dinner and whilst I was out I got a message from the buyer saying he was pulling out; he'd looked up some weights from other Pentabuzzes for sale and decided it would be too much for him. I was disappointed but decided I'd just relist the bass. As I sat waiting for my dinner to come I put my headphones on and listened to the demo video I had just recorded. As soon as I got home I felt like such an idiot (how close I had come to selling off something I'd dreamed of owning since I was a teenager). In an act of finality I ripped the box to bits and binned it and put the bass back in the place in my bedroom that it has always lived. I think I've enjoyed it all the more since then, it gets played every couple of days now.

My brother has an MVP5 too, I should get the Buzz and the MVP together one day for a side by side photo. I love these basses.

I always liked the Modulus Flea basses despite not being a huge RHCP fan. There is no doubt that Flea got his best tones from his Modulus basses (other than the early days when he was using a Spector). What made the Status necked Stringrays sound so different? I would have thought they'd at least be in the ballpark, with some difference due to the Modulus having different electronics in it. As much as I love Status basses I wouldn't choose a Stingray with a Status neck over a Modulus Flea.

I love them all but my Spector NS-5CR is clearly my main player these days. I have barely put it down since last September. If it's a fretless day my Pentabuzz gets the nod. I've just put new strings on it so it has been getting a lot of playtime this week. Both basses are all-maple construction, something I really like. Can you believe that I nearly sold the Pentabuzz once, what a total prat I am!