Chris2112

After having played a good number of Sadowsky Metro basses, I feel that they are pretty overrated. Very pricey for what they are, when I found cheaper alternatives to be superior!

[quote name='simon1964' post='391895' date='Jan 26 2009, 05:48 PM']Wasn't the Vampyre designed through a similar contest? Not sure whether that's a good precedent or not![/quote] I'd have to say that it wasn't (and thats as a long time fan of Warwick basses). However, I really like the winning design, it looks very classy and retains the Warwick character. I'm sure it will sound just like an uber Thumb NT if they use a bubinga body. The other two ACG style designs posted here I don't really like. They just don't look like Warwick basses! It's a passable shape for sure though.

It might be worth trying a Warwick Thumb 5 string, they have always been one of the best 5 strings around IMO. Not to mention that every other Thumb seems to be a 5 string! I'm gasing for one already having just got a Warwick Thumb 4 string (though I don't really get on with 5 strings). I'd advise you not to spend a massive amount on your first 5 string, as you may well find that they just aren't for you, as I did!

I've got a pick that Stuart Hamm used to play "Flying in a blue dream" when I saw him with Joe Satriani. That was a show and half.

My Warwick Thumb BO seems quite quiet, in even in active and passive modes. Well, my Status and Spector basses were certainly louder! I just turn my amp up to compensate!

Will be interesting to see how this turns out. However, Wolstenhome's comments on slap bass are so far off the mark, it's easy to see that he is a million miles from the cool.

Just a couple of cool guys...

[quote name='BigRedX' post='535061' date='Jul 7 2009, 07:53 PM']I'm sure if they were easily available in the UK once again a lot of the people here saying that they use Dunlop Nylon heavies would be using the Hercos instead. They used to be easily available because that's how I came to start using them. I wonder why they aren't anymore?[/quote] They are really nice picks. I'd probably switch to them if I could get a good supply. A friend of mine picked up a couple while he was in the states so I've been lucky enough to try one. He guards his with his life, so it looks like I'll have to wait until they're easier to get hold of!

I just wish I could convince myself that an Alembic is worth the amount it would cost me! They have long been on my dream basses list but I just can't bring myself to pull the trigger when I see them for sale. If I did get one though, it would be a Mark King model or a series model that was shaped like a Mark King model. Either would do me just fine!

To be fair, I find that the custom build lovers will fix and mod their basses as much as anyone...perhaps because they are such a "particular" bunch that they continue to quest for perfection... I'd love a custom built bass, but personally I quite like flipping my basses after owning them for a while, and there are so many nice basses out there that I still have to own!

If it's the green Stealth 6 string at the Gallery, that one has been there for donkeys, they had it back when I had one! I had a Stealth 1 6 string in natural (black) made in 1997. It was a fantastic bass with a sound distinctly different to the headed S2's I have played. It could be super bright, and had a tendency to really stick out in the band setting, but that quality was quite attractive to me at the time. It seemed to want to honk in the midrange a bit more than the S2's I had played, but this could be due to any number of variables. I loved the fact that, despite being a 6 string, it was super light. I sold it on here for £750, and thats probably my greatest regret in terms of things I shouldn't have let go. I just wasn't getting on with it as a 6 string, despite the fact I loved it's sound. I shifted it after picking up a lovely Spector, though I hugely regret that I only had it for a few months. I got a lot of use out of it, but I still think back to it and go "sh*t...what if..." Mind you, that one at the gallery is hugely overpriced and looks to be in worse nick than mine was! (Mine was pretty pristine!). Mind you, those old Stealth 1 6 strings seem to be fairly rare beasts, and I much prefer the old Stealth body shape with the rounded edges to the new one. I wonder if Rob still has the moulds for the old body shape... Here is a photo taken by the guy who owned it prior to me (I think his username on this site was Paul C).

Sunderland is also of great historical importance too, it shows what England was like in the middle ages! Though do be wary of catching cholera if you drink from one of the street wells!

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='367665' date='Jan 1 2009, 01:45 PM']Now that's rare - A passive one [/quote] I hate to bring this thread back from the dead but I'm not sure it was a passive one...the tone controls had centre detents and I'm sure you could boost with it... ...never took the backplate off though, so perhaps there was a battery nestled in there?

Shame you had such a bad experience with Alembic, because the bass in the top post looks like a corker. I'd love to get my hands on another Alembic!

It doesn't look as nice now as it did in the first concept pictures. The sound is pretty awful too judging by this video, but I suspect the recording method and the dodgy playing might have something to do with this. This is a bit of a shame IMO, as I really hoped this would be a great bass for new players, especially Flea fans who couldn't stretch to a Stingray, Spector or Modulus...

Yeah, I hear that Windows really used to be something special. If you're after a Roland Synthesizer they are worth checking out but I wouldn't go there looking for great guitars and basses. I remember them having a copies of John Patitucci's VHS tution tapes on the shelves for £30 each! I see they have also taken over the music store in the Yellow mall of the Metro Centre (I think it used to be a Dolphin Music store, where my dad got me my first bass guitar from!). But yeah, Newcastle is the rock and roll capital of the UK IMO (alongside London). Not a huge number of bands but the attitude is spot on!

Ah, good to hear from you again John! Yeah, the guys at Sounds Live have been pretty open to shipping stock in in the past when people have wanted to try it. I nearly ended up buying a Marcus Miller jazz bass from them a few years ago, and they were more than happy to ship one in for me to try out. In the end I never bought it because I ended up with something else (can't remember what now though!). Last time I spoke to you John, your Pedulla had gotten knackered on a flight to Prague or something like that, I just remember you describing the horrific damage to me! I hope it's all fixed up! It was awesome hearing your band warm up with a little bit of Birdland that one time, the bands we used to get in there were mostly cack, so it was always a treat when I spotted that Soldano amp on the stage, I knew you lot were in!

[quote name='Marcus' post='532636' date='Jul 4 2009, 09:06 PM']I have to say Chris..... not my experience with Guitar Guitar, they do move stock between their 3 branches (common sense) and have always (IMO) carried a decent range of Bass gear for a non bass specialist retailer. Steve the Manager is a knowledgable and friendly guy who knows the industry and the Bass scene really well for a Guitardist as for his Staff George (ex Manager of Sound control) is his Asst Mgr now and i've always found him really helpfull in both stores. ATB Mark[/quote] I liked their stock of Sandberg stuff when they first got it in, but aside from that I never thought that their bass stock could match up with their guitar stuff, when they were getting really cool Ibanez and Caparison guitars in. The best bass stuff was always used gear that they got in. I remember an emerald green Spector Euro that they got in that belonged to a bloke (I think his name was Mike) who used to play gigs at a hotel I used to work at. That was a canny bass (I played it through the owners EA rig along with his Pedulla Pentabuzz once). But overall impression of the store was that it was never as good as it should have been, and sadly the staff were rather rude. I recall a friend of mine walking in there with £2000 to spend on a guitar and pretty much walking straight out after being given 5 minutes to demo the guitar he was thinking of buying! He never even asked for an extended test drive, I guess he thought better of it! I haven't seen George in there, but if he was the bloke from SC with the beard, bald head and Dimebag fixation then he was a decent bloke. I see Nick from SC works in Sounds Live now too! I still long for another shop like Howard's to open up though. After it stopped being so smokey it was great! But even before the refurb, it was an excellent place to go. Howard and Pete never moaned if you sat and played for a good while, and they really knew their stuff. Both cracking players too! I used to have a four hour lunch break on fridays when I was at Northumbria Uni and I used to often spend them in Howard's playing bass and chatting away.