Bassists?

[miditek]

Alcohol.. try boiling your strings in water for about 5 minutes. No, I'm not joking. Add a bit of vinegar to the water, and just boil all the grime and dirt out of them.

It's certainly working!
This will save me a month or two at most...

I read somewhere that if you do that too often, it kinda ruin your strings.
If you want to keep them clean, one better idea is to use some liquid like this one : http://www.thomann.de/fr/dunlop_formula65.htm - I have had the same Daddario strings on my bass for 4 months now, no sight of dirt on them

Never have heard of the stuff, but I'll have to check it out sometime. I often wash my hands before playing
any instrument, whenever possible. Have you ever bought strings in bulk, like a case? They are much cheaper that way. When Guitar Center opened a store in my city, they ran an opening special- buy one get eleven free (for guitar or bass).

[cliff]

Have you ever bought strings in bulk, like a case? They are much cheaper that way. When Guitar Center opened a store in my city, they ran an opening special- buy one get eleven free (for guitar or bass).

In bulk, you mean the same bulk than for computer component = the strings without any plastic box / booklet and so on, just paper sleeve or paper box or like single strings, not a set ?

[miditek]

Have you ever bought strings in bulk, like a case? They are much cheaper that way. When Guitar Center opened a store in my city, they ran an opening special- buy one get eleven free (for guitar or bass).

In bulk, you mean the same bulk than for computer component = the strings without any plastic box / booklet and so on, just paper sleeve or paper box or like single strings, not a set ?

In bulk, at least in my city's music stores, and particularly the ones in Atlanta (such as Rhythm City, before Guitar Center bought them out) has traditionally meant buying a "case" of 12 sets of strings. They would always knock off a substantial amount over the price of a single set of guitar or bass strings, something like 25%-35% when you buy a "case" or two of either guitar or bass strings. It's more of a volume purchase discount type of thing- just say super size it.

[cliff]

In bulk, at least in my city's music stores, and particularly the ones in Atlanta (such as Rhythm City, before Guitar Center bought them out) has traditionally meant buying a "case" of 12 sets of strings. They would always knock off a substantial amount over the price of a single set of guitar or bass strings, something like 25%-35% when you buy a "case" or two of either guitar or bass strings. It's more of a volume purchase discount type of thing- just say super size it.

But who is crazy enough to buy 12 sets of strings at the same time?
Of course, some guitar/bass players can change their strings once every week, but usually most of them use the same string set for at least 3 months.

That might be a really good deal if you buy strings with some friends of yours, for ex 3 sets each. That sounds more decent imo!

[miditek]

In bulk, at least in my city's music stores, and particularly the ones in Atlanta (such as Rhythm City, before Guitar Center bought them out) has traditionally meant buying a "case" of 12 sets of strings. They would always knock off a substantial amount over the price of a single set of guitar or bass strings, something like 25%-35% when you buy a "case" or two of either guitar or bass strings. It's more of a volume purchase discount type of thing- just say super size it.

But who is crazy enough to buy 12 sets of strings at the same time?
Of course, some guitar/bass players can change their strings once every week, but usually most of them use the same string set for at least 3 months.

That might be a really good deal if you buy strings with some friends of yours, for ex 3 sets each. That sounds more decent imo!

I guess that the American music stores must run different types of "sales" or "specials" as opposed to those in France or in Finland. In American, you've got the "Super Stores" like Guitar Center, and smart shoppers will at times buy in bulk to save money- and many music stores want to move as much inventory as they can at a time meaning *today*- since cash flow is king in business, so there are lots of discounts to be had.

Just like recording studios will sell "blocks" of time at a discount. This is something that I've done from time to time by offering clients discounts on support agreements for purchasing 10, 20, 30, 40, and 80 hour blocks of network support time from me. It helps my cash flow, and the customer gets a reasonable discount off of the normal hourly rate.

Of course, I'm always happy to charge "full retail" for clients that do not wish to purchase a support agreement, just like some sharky salesmen in music stores will also sell an item at "full retail" to a novice or unsuspecting client. When I worked in music retail many years ago, we always watched for the guy with the checkbook in his back pocket, which was a clear indicator that he was ready to "buy today". That was an interesting experience to say the least, but it helped that I can play multiple instruments and had good overall product knowledge, that way, the boss didn't restrict me to any single department, but I was allowed to sell the "whole store" as it were.

[miditek]

Todd C. Akin, RIP

I just lost a good friend that is a fellow bassist and musician. Todd was 43 years old and left behind a wife and four young kids. He died due to complications of cirrhosis. I really hated to see Todd go, since he was a great player, and was with many different metal bands both in Atlanta, as well as Chattanooga. In fact, we played in some of the same bands, although as bassists, not at the same time.

He was a great performer, looked a lot like a doppleganger for Ed Van Halen, and was as one of the funniest people that I've ever met. He was preceded in death by his brother Russell, also a musician, about two years ago, and about the same age of cardiopulmonary failure.

One of the funniest things that ever happened with Todd was in Atlanta about 20 years ago. We were outside of a really seedy bar in a bad part of town discussing where to go next, when Todd decided to step into an alley to relieve himself. He pissed on a pile of newspapers, and did not realize that there was a wino sleeping underneath! The wino jumped up, stabbed Todd in the ass with a very small pocketknife, and then ran for his life! Todd was not severely injured at all, but he was on the ground and declared, "you guys just go on without me, don't let me slow you down. I'm done!"

[cliff]

Miditek, this is a sad news, I'm really sorry for his lost. 43 years old only...
Funny story, Todd seemed to be a really nice company

I need your advice again. Still about pickups.
I just made a choice for my new pickups (for the Aria IGB50): Seymour Duncan SPB-3 and STK-2 (passives).
I heard about that preamp, the STC-2P, which seems really interesting .
Do you guys have any experience with it? Is it worth the money?

[miditek]

Miditek, this is a sad news, I'm really sorry for his lost. 43 years old only...
Funny story, Todd seemed to be a really nice company

Thanks, Cliff! It was a difficult time- the funeral looked like a convention for aging (late 30's -> early to mid 40's) rockers and metalheads , and it was a huge turnout. There some people there I had not seen in twenty years!

Todd's eldest son ,Kalen, (about 14 y/o) is a dead ringer for his dad- for a moment, I thought that I'd seen a ghost. His youngest son, Ashton, who is only 3 y/o was too young to understand what was happening, and simply thought that his dad was only asleep. Very sad. I thought that Coach Akin (Todd's dad) and Barbara (his mom) were going to faint- it's very difficult to lose a son, but to lose two inside of three years, that is almost unbearable!

I need your advice again. Still about pickups. I just made a choice for my new pickups (for the Aria IGB50): Seymour Duncan SPB-3 and STK-2 (passives). I heard about that preamp, the STC-2P, which seems really interesting.Do you guys have any experience with it? Is it worth the money?

Unfortunately, I don't have any personal experience with that particular preamp, but I did read a review on one- so I hope that this can help a bit.

reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Electric+Bass/product/Jackson/C5A/10/1

The reviewer here had installed this particular preamp into a Jackson C5A model. Here's his opinion on the preamp itself.

I upgrade the preamp to a Basslines STC-2P, and the sound become a lot better!!!! This is the best thing you can do to this bass... stock preamp has poor highs and no-growl mids; Basslines preamp give this bass a distinctive sound with lot of versatility (cause of the ash body)... I play jazz to rock to funk to latin, and it suit every style, every bassist that play it love tone and growl of this bass. It's a little noisy, for me it's better for stage, but on record it don't make any problem....

[NeonVomit]

Haha the Harmony Central database. You get some real gems in there.

The Harmony Central forums however are the best thing since sliced bread. The Bass forum, anyway...

Anyway, my bass news, I'm near to having enough money to buy my next bass...

A Warwick Thumb bolt-on 6string!



Thoughts/comments? It's an ugly mofo of an instrument but sounds and plays wonderfully so who cares!

[miditek]

Anyway, my bass news, I'm near to having enough money to buy my next bass...

A Warwick Thumb bolt-on 6string!



Thoughts/comments? It's an ugly mofo of an instrument but sounds and plays wonderfully so who cares!

I don't think that it's that ugly (my friend Chuck- a great bassist in his own right, had two of the fugliest basses I've ever seen; a Gibson Ripper, and, ugh, a Peavey T-series!), and am quite sure that the Warwick is a great instrument. I kind of like the woodgrain look myself. Doesn't Marco from Nightwish play this brand of instrument?

Edit: The next instrument that I plan on getting isn't a bass, but it's a great instrument nonetheless- it's a Gibson ES-1275 double-neck.

These are kind of hard to find, particularly the color that I want- Alpine white w/ gold hardware, although I may have to settle for a wine-colored one, similar to the one that Jimmy Page played for years.

EDS-1275 doubleneck Alpine white w/ gold hardware
everythingsg.com/images/identify/whitedoubleneck.jpg

[NeonVomit]

Yes, Marco plays an Infinity neckthrough... stunning instrument, and costs an arm and a leg!

Warwicks are outstanding instruments. Give one a spin when you can!

[cliff]

@miditek : thanks for the advice!
In fact, I usually don't take reviews from Harmony Central so seriously. Most of the time, they are written by teenagers, about their first bass. Some reviews are interesting, but I think it's better to read the HC forums, like NeonVomit said. Also, people in the SeymourDuncan forum seem to have a really good knowledge as well.
In Harmony Central : "this is my first bass. I use this BC Rich bass for my death metal. I have no idea if it sounds good, but at least it looks great!"

@Neonvomit : I am not a fan of the look of Warwick basses.
I think they are really ugly. And as strange as it can be, the more expensive the basses are, the uglier they are!.
Still, they are REALLY good basses, especially that Thumb bolt-on one! How much does it cost?
I think you should go for it. Who cares if the bass looks nice or not. The most important is that it sounds good!


About my Aria. I will finally only change the pickups.
The ones that comes with the IGB-50 (those "Infinity") SUCK big time!!!
For ex, I can't get any clear sound with the Jazz pickup, it's like there was a "distortion preamp" inside. Absolutely horrible. Even for a death metal band, it sounds horrible.

[NeonVomit]

Yeah, I'm definately heading down that path. I am sort of tempted to get a neckthru version of the BTB I have, but I figured that would be a bit pointless. The Warwick is really different from the Ibanez, so it would be cool to have 2 basses which cover all bases, so to speak.

Scan the HC bass forum sometime - I'm on there as NeonVomit as well People are cool!

[miditek]

Looks like the Van Halen tour is back on schedule and will kick off in the autumn. Wolfie is in, and Mike (unfortunately) is out.

www.hotmail-central.com/stuff/2007-vh-poster.jpg

[NeonVomit]

I dunno. Am I the only one who is very skeptical that a 16 year old kid is... ready to go on tour with a band like this?

Not to mention a bit of irresponsible parenting, in my opinion.

Just won't be the same without Michael Anthony.

Anyway, maybe we'll all be pleasently surprised.

[cliff]

I dunno. Am I the only one who is very skeptical that a 16 year old kid is... ready to go on tour with a band like this?

Not to mention a bit of irresponsible parenting, in my opinion.

Just won't be the same without Michael Anthony.

Anyway, maybe we'll all be pleasently surprised.

Yep, that's true. Imagine all the pressure on that kid's shoulder.
The idea of a gig of Van Halen without Michael Anthony is weird to me.
But who knows, if the kid is as talented as his father, that might be a good choice then.

It makes me think of the "Queen + Paul Rodger" tour.
You can clearly notice that Duncan is missing.

[miditek]

Did either of you guys get a look at the tour poster parody? It reflects my opinion on the current situation. I can't believe that Val (Wolfie's mum) is actually letting him do this. He should be in school during the tour dates, rather than picking up bad habits from his dad, Uncle Al, and not to mention, David Loin Cloth.

I agree with Cliff that without Mike on board, I believe that it's a bit weird to say the least. Not that VH songs are all that demanding to play on the bass, but I don't know if he's had enough time to lock in to Al's kick and snare, and really learn what to expect in a live situation. Also, what about the backing vocals? Wolf is barely out of puberty, and I don't know if his voice has had time enough to mature yet- if he can even sing those parts at all, since Mike is a pretty strong tenor himself.

All in all, it probably came down to money. Ed and Al would probably much rather split the money three ways as opposed to four. Just my $0.02 though.

I remember seeing the "classic" lineup was I was about sixteen, and it was probably the rowdiest show I've ever been to. I recall seeing a fight break out in the arena, and as it turns out, it was my mom dragging my then thirteen year old sister (who locked herself in her room for six months thereafter, ) out of the place after hearing too much of Dave's on-stage profanities. Mom didn't seem to notice that I was jacked up on God knows what at the time on the floor with my friends. It was absolutely like a zoo there- and then VH got banned for 10 years for trashing a famous hotel at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo railway station!

[NeonVomit]

Yeah, sounds about right for a VH gig back in the day!

Okay, fine, VH songs aren't exactly difficult. But a 16 year old? I mean... come on.

[exe knight]

I quess I will become a bassist (i'll get one as a birthday present), now I can (I think...) make proper songs myself.

[NeonVomit]

Right, so I got it. Warwick Thumb bolt-on 6-string, and upgraded my rig with another Ashdown ABM cabinet, 4x10 this time though. Awsomeness!

[cliff]

Handsome bass
Btw, I didn't know that Warwick also used Seymour Duncan Basslines pickups.
Does the bass sound nice ? Better than your (old) BTB?

[NeonVomit]

Yeah, it's a NOS (new old stock) instrument from 2002. It was in storage at the shop, and back then Warwick could install whatever pickups you wanted on the bass you ordered, not just the standard MEC. It has a different sound from MEC-equipped basses, both are excellent pickups but I prefer the Bassline sound

As for comparison with the BTB, the Warwick cuts through the mix in a metal setting better than the BTB, but doesn't offer the same control over tone that the BTB does (no mid control). All in all, the two instruments compliment each other well. Obviously the BTB is not the same standard as the Warwick (it's not a Prestige series instrument) but it's still great. In my band we play a whole step downtuned, so I have the Warwick tuned down and the Ibanez standard tuning, for when I'm playing jazz or classic rock stuff at a club I occasionally moonlight at.

[cliff]

Yeah, it's a NOS (new old stock) instrument from 2002. It was in storage at the shop, and back then Warwick could install whatever pickups you wanted on the bass you ordered, not just the standard MEC. It has a different sound from MEC-equipped basses, both are excellent pickups but I prefer the Bassline sound

Oh ok, I was wondering because I checked Thomann and they don't seem to have the same bass model than yours. Btw, how much did you pay for it?

As for comparison with the BTB, the Warwick cuts through the mix in a metal setting better than the BTB, but doesn't offer the same control over tone that the BTB does (no mid control).

Are the pickups active or passive?
If you absolutely want to add the mid control, you can still upgrade to a Seymour Duncan STC-3 on-board tone circuit. it allows Bass, Treble, Middle controls, plus what they call a "slap switch". I heard only good things about this preamp (I'm thinking about getting one myself, as soon as I get my Aria back with new Seymour Duncan pickups).

[NeonVomit]

Yeah, it's a NOS (new old stock) instrument from 2002. It was in storage at the shop, and back then Warwick could install whatever pickups you wanted on the bass you ordered, not just the standard MEC. It has a different sound from MEC-equipped basses, both are excellent pickups but I prefer the Bassline sound

Oh ok, I was wondering because I checked Thomann and they don't seem to have the same bass model than yours. Btw, how much did you pay for it?

The price I paid is a secret I made an arrangement with a Warwick endorsee who it has been agreed will left unnamed. Let's just say it was significantly below the list price...

As for comparison with the BTB, the Warwick cuts through the mix in a metal setting better than the BTB, but doesn't offer the same control over tone that the BTB does (no mid control).

Are the pickups active or passive?
If you absolutely want to add the mid control, you can still upgrade to a Seymour Duncan STC-3 on-board tone circuit. it allows Bass, Treble, Middle controls, plus what they call a "slap switch". I heard only good things about this preamp (I'm thinking about getting one myself, as soon as I get my Aria back with new Seymour Duncan pickups).[/quote]

Passive pickups, active electronics.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy the way it is though. I haven't felt the need for the mid control yet... I just leave my amp's eq on flat and it sounds great. If I do feel like I want to upgrade it, I'll take care of it next time I'm in London.

I'm very happy with this instrument, anyway.

[NeonVomit]

Anyway, here and here are some pictures of Wolfgang Van Halen at a practise session with the rest of the band:

He looks like a typical chubby 16 year old kid.

For some reason, I simply cannot see him performing to a professional standard night after night in front of immense audiences and he's going to be under an enormous amount of pressure, which is just unfair for a kid his age. Michael Anthony is being quite a gentleman about it, saying that he's a good kid and hopes he does well, but I just cannot picture the plump teenager filling Michael's rather massive shoes.

[StratoFactor]

Well, a bassplayer in Italy for now, up for my exchange studency for 3 months and looking for new instruments , bands and experiences. I hope to get as much out of the trip I can , musically and personally. Just that to say, metal on bassists!

[NeonVomit]

Right, ok I just had to post this pic



The wood looks alive. Fantastic

[cliff]

Right, ok I just had to post this pic



The wood looks alive. Fantastic

really cool bass! Btw, is the neck a bit larger than usual 6 string models ?
Because at the first look, I thought it was a 7 string one!

[NeonVomit]

Right, ok I just had to post this pic



The wood looks alive. Fantastic

really cool bass! Btw, is the neck a bit larger than usual 6 string models ?
Because at the first look, I thought it was a 7 string one!

Nah, it's the normal string spacing (not broadneck). Actually relatively slim and slightly narrower than my BTB.

Anyway, I recently upgraded my amp as well:



I traded in my Gallien-Krueger head and Ashdown 2x10 cabinet for an Ashdown ABM EVO II 500 2x10 combo. I really liked the GK but 280 watts just wasn't cutting it anymore. Plus, the combo was the last UK-made model he had in stock (the ABM series are now made in China), I got a similar deal on my cabinet (also UK-made).

I now have 600 watts of pure British power coming through 6x10 speakers total awsomeness.

Quite an international rig I've got now... German bass, American pickups and compressor, British amp, Japanese wireless, Russian fuzz pedal...

[exe knight]

It seems I didn't yet tell it, yeah I'm a bassist!