Home Forums Guitar Discussion Bass Guitar Now, this was a bargain

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  • #23110
    1bassleft
    Participant

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7404748507&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:UK:12

    I don’t want to make a habit of doing “Look at this eBay auction” posts, but this was a good score for £335. The Marshall DBS (Dynamic Bass System) really impressed me when I tried one out back in the ’90s. Then, I was a stringer for Making Music and I urged the bass-playing Deputy Ed to review it. The twin preamps (one 12AX7 driven, the other solid-state) and, especially, the blend feature, really works. It’s something Ashdown do now with their Evo MAG series.

    400W amp with a good 4×10″ and 1×15″ for £335? Sounds good to me; local, too. Unfortunately, I don’t do the sort of gigs to justify carting a big stack around these days. If you see one going your way at this sort of price, take it from me; money well spent.

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    • #69663
      1bassleft
      Participant

      “Miss You” -yep, you’re absolutely right, Boogieman. The same sort of bass technique as used by Duran and The Bravery. I’m going on memory, because I didn’t find an easy video download, but I can hear those alternate octave pickings in my head. If anyone can provide a link to “Miss You” that doesn’t require a credit card and retinal scan, post the link here and I’ll thank you for the info.

    • #69697
      boogieman
      Participant

      First guy I ever heard live doing that was Bill Wyman when I first heard the Stones live in 1966. He used it a lot through the years. His bass line in Miss You is a fine example.

    • #69643
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Boogieman, the thing that annoys me about a lot of funk bass players (like Chic’s Bernie) is that it sounds so dang difficult yet, when they’re on TV, they hardly seem to move their hands 😕 😆

      The alternate-octave plucking I was on about (very ’80s sounding) is most recently illustrated by The Bravery on the track “Honest Mistake”:
      http://www6.islandrecords.com/thebravery/site/music.php

      and (I said it sounded ’80s) also appears a bit in Duran Duran‘s “Planet Earth”. As a mostly-picker, I find that thumb-index works well enough to do this kind of bassline, but I know JohnTaylor was/is accomplished in the proper finger-stylee. Unfortunately, the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzqIiFBmdHs) doesn’t show the 4-stringing at the right time. Check out those pantaloons of le Bon’s, though 😯 . Also, Taylor’s using a Rick 4001 in the vid but, surely, it’s a prop. Even with finger stylee, that sounds nothing like a 4001?

    • #69665
      Tim
      Participant

      [quote=”1bassleft”]Funnelly nuff, I like to use thumb/index for bass playing; especially for alternate octaves. Is this just my lousy self-taught, or is it a valid technique? I’d be interested in the ops of better-trained bass players.[/quote]

      I’ve been doing this for a few months now and it does sound good for some applications, my fingers are just getting strong enough to get the timing right with this technique, suffered with feeble plec-hand for a while. Not that I’m a better-trained bassist (or trained at all for that matter) but if it sounds cool…

    • #69657
      boogieman
      Participant

      You are doing what a lot of the early ” funk” players did. Larry Graham use to be a master of the “push down with the thumb and snap up with the first finger ” style. Listen to the lines on some of Graham Central Station, and Sly Stone recodings. Great tone. As the style got more treble related and more “poppy”, he had to change with the times , which is a shame. He simply sounds like one of the zillion whack, slap, poppers in the world today.He was, at one time, a real inovater.

    • #69604
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Funnelly nuff, I like to use thumb/index for bass playing; especially for alternate octaves. Is this just my lousy self-taught, or is it a valid technique? I’d be interested in the ops of better-trained bass players.

    • #69661
      boogieman
      Participant

      Yeah man, that is his main site. He is a great R and B singer and a very good guitar player. Never uses a pick. Plays with his thumband first finger,

    • #69682
      1bassleft
      Participant

      I looked up this good website:

      http://www.lloydjonesmusic.com/index.html

      but it’s too late in the night for me to play audio. Plenty to click on, though, until then.

    • #69649
      boogieman
      Participant

      You are right on man !! Have to live the Blues to really feel it and preach it from your soul. If you are in to Robert that much you should listen to the guy that really got Robert in to Blues guitar and the kind of tone he uses. The guy is a close friend of mine. His name is Lloyd Jones. He is from Portland, Oregon. Get some of his stuff and you will hear where Robert came from. The band is The Lloyd Jones Struggle.

      JLR

    • #69647
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Sorry to take so long, a pretty interesting five days I’ve had. Really interesting to hear about your time with JLH. Primal is the exact right word to describe his music; really naked, raw – just the sort of thing your parents would want to stop you listening to. I can imagine what it must’ve been like to hear his records at the time he started recording 😯

      What I like about Cray is that he doesn’t try to put blues guitar into some sealed bottle. He’s developed it and moved it on to make it fresh today. I can’t stand watching some blokes in a bar singing about The Depression, dead dogs and bad cotton harvests, then getting into a Mercedes van with some fish ‘n’ chips for the drive home 😆

    • #69677
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) Not so stunning man, I was just at the right place at the right time. John Lee taught me a lot about the GROOVE ! It’s a primal thing that just comes from the heart and soul. Can’t learn it from a book or video or even from another player, You either can sense it or not. John Lee was the King of the Pocket. Primal, simple, lowdownm lots of power my friend.

      I have known Robert since his days in Eugene, Oregon. Robert on guitar,Rich Cousins on bass,Dave Moe on Drums,Dover Weinberg on keys, and Curtis Salgado on harp for a while. Great band !!!! 8)

    • #69608
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Jimmy, I had a feeling that Tim and I would both be making the trek if you play anywhere in N. England 🙂 . I was a bit stunned that you’d played with JLH. The lead guitarist in my old band got me into buying some of the old recordings; JLH, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy, Buddy Guy etc. He also got me listening to Robert Cray.

      I remember taking a long, motorway journey with Mrs Bass and BBC Radio 1 had a live Clapton gig on. Mrs Bass can’t stand Clapton and kept nagging me to switch, but I kept saying I wanted to hear this other guitarist who sounded a lot like Cray. It was him, as it turned out. I love a player that you just recognize from the sheer sound they make; whether it’s Joe Pass or Lemmy from Motorhead.

    • #69655
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) Yes, I met Lightnin’ in Austin, Texas for the first time. I later was able to talk with him, as he played several of the Blues Festivals that I was lucky enough to play at with guys like Big Walter Horton,J.B. Hutto, Pete Karnes, etc. He was a true Bluesman in EVERY WAY !! He loved whiskey, women, Cadillac cars, and had his own unique style that made him the Bluesman he was . You are into a great Bluesman if you are in to Lightnin’. 8)

    • #69601
      Tim
      Participant

      [quote=”boogieman”]8)
      As for what I use the gear for, I have been playing a long time my friend. I play all over the world and am on the road most of the time. I was John Lee Hooker’s bassman for several years and have worked with a lot of Bluesmen over the last 40 years. My band is Jimmy Lloyd Rea and The Switchmasters. Loud,Rowdy,Rockin’ Roadhouse Blues is all I play. I have been in your country several times and hope to be back soon. Maybe we can meet somewhere down the line. JLR 8)[/quote]

      Please tell us when you next play the UK.
      Man, you played with John Lee Hooker! I’ll post again when I think of something fitting.
      Not sure of the timing (under the influence!) so please don’t take offence, but did you ever meet Sam Hopkins? Total hero of mine, take it easy,

      Tim.

    • #69681
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) #

      Well I’m trying !!!!

    • #69691
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Jimmy, the “how to post pics” thread is right here:
      https://www.guitarsite.com/hotlicks/viewtopic.php?t=658

      Just read the first page. After that, it goes down a route where another poster asked me about an amp I own.

      Also, you can use the “URL” button to link your post to another website, like this one:
      http://www.cascadeblues.org/NWBlues/Switchmasters/Switchmasters.htm
      and “IMG” for the pic:
      #http://www.cascadeblues.org/NWBlues/Switchmasters/Switchmasters.jpg

      If you do play somewhere in the North of England, definitely drop me a message and I’d like to see your gig. Similarly, let 601 here know when you’re down in the Delta. He’s also playing your kind of thing.

      1BL

    • #69616
      Michael
      Participant

      Hey boogie,

      There is a pic posting guide at the top of the General Guitar forum. A sticky.

    • #69632
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) You asked me for pics. Well man you tell me how to put them on here and I will send them.

      As for what I use the gear for, I have been playing a long time my friend. I play all over the world and am on the road most of the time. I was John Lee Hooker’s bassman for several years and have worked with a lot of Bluesmen over the last 40 years. My band is Jimmy Lloyd Rea and The Switchmasters. Loud,Rowdy,Rockin’ Roadhouse Blues is all I play. I have been in your country several times and hope to be back soon. Maybe we can meet somewhere down the line. JLR 8)

    • #69687
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) Wait !! A Bass man without a cabinet ?? Maybe we should get together and send him one !! 8)

    • #69659
      Tim
      Participant

      Really, really appreciate the offer 1bl but unfortunatly I don’t have a cab either having always played through the combo 😥 My gear is also currently set up in a 8’x12′ room, so not much space! Thank you very much though!

      Tim

    • #69624
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Boogieman, that’s a great combination. I love the old ’51P pup and managed to pick one up. It’s meant to go in a self-build when I pull my finger out. You’ve also inspired me to do a new thread; watch this sub-cat.

      Tim, a thought occurs to me. I’ll be heading to Barnsley soon to pick up a Marshall Master PA on behalf of a friend of mine in the USA. If we could meet up, why don’t I drop you off a head of mine? I’ve got enough of the things lying around. The obvious one is the old Laney. It’s biased way too cold so it breaks up more quickly (and not that nicely) than it should, but it gives you a very good idea of how things would be up to rehearsal volume. I’m not in any hurry to get it back and I’d rather it were used than sitting in my understairs cupboard (filter capacitors start to dry out if not used regularly). Let me know if you’d be interested.

    • #69611
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) Just wanted to mention that some of the Marshall stuff does sound cool. Several years ago I used a 200 watt Marshall Major through a Energy Group 2-15 cab. Got the tone that makes the ladies swoon !! 8)

    • #69635
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) Yep, I’ve been playing loud Blues-Rock for 40 years and I have not found anything better than my original 51 P Bass and Ampeg SVT’s. It does work well for the style I play. 8)

    • #69618
      1bassleft
      Participant

      That’s God’s Own Bass Backline, Boogieman 🙂

      As soon as you want to sell the SVT and 8×10″ for £335, let me know before everyone pulls your arm off. Heck, the head alone would be a steal at that price. What do you use the rig for? Gigs only, gigs + rehearsals? If you have any pic, that’d be welcome, too 😀

    • #69645
      boogieman
      Participant

      8) That is a good by. You should try my old SVT my man. 8 10’s and tube power——– Have Mercy !!! 8)

    • #69679
      Tim
      Participant

      I’m sure your right about the 8×10, however, I once had to play through our usual gigging PA but connected to a pair of Bose blah-de-blahs which seemed to comprise of 16 tweeters and a computer that made them produce bass frequencies…it didn’t, they got sold.

      I’d love to experiment with heads more, everything you say about valve heads convinces me more, but its always been a financial thing. I never really minded plugging straight into the backline as long as we knew the engineer and he knew our music. That said, this wasn’t stuff I had written myself and the guy I played for loved the ‘Bass Pod’, had it been my own material I may have been pickier?!

    • #69695
      1bassleft
      Participant

      I know what you mean, Tim, although the head is the star over the cabs, IMHO. I’ve played with just 2×10″ (there’s a long, boring, story about why the Ampeg 8×10 works) because it’s easy enough these days to get 10″ drivers to handle 30Hz or so. They certainly have a snap to them and, at the price of that stack, the 15″ was always there for pose value and intestine-churning.

      Back to the head, though. I’m a confirmed all-valve amp user but today I went to see a production of “Annie”. You know the one; ginger-bint gets rich bloke to adopt her. Anyhoo, I was listening to the bass in the pit (Fender headstock was all I could see) and it was that typical, SS, neutral sound. It did cross my mind that none of my amps can do that (I hate DI into the desk) but something like the DBS – with a twist of the knob – could. Turn it the other way, and I’d be back to what is 90+% the valve sound I know and love. Very versatile heads.

    • #69628
      Tim
      Participant

      That does look like a very sweet deal, 4×10 + 1×15 is pretty much what I fancy (you’ll have to excuse my ignorance on the head side of things, money, or lack of…) I always find it strange when bassists use 4x10s exclusively (although Duff McKagen seems to and he’s a long-time hero, although I think a lot of that is attitude and style, not sound) I want to feel a bass kicking me in the stomach more than hearing a slight adjustment in the angle of attack, punch is good but I want some serious shifting of air to!

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