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jbybj
Member
Username: jbybj

Post Number: 94
Registered: 6-2006
Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 10:27 pm:   Edit Post

After having one and only one bass from age 16 til I was 45, I suddenly awakened and recognized my limited time on this plane, so I started acquiring instruments. Now, two guitars and 8 basses in, I think I'm ready to slow down. I have run out of space. This, my Viola bass is the latest, about a year in the making. The neck was made for me by USA custom guitars, size and shape like my 69 Jazz neck, but with an ebony fretboard. The body I found on ebay, from a couple in Indiana called Unorthodox Guitars. Cherry on the back, maple on the front, with Alder inbetween, mostly hollow, but the walls are thick. The bridge is a brass Hipshot, with Hipshot ultralight tuners, and the electronics are EMG running at 18 volts. A TW pickup, push vol, it's a humbucker, pull vol, it's a single coil. Three band active EQ. I finished it with a Tung oil/poly blend. Just put it together last night, weighs 7 lbs. Sits nicely on the upper portion of my belly, nice balance, no neck dive, I'm infatuated. Went to the luthier today for a nut and setup. I will finally get to hear it this Saturday. What an odd experience to imagine all the components and how they might sound together, but in reality, I have no idea what will happen. I hope it's not a fart bucket ;-)





(Message edited by davehouck on September 25, 2007)
grooveman
Junior
Username: grooveman

Post Number: 46
Registered: 6-2007
Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 12:21 am:   Edit Post

Sounds interresting ... but with all that ... didn't you left money enough to buy some strings for this one ... ;>0
gare
Senior Member
Username: gare

Post Number: 406
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 9:51 am:   Edit Post

Nice bass James, interested in hearing how it comes out.
jbybj
Member
Username: jbybj

Post Number: 96
Registered: 6-2006
Posted on Saturday, September 22, 2007 - 8:13 pm:   Edit Post

Well I finally played it today, and it meets my wildest expectations. It rides very comfortably, the neck is easy and quick, and the tone, well the tone is a bit woofier than any of my other basses, not a bad thing, just different. The EMG pups are, dare I say it? like a poor man's Alembic. If I had to quantify it, I'd say the EMG's give me about 70% of what I love so much about my Alembic pups. Aside from being very nice to play, I like the uniqueness factor, I think she's purty.
terryc
Advanced Member
Username: terryc

Post Number: 277
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Sunday, September 23, 2007 - 7:02 am:   Edit Post

An upmarket version of Macca's bass!!
Looks very retro but with a modern stance, why don't you stick a AXY in it with vol & filter + Q switch, bet it would sound the biz then.
You are right about EMG's, I knew someone who thought by putting EMG's in his jazz bass that it would sound like an Alembic..err no, it still has the passive vol & tone..silly man..he still owns a jazz and always slags my Alembic off...jealousy or stupidity or both on his behalf
jbybj
Member
Username: jbybj

Post Number: 98
Registered: 6-2006
Posted on Sunday, September 23, 2007 - 10:02 am:   Edit Post

I love the sound of my Jazz bass, but it's nothing like my Epic. I can't imagine having only one of the other. EMG does make a passive line of pups that, to my ear, are mediocre. Even the active EMG's would never replace the sound of my Epic, just another hue in the pallette. BTW, what, where, who is Macca's bass?
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 5519
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 6:44 pm:   Edit Post

James; a picture of Macca's bass is here.
jacko
Senior Member
Username: jacko

Post Number: 1381
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 4:31 am:   Edit Post

James. Macca - short for paul McCartney.

graeme
811952
Senior Member
Username: 811952

Post Number: 1150
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 6:08 am:   Edit Post

Short hijack here..

Macca's people have bought up much of the older Hofner bass inventory. It seems he likes to distribute autographed copies to his friends and acquaintances...

John
jbybj
Member
Username: jbybj

Post Number: 99
Registered: 6-2006
Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 10:29 am:   Edit Post

A Beatles fan all my life, and a McCartney fan for, well... at least "Ram", and I have never seen or heard the Macca reference til now.

I just don't see it, Macca's Hofner is a violin bass, even a child can tell mine's a Viola! :-) Luckily for me, it sounds nothing like a Hofner. Jamming this Saturday, I'm all a-twitter.......
anarchyx
Junior
Username: anarchyx

Post Number: 17
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2007 - 11:48 am:   Edit Post

that bass sounds like its awesome.

P.S. did u guys know that when the Beatles made records, they made up a story that McCartney was dead, and they recorded clues on the songs, and played them backwards, so if u played the record backwards, u could hear the clues. u guys probably didn't understand any of that
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 2648
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2007 - 1:06 pm:   Edit Post

WOW! And I thought Paul was really dead! Actually, the "backwards messages" were mostly figments of the imagination. But if you want Beatles trivia, who composed the original rhythm section, bass & drums (no, it wasn't Paul & Ringo).

Bill, tgo

(Message edited by lbpesq on October 07, 2007)
paulman
Advanced Member
Username: paulman

Post Number: 253
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Monday, October 08, 2007 - 8:22 am:   Edit Post

): ssaB aloiV eht ekil I dna...uoy rof egassem sdrawkcab a si ereH.
jbybj
Member
Username: jbybj

Post Number: 100
Registered: 6-2006
Posted on Monday, October 08, 2007 - 10:45 am:   Edit Post

If you listen carefully, you will hear that "I buried Paul" is actually, "cranberry sauce". BTW, remember Twin Peaks? There were scenes where David Lynch had the actors recite their lines backwards, then he would reverse the film, resulting in a backwards envelope type of sound but with forward speech. Very cool effect. With my new boss looper, I can do the same thing! too much time on my hands I guess.........
cozmik_cowboy
Advanced Member
Username: cozmik_cowboy

Post Number: 209
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 9:10 am:   Edit Post

Anarchyx; I think anyone between 50 & 70 knows that - but the alleged backwards lyrics were only a small part (myself, I could never find a turntable that would play backwards...). There were hidden meanings found in pictures, lyrics, promo stuff (e.g. a widely publized P. McC. look-alike contest with the winner - allegedly Billy Shears - never annouced) - there was almost a cottage industry that developed around ferreting out the truth about the original Paul's decapitation in an auto accident in 1967 ("He blew his mind out in a car....").

James; "Cranberry sauce"? Never heard that one. If I listen very closely, I can almost hear John's official explanation of "I'm very bored", but "I buried Paul" goes a long way to explaining Mr. "McCartney's" career since Billy Shears assumed the role...

Bill; Stu Sutcliffe & Pete Best, of course.

Peter
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 2652
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 9:49 am:   Edit Post

Peter: You got it! And don't forget the cover of Abbey Road where Paul is barefoot and out of step with the other three, while in the background is a VW Beetle with the license plate "28 if", as in Paul would be 28 if he were alive.

Bill, tgo
cozmik_cowboy
Advanced Member
Username: cozmik_cowboy

Post Number: 210
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 10:00 am:   Edit Post

And the OPD ("Officialy Pronounced Dead") patch on his Sgt Pepper uniform, and the left handed bass in flowers on the grave in the Sgt P cover, and the black (for death) walrus suit on MMT("Here's another clue for you all - the Walrus was Paul") and on and on.

Peter
terryc
Advanced Member
Username: terryc

Post Number: 295
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 11:09 am:   Edit Post

Must be a rock thing..Led Zeppelin and Metallica have allegedly put secret messages on albums..guess it must have all stopped with the advent of CD 25 years ago!
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 1641
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 11:50 am:   Edit Post

You see, if you cannot play the reverse messages forward on a CD player, then they will travel across so much better, since the listener is unaware that there are messages that should not be heard, and hears them anyway. - Remember in your schooldays when you tried putting a book under your pillow? As the saying goes, wollip s'lived eht si sseneldI.
anarchyx
Junior
Username: anarchyx

Post Number: 27
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 2:17 pm:   Edit Post

jbybj, you're right. My dad told me about that whole backwards thing with Twin Peaks. it sounded weird, but it was cool
hydrargyrum
Advanced Member
Username: hydrargyrum

Post Number: 295
Registered: 3-2004
Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 2:30 pm:   Edit Post

James,

Radiohead does the same thing on the song "Like Spinning Plates." A cool effect.
anarchyx
Junior
Username: anarchyx

Post Number: 28
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 4:19 pm:   Edit Post

And on the SGT P cover, Paul was facing backwards while eveyone was facing forward, and a hand was above his head cuz he was marked for death. On Abbey Road, Paul was dressed in a burial suit, John was dressed as a minister, Ringo was dressed as a pall bearer, George was dressed as the grave digger. Oh, and on the MMT cover, everyone was wearing red roses, but paul was wearing black roses, and this figure resembling death was standing behind him.
anarchyx
Junior
Username: anarchyx

Post Number: 29
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 4:27 pm:   Edit Post

SGT P- John sang "he blew his mind out in a car" meaning Paul died in a car accident. Ringo sang in Don't Pass Me By, "You were in a car crash and you lost your hair"
White Album- in The Song "Revolution No. 9" it repeatedly said "No. 9" but if u play it backwards it will say "Turn me on deadman"
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 2654
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 5:30 pm:   Edit Post

Mars Hotel: Ugly Rumors.

Bill, tgo
jacko
Senior Member
Username: jacko

Post Number: 1410
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 1:12 am:   Edit Post

John always said the inspiration for the line 'he blew his mind out in a car' came when friend and heir to the guiness fortune Tara Brown drove through a red light at 110 miles an hour in his lotus elan and crashed into the back of a truck....

Lennon said:

“ I didn't copy the accident. Tara didn't blow his mind out. But it was in my mind when I was writing that verse. The details of the accident in the song — not noticing traffic lights and a crowd forming at the scene — were similarly part of the fiction. ”

Anarchyx.. I don't know if you have a different copy of Sgt peppers but on the original album, all 4 wax mannekins (from Mdme Tussauds) and all 4 live beatles are facing forwards As they are on the inner gatefold.
edit.. Just checked the back cover and he is indeed facing backwards. No hand of death above him though;-)

Graeme

(Message edited by jacko on October 10, 2007)
keith_h
Senior Member
Username: keith_h

Post Number: 869
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 4:31 am:   Edit Post

Graeme,
The hand is just above Paul's head on the front cover of my album.

Keith
jacko
Senior Member
Username: jacko

Post Number: 1411
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 4:34 am:   Edit Post

yeah but..
Anarchyx said "Paul was facing backwards while eveyone was facing forward, and a hand was above his head cuz he was marked for death" implying that the hand was over the image of paul facing backwards.
oh well. It was all tosh anyway. Superb music though ;-)

Graeme
keith_h
Senior Member
Username: keith_h

Post Number: 870
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 6:34 am:   Edit Post

All tosh just like Elvis is dead when we all know he is alive and well living in Eerie, Indiana. :-D

Keith
jacko
Senior Member
Username: jacko

Post Number: 1413
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 6:37 am:   Edit Post

Elvis isn't dead. he appears regularly on a bbc radio 2 afternoon programme in his own ask Elvis slot.

Graeme
byoung
Senior Member
Username: byoung

Post Number: 789
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 1:01 pm:   Edit Post

I saw Elvis at the Fry's in Las Vegas. His girlfriend looked like Amy Winehouse.

Bradley
anarchyx
Junior
Username: anarchyx

Post Number: 32
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 2:04 pm:   Edit Post

?????????? really??????????? I'm pretty sure that's just an impersonator
eligilam
Member
Username: eligilam

Post Number: 68
Registered: 2-2006
Posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 2:25 pm:   Edit Post

Somewhere on the Sgt.Pepper's cover, there's a guitar made of flowers that reads "PAUL?" supposedly to signify all the promo-death stuff listed above. Also, the album queues up perfectly with Clockwork Orange if you start it right when Beethoven's Fifth starts.
keith_h
Senior Member
Username: keith_h

Post Number: 875
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 4:48 pm:   Edit Post

So Will,
What you are saying is Roger Waters copped the idea of synchronizing Dark Side of the Moon to a movie from Stanley Kubrick. I'll have to check it out.

Keith
byoung
Senior Member
Username: byoung

Post Number: 792
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 6:09 pm:   Edit Post

This was no impersonator. He was Elvis.
anarchyx
Junior
Username: anarchyx

Post Number: 33
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 - 12:56 pm:   Edit Post

I'll find out for sure
anarchyx
Junior
Username: anarchyx

Post Number: 34
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 - 1:15 pm:   Edit Post

he's dead dude go to wikipedia it shows he was buried in Memphis and then his bodied was moved to Graceland there are a lot of people that look like Elvis in Vegas
darkstar01
Member
Username: darkstar01

Post Number: 80
Registered: 6-2005
Posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 - 1:34 pm:   Edit Post

nah that was his brother. everybody knows that.
anarchyx
Junior
Username: anarchyx

Post Number: 35
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 - 6:56 pm:   Edit Post

see? at least someone agrees it wasn't Elvis
cozmik_cowboy
Advanced Member
Username: cozmik_cowboy

Post Number: 212
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 - 7:42 pm:   Edit Post

I think Austin means that it was Jesse Garon Presley who croaked on the King's throne in '77 and now lays at rest in the backyard of graceland.

Peter
darkstar01
Member
Username: darkstar01

Post Number: 81
Registered: 6-2005
Posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 - 8:35 pm:   Edit Post

exactly.
anarchyx
Junior
Username: anarchyx

Post Number: 39
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Saturday, October 13, 2007 - 7:26 am:   Edit Post

oh wait were they, like, twins or something? cuz otherwise I don't think Elvis would've been mixed up with his brother
kimberly
Intermediate Member
Username: kimberly

Post Number: 115
Registered: 1-2007
Posted on Saturday, October 13, 2007 - 12:29 pm:   Edit Post

"Messin' with Sasquatch"? ;)

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=messing%20with%20sasquatch&search=Search
811952
Senior Member
Username: 811952

Post Number: 1173
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Saturday, October 13, 2007 - 12:37 pm:   Edit Post

My brother Pete's been gigging with his drummer a lot lately. I'll have him ask some kind of trick question to get the real story... ;)

I still say that's a fun looking bass you got there...

(Message edited by 811952 on October 13, 2007)

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