The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-387-Vol-3of3.iso/b/bl268.zip/BL268.TXT

Text File | 1993-03-10 | 27KB | 575 lines

                     / \
                    /  /         -
              _--__|  /         | |        / \
________--__-     O  ---  ____  | |        \  \            / \
=======/-/=======| |)          O ---  ___   \ |           /  /
======/-/=====================| |)          O---  ___    |  /
=====/-/===================================| |)         O--- ___
====/-/================================================| |)       -__
___/_/        _|_  |     _     ___         ___  __|__   _   \__ __    \
___\_\\-_      |   |_   / \    |  )   __  | | |   |    / \  |  |  \    \\
 \\\\\\\\\-_   \_/ | \  |--    |--<  /  \   |     \_/  \_/          _   |\
              \    |  | \__    |   \ \__/   |     ____    \  o \/\ |_\  /\|
                \_             |___/     ____---\\\\\\|    \  \ \ \ \_  /\|
                  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\---   \_   \  \ \    _/\/
                   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\------             \_  \    __-\\\/
                                                            ---\\\\\\\-


                                                    Issue #268
                                                    December 18, 1992

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To post:                           Subscriptions, deletions, requests:
   [e-mail]                   [e-mail]
  (Bitnet: [e-mail])      (Bitnet: [e-mail])
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today's topics:
                  RE: The Bottom Line #266
                  Foolish Mistakes
                  RE: Original vs. copy band
                  RUMBLINGS FROM ACROSS THE POND...
                  (none)
                  Steinberger & pickups
                  bass lust
                  Alembic info.
                  Brand X @ The Estate
                  Bass fer Sale
                  Product Review: Hartke 3500
                  BassNet Tshirt

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 13:44:33 -0800
From: [e-mail]
Subject: RE: The Bottom Line #266


> From: Larry Stephens <[e-mail]>
> (Of course, this is probably moot since I will
> undoubtedly win the Peavey MIDI Bass giveaway in BP, unless at least
> one other person entered...but it doesn't have enough strings!)

Sorry, Larry, I entered and will win. I'll give you the cables, if
you'd like :-) Not enough strings? How about modifying it with the
Wilkinson 4-5 string conversion kit? That oughta mess it up!

> From: Joshua Loftus <[e-mail]>
> HOWEVER, note as BP Magazine did that you can get a
> non-Carvin bass for a considerable discount off of list $$$.  With
> Carvin, you only get the price they offer low as it is. IMO, this
> means that getting an $800 Carvin (4 strings with some goodies) is
> about the same price as a Stingray 4.  Given all the glowing reviews
> I've seen lately on Carvin stuff, I'd say that you'd be just as
> happy with the Carvin as any bass you'd buy for up to say $1500
> discounted price.  Bassically, the Carvin represents a great buy of
> an instrument of quality in the $1-2k range.

Yeah, that's what I've been thinking... but it probably applies
more to we fortunate folks who live in major metropolitan areas
where music stores are more inclined towards wheeling and dealing.

> What I want to know is if the Carvin instruments can compare to a
> Warwick, a Zon, a Modulus, an Alembic, etc.  My guess is not!  BUT,
> if the difference in quality, sound, playability, etc is between a
> Carvin and a $2,000+ bass is relatively small, I think I'd go for
> the Carvin to save the $1000+.  If a Carvin doesn't even come close,
> then I think I'll try to be content w/ my Yamaha and keep on saving
> my milk money until I can afford a truly great bass.
>
> Anyone out there willing to post a Carvin vs Zon shootout?  Do I
> sound like an instrument snob? :-)

Well, not a shootout just yet, but some of my impressions (I have
a Zon Legacy Elite V and I live near the Carvin Santa Ana store).

First off, the Zon is the best playing bass for me. I've played a
lot of basses but none sounded as good or played as well. I think
it's a combination of the jumbo frets, the inset graphite neck,
and the electronics (Bartolini pickups and preamp). That low B is
definitely the best I've heard. It's neck heavy, but I use a strap
with a patch of sheepskin and don't have much problems.

The first time I played the Carvin, I wasn't too impressed. I don't
particularly care for the headstock design and the string spacing
is a little too close for my liking (5 string). But, after learning
more about Carvin (and after I bought the Zon), I tried it again.
I was actually surprised how good it is. I still like my Zon better
but the difference isn't as great as I thought: the Carvin is neck-
through so there's some dead spots (``non-uniformity of sound'')
and I think the Zon still has an unbeatable low B. I have yet to try
the new BB model but think that's gonna be a large step up from the
LB. Maybe when the Santa Ana store gets one in I'll take my Zon over
there and do a side-by-side comparison.

All ``IMHO'', of course.

greg

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 16:13 GMT
From: Stuart Mawby <[e-mail]>
Subject: Foolish Mistakes

Do you ever have one of those days where everything seems out to get you?

After a horrible day at the office, just yesterday, I went home to look at my
old copy of the D.C. City Paper.  While looking at the club ads in the back
I noticed that a certain Victor Wooten and the Flecktones....uh, rather, Bela
Fleck and the Flecktones.... was scheduled for the Birchmere in Alexandria.

Excitedly, I looked for the date.....14 December 1992.  Last night was, of
course, *16* December 92.  8-(

Ah, well,  such is life.....

        - Stuart

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 10:21:11 CST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: RE: Original vs. copy band


  I agree with Spiro somewhat.  In 1980 while I was in college I joined a
band that had been playing original material with poor success.  We worked up
a show of FM radio copy tunes.( Kansas, Styx, Boston, Beatles, Steely Dan,...)
Within a few months we were getting lots of good paying gigs. Lots of Frat
Parties, highschool dances, etc.  As we gained a following we started
working original material back into the show, one or two songs per set and
eventually we would even get requests for some of our songs.
  My theory is that most people are at best only semi-literate musically.
They have to be told what is good, and the radio stations are doing that.
Before they will accept your music, ( or even your interpretations of covers)
they have to realize that you are good musicians.  If you sound just like
what's coming out of the radio, the audeince knows that "Hey, these guys
are good".  We found that especially guitar and keyboard solo's had to be
almost note perfect; the rhythm section has a little more freedom, except
for parts that really stand out.
  If you want to play out and be popular and make some extra cash then
try doing copy.  If you are a purist / artiste then work, work, work in
the rehearsal hall, make tapes, try to get your stuff recorded and take
whatever gigs you can.  If you're somewhere in between, find a comprimise.

Keep at it.

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 14:04:03 GMT
From: Roger G Haworth   userid  <[e-mail]>
Subject: RUMBLINGS FROM ACROSS THE POND...

CSG Operational Support, SO-PH rm 1101, x1131.
E-mail (JANET): [e-mail]

Hi there! I'm fairly new to TBL, so I suppose I'd better introduce myself.

My name is Roger (Rodge) Haworth, and I'm from Swindon, Wiltshire in the south
of England...

Influences: Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, Chris Squire, Glenn Hughes, Bruce
Foxton, Paul McCartney (Beatles era), Phil Lynott and more recently Les
Claypool and Flea.

Gear: Rickenbacker 4003, Fender Precision, Marshall JCM 800 100w Super Bass
valve amp, Marshall JCM 800 4x12 cab. No effects.

I've been playing bass for nearly 4 years, although I started out on rhythm
guitar about 7 years before that. I play in a band called Running Man (before
you ask, no we did not take our name from the book or the film!). We are a 3
piece rock unit (imagine a cross between Rush and Stiff Little Fingers and
you're probably almost there), and we do mainly our own material plus a few
covers for good measure. We've done 2 demos which are available from me. Some
gigs in the States would be nice!! Well, you never know your luck.....ha!

One point in particular interested me in a recent TBL. Kevin Kiel mentioned he
found Precisions easier to play than Rickys. I know full well that an
instrument is a very personal thing, but I've got BIG hands and I find the
Precision hard work compared to my Ricky! When I started out on bass I had a
Washburn B2. They are dirt cheap but quite good and easy to play. Soundwise
they're not very inspiring though, so I thought I'd try out some others. I
settled on a Precision. At the time Rickys were rarer than hens teeth in this
part of the world, and I didn't have much money. Anyway, I got on very well
with the Precision for a while, raised some cash, flogged the Washburn and
bought the Ricky. Since then I have found the Fender almost unplayable. For me
the Rickenbacker beats it hands down on all counts. We've been inseparable now
for almost 2 years. As a result, I'm now looking to sell the Fender. I'd like
to replace it, but I'm not quite sure what to go for. Anybody got any
recommendations?

See you later

Rodge

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 12:14:53 EST
From: [e-mail]

Dear Fellow Thumpers,

This is my first post since recieving 'The bottom line'.  Consequently, I'll
go through the mandatory 'get aquanted' post.

                Bass:  American (1985) Fender P-bass
                       Customized with:  Seymour Duncan
                       active EQ pickups (one P and 1 J @ bridge)
                       Leo Quan Badass Bass II bridge, brass nut.
                       (This is a truly incredible sounding bass.
                       I'm serious.  I've played alot of basses and
                       this one just plain sings)

                Amp:   Peavey combo 300,  a workhorse, unkillable
                       Sounds really, really, well . . . just pretty
                       good.  Nothing spectacular.

                Influences:  Marcus Miller, Geddy Lee, Abe Laborial, Larry
                             Graham, Pattitucci. etc.



O.K with that out of the way, I'd like to move to the real reason I'm writing.
That is because of TBL#265.  There seems to be a great deal of confusion
concerning what vibrations on an elastic string (Rotosound) 'look' like.
I'm refering to [e-mail] in particular.  The 'jump  rope' or
'many node jump rope' model is great for visualizing what a particular harmonic
looks like. e.g. The first harmonic looks like a jumprope.  And the eighth looks
like eight equally spaced waves on the string.  This is all well and good.
 _BUT_bass strings (or any mechanical entities) do not vibrate in this way.
  One must
keep in mind that the characteristic wave form is dependant upon the sum of the
various harmonics.  That is, the superposition of _all_ the harmonic modes.  I
can assure anyone that they have never played a pure harmonic on their bass. In
addition the actual 'recipe' for the wave is given by the Fourier series of the
wave equation.  In the case of a vibrating (Ideal,no damping) string, the
contribution of each sequential harmonic mode decreases by 1/n. (i.e 2nd harm.
is 1/2 the amplitude of 1st, 3rd is 1/3 of 1st, 4 is 1/4th of 1st etc.)
Consequently, you have a mess that does not resemble a nice jump rope at all.

Now with that in mind, we can address the subject of why a given pickup has
more midrange contribution at the neck position than the bridge position.
If one were to look at the average displacement of a vibrating string, it
would look much like a jump rope.  Therefore, the greatest displacement occurs
in the middle of the string and the least at the end.  Since low frequencies
correspond to high displacement, and vice versa, the bridge position will pick
up higher frequencies and the neck position will pick up lower frequencies.
The bridge and neck pickups are designed with this in mind. i.e. the resonant
frequency of the neck pickup is lower than that of the bridge.

So, from an intuitive standpoint, [e-mail] was indeed right.
To test this, try a pinch harmonic with your thumb directly over the center
of the active pickup.  Its volume will be considerably lower than other
harmonics.

Sorry so long.



----Chris

Northeastern U. Dept. of Physics
[e-mail]

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 13:56:46 EST
From: "Charles Gale, McGill University" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Steinberger & pickups

  Hi people,

   In the useless but entertaining dept.: the daddy of Mr. Steinberger (of
Steinberger basses and guitars fame) is Jack Steinberger who happens to be
the 1988 Nobel prize winner for physics... (-a true fact-)

   Has anyone out there heard (of) Reflex pickups? (Apparently an English
brand...)


-----------------------------------------------------

Charles Gale                       phone: [phone]
Physics Dept.                      fax:   [phone]
McGill University            Internet: [e-mail]
3600 University St.          Bitnet:   [e-mail]
Montreal, Que.               Hepnet:   muhep::gale
Canada, H3A 2T8
------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 16:46:37 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: bass lust


Hi y'all,

So I go into a music store (EU Wurlitzer, Boston, MA) to
pickup my compressor pedal.  I sent it back to Ibanez to get
fixed... While I'm there, I decide to look over the 5 strings.
Hmmm, Yamaha BBsomethingother, MusicMan StingRay 5, Fender
Jazz+ Five.  Well, I tried out each bass for a while
through a SWR Baby Blue.  The verdict:  they're all really
nice instruments.  They all have active eq on board so one can
get a lot of different tones, however, not all of them are particularly
useful.  The Yamaha had the widest neck by far.  The MusicMan was
second, and the Fender was narrowest.  They were all very playable,
though, even with my little hands.

I was really taken with the Fender.  The ease of playability
was great, and the one they had was in a natural finish (ash body)
with no pickguard.  I really like the look of wood.  I was also
impressed with the Lace Sensor pickups on the Fender.  I was
in a room full of flourescent lights, yet there was no hum when
I used only one pickup.

All three basses are in the $1K range.  I noticed that the list
prices of the Yamaha and the MusicMan were higher, thoough.  I wonder
why they discount them more than the Fender...  The guy in the store
was telling me that StingRays are selling like crazy (thanks Flea).
I like StingRays, but at the same time, I think the bpdy is a wee
bit large, and the pickguard on the Five is really big so it covers
too much of the finish. (which is very nice)

Does anyone out there play a Fender Jazz+ five?
Any opinions?  I really liked all three basses, but I think the Fender
has my heart...
Also, does anyone have any other suggestions for 5string basses
in that price range?  The Warwicks and Pedullas are wee bit steep
for me right now...


Thanks,
-Shin

ps:  Thanks to everybody who answered my other posts.
     I really appreciate the input.

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 17:41:53 EST
From: I'D RATHER STAY A CHILD & KEEP MY SELF RESPECT IF BEING AN ADULT MEANS
 BEING LIKE YOU <[e-mail]>
Subject: Alembic info.

        Hello TBLers!  My name is Dan Levine and I am a bass geek at Kenyon
College.  I am in the process of writing a paper about the Alembic company,
and I'd like to ask all of you for any information you may have.  You may be
saying to yourself "My oh my!  Dan!  This is such a broad topic.  Could you be
more specific?".  And I say "No!"  The reason being, it is an American Studies
research paper, which therefore means that any and all information is fair
game (See Rules of Academia Interdisciplinary Powers Act #528: "Everything is
something").  So, as a guideline for your much appreciated help I offer the
following assortment of random redundent categories:

     *Alembic - the products                 *Alembic - associated players (Ex.
     *Alembic - the price                         Stanley Clarke, Entwhistle)
     *Alembic - the image                    *Alembic - associations with The
     *Alembic - the history                      Grateful Dead, Modulus, etc.
     *Alembic - the sound                    *Alembic - Pioneers of bass
     *Alembic - the feel                         evolution?
     *Alembic - the smell                     Also:
     *Alembic - the attitude                       -overviews of bass evolution
     *Alembic - the taste                          -electric bass in music
     *Alembic - the look                             history
     *Alembic - the excess?                        -electric bass - the market
     *Alembic - the ecstasy!                       -electric bass - present
     *Alembic - the knobs and switches               status
     *Alembic - who cares?                         -electric bass - dietary
                                                     laws and religious holidays

        As you can see, everything is fair game and the more the merrier.  So
please, if you have the time (and there is room in my file) pull all the stops.
Two things to keep in mind, if you could send it right to me and the "contest"
ends Sunday, December 20th.

                            Thank you TBL and thank you fellow thumpers,
                      Merry Christmas and a Happy New Ear,
                                              Dan

Send replies to:  [e-mail]

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 20:23:07 CST
From: Tania M Davis <[e-mail]>
Subject: Brand X @ The Estate

Hey y'all..Just saw Brand X at this smokey jazz club called the Estate
in Milwaukee. These guys were nothing short of incredible. And they
were nothing short of short, either. All three members kept having to
lean over to keep from bumping their heads, which they occasionally
did anyway. Percy Jones astounded the audience, myself included, with
his knowledge of his instrument, a work of art this thing was. Can't
remember if it's custom-made or a manufactured bass but he got some of
the coolest sounds out of that thing; an occasional low growl out of
the B-string, a couple of preamp patches to get a more acoustic sound
mixed in, and even an octave patch for semi-piccolo passages. His
technique was VERY impressive, to say the least. Harmonic sliding,
acoustic finger-wavering to gain that old upright vibrato sound, and
what sounded almost like a sort of Balinese scale harmonic strum
across all 5 strings to get his point across. All in all, a very
impressive player with just the right mix of flashiness and modesty.
Well, must get reading..I have a month's and a half of Bottom Line to
catch up on. Yow!

Later!

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: 17 Dec 92 15:44:24 U
From: Oz Barron <[e-mail]>
Subject: Bass fer Sale


Must be the season, eh?  I just got a call from an old friend of mine who needs
to sell his bass and amp.

A Peavey Rudy Sarzo Signature model with Hard Shell case.  Active EQ, rosewood
neck, very, very good condition.  I've played this bass and was VERY impressed.

Peavey TNT 130 (130 watts, 15"spkr)  Possible blown speaker.  He says it plays
fine, but people have told him the speaker might be blown (?)

He is asking $700.00 for BOTH!!!!  Good deal IMHO!

Call Mike Natale at 508-832-3318 (home) or 508-485-3773 (work)  Tell him you
saw it on the net (from Oz)

bye!

-Oz

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 9:59:16 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Product Review: Hartke 3500

Hello,
        Just picked up a Hartke 3500 and an Alesis Quadraverb. I haven't
had a chance to really experiment with the Quadraverb yet so I'll cover
a little about the 3500. To start, my head is running through a '74 SVT cab.
In this configuration, I'm driving a 4 ohm cabinet at 350 watts. Believe
me when I say that this is more than enough! Haven't turned up the master
volume past two. The Hartke has two preamp gains, one for tube and one for
solis state. The manual recommends turning one of these knobs at least up
to seven to get a nice tone from the desired side, while leaving the other
on zero, one, or two. I personally enjoy more tube blend, and the Hartke seemed
to produce a nice warm sound that was suitable to my ears. I must mention that
my bass is a NS-2c with passive Bartolini's. The solid state gain sounded
much like many others offered by the likes of SWR , GK, or Peavey. Moving
left to right, the next knob is an adjustable compression wich does it's
obvious job quite nicely. Next, a 10 band EQ is on hand and can be turned
on or off with a switch, sorry no footswitch. It covers the bass frequency
range very nicely and is excellent for tweaking and fine tuning your sound.
The next two knobs are a low pass and a high pass. You can either cut or boost
these until your hearts content. The manual recommends setting you high and
low pass contouring and then tweaking with the EQ. This method seemed to
produce excellent results. By doing the opposite, it seems you defeat the
effect of the EQ. Finally, the master volume. After gaining with the preamp,
all you nedd is a "little" tweak of the knob and your ready to scream! There
was no noise present at low volume levels and none really became apparent until
I turned it up to 5, half-way, but I didn't dare play a note. I think I would
have been knocked down! The back panel holds a cooling fan, an adjustable
switch for designating a direct out either to a recording board or a P.A.,
and two speaker outputs rated at 8 ohm. This confused me a little, so I
immediately called Hartke. If you run one 4 ohm cabinet as I am, you are
pushing 350 watts but you cannot add another cabinet even though there is
another output. You are already in a configuration where the amp can max out.
This came from two of there techs who verified this. It has and effects
send and return. The manual recommends that you do not run pedals through
the loop, run them the conventional way between you bass and amp. It also
says that if your effects processor has an adjustable boost for the return
signal, set it to zero and always let the head take care of the signals.
Well, that's about the best synopsous I can give right now. I will add more
as soon as I play with the Quadraverb with this config. Just to add a little
note, I also playtested the SWR 200 and the GK 800RB all in one sitting to
 decide
what I wanted. What seemes to be the general consensus is that the differences
between the above stated heads and the Hartke is totally personal. They each
have a different tone. In the end, I felt that the extra bucks for the GK or
the SWR really weren't warrented. The Hartke had what I was looking for at
a reasonable price of $450 and didn't sound much different than the others.
Or I should say that the higher priced others didn't sound much better. In
the store I played each one through a Hartke 4x10 with a EB StingRay. Sorry
for the length, but this head is becoming very popular so I thought I'd add
my ten cents for anybody whose interested. A Quadraverb/Hartke review will
follow as soon as I get the chance. That too should be interesting.

Adios,

 _ROB_

----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 16:46:45 -0500
From: [e-mail]
Subject: BassNet Tshirt


The Bottom Line T-Shirt!

Well, it looks as if the interest is definitely there for
a Bottom Line T-shirt! The general consensus is that it
will have the headstock logo from the newsletter, but in
graphic form (Paul is putting some prototypes together
for it). In addition, it will have a possible second design,
along with some sort of solgan or tagline. To let everyone
get involved in this process, I'd like to announce:

The First Official Bottom Line T-Shirt Slogan Contest!

Yup, we've decided that our tiny minds are too tiny to make
this decision ourselves, so we're putting it up to the public
to help decide what that slogan will be. A few ideas have
already included:

"How Low Can You Go?"
"THIS is The Bottom Line"
"Longer, Faster, Deeper"
"Bassists Do It Deeper"
etc.

We are taking any and ALL
suggestions for a slogan better, stronger, cleverer than those
you just suffered through. And (here's the payoff), if we
use your slogan, you'll win a FREE shirt in the size of your
choice the instant they're available.

So let the games begin! And send any suggestions you may have
to me by e-mail. Thanks for your semi-willing participation!

Matt

----------------------------------------------------------

Anonymous ftp access for back issues, etc.:

     kappa.rice.edu (128.42.4.7) in the /pub/bass directory

     (Username is 'anonymous', password is your e-mail address.
      Try typing 'help' for more info once logged in.)

_The Bottom Line_ is a digest dedicated to the art of playing
electric and acoustic bass. It is distributed on a basis that
coincides with the amount of material received, from the
University of Wisconsin - Platteville, USA;
Kevin Tipple, Erik Habbinga, editors

Copyright _The Bottom Line_, 1992

The contents of _The Bottom Line_ are solely the opinions
and comments of the individual authors, and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the authors' managements or the digest
management. The editors do not assume responsibility for
copyright infringement of submitted material.

***************************
End of The Bottom Line #268
***************************