Bass assasin nr 2 and BertH

[Bert]

Dit was echt heel apart en heel erg leuk. We waren naar Gunslinger wezen kijken. Alan Davey, de bassist is toch wel een van mijn favoriete bassisten. Alan en ik hadden in het verleden weleens wat myspace messages uitgewisseld over Rickenbackers. We zijn Facebook vrienden, maar daar heeft hij er toch al duizenden van.
2 seconden na het laatste nummer krijg ik zijn bas in mijn handen gedrukt. "feel what low action it has got". Het was zijn 86er S model waar hij 2 extra frets op heeft laten maken. Uiteraard hebben we nog een tijdje over Rickenbackers en Fender Bassman's zitten kletssen. Ik vertelde dat ik zijn Bassman beter vond klinken dan mijn eigen '63er bassman. Hij was verbaasd, maar zei ook dat het hem jaren heeft gekost om dit geluid te bereiken. De preamp tubes (chandler?) waren volgens hem heel belangrijk. Hij heeft 2 stuks '71er bassman. Hij heeft de 2 al die jaren bij Hawkwind gebruikt en heeft er slechts 1 keer een probleem mee gehad. Ik ben nog even het podium op geklomen om te kijken wat zijn instelling was. Volume:10, Treble:6, Bass:0. Die laatste knop heb ik nog even heen en weer gedraaid om zeker te weten dat ik niet 10 las, maar echt 0. Hi bevestigde het daarna ook. En van mijn eigen bassman weet ik ook dat je de bass bij een flinke vervorming beter richting 0 kan draaien. Op de een of andere manier heeft het dan nog steeds genoeg laag en ballen.



I'll translate this whenever I feel like it. 

[Hornisse]

This was really very special and very nice. We were essentially looking for Gunslinger. Alan Davey, the bassist is surely one of my favorite bassists. Alan and I had in the past occasionally some myspace messages exchanged on Rickenbackers. We're Facebook friends, but he already has thousands of.
2 seconds after the last number I have bass in my hand. "Feel what it HAS got low action". It was his 86er S model which he two extra frets it has made. Obviously we have some time on Rickenbackers and Fender's are kletssen. I told them I have found Bassman sound better than my own '63er bassman. He was surprised, but said that it has cost him years to achieve this sound. The preamp tubes (Chandler?) Argued that important. He has two pieces '71er bassman. He has two years to all those Hawkwind used and has only one time a problem with it. I'm still here on stage geklomen to see what his attitude was. Volume: 10, Treble: 6, Bass: 0. That last button I've just run back and forth to make sure that I did not read 10, but really 0. Hi confirmed thereafter. Bassman and my own I know that you have the bass in a big distortion better direction 0 axis. In one way or another, the still low enough and balls.
Listen
Read phonetically

[Chris P.]

I could understand your story, Berth! Cool!

[Bert]

Ok, I'll give english a try.

Last Friday we went to see Gunslinger. The new band of (former Hawkwind) Alan Davey. Alan and I exchanged some myspace messages about Rickenbacker's more than a year ago. We are Facebook friends, but he has hundreds of them. We never spoke each other in real life.

It was a great show and I really enjoyed it. I like his sound very much and the music too.
The pub where they played told them to stop. "We'll do one more and than we have to stop". After the song he turned his amp off (real off, not standby) so I knew it really ended. He turned around (I was about second row before the stage) and immidiately pushed his bass into my hands. "Feel how low the actions is". (It was, and the neck was comparable to my own '86, which means thin and small) We went on talking about Rickenbacker's and Fender bassman's (I own a '63, he has 2 '71's) for some time. His 4003S was special made for him out of very old wood he told. He also had a luthier make him 2 extra frets. I knew this and found it fun to see it in real. I told his Bassman sounded better than mine. He told it took him long before he achieved this sound. The preamp valves used where a big factor (Chandler?).
I was very curious about his amp settings so I walked on stage and saw volume:10, treble:6, bass:0 .Having a bassman myself I know you have to be carefull with the bass knob once you go into power amp distortion territory. I also know it still sounds bassy and has lots of balls still. But I did feel for a moment if it was really on 0 and not on 10.
When we had left I thought I had totally forgotten to congratulate him for his birthday. He was even telling me he got a bottle of rum for his birthday which he liked very much as he (told) he is an enomous rum lover.

[Hornisse]

Very cool story! 

[hieronymous]

Awesome! My favorite part is that he pushed the bass into your hands!

[Pilgrim]

So - do I assume correctly that the bassman amps you're referring to are the 50 watt blackface Bassmans?  I have a '67 that I've taken good are of, but I use it for practice.  Having two inputs is handy - I can input the signal from a headphone jack from a boom box or laptop into the high input and my bass into the low input.

I have always found those old Bassman amps to be very loud for a 50W rating.

[Freuds_Cat]

Very cool story! 

+1

[Bert]

So - do I assume correctly that the bassman amps you're referring to are the 50 watt blackface Bassmans?
........
I have always found those old Bassman amps to be very loud for a 50W rating.

Alan has 2 70 watt'ers of which he uses only one at the time. And those 70 watt'ers are loud also. ;-)