[QUOTE=BenJammin;18928539][url]http://soundcloud.com/ben-lesser/descent[/url]

A combination of too many drugs and too much sci-fi.[/QUOTE]
Thats pretty cool man. Reminded me a bit of Blade Runner/ first Terminator movie.

What sci fi have you been digging?

I saw Event Horizon the other day, with Lawrence Fishburne and Sam Neil. Not quite what i was expecting, but much better than what i was expecting haha.

And i recently finished the last Eragon book (not very sci-fi), which was pretty cool, im a bit of a fan, saw the Eragon movie the other day (super crappy) and it reminded me of the first two books which i havent read in years, so that was cool.
But after that i started reading an Anne McCaffrey Dragon Riders book i was half way through. I believe them to be the greatest books because they ride dragons and become journeymen and play weird guitar lutes in harper halls and *faints*

More than anything i love them because they are science fiction disguised as fantasy.
Its got all my favourite fantasy elements, but its much more reality based and everything is explained really cleanly, no real magic in these ones.

Sorry, little tipsy :)

Ben, I promise I'll listen to your track when I get home.

Damn, I haven't read a fiction book in forever - I tend to read more nonfiction and casual math books these days. I did just finish Malcolm Gladwell's "Outsiders", which was really interesting and rationally determined factors of success and giftedness amongst the population.

I have one of his books, Blink. Good read.

You might like Alastair Reynolds if you like sci-fi. I love his books. Also love China Mieville but it's more weird fiction than sci-fi.

Actually, Alastair Reynolds is exactly what I was reading before I wrote that. I read both Pushing Ice, and Revelation Space. He's not necessarily bringing the deepest ideas to the board, but he's an entertaining writer and has a good grasp on theoretical physics, so it all sounds like it could be legit.

China Mieville is nothing short of fucking brilliant, however. The City and The City, and Embassytown are both brilliant books on many levels.

I've got my hands on almost every major thing they've each put out.

Reading Railsea now, it's not as awesome as his other stuff so far, it's one of the ones that is open to the younger crowd too. Like Un Lun Dun a bit.

Reynolds is epic, can't wait for the one coming after Blue Remembered Earth.

What's happening guys? haven't been here since May. Is everyone still kickin'?

got rained out on the job today so I'm going to spend some time with my new Jazz Bass. :cool:

So, I ordered a custom set of LaBella Stainless Steels (150-110-085-060-045-030) for my Spector hoping that I would like them. BassStringsOnline didn't have them in stock, so I had to wait 3 months for them to get their shipment. I put them on for 10 minutes and decided that I don't like them - I think I just hate stainless steel strings.

Anybody want them? $15 + shipping.

Have to pass on that one buddy.

Dreading the day I next break a string, I hate getting new ones, must less getting new flatties. I haven't broken a bass string in two or three years I'm quite sure.

I'm so excited about the new range of Mono cases. I'm contemplating getting a part-time job in music gear retail just to try and bring more of the brands I like into the mainstream market in this country.

Fair enough. I just know that steel users like the "new string" tone, and I have no idea what to do with them, so I thought I'd offer them up to you guys. I might just have to put them on eBay or something. Is there even a market for used strings there?

Which flats do you use?

Mono cases look pretty damn sweet if you use a gig bag (that neck support feature is wicked). Have you tried out their double cases at all? That's a product I might consider.

Yeah, I have the double electric bass case, it's awesome.

They sort of dropped off of retail here. I want a whole swag of their kit.

Don't know about a used string market here, don't think there's even much of a first hand market these days.

My Pino bass still has the strings it came with and my Tony Franklin still has the strings it came with, not sure of the exact specs from memory.

Mono is a company that I just have a huge enthusiasm for, their stuff is immaculate and just plain cool to boot.

Gais

I installed the truss rod, made a truss rod cover, and glued on the fretboard. I totally need to take pics for y'all tonight.

[QUOTE=gaslight;18927901]So what you up to in LA?[/QUOTE]

Working as an After School program tutor.

Tomorrow i'm playing a show opening up for Karmin. With an artist named Jess Delgado.

Playing with a friend named Adam Lasher. He's Carlos Santana's nephew, has also played with Jeff Beck, and has a gig opening up for Disturbed and Twisted Sister at the Playboy Mansion.

Working on saving up for a bass i'm having built by Chris Stambaugh

Working on my 'analog dubstep board'.

Still writing for Bass Musicians Magazine.

uh.... you know...

Living the dream.

Awesome man that sounds really cool :).

Chris' stuff is the shit. Still rocking mine, 4+ years later.

[QUOTE=FunkMetalBass;18928446]This pretty much sums up my thoughts as well. I thought Hathaway pulled off the job amazingly well and, tbh, didn't look half bad in the leather suit.

My biggest beef with the voice used for Bane was just that it was hard to understand, though Nolan's version of Bane is far better than in previous Batman films where he was just a juiced up meat-head controlled by Poison Ivy and lacked any depth as a character.

I guess shouldn't be shocked by Hathaway's acting. I think she's proven herself as an actress in other films beyond her Disney days. I liked what she did (other than get topless, that is) in Havoc, even though the movie was only so-so.[/QUOTE]

Hathaway was secks as Catwoman. She's actually one of my favourite female actresses.

If you liked the topless part of Havoc, check out Love and Other Drugs. She ain't afraid to whip them out on more than one occasion.

[QUOTE=Convectuoso;18934906]Hathaway was secks as Catwoman. She's actually one of my favourite female actresses.

If you liked the topless part of Havoc, check out Love and Other Drugs. She ain't afraid to whip them out on more than one occasion.[/QUOTE]
hey bud luckily i never have to see that movie because i just looked it up on google images and now the best part is over :p

but anyway, i was goin to see if you had any contact details? Not really sure why... part nostalgia, part desperate loneliness i assume

and i bought this the other day:

[IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/Atomicant/guitar/P8140447.jpg[/IMG]

fender blacktop jaguar body..... also an anne McCaffrey book haha

and this one with the squier

[IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/Atomicant/guitar/P8140445.jpg[/IMG]

im going to get a custom neck made for the jag when i get some money :D

The Blacktop series is pretty interesting, I'd like the chance to try the basses.

yeah i was going to just put together my own guitar from parts, but that jag was pretty much everything a wanted (apart from the neck :p)

Should be good

When I piss away money on basses again (after a USA Deluxe Jazz V comes my way) I was entertaining the idea of getting one of the Blacktops and turning it into a 3 pick-up config for heavy music. I play less heavy music as time goes by though :(.

Lack of 24 fret necks really shits me about Fenders.

[quote=gaslight;18936466]When I piss away money on basses again (after a USA Deluxe Jazz V comes my way) I was entertaining the idea of getting one of the Blacktops and turning it into a 3 pick-up config for heavy music. I play less heavy music as time goes by though :(.

Lack of 24 fret necks really shits me about Fenders.[/quote]

Same, although it's less about actually wanting a 24th fret as it is about wanting the cutaway, because it provides easier access to the 21st and 22nd frets, which I do actually use with some degree of frequency.

That 18th fret, though... I never use that. I should probably just pull it off of my fretboard.

I use the full range of my bass. >_> I need to be able to get up to my 24th fret.

[quote=BenJammin;18936510]I use the full range of my bass. >_> I need to be able to get up to my 24th fret.[/quote]


Out of curiosity, especially with the fanned frets, how high on the fretboard do you play on your lower BEA (or AEB strings, as I believe they are currently tuned)? If you avoid going past certain frets, is it for tonal reasons or for ergonomic reasons?

I don't usually go past my 5th fret on my lowest string and maybe the 7th on the E. it's a mix of tonal and ergonomic reasons. But mostly tonal.

I don't use the 24th fret in normal playing but for noodling and tapping I really like having them.

For most of my playing if I find myself getting up towards the end of the fretboard it's like a reminder, "Hey, go back and do your job!" haha.

In most normal band playing situations, I'd probably not be up that high either, but for jamming and solo play, it's indispensable to have those notes there. I also worked in my highest notes into a lot of the songs I played with my last band, but as one of the primary song writers, I was able to get away with it as it was worked into the writing process.

So I'm in a shared house and my room isn't as big as all the space I had at my mum's. My mum's moving to a smaller house, so I now have to reclaim all the shit that's still there and try and organise it all in this place.

So I'm gonna sell my cab, my spare combo and just consolidate into one big 6u rack I can plug straight into my PC for recording, or spare cabs/sound desks for gigs if I ever get a live band again. I'm hoping it'll make me work on creating 'the' tone, and make me play bass some more.

So in light of that, if anyone wants a Roland DB500, Schroeder 1212L, or a Line 6 Pod HD500, let me know! :D

To my English and Aussie buddies that drive on the wrong side of the road:

Is the brake pedal to the left or to the right of the acceleration/gas pedal?

brake on the left, accelerator on the right

We only have roads in the CBD here, everywhere else is just bush track and you can drive on whatever side you like.

But yeah, brake on the left, accelerator on the right. But we call the brake the "slower downer".

[quote=gaslight;18938654]But we call the brake the "slower downer".[/quote]

:thumb:

Which way is it for you guys?

It's the same - accelerator on the right, brake on the left, (clutch to the left of the brake if you're driving a stick).

I found out that my buddy has access to a CNC router, so I'm going to get some pine today and prep the wood for some experimentation.

Our goal is to make a cheap-wooded 9-string fanned version of the 6-string I'm building.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/KTEvN.jpg[/img]

All-in-all, the wood pieces aren't too complex (bridge, pickup cover, truss rod cover, body, neck), so it'll be interesting to see how it turns out. If it turns out well, we can just save the CAM program and do a proper hardwood version of it at a later date.

Sick.

Nice looking drawing.

BTBAM, Periphery, and The Safety Fire doing an England tour. I'm quite jealous of you, Chris.

Yeah I has tickets already ;3

Periphery dropped out of the last few shows of summer slaughter do I'm hoping they're still coming over here! D:

On the other hand you guys have The Chariot, letlive and Every Time I Die later this year. What a fucking tour. Totally jizzworthy!

I totally forgot this place existed.

Scary enough, some of the posters form back on the day are still here.

Sup?