John Entwistle Status Graphite Buzzard I Bass

[rogertvr]

I don't use the EQ on the Trace Elliot, I have a 31 band rack mounted EQ I use instead.
 
I use it to add a little bottom end, remove some of the middle and add a little top end.  It's a pretty flat curve really.  It's set-up to optimise the sound of the Dragon's Wing, but playing the Status basses (they have to share the same channel as the DW) has made me aware of the fact that sometimes I might want to add a little more bottom or a little more top, and the Signature electronics don't allow that.  Just the same way that analog synthesizers and passive basses don't allow you to add things to the sound path either, by and large.
 
I just find the Status electronics more flexible.  I'm not saying I don't like the Signature electronics, I'm saying that sometimes I'd like a little more from them.

[adriaan]

So you like the smiley EQ? Well, what do you expect from a Trace Elliot - it's loud, it's punchy and it cuts through very well, but you need that EQ to blow a little life into it. Ever tried an SWR rig with the same basses?

[rogertvr]

Nope.

[jacko]

Here's an interesting little TE anecdote. I usually use a Trace 4x10 combo and 1x15 extension cabinet. During gigs and rehearsals, the rest of the band are always complaining that it's too loud! A couple of weeks ago, I put it into a workshop to have a hum looked into and borrowed MMike Pisaneks rig for a rehearsal. It's an F1-X into a QSC PLX2402 into two Eden 2X10s. Amazingly, I was able to play alot louder than I ever have before and the only comments were favourable, along the lines of what a fantastic sound, when are you getting one. Seems the TE sound just doesn't suit. Anyway, I'm changing over to eden and markbass now (mainly because the trace is getting old and tired).
 
Graeme

[ed_r]

At home I run things very cheap and simple- A Berngher X6000 or whatever mode it is- a 60 watt amp witha 12-inch speaker. I run it flat, no 'shaping' or 'ultrabass' or octave' stuff, and it sounds just fine for the living room- it go boom real good. For gigs I don't go overboard either- a GK rb400 head and a 2X10 Ampeg cab and a GenzBenz 1X15 if I need it. Been thinking of turning the head and 2X10 into teh $750 combo but I've already got it so why bother? I also have a 1970 V4 but rarely use it. I fire it up every now and again to keep the plates in the ( stock and original ) bottles viable. It gets a tiny workout once a month. But what else do I need?

[zn_bassman]

Looks: to each his/her own. Personally, my priority list is sound, playability, reliability, and looks - in that order. The Buzzards do look pretty funky, but even the greatest bass players need a little extra noticibility onstage.  ;-)
 
Sound: One of the reasons I got a Rogue is the bass and treble boosts. The bass boost rounds out the bottom end and helps push through the wall of guitar and drum sounds, and the treble boost adds growl and a lot of the tasty Alembic wood personality. At least one club member has upgraded his SC Sig with these boost switches, which probably makes for a great sound pallette. I found John's Buzzard sounds to be a bit sterile for my taste (the same holds for other graphite players like Michael Manring), so when forced to choose my upgrade from my 11 year-old Epic, I went for the Rogue. I hope to get a B2 at some point, knowing full well that its wood/graphite construction will probably sound less sterile than the all-graphite B1.

[ox_junior]

Graeme,
 
I'm having the same issue with my TEs right now in rehearsing for our Quadrophenia production (www.thewhoshow.com/quad1.html).  I'm using 4x10 and 1x15 in rehearsal.  My output volume is on 1.  The band, cast, and crew are all after me to turn it down.  How can I go down from 1?  Also, no matter how much I tweak the smiley EQ, at that volume I can't get anything over the 12th fret on the G string to sound like anything more than a dull 'dink'.  I think I'll start from scratch on dialing the EQ section to better suit the room and go from there.  But...I'm a creature of habit and not yet willing to dump my TEs!!!
 
More on-topic - I've never owned a graphite bass, so I don't have a common frame of reference.  They certainly do seem convenient.  And light!  I think my body is starting to resemble that of a caveman after playing my Spyder for longer than an hour a day.  However - I still prefer Entwistle's Alembic/Stramp/Sunn sound over his Buzzard/Ashdown/processor sound.  It's just a matter of preference, don't you know?
 
Irwin - don't be jealous of us lugging our cabinets around town.  They're friggin heavy!
 
(Message edited by ox_junior on October 26, 2005)

[borisspyder]

Mike,  
I just want the opportunity to be abusively loud...like you!
Anyway for your Quad problem why don't you try an amp modeler like the Sans Amp, run direct to the board from the Sans Amp with the sound you want & use your amp as a monitor for you only. Or try the Ashdown MAG 300 with the DI built into it. $299 bucks and it really kicks.

[88persuader]

I run an Ampeg SVT ProV through an Ampeg 4X10 bottom for my Alembic, Modulus and all other basses and it kicks! I've never played a FULL graphite bass however my Modulus has a full graphite neck. It's fretless so it has it's own sound regardless of materials but i have to say it has a mean rich low end presence through the Ampeg. And the guys in my band thinks it sounds great BUT the sound man hates it because I push so much low end off the stage he can't mix me and I sound muddy 10 feet past the amp. I'm actually considering going with NO amp and using in ear monitors to hear myself. (Has anyone here tried this?) And of course the other guys on stage will need to have me in their ear monitors as well. It get's OLD very quickly being told I'm too loud all the time. And it's NOT too loud on stage, it's just too loud to mix properly through the front end in the small to med. rooms I play.

[zn_bassman]

1 more comment about the design of the Buzzards for those who might not know: John had the B1 designed to make it easy for him to use his tapping technique (where he struck the strings with his right-hand fingers in a typewriter-like manner, usually on frets on the high part of the neck - this gives harmonic overtones and creates a universe of possibilities for percussive dead notes, 1- or 2-handed hammerons/pulloffs and chords, and astonishing speed). Hence the big wing armrest on the B1 and the corresponding lopsided upper part of the B2's body. He said he developed that technique when he was playing Fender Ps (mid-late '60s), and he used it fairly often on his Alembics (the Spyders, of course, also have an armrest). He didn't fully break out with it until his Buzzard era - in particular, from '96 on, when he was using the Status models. The Status Buzzard's neck specs were apparently also specifically designed to optimize for this technique.

[ox_junior]

Irwin,
 
The problem is the set designers and the director do not want amps of any kind on stage...they say it's too loud for the actors...I may end up losing the battle with them on that.  So yeah, I might end up with my pre-amp and my distortion box (although it won't be my sound without my TEs), and my sound only coming through the wedges, sidefills, and FOH.
 
It just ain't THE WHO without a wall of amps behind you!
 
88 - funny how I have the OPPOSITE problem as you.  My amps, at low volume, sound dinky up close, but you get 10 feet out and they sound great!

[ed_r]

Hey, Mike, you know rockstarguitars.com has most of Entwistle's late '70s rig for sale, including the rackmount stramps, the SUnn cabs, and a few other fun items. No idea how much they want for them but it's the real deal! You and Oliver can have fun with those;)

[ox_junior]

Ed,
 
Yeah, I've seen it.  And yeah, I want it.  But...no place to put it, and I'm told that there is no guarantee the gear is in working condition (it was out in John's garage, basically.  Open to the elements for 20 years).
 
Well, maybe I can get a couple of the Sunn cabs...  

[senmen]

MIke,
plse send me a mail (senmen@web.de)
I have something for you...
 
Oliver (Spyderman)

[locutusofborg10]

although ther are no more status buzzards being produced in graphite, thank god that Alembic will come up with something similiar and probably a lot better