Bass rejected from band leaders

[Mlazarus]

glocke, Sorry to hear that about the torment and meanness people are throwing at you about you Alembic. Jealousy Truley is a sin.
I never crossed their mind that you worked hard to buy it or was just very lucky. I guess these basses put an effect on some. The guy
in my Jazz combo as i mention before said "I don't like the sound of your bass (80's Distillate). He was mad when he told me. Just tell
me you prefer a pbass tone for the style of music. What's funny, I played a 93' Musicman StingRay afterwards and he said nothing.
Interesting.

[jazzyvee]

It is interesting to my band leader often recalls telliing people that his bass player only plays alembic basses. There is a certain pride in his voice. He actually wants me to bring my Classico on some gigs.

The name never meant anything to him until we had a dep trombone player with us, after the gig the trombone player came over to have a look at my bass, because he was nodding approvingly all through the gig, and suddenly realised it was an alembic and was enthusing it as he had never seen one before but heard a lot about them in his main band (simply red). The next gig he did with us he took a photo with the bass because his band didn't believe him.

[pauldo]

My Distillate has a vast palette of tone(s).  I however have a select few tones that bring me joy (read: feel like a bassist that controls the pocket).   Some sound guys are used to Chevy’s and Ford’s and when you drive in with an Alembic they are gobsmacked. 

Songdog has a valid point of ‘hearing with their eyes’.  Biases based on appearance is a real thing.   

[Mlazarus]

So today i had the rehearsal with the leader who told me to play the pbass instead of my Alembic series 1. I showed up with the series 1. He didnt say anything. I used a larger amp(markbass 15 250w). I maxed the volume and set the gain on the amp to 50%. Then set the pickup selector to bridge and  flipped the Q to 9db and tone pot to 3 O" Clock. We started playing in his living room with a wooden floor. The bass sound cut through. Very nice settings. He said he liked it. No more worries. But, i did compromise by telling him i would play the pbass on two tunes where he wanted me to slap. I was happy with agreements. I guess sometines a bass player must play it by ear. Keep a proffesional mind. Bring other basses as options. Negotiate a compromise. Bring the best amp you have. Set the tones and let nature take its course.

[gtrguy]

Good for you! We seem to be living in an age of confrontation and the the of negotiation and compromise is getting to be a lost art.

[Mlazarus]

Also, maybe the leader was worried I would leave the group. He already lost his drummer.

[jazzyvee]

Or maybe he read this thread. 🤨🤔

[Mlazarus]

Jayvee, HA HA, no he didn't read this thread. He doesn't own an alembic; he never saw one before until I brought mine. He doesn't even own a computer.

[bluemoonbasix]

Haven't heard that one since the 90s, in Nashville country music tours, arenas, concert halls, outdoor festivals.
The crew loved my Series I but the tour managers and artist manager kept asking me to get a Pbass, American Jazz,
so I borrowed one for a tour, but had to give it back when we got home. Sure, the Fender felt good in the pocket for
that two-beat honkey tonk sound, if you will. But I learned how to dial in the Alembic, even my technique by softly muting dynamic
 to get very close to that sound.

[mavnet]

Early 80's I was doing a session with Flo and Eddie (Mark Volman, Howard Kaylan, ex-turtles, ex-zappa), walked in with my custom Alembic, and before even plugging it in they said, "as long as it sounds like a Pbass, you can stay otherwise..." They really wanted vintage flatwound fender into a b-15 sounds. We got close, but only because the engineer had a lot of stuff with tubes and jensen transformers to run me through.


I get it, though - nothing sounds like a pbass better than a pbass does.

[the_home]

I've had my BL complain about my dual Fat Boy equipped Spoiler. Admittedly, at the time I was not fully competent in managing the growl from Big Red. Even now, that particular bass seems to prefer talking 'nasty', and I like it when it does.

But after another acquisition, I've had no complaints on my Series 1 (thanks John-John).

[gtrguy]

I get it, though - nothing sounds like a pbass better than a pbass does.
[/quote]

That's why I always keep a P Bass around. People seem to like what they are familiar with and often a producer or engineer will have an overall sound in their heads for a song before recording. Plus they may have a signal chain all set up (or in their heads) beforehand for one and don't want to take time to change it. And (wait for it) a heck of a lot of great songs have been recorded using one.

I think It would be worth an Alembic owners time mess around and get a good P bass tone on their bass. A foam block under the bridge, flat wounds, tone control settings, palm muting, playing down strokes with a pick, thumb plucking, etc are all fun to try. Or - just get a Peavey T-40 bass!

[garyhead]

I’ll have to dig out the old manuals…..I recall seeing the “settings” on the SF2 to mimic a P-bass…..or was it a J Bass?

[wayne]

I think It would be worth an Alembic owners time mess around and get a good P bass tone on their bass. A foam block under the bridge, flat wounds, tone control settings, palm muting, playing down strokes with a pick, thumb plucking, etc are all fun to try. Or - just get a Peavey T-40 bass!

This tone description sounds an awful lot like what I get with my upright.  ;-)

I did freak worship leader out once when I showed up with my upright.  He literally asked me, "Did you bring a real bass, too?"  BTW the service went great with the upright.

C-Ya................wayne

[jazzyvee]

Sounds a good resolution. Maybe when he gets used to the alembic sound he may be more relaxed about you bringing whatever bass you choose. Well done. 👍🏾🎶🎵