As many of you know Warwick Corvette isn’t one of those naturally calm-headed guys/gals. So what happens when the beast in there gets taunted, taken one step closer to total demonization. Actually this introduction text has not much to do with what I’m about to show you.

1,5 years ago I was in studio with my band and we recorded drums, rhythm guitars and bass for our first EP. Here’s some of those tracks NON-MIXED, NON-EQ’D, NON-OPTIMIZED. They sound stupid also because they are lacking lead guitar, keyboards and vocals tracks. There are some vocals for some reason in one the clips though. Drums are Yamaha stage custom, guitars Amfisound Les Paul through ENGL Savage.

Bass specs:

• Warwick Corvette Std.
• EMG-BTC Control preamp (slight treble boost)
• Ibanez Tubescreamer through Fender Rumble
• Clean bottom straight to DI
• Played fingerstyle

So this is where the introduction is supposed to come support my empirical analysis. Fails though. Corvette Std with huge overdrive without EQ:

• Clip 1
• Clip 2
• Clip 3
• Clip 4
• Clip 5
• Clip 6
• Clip 7

I would appreciate any comments.

First I removed the strap button from it’s original position. I’ve never really understood why they keep putting the strap button in that position. It’s absolutely retarded. Either Epiphone/Gibson have no product development or/and Gibson counts on a questionable strategy that all these little flaws on Epiphones make us invest 1500 € for a REAL Gibson. Well, not me.

After that I unswcrewed the lower screw of the neckplate. The one on the neck’s side.  Some people or actually the majority prefer to just drill a hole in the middle of the neckplate and set the strap button there but I chose this way since my drill couldn’t get through the damn plate. If you choose to make a new whole you should drill it as close to the neck as you can.

Next I attempted to get the neckplate screw through the strap button hole. And who would’ve guessed: I ran into a problem. The hole in the strap button was way too tight for the screw to get through. So again, I was forced to use violence. I took the drill again and made the damn hole a little bigger. Took some time and got the table covered in some cool strap button glitter but it worked. I got the screw through it.

After that I just screwed the strap button into it’s new position and voila. The neck should now be in a better angle now and the headstock should be slightly closer to the player. If you want more ways to negate the neck dive you might want to consider moving the back strap button a little higher, get a high mass bridge, buy a wide leather strap and replace the tuners with lighter ones. At least Schaller sells those extra light tuners.

We have an Ampeg here. It’s a SVT Classic with a matching 6×10″ cab. Needless to say it’s all about the granpa stuff. It’s warm (literally), organic and not so hifi. Though it’s not one of the good ole ones (it’s a new one made in Korea), it still cherises the old characteristics that the traditional rock bass sound is all about. Lots of mids, lots of botne and lots of 10-inchers to push the mids out.

So we naturally need something to represent the younglings, right? Ok, we got a Gallien-Krueger GT700 RB-II. It’s got a Warwick WCA 411 Pro 4×10 and a Peavey Black Widow 18″. While the Ampeg setup is about emphasizing the mids, the younglings’ set is about getting all the usable frequencies out. 18-incher helps to get the lowest of the low and a horned 4×10 is the highmid-treble machine. So as the Ampeg is maintaining the organic warmness, GK set is cold, hifi and sterile. It’s got lots of options but this time everything’s in the middle position.

I know what I think but I let you guys make your own opinions. Are you the traditional guy believing that the best stuff is already made? Or are you the guy not satisfied with the old stuff thinking there’s better stuff to come? Or do these questions simply suck?

Here we go, Warwick Infinity played in fingerstyle.
1) Gallien-Krueger GT700 RB-II + Warwick WCA 411 Pro + Peavey Black Widow 1×18
2) Ampeg SVT Classic + Ampeg 6×10 + DBX 166 compressor

Many people have been wondering about tuning a 4-banger to BEAD but have faced lots of problems doing it. I’m gonna give some tips here. Naturally adjusting the bass for the low B-string is the biggest gray hair factor when doing something like this. The string is D’Addario .135 so it isn’t thinner neither in the nut end nor the bridge end. This one here is the poor victim. Being molested hundreds of times, it’s gonna face the torment once more.

First problem I run into is the fat B-string not fitting into the bridge. You could file the string holder a little wider but today I am not into such delicate activities.

Here’s my solution. Hammer is a good tool for many things. I smash the fat end of the string flatter trying to avoid hitting the ball(s).

Next obstacle on my way is the nut. The B-string can’t quite fit into the string slot. So what I’m gonna do is file it a little bit wider. The best way to file the nut is with the string itself so you have the right size from the beginning.

Alright. That’s about it. It seems to play tight and sound good. Yay. I’ll change the rest of the strings and set it up and it’s good to go.

This beauty was crafted in Germany 2002 and it’s got a zebrano body with ovangkol neck and wenge fretboard. Zebrano is tonally pretty much similar to maple so it’s got the bite and brigthness from there. The tone chambers add to the overall resonation of the body and lighten the weight a bit (it’s still slightly on the heavy side). The ovangkol neck brings out the snap and mid growl Warwick is famous for. Very typical and Warwicky in the Infinity is also the fact that it’s equipped with MEC active electronics. Pickups are somewhat sterile active MEC Jazz and Twin Jazz. The latter can be split to single coil and that’s the way I prefer it.

What can it do?

Infinity SN TCS is a real multi-purpose machine. I can dial widely frequenced modern sounds, the jazz bass sound, cool funk sounds, an organic P-bass kinda sound, fat dubby reggae sounds along with many others. It cuts through the mix in a really nice way. I never wanna give this one away (until I’m out of money and GAS strikes back with its full force).

I know she’s not my first but the first of my basses that I have loved. I suppose I should dedicate the very first one an article also, but I really can’t be arsed since I hate that bitch with all my heart. The photo below is us, my face having moved to happier hunting grounds or its nearby areas.

This baby is not the most expensive one. It’s not the best sounding one. It isn’t in a very good shape and sure as hell isn’t comfortable to play. To be honest this damn thing has caused my back, arms and wrists so much agony I should burn the piece of shit and make the pain go away. But for some weird reason, I’m not gonna do it. You know the hardest ones are usually loved the most. This bass is Thunderbird Goth by the Epiphone company (poor man’s Gibson). The guy doing walking bass in the photo below is called Paska-Jooseppi (Shit-Joseph).

One time at a gig, this thing decided to fall apart during the first song. Of course, I didn’t have a backup bass so I ran into the backroom of the bar and found an old Peavey bass from the corner. So I quickly tuned it and ran back on stage and the gig was saved (even though I could make it back). Next gig with the Thunderbird didn’t yield much better results. It took place in a local heavy bar. After the gig I got pretty intoxicated and blacked out big time. In three days I started wondering where the bass was because I couldn’t find it anywhere. It felt like a limb was missing or something. After a while I managed to track it down, it was in a local pizza parlor. (I have to eat lots of pizza to keep my precious weight up). So, we were back together again. This time for good?

Yes, “what the hell” is probably what you’re asking yourself right now. Well it sure looks like some sort of a blog… and the title says “The Fat Bass” and there’s a cool photo of a smallmouth bass so it must be a fishing blog. No? Ok, you’ve already had enough with my dry humour? I’m afraid I haven’t even got started yet. Let me explain.

The

Ok this is an adverb in English language… Yeah yeah you got it. Am I already boring you?

Fat

I am a fat guy. Last time I checked the scale said 30 kgs but obviously the thing had already rotated a full 36o degrees. And the maximum for the scale is 100 kg. To be honest the big bonedness is just for the ladies. Heard they like big guys…

Bass

At this point I must apologize to all you Bill Dance worshippers out there who were drooling for some cool fishing stories that take place in the Great South of USA. I regret to inform all of you water dogs and fair-weather sailors out there that this is NOT about the old slimey swimmers, yellowtails nor is this about horse mackerels. This is about BASS GUITARS. Yes, you heard right. This, indeed, is about the so called dumb guy’s instrument. But I have to let you in a secret: bassists aren’t really stupid. You know I play bass and I seem like the wittiest guy ever walked the Earth, right?

Enough with the bullshit, fatso

What this blog is going to be about, is general news, information and experiences about and with bass guitars and bass guitar stuff from my point of view. I will introduce you to my own basses, basses I stumble upon, hardware, strings, accessories, amps, cabs and all that stuff. Still not interested? Well, then you can go… umm… do something… you… umm… hate to do… Otherwise, subscribe and let’s get this shit started!