BassPlyr Randy
Long Winded SOB
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2008
- Messages
- 1,506
- Reaction score
- 9
Randy's RockBass Streamer
LONG POST ALERT.... But I think the end is worth the wait. (No fair skipping ahead)
Well the big day has come and gone and I had a Freakin’ Blast! I forgot how much fun it was to play live in some hole-in-the-wall bar. The bar owners are talking to the band about playing there on a regular basis and since their bass player is a trucker by profession, that means I will get a chance to play quite a bit and I think that will not only be fun, but will help keep me motivated and help me get my chops back up. But I know you all don’t care about any of this and you want me to get to the real skinny; my RockBass Streamer.
As I figured, I played my Aria almost exclusively, so this is the only picture of me actually playing my RockBass. And in fact at this point, I was just muggin’ for the camera. But the band thought it would be funny to start playing while I was getting this picture took, so I had to play a whole song with this stupid mask on. HaHa, very funny… Not. :evil: As I stated in a previous post, the action is set too high and the intonation was off. The day of the gig I finally had my rig pulled out of storage and cleaned up and found the mice and the extreme temperature changes had killed some of my equipment. :cry: My rack tuner was dead as a door nail and there is nowhere in this little Podunk town I live in to buy a tuner of any kind. So a couple hours before the gig, I finally get a tuner from one of the guitar players and sit down to try to get the RockBass properly intonated and a little more playable. That’s when I found that I didn’t have the right size allen wrench to do the job, and there was no place at 7:00 pm to get one. So I was screwed. :cry: I knew from practicing at home that it was out, but it wasn’t until I played that one song with the band that I realized how far out it was and thus the RockBass really wasn’t playable for this gig and spent the rest of the night sitting on a guitar stand looking pretty.
<DISCLAIMER> For those of you that may be reading this considering buying a RockBass, please do not take this intonation problem as being inherent to the RockBass. I bought mine used and the bridge had clearly been adjusted by someone that didn’t have a clue what they were doing. I still whole-heartedly recommend them and am still thrilled at the deal I got on mine. I can tell, once I get her setup right, she’s gonna be one hard rockin’ lady. </disclaimer>
Anyway, problems aside… Man she sounded great running through my old Randall. Tons of bottom end, clear/crisp mids and all the top end I could ever want, and believe me, I want a lot. What little I played with it when I first setup my equipment for the gig, the versatility the electronic gives you is amazing. Twist a knob, and it’s a whole different sounding instrument. That was one of the main reasons I had a Quadraverb in my rack all this years. A touch of a button (foot switch) and I could drastically change my sound. Now I can do that at the instrument itself. Once I get the setup right and become fluent with her electronics and all her possible sounds, I know my RockBass will be worth her weight in gold to me.
Ryugu, I can't speak for the newer RockBasses, but I now know for a fact that an older RockBass Streamer can definately give you the sound you are looking for. Mind you, you will still need an amp with the ballz to deliver it, but with it's natural tone and active electronics, the RockBass Streamer is most assuredly up to the task. At least mine is :lol:
Unfortunately, I can already tell she will never be my main go to bass. Now that I am becoming a bit more familiar with a 5-string, I can tell, just because of my style and what appeals to me as a bassist, what feel good to me that is, I will always be a 4-string man. That’s my true love as a bass player and I don’t think anything will ever be able to change that. Ever since I got my RockBass, I have been watching Ebay and keeping an eye on RockBasses and Warwicks in general. My main hope was to find a 4 string fretless RockBass I could pickup as cheaply as I picked this one up. While I’ve seen a couple I liked, I am really looking for one with a transparent finish that is cheap, so I can give it an Eberbachl refinish job.
(That was one beautiful bass my friend) Anyway, what I have been noticing is that I can pick up an actual Corvette Std. for about $650 so I have been consider getting a 4 string Wick and give that a try. If the real thing is better than a RockBass, than I gotta have one! Unfortunately I have to upgrade my bass rig first. Although my 25+ year old Randall still has more than enough ballz for most gigs I will be playing, until I moved up here it was only my backup rig and I would really like to put it back to that status and get me something better. (I'm kind of leaning towards a MarkBass head and Eden cabs, although Ampeg and GK are always a consideration for me)
Anyway, I’ve rambled enough and although I believe the picture at the top of this post squashes the “You have to post pictures or you don’t really have it” question. (BTW, I don’t know about other folks, but I have to say, I was a little offended to have my honesty called into question. But, I do understand that there are a lot of folks out there in cyberland that claim stuff that isn’t true. But if I were gonna do that, please give the credit for having a little taste. I would have claimed to have a Stage II Streamer or a Dolphin or what I am really hot for, having seen one on ebay, a Triumph, not a RockBass) Anyway, I figured if you have bothered to read all this, you deserve a few pictures.
And if anyone is interested, here is one of BassPlyr Randy unmasked with my lovely ’83 Aria Pro II Deluxe in hand. She’s pretty sexy for being 25 years old don’t ya think. And she’s still a dream to play. To this day, she is still my favorite bass out of all the basses I’ve owned or played. After 1 ½ years in her case, that was covered in dust and mice poo, when I opened the case, there she sat as beautiful as ever and when I picked her up, she was basically in tune and ready to rock. I had to give the G-String just the slightest of tweaks to be perfectly tuned. Personally I think she did that on purpose just to make me tweak her G-String and show her I still loved her
Oh, and if you look by my right elbow, you can see part of the neck and the head stock of my RockBass sneaking in the picture.
Peace
LONG POST ALERT.... But I think the end is worth the wait. (No fair skipping ahead)
Well the big day has come and gone and I had a Freakin’ Blast! I forgot how much fun it was to play live in some hole-in-the-wall bar. The bar owners are talking to the band about playing there on a regular basis and since their bass player is a trucker by profession, that means I will get a chance to play quite a bit and I think that will not only be fun, but will help keep me motivated and help me get my chops back up. But I know you all don’t care about any of this and you want me to get to the real skinny; my RockBass Streamer.
As I figured, I played my Aria almost exclusively, so this is the only picture of me actually playing my RockBass. And in fact at this point, I was just muggin’ for the camera. But the band thought it would be funny to start playing while I was getting this picture took, so I had to play a whole song with this stupid mask on. HaHa, very funny… Not. :evil: As I stated in a previous post, the action is set too high and the intonation was off. The day of the gig I finally had my rig pulled out of storage and cleaned up and found the mice and the extreme temperature changes had killed some of my equipment. :cry: My rack tuner was dead as a door nail and there is nowhere in this little Podunk town I live in to buy a tuner of any kind. So a couple hours before the gig, I finally get a tuner from one of the guitar players and sit down to try to get the RockBass properly intonated and a little more playable. That’s when I found that I didn’t have the right size allen wrench to do the job, and there was no place at 7:00 pm to get one. So I was screwed. :cry: I knew from practicing at home that it was out, but it wasn’t until I played that one song with the band that I realized how far out it was and thus the RockBass really wasn’t playable for this gig and spent the rest of the night sitting on a guitar stand looking pretty.
<DISCLAIMER> For those of you that may be reading this considering buying a RockBass, please do not take this intonation problem as being inherent to the RockBass. I bought mine used and the bridge had clearly been adjusted by someone that didn’t have a clue what they were doing. I still whole-heartedly recommend them and am still thrilled at the deal I got on mine. I can tell, once I get her setup right, she’s gonna be one hard rockin’ lady. </disclaimer>
Anyway, problems aside… Man she sounded great running through my old Randall. Tons of bottom end, clear/crisp mids and all the top end I could ever want, and believe me, I want a lot. What little I played with it when I first setup my equipment for the gig, the versatility the electronic gives you is amazing. Twist a knob, and it’s a whole different sounding instrument. That was one of the main reasons I had a Quadraverb in my rack all this years. A touch of a button (foot switch) and I could drastically change my sound. Now I can do that at the instrument itself. Once I get the setup right and become fluent with her electronics and all her possible sounds, I know my RockBass will be worth her weight in gold to me.
Ryugu, I can't speak for the newer RockBasses, but I now know for a fact that an older RockBass Streamer can definately give you the sound you are looking for. Mind you, you will still need an amp with the ballz to deliver it, but with it's natural tone and active electronics, the RockBass Streamer is most assuredly up to the task. At least mine is :lol:
Unfortunately, I can already tell she will never be my main go to bass. Now that I am becoming a bit more familiar with a 5-string, I can tell, just because of my style and what appeals to me as a bassist, what feel good to me that is, I will always be a 4-string man. That’s my true love as a bass player and I don’t think anything will ever be able to change that. Ever since I got my RockBass, I have been watching Ebay and keeping an eye on RockBasses and Warwicks in general. My main hope was to find a 4 string fretless RockBass I could pickup as cheaply as I picked this one up. While I’ve seen a couple I liked, I am really looking for one with a transparent finish that is cheap, so I can give it an Eberbachl refinish job.
(That was one beautiful bass my friend) Anyway, what I have been noticing is that I can pick up an actual Corvette Std. for about $650 so I have been consider getting a 4 string Wick and give that a try. If the real thing is better than a RockBass, than I gotta have one! Unfortunately I have to upgrade my bass rig first. Although my 25+ year old Randall still has more than enough ballz for most gigs I will be playing, until I moved up here it was only my backup rig and I would really like to put it back to that status and get me something better. (I'm kind of leaning towards a MarkBass head and Eden cabs, although Ampeg and GK are always a consideration for me)Anyway, I’ve rambled enough and although I believe the picture at the top of this post squashes the “You have to post pictures or you don’t really have it” question. (BTW, I don’t know about other folks, but I have to say, I was a little offended to have my honesty called into question. But, I do understand that there are a lot of folks out there in cyberland that claim stuff that isn’t true. But if I were gonna do that, please give the credit for having a little taste. I would have claimed to have a Stage II Streamer or a Dolphin or what I am really hot for, having seen one on ebay, a Triumph, not a RockBass) Anyway, I figured if you have bothered to read all this, you deserve a few pictures.
And if anyone is interested, here is one of BassPlyr Randy unmasked with my lovely ’83 Aria Pro II Deluxe in hand. She’s pretty sexy for being 25 years old don’t ya think. And she’s still a dream to play. To this day, she is still my favorite bass out of all the basses I’ve owned or played. After 1 ½ years in her case, that was covered in dust and mice poo, when I opened the case, there she sat as beautiful as ever and when I picked her up, she was basically in tune and ready to rock. I had to give the G-String just the slightest of tweaks to be perfectly tuned. Personally I think she did that on purpose just to make me tweak her G-String and show her I still loved her
Oh, and if you look by my right elbow, you can see part of the neck and the head stock of my RockBass sneaking in the picture.Peace
i think that for me the smartest choice is to simply keep low.. and wait on buying a warwick.
