Just throwing this out there in the unlikely event anyone has been dying for a 7 string bass ..... Looking for a Barker 5 string, fretted or fretless, even trade for my FBB 7 fretted. It's a great bass, but I have no need for it, especially considering it has been wall art for the past 18 + months .....
From the left, my younger sister Cathy Barker, self, Brother in law John Bliss, and Cathy's husband Dick Weaver (trombone).
Late in the recording we are joined by my older sister Bernie (left) and Linda (self's spousal unit).
Plymouth Church is co-pastored by Cathy and Dick. It was a very cool family day.
Thanks for allowing my self indulgence. Oh, that's a B1four with GraphTech Ghost, just a little bled into blended pickups, through a Genz Benz Shuttle 10.
Just wanted to show that my Barker is alive and well in Central Illinois
This shot is from a recent show I did with our group Stripped By Hippies. Sounded great, received a lot of great comments on the look and sound as always
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Faith is believing in something when common sense tells you not to!!!!
Christian Praise & Worship Bassist Club Member #384 www.twodollarransom.com www.gabrielsvoice.com
Just wanted to show that my Barker is alive and well in Central Illinois
This shot is from a recent show I did with our group Stripped By Hippies. Sounded great, received a lot of great comments on the look and sound as always
Thanks for that! I hadn't realized it until now, but we haven't posted here all year!
'bout time we resurrected this thread!
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Endorsing artist: Freshwater Bass, Yellow Cabs, Apron Strings, Honda Pickups, and all Alaska Seafood.
Fbass Club #7, Alleva Coppolo Club #27, Barker Bass Club #1, Fodera Club #?, etc.
Man, it HAS been quite a while .... I'm not getting that much time on TB lately so I've been pretty negligent posting here ...
We have been doing some studio time lately, working on a full album of jazz standards. We finished up with the trio stuff recently and we'll be getting started with the larger band arrangements sometime this spring. Even started getting our web site updated (that's still a work in progress, my keys partner is doing the site). We have been working for so long via word-of-mouth and references that we never really gave much thought to promotion
Here's a clip of the trio from the session ... the entire album is being recorded using the B1six, which has become just about the only bass I use lately. More tracks are on the web site, link in my sig line (The Jazz Syndicate) ...
nice playing. Sounds a lot more like an upright than mine. Along with your great feel and technique what strings do you use?
Thanks .... a lot of the tone comes from the bass (of course) and the ToneStyler really lets you dial in a ton of options. I'm using the LaBella tapewounds on it now after trying a bunch of different stuff. I kinda steered away from the tapes at first because the tension is so soft. I was using LaBella flatwounds for a long time (they have much higher tenson) but I couldn't get a decent bite on the front of the note. So I adjusted my right hand positioning a bit to play with a lighter attack and use more of a DB pizz positioning with the plucking hand, playing on the side of the finger instead of the tip.
It also helps to think like an upright player (which is where all my training came from), but mostly its coming from the bass
Man, it HAS been quite a while .... I'm not getting that much time on TB lately so I've been pretty negligent posting here ...
We have been doing some studio time lately, working on a full album of jazz standards. We finished up with the trio stuff recently and we'll be getting started with the larger band arrangements sometime this spring. Even started getting our web site updated (that's still a work in progress, my keys partner is doing the site). We have been working for so long via word-of-mouth and references that we never really gave much thought to promotion
Here's a clip of the trio from the session ... the entire album is being recorded using the B1six, which has become just about the only bass I use lately. More tracks are on the web site, link in my sig line (The Jazz Syndicate) ...
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Endorsing artist: Freshwater Bass, Yellow Cabs, Apron Strings, Honda Pickups, and all Alaska Seafood.
Fbass Club #7, Alleva Coppolo Club #27, Barker Bass Club #1, Fodera Club #?, etc.
owner, Barker Musical Instruments, maker of the Barker Bass
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Redmond, Oregon
It's nice to see the waxed string vibrating between the tomato sauce cans. It has been a while!
A couple of things to report: I had a failure on stage (well, not exactly--more like the far end of the coffee shop) of my GraphTech Ghost system. Not battery, not sure what.
Because we have recently purchased a Bose system, I opted to remove the Ghost stuff and go back to basic passive (Tonestyler on order). (Hence I didn't spend any time on the trouble shooting one can do on a modular system like the Ghost.)
While I was at it, I changed the pickups out for Bartolinis. I use a master volume and center-detent blend pot. It works just fine.
I am not yet totally at home with going directly into the Bose. I am optimistic I can get it right.
Second things is, inspired by Ed, I tried the stool sitting position and I love it! I am certain I am playing better (and there was, um, limitless headroom for that) and eye contact is easier with Alan, etc, etc.
Oh, and I found that prototype six string B1 in Portland in Joel's hoard.
I've been direct into a Bose L1 more times than not over the last couple of years.
We do have the Bose tone styler DSP box and two of the bass modules. I've been happy with my tone using the Jazz bass preset. As a memory jogger, I use a fretless B1 five string. I've got TI jazz flats on it. I run the pickups wide open and roll the tone back to about 70%.
The tone out of the Bose isn't as beefy as I'd like, but I can live with it. The advantages of the Bose for us outweigh the tone issue. The advantages are we can set up in some very tight spaces, the bass gets projected nicely into the room (the mids get broadcast well from the Bose) and one knob to change our level.
By band leader would be pretty angry with me if I brought anything but the Barker to a job. If I ever change anything, it would be to add a four string fretted Brio to the herd.
Nice. I have been using Bose for our last several gigs as well and they work so well my other rigs are collecting dust.
I am also using Thomastic Infeld Jazz Flats on by fretless B1. Great minds? Or birds of a feather?
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Endorsing artist: Freshwater Bass, Yellow Cabs, Apron Strings, Honda Pickups, and all Alaska Seafood.
Fbass Club #7, Alleva Coppolo Club #27, Barker Bass Club #1, Fodera Club #?, etc.
owner, Barker Musical Instruments, maker of the Barker Bass
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Redmond, Oregon
Tom, I have a set of TI Jazz Flats in the drawer of "Lee Stuff." Never tried 'em. Can you give me any comparison words to tapewounds? (I'm kinda stuck on Pyramids.)
I'll be doing a build for myself next month, along with several others.
Jim--Jazz Bass preset. Do you mess with any of the eq then? I've been starting with the NS preset of late but I've been messing at home with a clip on K&K preamp that has me intrigued.
Going passive into the Bose (B2 bass module) I've not been finding a sweet spot between boinky and muuuuddy.
The first thing you will notice about the TIJFs vs. tapewounds is the TIJFs are MUCH softer. This lets me keep the action on the Barker a bit higher, and yet still have the bass extremely playable. This setup encourages me to "dig in" as I play, helping my hand technique sound more like that on an acoustic upright bass.
The next thing you will notice with TIJFs is a different tone. The Thomastik Infelds have a much more upright bass sounding tone. In other words, they help the Barker sound more like people would expect it to, given it is a vertical bass.
Tapewound strings last an extremely long time, but so do the TIJFs. After so many hours of play, the TIJFs get broken in and have a very nice, smooth character that just makes me want to play all day.
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Endorsing artist: Freshwater Bass, Yellow Cabs, Apron Strings, Honda Pickups, and all Alaska Seafood.
Fbass Club #7, Alleva Coppolo Club #27, Barker Bass Club #1, Fodera Club #?, etc.
owner, Barker Musical Instruments, maker of the Barker Bass
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Redmond, Oregon
I'm convinced, Tom. I'll lace it up with the TIs. It will have a different neck material than I've ever used and perhaps some kind of exotic body. Still, I'll be able to explore the tactile realm you describe so well. Thankee!
Lee, I'm not doing any other eq on the DSP other than the Jazz Bass preset. One thing I haven't mentioned, we usually corner load the L1, and if it isn't corner loaded, it still gets set close to a wall. Outdoors I've been in a pretty serious PA and just bring the B1 and a passive DI.
My set up is also like Tom's; higher than classic so I have lots of room to work dynamics. Also, just like Tom, my rig rarely sees any action. I'm seriously considering parting with it and a couple of other things that just stay home.
We have been thinking about the Bose system for quite some time now, but have yet to make the purchase. So many of the places we are playing have house PA's that we haven't really needed to drag any sort of system around. And the outdoor festival gigs always have large system support provided.
That said, we still would love to get the Bose. We would be putting bass, keys, vocals through it at a minimum, plus guitar and horns for the larger band. I confess that I have my reservations about using the bass module, especially since I'm having crazy success using the MarkBass stuff. But listening to you guys it seems that the Bose is doing a wonderful job ...
So as I understand it, using a Bose L1 Model II with a B2 bass and the audio engine we should be able to input piano, bass and two vocal mics? If we want to go further, I assume we'll need a second system, or can we use a "regular" mixer to add another mic or two?
Looking at the price of this thing, we have to get some better paying gigs .....
owner, Barker Musical Instruments, maker of the Barker Bass
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Redmond, Oregon
The price is certainly offputting, I found, until we loaded it and hauled it to the first gig. (We were using mains on stands, monitors, small board on a stand.) It takes the two of us about 10 minutes to unpack, assemble, and put the bags away. It's basically four containers: The base (we call it the Sea Turtle), two sticks, the BII and the engine.
Then it's mics and instruments. Oh, and the Ed Goode Memorial Stool, now.
In answer to your final question, yes, an outboard mixer is what you need if you're over 4 inputs. Then you can use all the global features of the engine.
One thing I am really curious about is the global EQ that, in theory, allows you to alter the note if the room has a frequency where it booms. We have not had to explore this in any great depth but we have certainly, in the past, experienced the phenomenon.
I haven't had a big need to use the global eq. We've played all sorts of places with great success. The sad part is right about the time I got my rig totally sorted out we started using the Bose. I think I've used a rig one time in the subsequent years.
