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I never realized John Mcvie was so good

#184
Doner Designs said:
I almost said that yesterday. Also, with an unlined fretless you end up playing more by ear anyway.
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I understand all that - I play a fretless, unlined, which is why I don't go crazy setting the intonation on it, close enough it good enough.

That said - I fail to see any advantage to this bridge design for an electric bass, so what's the point? Alembic HAS a compensating bridge, why not use it? It's certainly not a cost saving measure - it's a freaking Alembic.....

So why choose to do it this way? It makes ZERO sense to me, unless the aim is to be as purist as possible - "just like an upright" - being the mindset.
 
#185
OK - quick update to my post above. I found a picture of another FL Alembic, and they at least have the bridge angled to make a bit of an adjustment:

29470.jpg


This make good sense, and would be close enough, I'm sure. And - I have seen similar on fretted electrics.

But McVie's is straight across - with no consideration for proper intonation. Weird I say.
 
#186
JMacBass65 said:
OK - quick update to my post above. I found a picture of another FL Alembic, and they at least have the bridge angled to make a bit of an adjustment:

View attachment 741221

This make good sense, and would be close enough, I'm sure. And - I have seen similar on fretted electrics.

But McVie's is straight across - with no consideration for proper intonation. Weird I say.
Click to expand...
If you look at an upright bass bridge it goes parallel to the nut. Just an observation.
 
#187
jallenbass said:
If you look at an upright bass bridge it goes parallel to the nut. Just an observation.
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I know that.

But think about how OLD that design is.

Just because something has always been done a certain way, doesn't mean it should continue to be done that way.

My point is - Alembic had their own compensating bridge design at the time, why not use it? Why would they deliberately say "well, it's fretless, the player can adjust on the fly."

While that is certainly true, you are still making things more challenging than they need to be.

I'm always up for a good challenge, but it seems to me, this would simply get in the way of creativity and expression.
 
#190
@jmacbass
JMacBass65 said:
OK - quick update to my post above. I found a picture of another FL Alembic, and they at least have the bridge angled to make a bit of an adjustment:

View attachment 741221

This make good sense, and would be close enough, I'm sure. And - I have seen similar on fretted electrics.

But McVie's is straight across - with no consideration for proper intonation. Weird I say.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing that was the next evolution of fretless (ahem, *continuously fretted*) Alembics. ;)

FWIW, I recently ordered a custom fretless 5-string from Alembic, loosely based on McVie's and a couple others, but I really hadn't given much thought to the bridge. Since mine will have sidelines, I assume the bridge will be the modern standard, compensated on each individual string.
 
#192
Skokiaan said:
Some bands like the Beatles did this intentionally. They would play back a backing track at a slower speed and lay down vocals in a lower key then play it back at normal speed. They liked how it changed their voices.

Other times the recording is sped up during mastering - usually by mistake, such as original pressings of Billy Joel's debut album.
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A surprisingly good album. (the Billy Joel debut).
 
#195
nolaguy, thanks for the video, I either never knew McVie played on Zevons WOL, or had forgotten. I have been a seeker, collector, and purveyor of vinyl since the late 1970's, and I will never forget the reaction of a friend and customer, when I came back from an out of state record show with the Werewolves of London picture disc he had requested. (seen above at the 8 second mark in the video you posted) The bear hug and check was more than enough, but he insisted on providing a steak dinner and way too many beers as well.
 
#200
Basshappi said:
Was listening to Rumors again, it has been awhile. That album still amazes me with how perfect it is, there isn't a single weak song and almost every song was either an outright hit or at least recieved regular airplay. Even the overall sound of the album is fantastic. That is rare for any band.
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So good that Silver Springs didn't make the cut!

There is a moment on the "Classic Albums--Rumours" episode where Mick is listening to the isolated bass track on one of the songs and says, "awww, you're a monster, John".
 

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