All Activity

Hi Martin, I've had a quick look on the Eminence website and these speakers look like they would work in a 50l cab or 100l for the pair. They are very high efficiency and have Eminence's typical midrange peak so good for creating an old school sound. Eminence used to offer cab designs for all their speakers but I can't find them as they have re-built their website. The designs may still be there of course. In performance the basslites will be very similar to the ceramic magnet Beta12-2A as used in dozens of commercial cabs so you'll end up with something sounding like TC/Markbass etc etc. Not exactly, but in that sort of ball park If you are a valve man you'll probably be looking for that sort of sound rather than FRFR anyway so they could be a great match.

Hi all, I had a recent request from @police squad for help with a 2x12 design. I've started to do this via PM but thought other people have asked for similar designs and people might like to follow the design process. Basically it involves me asking a series of stupid questions to home in on exactly what he is going to try to achieve. Then I run computer models and ask more questions to home in on what I hope will be his best speaker. Anyway this was his initial question

Sire V/P7 and above tuners (the Grover 142 copies, £24 for a 4 string set from NW Guitars) are generally very good though, I wouldn't confuse them with the budget machine heads you find on ultra cheap basses. In fact in the early days of gen 1 Sire basses they did use the cheap and nasty tuners and a fair few people (myself included) complained about them, they switched to the better ones partway through gen 1 V7 production. I actually put a set of (ex-Sire) Grover copies on one of my Arias and they were a massive improvement, better than the Wilkinsons I have on my fretless.

A you mentioned the B word ... the 'horse's bum hair of brilliance stick' I hear bass players took to using it after hearing Jimmi Page playing his Les Paul with one ...

I have a flight case, funnily enough given the title, where the foam has got really tatty. I'm looking for a replacement for it, the grey smooth stuff, not the bath sponge stuff., does anyone a) know what it's called so I can search for it and b) anywhere to buy it from?

Well, about theory I'm classical trained, jazz theory is easier. Terms are different between the two worlds, sometimes jazzers call tonal what is modal in classical music. When jazzers talk about harmony they overthink what it's supposed to be simple and it's actually simple. They sometimes play inversions or substitutions thinking they are genius and overthink them with a lot of esoteric and philosophical feelings. Some don't even understand them and hate them, and want the rhythmic section to work like a karaoke tape. With classical players, you don't have to explain, they know what's happening. Since nothing is really written, ears are wild open (in a trio context). Real bass players : they bow.

Welcome ... may the groove be with you!

Was this from the last batch that got reduced to Squier sort of money? I nearly grabbed one.

Oooh,now there's something ive not experienced yet 😀

I think we need to stay in context that the OP is a beginner. All hardware is designed to do a job, and will do it if properly setup and maintained. The tuners on my Sire and MIM P bass are excellent. The biggest difference I find when you go above budget basses is either aesthetics (fancy woods ect), preferences (scale lengths, body size, fret size ect) and setup (plays great straight out of the box). Of course it is a lot more fun to buy lots of gear but as a beginner you’ll never recover the hours lost just learning to play sufficiently.

Hi all, I'm forming a new metal band and thinking of splurging on a new amp. It's so hard to know what I'm going to need in terms of wattage, cab size etc. I play with a pick, on a 4 string bass tuned B-E-A-D with EMGs. Musical style is roughly a cross between The Black Dahlia Murder and Amon Amarth. Two guitars, bass and drums. I like the look of the Darkglass heads - Microtubes specifically - as I feel like I probably wouldn't need to be messing around with pedals too much to get a solid tone with a bit of compression and grit. But I'm also thinking they might be a bit of a fad and maybe I should go for something more timeless that I could shift in a few years provided I take care of it. As far as cabs go, I get the impression most gigs with a proper PA and a sound guy tend to mainly DI the bass, so would the cab(s) on stage be mostly for my benefit? My thinking at the moment is to get two - a 2x10 and either a 1x15 or a second 2x10, to be added if the situation calls for it. I was thinking maybe Fender Rumble because they're not too expensive and not too heavy. Last time I played in a heavy rock band I had a Hartke LH1000 and 8x10 cab which were both insanely cumbersome and way too much power for almost any gig we played. My most resent band was a classic rock covers band playing mostly in pubs and I got by with a cheap TC head and a homemade 2x10 (basically two of the speakers from the old 8X10 that I screwed into a box - no tweeter or anything fancy!), so it's definitely time for an upgrade. I know this is entirely subjective, but I just don't know where to start. Are there any places left (preferably in the north of England) with a good selection of amps and cabs that one can actually go and try out? I feel like Youtube demos that people were probably sponsored to make can only get you so far. Any advice would be appreciated!

Oosh! That cream and tort guard look particularly nice 👌

Nope Fresh Duracell All connection checked and wiggled lol I forgot Thjoman where I bought it give a 3 year warranty contacted them they asked for a Video of the fault quick response so far watch this space for updates on the customer service

I have very limited experience in recording vocals and I hardly have any vocal plugins so this really appeals to me - it's loaded with presets for just about every type of vocal. I'm going to download the demo and give it a try. The last time I sung properly was about 20 years ago when I fronted a power trio (that was a fun band) so it will be interesting to see what it does with my well out of practice voice. €199 but with 20% off if someone owns other NDSP plugins already. After conversion that makes it about £136 or so. Not cheap, but also cheaper than buying a load of separate ones. It's a great move from Neural too - expand the customer base from the rather limited metal guitarist crowd.

Yeah I got that 🤣 I was just making a comment on a drummer playing without trying to break the kit 🤷‍♂️

Wow - the previous owner must have spent a lot of time soloing around the 20th fret to get that kind of wear!

Yeh, I replaced mine and it has been fine but mostly I am using the MS-1s these days, I keep them with me though. I got a bit spoiled after joining another group that had a spare P-16, and now mono IEMs seem a lot harder work.

Thanks for the responses! Much appreciated. Yes, it does raise rather a few questions I think. Yeah, the decals are a mile off.

Crash And Burn - Thomas Rhett

Depends what you mean by real 'real' bass player. To me that means providing a groove and a framework that the music hangs on like a dress on a beautiful model. Working with a drummer to weave the underpinnings of something greater than the sum of the parts. To be able on occasion to launch out and play a blistering run, sure ... but to be the rock and the foundation that gives folks a good time when they listen to your band. Bass playing to me is a strange combination of joy and discipline. Utterly intoxicating when you are all in the groove. Personally while I listen to the odd bit of Mozart first thing in the morning to calm shattered nerves when I see what's in store for another day in the workshop - that's as far as it goes - even though my wife was a production manager at the Royal Albert Hall for over ten years, and I had the opportunity to both hear top notch classical music for free - I mostly took a pass on it. It has very little relevance to my experience of music growing up - with my mother a jazz/dance band pianist and my aunt a 'teddy girl' who played me all her rock and roll and rockabilly singles while she babysat me as a toddler. My experience from my wife's time at the Albert Hall was that while most professional classical musicians are lovely people and hugely dedicated, a great many classical music fans are snobbish bores who see no further than the ends of their noses. 🙂

Well, here's 3 that sound like a P bass. The two Jim Deacons were very cheap to buy but they do need some upgrades. Both of them got Hipshot Ultralight tunes to get rid of the neck dive. The Cream one has an EMG P-X pickup and the burst now has an Aguilar AG-4P 1960s spec pickup and a Kiogon loom. The Sandberg is a custom order Superlight Lionel (5.7lb) that started as just a P, but I wanted more options so I had it modded to PJ. Aguilar pickups again, with a 3 way switch. I never use the bridge pickup alone on that, just the P or the PJ setting. The J pickup is slightly overpowered to match up with the P and I tend to add that if I need a bit more cut through. Cream has rounds - a great clanky rock sound Burst has ancient La Bella Deep Talking Flats - my main Duck Dun / Jamerson / Motown choice. Sandberg has Fender flats - does everything really. They all sound like P basses and the different pickups and strings give me plenty of options between them. The Deacons have very narrow bridge spacing which is not for everybody - it's about 16.5mm. The Sandberg is 19mm like a 34 scale would be. I was surprised to find that I really like the narrow spacing for finger and plectrum playing. It's a bit of a challenge for slap but when I slap I'm old school disco funk rather than Mr Wooten so it's doable.

Thanks, Chienmortbb. Thank you. Seems an egregiously missed opportunity there, especially if the block is placed post EQ.

Personally I wouldn't throw money at a cheap off brand bass as it represents a false economy, it'll likely need some attention to the frets and setups aren't particularly cheap these days so why plough £50-£70 into a £30-£40 instrument? If you have a budget to stick to then it would be wise to put up with the G4M and scour Facebook until a local bargain appears, then jump on it* * This is a hard habit to break and you may end up with a dozen basses