All Activity

I tried 'bass tape' when I first started. Let me say firstly I'm an aggressive rockabilly/psychobilly slap player and also occasional eczema sufferer since childhood. Firstly the bass tape that I bought from http://www.doublebassfingertape.com/ seems to be identical to medical 'strapping tape' or 'zinc tape' you can buy for less than half the price from eBay/Amazon etc. It's super sticky (both the stuff from Basstape and the medical stuff) and if you have sensitive skin it's quite painful to remove. I also found it utterly ruined my slapping technique ... it was too slippery and I couldn't get a proper grip on the string with my finger pads. My own solution was two fold: firstly I went for Rotosound 4000 strings which have a fairly low tension - then I bumped the set. This gives me the softest and easiest action possible - and as I'm only ever amplified except for home practise - the lack of volume is actually a plus point. Then I simply let my fingers toughen up - I actually think the chemicals in tape 'glue' can be worse for skin conditions than just developing thicker skin naturally.

Perhaps the ratings are technically correct but in terms of volume and heft they certainly disappoint when compared to units rated at similar levels

So, I've resumed playing after a while out and been helping out a mate's band. Been using their Carlsboro Cobra 90 bass combo, first with an Epiphone semi-acoustic, and more recently a Gibson SG. It's impressive how both sound exactly the same, and having tweaked what I would generously describe as the graphic equaliser, everything still sounds the same. The bottom end exists in a kind of murky muddy splodge of ugliness, the middle is dominant no matter how much the mids are cut, and the top resembles a fish being slapped across the face. Thankyou for this thread which has provided much needed therapy.

Plush

Ok, the title doesn't work, but anyway, after a long long break, have resumed playing the bass. Here's the current line up. The Precision was used for hundreds of gigs in the 80s touring with a post punk band called the Shout, then the Epiphone for 90s Brit Rock, recently picked up the Gibson which was gigged for the first time in March this year, and is currently my first choice. Yup, an SG over a Precision. Mad.

@mike257 It really does look like we will actually work together! Excellent! 😃 I was at the Scarborough Punk gig a few weeks back with The Skids - there's some pics below. I had a great time plus I thoroughly enjoyed the band and of course, the lovely CL5. ❤️ Glad to see you're out and about, Mike - looks like you've more than enough on to keep you going? It's funny you mention the A&H thing, I've seen more SQ and dLive than literally anything else this tour. I think we're 12 shows in as I write this and other than a few Digico (including an awesome SD8), it's been entirely A&H - not an M or X32 in sight.. It's been a decent run so far - fingers crossed it stays that way. 💯 These two (studio example pictured) are still going strong and continue to be the backbone of a lot of my studio based work. I know they're old but they still deliver just as they always have. 😃 A job for friend and his disco band pictured here at the Civic Hall in Nantwich. I have to conceed that these thigs are probably my favourite of the newer generation as I can't really find any reason to dislike them and love how they're both incredibly powerful but reasonably straight forward to use. I may even have to purchase one.. ❤️

Might well have been, I tried Status’ own brand a couple of year’s ago (The later branded ones) couldn’t get over the discrepancies of string length in various sets, so went back to using Elites DB strings..At least they fit & tune -up?

The reverse - people coming up and telling us we were crap - is also true. Doesn't mean we were, but that they didn't enjoy themselves (for myriad reasons - perhaps they just split up with the wife, got the sack, lost their shirt on the 3.30 at Towcester. Who knows?). We still did our job.

I'm guessing he lost all his high frequency hearing by then. The more terrifying thought is that was the tone he wanted back in 1964! The Alembic was strident and cut through everything like a piano. The Status, plus all the rack gear, just seemed to sound slushy and compressed and goes missing in the mix. Probably turned up to infinity to compensate for the lack of presence.

Well, had my fretless debut on an all-nighter BBC session las week that's broadcast tonight!

Or Jam Evening. Too early for me I'm afraid but would have been good to pop along.

Thanks mate! Yep, the finish definitely shows up any oily finger marks and is imagine it'll gloss up in key wear areas. As per the review, the finish wasn't the best on an otherwise largely great bass!

Just realised I've fully slacked off on our tour updates Matt! Managed to squeeze in a few bits this year. Spent a month in the US across January/February back in multitasking TM/tech/iPad monitors mode..... Squeezed in some TV action while we were out there..... And then since we got home, I've been doing various bits of dep cover for other bands, some TM, some FOH. Everything I've mixed this year has been some flavour of Allen & Heath, from SQ5 to the big S7000 (apart from a rogue M32 on Saturday) The best update to this thread though, is that @VTypeV4 and I might finally do a show together this week! I'm I'm Scarborough on Saturday mixing monitors for Hooky and Spear Of Destiny are on the bill, so I'm guessing that means you're there too Matt?

They do because the bass riff was edges, and Adam had walked out of recording as he didn’t like the song. I think it shows still in the nonchalant way he plays the guitar part