All Activity

Impressive! If that system doesn't have some slick LED features HK are missing a trick. More seriously, does it help to have no corners anywhere in the enclosures? If so; I wonder how audible those benefits are?

Loosen each dull string, one at a time, until you can pull it up from the fretboard about an inch to an inch and a half. Let it slap hard back down on to the fretboard, repeat this moving your lifting position up and down the fretboard about 20 times or more. Then retune that string. It will then be brighter than before. Compare to the brightness of the other strings before moving to the next string. I think it has nothing to do with removing dust/grime, it's more to do with relaxing the outer roundwound wire from the central core. Then repeat for the other strings.

Compression is a pretty decisive subject as a trawl of the BC archives will demonstrate 😉. My advice before spending any money would be so a bit more homework on the subject. Admittedly, it a pretty nerdy topic and there's a lot of misinformation about it our there, which IMO, is based more on misunderstanding about what they are, what they do and how best to use them. In fact, you'll get a more objective opinion about the subject from sound engineering sites than sites like this! Only you know what you want from a compressor, and that usually comes from experience and the type of music you play. With @Linus27 being a fretless player, an optical compressor was the obvious choice as they tend to be more on the smooth and mellow side in terms of their action. But it's very much a personal thing. But one thing to bear in mind is that compression is more of a feel thing than anything else. And what works for some doesn't work for ithers. I suspect a lot of people who don't get on with comps but one expecting an obvious effect like you get from a distortion pedal, but it's mostly way more subtle. So in answer to your original post... It depends. I appreciate that probably doesn't help, but it's something that you'll figure out if you decide to dive into that particular rabbit hole. But the Spectracomp is a great starting point as it'll give you an idea of how different parameter settings can affect the bass. If you're in a band, definitely try it in the mix with other musicians as that's where you're more likely to feel what's happened. FWIW, I've been through loads of different compresses over the years, including most of the highest regarding pedals, and I've stuck with the humble Boss LMB-3. It does something that I haven't been able to get from any of the more boutique pedals. It's not expensive or sophisticated, but it does what I want a compressor to do.

A lovely prog-tastic Christmas song. Shame it wasn't a hit. It does sound like 'FOoW' - probably because of the strings by the same arranger (Andrew Pryce Jackman), the joyous absence of guitar, outrageous up-mixing of his bass and of course Chris' great voice.

I recall a friend have these, they sounded fine.

My opinion. He has written a few good songs, rather like Only Fools and Horses had a few funny moments. Mostly just twee dross though. This is, of course, my opinion, and therefore cannot be wrong, although you may have an opposing opinion, which also cannot be wrong because it's your opinion. Neither, however, is an objective fact, unlike Only Fools and Horse only having a few funny moments.

Sounds cool! I really like the track! I'd say that maybe there's perhaps too much energy in the kick. I can hear it's really whomping my ears in my headphones. Perhaps try dialling back the bass emphasis on it a bit and add a bit of saturation. That gives it a bit of grit to still cut through, but you don't need the level quite so high which might also give you more headroom to make the track louder overall.

Got an EBS Microbass from Carl, great comms and fast delivery. Cheers Carl!

Well, we now know what the basslines will be..... well, 25 of them.... SPOILER ALERT! Don't look at the link below if you don't want to know! https://www.skygroup.sky/en-gb/article/sky-arts-reveals-the-nation-s-greatest-basslines-and-queen-reign-supreme

I'm current running Bass > Tuner > Octave > Overdrive > Chorus > Reverb 1 > Reverb 2 > Compressor > Sansamp > Amp/Desk so its just before the Sansamp with the Sansamp last in the chain. I chose the Ampeg after having a great chat with @Osiris who suggested an optical compressor works really well for fretless and he was right, I couldn't be happier, it works great for me and the reviews were all really positive as well. A lot of people rate the TC Spectracomp as well though but I would say, due to the Toneprint option, you will fiddle a lot more and may not be able to easily decide what you like or what is working best for you. The Ampeg is literally three dials and super simple to setup and you can just start by having everything at 12 o'clock and tweak from there. I know nothing about the Joyo pedal though but I know the TC and Ampeg are both great.

They had one on the set of The I.T. Crowd. I bet Phil could comment on the practical issues of using perspex. Off the bat, I would think cabs would be relatively heavy. Good for a static installation. Not great for gigging. @Phil Starr? Would the 8" cab work using perspex or polycarbonate?

Thanks for the info. Firefox also got a good review so I think I'll be sticking with that. I get a VPN with my Norton 360.

Good to hear, thanks for that! Do you put the compressor before or after the Sansamp? I've heard good things about the Ampeg too and it's not out of budget, if people think it's worth shelling out a bit more for a different pedal to the the Joyo or TC.

I just take a lightweight head to a rehearsal room and use whatever cabs are there. Never had a problem.

I've used Brave. Like Chrome, it's based on the Chromium browser engine, but unlike Chrome it doesn't collect data about you and has many privacy and security features that Chrome lacks. I think it's a really good browser but I've remained on Firefox because I've been using it since it was first released and it does everything I need it to do. Tor is the browser that goes with the Tor network. I'm not sure you would want to just use the browser if you weren't using the Tor network. Mullvad's main product is a VPN. The Mullvad browser was developed by the Tor project team, the difference being that Mullvad browser is intended to be used with a VPN product (probably Mullvad) instead of the Tor network.