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Why would you stay away from all digital compressors? There are good and bad examples of analog and digital. The MXR is a good comp, but there's plenty of love for the Spectracomp on here and elsewhere. Sweeping generalisations don't really help.

I'll just put this out here... Many fans of The Beatles on this thread are starting to sound much like my parents did when they went on about the "superiority" of classical music and how this new pop/rock wasn't proper music back in the early 70s.

I haven't stepped boldly anywhere except for the front of the line at my local Chinese Buffet. Blue

Here we go again Channel 4 should have something like this for a bass/guitar themed 'Grand Designs'!

Class mate. Love that song about the Yellow Walrus

Didn't the company originally make it as an item to get richer from though?

Not so groovy but one of my old faves all the same, classic May

If you want transparency, choose the Mxr. The Cali76cb if you play a low B string occasionaly (it has a hpf that keeps the comp from squashing lows) If you want aggressive slap punch, get the Aguilar. It is awesome for that. If you want buttery sweetness, the diamond or supersymmetry. Digital compressors? Stay away from those.

It's all alimentary to me.

And still nobody mentions the improvement in sound quality when you've ditched the amps. re:drums just for anybody interested, acoustic drums are still the preference for any drummer. A drummer that turns up to a pub gig with a huge kit and super bright and loud cymbals is the local village idiot. In terms of micing, for pub gigs a lot of the time you'll just need kick. For larger venues, you can successfully mic with two mics. I personally never mic the snare directly unless I am micing the whole kit. On a two mic setup, i would choose to mic the kick drum and a single condenser mic on a high stand behind the drummers right shoulder, pointing directly across the kit at the snare. (Assuming drummer plays right handed). This way it'll get a good coverage of the kit, (hi hats and splash included) not just the snare. It sounds great in the inears also - if you are using them. PS - entry level wired inear monitoring can be achieved for way under 100 quid per person for somebody using ME6s. For something a lot better, for a 200 quid setup, consider something like UE900s. Read about it in the inear monitoring thead if you are interested. Also, check out the inear recording I put up in there and ask yourself if that isn't something you'd like on a gig. That level of monitoring is now affordable even in a pub band given the pricing of digital desks now. Link - Theres always going to be dinosaurs stuck in their ways. Tech has moved on. Not too long ago, PA that would take a full band going through them was prohibitively expensive. This isn't the case now as the tech is becoming a lot more affordable. Whether people choose to embrace it or not is another thing. I'm convinced that the amp route is on borrowed time now... but that's just me. I like an amp like the next guy... but the convienience of a PA doing all the work, the better monitoring that it opens up, wins it for me hands down. I don't care if people want to go the same route as me or not - I just like to correct statements that suggest a route like that is prohibitively expensive. You only have to read through the IEM thread to see what a revelation it has been for the people that have made the switch. And to be honest, you don't even have to go with IEMs... a serious wedge with your own mix of the whole band in it, with the foh doing all the real work, is another great option. The crazy thing is, nobody batts an eyelid about paying crazy money for backline but if I said the best sound you'll ever have is if you changed your say, 1000 quid boutique cab for a 1000 quid monitor that has both you and the band going through it, most people would not be interested... Not saying my opinion is worth more than anybody else's - but I've done both routes in anger. My IEMs for example, cost more than most peoples complete backline... but that's how much I have been sold on the alternative method of getting a band sounding the best it can both in my ears and out front. The other thing is, my sound is consistent in every venue and I can hear exactly what I want. When I was at the drum show, I was having a similar convo with a drummer whilst at the IEM stand. If you were on a gig with IEMs, you can hear everything you want to hear at a volume you want to hear them. Percussion on a gig? Great! I want to hear that shaker and Indian bells they got going on. Chances of enjoying that on stage without IEMs? Zero. You'll be lucky to hear anything over the drummer. Anyway, the point is, is that this stuff is now available to all - whether it's on a stadium gig or a pub gig. - and I guarantee your audience will appreciate the band more if they can hear everything clearly through the PA. A decent PA yields better high frequency horns too - so getting your vocalist heard over the band is easier... and that is further cemented that the quieter band sound on stage means less bleed into the mics. As I say, Dinos can be Dinos for all I care... but it's interesting to see all these old guys advocating that nothing but an amp would do are all deaf and wired up with hearing aids... but each to their own.

To add some scale to ped's picture, here it is next to a pile of pound coins...

Another week, another topic about The Beatles which leads instantly into a debate about whether they were actually all that good, were they really that influential, did they really matter that much, and what's all the fuss about anyway? The people who start these topics or jump into them with both feet rarely ask the same questions about Elvis Presley or Buddy Holly or Cliff & The Shadows or The Rolling Stones or The Who or Jimi Hendrix or The Doors or Pink Floyd or ... ad infinitum. Gosh, I wonder why not?

Without having heard them, I'm going to guess that what you're hearing is really just the tonal difference between a Jazz bass with (presumably) active pickups and a passive Precision. Ballsy and punchy means different things to different people, but a Jazz bass normally has a sharper attack than a Precision, and with EMG's that difference should be even clearer. It makes sense that your Jazz seems a bit deeper, too. Do you usually play with both pickups turned up? This scoops a lot of the mids out of the sound, leaving more room, so to speak, for the lows. With the bridge pickup solo'd, you're getting mostly a lot of (very) high mids. As a contrast, the Precision is quite heavy on the low mids. To me, a Precision is punchier than a Jazz, but that's because I define punchy as having a beefy, prominent midrange.

I remember news about artists and stuff being earlier last time, but alright, I'm looking forward to it. Missed it this year but I booked my Eurostar ticket vor next March today. Gonna be there with Eich again, together with Marleaux. I think De Gier is also gonna be there again, probably with his new Lowlander model. I'm still hoping for Thomas Stenback to be there...

The signature instrument is a marketing invention and has nothing to do with respect, musical integrity or any catalogues. There is only one question, "Is this guy popular enough to sell lots of basses if we put his name on them". Yes, gets a signature bass. No, doesn't.

You mean you wouldn't be tempted by any of these 'packages'... http://www.genesimmonsaxe.com/meetgenebackstage/ Not even the one where you buy a signature bass for $10,000+, he plays that bass for one song at a gig, then signs it and hands it over to you?

Well done for spotting Q and for getting that sorted for us! @Cuzzie I know is another user of the Manta so just looping him in too.

I’ve had a reply from Nathan Navarro of Source Audio: Apparently the LED not always moving on is normal. The locking up thing is a bug and one which he was able to replicate on their gear so he’s passed it to the engineers and hopefully there’ll be a bug fix. It basically happens if you cycle quickly through the “option” button. @CameronJ, @GisserD, @Al Krow, @BNB71

Gene Simmons is a high profile bassist, has been around for donkeys years & has doubtless inspired many thousands of kids to pick a bass up the world over. Love him or hate him, & it's easier to do the latter, he easily qualifies for a signature bass in the crazy world of signature basses I'd say.

Thanks for asking about this. Like Pink Floyd, I was wondering Watts... uh the deal?

Doesn't the fact that this discussion is taking place 50 odd years down the road sorta prove a point?

Stainless DR Hi Beam for sure.

I strongly suspect you’ll love it! I forgot to mention that the 900 is the only one in the range that has a cooling fan. The bonus of the 300 and 500 is that they don’t have cooling fans so they run silent all the time!

Don't check out dude, you always bring something musically different to the table. Sometimes delivered like a nuclear bomb, but always interesting. As it happens, I agree with you about the HG program (including the gaping whole regarding George Martin), so do a few of the posters on that YouTube thread, it seems. Carry on.

No, but if it doesn't appeal to you, or touch you in some way it doesn't make you a bad person. I understand Jaco's talent, skill and influence. I just don't enjoy what he did with it.

I'd be tempted to use 600 grit aluminium oxide (a.k.a. sterated aluminium) rather than wet and dry. The wet and dry can shed some abrasive which then leaves little black bits embedded in the finish. Also you probably won't want to use it wet anyway - that will lift the lacquer on any edges

Yep. I saw one of the concerts on that tour and it literally had 12,000 people on their feet. Not an easy ask for a jazz fusion band. Don't like it? Vote with your wallet. And vive la difference.

Indeed they are quite loud and full sounding. I modded mine a bit by taking the badges off the grille (one rattled) and took off the plastic corner protectors. Looks rather neat.

If somebody's taken a photograph, they've created an original work of art which is automatically copyrighted. Just using those pictures on an auction doesn't mean the original photographer has surrendered his copyright, in the same way as just because you hear a record on the radio, the writer hasn't surrendered his copyright to it. PS. And this is why the OP should start using a sniping tool...

Bass players only need to count to four.

It's a shame that people judge Scott for his free & 'fun' YouTube content, and not the actual educational content within SBL, which on the most-part, is excellent. What he's created there is very cool! Si

You don't think it should have been "Heft"? I'll get me coat....

A few years ago I found myself living next door to an 'erudite' musician. A brass player, a teacher, a composer; as a conductor he's done the Proms for years, works regularly with major international orchestras. We had a few conversations about music which I found enlightening from my very limited perspective. This chap had a way of explaining things which made things very easy to understand yet I never felt like he was talking down to me or using his knowledge as a tool to buff his self image at my expense. The thing that sticks in my mind was when he scored a gig with the Berlin Phil. He came round to tell me, bringing his unaffected delight and a couple of bottles of wine for us. Such a nice man.

Ha! Fantastic. I feel brighter already Cheers charic, great idea

Yes on both counts.

oh dear, I do this all the time... and every time I dread the thought of looking in here and seeing that someone is slating me for it... then I go back to counting all my cash and the feeling goes away

Whilst his playing wasn't/isn't to everyone's taste his legacy regarding the electric bass guitar should never be diminished and is almost beyond compare in terms of players generations later looking to emulate him and (some would say rip off) his sound - see also James Jamerson and Larry Graham. If we consider how many incredible musicians there have through time few leave a legacy whereby their sound/tone/style is emulated almost on a daily basis (you could argue that Hendrix would be a good example from a guitar perspective). In the 80s you couldn't move for bassists rolling off the neck p/up on a Jazz and playing right next to the bridge - it was everywhere. The 90s brought Acid Jazz and, again, those urgent and funky sixteenth note lines, and as Joe Dart is heavily referenced (quite rightly, in my opinion) as one of the leading lights of today's electric bass playing, for me, the sound he is closest to, is that of Jaco. And without Jaco there wouldn't have been Rhythm Stick, and for that alone he deserves all the acclaim he gets!

I've done a similar thing many a few times. I buy a bass at a keen price. I clean it up, oil the fingerboard, tighten all the screws, set it up with new strings, and noodle it for awhile, then eventually sell it on at a modest loss. It's easy.

Probably because he was an innovative bassist for his time, and that's carried on through to bass playing (mainly in the funk / jazz / fusion genres) up until the present day. The one thing that this thread proves is that (love him or hate him) JP wasn't mediocre. @fleabag - yep, you're absolutely right I don't have to read the thread.

I used to worry incessantly about what bass I was using, what rig I had, was it right for the job, were my strings bright enough etc. I came to realise after playing in 3/4 different bands over the past 4 years that, certainly in my case and situation, it doesn’t matter, and no one cares or notices how my bass sounds. I am about the only person who notices the difference in my rig or bass and most band members can’t really hear a huge difference in a live situation. This is also compounded by the fact that I go through a PA and ‘my sound’ can usually only be heard by me on stage, and everyone out front just gets the dry signal from my DI (pre EQ most of the time) which is set up by the engineer, I don’t normally hear it. Dont get me wrong, I will get a comment when there is too much ‘woolly’ bass or treble in a venue, but as long as I sit in a mix and play the right notes, no one cares if I’m using a Squier Precision, 3k Overwater, Aguilar rig or £250 Ashdown combo. For me it has become quite liberating, no one apart from me and few folks on here or other bass players (I don’t meet many to be fair) give a monkeys about my kit. This means I don’t swap my kit very often apart from out of curiosity, and I free up mental space to play and try and retain 3 bands worth of material in my brain.

The trouble is those tortoises take a long time to grow!

I was alerted to a *really* tenuous one yesterday evening: Unsurprisingly, Coca-Cola have muscled in on the forthcoming release of the new Star Wars film with a branding tie-in. Basically, if you buy a bottle of coke in the next couple of months, it is likely to have a mugshot of one of the actors printed on the bottle. The guy they commissioned to do the graphic design for these labels is also a singer-songwriter in his spare time. A few years ago, his PA called me out of the blue because he had an upcoming gig that his regular bassist couldn't make, so I filled in for that one. So in short: I once played bass for the guy who went on to design the labels for the upcoming Coca-Cola branding tie-in to the new Star Wars flick.

Gotoh 201 is already quite cheap and is better than a BadAss IMO.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1504877869' post='3367987'] I think this would look really nice with that piece of quilted Ebony you have - IMO it would compliment the light body beautifully... [/quote] The quilted ebony is designated for Tim's - and as I think I've got the only piece in the world, don't suppose I'll get any more But I'm a happy enough chappy - I think, with the way the camphor will darken, this will look pretty good with the snakewood