Leaderboard

And he we are again, what are transparent compressors good for in a pub band? Not about to try and teach anyone to suck eggs, if you know this stuff, sorry for the post, if you are not really interested please skip it, if you want to know why a compressor might help you in a live situation when it apparently 'does nothing' or 'kills my dynamics' then feel free to have a read. Its like a very cut down compressor 101 chat I gave once, which some of you are still scarred by..... Originally compression was supposed to be a transparent tool to prevent an engineer from having to ride a fader throughout a take or a mix. All it was supposed to do was keep that level more even - as often as not by just slightly modifying the envelope of the input sound, hence the attack and release control. And with VCA compressors they pretty much achieved it. But before VCA compressors there were Vari-mu compressors (real tube compressors), Optical compressors and FET compressors. All these types have pluses and minuses, they all have different attack and release curves all of which do more than just transparently alter volume and help out an engineer. On top of these types of compressor there is tape compression and and amp/driver compression - no driver is completely compression free when you push it hard, no amp is compression free when you push it hard, all overdrives and distortions and fuzzes are also compressors, just totally not transparent ones. The best ever compressor you will ever experience is the pair you have strapped on to the side of your head all day. Yes your ears/brain are simply the most powerful compressor you can buy. The quietest sound you can hear is equivalent to your ear drum moving the width or a single molecule apparently, whilst the loudest sound you can hear before deafening yourself pretty much instantly is hundreds of thousands of times louder (you need to look into the way sound pressure level measured in micro pascals and decibels work as units of measurement). That amazing set of compressors on the side of your head has an unfortunate side effect, without a direct reference you are almost totally volume blind, small changes in volume are beyond you to describe, you can not reliably perceive them. Unless they are compared to a level that has not changed and is not changing. Obviously bigger differences are easy to perceive but the differences that can make or break a mix, if you aren't listening to the the mix happening at the time, nope, not a hope. So a deliberately transparent compressor you can't hear working on your signal in isolation, until you are doing way to much with it, and thats about when you feel your dynamics disappearing, because you are doing huge amount of compression in order to hear anything much at all. In a mix way less compression would be 'enough' to change the envelope of your signal to make your instrument be easier to hear, but you aren't in a mix so in order to hear anything at all you put way too much compression on. Thing is, a studio engineer has the time and choice to select the right type of compressor for the particular part of a track he/she wants it for and then set it up just so. What it does to an instrument in a mix then is help prevent 'masking', this is where the envelope of the signal drops in such a way, either because of the player's technique or their instrument or their preferred tonal choices that some other instrument makes it hard to hear when it plays at the same time. Near the end of a mix when two instruments are masking each other I have found that a change of as little as 0.1dB can sometimes make a real difference to the way a pair of instruments sound in a mix. Back to live then. If you are trying to use a compressor to help you be heard in a mix you need very very little for it to make a difference. If you are using compression for a definite effect then you may need bucket loads. If you like your tone as it is but feel you sometimes 'disappear' in the mix and are constantly turning up, then a transparent compressor, set just right, could be the answer to the fight. But you need good critical listening skills, you need to do this 'in the mix' unless you have great metering on the pedal to help you out otherwise you probably will put too much compression on the sound in order to hear it happening. Compression is difficult to master when you are in the safe space of a mix down with no distractions and lots of time to experiment. In order to make it 'easier' to use many pedals have no 'confusing' metering and not all the required parameters to really control the compression. This is a double edged sword, no metering and 'doing it by ear' are nigh on impossible with a transparent compressor unless you are setting it up in situ in the mix. On the other hand a full featured compressor is waaay to complex for an average bassist to get the best out of, and also remember that little detail about setting it right for a particular song? Well you cant with an always on compressor, so you have to set it to help you a little bit all the time, and that's another skill. Ultra low ratio (1.5 to 1 even), very low threshold, slow-ish attack (50 to 80 ms) and fast release (less than 30ms) giving not more than 3dB total compression on the loudest parts is probably a good target for a general touch of compression type of setting on bass live IME. No you cant really hear or feel it if you are just playing solo (dont be concerned if when playing normally the 3dB light doesnt light up at all, you are still getting some compression if your threshold is set right). In the mix you will be easier to hear, whether you are a loud or quiet band. Not because of tonnes of compression but because your individual note envelopes are changed just a smidge so that the post transient part of the note envelope is a touch louder than before. Hope that makes some sense, probably not though

My BB2024X arrived I was worried for a short while that it'd be just the same as my 1024x ....and I'd be a few (!) quid poorer....but the more I've played it (only had it a few hours) the more the differences really show. First thing was the weight, noticeably lighter than the 1024x. The neck on 2024x is slicker with slightly less clunky dimensions (I've not measured! Just my initial feel), the neck near the heel is finished much more smoothly meaning access higher up is a lot easier, quite noticeable. Finish much much nicer (to be expected though given price difference). Frets are also not as 'tall' which certainly adds to the playability. Sound-wise, there isn't a lot in it as has probably been expressed elsewhere, and they are currently wearing different strings so not an accurate comparison, but the 2024 seems a bit more articulate and even across the board....but maybe only the player can tell! Overall, couldn't be happier! Merry xmas to me

I had a Mesa Boogie RR 2x18 that stopped the UK from lifting off into the air.

Now then. Some of you may recall the Smitten Kitten thread from a while back. I fell in love with a five-string Mike Lull NRT5, sold a bunch of basses and put in an order. Six months on, the photo below dropped into my inbox today with a brief message saying Mike Lull will be building it this week, so hopefully I'll see it before Christmas. I guess it's pretty rare to see his work like this, so posting here. I am heartedly excited. P

I've had a look and can't see mention of this elsewhere. Alan Cringeon is a valued friend. I've followed his career as a luthier for at least 11 years, from the early days. Many of you will know him and his work, either directly or from various bass resources. I won't go on but I would like to offer my congratulations as a Salace 5 String E-Type has just been awarded the accolade 'Fretless Bass of 2017' by Bass Guitar Magazine. I know how much time, effort and pure craft Alan has devoted to building both basses and guitars over the years and I for one am dead chuffed for him. Peter

In that case, I can only conclude that most bass players are unaware of what a comp is for and what it really does - and therefore don't know how to use it properly. And the effect of proper use in any case is likely to be so subtle that it will be less than the difference to be got from using a different bass or a different set of strings. So in the chaos of your average pub gig it's hardly worth bothering with a comp pedal and therefore you can save yourself a considerable amount of cash by not buying one. So I will do what I have done for decades, rely on professional engineers and producers to do their thing, and save myself a ton of mental grief and anguish simply by not thinking about pedal comps ever again! It would seem that one would be better off directing one's time and effort into being a better bass player rather than dabbling with forces one does not understand... Thus will the geeks inherit the Earth! These compressor threads are a fecking minefield! I'm out!

We've just got an early Xmas present! The Contour is one of 5 instruments cited in the 'Best Acoustic Basses' category of Bass Guitar Magazine's 'Gear of the Year' round-up for 2017. According to the citation: "...the tones can't be denied." The Contour is the only electro-acoustic bass guitar to be selected from the premium £1500-plus price bracket. We're well chuffed with that!

You'd be best off to replace the 1/4" in the cab with Speakon, or have it done for you. 1/4" is fine in its original intended application, telephone switchboards, but where speakers are concerned there's nothing about them to recommend.

I'd put the percentage who hold that belief to be closer to five. Don't confuse religious fundamentalism with political conservatism. Even on that the percentage of American voters who are true conservatives is nowhere near half. As with true liberals it's more like 15%. The vast majority are actually centrist, with leanings one way or another, but not strict agendas. OTOH the percentage of Americans who are numbingly stupid probably does approach half, but occasionally something happens that reaffirms the potential for hope that we still have a future, yesterdays election result in Alabama, for instance.

Mine arrived yesterday, it sounds amazing out of the box so I can't wait to get fiddling with the settings!

It's good to see you publicly embracing your inner Bill Oddie Maybe you could change your user name to Owl Crow in homage to the great man? PS - you forgot Freebird.

Was it still functional afterwards?

Hi Chiliwailer I have spare strap extension that you are welcome to have. No charge. Let me know if you want it. It might be better to wait until the new year before posting due to the Christmas rush? You'll have to drill two holes in the extension piece, one at each end, (easily done) and one hole in the guitar for the extension to swivel on. It rests against the existing strap button to stop it in the correct positon. I'll send a pic. Frank.

I would stick with the spector, I've never found a rick I can get on with and also find Ricks to lack versatility

Adam tried to impress Eve by 'doing a Jaco' but she said it was aimless noodling.

Baloney - the Spectors are just Warwick copies. ;-)

I do hope this brings in orders for ACG. If not swamped with work already, this will pump them up into orbit. Well deserved. ACG are up there with the most stunningly finished basses in the world. Its a small club, brilliant to know a UK builder is amongst the elite.

" My " Ex BQUAD ... Oh for a better preamp ..... Gary

My cab doubles up as a bed for my cats:

@51m0n thank you again, you are my knight in armour. i would like your post, by The BC compression rules have stated I reached my max like quota. just to complete what you have eloquently said, one is the Cali76G compresso with a Germanium and the second is a Compact Bass, so 2 different animals....!

My main rig. Basses rotate but these two for the last few gigs. Super Bassman with neo 410, no effects etc... Sometimes when I like to scare our drummer I use the neo 810

Butterflies are a kind of a diminishing return; older you get, less excitement you feel, but yep, when that pic dropped there was a bit of fluttering! All chrome!

I am a geek too

I have my little frequency chart with me in the gig bag which is very simple but handy in a pinch. It’s not compression related and may have a typo but it’s a general guide. I should have recommended compression ratios on the back for various instruments too now I think about it .

@51m0n that's a great post For me this is the critical point. I think some people assume that compression will be an obvious effect in the same way that a drive or delay is. While it can be, for compression to be useful and usable, you will almost always need to use it sparingly. Due to it not always being obvious, I think there is a tendency to dial in a sound that you can obviously hear, which as you rightly say, by that time you have squeezed the life out of your bass sound. With compression less is usually more. The analogy I like is to think of it adding salt to a bag of chips (I'm not really sophisticated enough for the spice cliche ). If you buy a Kilo bag of salt and tip it all over your chips they'll be inedible. But just add a pinch and there's an instant agreeable improvement.

It makes sense to take anybody's pronouncements on anything scientific/technical with caution regardless of their beliefs.

Agree,i like to gig with different Basses as each takes a different approach and just keeps it interesting for me.I had a battered 4001,cream and black like early Lemmy,frets were flat and action the highest of my bunch but i loved pulling it out for half a set or whatever.Loved the slim body and neck.To get it mint and properley done would have cost too much for me but i'd def buy another

I've got a fusion bag. It was originally designed for a Dj controller but fits the helix like a glove. Its got so many cool extras like a zip in/out laptop bag, headphones bag, endless pockets etc. Build quality is exceptional too. Doesn't have a lift off lid but there's a few dj controller cases out there that do.

@dood has had hands on one I believe...

He Hartley felt a thing.

Got an XT too. Good working bass when tat'ing with the DAW and keyboards, i.e. a home studio situation. Whilst it's doesn't have the tone of my GB, similarly neither doesn have the planet-sucking 18v to keep feeding so you can noodle with your studio to your heart's content and it doesn't get in the way. Channels 'Signals' era Geddy

Bet the burglar was well and truly Peaved off!

I was at Reading in 1991 when Cobain came out in a wheelchair........... I can't remember if the RHCP did their flaming pith helmets that year but back then, Reading was awesome.........

My last band did originals and covers. Well, they were originals for them, for me they were just covers of unimaginative songs as I didn't write them. We would do a few covers, get the crowd going, do an original which gave them time to go to the bar, and calm down, and then some covers again. I wouldn't mind doing some originals if they were actually originals that were worth doing, not just some blues or singer songwriter stuff, but I think I would only do it 'as well' because it is nice to have a crowd dancing to something they know.

The Spector and Ric are similar basses sharing an identical platform, as in laminate Maple neck-thru, Maple wings, twin pups, parallel neck with a variable profile. The Spector is what Ric could've evolved the 4000 series into had they had the mind to do it.

Could you drive there?

It is flat sawn which is why you get the pattern like that.

Hi! I am Geo and I've just made my first bass cover to Vulfpeck - Dean Town and I want to share it with you.

No, he said 'world class rock bands'. *Gets taxi to airport, flies to south America, hides in hot smelly cupboard in Venezuela*

Well... beer does have Oestrogen in it - so when men drink it, they start talking rubbish and can't drive properly. *Runs away*

Mr. Big, Defying Gravity. Have there been any others?

Well our toilet went crazy yesterday afternoon The plumber he said ‘never flush a tampon’ This great information cost me half a week’s pay And the toilet blew up later on the next day Frank Zappa

I use dunlop 1mm, the black nylon ones, they work well. It's amazing what a difference different picks make to the sound.

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.

Yes, what is wrong? Looks like a smart buyer making a legitimate profit on the face of it.