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Ignore any chafing observations that may appear here. In expressing your dissatisfaction with a musical instrument retailer you are following in the highest traditions of BassChat. Not a week goes by that one of us does not put finger to keyboard the better to chronicle the deficiencies of sundry guitar emporia and / or their carters. Some abhor the over-pushy salesperson; others detest the chap who cannot hand us a bass without first sitting down and slapping away like a spoons-player with St Vitus dance; profound contempt is reserved for the purse-lipped, nicotine-stained geriatric proprietor and his dopey, hopeless shop-boy alike. The happy retail experience is so vanishingly rare that it is greeted with wide-eyed surprise. Even beyond the retailer we hurl our bile at wholesalers and manufacturers and their endorsers and their suppliers and their advertising agencies and so ad infinitum. Frankly, it's the right thing to do. Any erring retailer who gets off with as little as a redacted thread like this should count himself lucky. For myself, when thwarted by some ghastly till-monkey I adhere to a firm two-step policy of (i) a savage, public tongue-lashing followed by (ii) a bullet in the face in a deserted warehouse.

To those who feel I should have contacted the store in question...please re-read my original post! It was the first thing I did. Before starting this thread. It was meant as a general sound-off, not to demonise what I otherwise regard as a reputable business, which is why I took pains to keep the identity of the offender's totally anonymous. It may not be the way you would have done it, but hey, it's a free country for us all. An update. I received this morning a very nice email from the store owner. Very professional, very apologetic, very positive. As in all these situations, there was more than met the eye. Suffice to say said employee feel below the standards expected of him by his employer, and it has been dealt with. I can't say fairer than that.

Unbeknown to me until recently there appears to be a vast resource of information about compression, both on this site, and over other areas of the worldy wide webbie, who would have thought..... Some people seem to like it, some people don’t. Just when the reaping has occurred and a victor/truce has been announced, the Capitol announces another compressor games where previous immunity holds no sway and we are back into the bear pit. Maybe a short survey could provide a fresh outlook. Os there continued hunger, will a truce be called, or will it be Groundhog Day? Stay tuned.......

@Bluewine , look at it like this: I would have no problem turning up to a local venue that had PA, lights and often backline provided to play a 30 minute set of our own songs for free, have a couple of beers and listen to some other bands. We get to have a good night out with friends, network with other bands in the same genre and get pictures and reviews posted to online blogs which could lead to bigger paid gigs at festivals or support slots. I would not drag a full lighting rig and PA to a far away venue, play a 4 hour gig and still be packing up at 2am even if you paid me. My day job pays me more than enough to live comfortably, so I don't need the extra money nor want all the ballache required to earn it.

It’s funny how the expectation of good customer service completely switches us off to others on a human level. So whilst it’s entirely possible that this young chap isn’t a very good salesman, it’s also very possible that he’s having an awful day/week/year. So instead of checking what the case is, we complain on social media as opposed to seeing if we can offer help/guidance/advice on how that person might either fix their problem, or at the least, get better at their job. ”Oh that’s the job of the shop manager/owner” you cry! Nope, it’s the job of anyone who cares. Si

So, Just because I can, thought I'd "improve " the head amp cabinet of my BTA300 ashdown, spurred into action by the aquisition of MatampGt1Mk1amp'n'cab that is wine coloured with gold faceplate and corners. Besides many hours, this stands me at ninety quid so far, and I think will be great in the lounge on its Orange cab, yes, that's next after this !

He's nine years old, a grade 8 drummer and chose to play bass a month ago.. We've a Fender Jazz that rarely gets used, so let him try it first...... Took to it like a duck to water.... We asked what he wanted for his birthday and it was a clear "Can I have a Precision bass please?" After hunting around for a decent donor, we found a beat up Squier 20th anniversary, missing a few electronic bits - plus no 14 hole pickguard, strings or nut. Overall though, it wasn't too bad. Got it home and made a new pickguard (small design tweak around the controls - just to add something unusual), added the bits, new Fender nut, strings and gave it a good clean (oiled the board etc.)......... Here's his pressie........ To me it looks awesome and plays great. Can't wait for the reaction................

To quote the Goonies, “ HEY YOU GUYS!” So this is happening now. contacted everyone with invoices, no rush till the end of month but some have paid already and therefore hold a special place in my heart. I still have April as the delivery date which is a large window so when I get more accurate dates I’ll update you all. the geddy 2112 pre came with a badge of geddys signature so what does the dUg pre include? A free 12 string? A free six pack? have to wait and see I guess.

I like them both but I prefer the newer ones with dark against the body. Will you cap those with dark wood as well? PS: DOH! They're upside down aren't they? Still works for me like that though.

Great minds think alike... Although I've used standard MoP, this is what I remade last night: I've also made some more to replace the brass knobs on my own build

I voted Yes , I am on BC to talk bollocks

Well, if you don't really want the redundant 4 strings, I suppose I could look after them. I'll even half you on postage!

Clever comment! But in all seriousness there are of course reasons why classical musicians tend not to use compressors: The first and most obvious is because they tend to play acoustic/unplugged and so there’s... err... no signal chain for the compressor to be linked into. That's quite a biggie, really. Compressors are definitely most transparent when there's nothing to plug them into. On occasions when classical musicians are mic'd up and their performances fed through a mixing desk, there'll certainly be some sneaky compression being applied to help manage the overall mix. But yeah, you won't find it being used on stomp-boxes at the musicians' feet. Classical arrangements are written to avoid clashes between instruments of similar frequency. That’s not how composers think of it, they tend to think in terms of balancing tone and timbre, but it has the same end result. Very different to five tubby blokes belting out Moondance with instruments all fighting for the same frequency band. Classical concerts tend to be performed in rooms with far better acoustics than your average Dog & Duck. Other than that, yeah, classical musicians are mostly amateurs. Why anyone would waste their time with that sort of guff is beyond me

Something similar happened to me, my wife was nagging me about soemthing or other, I dunno I wasn’t playing attention, but on this occasion, I put her vocals through a compressor, and Lo and behold what she was saying suddenly made sense and I could hear it correctly. Well, I took out the bins, emptied the dishwasher and even took my weekly bath. Afterwards I managed to get a really squashed sound just by twiddling the knobs. As a result this one may be a keeper....

In recent months I've attended several concerts (Philharmonia Orchestra, a violin duo, a solo pianist) where there were no compressors (or indeed any amplification) in evidence at all, despite it being, as others have pointed out above, a scientifically provable, unarguable fact that compression makes music sound better (it is, after all, a simple matter of the measurable behaviour of sound traveling through air). As far as I could tell, the only mechanism they had for managing their dynamics was to rely on the skill and musicianship of the individual players! Honestly, I felt embarrassed for them. I did ask one cellist whether she'd considered using a compression pedal to help her "sit better in the mix", but she just looked at me as if I was some kind of weirdo. Amateurs.

Should we...? HELL NO! Will we...? HELL YES!

I've gigged one of these, it blew me away.

Correction: Vacuum sucks. Gravity's heavy.

Why don't you tell us what you really think rather than always sitting on the fence....?

The thing is Al, you might as well ask what impact wood glue has on the comfort of a dining chair? (bear with me...!). The glue helps to hold the chair together. Without it, that function is left to the screws alone. The chair still stands, but it's not as sturdy. And none of this is noticed by the people who sit on it. Thats about all I've got left on this discussion. My tank is empty, but I wish you well

If it was mine, I would make sure I had compatible varnish and thinners by testing on a hidden area, maybe under a tuner, make sure there's no reaction between old and new. Then apply thinned varnish to the cracks, gaps and especially under the decal where it's lifting, pushing the decal down flat onto the wet surface underneath until it sticks. When dry, build up layers as required, finishing with a coat or three over the whole area. Patience will be required!

This comment allows me to hopefully explain some of the misunderstanding around compression, so if you don't mind I'm going to dive in a dissect it a little Firstly, and with respect (not wanting to single you out), this type of response suggests that you don’t fully understand the purpose of compression. And I’m not trying to be deliberately patronising here! It's just an unfortunate by-product of me trying to explain all this. So apologies and please bear with me. Unless you are slamming a drum kit with hard New York-style parallel compression, it is very unlikely to ever give someone “a boner” as you put it. Boner causation is just not the purpose of compression, I’m sorry to say. It really is the 'bass player' of audio effects in that respect. Quiet and steady, doing its job, holding things together; no real glamour or glory. That's a compressor. Great! And you can pretty much stop right there, because you've got it - that is precisely the purpose of a compressor. And helping you sit better in the mix should not be understated. It’s the difference between a great-sounding band and indeed, one with potential to bring about boners. Even amongst the female members of the audience. And that's the part where the misunderstanding sets in. Other than very hard compression, which can be done for effect, there really isn't "any other application" apart from helping even out your signal so that it sits better in the mix. And maybe it's because you expect compression to do something else that you find it underwhelming. It's great that people comment on your tone and they most certainly do so because you’re a competent bass player and you use nice gear. But if you were to give me a bunch of your band's recordings and asked me to mix them, I guarantee there would be moments on each song where your bass is noticeably too loud or too quiet - and this would need fixing if I were to do my job properly as a (albeit unpaid amateur!) mix engineer. I could approach this by trying to automate or ‘ride the fader’: manually adjusting the level of your bass to compensate for loud and quiet notes. Or I could use a compressor to do this automatically. And the important thing to note here is that a compressor doesn't just apply to the solo instrument: it's about helping that instrument sit well alongside others playing simultaneously. It's a tool for helping to mix the whole band; not a tool for drawing attention to any one player. Does this matter in a live context? If you, your band and your audience are happy with your sound, then no it probably doesn't. As I’ve said before, compression is rarely essential, but it's nearly always beneficial. If you’re an obsessive like me, who likes to squeeze every % of quality out of a performance (live or recorded), then yes it matters. And that’s why the bass guitar on nearly every recorded song - and played by nearly every professional musician - has compression applied either at source or at the mixing desk. Such pro players have technique in spades and they use compression: because they want to attain the best sound possible. Does a pub band need to do the same? That's a question for you to answer. But if you're spending good money on your instruments and obsessing over string types/gauges, maple/rosewood boards, etc, then you're already obsessing over things that arguably have a lesser effect on your band as a whole than compression. TL/DR: you can mix your porridge smooth, or you can mix it lumpy. It's still porridge. But if you want to add other ingredients, like some blueberries and bananas, then it's best to mix it smooth for a better overall experience. Simple, right?

I've never been a fan of overdrive on bass. I like a clean sound where the notes are clear. Yet, there was a sound that certain people got that always eluded me. Geddy Lee, Marcus Miller, Steve Harris, Chris Squier all had it with different playing styles. It was crunchy but not distorted. Tons of tone , but not an EQ'd sound. I assumed it was a boutique tube amp of some sort. Then I discovered the Tech 21. 20 years after it came out. DOH! Anyone ever discover something way after the fact and want to kick themseleves for not knowing sooner?

Well finally got the ball rolling with the Glam Rock covers band. 1st rehearsals this sunday. 8 songs learned and raring to go. Quite excited about this one probably because its the style of bands that first got me into music. Still doing my Classic Rock / Metal too. Dave

I much prefer to be left alone in shops and hate 'sales technique'. The only people more depressing than pushy salesmen are people blowing their own 'sales expertise' horns. It's a music shop, not a massage parlour. Jeez.

They definitely looks better with the inlay off centre !!....

Snapdragon folding bass guitar. Surprising hit of LBGS 2018!

Hard knee or soft knee?

Think of 'send' and 'return' as 'preamp output' and 'power amp input'. They are labelled that way in fact on the Darkglass head! So you can use send as a DI out (as I have done into my PJB Bighead which doesn't have an XLR input) and the return socket to bypass the amp's preamp. If your amp is pretty flat / clean / hifi then I say it's probably best to go in the front end so that you can adjust stage EQ without messing with the signal going to FOH.

The first time I read that it made my eyes water!

Its nearer to Oscar than Jaco.

So we should all totally ignore what he is saying, and just wait until his mouth stops opening and shutting and then launch into a lengthy and totally unrelated story about people you've never met and never will? Or is that just how it works in my house....

What @Norris said, (provided it is definitely Nitro) would be the fix. How come it's Nitro, is it a vintage P bass? I don't think you're in much danger of losing the decal though, unless there is an underlying finish adhesion issue or you keep whacking it into things . So the option to just leave it as mojo is there. If you do decide to fix it- Wood dust on Maple doesn't really work, Maple is too pale and the wood dust will darken when glued/finished, so the filled areas will actually be more obvious. I can't actually see an application for it here anyway either. Also if you buy Nitro sold for spraying equipment it will speed things up, as the aerosols have a lot of thinners in them, so most of what you put down evaporates. The spraying type comes with a higher solid content and is supposed to be thinned to spray. Where you buy it from will depend on how thick it is. I have some here which supposed to be thinned 50/50....it's very thick and treacly which makes it good for drop filling. That's what this technique is called by the way, so if you want to do some googling of "drop filling lacquer" you may find some more helpful info. Anyway, you could perhaps buy a bottle of the spraying variety for the drop filling the larger areas and an aerosol for the final over coats if you don't have spray equipment. It may also be good to start with the thinner stuff so you can wick it in there as Norris described. You should definitely be able to solidify it, but it'll probably not look perfect.

An anecdote..? I was about eight or nine; some school chums came to our house to invite me out to play. My Mum answered the door; I was just behind her. 'Can Doug come out to play, please..?' piped up one of the bunch. 'His name is Douglas.' said my Mum, in a suitably cold voice, and shut the door firmly. Little wonder that I was seldom visited after that..! Just sayin'; I've been called much worse since..!

Nice to know ! I can get sometimes disappointed by the regular drama that can happen on TB.

Print on demand doesn't work for CDs because the production process is too complicated (especially compared to books where PoD works very well). If you really don't think you can justify the cost of a run of 100 manufactured CDs, then maybe do the PoD demand yourself at home. Buy a decent inkjet printer that will also print directly onto CDs (Canon do them for under £100) and a cake of printable CDRs.

Ibtl

Thanks guys, i'm still missing some brass screws to finish but i can put the chassis back in and put it back into use, oh, and remind myself that it weighs over five stone. I have a pair of OBC115 cabs, one mint, one battered sat in the shed, gonna sort the shed one. why is everything so heavy ? i'll post a picture of it complete soon.

I`ve found that too, on both of my ABM amps. But then I do have a Sansamp Para Driver set with some gain, so maybe in my case it`s having two lots of compression going, which I`m not sure is helpful.

Might be worth contacting some agencies. They'll be in contact with a lot of that type of band. They'll probably ask you for a short bio, so they can see your experience, and possibly a video of you playing. But it's a good way to get your name in the hat.

I'm not quite clear what this "cool guitar" thing is?

See...more knob innuendos!!

I have no problem with a sales person saying 'can I help you?' (although almost invariably it invites 'no thank you'!). My usual response is then, I'll browse for a bit and shout if I have any questions. As a total contrast I offer the following tale: I took my youngest into London for a day, towards the afternoon we found ourselves in Denmark street, yes, in the cellar shop that is Wunjo Guitars Bass shop. On that occasion I was approached by a young sales assistant and I can't praise him and his manner, his interest and his helpfulness enough. He was polite, keen and above all a good salesman! (It's my profession, and you know when you are being sold to and there is a certain pleasure in seeing someone work your own craft on you and get a result!) Guess what? I bought something!!!! I went home with a nice minty pre-owned bass that I never intended to buy! Two year warranty, and he walked me down the road to their guitar tech workshop and got them to fine tune the setup for free. And before you ask the price was reasonable, and he accepted my negotiation! A certain professed specialist shop could learn lessons....

Squier Affinity basses have a bit of a mixed reputation, I think they've had good production runs and less good production runs over the years. The next line up, the VM series, seem to be universally well regarded and can be had for a couple of hundred quid, give or take, on the used market. If you want something cheap and reliable then, apart from some complaints about weight, I don't think I've ever heard a bad word said about Thomann's Harley Benton range. Certainly my brother in law's HB jazz is a very decent instrument for about £100 new.

Not all Squier Affinity basses pass muster. A friend brought me his because the neck was bowed. However much you adjusted the truss rod it just stayed bowed. Concluded the truss had broken. There are a lot of budget basses out there, look at Spector Performer series, or lower priced Ibanez, you may do better than a Precision.

I will. But it's really less combative than it might seem. The necessity for using compression is borne out of the laws of physics and well-recognised good practice in sound engineering. It's not something subjective, like whether a new set of strings makes your tone sound 'better'. It's proven by the measurable behaviour of sound traveling through air. All quite dull and predictable, really. The short story is that every bass player should use a compressor. Because the bass guitar is an instrument capable of producing extremes of both low and high frequency energy, and there's not a cat-in-hell's chance that anyone can compensate for that by 'good technique' alone, least of all during a live performance. This is why 100% of sound engineers apply compressors to bass, to compensate for the 50% of bass players who apparently don't. Ultimately it's not essential. Just like changing your strings regularly isn't essential. But the question as to whether it's beneficial has been answered long ago, which is why I find threads like this a little tedious (no offence). Compression is complex and very different to the majority of other FX we apply to our instruments, where we plug something in and turn a dial until we hear a noticeable difference. And I think that is partly why it confuses some people and leads others to believe that it's a case of the Emperor's New Clothes. What I find odd is how this confusion seems most prevalent amongst bass players - the very people who stand to benefit most from compression. You just don't get threads like this appearing on sound engineering forums. Instead, you just get endless debate about 'which compressor is best for bass'... and that's just as tedious! Anyway. Next time I record some bass I'll post some clips of the dry signal and the same signal (at the same volume) run through a compressor - and also both again in the context of a mix with other instruments - so you can hear the difference. Until then, my advice would be to cease tilting at windmills

I do not manufacture or sell speakers, or represent in any way any entity that does. I'm an acoustical engineer, so any comments I may make come purely from an engineering standpoint. I don't have a dog in this fight, but that doesn't mean I can't point out if one or more of them have a decided limp.