Leaderboard

I am an expert here on compression, and I can categorically say that sometimes I cant hear it, out of the context of a mix. Because you just cant, not a 'transparent' compressor with a soft knee set to just pull everything up a couple of dB on the softer stuff especially in parallel. Good luck to anyone who can, you're definitely not normal. But put that in the context of a mix and if you know what to listen for you can hear the difference the compressor makes. So why bother if its that hard to consciously perceive? Because perception isn't conscious, psychoacoustics are hugely important and influential and definitely can make a band sound far more pro than the level of the venue they are playing in. Lets put it another way, would you rather an expert live engineer use everything at his disposal to make your band sound as brilliant as possible regardless of the venue, or would you prefer him to keep some of his tools in the box? Do you think your punters would tell the difference between Dave the drummer throwing some faders up on a shitty 6 channel Behringer desk and Wes 'The Wesernator' Maebe with a Midas Pro One and some choice outboard? What about Wes using the same desk as Dave and a few choice dynamics tools? I reckon Wes could make my band sound better live than I can with the same gear literally anywhere, he's the absolute canine undercarriage at his job, so I'd be some kind of an idiot if I didn't feel that. What does he use to achieve this? Simple, the basics that every sound engineer understands: good mic placement, good gain structure, good dynamics control, good spacial and additive effects, great musical understanding, great ears. He will use compression all over your bass to make it work in the mix better, think I'm kidding, check this out and especially this where he daisy chains two 1176s, the man is a master of compression, its his bread and butter. So what does this have to do with the OP question? Its simply the wrong question. It actually shows why most bassists probably shouldn't be trying to use compression, because it breaks down like this:- The audience should not generally be able to tell that a compressor is being used per se, but they will know that something is different if you turn it on and off. It depends on what the compression is for. A transparent gain riding compressor is going to work at a psychoacoustic level. On the other hand if you are using a compressor to drastically change the envelope of your bass sound then every single punter will hear the change as you swap it in and out. Its just a daft question really. Think like a bassist and you cant tell what its for, think like a sound engineer and you cant imagine a world without compressors on nearly everything.

Learn "Forget You" by something called Cee Lo Green they said. Is that a band? A person? I wondered. Never mind let's have a listen. Ah good, given my hectic learning schedule a nice repeated three chord pattern is just what I need. I like days like these, they make up for the 'now let's learn Everybody Dance' days. Then, just as I'm smiling at myself for having essentially learned the bassline during my first ever listen to the tune, just under three minutes in and the bloody bass player wakes up and decides he's bored. Never count your tofu until it curdles folks.

Just got this. Huge Kings X fan...

I wandered into Norwich PMT a while back to blag a box for a bass I was flogging. Figuring that even asking nicely wouldn't cut the mustard for a very crumbly 63 year old who looks disturbingly like Compo, I thought I'd better buy something before asking. A charming young man, helpful, knowledgeable and chatty but never patronising or irritating, introduced me to their two secondhand bass cabs. Deciding I didn't really want a Fender combo, we switched focus to an MB 121 Traveler in great nick for £280 label. He went to endless trouble to set me up with a head I liked and left me alone in a booth to noodle as long as I needed. He was so nice I could see no alternative to buying the bloody thing (but TBF it was starting to make sense to me - God I love MB tone). Once I'd got my wallet out said lad was willing to haggle but wasn't a push over, and happily agreed to work several suitable guitars boxes into the deal (what I originally went in for, if you recall). Then when he learned I was parked 400 yards down the road he carried (yes he did) my new cab all the way to my car. I almost put him in the boot too and took him home to introduce him to my daughter. Then I remembered I don't have one.

Hey all, So here's my quick and simple comparison of La Bella flats with Chromes on my Precision, and Lakland Rounds with Gold White Nylon Tapewounds on my 55-01: https://soundcloud.com/simonpoulton/sets/la-bella-vs-daddario-lakland Each track has a description of what is happening, test environment etc My conclusions are that La Bella's are quieter, across their ranges, than strings I've previously used (my Gold Flats on my other Lakland are also quieter than the rounds they replaced too, but just means my amp does a little more work, easy enough, doesn't bother me). New La Bella flats, sound like 3 year old Chromes, so more mellow out of the pack. Gold White Nylons do an excellent impression of broken in rounds, whilst feeling very smooth and lasting a hell of a lot longer hopefully (due to being tapes). All in all, am very happy with these early tests, think I've finally found a company that has a varied and interesting string roster, where I can get everything I need from one place! Cheers Si

Hi Basschat! I recently purchased a beautiful Ocean Turquoise 4-string jazz elite bass, and had our monitor engineer send a desk recording from one of our recent shows @ Alexandra Palace, I'm super happy with how its tracking in a live situation, thought I'd share it and have this thread for other people to share their live recordings of their Elite's! (precision + Jazz)

For me, it's this by a long way: That'll gleam with a coat of Andy's Magic fluid - No innuendos please!!

Was just listening to this album today and thought I'd put something on here as it's an integral part of my Bass playing influences. I can see it's been mentioned before, but you usually get a discussion about how it's divisive so I thought I'd put my two penneth in. When the album came out, I was a pure 'metaller'. If it wasn't 'eavy', I didn't like it. I was a teenager then, and had already been playing bass for a year or so in a rap-metal band (I know). I bought Earthling 'blind', having a fleeting admiration of Bowie, mainly due my older sister buying the Dancing in the Street single years earlier. (I know). The thing that struck me about the album right away was the bass playing of Gail Ann Dorsey. I appreciated the magnificent tone, and the concise, accurate yet still impressively written basslines, even though I didn't realise at the time this is what I was hearing, if you get me. The songs are amazing and yes, the album probably did sound dated for a while, but in my opinion, it has been long enough for the 90s drum and bass elements to now sound 'vintage' to younger ears and would be well worth a listen. It's easy to see why it's not everyone's cup of tea but It's the album that got me to listen to bass players, appreciate not over playing, and get the importance of a good balance between instruments/vocals, not to mention getting me to explore Bowie further, which obviously opened a pot of gold.

Shang-a-lang always goes down well at our gigs.

I'll just incarcerate any future threads you start on the topic. Job done

Thanks for all the positive feedback..!!!! Inspiring to see the other kids basses too; bands like the Royal Blood, 21 Pilots and current established groups that feature prominent bassists (Chili Peppers, MUSE etc.) appear to be driving the instrument to new popularity.. Anyway, he got to see and play it last night; he was speechless (which is a lot with him..!! ) and managed four solid hours playing Chili Peppers, MUSE, Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Green Day and anything else he could think of...!! He is at his first band practice tonight, as a bassist, so got four days to learn 4 songs from scratch - he's done it too..... They're not simple tunes either and he didn't have a hand in choosing them (Mardy Bum, My Sharona, Mr Brightside and Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor). When he got up this morning, he went to play it before school and said "every time I open the bag, I think - what a beauty!".............. I can't ask for more really. Going to film him playing it and I'll put it up here shortly. Peace..

This ^ Are you sure it's nitro? It looks more like poly to me. Same solutions if it is poly but probably gives you more options of lacquer products you could use.

I learned about mirroring too and it really opens your eyes to peoples intentions. My experience is that when you point this out to people in Britain though is they take it very defensively. Things in Britain you can talk about: Weather, football, immigration. Things in Britain you shouldn't talk about: Feelings, death, other peoples intentions. The rumours are true.

I take it not as spectacular as your HGBM? But seriously, well done @tonyxtiger and @Cuzzie for making this happen - it's great to see BC in action like this!

Ohh.. well that explains that awkward incident then...

After an 8 hour drive to Newcastle and 2 hours back to Yorkshire on Sunday and a 6 hour journey back home to Somerset yesterday, I now have the following in my arsenal: Just need to find a key for the case...oh it's a 2003 CIJ. Big thanks to the Monkseaton Mikes who helped.

I was advised against T-Cut by JayDee no less, as he said it was too strong an abrasive, especially for the inexperienced amateur restorer. Since then I bought a Gibson restoration pack, which has a finish restorer and soft cloths, fingerboard lemon oil etc in it. No problems so far.

Get me a medium jar of Ovaltine while you're out, please..?

I'm having a Pelican Day - wherever I look there's a huge bill in front of me.

My wife: 'Are there any photos of you?' *Edit. Just spotted my receding hairline poking out out from behind someone's head at the Yolanda showpiece.

That’s always vital… and this is the thing, you can get that from online retailers too. Or at least I do. For anything more expensive than cables and flimflam, I always place orders by sending an email rather than just plopping things in the ‘shopping cart’ and proceeding to PayPal. By doing so I get to build up a rapport with a member of staff, who I then contact directly next time I want to buy something from them. I always ask questions about the product to check that it meets my requirements; and I always ask for a discount due to repeat business, which I nearly always get, sometimes very generously (averaging probably 10-15%). Exactly the same principles as dealing with someone face-to-face. The only difference is I don’t walk out the door with the goods, I have to wait for them to be delivered. Works for me anyway

Yup great Album, Mr Bowie was never afraid of pushing off in directions new for him. I know what I'll be listening to in the car later.

Firstly you don't have to play , if you feel no motivation maybe you might find another activity that you love more . Selling up might not be a bad move , I didn't play for 7 years but in 2009 got back into it brought some new gear and have loved it ever since , but at the time the break to enjoy other things was right for me All I'm saying is give it a go but there's no right or wrong , you got any other interests ?

That`s a shame, Athens is great, was there a few weeks back, played at Tres, great gig and a great audience, def should be more music shops there.

It sounds simple but you know what I believe really appeals to people? A band who are having a good time and can communicate that to the audience and then feed back off the energy the audience sends back in return. Of course there are exceptions - whinge rock like Radiohead etc but there are exceptions to every rule in life. Music will always sound better if you have the required level of chops to execute it to the level it deserves/requires..... but a smile and an element of 'personality' or 'charisma' surely helps sell it.

It'd be fabulous if it finally did. Failing that, you can always start another thread on this topic in future to add to your collection

Velvet Blues are pretty growly on my bass.

What kind of DB are you using? I ask because when I tried Spiro weichs on my Duke, they didn't sound very bright at all. They were very rootsy sounding. Spiro mediums are reportedly brighter but even they didn't brighten up the bass...lol. The mediums are surprisingly less tension on the Duke compared to how they felt on my cheap hybird. As always, strings sound different on different basses.

I always liked the idea, concept, and time of The Bay City Rollers. I liked the sound too. I think I look at the value of a gimmick, hype and the non- musical feature a lot different than I did back in the 70s. Blue

Last year our guitarist/lead vocalist had a bout of bronchitis and his voice still isn't up to strength. The drummer and I are going to have to step up to the plate a bit more to give him some rest time. Although I've been doing BVs and the occasional lead for years I appreciate the advice on here. Certainly last weekend I did about the best performance ever of the one I do lead vox on, mainly down to singing with confidence. The more you do the better it gets

I can't read play instruments 'cos my eyes are too old now.

Great, I guess I get it now. Thank you all for your answers, very clear!

Visitors to BC over the years may well have seem me bang on about what I suppose is still a favourite 'tonally coloured' speaker cabinet, the Hartke 4.5XL. I've had about 6 of those 45Kg beasts over the years. Too heavy for my poor back now. Imagine my excitement when I find I can have 600 different IR's of this famous cabinet to play with on Helix and my DAW???!!!!! Could I have 'Dan's 90's Tone' back again??? Watch this space! (My back says thank you)

Grade 8 at 9 years old? Brilliant, hopefully a star in the making

Gigs. From experience all the bands I've been in have sold far more CDs/Vinyl/Cassettes at gigs than all our on-line sources put together by a factor of about 20. Make sure that you have an attractive merch display set up with the price of your products clearly marked and someone to stand there and serve people all the time, because your main selling time will be immediately after you have finished playing, when many bands are too busy putting away their instruments and/or clearing the stage for the next act. Every minute at this point in the evening when there isn't someone on your merch table is potentially another sale lost. For on-line sales use Bandcamp, and have the links clearly marked on all your social media pages and your band website. If you've got the skills make a merch page on your band's website too, although I've found that more people prefer to buy on-line from somewhere like Bandcamp even if the same products are cheaper on your website. You only need to have your CDs for sale on line in one place. Don't use anyone who wants to take actual copies of your CD for them to sell. IME you'll never see your CDs again or get any money for them, and you certainly won't get as good a deal as Bandcamp let alone selling them from your band's website. For digital downloads and getting onto the streaming services whichever Aggregator gives you the best deal for your projected sales. I use CD Baby and Catapult.

It seems rather passive aggressive to bring this up here, rather than speaking to the guy in the store about it. What would you have done before the days of the internet? Would you have gone home fuming or rather, knowing you had no recourse, would you have sorted it out with the salesman there and then? FWIW, I'd never pass over buying something I actually wanted just to spite a shop that gave me the wrong impression but then I don't really feel a need to be sold to and I get no validation from being given a sales pitch.

Thanks all. Just seen a secondhand Squier VM Jazz on FB for £170 which seems pretty good, so may go and see that.

bit of demo and chat about the pedal, but wise words in general from the big man

Session 16d.mp3 Session 16e.mp3 Session 16f.mp3

Session 16a.mp3 Session 16b.mp3 Session 16c.mp3

Session 5.mp3 Session 6.mp3

Session 2a.mp3 Session 2.mp3

Session 1a.mp3 Session 1.mp3

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1330822070' post='1563558'] ...hauling an 8X10 will get old real quick, trust me. [/quote] Haha, I don't doubt that! Pain for the sake of art maybe? Of course I know you're right, but a young desiring mind is a hard thing to convince! It'll undoubtedly be one of those things where I learn from my mistakes later on down the line and think "If only i'd listened to discreet on basschat.co.uk!"