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I own two Vigiers, an Excess and an Arpege 5 string. In terms of downtuned heavy rock/thrash, I actually prefer my Excess to the Arpege. The Excess has a slightly less complex EQ system and is definitely more of an all out rock bass. The Arpege is more of a refined bass and was my bass of choice for doing modern metal/prog stuff. In terms of old school downtuned metal in the High on Fire/Baroness/Mastodon/Saviours/Kylesa stuff, I would pick the Excess over the Arpege or Passion every time. One thing to consider is that the scale length of the Vigiers is slightly under 34 inches, so if you are tuning down to C you might need to use bigger strings than you would if you were using a 35 inch scale bass or a fanned fret alternative like a Dingwall. I don't find the scale length on the Vigier to be an issue, but saying that I love the sound of a downtuned Rickenbacker bass which only has a 33 inch scale. Also be aware that the Vigiers have no trus rod, so you will never ever be able to adjust the amount of relief on the neck. On the plus side, the neck should never move, so the relief on the neck on the day you buy the bass should be the same relief when you pick the bass up again ten years later. I have had the Excess for nearly 14 years now and no neck issues so far. Though saying that I've had an 1974 Gibson EB3 and a 1978/9 (ish) Fender Precision for nearly 20 years and not had any neck stability issues with them either. I don't think that carbon fibre necks are essential. I would really recommend trying as many basses as you can just to see what neck shapes/pickups and EQ systems you prefer.

The support band won't have been mixed by the same engineer, and won't even have been mixed through the same mixing desk. There's so many variables involved in getting a good sound. Taking Brixton as an example - it's a beautiful and storied venue. I was really excited to be mixing in there and ticking it off the list. The advice I got from colleagues that had been through there was that it's a hideous sounding room when it's empty, but more manageable when full, and that the sound at the mix position doesn't reflect how it sounds across most of the rest of the room, especially around the tricky bottom end. So - you're on the back foot with the room before you've started. Then - many venues that size don't have an installed sound system. It's brought in show by show, by the artist or promoter's chosen supplier. The system will depend on the budget, and the headline artist's brand preference. This has to be flown/stacked, configured, time aligned to suit the space. This is largely science with a splash of art, and is a skill set in itself separate from being a mix engineer. A great system tech is a desirable thing. They create the canvas that the FOH has to work with, so is again filled with variables. Soundcheck comes - taking that Brixton gig as an example, the headline band had a closed soundcheck. I didn't even get to walk up to the desk until they were done. They ran an hour over schedule. I raced to FOH with my carefully prepared show file on my USB stick, filled with confidence because I knew I'd prepped the file well and could start quickly. I got to the mix position to find I'd been supplied a completely different desk from the one in the advance, my show file was now useless and I was starting from scratch on am unfamiliar desk over an hour behind schedule. The ten minute rushed soundcheck we had meant I didn't get the opportunity to walk the room enough to get a proper feel for how it sounded away from the mix position, and also meant I didn't have time to do anything but the very quick basics to throw a decent mix together. When it came to show time, I discovered all the little issues that the rushed soundcheck had hidden - like just how over-egged with bass and lacking in mid some of the bass sounds coming from the SansAmp on stage were. Whilst there was plenty of low end, there was next to nothing I could do to dial the clarity back in to the midrange because that detail just wasn't reaching me at the desk. In every song, I had effects changes and constant fader rides to do to suit the arrangement, lift key parts in the important places etc, so trying to firefight sonic imperfections around that. The half our set is over before I know it. Band and management made up with the mix, I know it was ok but would have been much better given more favourable circumstances. [Edit to add: When you're in a full venue, with regular adjustments to make, it's often just not practical to go for a wander to hear how it sounds across the room. In a sold out gig, to get far enough away from the desk to hear the difference, means there's too many people in the way of you getting back quickly to react to something hapening on stage. I don't know many engineer's working directly with a band whose mix stays static throughout a show. If you know the material, you play the mix to suit and it's constantly changing. ] That's a pretty typical day and regular set of challenges on a live show of that scale, and that's barely touching on the amount of things on stage in terms of tone, musical arrangements, performance, stage volume/spill etc that you can't control from behind the FOH desk and just have to deal with as best you can. If it was that easy to make everything sound great in every corner of every venue, anyone could do it. Sometimes it's easy, but sometimes it's really bloody hard. "Turn the kick down" and "tweak the mids" doesn't really cover it!

The gig was good like it always is in the place we were playing, but there is no stage, so you are in a corner of a pub, so the microphone is always being knocked, the lights are always being tripped over and a couple of drunk women feel that it is good to stand between you and the singer dancing facing out like it is their stage. And then turn round to glare at you once they headbut the end of your bass. Sorry - my bass belongs here, your head doesn't!

Let’s not

Fender Elite Jazz Bass for $121.38. Wow bargain......I bought 10!!!

I'll be eating those words tomorrow!

£25 you were robbed.....🤑😃🤪😝😃😅

Template made and sanded...... Blank all cut and set out ready to glue up a bit later...... Here’s the top.... And here’s the back (it’s not quite centered but it’s just a rough guide)....

Hi all, Tomm Stanley from Stonefield music here. I always like hearing comments from the bass community and you'll find me popping in on other sites to engage discussion around our instruments, so thanks go out to Brook_fan for initiating the thread. While the Stinger is tuned the same as a guitar and the voice is totally different. You simply can't get this voice, typically found in the second octave of a six string bass, on a guitar. As noted by Sibob, Wing have been doing a short scale six-stringer for some time now but we extended the scale length so it's application is not primarily a travel instrument and the facility for playing chords is much greater. The price point is what it is ... very little build cost changes re the build just because 14 inches of neck is removed. The 'controversy' over our external jack plate always makes me chuckle. It does have the look of an upside down Strat plate but it's not. We designed the plate and have them machined from billet aluminium. They are an integral part of the instrument's electrical shielding, though that's not where the inspiration came from: the placement is a totally ergonomic choice. Stand with your bass on a strap, hold the cable in your right hand (left for lefty players) and bring your hand to the lower corner of your bass; that's where you find our input jack. No feeling around trying to find the jack, no need to lift the bass and look for the jack, no need to be scratching up the side of the instrument as you blindly poke for the jack. Finally, when you put the instrument in a stand, you can leave it plugged in without the protruding cable getting in the way of the stand support. Some ask me if it gets in the way of the control knobs. Nope; I can reach down without even looking and by touching the cable immediately know if I'm going for the tone (closest to the bridge) or one of the volume controls. Such a simple design, so many benefits, so much controversy For more on the Stinger and it's application check out these vids from our stand at NAMM18 in Anaheim: And feel free to hit me with any other questions or comments. All the Best, Tomm

Well this thread was in the back of my mind when I was looking for a new P bass. Found one online, emailed the guys, got a great deal and after a chat over the phone pulled the trigger on a '73 p in mocha finish. Apparently it's a shop fave and they're sad to see it go, which sounds great to me. Even got lots of pics and a sound clip with one of the guys playing it. Great customer service and yeah a 3 year warranty and servicing, outstanding. I will be visiting next time I'm down south. Long live the humble but brilliant music shops👊🏻

Forgetting that the last time you packed up your gear you were drunk and now it's a big spaghetti mess of leads inside a flight case.

HB PB-50 Modded! - *Version 3.0* *Audio Clip* This is my third modification of a Harley-Benton PB-50 Precision Bass. If you want to see what the stock donor bass looks like, Thomann have it for sale here - with more and better pictures than I can be bothered to take: https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_pb_50_sb_vintage_series.htm As usual I reshaped the headstock to a 50s-style Telebass and painted the pickguard, but this time I went to town and converted the stock four-saddle top-loading bridge to a through-body two-saddle bridge with ferrules, more in keeping with the 50s vibe. Yes, I had a spare pair of pants on hand when I drilled through the body. And being a bit fed up with sunburst, I did a full refinish in Shoreline Gold. Yes, I know Shoreline Gold wasn't available until after the 57 Precision redesign, but what the hell, I really like it. The pickup is another Herrick Tele '51' - this time the Neo magnet version as opposed to the AlNiCo 5 variant fitted to v2.0. It's a bit stronger in the high mids and top end, throws out a bit more signal and sounds great. https://www.herrickpickups.com/products/tele-51-bass-single-coil/ I really liked the look and texture of the Shoreline nitro, so didn't clear coat it. I'm hoping it will age naturally in all the right places. The only stock components remaining on this assembly are the body and neck (obviously), the neck plate, the control plate, the string tree and the strap buttons. Everything else has been upgraded or replaced. As you can see, the Fender flats are getting a bit elderly and I want to get some of those La Bella flats that are specifically made for through-body bridges. Nevertheless, the bass sounds great and plays like a premium instrument costing many times more than the donor bass. Result. Body refin in Shoreline Gold nitro Pickguard in Ivory Cream Squier Vintage Modified through-body two-saddle bridge with ferrules Herrick Neodymium Telebass '51' pickup CTS solid-shaft pots, Chiclet cap .047uF, Switchcraft jack in cats-eye side plate Fender flat-top knurled control knobs with grub screws Wilkinson WJBL 200 tuners Fender 9050M steel flatwounds 55-70-90-105 Thanks for looking!

Haha - it seems like you could use a good Thumpinating!

No I’m good 😀 Let the dirt chat continue..

Congrats to your new Atelier! As a former owner of the M265 I thought I will chime in. These basses are great, but tend to be very heavy, mine had nearly 12 lbs (ash body, maple neck and fingerboard). You are lucky that yours is on the light side. Also the aestetics screams 70's bass, but the bridge pickup is in 60's position. The string spacing is 18 mm on a their fiver. Just my 2 cents for any potential buyers to look for. Anyway, this is top notch quality instrument and I sometimes miss mine that is gone now. Neck is very playable, sort of flat front to back and sound is amazing. Low B is killer. Enjoy this beautifull bass!

I have 2 acg Krells and can’t say enough good things about them.

Same experience for me with Rotosounds, read about Warwick Red Label Steel Rounds and have tried them, they last longer than Rotos, not sure how long as am still on my first set after about a month and a half, whereas my Rotos would have been dead by now.

My pleasure. Got one for our drummer and he's happy with it as well. He even managed to work the volume control the other night!

Well that's a helpful steer thanks; but I guess the final thing is that if the GuitarLab 3.0 editor is only for the B3n (and G3n and G5n) and not for the MS-60B, then it probably still makes sense to get to grips with ToneLib as that can deal with both. Makes sense?

Nah! Cutting the crud below 20Hz, tightening up the low end, and stopping the house shaking when practising at home has been one of the better marriage-saving discoveries for me for 2018. HPFs rule! Every bass player should consider using

SM7B with a Cloudlifter or similar booster. Excellent rejection, nicer tone than a 58 or 57. Gotta be right on axis, but it's good for vocals and recording speaking voice as well. And snare. And guitar amps. Great on stage and in the studio.

That sounds cool , our facebook page is https://m.facebook.com/TheRazorsBand/?ref=bookmarks we update the page regularly with gigs so hopefully we will be back on the island in the summer 👍

It's a tough one to judge in soundcheck as the low end is the thing that changes most drastically when a room is filled with bodies. When I've done time as a house tech in a venue, I've got a feeling over time for how that room changes when it's full, so a soundcheck that might sound bassy and muddy can be down to reflections from a bare floor and walls that won't happen at showtime because of all the meat-based acoustic absorption units milling around the room. A good tech will be well aware of this and how the room can change, so will have that in mind during soundcheck.

Thanks for that insight, it must be sooooo tricky. I think as in everything in life, you get some guys who don’t give a funk, and others who try their best in challenging circumstances.

+1

Ive seen so many posts over the years on here, where people are stating they will only play what they want to play and not what an audience wants to hear, that i can understand how little respect a band playing a boring set will get. If you aren’t entertaining an audience what are they supposed to do? As with most things in life, a poor service will get a poor response.

Thank you SpondonBassed and drTStingray I will carry out a few experiments with the aid of our guitarist. I will just have to take into account any additional distortion from the DHA VT1 valve 'output'.

Just a light going-over with a Scotchbrite pad first. No clear coat for rapid wear and a vintage look. Front of headstock sanded after shaping to remove original decal.

The band I'm in only do functions where we have been booked and paid to show up by those who know the guests ...we can then at least guarantee some level of respect and interest, so far so good. eg last nites golf club birthday bash..everyone dressed up ,dancing and all very pleasant. Perfect.

I did a show in Holker in Cumbria with Toyah a couple of years ago and she was great, very friendly and approachable. We really enjoyed listening to her performance, including her stories about her early years and life in showbiz. Can't fault her.

Limelight- replica kit car with fake badges.

I agree that the much of the current range is a bit, lacking, but I drive a SLK 350 (R171), and that's a modern classic for sure. Rest of their output has definitely joined the 'Euroblob' massive, quite non-descript. Even the R172 SLK lost something from it's predecessor. My input would be Rickenbacker - TVR. Stunning when working right, but at the same time iffy build quality, and prone to issues!

Alan, from ACG has just updated his profile and the bass in question caused me to have stirring that I haven't experienced in a long time.

It has an Eminence Deltalite II 2512 driver (120 quid at Blue Aran), which is what most makers use in their price point neo loaded cabs, so yes, the price is insane, even in the US, where the street price is $799.

I don't know how she does it.... It's a mystery

Although instruments like claves are superficially easy to get a sound out of, to play them properly in context takes a load of skill, and in terms of supporting role it's not that far removed from bass in some ways. In a genre like Cuban rumba, the clave is essential as it is (as the name suggests) the key that keeps all the other rhythms together:

And the song goes on for FAR too long anyway ... just suggest they chop out the whole Slash-solo nonsense that makes up the second half of it.

& another one 😁

Really wasn't sure whether or not to post this one, since there never was an actual audition. This one crashed and burned before ever getting that far! The advert was for what was clearly going to be a Dad-rock outfit playing in Herts. and the only really off-putting thing was that the guy wanted to rehearse on Friday nights, which struck me as very odd. What follows is verbatim, although I've changed all names. Yes, I really did keep a record of this. Day #1 Are you fixed on Friday night rehearsals? What other night do you suggest Anything that isn't a gig night, i.e. not Friday or Saturday. Personally, I can do any day except Tuesday evening. Trying to get a Thursday night at the rehearsal rooms but so is every one else lol sorry forgot to ask where you live mate I'm in Sudbury Hill, Harrow. We mainly rehearse in kings Langley and three live in Hemel Hempstead one in Barnet, I know Sudbury Hill used to go to the rising sun Hah! I lived in Highfield for years. Have you guys got any YouTube you can share? No nothing on youtube mate are you still interested we rehearse at Debras in KL KL is not a problem, rehearsals on a Friday would be! Got to be worth an initial hookup though, see if we work well. What's your set list? I'm in the middle of reorganising it 6 rock n roll up to stuck in the middle, proud Mary, cocaine, one I love make me smile, honky tonk, black magic woman, killing floor, new rehearsal, still got the blues for you, no love in the city, human, hope your still interested, There's obviously a few more but that's the heart of it oh yeah free bird Human? Rag and bone man, recently a hit, LLL Not Human League then ... No mate LOL OK, most of those I can play without prep time so a first hookup still makes sense. When do you want to do this? Waiting to hear from the rehearsal rooms for a Thursday mate Did you like Human It's OK. Not sure how it fits with Killing Floor or Stuck In The Middle, mind ... How do you plan to sell/promote this band to venues? am gonna get Robert lead guitar to talk to you have to get on with Sunday mate will talk later, LLL OK, I'm around all day. Later that day I take a call from Robert, a lovely chap, very easy to talk to, happy to share. He has some contacts at well-known local venues and will be the chief gig-getter, he sounds like someone I'll have no trouble being in a band with. He is as puzzled about Friday night rehearsals as I am, and agrees that it's a silly night to be in a rehearsal studio. Day #2 Hi jack, how does Thursday week sound, can't get a rehearsal room Thursday this week, LLL Thursday is fine. Where and what time? What keys do you play those songs in? Which version of Black Magic Woman do you do? Could you ring Robert please Spoke to him yesterday, is this a new call? Sorry what is a new call, same guy No worries. Hi Jack, hope you didn't think I was being rude, LLL. No! We're all good. See you in 10 days, but do confirm where and when, OK? {post code} Ta. Should be 7 to 11 mate I call Robert and he starts taking me through the set list. It's completely different from the one that LLL has given me. Instead of the 12 songs listed by LLL, Robert lists 30 more songs with no common theme at all and which seem to have been picked with a pin. When I ask him about the 12 that LLL listed for me, most are greeted with the proverbial sharp intake of breath followed by "I thought we'd agreed to drop that" or "he hasn't mentioned that one" or "but he knows we can't do that with this line-up". Day #6 Hi Steve, as you come off the roundabout you take the first on the left and immediately first gate on the right, the gate is normally open, the rehearsal rooms are tucked away to your left, see you late mate, LLL Wrong guy, LLL. Jack Sorry mate still ready for next week Yup. I'm a half wit nothing to do with my age lol Day #11 Are we still good for tomorrow? Do I need to bring a bass rig? Yes please to both mate OK, I'm struggling to find this place. I can't find Debras on Google, and Maps says that {post code} is a Wedding Car hire place! Where exactly am I coming to? Kings Langley, Watford I know that, I used to work in Watford and live in Hemel. What's the name & address of the place I'm coming to? Will sort it soon, couple of hours I'm up to my eyes at moment {obscure streetname} lane {post code} how's that mate I don't think Debra advertise's [The lane in question is a mile-long country lane leading to a dead end, with yards and properties all along both sides, a sort of rural industrial area.] Sorry LLL, I don't think God intended us to be in the same band. Don't want to waste anyone's time so I reckon I'll just back away now.

Only ever done one audition, way back in the 60s, when I sat behind a kit. Not an audition from Hell, but it turned out fine for me. I answered an ad for a drummer wanted for a re-forming showband, there were three or four blokes turned up, which were quickly reduced to just two of us. We were using the band's old drummer's kit for the auditions, but chatting it transpired that the other bloke and me both had identical kits, red silk Premier, and he was left handed, so set his up as a mirror image of mine. Well, it was a showband, (sax etc) so they decided to offer us both the job, to have two drummers, and left it to us to get together to swap notes etc. When I phoned him to arrange, his dad answered, and told me in no uncertain terms that his son wasn’t going to be one of two drummers, and he, Dad, would make sure his son got the gig. I phoned the band leader, who said he’d just heard from the Dad, and was about to phone me, to ask if I’d have any problem being 1 of 2, to which I replied no problem. In that case you’ve got the job, he said.......

Northampton circa 1987 One of the above posts reminded me of another "interesting" audition / short lived band, I have always loved Reggae and really fancied creating a band, I fell in with a older Jamaican guy whose name I seem to remember was Glenroy, he was a decent singer / songwriter / guitarist who had some musicians lined up but no bass player.....I was in, we booked a rehearsal room and everyone turned up, Glenroy would start playing something and we would join in, for a first rehearsal we actually sounded pretty good, after each jam / song I would score out a very basic bassline ACDG x4 etc, we recorded on an old double cassette machine a horribly distorted tape of the rehearsal which we copied so everyone had a copy....at the end of the rehearsal we agreed it was worth taking forward and the band shall be known as Culture Mix.... We agreed to get together the following week for another rehearsal prior to playing at the Riverside festival in Bedford the following day!!! We met up, set up and started to play.....everything in a different key to the week before, it ground to a halt, I said "we play this in G"..... "No man we have always played it in D".... "err no I wrote it down last week".....the keyboard player nods in agreement, he also scored the parts the previous week..... "nah man you are both wrong I have never played it in G"..... so we fire up the tape which shows it was in G..... "nah man your tape player is playing it slow!" Virtually every song was in a different key to the previous week! We still managed to finish the rehearsal....the singer says we are still playing the festival in Bedford tomorrow.... We got to the festival about 11.30 the following day, what time are we on? I ask.... "Later on" is the reply 2 pm comes and goes still nothing. so I ask again "in a bit" is the reply 4 pm comes and goes and still nothing.....by 6 pm the singer finally comes clean, we were not even booked for the festival he just thought we would turn up and blag our way onto the stage, which unsurprisingly wasn't going to happen That was the end of the band and the end of me playing in a Reggae band!

Bristol, 2011 The last audition I had was for a band that the drummer who was in my jazz band had joined about six months previously. The band had regular gigs but didn't have a bass player up to that point as there 'wasn't enough money to pay a fourth person'. Anyway, they wanted a double bass player and the drummer wanted me in the band so he booked a local rehearsal space and the singer/guitarist drove the 60 miles from his home to Bristol for the occasion (which he moaned about all the way through the audition). I'd learnt the songs from the album the band had just recorded - it was pretty easy as there was no bass on the album, so I could just do what I wanted and it was all Johnny Cash style G/C/D stuff. Easy peasy. The singer/frontman bailed out of the session half an hour before it was due to start as he'd forgotten he was supposed to be playing football. No problem says drummer, the guitarist can sing the other guys parts. The audition got underway and everything seemed good to me. The drummer was mostly playing along with the guitar as that's the sound they had evolved without a bass player, but the drummer and I had been playing jazz together for the past three years so I wasn't bothered about having to play along to a non-standard drum part. The guitarist wasn't happy though..... when the drummer asked him how he felt it was going, all he could say was 'I dunno - it's not what I was expecting'. Further questioning from the drummer revealed that he actually didn't know what to expect as he'd only ever done solo stuff and had never played in an actual band before this one and had never played with a bass player before. No problem says the drummer, we'll have a proper rehearsal next week, before the next gig with singer/frontman and we'll see how much better it is. Fast forward to next weeks rehearsal, the frontman/singer bails again because he has a hangover... so we go ahead anyway and rehearse the set. Drummer is happy, I'm reasonably happy but guitarist still doesn't know if I sound like he thinks he wants it to sound, even though he can't explain to me what that sound is. He's also demonstrating an alarming tendency to be unable to remember which key the songs should be in. Drummer reckons we're all sorted for the gig next week. I'm less convinced. Alarm bells should be ringing - I've not yet met this flaky singer/frontman who I'll meet for the first time at the gig next week and the guitarist is still being very non-committal about whether I'm in the band or not. it's only my faith in the drummer and his insistence that 'everything will be cool' that I'm not walking away - but it's not looking good from my perspective The gig comes round and I meet the singer/frontman for the first time. He's actually a pretty cool bloke and apologises for not being at the audition/rehearsal, but admits that as he's never been in a band with a bass player before, he would have no idea if I was any good or not and therefore would have no meaningful input to make. Fair enough really. The gig goes pretty well, the band's fans say they love the addition of bass, so I'm in if I want it..... 7 years later I'm still in this band. we do 60+ gigs a year and have released four albums. Not all auditions from hell end up staying in hell. The original guitarist is gone though - he whinged one too many times about having to drive to Bristol for 2 gigs and two rehearsals a year.

I`ve found the ABM410s to be a bit "boomy" and lack definition, so have had the port on mine blocked off, and put speaker-wadding in the cab. It now performs exactly like I want it to - their 610s & 810s, both of which I understand are sealed cabs. Now I have a tight, focused sound, and can add in the low end I want.

Hy guys ! Here is my baby!

Ha yeah! Although compressed gas cylinders are usually on the courier prohibited items list - or insist that they are empty. How they could ensure that I don't know. Anyway...

Just recorded a quick noodle...sounds a lot like a P Bass! And loving the neo pickup, it has a little growl when pushed! I like the Fender flats too, but I can't help but think I'd prefer La Bellas. Only one way to find out, I suppose... Listen loud with headphones, decent monitors, yadda yadda.

Good job, loving the blue refin. If this were Talkbass we'd probably start some sort of half-assed, geeky PB-50 modding club...