Leaderboard

Ten strings sell but who's buying? 💀

All the more headstock to smack mr mustaine with The punishment due? 😂

All of it. The HX software models are (IIRC) 4 to 6 times larger than the old tech. Far more detail in the modelling process. Apparently down to modelling each individual component in the signal path rather than just trying to model what comes out of a speaker.

All finished and back together, just a quick little project 😀

Hi all. I’ve just put together this little home rig and I’m super pleased. I purchased the empty Ampeg mini stack cab first, then picked up two old Trace Elliot speakers on EBay that used to live in a 1048 TE cab. Finally I took the plunge and purchased the Hotone Thunder Bass head. The whole thing sounds amazing with my P basses and the tone is superb and would make a great recording set up too. Super pleased with this rig and the head has a surprising array of tones. Cheers all

I'll be playing a favourite venue on Sunday. It's a festival held in the centre of a local small town between here and Swindon. Faringdon has held its annual 3 day Follyfest for some time, the Wirebirds will be making their sixth consecutive appearance there this Sunday, when we bring the festival to a close. We don't get paid to do it, parking is a pain, but the audience is always great, and there's a good PA and a well organised team to run everything. The summer wouldn't feel quite right without our annual pilgrimage to Faringdon.

These basses, contrary to my initial misgivings, sound very good indeed and the light weight and new contours promise a much more ergonomic Stingray. However, I don't like black hardware on a traditional 4 string Stingray. I'm not keen on ebony fingerboards either. Or sparkle finishes.And the white ones are the wrong shade of white to go with the roasted maple. The overall reaction to how these basses look has been very positive, but i am struggling to find one I could live with, to be honest. I don't like the bridge, either. No Stingray really looks right without the big old-style mute bridge. I will still probably buy one, anyway. And then not be happy with it.

In a previous life, I worked as a sound engineer at a venue in the UK. It would have been mid 90's when a band turned up with four keyboards and a drummer with an electronic kit. As usual, I gave them time to set their stage and then wandered over to cable up. I remember thinking to myself, they're just sat around here relaxed and they haven't even bothered to bring their amps on stage..! This was my first real introduction to IEM. They did their own mix on stage and required only one mic for chatting to the audience, no vocals for the songs. It was one of the easiest gigs I've ever done. I went on stage during the soundcheck (having turned off FOH) and the only noise was the drummer hitting the pads. Quite surreal... And no mike bleed from coughs, sneezes and farts...! Getting back to the thread, I've been using an amp and vocal processor for a couple of years now. I haven't used an amp onstage for years. I recently bought a Line 6 module for amp sim and use it with either my Bose array pa or an RCF powered cab, the ART 310a. I can easily switch from acoustic to electric guitar. OK, time to fess up, I dont play bass.!! It's been a revelation to me, much easier to pack in the car and much more consistency at the gig. It's a million miles from you guys with Kemplers and Helix, but it works for me. Great thread by the way..!

Boards of Canada. loving the moods of it

I got the bass back from Laurence Dixon (The Bass Place, Herne Hill) today. He installed a Realist pickup (at my request, and in addition to the existing one), replaced the bridge with an adjustable (again at my request), shaved & profiled the fingerboard to match the new bridge, sorted out the twin soundposts so that they are correctly positioned and work properly, and did some corrective work on the end-pin structure. His work was every bit as good as Clarky told me it would be, and the bass is instantly far more playable and more comfortable to play. It also sounds noticeably better. I wanted the Realist since the existing pickup arrangement did a great job of picking up the sounds of the strings and of the slapping, but disguised (almost completely) the sound of the oil-drum. The Realist picks up far more of its sound from the resonating body and that means that you can actually hear the aluminium. All I need now is to run the two outputs through a blender and I will be able to control how much oil-drum the audience hears. The adjustable bridge allows me to switch between a rockabilly setup and a blues/jazz setup at will. The rest of the work was, frankly, remedial. As I mentioned before, Dave Gartland is not a professional DB luthier and he doesn't claim to be one. The bass as delivered had a few flaws which were easily fixed (well, "easily" by someone like Laurence), plus one which it is stuck with. As far as I'm concerned, it is now fully giggable and I'm looking forward to doing exactly that. I'm also expecting a fair bit of trepidation from any sound engineers who have to deal with it ...

My offer was accepted. Personalised orange bass on its way for mr orange.......

My favorite place is a small bar called Aribas. Here's why; 1. It's a great sounding room. Low ceilings and carpeted flooring. 2. The bar is right next to the spot we play in, no stage. 3. The crowd is primarily made up of live music lovers. The average age is probably 65. These folks were probably Hippies back in the 60s and love the vintage 70s based blues & rock we play. I love the place. Blue

'Frolicking' comes across more as a triplet, don't you think? I've heard that some people think us bass players are a bit weird. Can't imagine why. Edit: Douglas beat me to it. See, that's two of us think it's a triplet so we must be right.

Voted. I may as well produce certificates for everyone, right..? (... although, to be fair, they'd be merited...)

My work here is done. 🎸🔊🙂

The HD500X is a country mile behind the HX models though.

No. This one.

To be fair, there is a nut.

Thanks everyone. Going to get some D'addario pro steels today and see how it goes...

Arguing over string choices, is this TB?

I don’t listen to much classical music, mainly due to my own lack of knowledge. I like what I like, but it’s such a broad umbrella covering so many genres and sub-genres it’s difficult to know where to start. I feel the same about jazz to some extent too. So I’ve been exploring and last week I came across Vaughn Williams’ ‘The Lark Ascending’, which I think must be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard. Hearing it led me back to Górecki’s Symphony No.3, which I am familiar with and is similarly enthralling.

It’s the drums that make you tap your feet, the bass that makes you swing your hips. To my knowledge it’s only Penguins that tap their feet as a come-on.

Yes, I remember the endless debates about Geddy Lee switching between his 4001 and his Jazz, and how he clearly unmistakably used the 4001 recording tom sawyer, as it sounded so much like it and he used it in the video. Until he came out and said it was recorded using the jazz.

Jamie, when I read your OP the first thought in my head was 'Oh No, not another bass solo post'. So having scanned your playing I am glad I did. Your playing is fine but you fall into the trap of projecting the bass (guitar) as a solo instrument. The bass is so much more important than that. As everyone here knows, the bass links up with the drummer to create the foundation for the singer and other musicians (guitarist?) to perform. A solid foundation or groove is what gets people off their seats and onto the dance floor - it makes them want to dance. In a band situation, each musician has a role to play. It might be hard for a bassist or a guitarist to accept but their function is to support and make the singer look good. Of the two mentioned, the bass is the more critical for the reasons listed above. Queen (the band) are a typical example. The band supported Freddie - even the guitar and bass solos and playing were only used to put further emphasis on the front man Freddie. The band were and are fine musicians in their own right but they knew that they could help make the sum of their efforts to be greater than their individual playing. Take a young child's jigsaw puzzle for example. Four parts to assemble the picture, but the picture is only fully revealed when each piece is in the correct position. Take away one piece and the picture collapses. Likewise take one piece and emphasize the colours using a painting set, and the picture has lost its wholeness, its balance as one quarter is now brighter and more vivid than the other three pieces. Just because a musician learns a technique, does not mean that he has to use it unless the song requires it. And searching for a song to use this technique results in the other band members learning the song to accommodate the other musician. Which is not conducive to a good or great overall performance by the band. We have all heard examples of this - the guitarist learns a song because it has his new solo in it.......... Please don't read this post in a negative fashion. I am not criticizing your playing. Rather the idea that the bass is or could become a lead instrument. If the song requires three root notes plus octave, nobody will sack you for playing those notes. It might be boring as hell but TBH a lot of playing is repetition. Repetition can become boring but the boredom is reduced if the dance floor is full of people swaying and dancing to the music. People hear the singer and the overall band sound and react accordingly. They may not pick up on the subtleties of bass playing but they will feel the groove. And they will want to dance. What more is there to ask for?

I couldn’t help but put an offer in on it. All reviews seem pretty good, it’s a bit unusual, it’s orange and, well, it has my name on the headstock.

Having just re-strung my 330/12 for the first time, Rickenbacker is certainly a dirty word round here at present. Off-topic, I know - but I had to vent... As nice as the R-tailpiece and 12-way headstock are to look at they are definitely not user friendly. It'll be another 8 years before I attempt that again.

This week, and for the previous couple of months, it's the caline orange burst. Girth, grunt, and authority. I've had so many compliments since I started using it- I don't even think about changing it!!

In 55 years I've never been in the habit of cleaning strings, however using alcohol wipes is something I plan on trying. Thanks Reggaebass Blue

Looks great!

I’m a huge electronica fan, always have been. Just yesterday I was listening to the first two Human League albums, they’ve never been topped imho. Metamatic by John Foxx today.

Sibob, I finally got it to all work last night. I am happy to say, it was through no fault of the Novation kit or software but a fault of an incompotant operator of Logic Pro X (i.e me!). Thanks for the support and now is all good (or at least it will once I learn to play keys)

Here you go. Complete with my favourite bass. Best bit about the cab is the level control for the tweeter, I can turn it off! And will do my best to get that recording sorted.

I find it's better not to s**t on them in the first place.

@only4 We had a further look last night. Very interesting if you find that sort of thing interesting! The casting with the hole in that you pointed out screws onto the end of the quill. If you take the depth-stop off you can remove it completely. What it reveals is the underside of the lower spindle ball race, fortunately semi caged otherwise we'd have been cleaning and regreasing the bearing after finding all the balls that had dropped out! The No1 Morse taper is part of the spindle, there's a collar on it that loads the internal face of the bearing but it's, as far as we could see, all one piece. Certainly it was going to get messy taking any more bits off. It's a shame, the extra 100mm would have been useful, but it's a solid machine with no runout even at full extension, so for £150 I'm happy with it.

I've always liked orange or strong yellow against black I like black. Any highlight colour looks good against black.

Sounds like the local Rotary club.

Nor just any flats Steve Harris rotos😉

I’d probably say the work involved is more than worth it, just buy a 33” scale bass Si

He's sending me some "ideas" with keyboard bass and drums on... Hopefully he'll be happy when I liberally smear my attempt at his bass-line with envelope filter, bass synth and bass whammy, and play it all in a P-Funk style in straight 4:4 On The One. Perhaps I'll take my platform boots to the next jamhearsal!

The should have had all tuners on one side, and had a massive droopy Jackson headstock.

His UK bass player is none to shabby either @mybass 😎

Masterly

Glad the pickup came 🙂 And thought I'd better come and say hi ... after all, I've been bass player in a few bands too, have owned everything from a 63 Precision to a BC Rich Mockingbird bass, and build and repair nearly as many bass pickups as guitar ones. Plus my business partner's a bass player, and is always trying to get me to design and wind more bass stuff ... he'll be flipping his fingers in delight. 🙂