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Showing content with the highest reputation on 16/10/18 in Posts
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I thought they were all universities now...?7 points
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I don't want to out myself as a Snowflake SJW but I can't help wondering what I'd think if I was a young female bass player reading this thread.7 points
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Nate is pleasingly plump when you really look at him. He's got a cute laugh as well.5 points
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Time to address a couple of common ideas often spoken around these parts. The first was brought up in a recent thread and I see the second one a lot, too. Interested to hear your thoughts. 1. "Whatever bass you play, you'll sound like you'' / ''It's all in the fingers'' I suppose to a degree it's right - someone will recognise the style of playing of an individual regardless of what bass they play. A good example would be Victor Wooten playing that Sire jazz bass recently posted here. It sounds like him. BUT - I don't think it's even remotely true to say it doesn't matter what bass you buy, it's all in the fingers. Nobody can make a Precision bass sound like a Musicman just by the way they play. It's impossible. Maybe in front of an audience with poor monitoring and a poor bass sound it would be immaterial - we've all been there - but recorded, or properly monitored, it's obvious to me that basses sound completely different. Otherwise why would we even discuss them? 2. "It doesn't matter what you play (gear wise), the audience won't be able to tell the difference" Maybe not. My mum can't even identify what sound is the bass. But is that a reason not to buy XYZ? Do we do it slavishly for the audience, or do we enjoy knowing our own sound works, and the nuances, even if known only to the player, are worth the journey? Would you be happy playing a really horrible - but adequate - sound as a bass player?4 points
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That's it. BASS FUNCTION ***Long winded, fireside chat, retired BP ALERT!*** I recollect being 13 years old at a couple of high school dances... a band playing at a motorcycle dealership... Frankie Vallee And the Four Seasons playing at a downtown square for free where I noticed the Yamaha electric piano more than anything else ... I hadn't yet picked up the bass so all I knew was the combined sound of the band. I knew what drums were, guitars and the vocals. But I had no idea what the bass was or what it was doing. I never noticed the four heavy strings, long neck and bigger amp. I think I knew what a tuba was and the double bass in an orchestra because of their unusual appearance. The bass just seemed to be another guitar, slung and played like a guitar and manufactured to look like a guitar. Indistinguishable.... Transistor radios and phonographs could not reproduce the bass. I "sensed" the bass from the old wooden radios/stereos with the 12" speaker without knowing what it was. Also, those jukeboxes in restaurants. More of a curious vibration than a sound. Motown's James Jamerson and later Paul McCartney... Talk Talk by the music machine. Only when I wanted to reproduce that sound, did I find out more. A friend just happened to have a Hofner Beatle bass. I tried it and was hooked. Off to the pawnshop for a $50 Japanese bass. Bass kept my sanity at times as life's demands took over. My point is that most people are like I was at 13, when it comes to the bass. Blissfully unaware of the instrument, but grooving on it's sound. Western music needs a bass line and people expect it. People are more focused on their dance partner and their surroundings and unusual things that a band may do. Their life focus is on their job, politics, family and friends... They know as much about the bass as most people know about carburetors... as long as the car goes, they're happy. Tell them about the carb and their eyes gloss over as their consciousness slips away and they end up at McDonald's. I'm not being insulting, but the reality of 99% of us does not include the Fender Precision bass with heavy gauge strings and a 15" speaker cab. As 12stringbassist said, BASS FUNCTION. The rest is of concern only to the BP... and guitards who think they can play bass because they can play guitar. (I just recently had a guitard send me a sample of his very lame version/arrangement of Heat Wave/Linda Ronstadt with him playing his non-descript bass. I was to play his Bowdlerised version exactly note for note. I found out it was him when I said the BP on the sample was stiff and weak. Let me handle it, I said. Well, I'm on the loose again looking for a new band.4 points
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Hubba hubba! Check out that bassist's rack ya'll (His rack mounted gear obviously)3 points
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An audience just wants THE BASS FUNCTION from the bassist. Groove Bottom end Melody3 points
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"It's all in the fingers" is short-hand for, "It's you that makes the difference". It really doesn't matter if you play a Precision, Musicman or double bass. OK, there are "rules", ie you don't see many double basses in Metal, but a good bass player will sound good on any instrument. What do others want from a bass guitar? That it don't sound bad. That's it! More important than your sound is that your timing is good/perfect, you play interesting lines, you groove/swing/rock and that you remember the arrangements. The sound of different basses? That's personal preference and not a "thing" to anyone else but you. I think most audiences do notice bass players. There is a sliding scale of recognition but the bass is heard by most people. I get comments about my 5 string bass everywhere I go, so lots notice more than you think. Some of them will actually be bothered to walk across the room and tell you. As a bass player you'll play better if you are happy and that will contribute to a happy band. A happy band will make better music and the audiences will always/usually notice and appreciate that. I rate airlines on their price and service, so basically the cabin crew and the entertainment on the plane. I never think about the guys who service the plane or the ones up front doing the steering and landing. That's bass playing and why the rhythm section is called the engine room.3 points
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Regarding number 2: I always see that argument and to me it's just bollocks. Unless you're playing in a big band or a super loud Metal act where the bass is barely audible, tone matters a great deal in how the audience enjoys the sound. They may not know it, but it does. I could use the same argument for guitar/drums/etc: to a regular person who has no music knowledge and who is just watching a live show, every snare and hi-hat sounds the same...or so they think. I'm of the firm belief that besides being good at your instrument, having a great tone fit for the project you're playing in is a MUST. And it WILL make a huge difference. Are you playing in a power trio à la Rush/Nirvana and your bass tone is extremely boomy with scooped mids? Then honestly I don't care how good your fingers are and how your slapping is off this world, to me you're just another average musician. Are you playing in a blues-rock band with two guitarrists who like having those crunchy tones with your treble full on and a really hi-fi sound? You could have the best licks in the world but you're doing absolutely nothing there and the band's sound will be god damn awful without some low end booty to support it. Those are just two examples but I could go on and on and on. Bass tone DOES matter and it's up to every single musician and band to know how to EQ their instruments in order to provide the best possible sound out of their songs. Otherwise, no matter how good your technique is, your sound will not be enjoyable and most people won't even know why but they WILL walk away.3 points
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Crickey! Another 6 months and this thread would have been dead for ten years!3 points
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SOLD Oh, sweet irony! I finally achieved my dream of owning an Alembic a few months ago, played 4 or 5 gigs with it, and suddenly discovered that I really need was a six string bass. Now I have two of them, and bills to pay, so the lovely Alembic has to go. It's a 1998 Epic four string, and the Alembic build sheet for it says: top: California Walnut accent: Maple body: Mahogany neck: 3-piece Maple with 2 Walnut pinstripes fingerboard: Ebony pickups: MXY controls: Epic volume, pan, bass, treble, mono output originally made for: Guitar Center, Santa Ana, CA birthday: June 26, 1998 The bass is well set up and plays as you'd expect an instrument of this class to play - if I ever switch back to 4 string, I'm going to hate myself for letting this go, but needs must. No case included. so it will need collecting (West Oxfordshire) or a meet up. I will be in South Devon the weekend of the 8th/9th December and in the Wirral 15th/16th December and can bring the bass with me if there is a buyer there.2 points -
Withdrawn What was I thinking????2 points -
Sold This 300 watt hybrid bass head has a valve powered pre-amp section driving a solid-state power amp. The amp is light weight and small, weighing only 13lbs (6Kg). The head has been little used and is in very good condition. This is a great sounding amp. Search Basschat and Talk Bass for loads of threads saying what a wonderful tone these amps produce. Details: · 300 Watts @ 4 Ohms (165 @ 8), Simul-State™ Power / 6 Tube Driven Power MOSFET’s, · 2x12AX7 pre-amp valves · Handbuilt in Petaluma, California · Active/Passive Inputs · 4 Stage Vacuum Tube Preamplifier featuring Gain, Active Bass & Treble, Passive Mid and a 3-Band Semi Parametric EQ that provides 15db of cut or boost from 30Hz to 12K Hz · Main Output Level Control · FX Loop w/True “Hard” Bypass Switch · Balanced Direct Line Output with Level Control & Ground Lift Switch · 2 – 1/4inch Speaker Outputs · Fan Cooled · 12in W x 12in D x 3.5in H · Only Weighs 13 Pounds (6kg) · Includes padded carry case I'm based in Edinburgh, Scotland but am prepared to package the amplifier and arrange a courier and insurance if the buyer pays. Cost with £500 insurance cover will be about £35.2 points -
I've only really got space for three basses in my life and despite how fantastic this bass is, it doesn't get used enough. It took me years to find and eventually I imported it from Canada at great expense! So here we have a very unusual and rare Vigier Arpege (the Arpege shape have pickups slightly further apart than the Passion range, so it could be considered more of a 'Jazz bass' sort out sound). Being a series II, it benefits from a full carbon neck. There's no truss rod to worry about, just a dead straight (believe me - I've bought and sold enough to know a good one!) neck with thru body construction. The body is beautiful Walnut with a gloss lacquer. Everything is original, because I really like the built in pre-amp although many you see 'used' have been replaced. It's hard to find one that's been left alone! So from the top - Schaller tuners, zero fret, 21 fret neck and frets I would say are in 80% condition. Very little buzz with a super super low action, which I guess most people would raise a bit when playing. With it this low, there's a slight buzz on the G string on the 13th fret, that's it - but we're talking painted on strings so it shows how straight and true the neck is. It has Marvel strap locks fitted, and the strap side will be supplied. Two superb Benedetti single coil pickups with the signature 'tabletop' shape. These are unbelievable pickups, really powerful and clean. The tabletop shape also means they are a really nice playing surface. They are held in with four sprung mounted threaded allen bolts for fine adjustment. The electronics are really interesting! Around this time Vigier were experimenting with all sorts from modular preamps to programmable memory settings. This has the excellent Q filter pre-amp, which means you have the following: Pickup selector switch, series/parallel switch, Q filter selection sweep, Q filter boost/cut, volume (pull boost), tone. The tone control works on both pickups but when the rear is selected it must be up full. Go figure. A later bass I had the tone control worked only on the rear pickup. Just one of the fancy idiosyncratic features of these instruments. Both pickups on full blast it's a tone feast - snappy, fat, hifi tone. With the low action a bit of clank is never far away and rick-esque tones can be had. One of my fave sounds is the rear pickup soloed with a bit of a boost from the Q filter in the lower mids. It's the tightest choppy nasal funk sound ever. Digging in sounds so smooth and 'party' that sometimes I just sit and play the same groove for hours! The finish as you can see is a bit worn in places; there's a few cracks in the varnish but none of which have grown in my ownership. The one where the fingerboard meets the body is common and seen on all these basses. I've stuck a big round transparent sticker on it to prevent my nail clipping it when slapping. The area around the controls has 'bubbled' slightly, for want of a better word - again, seen on all of these but structurally sound with no ill effect. The bridge is thru-body and a bit of a beast - easy to adjust and 18mm spacing. The shape of the body is just my favourite of all my instruments. It's contoured really nicely, balances perfectly and has lots of little details that you have to notice close up. So, I'm sad to have to list it but changes are afoot here at ped towers and I'm keeping a 4,5 and piccolo bass. I'll want your word that if you sell it on again you'll let me know first, though!! Please ask if you need any other details. I'm in York and really flexible with delivery - I can meet you in London, Oxford, along the M1... halfway to anywhere, really. Much rather that than post it. Comes with a fully fitted, highly sought after case. Serial number is 093 making it a 1986 bass (15th December)> Very unusual to see in the gloss finish! Weight - 4.4kg approx (kitchen scale)2 points -
Pyrotechnics, that's what audiences want, pyrotechnics.2 points
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Very accurate playing, good technique, and great tone.2 points
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And I thought naively that British people had a great sense of humour. What to me is really misogynistic (this is the right word) is the term "female". That really hurts my senses. The girl is playing the tune very well, with the accents very precisely put, she has a wonderful smile, and furthermore she is having great fun. What else would you ask ?2 points
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Blimey. I’ve known about this for a few weeks and completely missed the thread. Astonishing work @Andyjr15152 points
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Took the words right out of my mouth Next one - the stop tail - is a bit more tricky. I'm out of action the next couple of days so it may need to wait until Friday. We'll see what the next hour yields.2 points
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I suspect that a fingering a blind audience would result in more questions than answers, probably conducted under caution in the local police station!2 points
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And now my attention turns to the top. This is one of the tricky bits - making sure the three holes for the stoptail, bridge and pickup are square, tight and in the right place. For the pickup, I needed to make sure it line up with the previous body rout. Back to the 'press a fingernail round on a piece of paper' trick For rectangular chambers, nowadays I always start with the corners - I find it much easier to get these in exactly the right place... Then, after hogging out with a forstner, I stuck some straight edges around and used a trimmer bit on the router. To my admitted surprise, it fits!: I may use the same technique for the bridge block. For the stoptail, I'm probably going to have to cut a proper template...2 points
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Forgive me father for I have sinned...it’s been 46 days since I purchased any bass gear....until today. Reset the clock. There’s a Status Series 2 incoooommmmmmmmmming 😃😃😃😃😃😃2 points
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Basically did nothing last week other than a bit of noodling and playing along to some jam tracks. Got back into it today with some reading. What I'd done before must have bedded in because I'm way better and was able to just sight read my way through the new exercises. Onto Chapter 4 in the book now.2 points
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- so maybe at the next Bass Bash, instead of a range of basses there should be just ONE bass - but with half a dozen different competent bass players all playing the same line on it - maybe some standard like a Motown or Stevie Wonder line - then we'll see how much difference there can be just between fingers...2 points
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Betteridge's law of headlines is an adage that states: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no." I had to look that up It's all in the fingers? Well that's metaphorical fingers surely, it's fingers plus everything between the ears and the fingers including the years of practice. It's going to be pretty obvious that someone playing a poorly set up cheap bass with a warped neck and twenty year old strings through an underpowered 1x15 combo is going to sound different to someone playing a nicely set up £2,000 bass played through top equipment. At some point the shortcomings might be enough to make me sound better than someone who actually knows their way around the fretboard. Most of us work somewhere in the middle though where the differences aren't so obvious, I doubt that anyone other than the bassist is going to notice the difference between a top range Squier P bass and a mid range Fender, or if we go for a 2x10 over a couple of 12's. As to whether it matters, well of course it does, it may not be obvious to everyone in the room but would my band sound better if Flea, James Jamerson or Victor Wooten replaced me, of course they would. Everything we do affects what the rest of the band play so the accumulated effects are far greater than just how good is our timing or was that an interesting fill. Just you and the drummer working well together will get most people in the audience talking about how tight the band sounds, and probably get more of them up dancing. The audience though is made up of individuals, often in different stages of inebriation. I've rarely played a pub and not had at least one person come up and say they are a musician, There are people there who love music and appreciate it well done and others who are just out to have fun in a busy pub and their levels of appreciation are going to vary. The psychology of groups is interesting and my guess is that the difference between a great gig and an ordinary one is quite slight. Carrying an extra four or five people with your performance will create an atmosphere the rest of the room will pick up on, so it pays us to care about the details. I know nothing about acting but when a moment or a delivered line stands out in a play or a film I suspect it's because all the people in the room at the time from lighting engineer to actor got their bits of detail right. We have to care about the bits we can control and I suspect it's the human condition in all walks of life, we all have an inner nerd and we should be proud of it.2 points
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Hello everyone, Christine here. I'm still lazing around on the beach. It's raining in Wales, so I'll come back and continue next summer.2 points
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Pretty girls and music, eh? I haven't watched the video, but I'm sure she's very good. I've recently been having a smoking hot girl coming down to a blues night, both beautiful and vivacious, was an OK singer but she got lots of praise from punters because, well, you know. She was really keen to sing Uptown Funk, which I told her wasn't going to happen as it is a blues night after all. Boy did the mood change- stropped out, I got it in the neck, and she has never returned. I believe that may have been the first time a middle age man said 'no' to her.2 points
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Ultimately, on the poweramp side, just do your diligence and read up as much as you can. Everyone will have differing opinions. Personally, I liked the Matrix because, claimed output wattage aside, it was lightweight (9lbs), it fitted into a short Gator rack and looked aesthetically pleasing. It's been a fantastic piece of kit (until now!), run for thousands of hours, so probably something has just worn out.2 points
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I genuinely think I am missing the point of this pedal. If you need to play something a semitone lower, just play it a semitone lower or if your using open strings, tune to Eb and then adjust for the other songs. Failing that, tune one bass down and keep one standard? I wouldn’t want to rely on a pedal to tune down for me.2 points
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Right, here we go. I suppose this will show the pros and cons of this type of set up. I bought a GED2112 on release last and have run it (amongst other pre-amps) into a Matrix GT1000FX power amp and then onto a choice of enclosures - a Barefaced Big One or (more currently) a pair of Aguilar SL112s. (The Aguilars just give me the option to run the whole rig in either stereo/ dual-channel mode, mono/parallel or mono/bridged; daisy chaining the cabinets to effectively give me a 4ohm mono 2x12 set up.) Initially, I did the external jump lead patch thing on the GED (see elsewhere) so the unit would output in mono and also allowing me to just keep it simple by bridging the poweramp for more output power. The external patch which worked fine aside from the smallish issue that a couple of the knobs on the facia didn't do what they were supposed to, but irrespective, it sounded fine and it was easily reversible should the need require. About a week ago, I did the internal hack and switched the jumpers, which has been fine; the deep and drive channels combine to output in mono. I also did the bypass-jumper as well...this allows true bypass of the GED allowing you to use other other pre-stages in line. By some curious twist of fate, I turned my power amp on this morning and it's playing up. Damn! It's been blummin' bomb-proof for five years. Oh, pink torpedo!2 points
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Can't see it being much of a problem for us Europeans,. Both Guitar Center and Musician's Friend block IP addresses from the EU in case we sue them for selling our details to tele-marketers 😁2 points
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Capacitors of whatever value present a higher impedance to lower frequencies than higher frequencies - the impedance doubles when the frequency halves. To give you some idea of values, at 100Hz (somewhere round E, 2nd fret of D string, with apologies for any inaccuracy) 10nF would be an impedance of 160k, and 100nF would be a tenth of that. So imagine a resistor of 320k replacing the 10nF capacitor when you're playing bottom E, 160k when you're playing an octave up, and 80k another octave up, and you'll see how the circuit behaves.2 points
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I can even imagine what @eude was thinking. I'll bet he was thinking : "OK clever clogs Andyjr1515. So you can build 6 string electrics and you can build dreadnought acoustics but they are - well - NOT BASSES! And, yes, admittedly you've made a bass or two and you've modded a few. BUT I BET YOU CAN'T SORT THIS ONE!!! Oh, and before you say you can, did you know it's a VI? Bet you've never done one of THOSE!" I'll let @eude fill in the background but the challenge is to take this body: And put a shortscale neck on it and a Warwick two-part bridge. "Oh...and did I mention the b****y big hole through the body?" "Oh - and the neck pocket might not be the right size for a VI neck but I'm sure a clever clogs like you will be able to sort THOSE trifling details!" So what could I do but accept the challenge! Besides, I've only got my reputation to lose. @eude has this rather nice bass carve to lose1 point
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Geoff Chalmers is of course excellent and so is Laurent Pierce as well as a whole host of YT Tutors, but they can't correct you when you are starting out, they can't adjust you or advise you to try something different if it isn't working - they can't provide you with feedback etc. They do provide great learning material, but in between it would be better to have the individual advice of a tutor. Good Luck!1 point
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had mine replaced in my SMX GP12 AH250 about 6 months ago1 point
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Love it. I was a little worried about the chrome hardware, being a lover of black hardware for many many years, but it's going to look exquisite! Eude1 point
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Think how cheap it will be 1st jan 2020 Si 😂1 point
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Do you? You shouldn't. Shame on you. And, by the way, there is no misogyny here. Have a nice day.1 point
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1. "Whatever bass you play, you'll sound like you'' / ''It's all in the fingers'' For me I think its down to technique, approach, personality and this then comes out in your fingers, regardless of how you play. Some have a light touch, some dig in, some brush the strings etc. We all have our own style and this comes out in our playing. Another basschat member popped round my house to collect a bass once. We spent an hour or so talking and playing the various basses I own. One thing that came out of it was how I played. When the other person played one of my basses, I thought it sounded really good. Then when I played, it was very evident the difference in my style and technique. My notes were more balanced, even in volume, attack and sustain and generally a lot smoother. The other person, played with more urgency and attack. No way was better than the other and maybe tonally very similar but the output was evidently different. 2. "It doesn't matter what you play (gear wise), the audience won't be able to tell the difference" With the exception of musicians in the audience or music lovers, I think the overall package is more important. Did the band sound good, were they tight, were they entertaining, did I like them and feel engaged. Perhaps the only musician who will come under the spotlight more will be the singer because this is who the average punter is focusing on, the rest is as I say, did the music sound good, did they entertainment. They will go away thinking, the band were good, average or terrible. This can be down to the sound being poor, the band playing terrible or just not liking the music. The details of did the bass tone sound amazing, did the snare sound epic and the guitar solos make you cry are less critical with maybe the exception to the singer as the overall sound is the deciding factor. That's my thoughts on the subject1 point
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Written in the stars this!!!!1 point
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I forgot to add my fifth... Super J5 with J-Retro Deluxe. (I've equipped the SJ4 with the same preamp too...)1 point
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Anyone mentioned Tina Weymouth? My favourite player, and the reason I started playing in the first place. Anyone who can hold it down with two notes is alright with me.1 point
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Hi folks This arrived today finally after a Paypal delay (didn't realise the payment would go as an e-cheque which took ages to clear!) Anyway after lots of emails forward and back with BCer @bassvid75 I finally decided to take the plunge and purchase this bass. I have always loved the 'Smith sound' which I would describe as very 'hifi' with very plummy mids and compressed treble. It's a beautiful sound that cuts right through any mix. Unfortunately Smith basses are quite hard to get hold of in the UK - I don't know if there's a UK distributor now but I know there wasn't for some time, making second hand the only option. Most of my basses have been bought 'unseen' and have been a bit of a gamble, this one is no exception. It came from Portugal and although I was excited I was also nervous having not played it. All the time Bassvid was saying how great the bass is, that the neck is totally flat and the truss rod hasn't been adjusted for seven years. As a graphite neck enthusiast this was an important factor. Well, what can I say - right out of the (huge and well packed) box, the teardrop case was thrown open and the bass was finally exposed to the UK sunshine. Right out of the case it played fantastically. Bassvid said it had the original Smith strings and needed a battery, so I put one in and slapped a new set of Elixirs on it, the strings I use on all my basses. I don't have the correct allen key for the bridge saddles so I thought I'd give it a play and adjust it all later, but it's set up almost exactly as I'd like already, as bassvid said it would be! Super low. If you don't know these basses, it's hard to describe what they feel like; the body is really thin and rounded. They feel amazing. The pickups are great, they have always reminded me of a chesterfield sofa for some reason. It's got a 2 band EQ which is, according to enthusiasts, clearer and more sparkly than the 5 knob version. I can't say i've been able to compare but the previous owner had several. The top is Koa and it has all the Smith in house hardware, including aluminium cover plate and truss rod cover. Recessed Dunlop strap locks and that fantastic hand shaped brass nut. Here's what a Smith sounds like (not me playing lol) This guy demonstrates one here, which sounds bang on - skip ahead if you want to hear some nice really simple fat grooves and a bit of B string. Here are my piccies, light not very good today but hopefully you can see it OK! Also there's a bonus pic of Sybil.1 point
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Remember my almost endless list, have owned around 200 basses and still have 11. They all sound different of course, but not when I play them. It's a hard to admit fact : you'll always have the same sound whatever bass you will play and I'm not speaking of tweaking the amp sound, I'm speaking of what gets out the bass when you play. That's why you are human and not a robot. Make a simple experiment with a fellow bassist, play a bass at a precise position where both of you hear (quite) the same sound and then let your pal do the same : there will be a huge difference because you have both your inner sound that you'll always tend to hear, which is affected by endless factors including your technique, of course, and even weirder ones like education and what you eat...1 point
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I had an SMX rig for several years, made up of a 250 watt 1215 combo and 1153 cab and I could never get a sound out of it that I was happy with. Unfortunately I was not in the position to be able to replace it until about 10 years or so after I'd bought it so I had to live with it. A lot of guys on here love the Trace sound, but I could never get it to work for me. I found that it was gutless and under-powered and couldn't deliver any bass or mid frequencies with any conviction, in my experience. Whatever you did with it - and there are a ton of tone shaping options on the SMX - there was always that ice-pick top end thing going on that I just could not get rid of whatever I did with it. Trace gear has a reputation for being punchy and powerful, but my rig was neither. On a good night you could get a mediocre sound out of it, the rest of the time it was just top end clank and not much else. I grew to hate it with a passion. After about 10 years or so the pre-amp developed a fault and I ended up using an original Bass POD as a pre-amp going straight into the effects loop return and all the missing low end and mids were suddenly available and that omnipresent sharpness to the treble was gone. And as for Trace watt's being twice as loud as everyone else's, err, no, not in my experience they're not. Likewise I'm not trying to derail the thread into a Trace bashing fest, but if you are struggling to get a sound out of it that you are happy with, as I did, then maybe try using an external pre-amp pedal with it? Or even ditching it in favour of another amp altogether if that is an option?1 point
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Over here, the marketplace is way different to the US; we don't have chains like Guitar Center, Sam Ash (or similar), the UK marketplace is a handful of stores that combine mail-order and regular store fronts (Andertons, Guitar & Keyboard Centre (GAK)). A load of people would also consider Thomann in Germany for large orders. The main strings-only business is going to be Strings Direct - they used to be exclusively strings, but have branched out into parts and peripherals. I guess that any business trying to get product into these stores will probably result in abject failure - issues with minimum stocking requirements, sale or return, driving down of selling-in prices - plus bassists (at least) are fairly fickle; I think we've all gone through a ton of strings to find the ones that are ideal for us on a personal basis; don't get me wrong; I really like SITs, but it's taken me years to get to the point of playing Elixirs. The main issue you're going to get is the think globally thing. It's all well and good saying go to Amazon.com or buy direct from you, but you need to factor in shipping costs and the waiting time for stuff to arrive from the US...these are issues when you need string tomorrow, so you'll just resort to buying whatever there is available. There's always going to be this nagging doubt of actually whether the strings will make it here as well. We have a lot of high profile players on the forum, guys who are gigging constantly, guys who are doing studio projects (that'll be me), guy who have a ton of experience and some influence. I'd say a good deal of these guys haven't actually heard of SIT and are using the big brands (D'Addario, Rotosounds, Elites, Ernie Ball etc.). Maybe consider trying to win these guys over. Send some over and get a British opinion. Start the ball rolling.1 point
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Really nice, reminds me of a bass gag: Guy walked into the rehearsal and says to the bassist, "lovely looking bass, what are all the knobs for?" "Well, one plays guitar, one plays drums....." Glwts!1 point -
Black Jupiter..1 point
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my newest blackie! plus, i changed things up with my current Mk11 point
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