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Travelled to Moffat on Thursday to collect this beauty. Forgive the crappy pic but proof that its mine, all mine! I’ll take some more in natural light after Christmas Spent an enjoyable time with Alan talking bass and other stuff and got to see his workshop. It was a 5+ hour round trip but well worth it to get the opportunity to shake the hand of the fellow who makes these beautiful instruments. Just starting to get my head round the DFM preamp. The palette of tones available is huge.

About an hour ago through gumtree I picked up this little beauty, a decent gig bag, a fender cable, and a leather strap (a cheapo one, but still...) all for only £200. There's not a mark on it, not even on the protective plastic which is still on the scratchplate. Just put on an old set of flats that I've had sat in the cupboard for a while, and OMG this thing sounds flipping amazing.

Last week I decided to finally put the Labella flat wound strings that I had bought almost 2 years ago on to my Yamaha BB 1200. You can imagine just how gutted I was when the A-string broke as I was putting the strings on. Finding a single replacement string was clearly highly unlikely so this would render the whole set as useless or at least mean that I would have to buy a new set and have three spares. On the off-chance that they might be able to help me I wrote an email to Thomann.I heard nothing back for several days and thought, “oh well tough luck”. Imagine my surprise when, four working days later, I received a single replacement A-string in the post and that during the Christmas rush. Many thanks to those nice people at customer service at thomann. Merry Christmas XXX.

That's step up from my ability, do you undertake commissions?

So let me think... 'A' list session player with a colossal live and studio CV spanning mainstream pop to the left field, hip-hop originator, industrial dub legend who has worked with Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger, James Brown, Madonna, and George Clinton. 'Not a great player'? Spare me.

There's a huge difference between picking up a bass at 60, after a 30-year break, and picking up a bass for the first time at 60, 45 years after your mother beat it into your head that you would never be able to play. I desperately resent and regret the 45 wasted years. The important thing is that I've defeated the "you will never be able to do this" demons and I am actually now playing bass. The demons are still there - I grabbed the chance to play in the jam at Carlisle Blues Festival a couple of months ago with two of the best blues singers in the UK, Connie Lush and Kaz Hawkins, and pretty much turned to jelly. Held down a basic 12-bar, which was enough - and far more than I would have dared to dream for most of my life. It's too late for some of the dreams, but it's not too late to achieve some of them. Go for it.

Makes me miss my 55. Just shouldn’t have sold it. i saw this in PMT yesterday and had a very strong desire to whip out the credit card

It was actually Monday but I've been busy The other week @Billy Apple had 2 Wishbasses up for sale and I've hankered after a Wishbass for a while. If you're unaware of Wishbass they're made in the US by Steve Wishnevsky,he's quite a character With strong beliefs on bass building his motto is "paintbrushes for musicians, some think this just means tools to make music ! Personally I think it means " you add the colour". Steve uses locally sourced timber,doesn't believe in truss rods,isn't keen on frets,doesn't do fancy finishes and offers a very limited choice in pickups.Definitely not the man to see for your dream fanned fret ERB. He also charges $100 per string !! That's right a 5 strng will cost $500,check ebay as he often has sales on. So strong beliefs and limited choices. What does that get you ? For a start,and I'm sure Billy will agree, you don't get some refined instrument with a finish shined on the thighs of dusky maidens You get a bass in it's rawest form. Mainly wood, strings and a pickup.No tone control,Steve's also not keen on active preamp.It'll have rough patches,unfilled holes,splits packed with filler,a corian nut & bridge. Sounds terrible right ? Why would anyone buy something cobbled together in somebody's shed,there was a fire couple of year back destroyed the shed so Steve's in a new workshop now. So why buy one ? Cause they're great Just you and a bass.They have really thick necks but strangely it's comfortable. The maple weighs 6.5lb and the bloodwood 8.5lb. I've never owned a single cut before and reckon I'm off to a good start. They have the "mwah" and sustain thing going on. Not sure what Billy strung the bloodwood with but the maple now has La Bella flats. I'm well chuffed

I stumbled into that said Yamaha shop in London today, ended up playing the P34 and the 2024x, both were really good. I liked the neck on the P34 more but the 2024x sounded nicer (albeit on a smallish hartke, and not played in anger). Anyway, I am not in a position at the moment to be buying such expensive instruments but if you'd like one, the man wanted to sell me the P34 300 quid less than the shop price (which I think was GBP1664 so say GBP1350, and that's with set-up and a hardcase), 3TSB, and a black 2024x for GBP1950 (I think the RRP is around the 3k mark ...). Thought I should put it out there as these seem like good deals for these brand new, if Santa does not get you what you wanted this year, well, here's a way to make it right PS. Merry Christmas everyone!

Don't have it now unfortunately 😥

That’s as nice as twa hoat pehs, so it is.

If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. thats why I love Doug, and Billy, Les, Stu, etc..

Looks great, I always fancied an early Precision, or an affordable copy of one, anyway!

I've fancied one of those for a long time. It's one of those Squier models that I suspect got discontinued for being a little bit 'too' nice.

Nice! Treated myself to the fiesta red classic vibe precision a while ago - fantastic sound and feel 😀

@kodiakblair: You've already got your eye on that neck, Davie??

Yep, very nice playing and great tone. Really like that arrangement!

Heard one of these in action last time I was at Bass Direct and was very impressed with the tone coming out of it - http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Eich_110XS.html

Definitely going to have a go at one of these. A finished, painted, lightweight P body for £90? Plus a free neck and a few bits and bobs to move on? Bargain!

Grumpy ‘musicians’ who are keen to compartmentalise? 😂 i’m only joshing, of course. Merry Christmas everyone.

If they had made it larger it could no longer be called an Elf. The next size up would have to be a Gnome, according to my extensive knowledge and research of Ben and Holly on CBEEBIES. Trace Elliot Gnome? No way José. Marketing would never allow such design principles to win through...

I hope all your stockings are full of cool gear and job bookings.

A small votive bust of Laura Kuenssberg made of earwax.

Get your coat. And don’t let the DAW hit you on the way out.

I've asked our dog to have a look at the pic to see if she could spot anything. She gave me this look: That will be a no then.

So within Reason it's not Logic al to get Pro without a Mac and I'll be just fine with Reaper if that's what I sow and besides that should be no less of a Cakewalk than Cubase - everyone agreed? In which case that's settled then!

That's not a 6/8, but a swing or shuffle feel. That's not the same thing. The pattern you hear in both songs is 1/8 rest followed by 7 8th notes, in swing feel

Sounded lots better through headphones but I'm sure Trudie Styler was shaking ( not nodding) her head to the music. Thing is if Sting was American he'd be whopping and hollering all the way through and we'd all think 'what a sport' Instead he shows a natural reserve and gets castigated! Paradoxically when Annie Lennox does her tribute to him, he looks genuinely touched. When Gregory Porter totally aces 'It's Probably Me' you can tell he recognises a great vocal performance. Trudie is well up for Greg too...

Well they were designed by Dave Green, and I suspect they do little more than final assembly being the size they are. I would think all the amp manufacture is sub contracted out, it certainly was by Trace Elliot back in the late 90s / early 00s

Comments from others above are very helpful - make sure your outputs are connected correctly, using pfl (if the mixer has one) to set initial levels, etc. Assuming that is the case, it's important to set the gain structure correctly. You have three stages of gain in a mixer - the input gain, the channel fader and the output faders. Each stage feeds through to the next and they must be balanced to each other and not over driven. A quick and easy way to get started is to begin with all turned fully down. Then set the main outputs at around -5db (keep the power amps feeding the main system and the monitors off at this stage) and the channel faders at 0db. Whilst someone sings into each mic/plays each instrument, slowly raise the input gain until the signal lights show at around 0db, or maybe -+3db on peaks (allow for the fact that people sing/play more gently when sound-checking than they do when the gig is underway) and adjust the eq to suit. It helps to do this on headphones. Then set your monitor levels. If you are using monitors, roll the bass end off quite hard - that is a frequent cause of feedback (and you don't need heavy bass in monitors - you can hear plenty of it from the room normally). Once you are happy, raise the gain on the power amps feeding the main PA until the overall level is as desired. That should leave plenty of headroom and allow you to increase the output faders if you wish to raise the overall level during the gig, or individual channel faders if you want to hear more of a particular singer or instrument, without running into feedback issues. Hope this helps.

I'd avoid any compression on the MG unless you really know what you are doing. They really increase the likelihood of getting feedback, especially if they are used on the vocal mics. I only use compression on the kick drum. Turn them all right down to zero before you start.

Thread resurrection. I finally took the plunge and bought the Stingray last week. Loving it so far. :-)

This is very similar to one of the (many) I am contemplating next year! Very nice sir, great Christmas present to yourself 👍🏻

We have 2 left this year - Saturday and NYE - and that'll take us to 48. Next year we have 48 confirmed and a few waiting in the wings. The good thing is that every single one is one we all love doing, we've dropped the shaky ones, the ones that don't promote or have an indifferent crowd and the smaller venues that are a bit of a squeeze. Oh and its just the one band - I don't have time for anything else. Its been a pivotal year for us

If you're getting good money, hiring a good sound engineer is the best way to sweeten your FOH sound

Also, if using active speakers with a mic/line switch, make sure it is switched appropriately. With regard to the green lights on a channel, memember that a mixer is summing all the channels... so that if all your channels are registering near 0, by the time they are summed at the LR, they could send the main output into clipping... so be careful where your LR is placed. In other words, don't push that LR too hard.

... and if you don't have any PFL buttons down, then the monitor output mirrors the main output (or a group output, on the bigger MGs). So definitely don't use it for monitor wedges! Use one of the aux sends instead.

Metallica - And Justice For All. So much discussion about the bass on this one.

The drummer or the dog? I can't eat rice - I'm basmatic.

I think Janek Gwizdala summed it up nicely when he pointed out that what he's 'famous' for is what he spends about 5% of the set doing. Nobody makes a video of you paying straight eights. This is true for pretty much every great player.

Yep sounds good bro. Dont put this in the compressor thread or effects forum though, one side will praise you for using nothing, the other half will suggest what you should have used....!

Two pics One is 1969 the other is 2017. Why stop Blue

Reported it - didnt want people scammed.

I just go Bass > BDI-21 > Audio Interface > Computer > Studio Monitors. Sounds great. Don't need a home amp. I do have GAS for something like a Selmer Treble 'N' Bass 50 for gigs, though.

Bear in mind a TM4 doesn't sound much like a Stingray due to the MM pickup being quite a bit close to the bridge. But the answer should be play both and get the one that sounds and feels best! You can play the 'Ray in store, was your friend's Sandberg a TM4 so you can compare?

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1328794967' post='1532735'] This is my only issue with Bergantino descriptions. To be honest, if you aren't that great a player, you will know from any amp/cabinet. Yes, tube distortion and compression can cover it up, but to be honest, and fairly clean solid state amp and a cab with a tweeter will show the player they need to brush up. I think that MIGHT be what puts some people off from the start. They see a somewhat 'over muso' type description that comes across quite patronising and assumes the good ol' rock n roll pick players playing through Ampeg rigs shouldn't try Berg for fear of showing bad technique. Not so. As with most equipment/vehicles/etc, brands can also bring across 'brand snobbery', which really doesn't feel comfortable with me. This isn't aimed at any posters here by the way, its just something I've noticed with brands and this failry new 'trend' of ultra clean/almost hi-fi like tone. [/quote] I think you misinterpret what I meant then. The first few times I played with the ae410 in a band setting it cut/punched through so much better than the kit it replaced that it became clear that in that setting I was rustier than I thought. I am not making this up, the drummer was the person who noticed the most, great cab, your playing isnt as good as I remember (b***er!). This was in a very old school blues orientated band, no muso or brand snobbery allowed through that door at all! This is not a bad thing at all, in fact its absolutely the opposite, its very similar to laying down tracks in the studio the first time, all of a sudden you can really hear what you've played, and to your horror all the crud and string noise, and every timing glitch that was buried in the sheer volume of the live performance is no totally apparent. And you need to fix it without losing the energy. After a couple of months of regular playing with a great cab you will play tighter since you can hear the mistakes as well as the good bits more clearly. However there is no doubt in my mind that there are a lot of cabs out there that are very hard to hear in a mix (old Hartke ones are a standout for sheer pantsness IME), leading you to belieev you are nailing it when in reality flailing around it is a more accurate description. As you say any really good clean cab will give you some of that, but the Berg really showed up issues more than anything else I've used. I like and rate the BF S12T because it gives this kind of clarity and sense of what you are really doing as well. Anyone deciding they dont want this can go and get something else, but they will be found out eventually