bassbiscuits

[quote name='MrDaveTheBass' timestamp='1469532186' post='3099012'] I agree - Dave Anderson was amazing (as were the rest of the Collective) - I'm envious - he looks like a joy to play with. I did catch some of your set - very nice! It was well timed - a perfect mellow vibe for a lazy and slightly hungover Sunday morning. [/quote] Cool! Yeah Dave's immense, and a good lad too. I'd have liked to hear that gig. Glad you liked the Kirkland Turn stuff too - I had the genius idea of playing barefoot but got filthy feet in return.

I love the sound of an 8x10 - but they are an absolute ball ache to transport anywhere, and unless you've got roadies/parents/a large estate car, you'll probably get as fed up as I did lugging a cab the size and weight of a fridge to and from each gig. I swapped mine for an Aguilar GS410 - half the size, but packs serious punch and huge volume too, so a much more user-friendly alternative. I did a gig this weekend which had an Ampeg 8x10 cab and an Orange Ad200 head. Amazing sound, but no way would i want to be dragging that round.

Cool - the drummer in my covers band ( Dave Anderson ) is their drummer - he's brilliant too. Makes my life easy playing with him. I didn't get to see Horace Panter's set tho as I had my little boy in tow and we'd gone home by then. Did you happen to see the Kirkland Turn in the afternoon outside? I was playing bass in that too. Great little festival!

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1469438024' post='3098197'] Good move. Try your current strings with some foam under them when you're next recording. That might deaden them to the right point that you don't need flats at all. [/quote] Good call - I'll venture down that route and see how it pans out. Still got my Jack Casady with flats on too. I've got an ongoing shoulder injury, so the old precision with nickels on is about the lightest weight all round bass i've got at the moment (3.8kg) so I might as well keep it as versatile as poss for the foreseeable future.

I have to admit....i bottled it and put nickel round wounds back on my bass for this weekend's festival gig, and it sounded lovely thru the supplied Orange/Ampeg set up. I'll keep the flats for recording, which i'll be doing shortly with the very same band. Horses for courses and all that kettle of fish...

Played a gig this afternoon at a local music festival in Leicester called Simon Says, headlined by the Wonderstuff. We were on the larger of two outdoor stages mid afternoon. It's the most fun, chilled gig I've ever played. A few hundred people scattered on the grass enjoying the sunshine, including all our various wives, girlfriends, toddlers etc. We only had a 30 minute slot as a fairly lowly, but well thought of, originals band, but managed to do a seven song set, six of which were brand new tunes we've been working on. It went down a storm! The supplied back line was an ampeg 8x10 cab and a big Orange valve head (AD200?) which was the best bass sound I've ever had live (paired with my 1970 P bass for sonic bliss) I bought into the vibe by playing barefoot with painted toenails, courtesy of my missus. What an absolutely cool day out.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1469266824' post='3097022'] Take the flats to a rehearsal and ask the band what they think of the difference. Maybe your band just need the dynamics of rounds. [/quote] I did on Thursday and they said they loved both sounds doh! Suppose that keeps it simple. That Jack Casady bass in the vid has TI flats on it already

Just in the interests of sharing, here's me with the band I'm talking about. https://youtu.be/7rQ2om1XkKI

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1469196035' post='3096530'] I'd say there is no reason that rig can't work fine and cut through nicely. Whether it would be to everyone's liking is a separate matter. A Fender with flats and with a pick is very common on 1960s pop recordings with session bassists such as (in the US) Carol Kaye, Joe Osborn, and (in the UK) John Paul Jones, Russ Stableford etc. Again there's no reason it can't work fine - but liking it might be a different matter. Bass particularly up front from 2.15 and following ... [media]http://youtu.be/06X5HYynP5E[/media] [/quote] Wow that is a good bass sound and not far removed from what I've got. Really stands out in the mix. Right - you've convinced me to keep on trying with the flats! I've got a festival gig tomorrow with the band I mentioned so gonna try it out there.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1469195314' post='3096522'] Yes. Try to forget about the rounds/flats issue, just play your bass and see how it goes. If the flats are still bugging you after a reasonable time then obviously they're not for you. Nothing wrong with that, we try new things, we like them (or not) and move on. [/quote] Aye - wise words mate.

Cheers folks - food for thought here. You're right tho - I've been playing rounds since i started in 1986, so i'm really used to the way they respond. Only the last year or so have I dabbled with flats. Of the Rotos, TI's and La Bella flats, i think the La Bella's most suit what i want from feel and finger style sound. If there's nothing daft i've missed, then presumably playing them more to get used to them is the answer. My gear is all pretty good, my playing is decent, so just down to me to make it all work!

It's primarily for a band with drums, a jangly guitar and lots of harmony vocals, so my thinking was that flats would be better for a smooth, distinct bass tone underlying it all, rather than the zing of rounds getting lost among all the other mid and high frequency sounds already. But on the other hand, i'm finding rounds just fuller, louder and more dynamic - which is also quite handy when filling out the sparse instrumentation in that band. Flats to me feel/sound a lot more restrained and almost compressed, with less dynamic range when you dig in etc. Maybe it's just me expecting the wrong thing.

Thanks guys I'm finding the flats lovely and fat and smooth with finger style, with nice low end, but with a pick they get a bit shouty and hollow sounding - the 'worse version of rounds' sound i referred to. For reference, I'm using an old 70s precision with La Bella flats, through a LM3 and Aguilar GS410. I know it should sound brilliant. I've recorded with the same bass with Rotosound flats into a desk and it sounded beautiful in the mix. I think i need to play a bit more with them to get more used to how they respond and sound live, and get to really appreciate them.

Apologies from the outset if this is a stupid question, but... Any of you who use both flatwounds and round wounds on different basses - do you find you have to EQ differently depending on which you're using? I've been using round wounds on my basses for years now, but I've recently acquired some flatwounds - a set of TIs and a set of La Bellas, on different basses. I find the rounds too bright for some stuff, and the flats seemed a step in the right direction tonally - played unplugged they sound great. But up against my round wound basses plugged in, the flats just sound like sort of worse versions of my round wound sound, if that makes sense. So am I missing something? Maybe I'm going wrong by just taking the same old approach with my playing, EQ, amps etc - maybe there's something else I need to do to unlock the mysteries of these things and really get a good flatwound sound. Or am I just a die hard round wound user who hasn't realised it yet? Any advice?

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1469044736' post='3095393'] Covers bands play music that the people in the band hate but the punters love. Originals bands play music that the people in the band love but the punters hate. [/quote] Ha ha! Very good

One of my bands is a cover band, but we don't stick religiously to the originals at all - the fun is having plenty of room to explore and communicate between the band members onstage. Obviously some songs lend themselves more to that than others which we tend to play pretty straight. But certainly don't just stick to predictable pub rock standards. I've dabbled with things like Bowie's 'Oh You Pretty Things' and Living Colour's 'Type' before now (thankfully not at the same gig tho...)

It pains me to say it, but the bassline from Barry Manilow's Copacabana is excellent.

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1468931757' post='3094405'] If they practice once a week and gig once a month. For me there has to be about 4 gigs to every one rehearsal at the most. [/quote] This ^ I'm not a fan of rehearsing ever as a rule, and certainly not for covers.

This is my big rig, though i normally use just one head and either cab. Did sound good together tho!

If they're not a gigging band. If they're uninspiring / not very good If you've got different ideas of what commitment is expected for regular practising etc.

That does sound overly restrictive, but as others have said, it'll be bearable to just do the gig, get paid and go home. I did a similar one earlier this summer - we were allowed amps and our own PA but the noise meter was set so low we ended up playing at the same sort of volume i'd play at home. Even people clapping or singing along triggered it. It was ridiculous. I've also done pub gigs where they insist on using the poor quality in-house PA, the (quiet) volume of which is limited from behind the bar, and which just robs you of any dynamics. Take their money, say thanks and chalk it up to experience.