jazzyvee

Did a cracking gig last night with musical youth at the watering hole in perranporth. Good crowd of really good people. Hope we get booked there again.

[quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1453904233' post='2964029'] Great photobomb from the DB, there! [/quote] I've read great things about that takamine acoustic bass. How close do you think it gets to an upright bass sound?

The main problem with large indoor gigs is stage volume which is usually incredibly loud compared to pub sized gigs purely from the monitor mixes and backlines so you might still not even be able to hear the cab behind you clearly even if you get a bigger rig because the engineer will want to keep your rigs volume lower, and give you more in the monitor to reduce spill into the house mix. If like me you wear ear plugs, I recommend you do, you have to resist the temptation to turn the volume up more. If you like the sound of your current rig then I'd suggest using it, I use an 8ohm mesa 1x15 a lot with a 300w walkabout head which gives me maximum of about 160watts and I can hear myself fine. I do tend to put my cab back about 8 feet or so from me so I can so I get a chance to hear some direct sound from it at head level but I think the most important thing is to get a decent mix in your monitors as your priority and your cab will keep the bottom for you. If you get the balance right between the monitor and your cab behind you the sound kind of feels like its surrounding you rather than coming from the back or front and keep some higher mid frequencies in for pitching. I have tried putting the bass cab on a flight case or something to get it closer to head height but I miss the bottom end which is what keeps me connected with the feel of the music.

Here is one based in the USA. http://www.redbubble.com/people/oddmetersam/collections/264001-bass-player-and-other-music-apparel-and-ipad-case?ref=carousel_collection

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Ok took them on a theatre gig last night with Musical Youth. [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Bass Used: Alembic Series I Europa 5 String Bass.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Strings Normally Used: D’addario Pro Steels 45 – 130[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Bass Rig: Peavey TX810 bass cab 1 x Alembic F1-x valve pre-amp, QSC PLX 2402 Stereo Power amplifier.[/font][/color] Everything went superbly well with the strings, the sound was great on stage and from feedback I got from the engineer and some musicians and producers I know in the audience the clarity was excellent all the way down the B-string the notes were as clear as any other string. ( I never have problems with the low B string anyway). The warmer bias of these strings worked well for reggae and gave me the lovely warmth I like and enough crispness to give me note clarity without taking the emphasis off the bottom end. Interestingly on this bass I had to adjust the truss rods slightly to give me clearance on the B string but that was only 0.25mm additional neck relief and about 1/2 mm higher at the bridge. I think I will keep these strings on this bass as they seem more suited to is sound and I use this bass more often for warmer sounding music. Now it's a matter of seeing how long they keep the tone that I like. Thanks D'addario for the opportunity to try the strings and please feel free to send me any other strings you want beta testing in the future especially any stainless steel or coated strings.

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1455467713' post='2979331'] Yeah...the reason I was boiling them was because they sounded like flats instead of rounds. The moment a string loses its zing I feel the need to replace it [/quote] I've never boiled strings but I too feel the need to change strings when they lose their zing.

[size=4]We are playing in Birmingham this evening for the album launch. It's at The Crossing, based in South & City College Birmingham, High street Deritend, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5SU.[/size] [size=4][email protected][/size] [size=4]Doors open at 19:30, gig starts at 21:00[/size] [size=4]Entry is completely free and it's being filmed by ITV for a documentary on the band due to air sometime in April.[/size]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1451915442' post='2944507'] Gross. I would suggest Elixir Nanoweb coated strings. More expensive but they last longer. [/quote] Agreed

When the guitarist tells you to turn your sound down. [url="https://youtu.be/2K869itz2Ww"]https://youtu.be/2K869itz2Ww[/url]

I think if the bass looked too worn out and tired I'd get it refinished as long as it wasn't too expensive to do.

I had a rehearsal session with Musical Youth today today and had previously transferred the NYXL strings to my Series I 5 string alembic as it has a much warmer sound due to the pickups being closer to the end of the neck. So I was hoping that they would sound much more at home in for reggae. I was right they seem more suited to that sound that what I'd used them on before. The bottom end is much richer warmer and has a great punch on the E and A strings but less punchy on the B string even though the bottom end is more pronounced. We rattled off a few Bob Marley songs, some sugar minot, Pablo Gadd and others and I was more than happy with the sound of these strings. Regardless of the music I'm playing I am not happy unless I can hear absolute clarity from all the notes whether it is a heavy dub reggae sound or a smooth clean crisp tone like Stanley Clarke uses. I like to hear all the notes being played not a woolly indistinct bass sound which is why I tend to use brighter strings and get rid of them when they lose that clean definition. I'm really pleased that these are doing that in the reggae context. Time will tell how well these strings keep their current tone. I have a theatre gig on Saturday for our album launch so that will be the real test of their tone.

[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1433513122' post='2791740'] I have different instruments for different bands, due to different repertoire. So at home, depending on which gig is upcoming, I could have any or all of them out at the same time. [/quote] Pretty much the same thing I do, I decide what bass is best suited to the next gig then that is usually the one I do all my practicing for that gig.

I had the same happen on my boss PSU years back on my guitar step and since it was a plastic earth prong, it had no electrical function. It was only there to move to the safety shutter so that the live and neutral can be exposed and allow the plug will go in. What I did was got a short extension lead and plugged in the psu after by moving the shutter in the earth socket on the extension with a piece of hard plastic, then taped the PSU in place so stays put. Be careful not to cover any vents for cooling. It's still there in my effects board and no problems.

I have the same problem with my Mesa Boogie walkabout head on top of their walkabout cabs. To stop it, Gaffa Tape is your friend.

Yes, about 13 years ago I bought a fretless electric guitar a Vigier Surfeiter from Cash Converters. Absolutely mint condition and I got it for a fraction of the price because it had been in the shop for about 6 months and I managed to convince the shop that it is such an unusual instrument it would be hard for them to sell if they didn't sell it to me. Anyway I then contacted Vigier via email with the serial number to find out more about the guitar. The response I got back was that the guitar was a pre-release prototype and belonged to them, they had loaned it to a well known guitarist, whom I shall not name, but lets say he was guitarist in a major british classic rock band and he did not return it to them. They told me to ship it back to the factory in France. I decided to contact the police to find out what the situation is. They told me that since I bought the guitar in good faith at a shop I should contact the company who claims it is their instrument and tell them that since the guitar has not been reported to the police as stolen, then as far as they are concerned no crime has been committed and if they wanted to pursue the matter further they should instigate court proceedings. I emailed them the findings and I never heard anything back from them, not even an acknowledgement of the email. I think if they had proved ownership I'd return it only if I was going to be refunded on my outlay from the shop I bought it from. But in my case the company did not take any steps to prove their ownership of the instrument nor did they contact the Cash Converters store to determine where the guitar came from.

Yes....... I can see me not bothering to participate as many of the same subjects keep repeating especially the volatile subjects with no progression. When I joined I'd recently taken up playing bass after playing guitar for years and because I only had experience of one brand of bass, I wanted to find out more about the business of bass and widen my knowledge about other brands of bass. After a while I realised I wasn't finding much for me here and and started participating and reading less and less. Recently I have been reading more again, the humour and banter is good but I can't see it being something I will stick with for an extended period of time.

I use 5 string bass most of the time even though most of what I do could adequately be covered on a 4 string. I really like the choice of being able to use the warmer tones of the E to A notes available in the middle of the bass on the B string for some songs.

I guess you will be gigging in the states. Ive done that a few times and there has always been a transformer provided for 110-240 and our keyboard player never had any problems with his gear he had a korg m1 and a roland d50 plus a sampler. The frequency i doubt would be a problem because the innards of those are fed with a stabilised dc supply. You could try Maplins for a lead or get one from radio shack or circuit city when you get there.

Ansley Lister band at the Robin RnB 2 in Bilston nr Wolverhampton. Great gig superb band.

I did a gig at the Jam house in Brum using these on my Alembic Series II bass on Tuesday night into the same rig as I noted above. The overall tone is much warmer generally and really well suited to some of the 70's and early 80's jazz funk tracks we were playing. However I didn't get the crispness on the attack that I really enjoy with playing the more recent tracks we play but then my normal strings are pro-steels so thats probably understandable. What I was really impressed with was the tonal balance across the strings. My basses are well balanced tonally across the strings and having low pass filters there is no facility to boost anything under 350Hz from the bass directly so whatever bottom end is lurking there, and there is a lot of it, is unadulterated and down to strings and how they are played (IMHO). I also don't get the feeling that the B-string is from a different planet and the higher tension feeling on the B string really helps there. ( I don't actually know if these NYXL strings are higher tension but its how they feel to me). Anyway I was impressed with how these strings seemed to keep a much tighter connection between the B and other strings than i feel with the Pro-steels so whilst there is a warmer bottom end on these strings they all work together with good string to string tonal balance. We did a couple of jazz infused reggae numbers which really made the most of the warmer sound. My next gig at the moment is on 13th Feb with Musical Youth so I plan to move the strings to my other Series I bass which has a much warmer bottom end anyway so it should be a match made in heaven. Are you guys planning to make any Pro-Steel versions, I'd love to try those out too. The smooth finish is a big plus for me means you can use them straight away without having to compensate for finger drag that you get on new pro steels.

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1453123245' post='2956519'] If you scratch a bass it remains a musical instrument. If you refuse to play it, it becomes and expensive ornament. [/quote] I don't do expensive ornaments so I will remember that.

I always treat my instruments with care and do what I can to keep them as pristine as possible. That said there is a beauty in an instrument that is well worn from years of making music with it. I agree with a previous poster that worn paint looks better than worn natural wood, but I think if natural wood is really badly worn then it kind of looks good again. I have a strat that I used almost exclusively since 1992 and molly coddled that guitar to keep it looking good. It does but if you get close to it you can see some mojo from it's travels. Like others there are some basses I would not take to small pub gigs that did not have a decent sized stage that was not easily accessible to drunken revellers.

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1453121710' post='2956487'] What a great idea for a customer feedback road test. Sadly didn't sign up as nickel strings don't suit my skin (I'm a sensitive little soul) but will be watching with interest if there are any future tests for stainless or flats. Really interesting reading folks initial comments and will look forward to more considered thoughts post gigging. We often talk strings in similar ways to wine tasting descriptions but it's so few and far between that cross comparison or consensus is hard to build up. However, having a load of players commenting on the new design all at once and comparing with their previous strings should make for a fascinating experiment. Nice one! [/quote] It's only recently I've started to put two and two together about whether my skin is sensitive to nickel. For years I avoided nickel guitar strings of all makes only because when I was touring and playing on hot stages I realised that when I my fingers got a little sweaty, the coating came off the strings after one or two gigs and break. But when my fingers didn't get hot enough to perspire then I had no problems with nickel strings. Eventually for cost reasons I then tried Elixir coated and stainless steel strings for guitar when touring and nickel for less high temperature gigs. I've used stainless steel on most of my basses for about 2 - 3 years only because I like the brighter tone and the ones with nickel strings I have recently taken note that my fingers get sore when I play those basses and not on the pro-steel strung basses so my guess is it may be some kind of reaction to nickel although i find that hard to comprehend as bass playing fingertips are fairly well worn in. I like the tone of nickel for reggae so my hope with these strings are that being smoother they may not be an irritant. So far they have been fine on a 3 hour rehearsal. :-)

Ok here are what I've found so far. Bass Used: Alembic Series II Europa 5 String Bass. Strings Normally Used: D’addario Pro Steels 45 – 130 Bass Rig: Mesa boogie 1x15 powerhouse cab, Mesa Boogie 2x10 powerhouse cab. 2 x Alembic F1-x valve pre-amps, QSC PLX 2402 Stereo Power amplifier. Other strings I have experience with: Alembic Bass strings. 45 – 128, D’addario Pro Steels & Nickel 45 – 130, Elixir Coated Strings. First impression after first stringing on bass and tuning to pitch:[list] [*]Shiny and smooth to the touch and none of the abrasive feel or dragging that I normally experience with D’addario Pro Steels. [*]Less time to stretch strings in to maintained concert pitch. [/list] First impression on playing at home:[list] [*]Much less finger noise than the D’addario Pro-steels and Nickel strings when first new. [*]Heavier warmer bottom end response but with less note clarity than my normal pro-steels. [*]Less clarity and sparkle on the higher frequencies. [*]Feels like the strings have greater tension which is a double edged sword since while it gives a better more consistent feel on the low B and for some playing techniques like double thumbing I prefer slightly more give on the E,A,D,G strings since string bending is part of my technique. [*]Tonally these strings are not bright enough or have enough hi-fi sound for my preference when playing my Jazz-funk fusion based material however the extended bottom end seems perfect for warmer genre’s of music such as reggae and soul and with acoustic bands so I plan to try these strings out on my series I bass for reggae gig & rehearsals within the next few of weeks . [/list] Tried them out again at rehearsal on Sunday afternoon and at higher than home volume using my Mesa Boogie walkabout head with my normal gigging settings that I'm familar with, into a Peavey TX810 cab. I could hear much more of the top and mid range from the strings than at home which is expected. The only things I wasn’t over the moon with was the notes seemed to break up with an edgy, slightly distorted tone on the G string when playing slap techniques. On my bass when using pro-steels if I close the low pass filter there is usually still a little of the higher frequencies on the attack still evident and that gives me that note clarity. This wasn't as evident on the NYXK strings so I had to mix in a little of the bridge pickup to get me better articulation. I guess that could me more to do with the characteristic of pro-steels rather than anything lacking in nickel strings which seem to be warmer. Got a gig tomorrow night so will see how they fare then and report back. So far so good.

Anaconda Basses are another alternative. http://www.anacondabasses.co.uk/