Jakester

6 minutes ago, tinyd said:

You will also end up getting gigs (and you can debate about how shallow this is) based purely on the look of a DB.

There's the old chestnut, "the first week, I got my DB and had my first lesson on how to bow. The second week, I worked on intonation. I missed my third lesson because I was out gigging!" 

I’ve always got mine (Lo Rider nickels or Sunbeams) from Amazon. Pretty good prices - I think about £35 for a 5-string set?

If it were me, I'd be on to some NSW lawyers getting them to do a letter before action for me giving him 14 days to either confirm the (adequately insured etc) shipping details or a refund. 

Whilst I'm not familiar with the specifics of NSW procedure, I'd bet it's fairly close to our own with a comparable small claims process that wouldn't cost you a fortune to do. 

Amazon have done same-day delivery of stuff like that in the past. I tend to buy a pack of 5 or 10 at a time as they often go walkabout...

Apparently from recent post-gig comments I am more associated with dancing like a tw@t on stage than any particular piece of gear! 

Spotted in my local rehearsal studio:

🤣

1 hour ago, EBS_freak said:

Am I alone in thinking that Comply tips are a super case study where the branding has won out over the actual product? I never had any luck with them... and then tended to fall apart.

 

To be fair though, I never found anything that would stay in my ears - I don't know if thats because of the shape of my ears or not... but it was that that send me on my merry way down the customs route.

 

Spintfits were my favourite - but again, silicone - so if silicone not anybody's bag, probably a bit of a non starter.

 

Anyway, as you were.

Nah, you're not alone. I've spent a small fortune trying lots of different tips but could never find 'the one' that worked for me. The Comply-style ones were okay to a point, but I never seemed to get the isolation everyone else said; I suspect I have weirdly shaped ears. 

In the end I've opted for customs too, so hopefully that should put an end to the searching!

I'm not sure you need to rejig the outputs that much - I have an 1820i and a Saffire Pro 40 via ADAT and I can send different mixes to each of the headphones outputs on both interfaces, giving you four separate stereo headphone mixes.

2 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Have you tried it without the DI box?

Yep,  my first question would be why are you using an additional DI box when there’s a ‘proper’ DI out on the head? I’ve had lots of issues with my MB heads but the DI isn’t one - I’ve used it on stages and gigs with all manner of different setups and it’s been fine. 
 

When you say ‘line out’, you’re definitely using the DI, right? Rather than the effects loop, or from one of the cab thru sockets?

Well, a sad and disappointing update to this, unfortunately. When I received the pedal back, the OD circuit didn't work. At all. The repairer said it worked when he sent it back, and there's a video of it he sent demonstrating it. He said that when he received it, the OD pot was loose, so he replaced it. Unfortunately he couldn't get the exact same pot, but replaced it with one he said would work just as well. He suggested I send it back to him to take a look at. He thought it could have taken some knocks in transit, although it was packed well in the manufacturer's packaging and additional reinforcement and no sign of damage to the packaging. 

So since March, I have been in sporadic communications with the repairer, and he says he's not been able to trace any fault in the OD circuit whatsoever, which is strange because he got me to do a full video for him, carrying out various tests etc and there was simply no drive whatsoever.  There seems to be the implication I'm doing something wrong, though what (beyond plugging, setting the gain etc and switching it on and off) that could be isn't really clear. 

It's been with him since March, with very limited updates. I've chased and got a rather huffy reply where he said he's exhausted all options so I'm going to have to shell out yet again for it to be collected. 

From my perspective, I sent a fully-working pedal with a blown diode, and I will have received back a pedal where one of the major functions doesn't work whatsoever, and I'm now out over £100 on various repair and postage costs. 

The real kicker for me, though, is that because he's had it for so long, I can't now bring any claim against Royal Mail, as it's outside the time they let you make a claim. It was sent fully insured via Special Delivery so I could have claimed at least some of the value of the pedal back. 

As it is, I'm left without a working pedal and no recourse whatsoever, and out quite a bit of money. 

I suppose it was the false hope that kills you. If I'd just have continued using it with the blown diode, all would have been fine. Instead, I've paid to have it repaired and now to all intents and purposes it's fecked. Sigh. 

On 17/06/2023 at 20:35, TheGreek said:

Did any of these suggestions work Jake?

Haven't had the chance to fiddle about with it as I've been gigging solidly - but thanks for the reminder, Mick, I'll have a go at it today and report back!

7 minutes ago, NickD said:

Fair enough.

 

I've never seen one like it, any idea who made it?

 

Previous owner's ad here:

12 minutes ago, thodrik said:

then I set the threshold (i.e. when do I want the compression to kick in?). The LED will change when the compression kicks in so it is easy to tell when the compression is working;

For the OP I think this is the key point.

4 hours ago, NickD said:

I'd be sorely tempted to try and fashion wooden replacements for the brackets, that would finish it off really nicely.

Some steam-bent high-end birch ply would look lovely...

I’ve struggled using compressors in the past - I’ve never been able to get them working properly for me, and the most recent one I had was unusable due to the noise floor.

However, a recent gig showed that I really need one - we were through the house PA but hadn’t really had the chance to sound check, and when I popped a note in a funk tune it nearly blew everyone’s eardrums.

So I resolved to dive back in, and get my hands on one of the ‘high end’ analogue pedals rather than a cheaper digital example. 
 

I had my eyes peeled for either a Keeley or a Cali76. I’d been uhmming and ahhing about a couple of the Calis on the classifieds (the size was putting me off as I’d need a whole new pedalboard) when a Keeley Bassist popped up.

I snapped it up, and the seller was even good enough to post it next day (unprompted by me!) so I could try it out at my gig the following evening. 
 

The gig involved me playing active 5 string, active fretless and amplified double bass, and the Keeley was a revelation. It just tamed my wayward playing and helped any volume issues on the DB too, with no noise issues whatsoever.

I am converted!

Delighted to be able to keep this going, Rob sold me his Keeley Bassist, and posted it so fast it arrived next day! 

Highly recommended - thanks Rob. 

Thanks Andy - I have a gig tomorrow, so don't want to fiddle with it until after that. I'll have a play and report back.

22 hours ago, WalMan said:

My moulded plugs have now arrived and I'm in discussion with the sound guy for my main band about getting an aux line that I can control from my phone for my mix. A technical rehearsal would be good but I can't see that happening anytime soon. I was going to get 3 driver plugs from Mercury but they gave me a discount on 4 drivers as I had used them before for sound protection plugs

Slight tangent, but how do you find the Mercury IEMs? I'm currently looking and I was angling towards ACS, as I can't really justify super high-end IEMs with the amount of playing I do, but Mercury seem slightly cheaper for a similar spec. 

PM’d

I've not used an ui16, but the digital desks I have used have allowed each user to control their own monitor (aux) sends via an app. 

Can you not do that so you're in control of your own mix?

Has anyone ever come across stuck strap locks, and if so, how did you resolve it?

I have a set of genuine, matching Schaller straplocks on a bass. I was hoping to swap the strap between basses on a gig I'm doing - four or so numbers on fretless, then swap the strap and the rest on fretted. Both basses have the Schaller strap buttons on them. 

I've done it in the past, but this time I can't get one of the strap locks to retract far enough to clear the 'detent' on the button, which means I can't slide the strap off. 

I've undone the strap fixings so just the lock is on, but even then the retractable pin won't lift far enough. I've put a fair bit of force on it to try and lever it up - it seems like it's reached the limit of its 'retractability', but I don't quite understand why it's not working as it's never been a problem before. I'm loath to apply more force at this stage as I don't want to rip the button out of the bass, and I'd prefer if possible not to have to destroy the locks too as they're quite pricey! 

It's hard to unscrew the button as you can't access the screw with the lock  in place. You can see the pin from the lock still 'home' in the detent on the button even with the lever lifted as high as possible with pliers. I supposed I could probably get at the button with some pliers to unscrew it with the lock in place, but I'd prefer not to do that if possible to avoid the risk of damaging the finish or the buttons. 

To answer the obvious questions - yes, they are genuine, I bought them brand new from a music store and fitted the buttons and locks all from the same set (I've previously had problems mixing newer and older sets before).

They're the newer, knurled locking wheel version, as opposed to the older, hex nut sets (which which I never had a day's trouble once in place!!). 

The lock is stuck to the original Schaller button that came with it, not the ones on the other bass, so there shouldn't be any question of compatibility problems. 

Any ideas? 🤔

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

To the OP - I take it your are also using the loop switching features of the Micro, because otherwise you should be able to everything you want using the Plethora as your controller, although you will still need Source Audio's overpriced Neuro Hub to interface the C4 to it.

You don't need a Neuro Hub to use a Micro with the C4. It works over USB Midi - you need a USB Host, but it does work.

I think it actually goes to 18v on each output, not 9v. I have one and it powers a 12v and an 18v pedal fine with the dip switches properly selected. 

12 hours ago, DGBass said:

2/4/8 ohm switching is available on quite a few modern class-d and hybrid amps these days eg. Mesa Subway comes to mind. From what I can see from manufacture blurb there isn't any power advantage running at 2.67 or  even 2 ohms so it does seem purely a cab configuration feature. 

Interestingly (to me, at least!) I came across the GK Legacy amps and they appear to offer switchable impedance down to 2ohms, to allow different combinations of cabs. Their combos also deliver full power at both 4ohm and 8ohms with power being 'diverted' between the cabs as necessary. I guess we'll see features like this more often in future.

One guy I play with uses a Helix FX with a Marshall Origin 20 - nice valve amp, not too loud/heavy but fine for backline in smaller places, and mics well for larger gigs. 

Another has a full Kemper modelling setup which does go through FOH and he has a monitor if needed. 

Both sound great.