Skol303

2 hours ago, tauzero said:

Maybe it's the ambiguous term "skinny" - my Thumb 5 is the same nut width as a couple of my other 5s from other makers (I can tell as I've put Just-A-Nut 1s on them) so not wide, but chubbier than them. It was more the depth than the width that I was referring to. The old 4-strings have much shallower necks.

"Chubbier"... I like that!... and will be using it from now on to describe necks that have depth, rather than width 👍

6 hours ago, tauzero said:

But the fives aren't slim-necked, not even the pre-1990 ones. The early fours are though.

Quite the opposite ‘feel’ for me. I’ve owned a Corvette and still have a fretless Thumb: both are about as narrow as I like to go, certainly in terms of string spacing on a 5 (about 15mm if I remember right).

But the Warwick necks certainly are quite chunky in terms of thickness/ radius. Similar to a P-bass perhaps.

18 hours ago, Chrisbassboy5 said:

What's the score with Warwick? Are they that good?

I agree with @Monkey Steveabove; Warwick basses are superb and very good value second hand.

Lots of variables with tests like this... What are you listening on - speakers or headphones? What's the frequency response of the device you're listening on - is it flat or does it have an EQ curve applied? What output level (dB) are you listening at? Is there any background noise? Etc. Any one of these variables could skew the results quite significantly. But heh, for a rough approximation of hearing range such tests are mostly fine.

Last time I checked, mine spanned from around 25Hz - 14.5kHz, after which it falls off a cliff and disappears (partly due to my tinnitus). This is very typical of someone my age (mid-40s).

As a general rule:

• Everyone should be able to hear 8kHz.
• People under 50 years of age should hear 12kHz .
• People under 40 should be hearing 15kHz.

Welcome back @Dad3353 🙌

I might try to get something written myself this month. Finally got the studio set up again; so now hoping to find some time this week. No promises! If not this month then next should be a go-er 🙂

Someone needs to set up something like this (but for bass guitars/amps/FX): the Zen Pro Audio 'Clipalator'.

https://www.zenproaudio.com/clipalator

If I ran an online guitar retailer I'd do just that. Give my customers opportunity to 'hear before they buy', so to speak. And using the exact same song/passage for every clip, allowing easy comparison.

There you go guitar retailers. Have that one for free 😉

All the time.

Playing a 5-string, for me at least, is all about playing across the neck rather than up and down it.

March's challenge is now on...

March's challenge is go!

Here's the inspiration chosen by last month's winner, Bleat...

Usual rules apply:

• No copyright theft.
• Try not to be a potty mouth.
• Keep it under 5 minutes and no recycling of old efforts.
• Most pipe-based instruments are strictly prohibited*

Deadline for entries is midnight on Sunday 24th March.

*If you have to ask, you're already on dodgy ground.

Good work all and congrats to Bleat on the win! 🏆

Please message me with your choice of photo for this month and we'll get the next challenge underway ASAP.

On 23/02/2019 at 11:56, lurksalot said:

...just like to mention a get well soon to Dad3353 its the first time in a while he has not been well enough to drop a tune in, so best wishes Doug 

Definitely this. Get well soon big fella!

20 hours ago, lurksalot said:

I’m struggling myself this month , if I get a chance tomorrow I’ll try to get in at the death , I have got some lyrics but I can’t seem to get the musical bit 

I’ll soon be back into the swing of this after a long hiatus! My day job is still an obstacle (but good to be busy); more a case of me working on room acoustics (DIY, slow process) and my gear never being quite set up altogether for creating compositions… but that will soon change as the room is very nearly now finished.

Probably won’t make it in time for this month, but hoping to be back in the saddle for March

I like MonoNeon and he gets a due amount of love on here, but his playing doesn't always gel with me. I think that's part of his charm. This, however, is just sublime! I can't stop listening to it...

February’s challenge is go!

Usual rules apply:

1) The copyright one.

2) The sweary one.

3) The 5 minutes and no cheating with old dusty efforts one.

4) The one that shall not be named.

Deadline for entries is Thursday 21st February.

1 hour ago, SH73 said:

perhaps you could help to choose a picture?

Google Images. Whatever pops into your head. Within reason... 😐

Well done SH73 and everyone else who got stuck in! Good stuff 👍

I'll launch February's challenge as soon as I receive this month's picture from the winner...

31 minutes ago, subaudio said:

What specs does the computer and interface need to have for pro level sessions? Forgive my ignorance.

You can get by with a surprising low spec computer for recording solo instruments. Anything with 4Gb of RAM or more would be perfectly adequate for recoding bass (ideally 16Gb if you want to branch out into producing full compositions).

For the interface, you want something that can handle a minimum of 24-bit/48kHz resolution, which pretty much all interfaces can - even the cheap ones. The key benefit you tend to find with better interfaces is lower latency (simply put, the delay time between you playing a note and you hearing it through your monitors). This is important if you're going to be playing along to backing tracks.

Any of the Focusrite products are highly recommended, starting with this one: https://focusrite.com/usb-audio-interface/scarlett/scarlett-solo 

^ In fact @SH73 has just beaten me to it above with pretty much the exact same advice 😁

Cool. Nice little mixers for the money - analog too, I think? - and with some built-in EQ.

Have fun 👍

They are happy to oblige 🙂

Well done lads 👍

VOTING THREAD IS LIVE!

We're kicking-off 2019 with the crop of January's Composition Challenge!

Please vote for your top 3 favourites:

Dad3353

lurksalot

Jean-Luc Pickguard

MoonBassAlpha

JBP

SH73

Voting ends at midnight on Thursday 31st January.

11 hours ago, Sibob said:

I’ve never known anyone worth their salt take a line from an acoustic pickup when a decent mic setup is available.

I've discovered this myself through trial and error.

Whenever I record acoustic bass, I always end up blending the DI and mic signals roughly 20:80% or thereabouts - i.e. using the mic signal for the majority of the finished sound (as it captures the 'upright-ish' tone of the bass very nicely) and then blend in some of the DI signal for the lower end (which adds a nice bit of weight <100Hz or so).

Works well 👍

I certainly have eclectic tastes - my music collection is all over the shop in terms of genres - but I tend to binge on one genre/artist at a time, before moving onto the next.

Zombie thread...

...but I’ve just bought a set of Pyramid flats for a five string (40-120 Set) and just wanted to say “wow”! Great feel and what to my ears seems like the perfect flatwound sound: warm and thumpy.

Was initially a little hesitant because of the cost, but now feel vindicated for my wreckless purchase. 

Easily on par with La Bella in terms of tone; but slightly less tension and perhaps more playable? Time will tell. For now, very happy with them. And hopefully I’ll never need to change them 🙂

If only there was something like this for bass guitar gear:

https://www.zenproaudio.com/clipalator

The Zen Pro Audio 'Clipalator'... allows you to virtually demo a huge quantity of gear using the same set of audio clips, so you can very easily compare one product against another. Gets updated frequently as new gear comes into their store (based in the US).

Unfortunately (in this context) it's focussed mostly on equipment for use by studio engineers and not musicians. But I've always thought it's a very sound idea. No pun intended.