DTB

Definitely a message from a higher being lol.

I think your previous post was nearer the mark. But in all honesty what else could it be apart from strings or soft fingers? Everything else is just the same.

Yep, was the strings. Normal tone has been restored. I knew even before I plugged in from the nice zzziiiiinngg when tuning up. sounds killer again now. 😁

Annoying because after a few weeks of sorting, once I heard a bass tone I particularly liked, I had it nailed and my wife had to prise my bass out of my hands to get me back in the house.

This is what I thought and a new set of 32-130s landed on the door step this morning. I had none in stock which is unusual for me. 🙄

I’ve had a few months not playing bass (I have been playing guitar please don’t judge me). I have lost my tone. Nothing has changed. Same bass, same preamp etc. Can’t seem to capture that gnarly growl when diggin in, and my fingers hurt like hell!!! My bass was in my studio stored in a gig bag and was perfectly in tune still so nothing has changed with that. Can it simply be lack of callouses on picking hand?

For those that are about to sin, take comfort from the lyrics of the song Soak up the Sun by Sheryl Crow, “It’s not having what you want, It’s wanting what you’ve got.” Works for me, sometimes lol.

Back when I was in London the band leader would struggle to get a rehearsal space due to them being so busy and would alternate between Putney and Waterloo, Putney being under the arches and Waterloo just around the corner from the station, or I may have that around the wrong way. Either way they were scruffy run down spaces with very well worn gear if you didn’t have your own. I do not miss lugging a bass around the underground. The standard of musicianship was on the other hand excellent and I was rather surprised when I had the decision of what drummer we went with after auditioning 3 or 4. Playing in London definitely brought my own game up several notches.

Right, I’ll let him know then. Thanks all.

A friend of mine was quizzing me about rehearsal studios. Reading between the lines I think he is looking at a business opportunity. I couldn’t really answer his questions as the last time I was in a proper rehearsal space was in Putney or Waterloo in 2005. Are rehearsal studios still a thing? Do bands still use them or is it all done over zoom now?

Had a day off playing due to pain/spending time with my family and trying to take less pain killers, went back to bass for an hour this evening and pretty much nailed that George Benson track I was struggling with. I guess a break can be a good thing.

Trickiest song I’ve learnt to date. Never Give up on a Good Thing.

All issues with volume and harsh sound have now been fixed. I had my listening / playing position under the portion of the roof that slopes down. I’ve turned everything around so that the speakers are firing out to the more open space without the confined roof and the difference is astounding. Means I have less storage space but it’s worth it.

Unfortunately this is not an option. This would serve well if more overall volume was required but it’s only the bass that needs more ooomph.

Thanks to @itu most of my sound problems have been solved in my little studio. However, now that I can actually turn up the volume without killing my ears due to harsh frequencies I have found that my little Genelec 8010 monitors are breaking up from excessive bass. So, do I get the matching Genelec sub for just over £600, ouch, (probably find a second hand one) or go power amp and small cab route. Atm I am using the Digbeth pre straight into my mixer. I’ve gone away from using the Bassman head clone as I prefer the Digbeth into the monitors, until they went all farty yesterday. The other option would be to use an 8 or 10 inch cab i have in storage as a sub either from the aux out on the mixer or the out from the preamp with a separate amp. Although i have no crossover so all frequencies from the bass would be sent to the cab. I think I know the answer but would like opinions please. I should add most of the time I am playing along to backing track without the bass part.

I’ve just got around to trying the Digbeth out. I’m not going to do a full review, but suffice to say that it is very good. Easy to dial in the sound you want. Which for me is a snappy bright tone with a hint of growl but no actual distortion. Easily the best bit of bass kit I own apart from the actual bass.

There isn’t another activity that is the same but so different.

I absolutely love stuff like this. New and inventive ways of doing …… er stuff. Stuff stuff stuff.

The strap locks that came with my EHB Ibanez have a grub screw to stop them coming loose. I think they are schallers.

Ordinary Fender guitar strap. Had a nice leather one with metal ring/holes all the way along and the leather was etched with acid when i was working but that got recycled into a very wide punky looking belt when I stopped. Think it weighed almost as much as the bass. 😳

I’ve spent nearly all day in there today which is extremely rare these days, and had no ear fatigue at all and my ears aren’t ringing, at least no more than normal. I would like to thank you for your advice as it has made a massive difference and as this community knows I spend as much time as possible in the studio.

Yep. What he said ^

After I bought my first proper guitar, an Ibanez RT650 back 1989 ish it had a scratchy volume after a couple of weeks and I went back to the guitar shop (anyone remember actually being able to go to 1 of a choice of 5 or 6 guitar shops in a decent size town?) and they said they’d put a new volume In but try WD40 first. I did and it worked perfectly. Used it since until one day all I had was 3in1 so I used that instead and it worked just as well. Anything that cleans off the oxidation and coats the contacts to stop the oxidation will work, which is actually what that Deoxit says it does. Probably better than WD40 or 3in1 and incidentally on the safety data sheet the main ingredient is listed as a trade secret.

In fact, it is, apart from the propellant, a very high proportion heavy naphtha, which is a posh word for paraffin.

The original wd40 from the 1980s before they did all that specialist stuff just ordinary WD40 has never had silicone in it.