dmccombe7

Do you have a gut feeling about what to do. ?

I'm halfway there. I just need to add the experiment part I think i'm one of those guys that buys a bass and plays it with everything flat and i even like my amp to be set flat. Mentally i always think there's something wrong if i need to change anything from that. Am i a nutter or just mentally disturbed . ? Dave

My passive basses are def affected when i turn the bass volume down but not so much the active basses. I guess i've always been taught to use active bass in active input and just always stuck with it. Def gonna try the bass on passive mode next gig see how it sounds

Difficult decision with such a gorgeous bass. Not sure which way i'd go to be honest. Send it up here for a year and i'll give you my honest opinion. Absolutely stunning bass tho. Dave

Perfect. Always appreciate your help sir. Thanks Dave

Does it make a difference using the active / passive input on an amp if it has a gain control. ? Does turning the bass guitar volume down do the same thing ? Can you use an active bass into passive input on amp and adjust gain. ? Think the 3 questions above are basically the same question written in different way. Dave

Did some very quick googling about active / passive thing and found some good stuff on another US forum. Looks like you were right @mcnach. Most comments were that one input Lo-gain and one Hi-gain but it shouldn't really matter which input you use if the amp has a gain control. What i took from it was that you can either turn the bass volume down, turn the amp gain up or down to suit, use an active or passive input to suit. The guys with SWR amps odly enough had the same experience as you using active bass into the passive input and said it sounded better. So there you go you've taught me something else today Dave

It does and i had it around 10 o clock whereas i would normally run the Gain up till it clips and bring back a few notches but because of the distortion i've been running it even lower than i normally would with an amp. Typically with most amps and most of my basses i would be around 12-2 o clock. The 10 o clock setting was a compromise setting. I've found it same with EBS HD360 heads as well. Its fine with my Mesa head and i run that on active input with Gain at 1 o clock but no distortion. Once i get up above 2 o clock i start to hear a little tube distortion coming thru but that's normal for one of these amps as far as i know. @mcnach you have a lot of experience and have given me some great advice thru BC and you've now got me wondering and might just try my VM4 thru the passive input or even try the bass on passive mode. I'm relatively new to VM4 bass and still getting used to it. As i always say "Everyday's a school day on BC" There are some brilliant electronic techy type people on here that might shed some light on the passive / active thing @EBS_freak might know. He's intelligent and knows all this kinda stuff. Dave

I've had issues when i forgot to switch to active on the amp and found the amp distorting. Also found problems using active basses thru the Aguilat AG500 amps in the rehearsal studios where it sounded like a speaker had gone. Spoke to studio engineer and he said it was down to some active basses having a higher output. I tend to run my basses almost flat with volume about 90% up on the bass itself. At home i've found my passive basses don't have a lot of tone variation when used thru the active input. When i switch to passive mode my Jazz tone has a huge range and its like it gets a boost and just sings.. Dave

Out of curiosity when playing in passive mode do you change the bass amp from active to Passive mode as well. Does the output change or does the pre-amp simply by-pass the EQ section. Dave

Now i get it. That's the kind of thing i would end up doing Dave

If the boards were exact same i don't get why you changed it ? dave

Must admit i like that low end thing that you talk of @mcnach. I've never really tried the bass on passive mode to be honest. At the very least i'll have it on active mode but all EQ centred. Because the treble control becomes your tone control you can't go straight from active to passive and have same tone like my Thumb bass. I have been running my VM4 with pick ups on centre point with a slight boost on bass. Thru the Mesa rig it gives me a deep warm tone. Not my usual or preferred tone for a bass but it suits my band at the moment. Normally i'd go for a more hi-mid punch to a treble edge sound with a fair bit of low end depth. If i turn the PU selector slightly to the P pick-up i do get more edge on the tone. It doesn't take much on the bass to get a tone i need or want. Such a versatile bass. Plus i'm using flats at the moment on a trial run. Wasn't sure about them on Sat nights gig but hearing the various youtube clips posted by audience with phones i'm really liking the tone i have. My perception on stage while playing is different to what i hear on the clips. Weird !!!!! Dave

I'm more a 70's & 80's guy but agree on the enthusiasm, talent and experience. Same for me. This is the first band i've been in where the money is great. Its an odd experience too. As you know, and stated many times, i was never in it for money but now that the money is "available" i'm finding that it's having more influence than ever before. Dave

To be honest its the only Peavey amp i've liked. You really need the footswitch to get the full benefit but i used to mix the 2 channels with one set with a very punchy mid tone (para EQ channel) and the passive channel set with a nice low warm tone. Mix the 2 together and it was a WOW factor for me. Then use the Graphic for room requirements. It was like having 2 amps in one. Bloomin heavy tho Dave

2-4-6-8 Motorway by Tom Robinson Soldier of Fortune by Deep Purple

Thanks Blue that's very much appreciated especially from someone with your amazing experience and talent. Its simply a great fun band to be in. We have a great laugh doing this. Drummer is ex-Glitter Band from 90's era so he's played some major venues around the world incl Wembley Arena. Longest i've been with a band since i got back into playing 9 yrs ago. Coming up on 2 yrs but its been hard going getting the right people that fit with us. Keys have been a problem getting the right personality as well as good player. With the right audience its amazing fun to watch people singing all the songs from my teenage yrs. This is the music that started me off buying singles back in 73 onwards. I was a big Sweet and Bowie fan. Many thanks Dave

The really good news from our gig on Sat night is that the promoter has been asked by many of the folks there when or where we are playing again. He wants us back for Easter at a different venue. Here's a wee clip from the gig. Really needs good headphones to appreciate it plus keys player only had 2 rehearsals to learn 30+ songs. He did a great job.

Pretty sure the guys at Overwater would offer help. After all its their reputation that's being questioned here. Any time i contacted them they were quick to reply and Chris May is a top bloke as far as i'm concerned who is always ready to talk bass with anyone. He certainly know his stuff. Dave

To be honest i struggled to find any P basses they've made. The J basses i found with head stock truss were more like special J basses with custom woods (expensive ones) The majority with body truss adjust. The PJ basses i found all had the body truss. Maybe its down to what people ask for in their custom spec altho not sure if anyone would specifically ask for one or the other ? Dave

That's a good point as Chris had basses made up to show Tanglewood what they could do so its possible it was one of those early designs for Tanglewood. Still made by Overwater altho the seller does state it was a custom order with Overwater. Weird one. Dave

Not all Overwater basses have the truss adjust at body end. Looking thru Overwater Gallery there are some headstocks that look very much like it plus the neck on the P Overwater had a black nut from what i could see. Couldn't see any standard P basses on their gallery. They either had the full 3 band EQ or 3 pots rather than 2. If the seller has evidence that it was purchased from Overwater it should list all parts used. Overwater will fit any parts you suggest rather than their own. Its totally up to the individual I'd be surprised if Overwater made a mess of any finish, their basses are first class. I have 2 off them. Dave

Mixed feelings about gig last night. First up the van i hired had an engine management light on that they said wasn't affecting the running of the van. Once on the motorway the power died every time we hit a hill. From 60-70mph down to 30-40mph. It did get us to the gig eventually. Torrential rain and extremely windy when driving a high sided LWB van. Once in the venue it appears the venue didn't promote the event so it wasn't very busy. Everyone that was there was really into the gig tho and we had them dancing from early on till the end. ( two 1hr sets ) Because the venue was not as busy as expected the promoter struggled to get the money to pay us the agreed price. At half time he told us and said he would pay us 2/3 and would sort out the remainder later. (Guys in the band know him and he's true to his word) He said if we wanted to pack up now he would understand. Obviously we said we would play the gig as agreed. End up he paid what he had and said he was starting with a new venue and would pay us the extra at the first gig we play there. Band sounded great last night. Bit of a boomy wooden stage tho but manageable. Promoter said we were the best band he'd seen in that venue so high praise. Lot of people asking for photos with the band at the end too so that was nice. (70's Glam covers band with full costumes etc) Back to trying to get the van home. Loaded up and about 15mins into the journey the dual carriageway was closed due to an accident. That held us up for about an hour or so. Once we got moving it was nurse the van home time. Finished the 2nd set around 11pm. Got changed, sorted out the money within the band as you do, loaded the van and headed off around 12:30. Dropped the drummer off along with his drums PA and lighting (only 2 off us loading and unloading the van at his house so that was hard going. Finally got home at 4am. A 75mile journey that i can do in my car in 90mins took us 3.5hrs. 3hrs later had to take van back to hire company before 9am with a few choice words on van. They didn't really care. Used my Sandberg VM4 with flats and still not sure about them. Was difficult to decide on them with stage being a bit boomy. Sounded ok out front at sound check tho. One thing i did find was that my fingers seemed to feel tight and quite stiff causing me to struggle with playing the exact bass parts in some songs. Had to miss out some notes on faster parts. Not sure if it was down to all the lifting of gear when loading the van or just the stress of a van that wasn't working properly. Could it have been the flats causing a problem moving across the strings ? No idea. Anyway i'm absolutely knackered today Dave

I did miss it but great read too. So looking forward to the new book Dave. Love your writing style. Just makes me laugh. Dave