Ben Jamin

Here's me a couple of years ago... and my Dad about 45 years ago! By the way - never wear thin white tops on hot summer festival gigs. It's a bad move.

If I'm not playing in a section of music I'll often turn my volume fully down. Just to play safe. I imagine it was probably useful when most gear wasn't at the standard it is now (P-bass came out in the '50s) and buzzing/various noise problems was maybe more of an issue. Like old lighting rigs causing RF interference and such. No output from bass = no/less background noise. A couple of places I play at have dimmer packs that kick out a lot of RF which can play havoc with your pick-ups. It could also be used as a gain control to clean up/overdrive valve amps etc. It could also be used for volume swells, which sounds nice every now and then. I find it handy anyway!

For a single pair of headphones I'd say get definitelying open back for mixing - stay away from closed back. I use a pair of AKG K702s which are relatively inexpensive and have a great soundstage and clinical response which makes them great for mixing lots of layers.

I can just fit my Tone Hammer 350 in my Mono M80 so I can't imagine the 500 will fit. +1 for the Protection Racket though. Guitarist has one and it's really well made, nice and simple design - big front pocket which might do the trick. I reckon it's as good as my M80.

Sure there's 'better stuff' but that's a good price for a nice touch of overdrive. Most inexpensive bass overdrives seem over-exaggerated or too 'fizzy' in the top-end and don't really sit in the mix that well (IMO of course), whereas this is comparatively quite nice and subtle. All the controls you need and nothing else. Sounded perfect at the start of the ProGuitarShop demo. I imagine this would be great for adding a bit of grit to a Class D amp for some rock tunes.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1420132916' post='2645985'] The channel EQ (or indeed outboard rack EQ) on a desk in a decent studio will far outperform anything designed to be crammed into the control cavity of a bass and powered by a 9V battery. [/quote] Yes, but then that would apply to the EQ on most bass amps too. If you can get the sound right at source, the engineer shouldn't need to do much work in post. A little bit of EQ and compression to make it sit in the mix is really all you want to be doing. Active pre-amps give you the fundamental tone-shaping tools of a bass amp but you can plug straight into the desk. In the case of MM, for example, he can accentuate his scooped Jazz sound with the 2-band EQ. Works live for the same reasons. That's what I've always thought the idea for active pre-amps was about, anyway!

I was always under the impression that active basses were developed for busy session musicians who would bypass amp/pedals and plug directly into the desk/DI - such as Marcus Miller etc. Gives you a lot of control in a simple set-up.

Proper in-ears monitors like 1964s/Ultimate Ears/Shure SE are designed to block as much outside noise as possible - so ideally you'd want the whole band in a mix in your ears. The idea is to protect your hearing at loud gigs etc and provide a comparatively quiet/safe mix of the whole band so you can hear everything clearly Depending on your setup though they're either essential or really impractical. What kind of setup does your band usually use?

Roy Mitchell Cardenas of 'Mutemath' I think these guys deserve a lot more recognition - lots of energy, so much so that the drummer has to gaffa-tape his headphones to his head. They're all a bit crazy but he somehow manages to hold the thing together. Can't go wrong with a P-bass! Here's one of their craziest live ones. Try their albums - there are some really great grooves. Darren King's an amazing drummer too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQHHRBsTc7I

Format shouldn't be a problem these days at all. It's all about production. I do a lot of live sound and usually work with a digital desk with all the toys that costs tens of thousands, along with a great PA. Other times I use a cheap budget Behringer mixer and a basic rig. I can get great - and really bad - mixes from both. Another thing though: A key part of getting a good sound is good musicians who know how to make a good sound. I could use dynamic EQ or whatever to sort out a guitarists' tone or I can ask him to change the settings on his guitar/amp a bit. Guess which sounds better. The industry is rife with artists who aren't actually that good (see: X Factor etc) so engineers are relied on more and more to 'fix' things in production and it makes a big difference. We have to get it right at the source first.

Just in-case anyone's interested (can't find much info on these basses) I did a bit of recording this evening and the bass sounds something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOLMdM9lkeg

Aguilar Tonehammer has a great sound. The drive control has a really nice warm break-up, unlike the nasty top-end fizz from a lot of other pedals/amps. And mostly importantly - sweepable mid frequency! The single most useful thing on a pre-amp that lots of others lack. Really useful for finding booming low mids and cutting them or adding a bit of punch in just right spot.

+1 for Matamp

I've just replaced my Ampeg PF-500. I used it for about 2 and a half years and 95% of the time it was fine. Every now and then though it would do something weird like this. I've since come to realise that buying an amp with a dedicated 'fault' light isn't the best idea!

I used a Morley ABC to play both my bass and Bass Station II simultaneously. Worked a treat! By that I mean have them 'live' at the same time, I'm not cool enough to be playing both at once, sadly. Worked pretty well for me - however if you've got full PA support with an engineer etc then I'd definitely DI the bass synth separately - I tried running both through my bass amp at big gigs and it just caused hassle as the engineer wants to apply different EQ/compression etc to each instrument for the FOH.

[quote name='Joe_T' timestamp='1415270675' post='2598541'] Nice one man Yeah I kinda wanted the effects loop for some stuff. How Is the compact for weight/size? Kinda stuck between that and the Midget. [/quote] For a 15 cab my Compact is pretty small - the new ones have 12s I think so I'm guessing they'd be smaller still! Fits in the boot easily enough. As for weight you can literally lift it with your little finger, which makes you look really strong and manly.

*highly sophisticated bucket of stuff

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1415231574' post='2598333'] It's probably a load of nonsense. [/quote] I think I know where they got it from http://phaser.gfxile.net/ligen/technobabble.php

Just read up on La Bella's new Vapor Shield strings. http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2014/11/05/la-bella-unveils-vapor-shield-treated-bass-strings/ [color=#000000][font=open-sans, arial, helvetica, sans-serif][size=4]“Using a highly sophisticated Ionic Vapor Process™ developed by Acoustic Science™, proprietary compounds are activated in a glow discharge electromagnetic plasma, modifying the string’s entire surface,”[/size][/font][/color] [font="open-sans, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"][color="#000000"][size=4]Beam me up Scotty.[/size][/color][/font]

I received a Tone Hammer 350 today. Bloomin' loudest 350W I've ever heard. Louder than the 500W Ampeg it's replacing by miles. It's got the same Bang and Olufsen poweramp as in a lot of 500W+ heads. If you're not fussed about the effects loop then I'd go for the 350. My cab's a Barefaced Compact, generation 2. It sounds amazing.

The Line 6 XD-V55HS is pretty good value Wireless is expensive (at least usable ones are)!

Check out the Empress Compressor - best metering I've seen on a pedal and sounds great.

Here's a explanation of overtones and harmonics [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtone"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtone[/url] Like BotB said BBE and Aphex make good exciter pedals. Another good bass-specific one is the Basswitch Sonic Spark [url="http://lehle.com/EN/RMI-Basswitch-Sonic-Spark"]http://lehle.com/EN/...tch-Sonic-Spark[/url] Edit: found a good demo! [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2kp_GHj2lw"]https://www.youtube....h?v=k2kp_GHj2lw[/url]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1413380268' post='2577705'] It seems crazy to move it on just because I don't like the colour! [/quote] I think that's a perfectly justifiable reason. Just saying.

Nooooo!