cheddatom

What's the EBS thing? and is that a Jaques distortion? What kind of sounds does it do well? Doesn't anyone else have a crazy disorganised board? I feel a bit stupid next to all these perfect boards :-/

I found that buying multi-fx to learn what effects do, and how you can control them was really useful. It didn't make me look for places to use the new crazy sounds I had, but it made me know what sound I wanted, and how to get it, when I heard a place that needs it. That's not worded very well sorry!

I think the best advice is to get a multi-effects unit, and learn about what the effects are doing, and how to get the sounds you want. You don't have to replace your unit with singles if it sounds good enough to your ears. I recommend the Zoom B2.1U The only "must have" effect I think a bassist in a guitar band should have is some sort of compression/limiting.

I don't lust after basses or amps, but effects!

what does YMMV mean? I agree, everyone has different tastes in distortion pedals. A big reason for this is that when you're playing in a band, you may have to have quite a crap distortion sound to cut through, and sound good. As in, it'll sound crap solo'd, but works well with the band. We're all in different bands, so we all need different distortion pedals etc?

It seems these kind of aches and pains are really common for bass players. There have been a few thread about this kind of thing. I personally have pains in my wrist and hand, and it's made a hell of a lot worse by using the computer. I haven't found anything to cure it. I went to an osteopathy clinic for 4 weeks and they said that they couldn't do anything, and gave me some exercises to do. These are to strengthen, and loosen the tendons in the arm. Basically, they told me to get a can of beans, and keep lifting it with just my wrist, so that only your hand is moving - it could be some help?

Their last range was really good too, but was in plastic cases and was a bit unreliable. This new range is rock solid metal, and it costs the same money! I think it must be slave labour, but i'm not going to start a campaign for ethical gear.

Did you have a go?

I wouldn't bin it, I would get someone who knows how to look for a dry joint to have a look around inside, as that's a really easy fix. Otherwise, there are plenty of people on here who would like to have a go at fixing it if you're getting rid!

OG - If you download the manual, you can zoom in on it! I know the type is a bit small for the older generation

Well, they all start with effects programmed don't they, so you have to find a patch you want to edit, then turn the rotary knob to go through each "module" (i.e mod, amp, fx, eq etc) and turn them off using whatever it says in the manual. Then, to save the patch, press save (I think, it explains this too). Then you have a new patch! There's no function to "clear" a patch, so that you can just add in what you want, although that would be useful!

You can go through each module turning them off. I can't remember how to do it, but I used the manual to get to grips with mine, and it was quite easy setting up patches as you describe them.

It's not just ERBs you're talking about though, it's technical w*nkery on any instrument. There are loads more idiots playing stuff too fast to hear on guitars than there are on 4 strings, or ERBs!!

Not all ERB players are really technical you know!

[quote name='stevebasshead' post='96825' date='Nov 30 2007, 05:15 PM']I often wonder what state FoH engineers ears are in - surely anyone who regularly does the sound for bands is exposed to loud music on such a regular basis that their hearing would be less than perfect to start with. I've never really noticed any of them using ear protection - has anyone?[/quote] This is why it's so rediculously loud in a lot of venues!

I used to play a 4 string, and i'd play basslines, and play the routes along with riffs and etc, "holding down the low end", but when it got to a chilled out, relaxed bit of the song, I wanted to play something nice and soft that wasn't making your ears flap, and I couldn't go high enough for this on my 4 string. I got the 6 string because I didn't realise (I was young) that I could have a 5 string with a high C. Now I have the 6ers though, I use the low b to add to my low end playing, adding in fifths I couldn't reach before, or playing fat low roots too low for the E string.

[quote name='colda' post='96690' date='Nov 30 2007, 02:27 PM']A technical rider with guide eq's channel mixes and preferred monitor mixes is a godsend - I wish more bands did this, it helps the engineer, cut soundchecks right down, everyone is happier and the band get the sound they want.[/quote] What a good idea, i've never heard of this before!

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='96694' date='Nov 30 2007, 02:28 PM']In the past, the lower strings have too much mass to be sustained for a long time by a magnetic system.[/quote] Surely, if they can be sustained for any amount of time, they can be sustained forever? To be honest, I don't know all the physics surrounding the sustainer, but I thought you generated some sort of electro magnetic field which caused the strings to vibrate, so maybe for bass you'd need a strong field?

The ASIO full duplex driver should only be available if you have it selected in the device setup. I would have thought that it would be MOTU ASIO or something, indicating that the motu driver is activated, not the standard ASIO driver.

When you go on device settings, and you choose the ASIO driver, you choose the motu driver yeh? And then, when you click to change the audio inputs on a channel, what are the names of the options you have? You might have to create a number of VST inputs, routed from the motu, and you can do this in the vst inputs panel.

Well, obviously you're a good sound guy, but maybe i've mis-read some others. Reading your post though, it would seem pointless for any but the first band on to sound check, so that you have a good starting point and can work on your mix throughout the gig. Still, you make a good point about the sound changing when the audience is in, which again begs the question of the point of the sound check. For me, the only time there is any point in the sound check is when I have a monitor, and a sound man willing to set up a good monitor mix. He will mess with the FOH mix once we're playing anyway. Obviously if you have very different line-ups then sound checks will be helpful.

I don't know of any sustainers aimed at bass, let alone passive ones.

To be fair though, i've played loads of gigs where there are multiple bands, and everyone was asked to do a sound check, but the sound guy changed all the settings for every band, and never wrote anything down. I fail to see how he manages to remember the levels, let alone the EQ for 4-6 different bands, and to be honest, I don't think he even tries. They normally forget to mic my guitar amp, and probably forget to turn it up when i've mic'd it up 'cos i'm a bassist, and I only deserve a DI. We don't bother sound checking at these kind of venues any more, it's a pointless waste of time!

In the studio, you can polish a turd, but, if a band has horrible guitar sounds, all you can do is try to EQ them a bit. Most PA systems won't have enough equipment/flexibility to polish a turd.