Kaiu

I currently use a musicman sterling through a Sansamp into an Aguilar DB750 + 2 GS410's. However the DI on the Sansamp actually sounds better than running it before the Aguilar and taking the DI from the Amp. The Aguilar seems to make it a little 'wooly'. Given that I'm using in-ear monitors and our soundguy really dislikes using a mic (as we have quite a lot going on with 2 double mesa stacks, and it never actually sounds that great in my ears!). Surely my DB750 is completely redundant! Anyway, I tried out an SVT II the other day and the sound was more what I was looking for. Like the sansamp but with more 'balls'. I was thinking of trading my DB750 for an SVT and running an Avalon U5 (http://www.avalondesign.com/instrudi.html) after the amp to try and get the tone of the power tubes aswell. Has anyone had experience with speaker level di's? and do they do a good job of replicating the sound? If they aren't that great I think I'd be better off just keeping the Sansamp and running into the power section of the db750 if i ever need a 'conventional' amp I'd hate to fork out £1000+ on an Ampeg without it being heard past the first few rows. Thanks, ed

go for it! It can be an amazing solo instrument, i've always loved the Bach cello suite's, they aren't too difficult and they are great exercises at the same time. Also If you can find a piano playing friend (in my case it was a tutor) to acompany you there are also some great pieces out there for cello and piano. That really helped to keep it interesting when I was starting out.

Nice, it's a bit of a basschat sesh this time round! I have a bit in there aswell (Elliot Minor). There is a photo of me with my ATK and sterling, both bought off fellow basschatter's. ed

If the monitor mixes are done from Foh, the way we did it, was to have our transmitter rack next to the Foh desk. So that instead of running the monitor feeds to the wedges we just plug our transmitter's in instead. As far as headphones go, any quality pair will do. We used the £20 sennheiser's for ages before we bought Shure e2's (i think?!) HOWEVER.. one downside is that if the front of house desk is quite far away, reception can be dodgy (especially if the room is full of people or it is a low cieling). So we had to invest in a router type thing with a large aerial. (We did have 5 sets of in-ears though so it was worth it).

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='181250' date='Apr 20 2008, 07:24 PM']they do that because they can charge it to the Band's tab... it all comes back off the advance... basically, it's not their money they're spending...[/quote] Not when it's a promotional cost. The label pays for everything relating to instores, interviews, TV performances etc. Recoupable costs are Videos, Album.single recordings, tour support etc That's how our deal is structured. It may not be the same in every case.

The industry is adapting, albeit not as successfully as they would like. In most cases the major labels are only offering 360 degree deals to new bands, where they take a slice of merchandise, ticket sales and record sales. IMO the live scene will carry on as normal as long as bands don't have to hike ticket prices because labels are taking a big slice. It's ridiculous, we are signed to a major label, and the money they spend is stupid. They still send bands first class, book flights at the last minute instead of booking in advance and saving money. With a little extra care they could save themselves alot of money. Alot of the employees are still living in the 80's and 90's, billing large amounts to their company accounts in the name of the artist. I know it's not going to amount to the number of illegal downloads etc but it's a start. ed

I use an MFC5, it's small and durable, plus Mario (the guy who makes them) is very helpful. [url="http://www.axess-electronics.com/sc/MFC5-MIDI-Footcontroller-p-16137.html"]http://www.axess-electronics.com/sc/MFC5-M...er-p-16137.html[/url] The downside is that he is based in the states so it might take a little while to arrive. I also use a GRX4 Guitar Router (http://www.axess-electronics.com/sc/GRX4-Guitar-Router-Switcher-p-16135.html) and a CFX4 Control Function Switcher (http://www.axess-electronics.com/sc/CFX4-Control-Function-Switcher-p-16136.html) The MFC5 is phantom powered down the midi cable. All this controls my Aguilar DB750, Aguilar Agro, Tuner and puts various pedals (big muff, eq, sansamp) in and out of the loop. This means all my equipment now live in one rack, including all the pedals etc Ed

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='116134' date='Jan 8 2008, 12:00 PM']Hi there, I can confirm by replacing the latching footswitch on the big muff and replacing it with a socket will work. Just run a standard guitar jack to jack from the newly installed socket on the big muff and run that to your CFX4. Remember to get the polarity right otherwise your may end up with an off pedal when the MIDI logic says that it is on. If you get it wrong, just switch the connectors on the socket within the Big Muff. As an additional note, I have had success with controlling amps with those logical footswitches (e.g. footswitches with clever electronics gubbings in) in this manner. Just replace the switches with jacks, connect them up, and then you can control them from a switching unit such as a GCX, CFX4 etc. Good luck... any problems, just give me a shout. As an aside thought, to prevent butchering your pedal, have you thought about getting a looper? Same theory - connect the Big Muff to the looper and then replace the switch on the looper with a socket and then connect that to your CFX4. It will do the same as before, but it means that you can remove the Big Muff from your signal path when not in use (as I seem to recall the Big Muff is not true bypass) Strictly speaking, you should look at loopers such as the GCX, Switchblade, Axess GRX4 etc and patch the pedals connected in and out of the signal chain, but if you aren't running more than one pedal, it's probably not worth the added expense. It's all good fun isn't it?[/quote] THANKS! Modding a looper sounds like a much better idea, however i have very little experience In things such as this. I know someone who can do the soldering, I was just wondering if you knew of a decent looper to mod? I would get the GRX4 (and not bother with mod's) but as you say I'm not sure it's worth it with one pedal. I think I'm on a slippery slope though... once you start messing with things like this I can see my gear getting infinately more complicated!

Hey guys, I am in the process of rackmounting all my gear. I have an axess-electronics midi pedal and control function switcher (http://www.axess-electronics.com/sc/CFX4-Control-Function-Switcher-p-16136.html), which essentially operates four latching inputs (not sure of the technical language!). eg the tuning mute on my amp. At the moment it controls my amp mute, and my Aguilar agro which is engaged by a latching footswitch. Anyway, I was wondering if it was possible to remove the latching footswitch on my little big muff and Install a latching jack socket? so that the muff can be operated from a distance? if you get my drift! If anyone has a better way of rackmounting a single pedal let me know, given that I already own a midi device that can control four latching devices. I apologise for my lack of technical language! ed

I have a 750, and I sometimes wish I had the SVT (sounded great when i tried one). I have trouble getting the 750 to break up. As a result I bought the new AGRO (distortion) pre amp, which is great for a little tubey over drive. An expensive solution I know, but it was cheaper than selling up and buying an SVT. Th Aguilar is a great amp, it's responsive, has masses of headroom and sounds great, however if you are looking for an SVT sound, get an SVT. I doubt you will be able to get the 750 to break up enough. As I already have a 750, there is no point selling up and going the SVT route. However if I were to start again I would get the SVT. Lesson: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS try before you buy... I didn't, and thats why I won't be truly happy until I have the tone I want. Aguilar is very reliable though! I have toured all over the uk, from small pubs and clubs to arena's and my 750 is the only piece of gear that hasn't let us down. I've lost count how many times our guitarists amps have been repaired, and how many times ive seen support bands struggle with a dodgy bass head. ed

Yeah I'd like to add, although I originally thought it was all backing tracks etc they do actually play live, and they are quite decent too. They ought to be after four (!?) arena tours and all the rest. As far as I know they don't even use a click track. As for studio musicians I wouldn't know. anyway not my cup of tea, but they put on a good show and they can all play their instruments. As for appearing live on tv, sometimes you don't get a choice. We were denied a full live set up when we did CIN on BBC wales. It was live vocals to track. It was terrible for me, being the bass player and all. It actually sounded and looked far worse than our normal show. Plus side is I did get to show off my black on black Musicman sterling! Bought it from martthebass a few weeks back, love it! The neck on those things is amazing... I use it for everything now. ed

were one night only supporting them?

[quote name='cetera' post='62561' date='Sep 19 2007, 10:59 AM'][b]Peter Cetera[/b] with Chicago on albums from CTA - XI.... he had to contend with a horn section, drummer, percussionist, keys and a guitarist rated better than Hendrix. He still managed to come up with superb melodic, rhythmically grooving basslines reminiscent of McCartney/Jamerson.... and all while singing!! ^_^ [b]Tiran Porter[/b] with The Doobie Brothers. Had to contend with 2 drummers, a percussionist, up to 3 guitarists, a keyboard player and huge harmony vocals..... and still cut through with beautifully composed basslines.... [/quote] Thanks! Read an article on Tiran the other day, might have been in bass player magazine. Apparently The Doobie Brothers had a reunion in 1987 which consisted of most of the members that had ever played with them, it ended up being four drummers, a percussionist, four guitar players,two keyboard players and Tiran! mental...

Hi just to add to whats already been said, When we play, everything is mic'ed up, so its relatively easy for me. The sound engineer just switches out my floor monitor, with my in ear tranciever. I often find using floor monitors aswell as the in-ears just 'muddies' up the sound in my ears. I am currently getting some custom moulds made, which will hopefully block out most of the external noise so I can have my mix exactly how I want it. This is only probably worth it if you have everything on stage mic'ed up. it can take a while to get used to.In fact our singer never could get used to it, so he plays with one ear in, the other out. So he can hear his vocals but also hear the rest of the band onstage. I wouldn't advise this, as one of the main advantages of in-ears is ear protection, and by only having one in, not only are you not protecting one of your ears, but often you have to turn the volume on your reciever right up in order to hear your in-ear mix clearly through only one ear. But having said that, if you don't find it too loud, I suppose it could be a solution. I don't have any experience with the DIY approach, i.e the two channel mixer, but it definately makes sense.

[quote name='bass_in_ya_face' post='62345' date='Sep 18 2007, 09:06 PM']Mick Karn, JJ Burnell, Geddy Lee, Nick Beggs, Norman Watt Roy, Peter Hook,[/quote] what a great forum! thanks, will be up late tonight checking that lot out. Alot of the names I already recognise, but it wasn't exactly stuff that was in my 'on the go' playist on my mp3 player. Ha, loving the Earth, Wind and Fire stuff, reminds me of my mum's 40th Bday party...

[quote name='neilb' post='62265' date='Sep 18 2007, 06:41 PM']Jamiroquai for starters - Paul is an innovative bassist and their band is big.[/quote] thanks, had forgotten about them! [quote name='Mikey D' post='62269' date='Sep 18 2007, 06:50 PM']You don't get many bands much bigger than Earth Wind and Fire. So Verdine White.[/quote] Havn't heard much of them (please don't hit me!!), off to itunes I go! thanks! keep em coming

I apologise if this has already been covered, but i'd like some inspiration. There are a lot of great bassists out there, but the ones I hear the most about, in my experience, are the ones who have the oportunity to shine. More often than not its because bass plays an enourmously important role, e.g in Funk, Jazz etc Also it's often because they have a lot of sonic space within which to play. e.g off the top of my head Chris Wolstenholme. I'm in a band with 5 members: 2 guitars, 1 keyboard/synth, three vocals, bass and drums, and I often find it hard to make interesting bass lines with so much going. I come up with some average/decent fills, but its usually when something drops out, or in order to link passages, for the rest of the time I find myself firmly planted on the route notes. Can anyone recommend me a bassist who, despite having so much to contend with, still manages to create interesting and inspiring bass lines that are integral to the song? I know, it sounds alot but I'm just looking for some bands to listen to for inspiration on how to be dynamic and creative in such a small sonic space.

[quote name='beerdragon' post='57451' date='Sep 8 2007, 06:02 PM']Silly article on the bands such as the White Stripes who don't bother with a bass player and maybe others will follow suit, [url="http://www.sptimes.com/2003/06/29/Floridian/The_Death_of_the_Bass.shtml"]http://www.sptimes.com/2003/06/29/Floridia..._the_Bass.shtml[/url][/quote] It is silly at times, although I think it leaves on a good point, arguing that its just a 'fad'. It's a style of music, some people are into, some aren't. It will pass, and if not, there is always room for a bassist in other styles of music. Thanks for the link though, made my day just that little bit more interesting.

[quote name='The Funk' post='55340' date='Sep 4 2007, 03:46 PM']I think it does have pretty much the same effect - except with the pad engaged, changes using the gain knob will not be as extreme (I think!).[/quote] thanks!

Ok, I was wondering, when you switch the Active/passive switch next to the input, from passive to active, does that have the same effect as turning the gain knob down? I have a DB750. I'm assuming it does, as switching it puts a 10db pad in the signal path, which would be the same as turning the Gain knob down.

[quote name='G-bitch' post='55234' date='Sep 4 2007, 01:07 PM']Change the valves in an Ampeg - should get rid of a bit of noise. If that's the sound you like then nothing will replicate it (sansamp will but without so much flexibility IMO). Don't GK do a pre? That's probably very ballsy but then half the GK tone is in their power section so that could be a waste.[/quote] +1 for the Aguilar DB659, only 1 rack space, simple to use and the deep switch is brilliant. Oh yeah and it sounds bloody good aswell. However I have heard of people encountering problems when trying to drive a QSC with it, the output isnt hot enough. Still it can be sorted.

[quote name='Bigwan' post='55085' date='Sep 4 2007, 07:46 AM']I spoke to Mike at Iceni about these. They're going to be stupid money in the UK by the sounds of things...[/quote] :-( I'll have to get one from the US then.

[quote name='Dragonlord' post='21485' date='Jun 21 2007, 05:31 PM']Well, I think you can use it fine as a preamp, as long as you like the obviously dirtier sound (and I'm not sure, maybe you could even turn distortion down completely?).[/quote] Sorry to revive old threads, but anyone else really really looking forward to it?! The two guitarists in my band are off to LA in sept so ill see if they can get me one. I want this in the effects loop of my DB750, should be killer!