51m0n

I disagree Alex. I have pretty good technique - not the best but I dont have the time I once had. Dynamics are no problem, however I like to use alot of different techniques in the same groove/song etc, and certain techniques, no matter how strong your hands are, are quieter than others. For instance if you go from slapping to tapping to fingerstyle, the tapping is almost guaranteed to appear quietest, part of it is the fact you struggle to generate the same amount of string movement, and part of it is the nature of the envelope of the sound - the attack is nowhere near as great, so there is a psychoacoustic part to this as well. A well set up compressor can even this out just enough for you live to always be heard in a mix without destroying your dynamics, even a cheap old two knob DOD compressor will manage that. Compressors will also allow you to modify the envelope to a certain extent bringing out the attack of the tapping more. Followed by a limiter you can prevent the greater attack of the more ferocius techniques (slapping etc) from totally overpowering everything. Getting a compressor set up just right to cover this gamut of techiques is a proper tricky task if you rely on it too much, but if you take the approach that its to help you, and you practice largely without the crutch it can seriously help get the message across to an audience... Maybe I'm just a nutter for using such disparate techniques in a single groove though

In answer to the OP, if you are in anyway using overdrive then the compressor may be unnesessary since overdrive itself compresses dynamics. On the other hand a really good compressor set up well for the player/song/style can really help either to level the output or to thicken up and add gobs of puch - entirely dependant on settings. Otherwise they wouldnt get used in studios. Live is the same deal, used as an effect to add plenty of grunt you cant quite get that sound with eq or overdrive, used as a leveler you might well find you are helping out FOH, but the reasons for FOH compressing bass apply equally to stage volumes. As for the speed you play making a compressor not work, thats just not the right speed of attack and release on the comp, a lot of pedal comps take a very average view of these settings in an effort to minimise the amount of controls, but frankly that just means that unless you play 'average' you arent going to get what you want from the pedal IMO and IME. I recently got hold of a Focusrite Compounder for £150 inc P&P, and its a ridiculously good bit of kit for that money. I guarantee it could be set up to add masses of punch or just level out your signal a bit, regardless of how fast you're picking. Of course the downside its you need to know what you are doing to get it set up right....

Play lighter and turn your amp up....

Yeah thats what I said to ALex when he told me too You are in for quite a journey getting that down mate you really are!!!!! Best of luck with it though :wacko:

NWR is the British Rocco Prestia IMO, then again in alot of ways the Blockheads are are very British take on the whole Tower of Power sound. TOP have the more overtly astounding horn section - not detracting from the Blockheads at all, they are fantastic too! - But I like the more laid back Blockheads rhythm section feel more. But I really do rate NWR on form as every bit as good as Rocco - who is about as funky as fingerstyle can get IMO.... And yeah I've been working on this forever, on a really good day my version sounds pretty spot on to my ears, on an average day I despair though I use a slightly different fingering to DK though (staying up high for the whole verse bit rather than wanderign around as much), dont know which is better, do know he plays it brilliantly tho. Swine

Whats the fan noise like - it looks like there are two of the little blighters in that there empty cavenous resonant box after all! Very interested in one of these for my youngster now. alexclaber, how would this pair up with your cabs do you think?

My bass is on a wall hanger by the bed. I have two kids (4 and 14) and the elder is a bassist and violininst. He gets to practice a lot more than me! I find practicing very calming, but rarely get to do more than grab 5 or 10 mins whenever I get a chance to stand by my bass. Helps stop me go totally rusty. My partner loves having me play bass, I just rarely get to plug it in (its a PIA to set my rig up for anything less than a full practice session IMO) A long time ago practicing and not being able to get something right used to drive me into a rage, now I'm just happy to be playing!

[quote name='Sean' post='274745' date='Sep 1 2008, 05:12 PM']As a more flexible alternative consider using two AE210 cabs, that way you get a modular 4x10 effectively and the convenience of just taking one cab for some gigs and having the full stack for larger ones. This is of course a more expensive alternative but it's so easy to shift and an LMK through one 2x10 is loud enough for most situations but through two it's bonkers. Another added advantage (for me at least, being lazy) is that with the amp on top of the two 2x10s stacked it's higher than on a single 4x10 making it easier to see/adjust whilst standing. I get my 4x10 fix when I want it and I get the convenience of a compact rig when I need that. The Bergantino AE range doesn't have carpet covering, instead it has a sprayed-on tough polymer textured coating and they'll look better longer and won't pick up every single dog hair on planet earth. I just can't bear that bobbled stuff that comes on carpetted cabs, it reminds me of awful knitwear I was forced to wear as a child in the '80s. :blush:[/quote] +1 if you have the cash. The ae210 is phenomial. Just turned out that for me the 410 fit in my car and saved me some dosh Either way you cant lose with the berg ae stuff. It used to be seriously expensive boutique only, but now MB cabs are more expensive I dont think that applies so much! The tough covering is most definitely not impervious IME however. But it does look nice and Jim B and Mark are getting me a touch up kit and metal corners.

The markup over the US price (allowing for say £20 extra for shipping and for 17.5% VAT) is about £170. So they can stick any idea of me buying one up their proverbial. Something tells me I'll never hear one or play with one either. No retailer in hos right mind will ever stock one since obviously no one will ever buy one at that price, especially considewring how much cheaper they are in the USA. It should be retailing here for about £250 if they want to stir up real sales and interest. Obviously they dont want to do that.

+1 for bergs. The ae210 is about 12" deep, so will almost certainly fot (its 8 ohm, though). the ae410 is ridiculously small for a full on 410, but fits in the boot of my 3 series, it just might fit in the back of a corsa....

I would haeartily recommend checking out the Berg AE410 (Mark @ bass direct again), since it sounds amazing and as far as I can tell is about the same price as the MB 410 cabs now. It is a bit heavier but is a stunning box.

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='253921' date='Aug 3 2008, 08:55 PM']Both my balls are very, very purple.[/quote] Mine went almost black - lasted for over two weeks. Oooooouch!

[quote name='Matty' post='252821' date='Aug 1 2008, 03:03 PM']I think he used an old Mutron3 for most of his stuff.[/quote] Yeah and about two tonnes of other stuff, plus he ran 3 of them from different pickup outputs etc etc. Good luck ever trying to cop the whole Bootsy tone!

Holy cow! Hadnt seen this either, that could be the bog's dollocks! Like the even/odd harmonic generation and sweep eq + Q stuff.

Oooooooohhh Love the TwinQ, my mate's got one in his studio, amazing pre for DI-ing, really warm, lovely eq and comp. This is interesting! A lot of Meek stuff doesn't have a ratio control, assuming slop=ration this would be triffic I think!

In average land, you'd be looking for a clean 300w head and a 'proper' cab to gig almost any small to medium gig - bigger than medium and you wan to go vi athe PA. Thats just IMO. To be fair I run with more watts (500w) and a cab capable of handling a huge amount more watts again (850w) if you just go by the ratings, but I really like the way it all sounds together, and never want to feel like I having to push my gear hard to be heard. If you like the sound of effortless bass get more watts and keep it turned down.

Played with the one in my local (GAK). In short very disappointed. Used an LMII (eq flat, filters off) and a Lakland 5502 (again flat eq). That Lakland is a monster tonewise, fat as *@^£, best sounding bass they have there. Totally could not handle the bottom end off the low B, struggled with the low E below the A. Farted out with the master running at about 9 O'clock with a properly set gain stage. Wasnt at all loud. Compared directly to the 210HF (I think, rather than HR), which went significantly louder before farting, I was shocked that this cab farted out at all though! Maybe I'm spoiled rotten with my Berg AE410 (well I am actually ) but I was hoping this would at least not fart, just not get very loud. With a less thunderous tone from a bass you might do better, but I was shocked and disappointed, the GAK guy went very quiet when the cab struggled so quickly , he'd been all about the 'you must try this amazing new cab from MB' until it didn't deliver as expected.

must admit I am very interested in a Clover Xpression 5 string. Is a very niiice

[quote name='6stringbassist' post='252652' date='Aug 1 2008, 12:29 PM']I got mine from Mark at bassdirect.[/quote] Me too. Very comfy...

you should note that the Berg range differ quite alot. The older HT series stuff us uber hifi. Requires quite powerful amp to get the most of some say. The HS series was an effort to reuire less oomph to drive them. Was successful, used old skool magents, weighed alot, rather less hifi than the previous ones. The new AE series stuff is similar to HS stuff but is lighter (neo drivers) but has been revoiced to go lower (my ae410 is rated to 40Hz, and really does go that low I'm sure). The AE410 has been described as somewhere between an Epifani 410 with a bit of Schroeder mid (in fact its more like not having the Epi super deep loud bass making the mids feel a bit shy). It definitely sits in a mix beautifully, and when you dig in a bit it barks like a rottweiller on heat Best cab I'ver heard or played....

[quote name='rmorris' post='228293' date='Jun 27 2008, 09:07 PM']Just had a brief look at the site - but it's for Linux only ???[/quote] Not so there is a windows installer on the site too

Two Bergantino ae210s. Really. They are only 12" deep!!!! Having said that the ae410 is very very very small for a 410. It fits in the boot of my 10 year old BMW 3 series (either just or perfectly depending upon your point of views ) It is also more than capable of kicking you over