LukeFRC

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1483407775' post='3206954'] I'll start. It depends on what a band is looking for. Here's an example, a national touring band, let's say they're headlining 250-500 seat venues.They are booked for 4 months, East coast,West coast and the Midwest. Then another month in Europe.They're looking for a bass player. I'd be very hesitant to to audition as I have no touring experience. Blue [/quote] In that example I would encourage you to go for it - but be really honest about your non-touring experience.

Vox T25>Hughes and Kettner QT600 w TechSoundsystems 212>Tecamp Puma 1000 w Tecamp M210> Roland DBass 210> Hellborg Pre w Ashdown amp w ACME b2 > Thunderfunk TF750a w ACME b2 > GK RB1001 210> Mesa Walkabout I'm happy now! The only one I miss is the hellborg preamp.

I used to have a Tecamp Puma 1000 - the powersoft one. Nice bit of kit. I took the top off it once to look inside - essentially the powersoft unit with tecamp's preamp stuck on before it, and the outputs stuck on after it. Some of the amp modules also have the PSU inbuilt. There's all sorts of things they can do with gain structure and how the preamp works... but it seems to be essentially a preamp plugged into a pre-designed unit. I know TC electronics rightly got a bad name for their "creative" marketing of the RH450 - but I think that on the plus side they are using their expertise and electronics knowledge to get the best out of the amp module for a very specific bass guitar related need. If you'll like a lightweight amp that kinda can do the SVT tone and have loads of compression and eq to play with it's a pretty good bit of kit. Some of the other amps I suspect don't spend as much time and expertise making the parts work together. I don't think I've heard one but I'll use Aguilar as an example - from memory a year after announcing they would never do a class D amp they saw where the market was going and bolted their tone hammer pedal infront of probably an ice power class D module. It's not saying that thats' a bad way to work, but it's very different design process from that Hellborg amp you've got.

Rootmaster is one of ashdown's lower end ranges, the 4*8 was from their ABM line - so I think the 4*8 Used to use one regularly with the mini 1*15 they used to make. Was alright, heavier than you would think but sounded nice. I preferred it to the 1*15.

[quote name='gareth' timestamp='1482859621' post='3203112'] My wonderful wunkay [/quote] Gareth - I've said more than once that you've got a cracking taste in instruments. and then you go and show me about the only bass on my GAS list, in my favourite colour. And I mean favourite colour for everything, I didn't even know G&L used it. Please promise me you'll never show pictures of her again... and if you do, and it's ever in a sale post you give me a months warning to get the money together....! drooling

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1482425467' post='3200509'] Done by the ageing guy at Sandberg so I saw on their Facebook page... Odd: [/quote] that explains it - I think their ageing looks awful

Right I get roadworn basses - I get how if you don't want to take your original late 50's precision out on the road then one that feels and looks similar is a good idea. Some of the best relicing is just amazing looking- If anyone wants to get me a bravewood for christmas I'll let you know the address to send it to I get the cheaper/not so good end too - the Nash and Fender versions, and that british guy who makes them out of unknown parts and there were loads on here in the summer. I get it. BUT.... a reliced version of a bass built in 1983? At a price that would get you an original early 60's fender? https://www.thomann.de/gb/fodera_vw_classic_monarch_ltd_aged.htm I just don't get it. I don't even have much of a problem with Fodera costing that much - it's just if I were spending that much I'ld want something pristine! (otherwise why by new) Don't get it.

Leftfield suggestion - Bartolini original bass PJ I've a set in my Warwick streamer stage 1 and they smooth out the brightness of that bass - mind you they arn't vintage sounding.

looks nice

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1482005633' post='3196969'] Doesn't everything? A goodly percentage of members there suffer from advanced cases of Dunning-Kruger effect. That fact isn't lost on amp designers, so most have low pass filtering in the pre-amp as part of the pre-voicing EQ. Where you're most likely to have an issue is with a separate pre-amp/power amp configuration, and then only if the pre-amp designer didn't high pass for whatever reason. [/quote] Part of the problem is that there's a large amount of bass players who think the answer is more bass. I play at a church, big stone building, modern glass wall at the back and massive resonance down low. We have no backlineand a IEM system and the FOH. PA folk often end up with a massive mush in the bottom end. Its taken me a year and demonstrating that turning on the desk's HPF on the bass guitar cleans up the sound no end. I only have to suggest they do the same on the acousitic guitars, keys and kick drum and we may one day get it sounding good!

goes the other way too - we played some festival thing once, about 10 venues around the city with 2-4 acts each, if you had a wristband you could just walk into any of them. It was great. We were playing the "main venue", backline all provided and chatting to the sound guy found he was in charge of tech for the whole festival - but was running the desk for our venue as "I built these speakers myself" - nice guy. Us and the other 2 acts down the bill played, and sounded great, good gig. Then the "headliners" turned up, who at the time were going to be the "next big thing" ... and they brought their own sound guy.... it was painful sounding. We stayed and watched and cheered out of politeness (we always did that with bands we supported and that supported us) but it wasn't much fun.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1482357424' post='3199923'] Could I pick your brains, Bill? What is your favourite all round 10" driver(s) for bass guitar use (in a suitable cab, properly driven, etc, of course)? Thanks. I appreciate this may be a bit of a naïve question, but would be interested in your thoughts. Thanks. [/quote] the answer to the question after this is either the Simplexx or the Jack. Bill will tell you the Jack is better, more efficient but you need to have a fw Q points on your amp to get the most out of it. Other people who built them will say that two is more than double better than one. Someone else will chime in about their barefaced 210 cab which they really rate. Someone will possibly meantion the handles barefaced used half a decade ago.... then you're wondering - is it any good for metal. Which I don't know

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1482007045' post='3196977'] Very nice, always liked these. Makes me wonder about prices of Yamahas from that era & actual differences in the model range. I had a BB400S which, apart from being fretless, lacking a scratchplate and being a few years later (83, I think it was) looked pretty much identical, build & components-wise. These sell for about £150 - £180, on a good day & don't appear to be much less scarce. Wonder why there's such a massive difference in value? [/quote] there actually are Yamaha collectors who go for the early ones. Yes really!

[quote name='AutomaticWriting' timestamp='1481815868' post='3195406'] Hey guys hopefully I can reply to all of these in a concise manner haha. So I'll answer a few things, I really appreciate everyones input, it's definitely made me look from a few different perspectives. Okay so I should point out we are all at university together and will be for the next 3 years. I don't think I've done anything unprofessional, I was available 24/7 for the singer, the only deadline I missed was one that wasn't even important and I missed it due to doing other things for the singer and having to do my university work because it was exam week. But other than that I've pretty much done everything for them. The setup was I'd be handed some chords played roughly on keyboard and a rough vocal part. Then I would chop this up, re arrange the song how I saw best, say what worked, what didn't, then after this I would produce the entire song and wait for a vocal part. After which it would go to rehearsal where we would work out a live arrangement for the song, again normally left to me. I'm mainly a bit gutted because I haven't played bass in a band before so I was very excited about finally getting a chance and whilst I'm not the greatest bassist to walk the earth I don't think I'm bad either. The songs were pretty straight forward pop numbers anyway. I think I will just move on, there's been a few strange decisions with this singer recently not just involving me. So I think it's probably best if I cut my losses and move on to the next project, I have a few other artists on the radar that would be interested in working with me so hopefully there's some light at the end of the tunnel I hope this thread actually helps some other people who will go through the same issue! I don't want it to just be me complaining... Cheers [/quote] Three things I guess... 1- the guy sounds like a bit of an idiot, unless he's got Dylan like genius or something you don't need him. If he does have Dylan like genius then that would come across on the demos, and bluntly he doesn't need you. (You can substitute dylan for whichever musical hero you have btw) 2- He's a young singer songwriter, he meets a guy at uni who does production and plays a bit of stuff on it and he does a good job. So much so that he lands one song at some big venue. Now I don't really know what kinda strange gig is only one song, but in that situation from his POV he's seeing it as a big chance to impress. If you were him andhad to choose between the producer who had never played a gig as a bass player or someone who had played lots of gigs... it's not an utterly stupid idea he's had from his POV. Say you carried on played bass with him, it's clear he doesn't really view you as an equal in the project so you work out, what, you get a split of the profits? So in the future say this guy becomes massive, he's going to have a manager there asking him why they've got this good-but-not-exceptional bass player who has got half a mind on production projects is in the band as you cost more than getting in a contracted pro. ... 3. You must be good at the production side, and presumably young and at the start of your career. Well done you've just avoided having your time at uni tied to one person's ego. Go find more music to make and play. Find places where you're seen as an equal. Start things yourself. and think next time the singer songwriter rings wanting production, as well as needing to talk about your pay structure you'll have to talk about your schedule and when you can fit him in. Oh and don't neglect the studies. As an aside, when I was at uni we formed a band, in one year we went from forming to playing fairly big venues and getting lots of good press. It was amazing how many other bands were striving to 'make it', and how this was poluting their decision making, behaviour and music. We took what we were doing seriously but we were very much doing things cos we thought they were fun/interesting - and it was amazing how much that stood out in a sea of derivative blandness. Beware people who's egos are set on "making it"

Isn't flat on one of them not centre on the bass control?

Warwick tend to put the pickups in similar positions and they don't have a reputation for being too 'jazz' - I've used that preamp too and it's very clean it doesn't add much tonally. Stick a more coloured preamp in there and you can add that colour to the existing pickups is where I would start. Actually new steel strings and raising the pickups as close to the strings as I can would probably help too

Next time you're spending that much on a bass overwater, ACG shuker or similar will build you a jazz bass and let you choose whatever wood you want

. Or: match your budget to whatever Yamaha model is closest

Fender Roscoe beck is one of the better regarded passive 5 strings I think? Not tried one

why don't they put a HPF as standard on bass amps?

I can kinda see Blue Arran's response - someone buys a driver, bolts it into a home-made box and then uses an unknown (to them) amplifier with unknown compression or effects added to make live bass guitar noise and an unknown number of gigs and load-in and load outs..... there are so many variables there that I can understand their reticence to make it their problem. Just a wee question - the driver is rated for 350w, and from reading the bass cab build thread the cabs built with it have a flat response and a surprising amount of low end. In a gig situation IME, unless you have brilliant sound tech, and good stage noise dicipline, that flat response and bottom end gets lost a bit. From the sound desk turning up a mid freq to let the bass cut through, cutting bottom on keys, and guitars and making sure the kick and bass arn't compete in is how I would solve it. But from the bass players position it makes sense to not be able to hear yourself and turn up a bit. If you respond by turning up you make the mush worse and work your speakers harder. How much power do you think you've been putting into the speakers? Stevie says you can put 350w through without problem. Reason I ask is looking up the spec sheet of the amp module in your amp it's rated for 8ohms at 500w [size=4]@ 1%THD+N typical. With class D would we expect the burst power figures to be higher than that? If the amplifier is loud enough to start distorting it puts out typical 630w [font=Flama]@ 10%THD+N. Now that [/font][/size][font="Flama"]doesn't tell us what limiting Fender have added and I don't claim to fully understand spec sheets - but is it possible you were just putting too much power into it? [/font]