borntohang

I oscillate between flats and rounds on a regular basis. Love them on a P bass but then I start to miss the clang, so I change back to round. Couple of weeks later I start to miss the woodiness and so... I've been getting good mileage out of rounds with a bit of sponge for that muted attack and sustain you get on flats, which I actually enjoy a lot more than the actual flat tone.

The MJ's are far more jazzy as an internal parallel pickup with 500K pots - lots more treble in there then. Wired series they're just huge and brutish in all formats. I hear they're ridiculous with a preamp but I think that would be just too much output for me. 

Series is absolutely the way to go for a big beefy jazz sound. I'm also fond of the Dimarzio Model Js which are almost so far from a stock J that they're different pickups entirely, but they do sound huge in a mix. You don't get the toppy 'acoustic air' of singles mind, so Series/Parallel is a more versatile option if you want to switch on the fly.

49 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Back in 91 the band I was in did a UK tour, as a support band.

 

First gig was in Bradford. All pile in the van which had been rented & modded for the tour, driver sets off with the band in fine mood.

 

Pull up, driver says everyone out as he’s having trouble finding the venue, asks one of us to go into a petrol station to ask for directions.

 

Before that happened I asked “Isn’t the gig in Bradford” to which the answer was yes.

 

My next question, which wasn’t so well received was “ well why are we in Barnsley”.

 

Aaaaaarrgh!

Hahaha. That reminds me that we once sent a lost drummer into a Newcastle petrol station for directions. He stood in the window for about fifteen minutes nodding and chatting with the attendant before climbing back into the van and driving off with a single comment of "Didn't get a word of that." 

This was of course pre sat nav apps but late on enough for Google Maps to be a thing, which meant a copilot with a stack of A4 covered in directions and inevitably at least one band member in a huff after we missed out a step and rendered the rest of the pile useless. 

Headlining a stage at Truck festival which was the culmination of a week of reasonably high profile festival gigs that have all gone off with successively bigger bangs. Singer pushes herself too hard the day before after doing a festival headliner plus a BBC live set and consequently can barely talk so we're running through the setlist trying to work out bits we can drop or that we can fill out with backing vocals. "That's a cosy ten minutes" indeed.

The stage was the only indoor one and it had been raining all day so we were confident of pulling a decent crowd, but it turns out to be in a recently vacated cowshed which smelt like it had only been vacated overnight - turns out there's a certain penetrating quality to cow fosters on concrete that even a couple of hours of serious scrubbing won't remove. After about thirty minutes your nose just shuts down entirely and your earwax starts melting instead. We can see the crowds turning up at the entrance but they inevitably get about twenty feet into the venue before The Whiff hits them and they make a sharp exit. Acoustics are exactly what you'd imagine from a concrete floor, breezeblock walls, and a tin roof.

Guitarist ends up snapping a string halfway in and passes his guitar offstage to our tech for restringing while he used the backup, but tech is actually a driver and moreover has never strung a Bigsby before so is totally stumped and eventually just lumps the guitar back onto side-stage unstrung. I think we made it to 30 minutes in the end to be fair to the hardcore few who stayed it out, but it was clear that nobody (audience or band) had their heart in it when Artic Monkeys are playing just across the field in a venue that doesn't smell like a nervous farmer's market.

Drive back North was a couple of hours of heavily reconsidering life choices.

edit: reading this back it strikes me that both Cow Fosters (thanks swear filter...) and The Whiff would be great band names.

My mate used to DJ a club night called Black SABBAth which had the obvious gimmick. Can't say it's something I'd want to visit often myself, but always seemed to go down well.

I've had a few of the series they're great for the price. I use the G3 as a guitar practice setup with headphones and there's some nice amp sims in there; the stereo effects are excellent too, but I'm not into most of the drives. If the MS50G had an XLR out I'd have one on my board as an always on preamp even if just for emergencies.

I got my Inca Silver for 200 on gumtree and it's a steal at that price. Bought my Late 50s P brand new for twice that but it was still a good price, even if buying new for a change pained me! 

The CIC models are slightly more desirable because of the rosewood fretboards instead of laurel, but after some spotty fret and nut work in the early runs I think the CII stuff is just as good quality now. 

To neatly tie all three threads of this er... thread together here: I used flats for a long time and have just gone back to rounds BUT I do stick a lump of foam under the bridge because 1) I like the thumpy string response of flats and this is a fair emulation and 2) because it saves a lot of effort muting.

I do about the front half of the show with a P and the foam and then take it out later for the heavier fuzz stuff; the foam just cuts down on some of the ring so I don't have to concentrate as hard at keeping squeaks and sustains down. Pure laziness but also I like the tone in a band! My Jazz is currently on with Bass Centre Groundwounds which are a nice middle ground. There's something unpleasantly dull and mid-choked about flats with distortion through my IEMs even though I prefer the feel so I've come to a compromise on most of my instruments. My shorty P is definitely traditional flats though.

I think a Jazz show is slightly different as you're already prepared for a barrage of unlikely harmonies in every tune (and the trumpet showing that he can play HIGH and LOUD twice a break) and are presumably there because you enjoy that sort of rum thing.

In other gig environments I feel it's considered polite to make an announcement and take a short break prior to a potential bass solo so that non-combatants and those of a nervous disposition have chance to clear the field. 

They're usually called Precision Specials or similar. Squier did a run of PJ with Jazz necks in the Standard series which pop up if you're after a cheapy.

On 22/11/2021 at 10:59, BigRedX said:

 

Once you start playing stages of a certain size the backline for the bass guitar becomes completely irrelevant - especially so if you are using IEM.

 

Your technical rider may specify a mic on a particular speaker in a particular cab, but there'll also be a DI feed direct from the bass guitar itself and probably another from the DI on one of the amps, and in reality you have no way of know exactly which source is the main contribution to the FoH sound.

The gear onstage is for his personal enjoyment, IEMs or no. The crew are all there to work for Adam so if he wants fifteen amps mic'd up with identical speakers because he feels it makes the vibe better then they make it happen. The FoH crew will always have their own opinions about what sounds good out front and will be treated as valuable partners in that discussion during pre-production (because otherwise why employ professionals?) but ultimately AC gets to make the call. They aren't just going to run his bypassed tone through a Radial for the sake of ease... 

On a side note my guitarist knows one of Edge's techs (not Dallas, but the other one) so when U2 played the O2 during the E&I tour my band got to do a walkthrough of the main LCD system and tech areas. Was gutted to miss out as I had another gig that night. - it's an absolute beast of a rig! 

6 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Most colour names are ridiculous.

 

My favourite useless colour name is Sonic Blue. I can't think of a colour less "sonic" than that insipid pastel shade.

You can blame Cadillac for that one. Introduced in 1955 so possibly an attempt to cash in on the space race/supersonic jet imagery? 

It's a stupid thing for sure but I figure if I'm not happy two days into the honeymoon it's probably not happening. Was a really close decision though as it sounded incredible and hope the replacement is just as good.

My main touring bass for the last three or four years has been a CV 60s Jazz from the first run and that's great too. I'm glad they seem to have got over the teething problems from the Indonesian models; my only remaining reservation with the new ones was laurel boards so I was very happy when they started to make maple ones. 

Decided after much pondering that the grain is going to irritate me too much, and more importantly that I'm just not enough of a fan of white to make it work, so unfortunately this one is winging it's way back north to Glasgow. Hopefully a sunburst one will be back down in a few days! 

I will say they've nailed the anodised aluminium finally! Nicely gold but not overly orange or brassy like the early Mascis JM's.

Just picked one up as well but you've pretty much covered my comments. I was torn between the sunburst and white as although I generally dislike sunburst I've been after a '59 with anodized, a la Michael League, for ages. I went for white in the end as I felt there were more options for changing pickguard out in the future but am second-guessing myself now as the transparent finish shows some not particularly attractive dark wood under the upper counter of the body. This isn't a shadow in the pic below - it's the grain.

It's a real shame because the rest of the bass is gorgeous. The neck is really nicely done and it sounds incredible - it's that grindy P bass sound I've been after in my head for years and I don't even have to try that hard to get it. It's good enough that I would consider swapping the body out at a later date, but I'm loathe to do that on a brand new bass rather than just returning it and getting something I'll be happy with. I'm going to leave it sat up in my living room where I can see it to percolate for a bit longer and see if it's a dealbreaker.

Well that's where you have to rely on your roguish wink and natural charm to get you the gig, obviously. Failing that, or if you're a drummer, then being able to consistently turn up on time and sober is a close second. You'd be amazed how many gigs that trick has got me even when I was having to turn down in the tricky bits for the first couple of shows...

There is a gentle winnowing of the great field of musicians as you pass through life. Early on everybody sucks and consequently nobody really cares; as you get older the untalented, the unmotivated, and eventually just the plain mediocre slowly drop out as other things take priority in life (partners, kids, jobs, making rent). Eventually you end up with only the truly talented or the truly delusional still available playing, and the truly talented are rarely struggling for gigs or advertising on classifieds... That's not a knock on your level of playing at all but unfortunately most people are going to have to go through the audition mill a few times until some of the bigger lumps get knocked out! 

I've always felt that you should never be the best musician in a band and often it's actually better to be the worst, so long as it inspires you to get better rather than give up. 

On 30/10/2021 at 11:37, Old Horse Murphy said:

Don't forget a lot of bassists in the early bands in the late-50's/ early-60's were guitarists who were asked to play bass instead (as recounted in a number of interviews/band bios), as bass wasn't always considered to be the stand-alone/sexy instrument it is now. That, and playing with flat wounds probably meant that the sound was a bit woolly so a pick would've helped add a bit of definition. 

I'd imagine that had quite a big influence on playing with a pick. 

Flats, relatively low headroom amps, big speakers with no tweeters... T'was truly an age of mud and thump. Ox was one of the pioneers in high treble clarity, but even he used a pick when he needed the extra help. 

5 hours ago, Bassfinger said:

They look so artificial, just awful. 

 

Few relics look truly worn and aged, but some pull it off better than others (Limelight ususlly look fairly convincing) but these look pith poor.

 

A pickguard is supposed to look UV aged, faded and full of ingrained dirt, not like its been under the grill for 10 minutes.

 

Still, they're  marginally better than the DIY jobs you see where someone has simply taken a bit of wet and dry to the comfort contours.

I don't think EastGlove are intended to look as much like an authentic relic as just an unique 'distressed' finish. A bass isn't going to look like that unless it's come out of flood waters or a house fire.

Actually, I once had a chap pop through the shop with a charred telecaster. His house had burned down at some point with all his gear in it, and with the insurance settlement he bought a partscaster and gave it an extreme burned finish. He admitted he was probably still working through some issues. 😄

10 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Series always sounds better when you play on your own, but as soon as you add the rest of the band the mid-scoop means the bass tends to get lost in the mix.

What circuit are you basing that on? I haven't run one through a frequency analyser, but always found series wiring is more of a low-mid and output boost than any kind of scoop. You do lose a lot of treble though so it can be pretty muddy with high output pickups.

To answer the question, I wire all mine parallel but having a push/pull option for series is a great trick. It should be stock as a 4-way switch on telecasters too - it's perfect for a passive boost.

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

By a sneaky technique of 'reading the manual', I discovered that that is exactly the same as the DI, except it isn't muted when you press the mute button, like the DI is.

 So it's just the tuner output with a new label then. Snooze. 

2 hours ago, la bam said:

 

Just plug a headphone adaptor jack in the IN where youd normally put your bass lead, and it works as a clean power amp if I remember correctly.

This is usually what I do - or if I don't have an adapter to hand I just used a patch cable with the preamp gain turned off so it doesn't pop if you catch it. 

2 hours ago, alexa3020 said:

I'm not familiar with Taurus input - what is it?

 

Edit - Its the Moog Taurus pedal right?

Yes, the pedalsynth. Actually kind of interested in this as I double on Moog bass and it's always annoyed me that the Return/In jack on my ABM500 is muted unless you plug a lead into the front. Sometimes I just want a clean power amp! The 'Full Range' output on the front is interesting too - presumably that's for sending synth/sub signal to a DI?

2 hours ago, SH73 said:

I read Steve Harris uses fresh set every gig. I wonder what they do with the strings after one gig. Probably bin them.

My guys do a full guitar change about every three or four gigs, except for the acoustic which only sees one song so usually lasts twice that. Bassist gets a fresh set at the start of the tour and then only if they break. They're all on Elixirs and I wipe down with Fastfret before and after every show so we could easily make them stretch a bit longer without degrading but if they have the budget I'm happy to do them - can do a full five guitar clean and change in about 45 minutes now as long as I don't have to do the Gretsch. 

They're all keen on recycling so old strings get put to one side, electrical taped together in a little bag, and then at the end of a tour I'll take them all to the recycling centre (bass strings get kept separate to use as emergency spares). Bit wasteful overall so ideally if somebody could turn them into art or jewellery we could sell on the merch desk that would be perfect, but I'm still working on that side.