Mornats

I contacted Laney about some noise in my Digbeth (turned out to be electrical hum from the wiring in the house - solved it by moving house lol) and they were very responsive and helpful. I think they take pride in their products.

22 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

If you are a Mac user, the moment you spend more than £200 on 3rd-party plug-ins and samples to go with Reaper, you might as well have bought a copy of Logic. 

That sir, is a very fair point.

18 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

You really can't argue with the price, but in the long run it only works out as good VfM if you don't need to do anything complex with MIDI data and if you don't buy any 3rd party plug-ins.

I manage orchestral music using a variety of sample libraries which requires a fair amount of midi manipulation in Reaper and it's just fine. The likes of Cubase and Logic, by all accounts, do it better (and have handy things such as articulation mapping etc.) but it's entirely possible to do, and without any tweaking or add-ons.

Personally I have 3rd party plugins for EQ, compression, reverb etc. anyway, and a many people say Reaper's stock plugins are good (I'm not convinced myself) but yes, you may wish to buy some 3rd party plugins or grab some of the good free ones about. Melda have some good free ones if I recall correctly?

Jeez I know how a compressor works, no need for the patronising tone.

23 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

He is clearly talking about the control knob labeled "Attack", hence the capital letters.

 

That is crank it.

 

I'm also talking about the attack knob. To the left is a fast attack and to the right is a slow attack so it's not obvious what "max" is in this case.

On 19/10/2023 at 16:59, mazdah said:

 

 

CS-2 or CS-3 copy? They are quite different. 

I have Sustain at 2 o'lock, Attack on max, level to unity gain - Juan Alderete settings

 

It's a CS400 which emulates the CS-3 (controls are level, tone, attack, sustain).

When you say attack on max, is that turned all the way left or right? I can never work that out!

On 11/10/2023 at 21:32, mazdah said:

For me  it would be a Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer.

 

For 20 years of bassplaying I hated compressors, never used them, never needed, never liked how they affect the sound and the feel of the instrument. Until CS-2. WOW. 

 

My number two would be Xotic Bass BB Preamp. My favorite OD combined with my number three - analog Boss CEB-3. 

I have the Behringer copy of this that I got mainly for guitar. What settings work well for you on bass? I've not really set it up for bass yet.

53 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

Cut up something like a business card, put a small piece at each end underneath the pickup covers. It'll raise the plastic cover enough to level the poles.

 

Also, in 2015 there was no Fender Player, it was Standard then!

Good tip, thanks!

And yes, I got it wrong about it being a Player. It's definitely a Standard. And despite this issue, it's still a cracking bass. I never intended to buy a P bass, I just grabbed this one to compare it against a Squier I was trying out. 45 mins later and my mate says I think you like that bass, you've played it for 45 mins. Haven't bought a new bass since I got this one.

8 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Putting some tape over the poles would be the quickest and easiest solution. Some clear nail varnish would also achieve the same outcome.

Ah of course, nice I'll try that thanks! You just saved me considering a complete upgrade of my pickups. I was only looking for covers but you know how it always ends

Update on this. My mum and dad were visiting (I live at the opposite end of the country to them) and as my dad was a guitar tech in the 60s he took a look at the bass. I grabbed a soldering iron and multimeter kit off Amazon and he tested it. Turns out some of the solders on the pickups had dry connections. He wasn't particularly impressed by the soldering! So he's fixed that and I have output once more!

Another problem has crept in though. When I play I have my thumb resting on the pickup. I've noticed when I play the A, D or G string my thumb brushes against the pickup poles and makes an electrical static type noise. A bit of googling suggests a grounding issue. Strange that I hadn't experienced it before. Perhaps my pickups were lower? I can't remember to be honest. Worth noting I use Elixirs so they're coated strings which is possibly a contributor to the issue.

Would grabbing a set of closed pickup covers be a solution here? I could do some basic soldering if needed and if I had good instructions to follow but fitting new covers seems very easy in comparison.

Closer to a plug-in version of the hardware. It's similar to other amp sims (Amplitube, Guitar Rig etc) but rather than simulate the entire amp it has snapshots of amp settings. When someone models their amp they effectively record the settings they have and you can play through it and have it sound the same. You have very limited control over tweaking the sound but the payoff is that the snapshot is very similar sounding to the amp it was modelled off.

I don't have the pedal but I've just bought the SE version of the software (currently on offer at 59.99 euros. No VAT added for me in the UK

I got it primarily for guitar as I don't have a guitar amp and only record some stuff into the PC. I was pleased to see someone's modelled a MarkBass CMD 121P which is super handy since my real one died on me. Once I've had a good play I'll report back on how it sounds. 

On 05/07/2023 at 22:31, skidder652003 said:

That jfet input into the audient is pretty sweet on its own IMO, keep it simple, maybe a little compression vst but thats it.

My next quick test will be to compare going direct into the jfet vs going into it via the Digbeth preamp.

Thanks for the replies so far folks. It's interesting that no one really uses amp/cab Sims when recording so I did a bit of a test last night. Signal chain was:

Squier VM jazz > Laney Digbeth with DI out (pre EQ) into channel 2 of my Audient ID14mkii, line out going into the jfet input of my Audient into channel 1. So same signal going into the PC in slightly different ways.

First thing I noticed was the clarity and added growl from going in via the jfet line in. Not sure of this was the effect of going through the Laney's circuit or the jfet (which Theo marketing says mimics the input stage of a tube amp). So I pushed the DI signal to one side and focused on the line in. With this, I put it through various amp sims and cab sims (both with and without and amp) and concluded that the best sounding signal was the one without any further processing.

In terms of software I tried Bias FX 2, Audio Assault Duality, Audio Assault IR loader thing and Nembrini Black Ice (an emulation of the Darkglass amp with the Alpha Omega in it) and the Nembrini was the better sounding of the bunch. I'll be demoing some Neural DSP stuff soon but will probably not persue amp sims for bass after hearing my initial results.

1 hour ago, Wolfram said:

Alternatively, I will take a DI from my Mesa M3 Carbine combo.... but superb though it sounds, they must have designed that thing purposely to be a pain for recording. It has a DI output, which is affected by the master volume... as is the effect loop... so there is no way to record DI'd and monitor through the studio monitors (or on headphones) with no sound from the combo.

This is something I miss from my dearly departed Markbass combo. That would let you set a separate line out volume to the main volume so you could silently record your DI out.

Maybe I'm making it complicated! I should try a straight plug into the interface and compare the sound with different preamp and amp sim combinations. 

I'm curious about your setup as I'm putting mine together again after some hardware failures. My Markbass CMD121P and Focusrite Forte went kaboom so now I'm working on getting the following set up as my go-to:

Bass > Behringer compressor > Laney Digbeth preamp pedal > Audient ID14MKii (clean DI and tweaked EQ/drive signal separately) > Bias FX 2 software for more effects/amp sim/can (hosted in my DAW).

I haven't found my favourite set up between the Digbeth and Bias FX yet and have been exploring Nembrini Black Ice as an alternative.

So I'm curious about how you all have yours set up.

2 hours ago, Dickon said:

I’m having exactly the same problem since using the amp again after not using it for a while.  I’ve found that if I leave it for a while (this time seems to be getting longer…) it clicks into life.  It’s like it is running in a prolonged start up or safe mode.  There is a distinct click when it comes on which sounds like a relay?  Any thoughts would be helpful.

You know I was thinking of getting it back out to try again on the off chance it would magically work again. I'll try it and will report back.

10 hours ago, Jackroadkill said:

I've gone for a Laney Digbeth; if I'm honest it probably won't be the only one!

I hope you like it. I put my jazz bass through it the other day and found lots of usable EQ options both with and without the tube grit. Don't forget to mix the FET and tube channels for more control. And remember that little tweaks are where it's at especially with the tilt.

Thanks for all the help folks. I think BassBunny is right, I'll find someone who knows what they're doing to take a look at it. 

22 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

@Mornats What's ya Location?

I'm BR6 and happy to take a look.

I'm sure there are other Basschatters also happy to help.

I'm in Bristol, BS9 so a teeny bit too far but thanks for the offer, much appreciated!

Thanks for the detailed reply! 

I've never soldered before, would this be a relatively easy/safe thing to do for a beginner? I wouldn't mind having soldering as a skill but a little worried about how much damage I could do.

Hey basschatters,

My 2015 MIM Fender Player P bass has suddenly lost around 95% of its output volume. I'm playing through a Laney Digbeth into headphones and also into my PC. I initially thought maybe the Digbeth had an issue but I plugged another guitar in using the same cable and it sounded fine. So I've narrowed it down to the P bass. I've taken the pickguard off and plugged the cable in so I can see it sitting in the jack socket correctly. I can't see any loose wires on the connections to the pots or the jack or the ground. I can't see under the pickups without taking them out so I can't say for certain there isn't a problem under there.

Bass was working last week and it's just sat in my room behind me doing nothing since then so I'm at a loss as to what may have caused it.

Any ideas for troubleshooting? I'm on a budget of naff-all so anything I can do to fix it myself would be best although I'll take it to a guitar tech if it's beyond me. 

Thanks in advance!

I was drooling over this and their other new pedals and I've not even heard them yet. I'm looking forward to some ear candy.

It's sounding like the Zoom would sound similar to Bias FX - sounds pretty nice but not as good as the real thing. I'm kinda leaning back to just getting a nice compressor for guitar and bass and leaving any effects in the PC. Although grabbing one second hand and selling it on for not much loss wouldn't be bad idea. Cheers!