Mornats

Hmm, GAS fund. I went shopping for bed linen and came back with an Overwater Contemporary J4 not so long ago so the fund could do with some love. I currently use Guitar Rig Session to record with and I'm more than happy with it so hmm, maybe a trade in for an Ashdown...

That's one solution however I'm a bit stumped as to what to get. A replacement 6-string guitar would be nice but that Ibanez is still quite decent. I've been eyeing up one of these too [url="http://www.dv247.com/guitars/ashdown-electric-blue-eb-12-180-evo-ii-bass-amplifier-combo--73692"]http://www.dv247.com/guitars/ashdown-electric-blue-eb-12-180-evo-ii-bass-amplifier-combo--73692[/url] but I'm not gigging and won't be for a long while, if ever so it's a bit silly to get an amp without knowing my requirements for one. I'd mainly use it just to shape the bass tone to then DI it into Reaper.

It's a lovely looking bass, very good for the price and a great neck which is why it hasn't already gone but I've got 4 basses now and I'm running out of room.

Haha, it's got strings on, they're just black nylon ones on an ebony fretboard! See below for proof

[attachment=94997:244379_10150183299621555_693356554_7585610_5936063_o.jpg]

Urb's right, GarageBand is so simple to use that you do get to focus more on what you're making and not how you're making it, plus I prefer some of the GarageBand plugins over some of the Reaper ones - mainly for their simplicity. That's not to say that Reaper isn't fantastic, I use it as my main DAW now but I still love GarageBand.

Hey basschatters,

More of a theoretical question than a plea for advice although I may act on some advice here

I've got 4 basses, 2 Bass Collections (fretless and 5 string) and an Overwater (by Tanglewood) contemporary J4. The Overwater is my main bass, I've loved bass collections for years but my 4th bass is a cheap (just under £300 new) Dean Hillsboro Single bass. I bought this is Jan this year when I first got back into playing bass after a 15 year gap so I bought it without knowing/remembering what I really wanted or needed in a bass. Anyway, it's now surplus to requirements. I love the slim neck on it, it looks quite nice (and you don't see many of them around) but I've never like the tone from it.

So I need to decide what to do with it. I don't gig so having a backup bass isn't a concern and besides, I'd use my 5 string as a backup anyway if I did. I use my basses for recording and don't have one particular style so a variance in sound is good for me. Some options are:[list]
[*]Trade it in for a 6-string guitar (as I'm mainly recording tracks and I've got a bottom of the range - yet still decent - Ibanez GRG70 so something better here could be useful but strictly, not essential).
[*]Sell it to pay for something I'd use (but I'd lose quite a bit of what I paid for it).
[*]Customise it - i.e. chuck in an EMG MM-TW and electronics, maybe try and replace some hardware too, just for practice, maybe repaint it as a project.
[*]Something else?
[/list]
So whilst I've been thinking this over I thought I'd see what you guys would do in this situation, just out of curiosity really.

Here's a pic of my basses, the Dean is the white one on the left, then it's my red fretless BC, 5 string black BC and the Overwater at the end.

[attachment=94992:338898_10150312332276555_693356554_8695370_637543308_o (1).jpg]

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1323031101' post='1458521']
What makes you say that then?
[/quote]

I'm afraid I've just been guilty of assuming that they would be superficial and crap and not 'proper' musicians due to my perception that they were manufactured. <hangs head in shame after making an assumption without trying to give the guy a chance by listening to him>

Actually, it's these that my mate bought: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_hd662_f.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_hd662_f.htm[/url] and the ones on review here [url="http://www.head-fi.org/products/superlux-hd-668-b"]http://www.head-fi.org/products/superlux-hd-668-b[/url] are the "giant-killers". I've also heard that Superlux make parts for AKG which could explain the quality of their own headphones! Anyway, I've got a pair of the HD622F headphones on my Christmas list

I've never used an ipad to record with so can't really help on that line but glad you're trying the Garageband route, it proved to be a real help for me when I sgtarted back in Feb this year.

If you're doing stuff in Garageband on the Mac Mini then you can get some nice free sounds to play with. First up is the free Kontakt player plus some synths from Native Instruments: [url="http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/?category=1339"]http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/?category=1339[/url]. Then also check out Sampletank Free: [url="http://www.ikmultimedia.com/sampletankfree/features/"]http://www.ikmultimedia.com/sampletankfree/features/[/url].

Garageband will supply you with enough drum loops to get you started but if you want to splash some cash on something a bit better then EZdrummer is a good one to go for. DV247.com may have some deals where you buy EZdrummer and get an expansion free.

I got Guitar Rig 4 LE with my audio interface so I've not really looked for free amp modelling software but I'm sure there's a whole load out there. Amplitude has a free one but the interface sucks as it doesn't easily tell you which amps are free until you select them.

Have fun!

I'd recommend that you start recording in Garageband. It's so simple to use and I got up and running very quickly. You can import you projects into Logic once you get the hang of Garageband and want something with more bells and whistles on. The user interface for Garageband is very uncomplicated and should be an easy way into getting your head round the stuff that's driving you mad. So, just jump in, have a blast and see what you think of the not-so-steep learning curve.

Not really a bassist then...

My mate has just bought a pair of these: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_hd_669.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_hd_669.htm[/url]. They're £24 (plus postage) which seems to put them in the "load of rubbish" category but check out some reviews of them (I can't find the link he sent me unfortunately) as they're know as giant-killers. I had listen to them and they sounds as good as some of the £120-£150 ones that I've auditioned. I wasn't convinced when he told me but my ears didn't lie...

They're great basses. I popped into a music shop to buy a book and thought I'd have a go of one as I'd heard good things about them. I ended up walking out with my Contemporary J4

And if you're after some virtual instruments (which Reaper doesn't bloat itself with) then download the free Kontakt player from the Native Instruments site as it contains around 1GB of sounds. Also grab the free version of Sampletank from IK Multimedia. There's a free synth (Reaktor Spark I think it is) from the NI website too.

+1 for practice over toys. I tried one of those flexi-grip things and it did nothing but picking up a bass and playing it (scales are good to get those fingers going) worked a treat. If I'm recording something I usually loop 4 or 8 bars and do however many takes it needs to get it right, sometimes this can be 30-40 takes and that's a lot of practice. Just don't overdo it otherwise fatigue will start setting in.

I had a 15 year hiatus from playing the bass and am only 5 years younger than the OP so in kind of a similar position and it's practice that wins out every time. Have fun with it too!

Yep, a quarter turn every 24 hours is what I'm aiming for. Patience is a virtue as they say...

Thanks! So I'm assuming that the truss rod has been inserted the opposite way round if the bit you stick your tool into is near the body. No innuendos intended by the way, that just happened to be the simplest way to explain it when the proper terminology goes right out of your head!

The old leftly-loosely, righty-tighty tip for adjusting a truss-rod is a nice way of remembering which way you should turn it. My rather nooby question is this: is is still leftly-loosely, righty-tighty if the truss rod is adjusted from the body side of the neck as opposed to the headstock side of it?

I want to tweak my Overwater's neck tension a little but want to get it right first time. Cheers!

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1319113727' post='1410046']
That's all about leading notes and grace notes, BE. They work becuase they are adjacent to the chord tones and are used on weak beats of the bar as a lead into a diatonic phrase on a strong beat. Holding any lead in note will create tension that is released when it is resolved. A lead in note will work better on a chord tones than a non-chord tone and on a weak beat rather than a strong one although turning that around has long ago become acceptable in the right context. You learn to recognise the difference quite quickly and make your musical decisions accordingly.
[/quote]

I know it's going back a bit in the thread but I've just read the whole thing and gave this one a little go and it worked beautifully.

I'm learning a little bit of theory/scales at a time and just taking my time messing around with something until I need to move on, then I'll learn a bit more. I always try to knock up a track using a certain scale (or whatever else I've just learnt) which then makes me play it over and over, leave out notes, chuck in some passing notes etc. and that's what helps me learn it (rather than playing them over and over which would certainly be better I suspect but some people are really put off by that).

It looks fantastic so far. May be too soon but if you're ever thinking of selling it...

Give Reaper a go (http//www.reaper.fm). It's not shareware or freeware but the non-commercial licence fee is a generous $60 and the trial never expires (although it's worth paying the licence just to support their attitude towards fair pricing if nothing else).

If you're Mac based then Garageband is pretty good I found.

The caveat to the above is that if I've misunderstood what you use Audacity for then I've talked a load of rubbish! I'm kinda assuming you're using it as a DAW...

Ah, yes I've watched the review of the Overwater Aspiration Deluxe 5-string (and mentioned it in the Overwater thread on here). I thought it was a great review that actually focused on the bass and as a few peeps have mentioned, focused on the bass rather than trying to show off your skills. The quality of the sound on the video was pretty good too I thought. It's always hard to get an idea of a bass sound watching, for example, YouTube clips as the quality of the recording can be so iffy. Most of them have far too much hand and string noise in them (if you know what I mean). This one actually focuses on the sound coming out of the bass. Thumbs up

Music Room on College Green have some nice Overwater (made by Tanglewood) guitars in but not a lot else bass-wise. Worth trying one of those mind. I tried one and ended up buying it! They gave me a loyalty card too... so I'm not allowed in there again for a while.

And yeah, where's this Doomhaus and what is it? I've heard it mentioned a couple of times so may pop down...

Is there a part 2?

Ask the cat if you should buy any more basses:

http://youtu.be/LRT4IQ9TmRw

Until i get remarried it's GAS all the way baby.