Mornats

Nice! Share your plans with us lot will ya? I'm sure we can come up with something creative...

Cheers Loz. I've never had the MarkBass above 3 even when gigging with a loud drummer and that's with the input gain at around 2-3. I'm curious about the difference in sound rather than volume. The Ashdown should have a lovely warmth about it I reckon. I'll try it tomorrow (bit too late to be trying it now, even at low volumes. Gotta think of the neighbours).

Hey folks, Was just curious as to what my MarkBass CMD 121P combo would sound like with an extension cab added and I've only got an Ashdown VS112 to try it with. Only trouble is that the Ashdown is rated at 150w at 8ohm. The MarkBass is 500w at 4ohm and 300 at 8ohm so by my logic, that's 200w it'll try and pump through the Ashdown (or 250w? I dunno!). I guess it'll be safe to try it at at-home volume but if I fancy gigging it would I be at risk of popping the Ashdown easily?

I like how you've put importance on the ambiance and lighting.

There's a thread going on over in the recording section for this: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/212756-home-studio-porn/ Your setup looks rather nice and relaxed. And so tidy!

I'm tempted too But like mcnach I'd be terrified of doing the work. Booboo, any chance you could post instructions up please? If it doesn't look too daunting I think we may try it. Cheers in advance!

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1405588521' post='2503248'] RME Babyface Audient iD22 Apogee Duet (only if you run a Mac) [/quote] Any reason the Focusrite Forte isn't in your list? It's usually up there with that lot. Just curious that's all

The bass sounds as amazing as it looks! Looks a little like a screaming duck from the back don't ya think? In a good way of course!

Show us more pics of the bass please! I love Bass Collections and that looks a beauty.

Never thought to mention the Zoom B3 option. I've got a Zoom B9 (rarely used, I should sell it...) that does indeed work well as an audio interface. You don't even need a PC, just plug headphones in.

[quote name='David Taylor' timestamp='1404993557' post='2497642'] I've actually been seriously looking at the Roland, i like the looks of the them and the fact they seem to be easily portable. I'll probably buy new, but thats cause i know i'll get a good price. My mates going back to PMT at the end of the month to pick up his new guitar and few other bits, he's spending like £3k on a single guitar o.O so if i buy my amp on his ticket i'll get a good discount, Thats what happened with my Bass, was on sale for 249, i bought it when he bought one so i got mine reduced to £200 and they GAVE me the official Hofner hard case for free. So i was well chuffed with that considering the case was going to be another 89£ [/quote] They're great guys in the Bristol PMT. The prices on display are usually competitive with Internet prices and there's room for haggling. That's a good deal you got there though, quite the bargain! With regards portability of gear and combos vs. separate head and cab then I'd say it's more about the size and weight than whether it's a combo or not. I've got a MarkBass CMD 121P that weighs 12.5KG and isn't much larger than my Laney 15w RB1 practice amp. I know someone with an Ashdown 300w head and 1x15 cab and each of them weighs more than my combo. It depends on the combo or head/cab. Saying that, as someone above mentioned, I'm stuck with the cab that's in my combo but it's the one I'd use anyway so it's good for me. PMT say they're getting some MarkBass gear in soon but their supplier hasn't followed up on it so last time I was in (a few weeks ago) they didn't have any. However as you're local to Bristol you're more than welcome to have a look and a play on mine. I'm down in Southville if that's close to you. I've also got an Ashdown Touring 220 rig (1x12 combo with an extra 1x12 cab) that you can try too. They're discontinued now though but I'm thinking of selling mine if you ever did like it It's big and heavy though, 27KG for the combo and around 17-18KG for the cab.

I was looking at the size of the Ikea Fredde desk. It's 6 foot long! It's huge!

Yep these are the guys: http://www.weneedstrings.com/ and they're on Facebook too: https://www.facebook.com/WeNeedStrings

Thanks for all the advice guys, it's helping just knowing you have my back It's so frustrating though. I can't even tell if I'm getting the neck relief wrong or the saddle height wrong. I took the neck off to check for a shim and there was none. I was mightily impressed by the 100% perfect fit of the neck to the joint. Overwater take note - ditch Tanglewood and get your aspiration basses made in Indonesia by Yamaha. I digress. I bought this bass off Hamfist so he knows it well and can attest to the fact that it had a good setup so I know if can be done. The weak link is me, I need to research the relationship between saddle height and relief. I'm blindly turning stuff now which can't help. Twincams, I tried your method of starting from scratch as it were and I got a little less buzz but it's not buzz free like it used to be. I think I'm tweaking the truss rod too much so I'm down to 1/16th of a turn or less now. I was doing 1/4 to an 1/8th earlier. Grangur - that's a very nice offer mate. Don't come over here just for me though. I'm sure I can get some help. I'm taking an acoustic guitar to Eltham Jones this week so I'll ask for his advice. I know he likes the singer in my band so maybe he'll do me a good price.

Yep, just checked the nut height using your technique and there's a slight gap, just the same as on my SB320. I think I'll leave the neck for a day now, I don't want to tweak it too much.

Bah, I'm still frustrated. I can't get it right at all. I've compared the Yammy to my SB320 and used the SB320 as a benchmark. E and G strings are 2.5mm from the 24th fret on that one. Fretted at 1 and 24 the 12th fret is around 0.3mm. Neck has a slight bow around frets 1-4. It plays perfectly and is one of the best setup bases I've played (seriously, there's a Nanyo for sale on here, buy and it and see!) So action is low enough to play well but is't stupidly low. I've tried setting the truss rod on the Yammy so that it's around the same height on the 12th when fretted at 1 and 24 as the Nanyo. It seems to be a common/popular height. I then raised the strings up until they stopped buzzing. Except they didn't stop buzzing. I got to 4mm at the 24th fret on the E string where it had the least buzz but then the string's too high.I tried loosening the truss rod a bit to help but now I just don't know which bit of it's causing the problem. I'm don't think it's the fretwork, it was pretty darn good on this bass and I had no problems before. It's a shame the course I went on with Crimson Guitars ran out of time after doing the fret dressing that we skipped over this bit somewhat. Not their fault of course, this was the first time they ran the course and what I learnt about fret dressing was brilliant.

Another +1 to skipping a practice amp and going for a usable more powerful amp. You've ordered a set of Vox amp headphone things which will sort you your quiet practice sessions so you'll need something for the in-the-room sound when you're practising and then jamming/playing live. Those TC Electronics mentioned above are meant to be quite decent so you could try those. PMT are an Ashdown dealer and their Bristol store have loads in stock and they'll let you test them out. They're pretty decent guys in there. I've bought loads from them including my Ashdown 2x12 Touring rig. They have the new Ashdown Rootmaster combos too which would be worth checking out. Either take your bass in or use an identical one they have in the shop when you're testing. That way you'll get a feel for the sound and it should be the same when you get it home. Which bass did you buy by the way? Won't make a difference to the amp but hey, this is Basschat and we want to see pics! Welcome to the club from a fellow Bristolian by the way

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1404764763' post='2495561'] Summer heat will often loosen your rod (in guitar speak, that is...... ) [/quote] Badum-ish! Cheers guys, I'll give it another whirl with some sensible adjustments

I get so frustrated with setting up basses! I've read up loads about them, have watched numerous videos and have been on a course with Crimson Guitars too but I still get it wrong. I'm trying to set up my Yamaha TRBX as it's got a little fret buzz from the 9th fret upwards (up being towards the bridge). String gauge is the same as it comes with - 45-105 so nothing changed there. It was all fine for a while but I reckon the summer heat's gotten to it. So I dug out my notes from the Crimson Guitars course. Set the E string at 2.5mm at the last fret (fret 24 on this bass), set the G string at 1.5mm and set the A and D in between those. So this lowered the action a bit which isn't going to help, I know, but I wanted to follow the advice all the way through. I tuned up, to make sure the strings were at the right tension, put a capo on fret 1, held down the last fret on the E string and slid a credit card under the string at the 12th fret. I was told that it should only just touch if the setup is right. The string was much too low so I turned the truss rod anti-clockwise to loosen it so that the neck curves away from the strings. There's still a little buzz now but turning the truss rod helped (just over half a turn it was). The problem is that the action seems hugely high now. Without anything fretted the E string sits 3.8 to 4mm above the fret. This seems much higher than it's ever been for this bass. In contrast, my SGC Nanyo Bass Collection SB320 has no buzz anywhere and the E string sits 2mm above the 12th fret (everything unfretted). I know the Yammy can have a good set up, it used to have one but now that I've tweaked it it's all messed up. I have too many basses to keep taking them to a luthier for a set up so wouldn't mind any advice on where I'm going wrong!

I started off on a Native Instruments Guitar Rig Session, which is the little bro to the Komplete Audio. Now whilst I've got no idea how different it is to the Komplete Audio it was a solid little box, and I had no complaints whatsoever. However, I'm now using a Focusrite Forte, which are a step up in quality from the Scarlets. My word, it sounds great. Such clarity! I know a guy who upgraded from a Scarlet to a Forte and said they were worlds apart. I've not done a lot of recording with the Forte but the preamps are meant to be superb. One review (here: http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2013/04/24/focsurite-forte-review/) says "As much as it pains me to say it, my beloved Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 sounds like a child’s cassette recorder compared to the Forte." The downside is that these are £330 so are much pricier than the ones mentioned already. Both have been very stable. The Native Instruments one is rock solid on both Mac and PC. I've not had the Forte long enough to be able to pass judgement on stability but it's been great for the last four months. I've only used it on Windows though since I ditched the Mac for recording a year or so ago. I use Reaper too and the Forte has a very nice DAW control option that I use for starting/stopping recording. Very handy as I just hit the huge button to get going! Software wise you get the control software for the interface (you can control everything via the software which can be handy) and the Focusrite Midnight EQ and Compressor plugins, both of which sound great and are very transparent. They don't come with any presets (which I always find handy as a starting point) which is a shame but they're aimed at people who know more about what they're doing than me I guess I've got Komplete Elements (the earlier 7GB one not the newer 3GB one) and it's great. Tonnes of sounds in there. Don't forget that you can get a substantial amount of instruments and effects from their free players too: http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-players/.

Let us know if you do play in Bristol, I'd like to come see you guys.

I saw him at The Fleece in Bristol a few years ago as a mate from work is a huge fan. We were stood next to a guy who had his mates throw him into the crowd to go crowd surfing. He ended up near the stage and Devin motioned for them to throw him on up there. So they did, and the guy landed next to his hero who not only got him to sing, but got him to play a few chords on his guitar. The guy then went back into the crowd and ended up back next to me. He just stood there and said, "oh my God, did that actually happen?" and I said to him "not only did it happen mate, but I got the whole thing on video". And here it is. Devin is a goddam legend. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tilxEaEd0cM