Sparky

ooh, a hypothetical situation with a bitter twist - my favourite type

[quote name='cheddatom' post='190324' date='May 2 2008, 10:01 AM']I think the best question would have been to ask: "what bass would you want to turn down if you were stuck at a gig without a bass and needed to borrow".[/quote]
i'm sure i've seen another thread about people who turn up to gigs without their own gear! as bad, if not worse than bass snobs IMO!

i agree - it's all about the playing. not sure it's so much to do with not being able to Afford to be a snob, i rekon it's more to do with having the fingers to back it up. all the gear but no idea huh?

i'm much more impressed when a guy (or gal) turns up with a no name bass and rips it up, than someone who turns up with an expensive bass, pro-rig and no talent.

our guitarist has two strats (one squire, one fender) both bought new, but totally worn and mojo'd from his own use. he's awesome anyway, but i love it when he plays the squire because somehow, it makes him (and therefore us! ) [i]Even[/i] better because he still sounds sh*tHot even when playing the cheaper instrument. he uses the fender for regular and the squire for slide tuning.. and leaves the £1000 les paul at home!

Which Fender Years / era's have the neck binding and blocks? i'm lovin' it.

alright Dan. hey, not to sure about the technical stuff (gave up and started to skim read after the fifth or sixth post ) but re. mixing alu and paper cones - i use a Hartke 210XL with a Trace 2103H and the two sound good together. the TE is round and warm whilst the Hartke is bright and responsive.. together (IMHO) they combine well. good luck sorting a solution that works for you. sparky.

Haha! I know I know beedster - just angling for some porn really! It might not be cricket from a marketplace point of view, but a free bump for Mr. Timus can't be a bad thing?!

any chance of unveiling a shot of the full bass? looks the schnizzle from the cheeky tease you've already posted!!

i have this exact same bass (except mine's got a black plate on it, now). interesting to see how much they're going for. good luck with it chris.

[quote name='Buzz' post='171389' date='Apr 7 2008, 01:24 PM']Don't MIA come with a few little flourishes? like rolled over neck edges etc...[/quote]
am i allowed to give a cheeky 'bump for response' to this please? [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=14814"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=14814[/url]
'rolled over neck edges' - that sounds'a'niiice - what does it mean? in the interests of not hijacking this thread, respond in the other topic if you wish. sorry cris. cheers, sparky.

listen to Stone Temple Pilots' bass player Robert DeLeo (great rock bass player - openly admits having a style ripped completely from Jamerson but pulls it off in the rock context like a mutha) and then listen to some motown.. sounds like you and i have a similar goal. i've been a rock bass player for a long time too but now i'm far far away from my band i want to use the time to expand my skills.. motown was just a suggestion because most people find it good to listen to.. but any genre that differs from rock would be benefical i guess - find something that you like to listen to, then just play along to the tunes.. good luck, sparky.

mmm, laaarrrd
i've learnt to play Suspicious Minds on ukulele - i've been driving my girlfriend mad with it because no matter how many times i play it.. and play it, tune it, play it, tune it and then play it some more, i'm not getting bored . just thought i'd share that with you all... enjoy your gig homer

Ever since seeing/hearing Marlowe DK's ray of a similar vintage on YouTube I've been gassing for one... it'll be years until I can actually afford a decent specimen but thanks for the review Kiwi... i'm a sucker for a natural, maple, mojo'd, and the neck and headstock on yours looks the absolute bomb. all the best with it..

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='168136' date='Apr 2 2008, 08:05 AM']I thought the band lost it a bit during the instrumental breaks and although the slap bass was a novelty to begin with, it looked a bit silly towards the end as he'd started off busy and couldn't build the dynamics of the song much further without playing more notes. Definitely technically proficient but I wasn't convinced by his musicality.[/quote]+1 on that.

Was a little disappointed with the arrangement of last night's live version of American Boy - the faster tempo just seemed to evade/lack the infectious groove that makes the radio version so great.. Was impressed though that the rapper (Kano? - er, not Kanye?!) kept it going during his section when the backing got a little more 'freestyle' . All that aside, the second Estelle track at the end of the show was great and it's always nice to see a great band perform live on the telly (without having to watch come dancing!!! )

[quote]Someone had the oldest/dirtiest functional P bass in captivity...[/quote] haha - it was nice wasn't it - that was the bass player from 'Black Kids'.. terrible singing although maybe that's just the 'vibe'

OK ok, you got me - I did turn up when we started soundchecking a number - but not to be heard by anyone else (i'm fully aware that the engineer controls what the crowd hear), just so that I could hear myself.

I know what you mean about the often excessive and unnecessary volume onstage (& FOH) in these types of venues (200-300 capcity) - I have earplugs to sheild me from the familiar white noise blasting from the monitors; when all three vocalists + guitarist are going some it sounds like hell boiling over (well, what i'd imagine hell boiling over to sound like ) and I regularly struggle to hear myself.

Thing is, at the gig on friday, the monitor sound was actually ok - the vocals sounded good and there was just enough guitar in my monitor to keep me happy - it literally was Just the bass (frequencies) - The drums weren't coming through the monitors at the front (drummer just asks for a small bit of kick in his) - just vocals and a guitar.

In this case, as the onstage volume IMO wasn't excessive (and I'm very conscious of it when it is) I rekon the suggestions about amp positioning and frequency coupling are probably the most likely suspects.

Thanks for all your input. Sparky.

The advice given on the wiki is very interesting and useful, if not entirely practical I've learnt something new anyway and will be mindful of my cab positioning next time the problem occurs. cheers

Thank you all. Some very useful suggestions.

The drums Were mic'd and the bass Was D.I'd. The kick drum sounded big (and nice) on it's own, but I suppose it's very possible that frequencies were 'coupling'. Both my rig, the drummer and the drummer's monitor were hard up against the back wall - next time I'll try moving my rig slightly. Also, will try raising it up on crates - I used to do this when I was just using one 4x10, but since the two 2x10's stack up a little taller I've not bothered - I'll try it though.

I shall look up grammar pads and also the meaning of 'Parametric' EQ

Oh, and after payday tomorrow, I'll be investing in a set of DR's for my P. It's currently strung with the rounds that came with the bass - not sure how long they'd been on there before I bought it but I'm sure a change won't go amiss. I've also got a set of flats that Beedster kindly gave me to try out. We'll see how that affect things re. the pursuit of a 'cutting dull thud'

Thanks again chaps. Sparky.

Hi All,

Played last night at a small-medium 'toilet circuit' sized venue ie. stage large enough to rock, but not to swing a cat. Gig was alright, but had some technical issues with the onstage bass sound.

When setting up & before soundchecking a number, i got my rig sounding pretty sweet with the room:

P-Bass. Hartke HA3500 - EQ Off. Tube pre at one, solid state pre at -3. Tiny bit of compression. Low pass 0, High pass +3.
Two 2x10 cabs (one harke, one trace) positioned in the usual spot - next to drummer, facing forward.

Thing is, when we started to play, even though there was no bass in any of their monitors, the drummer and guitarist both said that all they could hear was a bassy boom/rumble with no clarity to any of the notes.

In the end, i had to turn the EQ on and remove All of the low frequencies leaving the mids and highs which resulted in a seriously nasty onstage bass sound. Yeh, maybe good for the drummer & guitarist, but rubbish for me! I even twisted the top 2x10 cab round slightly to face a bit more across the stage towards the other chaps - surely that aint cricket?!!!

I can understand why this was happening -bass frequencies were traveling everywhere including sideways towards my bandmates and all the mids and highs were travelling forward, but I was just wondering what other people do to cope with this?

Cheers, Sparky.

Slightly Off, but still quite On topic, what's the difference in the popular P-Bass 'dull thud' that i hear people refer to, and the P-Bass 'muddy bass boom' that I seem to be acheiving? also, in my live situation, there doesn't seem to be any of the 'cutting through' that you other lucky so & so's seem to be getting!

off topic slightly, but what 2x10's do you use Dr.Funk?

yeh, the red recorder's cool huh?! but it'll be a backup purchase (if that particular one isn't available anymore, there are a lots of others like it on ebay for £20 and less).

anyway, now i'm looking at the this: [url="http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1781&brandID=4"]Zoom MRS 4B[/url] ...it's a discontinued product but before it was discontinued, it only cost £100 new from GAK!..i've looked and there's one on ebay - i'm gonna put a max bid of £40 on for it and hopefully I'll get it.

Surely there's a gap in the market here? i've looked and there doesn't seem to be any of that type of product - entry level digital multitracks in the £100 and under price bracket.. the closest thing is the Boss Micro BR at £120 which looks pretty cool but it's tiny with no sliders. i quite like the retro analog blackbox look of the zoom! haha!

my ambitions seem to have progressed since my OP... i seem to have developed a minor case of multitrack gas!!! i figure i'll get a cheap multitrack (digital will just make things easier) and spend a couple of years demo'ing an album (which i have yet to write).. and by that time, i'll have enough money to buy proper gear and i can get lots of my mates help me record it in the house that i'm gonna build... it's an ambitious plan, but hey, seeing as i'm just doing this for the craic, i've got all the time in the world. my days of striving for that record deal with the band are gone.. now i just want something to keep me creative, and thinking about music.

nice one luke. was the recording taken straight from the desk? did you have to spend long getting it right for the recording? the mix is great - everything's clear but still with that live feel... good work.

Woah ha! Hot tip to look in our the BC market place cheddatom - hadn't even thought about it. anyway, did a quick search for Tascam in the forum and a few results came up... i'm sure this wasn't the one you were refering to (i rekon you saw the 4 track? i saw that too when it came up) but this one's really caught my eye - never mind the functions - check out the mojo on this little 80's esq bad boy!!! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=10829&hl=Tascam"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...9&hl=Tascam[/url] i might put in a PM...

just found this under the iTalk's FAQ's:
[i]The Griffin iTalk is not fully compatible with the 3rd Gen Nano and the iPod Classic, but it will work. It will still record like normal, but the usual iTalk sub screen will not show on the latest iPod screens. The only thing you miss by not having this sub screen is the ability to choose your Gain setting.[/i]
DOH!!!

The [url="http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/italkpro"]Griffin iTalk Pro[/url] is the only one of these iPod mics (there are quite a few on the market - just google 'iPod Microphone') that I've seen with adjustable gain settings. There is also an minijack input for an external mic - which could be pretty handy if the adaptor's built in "twin built-in" mics are poor? Shame it's not compatible with my either of my ipods (3rd gen & 6th gen)... think i'll wait for another one to be released with these two features.
the speil from the above link: [i]iTalk's twin built-in mics record directly to your iPod, and adjustable gain settings give you control over the volume. You can even use external microphones with iTalk Pro. Just plug your mic into the 3.5mm jack on the bottom of iTalk Pro.
Note that some microphones require their own, separate power source (sometimes referred to as "phantom power"). To use such a mic with iTalk Pro, simply plug it into iTalk Pro through an appropriate pre-amp.[/i]

nice one cheddatom. thanks for the input. hmm, digital dictaphone - had not considered that. just had a quick scootch on t'interweb and they start at around £25. could be a possible alternative to the ipod mic. saying that, i guess the two options are effectively the same thing?

i do carry my ipod pretty much everywhere, but rarely have an instrument handy whilst in transit.. so this is just for home, band practice and pissing about with round my bandmate's houses.

i think the deciding factor here is gonna be mic quality. it'd be handy to be able to control the gain.. so i can use it to make half decent recordings of a quiet soprano ukulele or at full blown electric band practice with loud drums, amps and p.a. i've seen one ipod adaptor that you can control the gain on, but they've not yet released if for 6th generation ipods... think i'll be keeping an eye out for this. in the mean while, i'll look out for a decent dictaphone with any useful features.

anyway, thanks again cheddatom. keep em coming folks - anyone used an ipod mic adaptor or digital dictaphone to record band practice or acoustic messin' at home?

cheers, sparky

hi all. any suggestions welcome. but am considering the following options:

[u]1. Second hand, old school, cassette tape, analog 4 track[/u]. ebay's banned at work so am yet to see what's on offer in the bargain bin price bracket.
[b]Pros[/b] - will be able to lay down multiple instruments and make horrible sounding home demos...
[b]Cons[/b] - bad home demos may destroy my soul. will have to learn how to use it. may work out more expensive with accessories ie. mics & leads. will have to set it up and put it away, so may not be conducive to capturing spontaneous ideas. will undoubtedly zap even more of my time fiddling with useless gadgets..

[u]2. Dictaphone style tape recorder[/u]. Can get one new for £20.
[b]Pros[/b] - fool proof operating. compact. no need to set up and put away. quick to record, then post to colaborating musician friends. will zap less time messing around with it - all i'd have to do is get it out of the cupboard, press play and record together and perform my ideas...
[b]Cons[/b] - no scope for recording anything other than acoustic guitar / uke ideas (but really, this is all i need it for)

[u]3. Mic adaptor for my ipod[/u]. £20-30
[b]Pros[/b] - (potentially)fool proof operating. compact - no need to set up and put away. quick to record, then EMAIL to colaborating musician friends. Scope for recording ideas on a single instrument, uploading them into p.c. getting hold of some cheap mixing software (any suggestions - like the most basic of basic.. free if poss?!!) to open up multi-track capabilities??? DOES THIS EXIST? WILL THIS WORK???!!!
[b]Cons[/b] - might be sh*t and not work/break (electrical goods paranoia). if the multi-track software thing becomes reality, this will probably be the worst zapper of time fiddling with useless gadgets.

so.. i guess options 2 & 3 are the main runners. just wondering what people thought or if anyone has and can recommend a very cheap setup that they use just to record rough song ideas (mainly on acoustic guitar and ukulele (neither of which have built in pickup)). Especially interested in whether the multi-track facets of opt.3 could become reality? This could open up a whole new world of working remotely with my buddies (i currently live far away from all my musician friends).

ok thanks very much for your time. sparky