Linus27

How are you guys powering your MS pedals? Are you using batteries, individual mains power supply or lead into a power pack?

Thank you so much, I would so appreciate it. I am a big reverb fan being a fretless player so any you have would be amazing. The Wah patch sounds interesting as well. Thank you

I punched your subtle reverb patch into my MS-60B and it sounds really good. Actually used it on Friday night and it sounded great. If you have any other patches then please share.

Great gig on Friday night at the brilliant Login Lounge in Camberley. We've played there a few times and it can be a bit hit or miss with the audience but this time it was pretty busy. The sound is always fantastic though and the sound guys really know what they are doing. During my soundcheck, the soundman said I was getting quite a bit of buzzing from my setup. I suspected it was my pedals but by going direct into my MarkBass LM IV and Barefaced Two10, the buzzing was still there. I'd just recently added a Sansamp BDDI v2 onto my board and suggested trying the DI on that. At that point an older guy who I think was the main sound man who wasn't working came over and asked what's up. The main sound guy explained and said we were going to try going through the Sansamp. He said that its probably their DI and going through the Sansamp will give a really clean sound and the Sansamp is an awesome bit of kit. He seemed to know what he was talking about and low and behold, no buzzing and my bass sounded incredible all night. Just as he walked off, he turned back and said, oh and by the way, your fretless playing sounds amazing 😁 We played amazing and the sound on stage was incredible, especially my bass. After the gig, I then got a couple more people come up to me and compliment me on my fretless playing so I went away super happy.

Just to say that I've just picked up an 804 and I am thrilled to bits with it. I'm a fretless bass player but my band who are quite acoustic sounding already will be doing some gigs this year where we are stripping back even more and the 804 will be perfect for this. Transitioning from a fretless Fender Jazz/Precision wasn't as bad as I thought, however my right hand technique really needs the most attention. When I try and play with the side of my index finger like Ray Brown, then it's a bit hit or miss but playing with my fingertips with my wrist 90 degrees to the strings worked really well. So something to work on and I'll be watching lots of double bass videos on YouTube to improve. I'm also a very melodic player and do play a lot of runs and parts high up on the neck. I'm finding this is a little tricky but moving to stand facing the fretboard of the 804 has made it a bit easier. Again lots to learn and work on. One other thing, mine came with strings that have red silks whereas pictures I've seen seem to have them with blue silks. Do the original D'Addario ECB81 strings come with blue silks? I've no idea what strings mine have but I think Rotosound as the ends are multicoloured like Rotosound strings. They don't feel smooth like flats nor do they feel rough like rounds, sort of half way. Anyway, loving the 804 so far and if anyone has any tips and advice then I'd really appreciate it.

Really enjoyed that and inspiring seeing some of pedals and basses.

Beautiful

Will update for sure. My E, A and D are absolutely perfect, just the G but it also has these weird overtones/harmonics on certain notes on the G. Mine also feels like there's something absorbing or countering the energy in the string on certain notes. Either way, I'll update as well when I know.

Thank @Doctor J and @Beedster It's not a new bass and I have checked the string height and neck relief. I've given it a bit more relief as the neck was quite flat but the strings height if anything if a little higher than it could be. It is also noticeably worse around the 4th - 7th fret but generally, overall the whole string doesn't sing or sustain as well as the other 3 strings. I'm gonna take it to the Bass Gallery at some point to ge looked at but I'll also look into the Fender Cat Finger as well.

I have a fretless Musicman Stingray and the G string has little sustain and sounds like it's being choked. If I play certain notes on the D string, the sustain can last 10 seconds or so but when I play the same notes on the G string, the note can die off after 3 or 4 seconds. I've tried 3 different sets of strings from roundwounds, flats and tapewound strings and the results are the same. The bass has a brass nut which I'm not sure if that's standard on a fretless Stingray with a Pau Ferro board. I'm wondering if the issue is with the nut. Anyone got any ideas or had anything similar?

Do we know when these might start appearing? I'm really keen on getting my hands on the MS-70CDR+ as I think this is something I'll possibly use a lot on a mini pedal board I'm thinking of building.

They just need to release an unlined fretless model and I'd be all over this.

Here you go, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_(band)

Along with getting signed as posted above, about 5 years ago, I was semi-pro from playing in a club band. I still kept my day job but I was also earning really good money from the band, enough to buy a decent German second hand car. However, to earn that amount of money was the work of doing between 100 and 123 gigs a year and if you think there's only 52 weekend's in the year, you can imagine how busy we were and how much time was put in travelling and being away from family. As with the band that was signed, I absolutely loved it and have zero regrets and if family life quietens down, I wouldn't mind going back to it. In contrast to being in the signed band, it felt as if there was more responsibility on you to perform to a higher standard and conduct yourself in a much more professional manner. You were entertainers, a show band that had been hired in, paid a good wage and it was your responsibility to entertain to a certain standard. So making sure your suit was clean, shirts ironed, shoes were clean, your gear was all working and you were on time was essential. So in my head, I just kept telling myself, I'm just following in the footsteps of Jamerson, Babbitt, Scheff and the other club musicians from the 50's and 60's and it's my responsibility to do them proud as I follow in there footsteps. At one gig, I had some old guy come up to me and start talking about my basses and he seemed to know what he was talking about and he said to me, "you're the only person I've seen play the bassline to Elvis's Burning Love correctly". Turns out he was a session bassist back in the 60's and used to back a lot of the American artists when they came over to play the UK. When I got home after the gig, I'd put all earning in a little Irish tea tin and each month I'd pay it into the bank which kind of became a routine. These day, I'm just playing for fun and I still put money from gigs in that same tin but instead of paying it into the bank, I'd go to the local record shop and spend it on old Jazz records. It's like pocket money to buy sweets and is a really nice, warm feeling 😁 So two very different experiences of being pro where one was carving our own future, being more in control of our destiny, the record company working for us and having a very acute spotlight on us constantly. The other where we were hired entertainers, in more ways like a business and had expectations to deliver to a very high standard. What I liked about being signed was the freedom to be myself as bassist, perform and act how I wanted and write bass lines and craft songs from what was in me. What I liked about being in a club band was the feeling of being a entertainer, the responsibility of having to know your shit and play absolutely perfectly and seeing the dance floor rammed. Both amazing, both very different, both very hard work and I wouldn't change a thing.

I was lucky to be one of the few who has been pro and I say lucky as for me, I was living my dream so I look back with absolutely zero regrets. It is incredibly hard work, absolutely no doubt about it and the band have all fallen out and no longer speak to each other, arguments with the record company resulting in us suing them and winning, arguments with producers, managers and A&R guys, we've had it all. Plus its incredibly tiring both mentally and physically and even go as far as stressful and a pressure cooker environment at times. However, I loved absolutely every second of it because I was living my dream. From the many years of playing hundreds of gigs, travelling up and down the country, building a buzz and a following to then get the offer of a record deal and that moment where you go into work, stick two fingers up and say to all the doubters, you've done it and you're out of here, see ya. Then putting pen to paper and actually signing your record deal. Getting an advance and heading down to the Bass Centre in Wapping, picking out your dream bass, a huge rig, a spare bass and other bits and pieces and saying, the record company will pay just felt so good. Spending 6 months living in a studio with a top producer recording the album and b-sides while having our own chef, cottage and being able to focus 100% on music and being creative was incredible. Then going on tours to promote the album with our own crew, tour bus, tour manager was to me awesome. I loved going on tour, travelling, seeing new places, staying in hotels, meeting new people, playing new venues and being fed and watered was amazing but the rest of the band didn't seem to enjoy it as much and found it tiring, boring and a bit of a slog. Plus, playing two John Peel session, a Virgin session, Radio 1 roadshows, advert music, songs on the radio, CD and records in shops, interviews, photoshoots which I did hate, and then all the fan mail, gifts, being spotted and the attention. What's not to like but as I say it was hard work. Being locked in the studio was hard as you'd have periods of doing nothing for days and its no 9 to 5 type schedule either. For example, it's 2am and we need you to lay some vocals down or let's start recording the bass for this song at 9pm and after trying lots other ideas, its 4am and you are mentally drained. You then go to bed to then get called back 2 hours later for something else. Then, being locked in a studio for weeks or months, not seeing anyone but the same few people can do things to you. Just going out to the shops feels odd and all of the band had periods of paranoia thinking people are staring at them. Plus you don't see girlfriends or family and you do kind of get used to that so it can cause tension when you do to the point of feeling like you don't want to be there and you can't wait to leave again. Then the pressure of writing new material, maintaining an image, not just from gig to gig but photo shoots, interviews, TV etc. Keeping relationships among the band and crew can also be challenging and maintaining a positive attitude to keep selling the band and yourself to fans, promoters, radio stations, pluggers etc. can also be draining. You do live in a bubble and you can be so isolated from the real world but also living in a pressure cooker and not actually realise until it explodes. However, we were pretty smart, we knew we were all young so we negotiated with the record company to not give us our advance in one hit to last us 3 years as certain band members would spunk it all on various alcohol and substances within a year but instead, pay it to us monthly. We also set a routine which was Sunday and Monday is our day off, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we'd either stay at the rehearsal studio to write songs and rehearse from 10am till 7pm and then spend the evening having dinner and then Friday and Saturday we'd gig. If we weren't at the rehearsal studio, then me and the singer would stay at mine to write songs and the other two in the band would do band admin, promotion, tax forms etc. It actually worked and we stayed on the straight and narrow and did quite well and actually became quite savvy. So as I say no regrets. This is the moment I'm actually signing the record deal with the lawyers in London 😁 My bass corner at ths rehearsal studio.

I would buy an original 70's Fender Fretless Precision or a fretless Ibanez Musician. Both would be considerably less than $4k.

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue 50th Anniversary Edition.

I've been here since November 2007 and this place is awesome. I'm here everyday although I post a lot less than I used to but always here reading away. As a fretless player these days, there's less things to talk about that's relatable but I've made some great friends, bought some great gear and I try and help out where I can. Plus, the mods do an awesome job keeping the place running and making sure its friendly and respectful.

Looking awesome sir, love how you're getting regular updates as well.

Brilliant, thank you, have found it on their webpage so will purchase one and a spare.

" it's good but it's not right" 😁

It plugs in. You plug the Euro plug into the UK adaptor, sliding the two pins into the UK adaptor.

That's quite interesting as I only use the Zoom MS60b for the Opto Compressor but this week I purchased an Ampeg Opto Compressor to replace it which actually arrived this morning. So I will be replacing the MS60b from now on so it will be interesting to see if the hum stays away or not.