Linus27

Thanks Hellzero. I managed to get the EBS working ok but the Boss OC-5 just seems superior and the tracking looks amazing. That video review was also very impressive. I'm going to take the EBS pedal back for a refund and get the OC-5 when they become available again.

Yep, very good, proper, accomplished musicianship and no silly faces or look at me playing 1000's of notes per second, just great playing and a good piece of music. Nice MarkBass rig as well.

Thank you @Velarian, helped me as well 👍

I've been using an octave pedal for the last 6 months and using it to some good effect. I'm new to using one and started out with the Behringer Ultra Octaver which has been pretty good for £20. I use it to beef up single low notes as well as creating that typical octave sound when playing high melodies and runs. Some of the effect is to create a big full bass sound when playing single low notes or a more cello type sound and style for the mid to higher stuff. The band I'm in is acoustic guitar and vocals and a percussive drummer so it works really well filling the bottom end and creating the melody. I play a fretless active Stingray and I also have a chorus pedal and compressor/limiter pedal. So I thought it was time to invest in a decent Octave pedal as it's a major part of my sound and the band sound and after lots of research I settled on the EBS Blue Label Octabass. The good news is it's pretty easy to use and has quite a nice sound to it. However I'm not overly impressed with the tracking and its causing me some big headaches. If I set it to track low, it's fine and copes well with a low G on the E string and even the open E. Mid register is ok also, for example A on the D string but as soon as I start playing high A's or even high E's on the G string it all starts to become a mess. If I then choose to set it to track high notes, it copes with the high and mid register notes really well but as soon as I play the lower notes, for example a B on the A string or a G on the E string, the tracking goes a bit AWOL. I decided to compare it back to back with my cheap Behringer Octave pedal and despite the EBS sounding a lot better tonally, there wasn't a huge difference in tracking performance between the two pedals. I'm beginning to wonder if the answer is to run two Octave pedals, one set and activated for playing low notes and then another set up and activated when I play the mid and higher stuff. Seems a bit of a compromise though. Any advice or tips or is this just how it is with Octave pedals.

Oooh good spot sir, a 600W Gnome will be very interesting. I love my 300 i Pro so very interested in a 600W model to perhaps become my main head. Will be interesting to see if it has any additional features or changes. Would be nice if they made it in the original black colour.

I wasn't born until June 1970 but if I was then I'd be listening to this,

For me Grunge was music from bands originating from Seatle. No different to Motown being music that originated from Detroit. The grunge scene then opened up a wider spectrum of guitar based rock bands who got lumped in with the grunge bands from Seatle, for example Stone Temple Pilots, Live, Smashing Pumpkins etc. These other bands were not Grunge bands but as they fitted and sounded similar, media/listeners lumped them together.

My Christmas present to me was an Ashdown Studio 8 practise amp. Absolutely brilliant little combo and just perfect for me to practise at home.

Enjoy the Warwick Gnome Nick, they are brilliant little amps and so loud. I absolutely love mine.

I love that Lagrene bass, obviously been defretted but its just gorgeous.

That is gorgeous. I get my fretless Stingray with pau ferro board back from my luthier tomorrow. I so can't wait. May I ask how much this cost to have done and how long it took? I'm not sure if I like the Pau Ferro board on mine and have been considering getting a Status neck but this may be another option.

Nice collection Nick I'm the other way around, I tend to buy when I'm gigging more and then let stuff go when I'm not. I'm pretty sorted now with only 3 basses, all fretless but I have a lovely and expensive Stingray Fretless with Pau Ferro board that I've not gigged yet. However, if I don't get on with it then I'll sell it and try something else, perhaps a Tony Franklin Fretless Precision or a Warwick Streamer fretless.

This is the thing, I really want to try before committing £100 to an Ebow and then finding its a huge ball ache. As for our guitarist, he can't do it, he's playing acoustic guitar, singing, using a harmoniser live to record layers of backing vocals and controlling the strings via a laptop using foot pedals. He's quite busy already lol

It will be played on a fretless and my gauge is .40. Plus I will be using Reverb and depending on how it sounds, Octave and/or chorus.

Thanks guys for the input. really appreciate it.

Has anyone tried using an Ebow on a bass and if so, is it successful or not really? I play fretless and I'd like to try and create some long drawn out cello type effects live and wondering how effective an Ebow will be on a bass, even if it's just 3 or 4 note changes following the chords.

You are welcome and it would be absolutely perfect. Blooming loud those Gnomes and cracking little amps. I used to use an Ampeg Pf500 or Ashdown MiBass 550 as my main gigging head through a Barefaced Two10. I'm now using the Gnome which is only rated at 300w and I have to have the gain and volume down lower than the Ampeg and Ashdown which are both rated at around 500. Absolutely love mine.

It's very small, about the size of your thumb nail. It's just a small indent at the front. You can see it in this picture.

That's my old one. I traded it in for a Warwick Gnome Pro I so I can confirm it's in excellent condition, fully works, never gigged and used just at home as a practise amp. They also have the matching cab that I also traded in at the same time. I used them both together. https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-amps/bass-amp-cabs/other-bass-cabs/sh-ashdown-mibass-10-bass-cab-250w-8ohm

I've played rounds on my basses for about 30 years. I hated flats, they sounded dull, lifeless and I hated the tension. Then about 5 years ago, OBBM suggested I tried a set of Rotosound Jazz Bass flats on my Precision and oh boy, 100% converted. Tension very similar to my Elite Stadium Rounds and what a gorgeous tone. They sound even better in a full band mix. Full, punchy and lots of definition. I now use them on my fretless Precision and I love them. I did try them on a Jazz but I wasn't as impressed and as mentioned by Chris, I missed the full dynamic range. Will be trying g them on my fretless Sti gray soon. In terms of low tension and flats that feel very similar to rounds, what other makes are there?

I'm not a fan of politics in music especially when its preaching the singers personal view point. I'm ok with it telling a story in the lyrics. The same way I totally abide any political opinion or view point being preached at a sporting event, for example Black Lives Matter, LBGT, In This As One, Taking the Knee crap that they do at the start of every F1 race. I have nothing against those movements but I am there to watch a motor race, not witness a political statement, movement or agenda. I think its wrong and does more harm than good eventually. Same as I wouldn't want that sort of thing being done at a music concert, theatre, cinema, airshow or any other major event be it sporting or not.

They are all mates from School and they equally contribute to songwriting and coming up with ideas. The Edge and Bono are the main songwriters but Adam and Larry contribute as well. It just works for them to do a four way split. In my old band, the singer and I were the main songwriters, the other two didn't really bring much but as were were mates and a band, we split writing credits and royalties four ways. No arguments and makes it fair for all.

They did similar on the Joshua Tree tour in the States as well. Adam uses a MOOG Taurus pedal set up that plays really low bass notes to create this. This is still phenomenal to watch 😁

There also loads of live videos of U2 rehearsing pre tour, set up just as a basic 4 piece and Adam is using an Ashdown rig among other various rigs and basses. Example of him using an Ashdown rig and Buzzard bass here.

Adam Clayton was also one of the reasons I picked up the bass. I was only 14 and been outside BMXing. It was a mega hot day so I came in to cool down and purely by mistake saw U2's performance on Live Aid. I didn't know the band, the songs or have any desire to play music (I had a huge crush on Madonna at the time) but I saw Adam strutting around stage and I thought, that guys looks so cool, playing guitar (didn't know it was a bass), strutting around stage looking awesome, I want to be that guy. A few years passed and I was hanging out with mates and I then heard the Joshua Tree blasting out of a friends car and it blew me away. At that point I decided to learn to play bass. Move forward about 10 years and I'd learnt to play bass, learnt every U2 song, been in a few good bands and managed to get a record deal with my current band. We were going to head to Seattle to be have our first album produced by Rick Parasher of Pearl Jam's 'Ten' fame but the guy who ended up producing it was a guy called Mark Wallis who did the It Bites and Travis album's. He's also produced The Smiths, Talking Heads, REM, Wet Wet Wet, Iggy Pop, Japan, The Primitives, Debbie Harry, Joan Armatrading, The LA’s and The Go-Betweens to name a few but it turned out he also mixed and engineered on U2's Joshua Tree. We had many a long chat about U2 and the things he told me about Adam is that he may not perhaps come up with the most spectacular bass lines but he is one of the most solid, tightest bassists he has ever worked with. He may play a lot of 8 and 16 note bass lines but every single note is consistent and in time. He said not many bass players can play that tight repeatedly and they tend to wander, even if its 1 or 2 or 3 notes in an 8 note sequence but Adam never does, he is so tight. I thought I was good at this until he pointed out I wavered during the recording process. It was quite an eye opener to be honest. He said that Adam just has a fantastic natural internal click and ability to play in time, not something he see's in many other musicians despite other bassists being far more technical.