MichaelDean

Nice! I've got my eye on an Antiquity Les Paul copy. Seemed really nice when I played it in store. What sort of doesn't react well? Can you be a bit more specific? Just in case... Your finger should be just behind the fret not on it, so the fret is doing the work.

So, you're an international touring musician but you're not earning megabucks, nor do you have an endorsement where they'll send you stuff wherever. The band you're touring with don't use IEMs and you want to set up a small board (say the ANT, a Helix Stomp and a couple of other pedals) that you can fly with and use whatever cab is available. Enter the ANT. If it's on your pedalboard, and you've integrated the kettle lead with your pedal power, that's one thing to set up. Plug in speakon to the cab, power, jack. Job done. Controls are all with you, so you can fiddle from a distance.

Even if, 10/20/30 years down the line, you do need a refret, that's fine. They're expendable parts designed to wear down and need eventual replacement.

Thanks for the tips @Andyjr1515, cocktail sticks worked a treat. Shame the rest of the process was such a faff! Perhaps not helped by my super glue possibly being a bit old... After a LOT of trial and error, I had to make the holes pretty deep, so that the carbon fibre maintained integrity. Glue that in, then cut the stainless steel to fit and glue that in. Let it dry and then file it down. Sounds simple written! Was not easy! Were I to do it again, I'd get carbon fibre with a thicker wall. This is just 0.5mm. 1mm would have made quite a difference I think. Despite the difficulty, I do think it looks good. There is still a fair amount of tidying up that needs to be done.

Sometimes I think perhaps we've gotten a bit too clever. Need bringing down a peg or two!

I came across this design for a bass earlier. I know you want to make your own design, but thought it might help inform decisions as you go forward! https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/gadget/phi-bass-all-3d-printed-electric-4-string-bass-guitar?fbclid=IwAR1ApeHSJw09xML_RmGAu76oCnJqBqLQXwjbrRK0XzrHSTgMsh8vi9nCKUw

Not had much progress recently. I've just made the holes for the side dots. Hopeing to get them in tomorrow afternoon, and then do a lot of sanding. There are still some bulges in the neck (as you can see below!). Also, if anyone has tips for cutting tiny bits of carbon fibre tubing, I'd be very grateful. My fret nippers can cut the stainless steel rod into smaller bits - that's easy enough. The carbon fibre tube flakes out with serrated blades, flattens with nippers, but is too tough for a stanley knife. I'm wondering about maybe getting my dremel (equivalent) out with a cutting disc maybe? Did not think about this when I chose carbon fibre! It was just an easily available black tube with the right spec!

I see it all the time in the Bristol store.

It is mad isn't it. I think if you pulled up the website for a comparison, they'd probably honour that price. They're probably relying on either people just paying the price on the label, or having someone haggle and then feel like they got a great deal, when it is actually just the price on the website.

Wot @Woodinblack said. Garage Band is mac specific. If you're looking for a low cost DAW, I'd suggest Reaper. It's really good. You get a free trial for 60 days, but you can also just keep on clicking the "Keep evaluating" button indefinitley after those 60 days without any reduced functionality (ask me how I know 😉). https://www.reaper.fm/index.php

I think Ashdown put an automatic mute on the output when there isn't something connected to the input - I'm assuming using a TRS jack socket. I wonder if that has possibly failed? I'd send it off to Ashdown for a diagnoses though. They got me sorted really quickly when my ABM-600 wasn't behaving properly.

The first Aria I came across was in the music department at my school in the late 90s. I think it was a cat. The roundwound strings were horribly old (I think they were rusty too), and it was played through a 90s Fender bass amp which wasn't great itself. It wasn't until I joined Basschat that I learnt that they weren't all terrible. I think that one probably just had the bad luck of being abused by kids and living in a static caravan sort of a thing. I wonder if a lot of people were also introduced to them like that. Might have reduced the brand reputation?

I want that to be some sort of bakery/florist combo.

I really like the EQ on my ABM 600. I play in a loud metal band and I cut through nicely. I tend to have the valve drive on to warm it up a bit, but I wouldn't say it would for sure replace an always on overdrive.

I see the copper piping to get rid of any unwanted noise - nice touch. And the white will fade to a lovely cream after a few years. Maybe swap out the white control cover for tort?

Maybe guitarists need more convincing? Their bass market feels like it's probably pretty well established already. If that's generating a lot of business without much effort, it might make sense to focus on their guitar stuff to grow that revenue stream.

Yep, they should be fine with the preamp. I think most noise cancelling jazz bass style pickups try to emulate the original sound, so will have a similar output. It'll add a pretty penny to the overall cost though. A very quick Google suggested £160+ for a set of Fender noiseless 5 string jazz bass pickups.

My brother wanted to play guitar and got me to start playing bass when I was 13. It was really useful having someone else to play with from the off. We could both learn a song and play it together. I think we played our first gig when I was 15 with his mate on drums.

I think there will always be the people who won't want to learn a new interface though, no matter how simple it might be. They're happy twiddling knobs and that's that. Plus the people who want to create their own pedals and sounds - with the exeption of the MOD Dwarf, you can't code your own effect modules for your multi. I've made one or two pedals from a schematic. It can be equal measures fun and frustrating, and relatively inexpensive. And the people who want to buy hand made things. There's also people who convince themselve that because they just use the one patch, they need to sell it, saying they only use "10% of it's potential" (or similar) as if it's wasted on them. I feel that if it does what you need at a price you find acceptable and in a form factor that suits your use, it's a perfectly valid choice. I'll never forget the guitarist I used to play with who turned up with a Helix one day, saying he was tired of patch cables breaking and just wanted something where that wouldn't happen. A few months later, he got rid saying he wasn't using it to it's fullest potential. First practice with the new traditional board and he spent 30-40 minutes of practice trying to get the damn thing to work because of a dodgy patch lead. Maybe there'd be a digital pedal revolution where everyone starts using them? But then give it a few years and there'd be a resurgence of musicians being cool and "discovering" pedals again. What I think I'm trying to get at, is that I don't think that traditional pedals are going anywhere anytime soon.

I've just listened to the song for the first time. If I was watching your band, this song would be the time to go to the bar/toilet. I get why the guitarists like it. Lots of Floyd Rose nonsense and riding the wah the whole song. Takes 1:30 to get to any lyrics... Not exactly a banger to my mind! I've just checked Wikipedia, and it wasn't a single from the album either, so the band never thought it was the most popular song. At least If You Tolerate This was also a UK no.1, so lots of people know it. Just be frank with them. If you dislike it to the point of not being able to focus at learning it, that should earn it a veto.

Thanks all, I reckon we'll try Emubands 👍 Just need to get the last two mixed...

My band's first song from our EP has just been released. It's an EP about the Cornish witch trials. I've mixed and mastered this myself! https://horadoom.bandcamp.com/track/the-judges-conceit

It'd be fine if you're used to contacts. Worth a try if not! I've tried them, but due to the level of astigmatism I have, I can't have the lighter contacts. I could feel them all of the time and they moved when I blinked making me feel a bit drunk. I was told it was a textbook fit. Needless to say, I haven't stuck with them!

Nah, got plenty of gowns. The drummer in the headlining band works on the massive windmills and has been told that he needs to go work elsewhere for a few weeks, so they've had to pull out. There probably won't be much of a crowd if they're not there, so not sure it makes sense to travel to Cornwall for a gig with no-one there!

Thanks! Unfortunately the gig has been cancelled... Hoping to find something closer to home now. The EP is sounding really good though.