MichaelDean

We didn't have regular practice, instead we rented out a "production room" at Pirate Studios. There was a couple of big Yamaha speakers, a minor and a Focusrite Claret interface, plus a vocal booth. I wouldn't have wanted to record any vocals there. The bleed from another room was too high. It wasn't a terrible space to have a group review of my mixes for the EP though. I just brought my laptop and plugged in. A bit of good feedback and tweaks approved by all, so now we've finally got pre-master tracks for everything.

I've got a Boss GX-100 that really works for me in my doom band. I'm mainly using the guitar effects rather than the bass specific ones, but the GX has a separate bass boost, which lets me thicken up the sound. Before I got the GX, I was using a MojoMojo as an always on drive, and then a Bass Big Muff for my fuzz. I run into an Ashdown ABM-600 with the tube drive engaged as well. That also helps with the tone I think.

I think there is also the room for in-depth bass reviews too. Colin over at The Guitaristas goes into all sorts of nerdy detail and manages to attract an audience. I've watched a lot of really long videos that are basically the same format. Intro over a jam with a looper, what is this thing/history lesson/could be nonsense, jam with looper, take it apart, jam with looper, pickup impedances & neck profile, jam with looper, go through the positions, sum it up, outro jam with looper. I have previously watched the linked Spector review. It really did showcase the bass well, but it almost felt a little too formal. And thumbnails are everything in the YouTube game. As much as it might be a bit soul destroying, sometimes the cringiest thumbnails are what get the clicks in the first place. It's really hard to find the formula that works for you effort wise and also draws people in. If you want to keep doing it, I really do hope you find your magic formula. Slight sidetrack, but I think a part of the problem that has always plagued bass content in any form of media is that there is just a lot fewer bassists. So, companies are perhaps slower at developing products for bassists, meaning there isn't as much content for magazines, websites, etc. The BGM website feels like proof of that. Most of the content on the front page is more than two months old. There are even two articles from 2022. There isn't enough new content there to get people going back to it. And I know some members here are very much exceptions to this rule, but I tend to think that maybe bassists might be more settled in our gear choices than guitarists (perhaps due to less gear to choose from in the first place?). Most of the guitarists in the bands I've been in have gone through 2 or 3 guitars where as I've pretty much stuck to the same bass and maybe added a pedal for my tenure in the band. Heck, some bassists start on a P bass and they're just sorted forever.

Our guitarist/singer sometimes brings a multiscale 7 string guitar that, tuning wise, sits between me and the other guitarist (I think he's got it tuned to F something or other) and sounds really great. Something about the thicker strings makes it fatter sounding and it just fits so well. We've been trying to get him to bring it more often...

Either would be cool, but I'm bias as purple is my favourite colour!

Purple sparkle all day long! I've also kept an eye on the Kustom Canz stuff. They've got a great range of paints.

You might need to create an aggregate device to make it work. That lets you combine different devices to route audio in your DAW. https://support.apple.com/en-us/102171 You will also probably find that the latency is too high for this to work effectively. Bluetooth is fine for listening to music, because latency doesn't matter if you're just listening, and you can offset videos to make the audio sync. But the latency for Bluetooth is between 34-200 milliseconds. You tend to notice latency starting at around 10 milliseconds. For playing live, it'll most likely be too high.

I've been fine with my ring. Took a little while to get used to it, but it's been fine. It does sometimes hit the bottom of the fretboard, but not often/hard enough to worry about marks.

I once had my B3n come on with a synthy patch when I turned it on at a sound check. It took far too long to realise what had happened. The screen didn't look different enough to prompt me to check it!

The Plethora doesn't do any drive.

I spent years biting my nails too short, so they don't get that long before they start looking too long. Thankfully, I now use nail clippers, but it took far too long for me to start doing so. I also hate the noise of nail on string though, so I do still keep them tidy.

That's looking great! You could do shiplap edges to the pickguard to get it all neat. I might also be overthinking that!

A device in the Helix family or the Zoom B6 would probably be perfect for you once you've got your head around it. But if you want something to work as you've described, you do need to spend the time getting your head around it and programming the patches to meet your needs. Even if the devices are overspecced, you can just use it for what you want to use it for. It doesn't matter that they can also do XYZ as long as it does what you want it to do at a price that you are comfortable with. You might find it easier at first to also start creating your patches using a computer. That can provide a clearer interface to explore the device. I would also say that it is worthwhile getting to grips with using the thing on the fly. If you're at band practice and want to find a new sound for a song that someone has suggested, that can then be done with minimal hassle. Once they're created, it's a thing of wonder. You rock up to a gig knowing it's all working and the knobs of your pedals haven't been twiddled by gremlins. It is just the initial learning curve that you need to get over. Also, don't get too bogged down in the presets. Just start with a blank patch and focus on one effect at a time. OK, you want some compression, do that first. Scroll through the compressors and find one that works for you. Repeat with the next effect and build your chain. It doesn't have to be complicated if you break it down, but it will take longer than dedicated effects as you have lots of options. I love my GX-100. I'd suggest it, but it doesn't do synths (at all) or octaves well, but it does suit my needs. I've recently used it as a reamping box (sending the signal to my head, which I then DI'd back into the computer and put a virtual cab on), which got me out of having to spend more money on something that would be used once or twice and then put in a cupboard. I never thought about it performing that function when I bought it, but I'm very grateful it was there as an option when I did need it.

Big oooof! That looks great!

Good spot, I didn't notice the lower horn. I kinda prefer the stumpy one! Old: New:

Just thought I'd take another look today and it looks like they've added pickguards. I think I prefer them without... This is what I have cached on my phone. This is what I found when I clicked on it on my laptop this morning. The F also has a less grey burl now too.

I quite like the Z and the F. They're a bit different. And they cater for the crowd that complain about upper fret access without having the stupid pointy horn of the 24 fret jazz bass. I'm not too keen on the G series, but then again, Godin instruments never did float my boat aesthetically.

I've fallen in love with my DT990s all over again after replacing the ear cushions. I've had them over 10 years and they'd lost any structure to the foam, so they weren't sealing properly and the bass response was poor, plus the headband had gone. I got some new parts from AliExpress for a lot less than the official replacements and it's like they're brand new again. They're the same fit as the DT770s if you prefer closed back. I almost wish I had both sets. I don't know if you're a glasses wearer, but I also find that they are very comfortable wth glasses. The ear cushion is thick enough to comfortably go over the arms of your glasses while still giving a good seal.

Message Bass Direct and see if they can order them for you. I've ordered some Nordstrands through them before. Took a while, but they did arrive in the end.

Just having the cavity tape against the pickguard tape should be fine. Looks like there is already some tape by some of the pickguard mounting holes. I'd say leave that there and match the shielding on the pickguard. Then you know you've got continuity because the screw is holding it in place.

I bought a 60cm spirit level just this week as a cheap fret levelling beam. It's flat, a decent length and less than £20. So, I did my first fret job last night! Stuck on a strip of sandpaper with the superglue and masking tape trick. It was surprisingly easy and pretty rewarding. Not a perfect job - I should have re-checked the frets with the fret rocker before crowning, but now I know for next time. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001KOTNVW The worst thing I bought was some cheap strings from Amazon. I was disapointed to see that the Fender nickel roundwounds had gone up to £20+, so I bought some Adagio roundwounds for £13.50 as an experiment. Not worth it. They've gone dead quicker and felt quite rough for a while.

Ah, yes, the pickup prayer. Wire to wire, magnet to magnet, and bobbin to bobbin. We commit these items to the guitar, in the hope that our tonal goals are no longer aspirational. We swear that we will not change them on a whim. Unless someone else had a tip off...

I've not had any experience with the Overlord stuff, but I've also only heard bad things about them. Mainly seems to be that the metal isn't suitable for the tension required. I'd be tempted to give this Guyker system a whirl. https://a.aliexpress.com/_EJeKZIh

Love a good tangent. We had this when our daughter was born. We were told the weight in kilogrammes. Obviously the grandparents wanted that in pounds and ounces. A quick Google gave it to me with a decimal. Took a couple of days to notice it wasn't right. One of the other dads in the antenatal group only realised a few weeks later, after I'd told him about my blunder. They'd received personalised gifts with the wrong weight put on (why it needs to go on gifts is another of life's great mysteries...).

I'd say start with one. You can always add more if you need to.