BigRedX

You say the timing isn't "overtly wrong", so would you have noticed anything if you hadn't looked at the waveforms in your DAW? If it sounds fine then it is fine and stop worrying. However if you want to change this and you are playing consistently ahead of the beat you could simply pull the bass part back until you are happy with the synchronisation between the bass and the other instruments. TBH it can't be that far out or surely one of the other band members would have said something by now. And remember that there is a big difference in what works live and what makes a great recording. IMO the is nothing inherently wrong or right about playing to a click track, provided that you use the right type of click and you also know when it's not appropriate. With the Terrortones before we went into the studio we'd try all the songs we intended to record with and without a click. Some benefited from the extra tightness that a constant tempo brought, some needed a variable tempo click so that each section has the right feel, and some just sounded best without. No overall right answer just a matter of picking the right solution for each song. Also the type of music being played/recorded will have an influence on how tight the all the parts should be. And this IMO is where home recording tends to fall down, because we spend too much time being over-analytical about individual aspects of the performance and not look at the whole recoding/arrangement/production, which ultimately is what counts. Having an objective 3rd party (a producer) is always a good idea.

Didn't the Danelectro bass he tried to use for the solo on "My Generation" come fitted with round wound strings? Which is why Entwistle wanted to used it on the solo and why he eventually got Rotosound to produce round wounds commercially.

As you might have guessed I really like the look of that. One word of warning to anyone considering buying this, if any of those white marks on the body are paint chips rather than lighting reflections you'll either have to live with them or have the whole bass refinished. Unfortunately flip paint can't be retouched as there is no guarantee that the new paint will flip in the same way as the existing finish.

Due to the rise of and influence of The Smiths and other tuneless guitar bands IMO.

Back in 1989 I was using a Roland GP8 into a stereo power amp, which was replaced in the mid 90s with a Peavey BassFex into a bigger stereo power amp, so I've pretty much always had just a single EQ (which just so happens to be programmable) in my signal chain.

After having spent most of the 80s trying to make synths sound like guitars and then the following decade making guitars and basses sound like synths, I have finally learnt that it is far easier to use the right instrument for the sound and feel that you want (remember that unless you have masterful technique you will never quite get the same feel on a bass guitar to something originally played on a keyboard or by sequencer).

Every pre-amp sounds different in the same way and for much the same reasons that every amplifier sounds different.

For me it is. Since I can back to playing bass in 1989 I've always had some form of programmable EQ in my signal chain (usually as part of a multi-effects unit), so changing sound for a song simply requires selecting to correct patch.

It really depends what parts of the synth sound you consider essential and what isn't. For me one of the important elements is the really short release of every note, which gives the sound it's definition. The original would have either been played from a keyboard or sequenced using a device like a Roland Microcomposer which gives you far more control over the envelope of both the filter and amplifier then you can easily get from a bass guitar into effects. If still want to try it, you will need either a filter that will cut all the sound at its lowest position or also have an envelope shaper in you signal chain which comes after the fuzz and filter, but is being triggered by the clean sound of your bass, so that you can get that sharp cutoff to every note without the "thump" that normally accompanies muting the strings on a bass guitar (and which be accented by the fuzz). Personally by the time I'd found the right pedals and worked on my technique to play this cleanly enough, I'd have been able learn how to play it on a keyboard.

Like the 70s, the 80s were good at the beginning and again at the end, and boring in the middle.

If you are interested in getting one remember that the re-issues are all long scale while the original 60s models are short scale. I used to own this: The rarest of the all the basses in this shape made in a limited edition of 50 as the signature bass for Terry & the Blue Jeans, a well-know Japanese Surf band. There as also a T&tBJ limited edition guitar in the same shape. It is essentially a TRB5 with the SVB shape, so it doesn't have much in common with the 4-string versions. Unfortunately it didn't get used much as it was far too big the wield on most of the stages I was playing at the time, without putting the rest of the band and the audience at risk of injury. Also it was massively heavy. The SVBs seem to have been popular with girl bassists in Japanese bands - Fumi from Polysics uses one and Miki Furukawa of Supercar even has her own signature model.

You should already have a pre-amp in your signal chain probably in your actual amplifier. Why have a second one? Unless it currently doesn't do what you want in which case you should change for one that does.

If you are happy with the sound and feel of your current strings, then why change? Back in the 70s if you read interviews with bassists in any of the music mags, most of them would be saying that the first thing they did with a new bass was to remove the factory fitted flat wound strings and replace them with a set of Rotosound round wounds, and they would also be removing the bridge and pickup covers; so I would suspect that the majority of 70s rock was recorded with round wounds. By all means try them, IMO there is a place for both and it depends on the kind of music you play, it's not an either/or choice.

I used to have a Peavey Spectrum filter in my rig which was fine when everything I had was rack mounted. However since I replaced all my rack gear with a Line6 Helix Floor, I've had to make do without this function. One of my bands now has a couple of songs where it would be useful to have something like this again, ideally in a small pedal format that I can run via one of the effects lops of the Helix. The functions I absolutely need are the following: 1. The filter must either be able to be triggered via a MIDI note on command or the cut off frequency can be mapped to a MIDI CC and has a suitably fast response so that I can use CC commands to simulate an envelope generator. 2. A full complement of programmable user memories - ideally 128, although I'll settle for less (but not just one or two). If not then I need to be able to access every parameter using MIDI CCs. 3. Proper MIDI sockets. I'll need to daisy chain this from the MIDI out/thru of the Helix so no MIDI via USB only. I think that's it for now.

Personally I'd go further than that. I always play at home as if I'm playing a gig. That means I almost never play sitting down at home - the only times that I do is when I am also programming drums and sequences and I need to play along to check the parts fit with what I'm going to be playing live. I play in two bands and use a different bass guitar in each (5-string for one and Bass VI for the other), and I always use the correct bass for the band when I am playing at home. Also every new bit of equipment gets throughly tested at home before I even consider taking it to a full band rehearsal let alone to a gig. Right now I'd like to use my Linn Adrenalinn for a couple of songs that one band does but I've been having synchronisation problems, so it won't get incorporated into the rig until these have been completely ironed out.

Back in the late 70s when Ibanez were making the switch from copies to their own designs getting spare parts here in the UK was surprisingly easy. Nearly all the hardware for the guitar I was making came from Ibanez including their special versions of the "speed knobs" with the rubber grips around the edge. Sad to hear this is not the case any more. However if you are able to get to The Gallery in Camden, it might be worth asking them as IIRC Martin was involved with Ibanez in some capacity.

Although all the other far eastern-made 8-string basses I've seen from Dean, Schecter and even the ultra-cheap Carlo Robelli model that I used to own all use the same two part bridge and tail-piece which does have individual saddles for each string in the course. It's not as elegant looking as the one on your bass but it means you can stay in tune as you progress up the neck.

Those won't make the headstock too bulky for a hard case, or prevent the neck from lying on the neck supports in transit?

We were supposed to be playing this coming Saturday. Gothzilla are reasonably local although they do play support at almost every vaguely goth/industrial gig in the Edinburgh and Glasgow area so maybe they are over-exposed. We're from Nottingham and Feather Trade are on tour in the UK from Athens Georgia, so not necessarily well known in Scotland. I'm begining to wonder if the venue has made a booking mistake and were looking for an excuse to get out of it?

Thanks. That bridge looks the same as the one fitted to the recent Hagstrom 8-string. It looks good but has the disadvantage that you can't adjust the intonation of the octave strings separately, so you'll probably experience tuning issues as you play further up the neck.

Thanks for the nice comments. Where are you playing with Gothzilla? Maybe have to do something with your band and Hurtsfall if you fancy a trip to Nottingham?

There are plenty of new bands with prominent bass guitar. You just won't find them in mainstream modern guitar-based pop and rock.

Maybe. Although I did have a Thumpinator in my previous rig. To me it seems as though the dispersion from the FRFR is much better which I think might be the most help in being able to have a sensible on-stage volume while still being loud and punchy enough for the audience.

Yes it was Bathgate in Scotland. It was for In Isolation, Gothzilla and Feather Trade. Apparently the venue had pulled the plug because they'd only sold two tickets for the gig. Personally I'm not sure how relevant that is. I wouldn't buy advance tickets for the sorts of gigs that we play (unless it is supporting someone very well-known), but simply turn up on the night. Maybe I'm too old-school to get it?

For me I can't see the point any more. There are so many instruments available, all with slight variations that unless I want something very specific there will be an off-shelf one that is right for me somewhere. And if there isn't I can always get something custom-made that will be exactly right. Back in 70s when I started playing, when choice was considerably more limited and I had no money, there was a point. In fact the only way I could afford my own solid electric guitar was to make it myself and buy the parts as and when I had the cash for them. I now have some guitars and basses with "good quality" machine heads from Gotoh and Hipshot and some with whatever the far-eastern factory fitted as standard, and there is no applicable difference between how well they work. In fact the last time I had to replace a set of machine heads was on a Burns Sonic Bass from the early 60s where the gears had worn to the point that they would no longer hold the strings in tune when at the correct pitch. Everything else I have owned has been fine. Same with pickups. The last time I changed a set was back in 1990 when I replaced the factory fitted Js in my Washburn 5-string with a very expensive set of active EMGs (that cost half as much as the full price of the bass) and was rather disappointed to find that the change had made absolutely no difference to the sound. Besides these days, by the time I have passed a bass or guitar through my Helix so long as there actually a signal I can get all the sounds I want out of them.