BigRedX

I wondered why there was no new Andyjr1515 build thread...

Really depends on what works best for the drummer. In reality no headphones will completely shut out the sound of the rest of the band at typical band volumes, and often the spill through is enough for them to be able to tell where they are in the song. The other thing to bear in mind is that for most bands using a click track the songs are of a pre-defined structure and length, and therefore simply playing the correct parts will be all that is required. The rest of the band follow the drummer anyway.

135 is just about tight enough for low B for me!

MotU has a fairly substantial user-base in the UK. It's just mainly in the higher-end offerings. While I still had my big "home studio" I was using their 2408 system which was 24 channels of digital I/O and 8 channels of analogue inputs and outputs (and could be expanded up to 3 times that count with sufficient hardware). One thing to be aware of, is that unless it has changed recently, their software (including the routing control panels for their audio and MIDI interfaces) uses its own unique graphical interface which bears little resemblance to either Mac or Windows GUI and can be rather alien looking and unintuitive at first.

I meant one of these. Cut off the 13A plug and replace. The you can use any C13 mains lead with it. You could feed the cable through the pedalboard case (with a suitable strain-relief grommet) before fitting the new in-line socket. IMO you don't need any additional fused protection. The mains lead has it's own in the plug and any equipment you attach to the 4-way in your first post that requires a fuse will have its own.

Regarding protection form live mains connections, you used to be able to get a heavy-duty rubber shroud that fitted over the contact side of the C13 chassis socket completely covering all the wires. However with the up-rated electrical safety regulations this may no-longer be applicable. If you want to use a chassis socket as shown in the the second photo of the OP's second post, you will need to make sure that the bottom of the pedal-board is closed, so there is no easy access to the socket, and then use the appropriately rated heat-shrink insulation over each of the 3 contacts. It might be easier and safer to replace the standard mains plug of the extension with an in-line C13 male plug, to which you can connect your equipment mains lead.

Do you actually need to solder to the back of the pot for electrical (screening or earthing) reasons? I always thought it was done simply because it presented a suitably large area for attaching all the various earth connections which would include the braided screen from the pick up(s) which might be tricky if you were just rely on the pot contacts to make all the joints.

And just to prove that we all want different things from our instruments, I spent a very enjoyable morning playing all of the Sadowsky demonstration basses in the days when the company was still based in Brooklyn, but in every case I thought they sounded better with the on-board pre-amp turned off.

For me I can't see the point of active basses. In terms of tone controls I have far better adjustments available on my Helix. If I needed to cable long enough to be noticeably affected by buffering issues/signal loss/capacitance, I'd probably be going wireless.

AFAIK their "money" is entirely due to the share issue and any profits are due to the investment of that money in other things. As a service Spotify (like all other streaming services) barely makes a profit.

I got my first electronic tuner - a Boss TU12 - in 1983. Before that tuning (especially at gigs) was a bit of a nightmare. My first band was mostly a recording band, but we used a number of instruments with fixed or difficult to change tuning including two reed organs that were slightly out of tune with each other. Therefore we would tune to whichever fixed tuned instrument we were using on each particular song. As a result there are 4 or 5 different tunings used across all our recordings depending on the instrumentation for each song. At the few gigs that we played the set was often dictated by needing to stick to a single tuning for all the songs. By the time my next band were ready to gig I had acquired a Wasp synth, which although it had many short-comics in a gigging situation, it's tuning was not one of them, so the whole band would tune to this. I can't imagine that the "tuning song" would have been a pleasant experience for our audience, but since all bands without expensive strobe tuners had to do this it was back then accepted as part of the gigging process. IIRC I got the electronic tuner after 4 gigs with my next band, who were all synths. This time we had the added complexity of using taped backing with drums and sequenced elements on it, and in order to make sure the live and recorded instruments were in tune the first "song" was a minute or so of "Middle C" on the tape that we tuned the live synths to. IMO this was completely unacceptable so I scraped together about £35 for the Boss tuner. I don't think I've been without some kind of electronic tuning aid since then.

Since this thread has come back to life I thought I would update on my personal quest for the perfect drum machine (for me). If you've been following the thread you'll have seen that I was originally looking for a decent hardware drum machine and had been leaning towards the top of the range offerings from Roland or Akai. In the end my choice was made for me by dint of the keyboard play from my band writing a bunch of new songs over lockdown using his newly acquired copy of Logic Pro X and making full use of the various drum and drum machine plugins that come bundled with it. Add to this the fact that our first pst lock-down gig was at the Goth City festival on the same bill as my other band who were already using Logic to play back our backing, meant that the idea of getting a dedicated drummer machine was a bit redundant. So I've been using Logic along with the Drum Kit and Drum Machine Designer plug-ins. I also went out and bought VSDSX which is a Simmonds SDSV emulator and also comes with a virtual version of the Simmonds Clap Trap. I do all the main programming work on my desktop MacPro where I have the benefit of multiple large monitors and then transfer the files to my laptop for gigs and rehearsals. The relatively tiny screen on the laptop is just about big enough to make slight tweaks to the songs in the rehearsal room, and for anything more complicated, I make notes at the rehearsal and reprogram back at home. We've done one gig with this set up and it work fine. I already have a gig-proof MacBook Pro set up that I use for my other band, and having spent some serious time working with the various drum plugins that come bundled with Logic, I really couldn't see myself going for the limitations that will come with a hardware drum machine.

Good work! One thing to watch is that the sound of your bass when played with a pick doesn't disappear behind similar-toned guitars. In a previous band I found that using hard picks for the bass while sounding great on it's own, when I played with the band that included one guitarist who favoured a clean sounding Stratocaster, all but disappeared in the band mix. Changing to a softer nylon pick made the bass guitar sit in the correct place in the mix.

Bef0ore you go changing EQ or replacing pickups spend some time testing out all the different pick materials, thicknesses and sizes. The only difference you have made is to swap from using your fingers to pluck the string to using a pick, therefore the pick is the first thing you should concentrate on to get the sound you want. It will probably take some time and may work out expensive, but ultimately it will be the best solution. If it was me, I'd start by going to my local musical instrument store and buying one of every type of pick they have, and using that start narrowing down what you like and dislike about each one.

Easily managed with a click track these days as I mentioned in my previous post. TBH. IME the biggest problem with using a click is that often the drummer is completely unused to having to play in time to another instrument, as their default mode is to set the tempo and the rest of the band play to them.

Did your previous PC run the same version of Windows and were you using the same version of your DAW? Also have you changed from 32 bit OS and apps to 64 bit? Like it or not, increased computer power usually leads to sloppy OS and application writing since it is no longer necessary make the use of ever processor cycle and optimise every single line of code to make everything run as fast and lean as possible. With some much processing power, memory and storage available for relatively so little money, there is almost no incentive to do this any more. It's a fact of computing life that on buying a new machine you will need to at least double the processing power, memory and storage to just to stay level with were you were in terms of performance on your old one. Is Studio One loading in lots of plug-ins that you don't need? Can you create an empty song with nothing in it. Has the memory usage increased massively? Then add the sorts of tracks you would normally one at a time and see if there is a point at which the memory usage suddenly shoots right up. Also I'd check that your memory usage list is complete and all the active processes are shown. Do all the percentage figures add up to 100%?

Two things: 1. 8GB is pretty much entry level for normal computer usage these days, I wouldn't consider a machine with less than 16GB for anything other than casual email/web browsing and typing the occasional thing in Word. 2. You have a lot of things open at once. Windows is still not as good as that other well-known OS at prioritising audio and MIDI data, so the fewer things that are making use of the RAM and processor the better - especially in light of point 1. When you are using your DAW you shouldn't need to have any other applications open so shut them down. If you do need to look something up on the internet use you phone or another device. And go and buy and install at least another 8GB of RAM.

The trick with click tracks and any other automated tempo setting method is to make it work for you, not to allow it to be a rigid master. The days to the standard un-varying 1/4 note "cowbell" click with an accent on the one are long gone and anyone still using it should only be doing so because out of all the options available today they have found that this is the one that works best for them. 1. Whoever is using the "click track" to set the tempo for the rest of the band should have something they feel comfortable with. It may be the standard 1/4 note cowbell click or it could be an actual rhythm pattern complete with swing, groove and other micro timings already built in to it, or anything in between. What works for one drummer will not necessarily work for another. Give them what allows them play best. 2. Even given a traditional rigid click a good drummer can still play against it to proved the correct "groove" for the rest of the band to play to. 3. It is now possible to stick a lot of extra information into the click track to provide cues that only those using it can hear. One of the band I currently play with has some songs with different bar lengths in amongst all the standard 4/4. On these the click is programmed to allow the drummer to hear where these are. 4. You don't always need a click. With The Terrortones we never used a click live, but on each occasion before we went into the studio we would spend several rehearsals working on the songs we were going to record trying each with clicks at various tempos around what we thought was correct and then without. Those songs that benefited from using a click in terms of feel were recorded with one, and those that required a bit more push and pull in tempo between the various sections were done without. 5. If you find that the click appears to be holding band back on some songs in terms of tempo, either your tempo is wrong or the songs are in the wrong order in the set. In this respect using a click can be a real advantage when it comes to selecting the best song order for pacing a set. 6. These days tempo changes within a song are no problem either. My other band recently parted company with our drummer, and it was decided not replace him and use a drum machine instead. When I was doing the drum programming it became obvious quite quickly that some of the songs now benefitted from a set constant tempo, whilst others required me to match the tempo changes of our drummer to maintain the correct feel. We've spent a fair amount of time working on this in rehearsal so that all the band members were happy with how the tempo changes worked. Some required a straight tempo change from one bar to the next, whist others needed to build up (or down) over a bar or two. The end result is that now all the tempo changes happen in a predictable;e manner and are the same ver time we play the songs which results in them being much tighter and sounding better for it.

When anyone with a recording and $50 can get their "album" on all the big download and streaming sites why would you want to just hide in the indie ghettos? The result is that new music is everywhere these days. You just need to track it down.

I ended up with the Eastwood Hooky, because for me the most important thing was the increased string spacing, and of all the Bass VIs currently in production this is the one that is least like a guitar without having a neck as wide as a 34" scale 6-string bass. My Squier has a very narrow neck, similar to a 70s Stratocaster and IMO narrow even by guitar standards (the neck is certainly narrower than both the guitars I play). As I said previously the big problem I find with most bass VIs is that they are essentially guitars with longer necks and fatter strings. BTW have you looked at the Revelation version of the Bass VI? This has three P90 soapbar style pickups and a slightly wider neck than the Squier. It also has more conventional Stratocaster style pickup switching. I've found that for what I do the middle and the bridge pickups are the most useful - the middle for "bass guitar" sounds and the bridge for the more "guitar" -like parts. The Eastwood only has one pickup but it sits between these two positions and therefore is a suitable compromise.

In almost 50 years of playing I have had exactly 2 amps fail on me. One was a cheap, poorly maintained secondhand valve amp that died mid-way through the first gig I used it at, and the other was entirely down to user error, when I plugged in both sides of a dual channel class-D amp into the same speaker cab and released the magic smoke. Since for the vast majority of gigs I play these days my choice of amp makes zero contribution to the bass sound that the audience hear (as the FoH bass is entirely provided by the PA) I have ditched my big, expensive and impressive looking bass rigs in favour of a Helix and FRFR cab (and I only take the FRFR cab to gigs where I don't expect the foldback to be up to the task of producing an audible bass sound on stage).

Even The Cure look like they are having fun on stage these days.

While still not ideal, that sounds a lot better than the situation you and the bass were in previously. Can you give an indication of exactly how far out the tuning of the fretted notes are? A few cents or something more serious and definitely noticeable when playing two note chords or drones? Remember that the tuning/fret position of a fretted instrument is a bit of a compromise between what is mathematically correct and what sounds right. Guitarists will often slightly alter the tuning on certain strings depending on what chords they are intending to play. The other thing to watch is that you are not pulling all the fretted notes slightly sharp as you fret them. This is something I have to watch when play the bass VI as the 30" scale means lower tension strings which are more susceptible to this. Fret each note carefully and see if by bending the string at each fret (in both directions) you can lower the pitch of the note rather than just raising it. If you are fretting the note perfectly bending in either direction will always raise the pitch. However if you are pulling or pushing the note sharp as you fret, bending in one direction will cause the pitch of the note to drop first before it rises. Unfortunately if this is the case, all you can do to avoid it, is work on your technique (like I am). Finally, if the tuning problems are more than 10 cents, and not a result to your playing technique, then I suggest you take the bass to a decent luthier and get them to look at the nut and ask for a fret dress explaining, and hopefully demonstrating by playing, what the problem is. BTW what sort of custom build are you considering? I would love a custom Bass VI incorporating on all the things I like from the various models I have played and getting rid of the those that I find makes playing one harder work than it should be. Unfortunately for my preferred luthier (Simon Farmer of Gus Guitars) we are looking at in excess of £6k for one with all the features I want...

But more importantly remember that in the early hours of the morning "fast food" is anything but. After numerous occasions where I've thought a burger is just what I need on my way back from a gig, but by the time I've waited 15+ minutes for it to be made, I'm really not feeling like it anymore and thinking that if we hadn't stopped we'd be 15+ minutes closer to home, bed and if I was still hungry something decent to eat.

I think there are two separate issues at work here. Firstly there is the actual concept and design of the Fender/Squier Bass VI. Out of the box the instrument is perfectly playable if you are a guitarist looking to do some tic-tac bass or doubling up a guitar part on a 60s style recording. However a lot of modern bass players want something that is capable of being used as a stand-alone bass instrument, and unfortunately it's guitar-based heritage does not necessarily offer what a bass player wants. (This is why I have ultimately abandoned mine in favour of first a Burns Barracuda and now the Eastwood copy of the Shergold Marathon 6-string bass, but that's a completely different matter.) Out of the box (IME) there is nothing wrong with the action on these basses, but the fitted E and A strings are a little on the light (and therefore floppy) side and the whole bridge/vibrato mechanism while fine for doing MBV impersonations on a guitar is not really a sensible design feature on a bass. This is why as bass players we fit heavier strings and need to shim the neck. And as the OP has done replace the original wobbly bridge with the StayTrem version. The neck shim is only needed if you want to raise the bridge in order to increase the break angle behind the saddles to reduce the compliance of the strings. However once you have done that and fitted heavier strings there are a whole load of extra adjustments that need to be done to return the instrument to it's playable condition. The second issue is (as Andyjr1515 has already hinted at) that often the wrong things are adjusted to correct the problems that develop. It is important that the adjustments are made in a logical manner and only the right items are adjusted. While adjusting one thing may affect another, it should be sorted with its own adjustment. So in order: 1. The shim is there (on this instrument) to allow the bridge to be raised to increase the break angle over the saddles cure the floppy feeling of the lower strings on the Bass VI. Unfortunately this setting on the Bass VI is entirely subjective, and I get the impression that many people do it having been told it is a requirement without actually realising exactly why they are doing it, or what exactly they are aiming for. I've found that having the tops of the E string saddles approximately 17mm above the top of the scratch plate (combined with LaBella round-wound bass VI strings) gives the right feeling for me. That won't apply to everyone. 2. The truss rod is only there to adjust the straightness/relief of the neck. Any other effect is has is entirely separate and while require a different part of the instrument to be adjusted to compensate. Swapping from the factory fitted strings to either the LaBella or Newtone will almost definitely require the truss rod tightening slightly, but all you should be doing is correcting the change in relief caused by fitting heavier strings. 3. The intonation should only need adjusting because the new string are heavier and therefore the saddles need to be moved back very slightly to compensate. The OP has fitted a StayTrem bridge which I believe has a slightly greater range of adjustment, so there shouldn't be any problems here. Just work through the problems one at a time and use the correct adjustment for the correct part of the instrument and the OP should get be able to get it back to a playable state. If the OP does ultimately decide to get the bass looked at by a professional, they should explain to them the reason for fitting the shim and the higher than usual bridge setting, as I would suspect that a lot of luthiers would not necessarily know this and decide that removing an "unnecessary" shim and lowering the bridge would sort out all the problems and the OP will be back to where they originally started in terms of set-up which is not really what they want.