BigRedX

What's the difference between the blue and red portion of each line?

If the delay effect is in time with the music and your using a human drummer you will need something with tap tempo.

Looks like a Rick-O-Sound alternative.

If you are using it to do collaborative songwriting with the other band members then get whatever they are already using. While there are work arounds for exporting audio and MIDI from one DAW to another, none of them work brilliantly IME.

Have a look at Loopback by Rogue Amoeba. That should do what you need.

I had the Edifier version which after less than 3 months broke at one of the swivel joints (apparently a know weak spot), and were returned for a refund which I put towards a pair of Sennheiser HD599SE which I got at half price using the Amazon prime Day promotion.

Unfortunately this is to be used with the Eastwood copy of the Shergold Marathon 6 bass which has a string spacing in between typical guitar and bass dimensions, The ones I'm currently looking at are by Cycfi Research who appear to be able to produce pickups to any spacing required. TBH I'm very reluctant to do it myself, because I simply don't want to be wrecking £200+ worth of kit. I'd rather pay the money for someone else to do it properly.

Latency will be down to the physics of doing pitch to MIDI conversion and there is simply no way around that without using additional methods like fret sensing. At the very best you need one and half wave cycles for pitch detection (often at least 2 if not more for stability) that means for low E on a bass needs a minimum of 37ms which will only happen under ideal conditions and with a super-clean picking and fretting technique. Most of the time it will be worse. Add to that any additional delays due to MIDI processing by external devices and it's essentially unusable. Processing the audio provided by each string is much faster since all you are doing is a simple A/D D/A conversion the same as any good quality digital effect.

Steve Chick who designed the Peavey MIDI bass now runs Industrial Radio making updated versions of his MIDI system. I'd try contacting him.

Do FTAs include private purchases/imports then? I can't think of anything I have bought from outside Europe that hasn't attracted VAT and duty.

I've been recommended two solutions form US-based companies that properly address the string-spacing problem without having to DIY. However neither is really a simple retro-fit like the Roland pickups and therefore would require either routing the body for the pickup and associated electronics or having a new body (or whole bass) custom made.

Try the Keyboards and Synthesis section of the SOS forums.

For me it's the synthesis via signal processing. AFAIAC pitch to MIDI is dead (especially for the bass) unless you employ extra methods of pitch detection like Industrial Radio does.

What you have to decide is how/when in the recording process you want to use this hardware. The mic pre-amp is simple it's used with a mic when recording, so it goes between the mic and one of the inputs of your interface. The compressor if you decide to use it is also best used as a recording (because it is only one channel) rather than mix-down tool, so that would go between the mic pre-amp and the input of your interface. The 3rd Dimension is more tricky because it could be used while recording or while mixing. So you could put it last in the recording chain just before your interface. However, remember that this is very much a stereo effect (IMO there's not much point using it in mono) so you need to connect the output to 2 inputs on your interface. If I'm looking at the right interface, your's only has main stereo outputs, so you can't use this for mixing with external effects, as you need channel outputs for the routing. So will need to either add this via the ADAT sockets or with an external mixer. Unless you are going to use all this extra I/O connectivity for other things it seems like a lot of expense and hassle just to get one effect working while mixing. Have you tried the effect yet? Do you like what it does to the sounds?

Which Newtone set did you try - round or hex core? You should try the other version.

Expensive. Although in real terms considerably cheaper than the cost of the original model back in the late 70s.

I believe there is a computer editor for it, if the built-in interface proves too fiddly. I've been looking at one of these to use with my Bass VI, but now I've settled on the Eastwood there are no simple pickup solutions available for the string spacing.

Do you already have any other outboard recording equipment or have you been doing everything "in the box" so far? While some outboard equipment can add to your recordings if most of your processing is done using plug-ins, you may find that the expense and hassle of getting your outboard equipment to interface properly with your computer and DAW is probably going to be too much. Remember that unless you are mixing down to an external device (does anyone do this nowadays?) any externally processed audio is going to have to go through two stages of analogue/digital conversion which is going add latency to just those signals. IMO: The mic pre-amp is worth keeping. You can use this as a front-end to your audio interface. The compressor isn't really going to be much use, it's not a particularly esoteric model and you should already have far better compressor plug-ins. If you find you are having problems controlling input levels from your microphone it might be worth having daisy-chained between the mic pre-amp and the interface. It's only single channel so it won't be much use for post processing. That leaves the 3rd Dimension. This is an interesting one, being pretty much an exact clone of the classic Roland Dimension D processor. If you like the sound you may find it indispensable, and despite what you might read none of the plug-in versions really come close to the hardware. Which leaves you with a conundrum; how best to use it? Once again you only have the single device. This is a problem people thinking about going back to using hardware don't always realise straight away - when you buy a plug-in you can use as many instances as you like, but with hardware you need another device every time you need to simultaneously process another signal unless you are happy to process everything on one setting via a bus. What you have ask yourself is this: Is the sound so good that it is worth the hassle of sorting out input/output routing and the latency and hassle that goes with it. You'll need to try it and see, as only you can answer that question.

I don't think so. IMO most gigs are too long. IMO as a band you've got to have released a handful of successful albums before you can consider playing for over an hour and TBH most bands could do with trimming their sets down to around 30 - 45 minutes with a single song as an encore provided that it has been earned by both the band and the audience.

I used to own a Hondo Alien which is essentially a copy of The Duke but with low quality hardware and wooden fingerboard. Once I had replaced the bridge and machine heads with proper Schaller versions, it was a very decent instrument. No problems with balance or tuning stability. However unless you find one very cheap (under £100) and are prepared to replace the hardware, I wouldn't recommend the Hondo, as a alternative to a proper Kramer The Duke.

Ditherer's remorse. For many years, hanging up in a musical instrument shop in Croydon was a Wandré Rock Oval (IIRC) Guitar. It wasn't in the best condition and had no price on it. But it looked interesting. By the time I had found out what it was and decided to ask how much they wanted for it and if necessary make an informed offer it had gone. I wonder who has it now?

Woolies special. Cost £19.95 back in the 70s. Worth about half that now.

No. None. I've whittled my collection from over 40 down to 5 basses (soon to be 4). It would be nice to still have most of the ones I sold, but I have recognise the fact that a lot of them were bought simply to own rather than to use. However owning lots of instruments has allowed my to work out exactly what I like about the ones I'm keeping and why the ones I sold didn't quite "do it" for me.

Regarding panning. I was amused by this quote from Public Service Broadcasting about their "Race For Space" album: I think that says it all. Pan so the instruments don't conflict, but keep all the important ones in the middle.

Spalt are one for the few basses I like that I haven't yet owned. In fact looking for more information about them lead me to find Bassworld (Bass Chat's forerunner) and become a member of the forums.