BigRedX

Without looking at the previous answers I'd have got 9 - players and their instruments. However I'd only have got 5 if the photos had shown just the instruments and nothing else.

Because I'm first and foremost a composer my bass playing always serves the song. If I'm writing on the bass, the first version will be busy and full (lots of two note chords and 2/3 string patterns/arpeggios) this will simplify down once I present it to the rest of the band to give them some space. If I'm writing on another instrument or coming up with a bass line to fit a song written by one of the other band members, it will start off simple (probably root notes only), develop to get fairly complex, and then simplify down to somewhere between the first and second versions once all the other instruments have found their space.

1. Mohini Dey 4. Still don't know 8. Gail Ann Dorsey

Just tried the guitarist one. I got 9/15. Only 4 would have been obvious to me from just the guitar. The other 5 were helped by the rest of the photo and the choices available. Of the 6 I didn't get, 2 were unlucky guesses and 4 were ones I didn't know at all.

Have you read the description? The body in particular has quite a history. Didn't sound too shabby in the video clip either.

Looks like your phone doesn't like whatever widget Reverb have used to run the quiz in. Works fine on my ancient iPhone.

On its own, to me it looks like just another P-Bass. I only got it from the context of the photo and the multiple choice options.

Yes, it was one of the five I could have identified by just the bass, the other 4 being: Bootsy, John Entwistle, Lemmy and Victor Wooten.

It's supposed to make all the strings "feel" the same without requiring lubriciously large lower strings and cheese-wire thin upper strings. However as I said in my last post it relies to an extent on the compliance of the string evening-out lack or excess of tension, to give an even feel across the set. However since compliance is in part based on factors which are outside the string manufacturers' control such as the construction of the bass and the way some strings are attached to the bass (on a non-angled headstock for strings that do not pass under a string retainer you have no way of guaranteeing the break angle over the nut), it is IMO a bit of a none-starter, especially for any bass with more than 4 strings.

Which is what I thought. To get a low B-string even close to the tension of the E it would considerably thicker than the heaviest supplied in standard sets. However, as I also suspected it's "even feel" which means that the compliance of each string plays a part. Unfortunately compliance IME is as much a function of how the string is fitted to the bass as the string itself, so manufacturers have no way of knowing what adjustments they need to make to the tensions in order for them to work together with the compliance to give an even feel. Unless they also ask for break angles over the witness points and lengths of the non-speaking portions of the string? I haven't seen any evidence of this.

So how do you know when string tensions are "balanced"? Because from what I'm seeing here "balanced" does not at all mean "equal". If we are talking about taking compliance into account to get a "balanced" feel between the strings then that is going to vary depending on the design of the instrument they are fitted to - break angles across the bridge and nut and the length of non-speaking portions of the string. What might feel "balanced" on one instrument will not feel balanced on another due to compliance.

Not quite what I was expecting. I thought the whole process including moving the "capos" was going to automated.

I got 14. Just went through it again and if it it had just been photos of the basses I'd have only got 5 definitely. I might have got another 7 by process of elimination for the multiple choice options, but what I could see of the players certainly helped.

So many Rickenbacker basses...

Can't seem to find these on eBay anymore. Are they still available?

What lead? Where? I think it's the reflection in the Timpani in front of it.

The general advice with USB hubs for audio purposes is to get one that uses its own PSU and has a reputable brand name on it. In the early days of USB that used to mean Belkin. I have no idea if this is still the case. One of the problems with USB and laptops in particular is that without the right diagnostic tools you have no idea how many other devices are sharing a particular USB bus, and often there will be a "hub(s)" built into the computer, so by the time you've added an external one you have so many devices on a single bus that there is no longer sufficient bandwidth for the audio interface to work properly. As USB is basically a "dumb" protocol, it treats all connected devices equally and has no preferential treatment for timing and bandwidth critical devices such as an audio interface. Since you are on a Mac you have the required tools built in to the OS. With everything connected Go to the Apple menu and select "About This Mac" then click on the "System Report" button. Select "USB" from the left hand column and it will give you a tree structure of how all your USB devices are connected. The first thing you will notice is just how many extra (built-in) devices that you hadn't considered are connected; like the laptop keyboard, trackpad, webcam, built-in media readers etc. You may find that swapping your external hub to the other USB socket will make a difference as it has less internal devices connected to its bus, but there is no guarantee. You say you have 2 USB ports on your Mac, so connect the audio interface directly to the port that is on the USB bus with the least number of internal USB devices, and then attach the USB hub to the other port and connect all your other USB peripherals to that. I would also recommend disconnecting any non-essential USB devices completely when using the audio interface, and only connecting them via the hub. If you are still having problems then it is time to get a better hub - as described earlier - but only use it for your non-audio devices. The audio interface should always be connected directly to the Mac. HTH.

Depends entirely on the song, the style of music, what the other instruments are doing...

It really depends what you bass amp is for. If you need it for the audience to hear you then it's not going away any time soon. For those of us who use PA support a bass rig has little purpose these days. Some sort of tone-shaping pre-amp/DI device or a multi-effects like the Helix combined with an FRFR cab for those gigs where the monitoring won't be as good as the FoH system and you are sorted. I got rid of my rig after and handful of gigs where I'd been asked to turn down on stage so much (in order to get a controllable FoH mix) that I could hear the bass guitar louder in the guitarist's foldback wedge than I could from own speakers even stood directly in front of them. I now have a Helix Floor and an RCF745 powdered cab as a personal monitor. The pair cost less brand new then I paid for my last full rig which was mostly second hand. For gigs where I know the foldback is going to be good I don't even bother bringing the RCF.

Surprised no-one has mention this yet...

I think that you find, that once there is enough processing power to do the trigger to MIDI conversion (especially if you have programmable velocity curves and different rigger regions), the ability to generate sounds comes virtually free, therefore most manufacturers put them on. It's only very old (and usually quite limited compared with modern versions) and some very high end systems that don't have sounds built in. Do you already have something that you can use as pads (a drum kit)? In that case you could make your own piezo triggers and just get a module that does the MIDI conversion - you don't have to use the built in sounds.

Thanks for doing that. Measurements are too similar to the Burns Barracuda to be worth it for me. Do either the volume or tone control pull up? On the Barracuda this switches on the neck pickup irrespective of the pickup selector switch position to give extra tonal possibilities.

TBH most of us could get away with a 2-string bass - either E and A or A and D depending on what you were playing. Certainly in my dad rock covers band days 90% of the songs could have been played comfortably on a bass with just 2 strings.

IMO the trick when commissioning a custom bass or guitar is not to overthink it. All of the woods on mine (where you can see them) were picked first and foremost for their colour and grain pattern. I spec'd up my instruments by deciding how I wanted them to look, sound and play. I picked a manufacturer/luthier who was already making instruments with a design I liked and gave them my colour, playability and sound specifications and they did the rest. IMO if your choice of luthier can't make you the perfect instrument from those specs you need to look elsewhere.

I've had several guitars and basses made specifically for me. I sold one of those basses last year (a fretless 5-string Sei). It's a fantastic bass, and when I first got it, it was my main instrument. However since the band it was bought for split, I've used it twice for live and studio work in the last 9 years, and I can't see any of the bands I am in currently or any music that I might want to play in the near future requiring it, so I decided it was time to move it on. The money I got was spent on something I can use for the music I am currently playing. Did I regret it? Yes and no. It was a bit sad to move on something that was specifically made to my tastes and requirements, but equally I felt guilty that it had spent a good proportion of it's life either in it's case or on a stand only getting occasional playing time - very little of it serious, so I was glad it has gone to someone who will spend more time playing it than I had recently. And should I ever need another fretless 5-string bass I can go through the whole process again!