BigRedX

For me sound checking is about making sure that everything that should be coming out of the PA is and with roughly the right balance in volume, and getting an acceptable on-stage sound.

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1427324824' post='2729050'] I'd guess everyone, sitting around of an evening noodling in front of the TV. I'd get told off if I stood up... J. [/quote] I don't think I've ever sat in front of the TV noodling. In the days when I still owned a TV if I was watching it, I was watching it and not doing anything else. If I wasn't watching it, the TV was either off or I was in another room doing something more constructive like practicing the bass or guitar standing up. ;-)

Every single multi-track recording made will have had processing applied to to the tracks somewhere between the microphone and the final mixed product. It makes no difference whether the processing happens in the digital or analogue domain, whether it's been meticulously assembled from multiple takes in a DAW or live mix of several tracks on the mixing desk. It is still processing. If you want your recordings to be "pure" you need to be looking at all acoustic performances captured direct with a single stereo pair of microphones where everything is down to the placement of the instruments and the microphones within the recording location.

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1427287658' post='2728266'] I've no actual experience of one- I just assumed that a glass wall would reflect the sound very effectively and make for a harsh sound. Perhaps it doesn't matter if the rest of the room has plenty of absorbent stuff. [/quote] Remember that one of the most critical listening environments is the recording studio control room which is frequently dominated by a huge window looking out onto the live room.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1427274623' post='2728043'] If you go that route, you need to be a very precise player. I had a Lightwave Sabre and it was truly lush, but there's nowhere to hide your mistakes! [/quote] I really liked the sound of my Saber and would still have one if I could find a 5-string version that was as nice in looks as my 4 string. For me the trick was not to turn up the piezo too much and play like you would on an upright bass.

Lightwave fretless with flats.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1427213886' post='2727318'] I'm on several FB groups. You have an admin who can delete stuff and PM people but the big difference is there are a lot of meet ups and everyone uses their real name. Here there are many people I'm unlikely to ever meet and if I did I would meet them under their real name, not an alias. Do away with forum aliases and make avatar a photo I your face and a lot of the animosity (if there is that much) would disappear overnight. [/quote] If you think that Facebook members are all using their really names and the photos are of themselves then I'm afraid you sadly mistaken. There is nothing stopping anyone starting a Facebook account using any name and and image they choose. If Basschat decided that your user name had to be your real name and your avatar had to be your photo how could they tell that the information you has supplied was real? Besides in a community where a great number of the members are easily identifiable through the bands they perform in, having a silly user name and avatar doesn't afford much anonymity.

If you just need barcodes for your existing physical CDs then there are plenty of places on line that will sell you a one-off barcode number for under £10 per code. Make sure that you get the right code for where you want to sell. If you are only selling in the UK and Europe an EAN13 code will be what you need. However if you plan to sell in the USA you will need a UPC12 code as many places won't recognise the 13 digit EAN code. Luckily you can make the UPC12 code into an EAN13 one simply by adding a "0" at the front of the code. The really expensive and time consuming bit will be getting the barcode onto stickers and then applying then to every CD. IME you need to get them professionally printed as poor quality barcodes that don't scan are one of the quickest ways of getting your product excluded from stores. If you are planning to make the albums available for download through iTunes etc. then do this first and get your barcode through the aggregator that you use. This will save you paying twice for the code, because most aggregators will insist on selling you a barcode for downloads whether you already have one for the physical version or not. Hope that helps.

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1427123588' post='2726029'] I imagine that a mirrored wall also sounds terrible. [/quote] TBH I don't remember the room I used with the mirror wall sounding much different to any other reasonable practice room.

In theory you could make up any code that will validate and use that. In practice though you may inadvertently pick the same code that is being used by another product which could cause problems. However, if you are also going to sell downloads via an aggregator service like CD Baby they will generate a code number for you as part of the service of getting your album on iTunes and Amazon and create barcodes that you can use on your physical product, so there is no need to buy a separate code.

[quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1427195000' post='2726898'] You can do everything on a 5 that you can do on a 4, so you don't need the 4's. [/quote] If your 5s cover the same ground sonically then you don't need the 4 stringers unless the band(s) you are in specifically require them for the image.

What do you NEED? Whatever you use for your current musical project(s), and if that involves playing live an identical spare for each one.

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1427157736' post='2726662'] Try playing that sitting down! Jon. [/quote] Who apart from Robert Fripp plays sitting down?

What's the problem?

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1427126367' post='2726085'] BRX in "my ultimate Fender" shock!!! [/quote] But that's the whole point! It's not a Fender. It's something that fixes all the things that are wrong for me on the original.

If you know there's more to playing a gig than just playing the music, then IMO it's really important to practice every so often in way that replicates the gig set up is closely as possible. I still see a lot of bands at gigs who mentally haven't left the rehearsal room, with the instrumentalists huddled around the drummer for comfort while the singer struggles to project beyond the end of the microphone. On the other hand I'm not entirely convinced by the value to practicing in a room with a mirror wall. While it's fine for working out if your stage moves really are as cool as you thought, I've found that being able to see your hands in the mirror gives you a false sense of confidence when it comes to being able to play while looking at the audience.

From the front it would just like a standard Jazz with a rosewood board, blocks and binding and a matching headstock. However it would have a neck-through construction with the neck painted to mach the rest of the bass, angled headstock, Lightwave pickups under the bridge ashtray and the lower cutaway enlarged to allow as much access to the upper frets as possible without obviously changing the body shape.

Can you post the second like again please? AFAICS the 5-string Artcore Bass is short scale. I's want to try one before I actually bought it but have never actually seen one except on the Ibanez site.

The big problem with Thunderbird shaped basses is that they are all very different and often have little in common as regards sounds, playability and construction. Which one is the right one for you will depend what you want from the bass. Also there are very few 5-string models available. There was a Gibson version (in the 90s?) with a set rather than through neck construction but that was discontinued ages ago. The Epiphone 5-string version has pretty much nothing in common with the original Thunderbird other than a similar body shape. In terms of getting the sound of the original Gibson Thunderbirds, the Mike Lull T-Bass is supposed to be the most accurate, but it's not cheap. Cataldo Basses will make you a 5-string Fenderbird with Thunderbucker pickups...

You appear to have posted the same link twice. Do you know if either company are planning on making a 5-string version?

[quote name='James Nada' timestamp='1427016491' post='2724617'] I read the 'Why I soldy Ric' at around lunchtime yesterday - it was at 3 pages I think. To save me about 14 minutes in reading the rest, could someone please summarise the thread here? [/quote] Essentially it's the same story as always. Bassist buys a Rickenbacker. Discovers that it doesn't sound or play like a Fender P or J (which IMO is the whole point of basses that aren't Fender P or J or copies thereof). Gets rid of it a then feels the need to tell us all on an internet forum.

Internet forums change and evolve. It is in their nature. Anyone who expects otherwise is foolish and naive. Also I haven't noticed any increase anger in the posts. Maybe it's limited to threads that I don't look at because the title is of no interest to me? Maybe it's all in Off-Topic where I rarely venture and even more rarely post. TBH I don't really see any of the criticisms mention earlier in this thread... I think in some ways it's in a lot of people's nature to want things to stay the same for ever. That's really not a good thing. And especially so on an internet forum where people rarely actually meet in real life. A long time ago I use to be an active member on the forum run by a magazine devoted to the Apple Macintosh Computer. It was a thriving on-line community which contained an active group of graphics professionals (among others) and a useful source of advice and information for people like me working in graphic design for print. When the magazine decided to close the forums, a group of the regulars decided to start up their own forum to continue on the community. Unfortunately this was hidden away behind an anonymous name and URL, and has attracted hardly any new members since it started about 10 years ago, and now has a fraction of the daily post count it used to have. Most of the people I used to regularly exchange views and information with have stopped posting and there is little of value for me there anymore. Without new blood that's what Basschat could easily become.

We try and have at least one rehearsal a month using all our own gear and set up as we would for a gig.

String tension does not change when you string through the body as opposed to through the bridge. What changes is compliance. Read about the difference between the two [url=http://liutaiomottola.com/myth/perception.htm]here[/url].

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1426862893' post='2722878'] we wrote a song about the standard of PA's in rehearsal rooms. It was called "Betamax PA" [/quote] So pretty good then?