SebCarr

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1330029669' post='1551825'] So, is my dream of a Fender Precision still alive? Can one be had for under 9lbs at a reasonable price? [/quote] yes. See my previous post! Super light pre-painted bodies for $55. You just need a donor bass for bits.

Sounds like it's time for a parts bass. Head over to guitarfetish.com and check out their lightweight bodies. They're made of Paulownia, which is quite soft and very light. It's very resonant and works well for guitars, and seems to be gaining popularity. They'll build up into a bass well below 8lbs. As you'd expect for ~$55 apparently quality can be a bit variable and they're not the most detail perfect bodies ever from what I hear (things like contours and roundover radius not being perfect) but worth a try if you need something light on a budget? Caveat: I've not played one.

I was really impressed when I saw this on TV. I was enjoying noodling along (70s style strat through a clean valve amp, blended really well) and I'm ashamed to say the though they may be miming did enter my head (as his left hand movements were very conservative) but then I reminded myself that good players tend to make little fuss when playing complex parts. I also really enjoyed the dancing. It made me think that if I ever get round to putting another band together I want us in suits, and with dancing!

[quote name='Bidd' timestamp='1329954592' post='1550527'] Being the slightly obsessive Muse fan that I am, I actually prefer Hullabaloo over the rest of the standard studio albums if you want a complete album experience. 1CD of live performance and 1 CD of some great B sides - if you're a metal head you might appreciate "Yes Please", which is just a brilliant song in my humble opinion [/quote] You're right on the B sides. First album was good, and there were a lot of great B sides around in the fairly early days. Yes please is a great song. For me they just slowly descended into grandiose space rock w@nkery . There were a few good moments along the way, but the early stuff really is where it's at for me. But I get that a lot of people came to them later, and the grandiose space rock w@nkery is, to them, what Muse is about.

[quote name='EmmettC' timestamp='1329409002' post='1542070'] I checked everything and (eventually) found out that the earth wire in his amps plug was disconnected[/quote] Yeah, this happens all too often. A lot of older valve amps had ground lift switches that essentially disconnected the earth. The modern Fender reissues of some of their classic amps have the switch, but apparently it's a dummy!

I'm really horrified at how often this sort of thing happens. I'd refuse to play if I got a shock from the mic. Some venues really need to get their **** in order when it comes to the wiring - but just as often it's down to a power strip or amp with the earth disconnected as a bodge to remove ground-loop derived hum. As has been said, it doesn't take a lot to kill you! And just imagine if your lips become the earth for a faulty valve amp with 800v on the plates... eek!

I played a gig with a bodged setup of three guitar amps daisychained once, in a similar manner to what you describe. It sounded awful! But hey, it was a house party, I was 16, and the place was full of girls so we were gonna play no matter what!

Switching an EHX to a NOS Mullard in my guitar amp preamp (very simple amp with two valves, single-ended class A, 4-5 watts) made a MASSIVE difference. Smoother, softer, earlier breakup, very much improved. Switching the 6AQ5 output valve between NOS Brimar, JAN GE and Mullard, again a big difference. The GE were clean and clear, very classic "6V6 in a tweed Fender" sounding. The Mullard was again smooth, warm, compressed and with an early breakup. The Brimar was somewhere in the middle. I didn't compare any of these to current production, as NOS 6AQ5 are so cheap why bother? This amp really shows a big difference between valves. Apparently Trainwrecks are incredibly sensitive to valve selection. My brother's Orange AD30R is far less sensitive. It really depends on the circuit. Sadly, you really can't generalise and say "X valve sounds like Y". The circuit is the dominant factor. And, bear in mind, "NOS" for many valves actually covers a time period of several decades, and valves evolved during that time. Plus many of the big manufacturers had several factories, with different tooling in each, and rebranding valves was commonplace. GE made a lot of valves, sold by a lot of people. Mullard-manufactured valves have been sold under many names. So the only solution is to buy a bunch and see which you like best!

It can be better than alright... a decent DI (whether it's part of an audio interface, stand alone, part of an amp, a simple transformer into a microphone preamp, etc.) into Logic (or Pro Tools, or whatever) is they a huge number of records are made. And once you've played with EQ and compressors for a bit you can just save your various tones and recall them in an instant, but it is hugely versatile and can sound exceedinly good (and it can actually sound exceedingly good without any tweaking at all... but it depends what kind of sound you want)

I've done both, Cort Action V into Apogee Duet. Best results didn't come from specific bass amp sims, but from using the compressor models (optical, or sometimes FET, for bass), EQ, and sometimes Space Designer with impulse responses from guitar cabinets. What sort of sounds are you shooting for?

Those two are both exceptional. Wow! They look almost TOO new.

SS rectifier makes sense if you're going for no sag. 12.6v shouldn't make any difference with DC if it's properly regulated and filtered, but can't hurt I guess as a little ripple will probably creep through.

Cool project. Valve rectifier? What pream tubes? Why 12.6v heaters? Some serious voltages to get KT88s singing. ~600v on the plates? Eek!

I've seen old Jazz Bass mutes were felt, and looked like piano dampers. Sounded great.

I have a 4x12 (split steruo, and two power amps, 240watts). Yeah, it's loud. But I bought when I was about 17 and it was bigger than all my mates' amps, so I was cooler Pros of 4x12s? Complexity of tone (four speakers all distorting in slightly different ways. Same thinking as to why some big valve amps sound more complex than smaller ones - pairs of valves paralleled, all distorting in slightly different ways) and the ability to give you a big WHOMP in the chest when chugging (this was about 1999-2000. We played Nu Metal ). But yeah, they are too loud. And they don't usually sound great at low volumes. My brother had the same issue with his Orange AD30R. 30w, 2x12. Too loud for almost everywhere without a THD hotplate. I now mostly play through a 5w class A valve amp with a 10" alnico. [i]Still[/i] too loud for home, but would be fine for most small venues! And the tone... I wish more bands bought small valve amps and went through the PA to get the volume where it was needed for the venue. I have also been giving some thought to making a small cab with four 6" speakers, though. Interested to see how it sounds, how complex it is, how loud it is, and whether I can tune it for decent low end (for guitar! Bass... forget it). Thinking a sort of "Mini Tweed Bassman".

From what I've been told these break up very early. Very little clean headroom - so heaven for guitarists looking for a bluesy tone, but likely to be a bit gritty for bass. I play bass through a 5 watt class A valve amp (10" speaker), albeit one with a few more controls than this. It can sound good - but it'd be much better if it were voiced for bass. It lacks a little authority at the low end too - but that's as much the speaker as anything (Weber Alnico Silver 10). Different speaker, different voicing and it'd be much better. In fact, I intend to build something similar (although more than likely a push-pull pair than a single ended, as this one is) for bass at some point. All I can really suggest is try one out. If it rocks, get it. If it's not great then look elsewhere.

Latency is adjustable through changing the buffer sizes and sample rate in the control panel, and you should be able to get it suffienctly low on that combo for it to not be an issue. I have no latency issues with my Apogee Duet.

Road Worn are nitro. They do feel light, and soft, and warm, and lovely.

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1326462386' post='1497526'] "Everything is 100% original down to the tubes .... ... Sounds amazing!!" So when people say you need to change your valves every six months or so, it isn't strictly correct? [/quote] Who says that??? Valves should last YEARS of regular use, and decades of occasional use! Also, they were built a lot better in the 50s...

That's beautiful!

Can you hire a PA for the first couple of gigs? It may seem like a waste of money, but you'll get an idea (particulalry if you hire a couple of different setups) of what's too big/too small, how they sound, whether your budget is going to cut it or whether you do need to save a little more...

That was really awful. I don't object to anyone covering anything - unless it sounds that bad!

I really like the Roadworn Ps I played. Really nice, edged the US Ps in playability for me. I'd like them to do another one (yes, yet another Fender model...) to sit between the Classic 50s P and the Road Worn P - same played in feel, same nitro finish - but without the relicing. But that'd probably tread on the toes of the NOS Custom Shop stuff.

When you say aggressive I instantly think of the bass on Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf. Love it.

I've played quite a few MIJ guitars and basses, and they do feel consistent. While MIM stuff seems to vary quite wildly, MIJ always seems to feel like MIJ. However, I've played some MIM and Squier stuff that was horrible, and some that was lovely. Everything MIJ was in the middle. Consistently quite good (and consistently a bit wimpy in the pups, whether P bass, tele, strat...). I've never really clicked with the MIJ stuff. It was never bad, but I preferred the best of the rest.