thumperbob 2002

I too am of the old variety ( 50 next year ) been playing bass since I was 14 ...so thats 36 years WOW! Started with a power pop trio- went into blue eyed soul etc... the 80s -they were the days!! Few big gigs- backing some big bands etc- Finally had it with the pro scene and put my bass away for years whilst I sorted my life and career out. Now really enjoying bass - in a 7 piece soul band with great guys. Influences- the normal Larry Graham- Bootsy- Pino- Jaco- Jamerson-sounded like them all at one time or another- now I think I sound like me. Got a bit of musical theory- can read a bit- backed a few `artistes` in my younger days. Love music- I do the odd solo when asked- but dont really like to. Prefer fingerstyle to slap but probably as good at both. Am strangely drawn to the David Dyson style of hand muted Trebly Funk but wont use it on stage. Love good drummers- cant play with bad ones. Cant stand keyboards filling in the mids and singers always soundcheck with no volume and turn up the level when performing- cant understand that one!!

[quote name='Muzz' post='1111997' date='Feb 2 2011, 08:34 AM']+1 to Bob's comments above, especially about Schroeders, though I use an RH450 now, rather than the Sansamp/LMIII combination I used previously, but that's more about my particular sound requirements and me obsessing even more about minimal kit. The MB head (and I had MB cabs before, too) was excellent, and as Bob says, you just don't need to lug around an SVT/810 anymore (had those, too). You'll note I used the word 'need', rather than 'want' there... In the rehearsal studio the other week, just for fun, we tried turning up the wick on the RH450 with my 1515L (earplugs in, natch), and even though I'm in a rock band with a loud drummer, before I'd got too far round the dial, all you could hear from the drums was the cymbals. I am now forbidden from doing that again on pain of, well, pain. God alone knows how loud your 1212 + 1515 rig'd go, Bob. [/quote] Very Very loud- I like headroom!!

I have a Markbass LM II and find that there is really no Markbass sound- just sounds like my bass with no colouration UNLESS you use the two filters ( I use the EQ Flat ). I find that if using a Sansamp or Bass Pod etc all I need is a power amp so no EQ and straight into the cab. If stage monitors are provided I could do without an amp/ Cab. I also have a Little Giant 1000 which powers two Schroeder cabs for big gigs or I`ll use the Mark Bass with one cab for other gigs- overall a really loud rig just with the one cab- with two its really overkill. The LG 1000 is cheaply made- has a weak pre amp section- but set up properly ( used just for power ) does the job- and it was £249 new!! The Schroeders are pretty unbelievable really- I think Schroeder had some quality issues but I have had no problems- I can carry both cabs into a gig - one in each hand with my bass/ gig bag over my shoulder- so one trip mostly. Gone are the days when -at the end of a gig- I `d be dreading carrying my valve head and 4 X 12 back to the van. With modern modelling technology you simply do not need an SVT with an 8 X 10!! Bob

[quote name='Doddy' post='1111092' date='Feb 1 2011, 03:02 PM']But what about if you have to deliver BNP (or whoever)promo material? Would you flat out refuse to deliver it,or just get on with it and do your job?[/quote] Bloody good answer that. Anyway.... I was a pro and it is much much worse not enjoying a tour with a group of band members ( who are T**ts ) than working for a living, not enjoying your job. Less hours involved in a normal job than a jobbing musician - and by and large more money. But for something like music- where it should be fun- not enjoying it is soul destroying- really. Think I have the best of both worlds- with a pretty successful business and two great gigs per month with a fabulous group of like minded people. Having my cake and eating it. Answer- no I wouldnt play for anyone I didnt like - be it the guy at the end of the street with his amateur band- or Elton John- the truth!! Bob

Hi all I got a line 6 xt bass pod live off a chap in Doncaster yesterday. eBay purchase for £148. Really pleased with this. More options sound wise and tone wise than I will ever need - quiet, high quality tone. The amp modelling on this unit is second to none. With these units I don't want to radically alter my tone, just some small changes at some gigs. Having one box makes setting up so much easier. Watch this space for pedal off loading. Sansamp BDDI, bass xciter, some ash down pedals, zoom 708II. No idea how much they are worth?? Cheers Bob

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='1104050' date='Jan 26 2011, 05:10 PM']Don't buy an expensive one! First find out why your current one is noisy - maybe wrong power supply or grounding isues with it, try it with batteries for troubleshooting. If it's realy a fault of the unit then get a used Boss or something similar. Use it extensively until you find the fx's you like more and realy use then start buying good (and often expensive) stompboxes! My 2 cents...[/quote] Yeah the Zoom 708 is known to be noisy- no issue with power supply etc -they all are like that sir!!--not too bad for live work but pants for recording

On the floor Pal. I use some effects in our set- wah-octaver-I use the compression in the Zoom but its not very good.... I have a few stompboxes but really dont like the faffing about with them- really looking for a box that has good tone- few usable effects- tuner ( but thats not a deal breaker )- really something high quality- would like to use this instaed of my Sansamp too- just to simplify my rig. Budget not an issue but I dont want to buy something silly- The M13 looks a bit rediculous to me. Bob

Hi All I am looking to buy a Multi-effects unit. I would like a high quality one that I would be able to gig with. I have a Zoom 708 that is OK- but pretty noisy really. Dont want something too big but if its recommended would think about it. I am a bit spoiled for choice so would like advice from the helpful people on here. Cheers Bob

Bloody Hell- one hell of a set list- I take it there are girl singers involved- 4 month residency... hellooooooooooooo!!! ( Remembering the old days!! )

[quote name='digitalmetal' post='1102000' date='Jan 25 2011, 12:40 PM']if i did that, what would be the point of me lugging a huge great big ampeg (that i can get just the sound im after) around with me?[/quote] No real point- other than it looks good. Not kind on your back and believe it or not your sound can be replicated quite easily using good lightweight gear - just takes a bit of time and experience. Invest in a Zoom H2 recorder- give it to a pal to record your band live. Then think about your bass sound- and your opinion of the sound guy. We have all had bad ones and good ones- unfortunately the bad ones do outweigh the good ones in my experience. But do remember that the majority do this for little or no reward and do it because they enjoy it, by and large. They are your friends.

Think its pretty irrelevant really. I ( who have owned many many valve amps ) would always go for a head and cab. The weight would put me off- ever been near the end of a gig looking at your gear and knowing that you have to pack it in the car/van. Not a nice thought. Not too bad now though I have gone lightweight. Lightweight rig + good pre-amp is all you need Bob

Hi All Really like this tone- JBlakk I think [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8bceglPMt0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8bceglPMt0[/url] Quite Low action - same bass as mine but 6 string- has a real bark about it. At the mo` I sound just like this- [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90t0ThWP-pE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90t0ThWP-pE[/url] Bridge Pickup- bass boosted Love then both- and many others Bob

If its not fun in the band you are in- leave. Do not hesitate.

[quote name='bartelby' post='1086990' date='Jan 12 2011, 06:14 PM']I use a precision with flats through a 1x15" (or a 4x8", or both) and a Mark Bass LMII. It kicks out a lot of thump, but is very clean. So I have Sansamp BDDI to add a bit of colour and dirt, but even blended it scoops the mids. I'm beginning to think an alternative for the BDDI might be in order.[/quote] I have the LM 2 and the Sansamp BDDI- I am into that retro sound but I need a bit of clarity and I find that you can simply decrease the Bass and Trable on the BDDI and this adds mid- the cab I use- either Schroeder 2 x 12 or 2 x 15 - or both!- with a LG 1000 amp- are fairly mid heavy anyway. Best sound I have ever had- I would recommend the sansamp- I think this makes more of a difference than anything else I use- great for recording too

[quote name='icastle' post='1087430' date='Jan 12 2011, 11:42 PM']True Story: A guitarist in a band I used to play in was looking for a new combo. He spent months trawling the internet for info and travelling around different music shops trying out Fenders, Marshalls, Mesa Boogies etc. He finally selected a Line 6 combo. After a weeks worth of fiddling around with it and driving the rest of us up the wall with a whole pile of inappropriate sounds - he set it to 'Marshall' and left it there... His Line 6 combo cost more than the Marshall he was emulating. The point I'm making here is that having 60 different amps and 85 different cabinets emulated on units like these may be fine on paper but I think the majority of users will find the sound they like and stick to it. Kinda makes me wonder whether these emulation units are really worth it to be honest... P.S. Just so I don't get accused of having a 'downer' on Line 6 because of past experiences with them - I've been looking at the Roland CB100 as a wee practice amp but have been put off by the COSM modelling stuff they shoved into it![/quote] Absolutely right- I have a Sansamp BDDI that initially I had set for three different sounds- as well as the pick up configurations on my bass - far too many tones - Now I have my BDDI set to one ( fairly subtle sound ) and use my pickups full on for slap and back off the front pick up for fingerstyle- now I can concentrate on my playing and actually enjoying myself!

[quote name='thatgrantboy' post='1087190' date='Jan 12 2011, 08:34 PM']Nemesis is a combo though? =/ Nice to see a suggestion of the Little Giant. It could definately be an option if I could find a 500w 4ohm little cab to go with it. The price, even new, is very appealing! Haha. So I can only imagine it'd be even better used. Is a pre-amp totally necessary then?[/quote] Suppose it depends on the sound you want- the downside is that the LG1000s input section is quite weak and the eq is fairly average. The benefit is that if you bought a Sansamp- £70 probably or the behringer Bassdriver- which I think is very cheap -you would have a really powerful and versatile amp with the potential for 1000w if you added another 4ohm cab ( for big gigs only! ) But for a cheap head I cannot see anything in this price range that could possibly compete. If you compare the LM 2 with this the advantages the LM has is that it is built to last- tiny bit lighter- very good eq- But I use it flat anyway. By far the best thing I have ever done with gear is to buy the Sansamp BDDI- without this my sound just sounds fairly average- with it I jsut sound perfect- ( to my ears anyway ) As you can see I am really using the LG 1000 as a power amp for when I use two cabs.

Hi I have both a mark bass lm 2 and a little giant 1000. Both highly recommended. The lg1000 is half the price of the mb amp. I think it depends also on the preamp you are using too. I have a sans amp bddi that is so good I was thinking of buying a small cheap power amp. Loads of cabs will do the job and if you get the lg1000. You could add another cab later for the total 1000w. Buy these a little at a time and buy from the bass chat marketplace. Never buy new Bob

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='1085178' date='Jan 11 2011, 09:28 AM']Let's hope that your battery hungry iPhone doesn't run out of juice hey? Especially if you forget to charge the thing before a gig Surely a proper tuner would be better, and the iPhone tuner used as a backup?[/quote] Backup Tuner? Whats wrong with tuning to anyone else in the band- the old school way. I use the Iphone 4 which doesnt have any battery issues. My post was really about the convenience of it and the very low cost for something so accurate. It is a proper tuner- more accurate than anything other than a strobe tuner- just taht you cant plug it in on your pedal board- these should not be used at a gig - for bass plainly not needed- unless you cannot tune the bass old school style. I really dont understand why someone would take a backup anything to a gig- including another bass- unless another tone was needed. Have been playing for 30 years without any need for backup anything- if the amp goes I can go through the pa- never broke a string at a gig ever and whilst I did have a bass fall off stage once it was repairable in about 15 mins. They are very simple things- other than batteries going I suppose. Bob

They may love their solicitors now but they will hate them with a vengeance in 10 years time - I hate mine - all the ones i have had-including crap barristers!!

[quote name='TKenrick' post='1019239' date='Nov 10 2010, 07:31 PM']Last week mostly involved me learning 60ish tunes for an audition - the bulk of them were fairly uninspiring, but a couple stood out due to some nice bass work. I thought I'd post them here for those who want some fresh reading material. 1. Beyoncé - 'Deja Vu' The thing that caught my ear about this was the contrast between the catchy 2 bar vamp and the high register fill at the end of the verses (good ledger line reading practice!). Some nice lines in the prechorus as well. [attachment=63641:Deja_Vu.pdf] 2. Cee Lo Green - 'Forget You' Really simple verse groove, the real highlight for me is the bridge, which has some nice Motown licks in there (the first bar of the bridge reminds me of 'Bernadette', the fill over the D7 in bar 7 is pretty much stolen straight from Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons 'December 1963') [attachment=63642:Forget_You.pdf][/quote] Just gone through the Cee Lo transcroption- Thanks very much pal- super, super accurate- actually this surprised me how enjoyable it was- mainly the bridge which is pretty cool. Bob

Hi All I am getting a bit obsessive about taking to gigs as little as I can get away with. Previously I had to take a tuner as with a 7 piece band it was not always possible to get a note from our keys player as there always would be some idiot widdling away. Got the Cleartune app for my Iphone. Absolutely brilliant- really good and super correct and easy to use. Tuner now not taken to gigs and certainly not needed for my pedalboard- Its only a Sansamp anyway. Cant remember the last time my bass went out of tune at a gig! They dont do they? The app was £2.59!!! Bob

[quote name='risingson' post='1084811' date='Jan 10 2011, 08:41 PM']Great stuff TB, there's a band near me that share your band name strangely enough that do similar stuff! [/quote] My ten yr old daughter thought of the name and we had to use it! I imagine there's a few about!