jonsmith

Firstly, having not heard the recording, it's difficult to comment on the specifics and it may well be that everything with the bassline is perfect, except for the recording quality. Speaking more generally, in my experience not every band member has the vocabulary to articulate the exact reason why they might think something isn't quite right. That doesn't mean that everything is perfect or that they have no right to mention that something isn't quite how they think it should be. I've often found that if other band members don't get any feedback they will quite happily carry on doing things that don't sound quite right and have no idea that they are even making things sound a bit odd. It follows that I am probably guilty of the same thing (and that most of us probably are at some point). I don't think how the bass fits into the band is just the bass player's domain and would expect some comments if the other guys in the band felt they were needed. I would take these on board in the same way that I expect my bandmates to take my feedback into account. For the situation as you have described it, I would have thought that the problem is less likely to be solved by effects (especially reverb, unless it's a slight bit of 'room' as suggested above) and more by some EQ tweaking. However if it's really a question of groove, I would spend a bit of time maybe just playing those tracks along with the drummer until the right groove is achieved (it might already be there), then getting the guitarist to join in and see what happens. If the groove disappears, then go through the same exercise again including the guitarist. I'd actually record this session too, so that everyone can listen back afterwards and hear exactly what's happening. Then discuss further if need be...

That is lovely. I've always wanted a black & gold Wal - maybe one day...

Yes, it really is that bad! I don't really get the concept that I won't enjoy a type of music based on skin colour. That may be how music is marketed in certain 'territories', but it has no influence on what music I enjoy. Having said that I must admit that apart from the very odd exception I have no love for this particular genre. Still, this struck me as a particularly poor attempt. Even so, there is worse out there: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZphHGHiQ5w&fb[/media] Enjoy. EDIT: stay with it till the chorus, or you'll miss the best bits.

If that doesn't work, try this guy: [url="http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardian/"]http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardian/[/url] I got one of his 'stop slicing the top off your finger' kits for one of my 4003 basses after I'd removed the pickup cover. Fitted perfectly and I'm sure his scratchplates would as well.

At first, it probably seems quite costly against what you physically get, but then it turns out to be more than worth the money in any venue with a hollow stage/floor.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1381584101' post='2240972'] A bit of all three. I believe that the density of a neck plays a part, among a hundred others, in the overall tone of the instrument. Regarding flat sawn v quarter sawn, this will have a bearing on density, and therefore tone (see above) Other than that, flat sawn v quarter sawn is more significant in terms of neck stability than tone. [/quote] Perhaps I'm being a bit dense (haha) and missing something, but isn't the wood is the same density regardless of how it's cut?

Those songs were dropped pretty quickly (a few weeks) after Neil joined. Some people think that Fancy Dancer was recorded for the first album, but the recording was dropped when Terry Brown got involved. EDIT - just found this quote from Neil: [color=#000000][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica][size=3]"... two original songs written before I joined the band... Well, why do you think we never recorded them?".[/size][/font][/color] Just had another look and VT remix definitely cheaper at Sainsbury's. £4.99 with free postage. [url="http://www.sainsburysentertainment.co.uk/en/Music/CD/Rush/Vapor-Trails-Remix/product.html?product=E11281969"]http://www.sainsbury...oduct=E11281969[/url]

Try Sainsbury's online, I think it's cheaper there.

In the past two years, I have played prog, rock, punk, reggae, ska and country with one of my Ricks & got appropriate sounds for all of them. On that basis, I'd say they are fairly versatile. They might not be my first choice for every kind of music, but they are capable of most things with a bit of eq & drive adjustment as well as use of an appropriate playing style.

Just the usual anti-Rick nonsense...pretty sure that overdriven sound is exactly what Geddy was going for and to my ears the string rattling is possibly worse on the clip with the Jazz (and also intentional).

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1378978775' post='2207212'] Me too! Although I was about 2/3 of the way back. I'm pretty sure the floor raked [i]down [/i]from the stage, as my abiding memory is not being able to see anything (and I'm just over 6'), and heading home to one of my companions' house to watch the Exit Stage Left video to get some Rush-flavoured visual input! Obviously I don't have a clue what Geddy was playing... [/quote] It was a terrible venue for a concert. I had a great time although I was bedraggled & exhausted by the end of it. Apparently Neil Peart said the audience at that gig were like animals, which I was a bit upset about at the time, though I must admit I probably couldn't cope with being in the same circumstances now.

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1378818331' post='2205022'] I'm pretty sure it's: Subdivisions - Rick The Analog Kid - Rick Chemistry - Rick The Digital Man - Jazz The Weapon - Jazz New World Man - Jazz Losing It - Sounds like the Jazz although rumour has it Geddy used a different Rick on this one. Countdown - Rick [/quote] Forgot about The Weapon being the Jazz. That looks about right. It's supposedly a Rickenbacker 4002 on Losing It. Geddy did have one, so I suppose it could be. [quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1378939701' post='2206944'] Ooh that is pretty handy, although it doesn't make it sound easier to do But clearly the tone is different to spirit of radio, which I was playing earlier (as I am supposed to be playing it next week) - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx8jLE3qVqA [/quote] That version of Spirit of Radio is an old live version on the Rick (MP tour), as opposed the Jazz on the studio version of Digital Man. I'm really pleased that Geddy gets as much 'clicking' when he plays as I do (had a studio engineer complaining about it a couple of months ago and it made me wonder about my crap technique). The playing on that version of Spirit sounds quite sloppy in isolation, but it probably contributes to the energy the track has when you hear everything together. It's great hearing recordings that clearly haven't been edited, aligned and quantized to the nth degree - I think recorded music was all the better when the little human imperfections were left in. I used to do Spirit of Radio with a Rush tribute and it is reasonably OK once you get past the intro. Had to stay so tight with the drummer in that first section & there was one segment of the run down into the first unison riff that I couldn't get quite right until I found a video of Alex playing it slowly.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1378743703' post='2204077'] I'm pretty sure he played the Rick all night when I saw them at Wembley on the Signals tour. [/quote] I was at Ingliston, right in front of Alex, crushed against the barrier, with the first few rows getting buckets of water thrown over us to stop us from passing out. I was also more than slightly under the influence of alcohol and had been aboard the Thailand Express...I remember thinking it was a great concert, beyond that, it's all a bit of a haze to be honest (much to my embarrassment now).

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1378722396' post='2203570'] Didn't he use the Steinberger too on Signals? I lose track of his choices in the eighties! [/quote] Mainly Rickenbacker on the album (two tracks with the Jazz). I thought he used the Steinberger on the tour though, but the tourbook says not.

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1377811297' post='2192355'] Yes, that is what I thought as I saw that interview the day before yesterday: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wma2NtQ1CIE[/media] at around 4:50. I didn't know he had used Wals for a bit though. Which is odd as I saw them on the hold your fire tour, and didn't notice. [/quote] Straight from the horse's mouth as it were, but I do think that the mists of time may have clouded his memory about some things. I'm pretty sure he's wrong about Limelight in that clip as: 1) He doesn't actually seem very sure. 2) It goes against what he has previously said about where he used a Rickenbacker on MP. 3) My ears/brain think it sounds like the Jazz. When I was doing the Rush tribute stuff I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to track down what was used on what. Believe it or not, I actually found reference to the Jazz being used on two tracks on Permanent Waves as well. Can't seem to find it now though.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1377682369' post='2190190'] I don't know but arguably they've played Tom Sawyer at every gig since 1981 except the Snakes and Arrows tour. [/quote] They played it on that tour as well (at least they did on the two shows I went to).

I really like Neil's drumming on CA. He didn't spend weeks working out the parts as he has done on most of the more recent albums, where the final drum parts were laid down close to the end of the recording. He just went for what felt right at the time & I think you can hear a bit of spontaneity in his playing (something Rush have lacked for quite a number of years).

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1376780202' post='2179152'] There is complex interaction between the inductance of the pickup and resistance/capacitance of the tone control when it is rolled off nearly all the way, resulting in a bass boost. Easy to demonstrate by turning up your amp loud, play some low notes with the tone open and closed - the room will shake more with it closed! Here's a graph stolen from a Talkbass thread: <snip> [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/simple-question-about-tone-capacitor-975342/"]http://www.talkbass....pacitor-975342/[/url] I happen to like this effect, it sounds great for old school Motown. It looks like I can tame the peak slightly with a bigger capacitor, so I think I'm gonna rewire the useless S1 switch on my P to be a tone control that can switch between two different capacitors! [/quote] Interesting, although it's somewhere quite a bit below 250-400Hz that I'm looking for a bit more oomph. I do also want to keep the top end (yes I want it all!), so don't want to roll off the tone. Anyone got any ideas as to why this problem has only appeared in the last year or so? I genuinely think it was less of a problem when I got the bass. [quote name='Jack' timestamp='1376944452' post='2181415'] I did. It seems however that the OP is very happy with the inherent sound of his bass now that he has his pickup heights sorted. Ps will never be the bassiest basses around (well, not a 'standard' passive Fendery type one anyway) but they are just perfect for pretty much most things. Pleased you're happy jonsmith. [/quote] Happier certainly, but I'm not convinced that it's totally sorted yet. I am going to doublecheck the wiring at the weekend. I feel sure the bass is capable of more.

RickResource would be a good bet.

I've been following Rush for years & remember eagerly anticipating their new albums. I still eagerly await each new release, but I have to say that since Presto every release has indeed been a bit of a disappointment. However that changed for me with Clockwork Angels - I think it's genuinely their best album for years & to be honest it's as good as I could have expected from a band that doesn't really have the hunger they had when they started out - what band does after 40 years? Incidentally, I can remember some fans who thought they'd gone a bit 'Human League' with Signals (seems a bit crazy in hindsight but several people did express views along those lines at the time), so I would say they have divided opinions on their releases for at least 30 years. Besides the inevitable Tom Sawyer, YYZ & Spirit of Radio, I thought the setlist was fairly brave for this tour, delving back into some 80s album tracks that hadn't been played for years. I'd have preferred a bit more 70s material, but I don't think Geddy's voice could cope with most of that anymore. To me the strings are quite clear on the album & using them live wasn't a gimmick. Rush have used real strings on studio albums before and I felt that the strings worked live too (as did the new album in general). Looking forward to the DVD.

Thanks again for the advice everyone - even those who seemed to disbelieve that the problem could exist . I didn't want to roll the tone on the bass back, as to me this just cuts highs, but still leaves the lows and mids the same. I actually hate the sound of all my basses with the tone dialled back and make a point of having everything full up most of the time. I finally got round to lowering the pickups, which seems to have resulted in a more 'balanced' sound, although I've yet to test it in a band setup. Good to hear from you again 4000 - like you I'm still of the opinion that the Ricks have more power in the really low frequencies, but hopefully I have a usable sound from the Precision now. Bear in mind my fretted Wal is strung with Funkmasters, which are almost like guitar strings (I was going through my Geddy Lee in a Rush tribute phase at the time). If you string yours with something normal I'm sure it will sound very nice indeed! Interesting point you raise chris_b, because I hadn't always noticed this problem. The first few gigs I did with the Precision I was going through massive PAs, everything sounded enormous and I could feel the bass on the stage. Even after that, I don't really remember noticing a problem at first. It's been in the past year or so that it's sort of crept up on me.

Not condescending at all, but I can assure you it is lacking in real low end at the moment compared to everything else (including the Jazz). I'll try lowering the pickups as advised & hopefully this will improve things. If not, I'll be back. Thanks for the advice everyone.

I have a P bass (US late 90s I think, all stock except scratch plate) that I bought from someone on here a few years ago. It's nice to play, with a zingy top end which has been great for doing Stranglers tunes & the like. However recently I've noticed that it seems incredibly lacking in real low frequencies compared to my other basses. I mainly use Rickenbackers (sorry everyone, but I love them) with the capacitor that removes bottom end either not present or bypassed. I also use a GL Jazz and a Warwick ProM 5. My fretted Wal also has a thinner tone, but it's strung with RS Funkmasters and is deliberately being used for that particular tone. To be honest, the P normally gets out the house when I need to stop off for a bit on my travels, as the case will fit in the boot alongside my other gear and thus be out of sight. This has been necessary quite a bit over the past few weeks. At rehearsal on Monday, one of the guitarists (correctly) asked for more low end & I had to whack the bass on my TC Electronics RH750 right up (with my Ricks this would have been into serious dub/reggae territory). On Monday I was running through an RS210 cab, but last night I found the same thing when running through an Ampeg 8x10 that normally has everyone's trousers flapping. I'm using the same strings (RS66 Nickels 40-100) on all my basses (except the Wals). So, can anyone suggest how I get more low end from my Precision (preferably without sacrificing its snarly top end)? Different pick ups perhaps? If so, what would you recommend? Thanks.

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1375450650' post='2161584'] So, all in all, I can't understand why I didn't get the gig, given that I'm an even worse bass player than RW. [/quote] According to his book, Guy didn't even get his bass out of its case for his audition, he only sang Run Like Hell.

Most Rush fans have always been unhappy with the sound of this album. It was compressed to pain inducing levels and mastered so hot that most of the transients disappeared. It was so bad that I did my own clipping restoration process on it before I copied it into iTunes for portable listening, which helped a little (but not a lot). Alex Lifeson apparently approved the original mix after listening to it in his car. The band have said afterwards that it didn't sound right and the whole thing was remixed quite some time ago. Good to see it finally coming out. I agree that it would be ideal if I could hand in my old one for a swap, but we all know something like that will never happen. Despite what the marketing guys have told us, many albums have been lousily mastered or remastered for CD (unfortunately).