paul_c2

A 10 string bass.

has all the info. And is an interesting watch too.

Ummmm no its not.....Ab to B (natural) is 3 semitones.

There must be different models, the ones I find on a normal search (for "Nord Lead") and completed listings shows £374-900, and a broken one went for £276.

There's the potential of saving an awful lot of time here......

Of course, I don't know what your PC is like but I'd have thought the average PC speakers, or even reasonably good ones, won't do a bass guitar justice. The same could be said of a really small practice amp however. I'd recommend a known-brand practice amp of around 30 watts. And I'd initially try it with whatever computer speakers you have now playing the music on the computer; and the bass just through the amp. If the amp overwhelms the computer speakers, then maybe link them up so the computer also plays through the amp (not the bass through the computer).

It would make sense to use a (practice) amp with a bass guitar, rather than routing it through the computer.

Thanks - I was watching that one closely (and in fact bid on it too) but it went at £245 which is high compared to many of the others and completed listings. Since I'm in no hurry I'll try other eBay auctions until I win one.

I nearly tried one but someone had nicked the power supply in the shop.

I'm not too worried about drum machine or "emulating" real instrument sounds, obviously its hard to describe but I'm after a good variety of unmistakably synthesised tones but which are usable. I'll have to think over whether I really need 3 octaves, or just want it, since there's a number of 2 octave machines also.

Went to look at a Novation Ultranova today, amongst others. Was also shown the Moog Sub Phatty - only 16 patch memories and 2 octave keyboard; and a Roland synth, I think it was the JD-Xi). I can see myself 90% of the time using it for just bass stuff, but also I occasionally arrange music, so for that, more octaves and polyphony is really handy. So at least now, I know the features I'm seeking: 3+ octaves, full size keys, store/retrieve patches, polyphony. They're still very confusing (to me) but in the 10-15 mins or so I tried it, I was able to at least get past the total bewilderment and random button-pressing, and actually find the buttons and controls to some basic features I half-understood.

I'm thinking more like £200....you can pick up eg the Ultranova up at that price secondhand.

Looks good but unfortunately too expensive, I can't find any secondhand ones out there.

I am thinking about getting into synths, mainly as a supplement and variety to bass playing. Its a new world to me! I don't want to spend too much but obviously I don't want to end up with a toy, or restricted features, etc. So, here's some really basic questions: - Everyone seems to be into analogue synth, is it better to start here? I note that there's the Novation Ultranova which is digital, but "models" the synth sounds in the way an analogue one would do - which seems to make sense. I am guessing it can still sound good, etc - Some of the cheaper ones have a 2 octave keyboard, I am guessing this would end up being a restriction pretty soon. I know I'd mainly be using it for bass stuff but....all the same....I can see it being a restriction (so Novation Bass Station II and Korg Monologue are out) - And for me, I can see myself putting it in a live situation, so for me some way of saving and recalling synth sounds (or the presets, if I'm happy with them) is essential. I think a few of the cheaper ones don't have this facility? - I see you can get one without a keyboard (pretty useless for me; and if I added a keyboard its another thing to lug round and have a power supply for - but if I had other keyboards....can see how you'd use it there instead), so I need a keyboard, and I'd prefer full size (so Mininova and Korg Monologue are out). Any decent recommendations? So far, the Novation Ultranova appeals and seems to fit the bill?

If that's the deal, then I'd want an extra £10!!!! Okay, £5

Maybe the right thing to do, would be to ensure that its made clear at the time of booking (presumably with a fee) if the deal includes/excludes a proper buffet/meal (or maybe sandwiches etc). I've been on jobs where buffet is included; and where sandwiches were provided instead, but I've always know beforehand.

I don't normally get told by someone else how to tune my instrument. There is a perfectly serviceable Ab at the 4th fret of the E string.

Hmmmmm......it does what it says on the tin. But the synth sounds are a bit too extreme, I was looking for something milder, or more subtle. So its pretty unusable on the bass. It has a bit of control over the synth sounds, but not enough to achieve a decent sound. So its going back. I tried it with electric guitar too, it makes more sense as a "special effect" for this, but its still a bit of a novelty sound instead of something which just alters the tone to add a bit of variety. Not really sure what next to do...I don't normally "do" effects, but I thought I'd like this kind of thing and also be able to make a practical use for it. In reality, there seems to be a couple of "basic" synth pedals, for example this one, the Bass Synth Wah, the Boss Bass Synth; but to get anything useful then there's a big gap between the £100 pedals and the Future Impact (realistically, none in the UK so after import tax, ~£500). I don't really want to go down the "rabbithole" of actually buying a keyboard synth, which is probably a cheaper and more sensible way of achieving this kind of variation in sound (and I'd prefer to just play the bass, rather than need to carry another instrument around + stand + inevitably an ABY box too). I know its only indirectly related but maybe I'm better off trying out a Boss GT1B multi-effects, but then getting into the details of its settings is another rabbithole.......but if it were set up properly, much more manageable and useful live (and I could probably ditch the separate tuner, chorus, compression and EQ pedals I have already....saving a bit of space and complexity etc).

From themselves, possibly???? In all seriousness, its probably something to do with funding - if its recognised and protected, then smaller/amateur groups might be able to link to that and gain grant funding, or something like that?

I've played two - one of which I now own. I have also briefly played USA and Mexican ones, amongst others. Probably not as much as some members on here, who own both USA and Japanese so could properly compare; but in my own limited experience, a Japanese Fender could "do it" just as well as a new USA model. I agree about SOME of the prices - if you restrict yourself to already imported-to-the-UK examples. But if you take a chance buying an unseen/unplayed bass eg on www.reverb.com (as I did) you could save a lot of money on the UK-located instrument prices. I had a quick look on Reverb and they start from under £400. Figure on ~£100 for delivery and ~£100+ for import duty. So its still <£600.

No, I just choose some - unlike the bass, on the French Horn it actually takes a considerable skill/effort to play what you can play in one key, up a tone or so. So if I'm feeling good I'll just do higher and higher scales of the same; then if I'm flunking stuff I'll go lower. Also its worth mentioning, although I don't expect many will "get" this - horn players don't necessarily think in actual proper pitch of notes. Instead of thinking "If I press the 2nd valve, I'll play B-D#-F#-B ie in B major, they'll think "I'll press the 2nd valve and go from horn in F to horn in E, then play C-E-G-C"; because historically (and its still true and still you come across it a lot in music) that's what the horn USED to do before it had valves, and the harmonics achieved that way aren't quite 12TET but in fact sound more natural, so you'd often strive to see the patterns and minimise valve fingering some of the time (and at other times, deliberately put in an alternate fingering to 'cheat' it and help with a difficult slur). Its hard, but worth achieving, situations where the lips and only the lips are doing the changes, not the fingers. So its what is practised. Also it helps pitching in the keys you enter - pitching is an absolute beach on the French Horn and if you did it, as well as all the other technical issues it WILL DEFINITELY improve your ear training because if you don't, or can't develop good pitching on the horn you basically may as well not even bother trying to play it at all, it would sound so bad.

Not on the bass......all told, scales are actually quite boring so I don't do them, instead if I practice at home I will do a quick warm up then actually practice pieces (if there's stuff I need to work on) or sight reading if there isn't. My warm up is a daft little exercise where I basically do 1-3-2-4 on the E, then A, D G strings, then go up a fret and do it backwards (4-2-3-1 on G, D, A, E strings). I start on around 5th or 7th fret then gradually work down to 1st fret. I don't even plug the bass in, and if I do the volume is down (there is no value in hearing it - its to warm my fingers up). Then also I do "Subway" to warm up as something a bit more musical. But that's about it. On the French Horn I'm much more disciplined on scales and stuff like that - a ton of scales, arpeggios, then lip slur stuff, then pieces I'm working on etc.

Are you looking for someone to say "yeah just go ahead and buy it!"? I'm afraid I'm not that person - not because I dislike USA Fenders, but because I don't really "do" GAS - well at least I hope not. Especially with 2nd, or 3rd or whatever basses (I have a bunch of pedals and amps - but for a good purpose). For me, I have one bass which does the job, and is good enough (and produces enough variety of tone) that it covers all the bases (excuse the pun) I need. Yeah sure, if I were a squillionaire I'd buy more stuff with impunity, or I'd just cruise around the shops all day and pick up needless stuff on a whim. I guess you had already decided you had some spare cash and wanted something, just didn't know what....otherwise why would you have even gone to the music shop? To socialise? The only crumb of actual bass-based advice I can give is....before you buy a new USA bass, have you considered a Japanese Fender?

I suspect he is marketing/selling the kits elsewhere, but lists then directs his customers to complete the transaction on eBay, presumably because it offers some kind of advantage? I'd have thought doing a normal listing, with pics and a description, would be better marketing given he's already paid the same amount for the listing fee. Mind you, he won't get many "not as described" claims!

I don't recognise being able to play/do two things at once as a specific talent - why not just get more people in, to play the individual instruments, like what almost all other groups do? I listened to it without watching - it was perfectly acceptable but a little bland for me. IMHO, of course.