Doddy

11 minutes ago, peteb said:

 

Edit - also, out of interest, how do you distinguish between E major and C# minor??

Some bandleaders will form a minus sign with a sideways finger on the other other. Generally though, on those sort of gigs it's expected that you'll be familiar with the repertoire ( standards, classic pop tunes, and so on) so the bandleader can point one finger down and the band will know if it's in F or D minor. 

These signals are generally used for a scratch band with no charts or arrangements, when songs are being called on stage.

10 minutes ago, Mykesbass said:

Trouble with this, if you do gig, is that the bass is in the wrong position when you switch to standing.

I think that as long as you don't have your bass in a super low or high position, it shouldn't make much difference really.

18 minutes ago, peteb said:

 I have also heard of band leaders holding up a number of fingers before a song to show the number of sharps or flats and therefore the key (one hand for sharps, the other for flats), but that’s a bit above my pay scale.

Rather than different hands, it's normally fingers up for sharp keys (1 finger= G, 2 fingers=D etc.), and fingers down for flat keys (1 finger=F,  2 fingers=Bb etc.). You don't see it as much anymore, but it's common with old school bandleaders. It's easier to see 4 fingers point up and know it's in E, than to mouth E and have half the band mishear and start in a different key.

I always sit when I'm practicing. I'm not going to stand in one position for a few hours while studying new material, so I want a decent stool. I use a Roc n Soc cycle seat with a backrest. I take it out to long rehearsals and certain gigs too.

Rather than pointing her towards Youtube, I think it would be more beneficial to show her some things yourself, or look for a teacher (obviously online right now).

Early on I'd look at showing her right hand alternate picking, major scales/arpeggios, the notes on the fretboard (up to the 5th fret to start with), and basic reading.  All of that will give her a solid foundation on the instrument, but she should still keep learning songs to keep it fun.

26 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

ok I get that, but shouldn't the input gain be set as high as possible before clipping occurs (some amps like Ashdown have a VU meter for this), then control the volume with the master, it just seems a bit odd to me to do it the other way round, I would have thought it's best to give the preamp the best possible signal, maybe I'm missing something

I'm just going off what I've been recommended. Although I have always been lead to believe that higher master and lower gain will give cleaner headroom than higher gain and lower master. Going off that, I've always set the master relatively high first before turning up the gain.

7 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

what is the difference between having the input gain on full (which I do using a passive P bass) and using the master volume to control loudness , or the other way round?

I'm not technical or anything, but I've always used the master to give me maximum volume, while using the gain to set my level. If I set the gain anywhere near full, I invariably end up clipping the preamp before ever touching the master volume.

9 hours ago, stevie said:

I did a direct comparison between the Retroglide and the RM500 at the last SW Bass Bash. No idea why it should be, but the RM500 had noticeably more punch or kick to it.

Maybe because of the way the volume controls work, which @BassBunny mentioned earlier?  Or maybe because of the different eq? 

All I know is I've been using the Retroglide solidly for a few years now, and I never have to crank the volume too much. It's loud.

I mainly use a preamp pedal with my passive basses to give me some extra tone shaping. The Sadowsky preamp/di is my favourite for this- It just makes my Fenders sound better.

I don't usually use one with active instruments  but I don't like the slap sound on one of my favourite basses, so I'll run a preamp to give me the sound I want.

I run my amp flat and only use the graphic eq to notch out certain frequencies depending on the room, so I just use preamp pedals for additional tone shaping if necessary.

I put a Bartolini HR 4.5 AP in my '98 Streamer LX after the stock MEC preamp died. I kept the stock pickups though.

Sometimes Bartolinis can sound really smooth but with the MEC pickups it still has that Warwick sound, only with more tonal flexability.

7 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

about the retroglide 800  (there's one on ebay for £160) that said it was underpowered, yet the RM 800 seems to be considered very loud

I never understood why people thought that because, as far as I'm aware, the RM800 and Retroglide 800 used the exact same power anp.

£160 for a Retroglide is a total bargain.

8 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

The MXR ones don’t; the digital ones are also solid really low down. 

Whenever I've played the MXR ones they've always started to glitch in the lower register, like most analogue octaves do.

I agree that digital ones are solid low down, which is why I suggested them for a cleaner sound.  I, personally, don't like the sound of them as much.

Just be aware that most expression pedals require a TRS cable, whereas Line 6 pedals generally use a standard TS connector (At least all the older pedals did, so I'm assuming that the Helix is the same), so you need to get a pedal that is compatible. Some pedals like the DOD expression pedal have a switch that you can swap between the TS and TRS, but otherwise you need to get the right one. I bought a Line 6 Expression pedal for about £30, used. It works great with my M5, but won't work properly with other pedals because of the connection.

I guess it depends what kind of octave sound you are after. If you want that classic sound that's used in songs like 'Earth Song' or Sledgehammer', you'll want something based on a Boss OC2. Depending on your budget, I'd look at pedals like the Valeton OC10, Boss OC5 (or a used OC2), MXR Vintage Bass Octave,or the 3 Leaf Audio Octabvre. The EBS Octabass is really nice, but has a smoother sound (i think). If you want something that will just drop your signal an octave a bit more cleanly, then maybe look at a digital octave like the TC Electronic Sub n Up, or the EHX Pog or even the Digitech Whammy Ricochet.

Be aware that a lot of octave pedals will start to glitch at around a low A, so you may end up having to play an octave higher to compensate.

Your amp will probably be fine. Any decent quality amp should be able to handle an octave pedal.

2 hours ago, TJ1 said:

It sounds like a generic wood composite - not from an actual tree. 

My Sterling SB14 is made of Basswood - it's a decent bass but for a £2000 plus I might expect something like Alder.

 

I doubt that the basswood in a budget instrument will be the same quality as what is used in a 2 grand one. Apparently, cheaper basswood is heavier and doesn't sound as good as the lighter, and more expensive, cuts. A lot of high end makers offer basswood models. There is nothing wrong with it.

Why did Fender start using alder in the first place?   Because it was cheaper than ash.

27 minutes ago, sblueplanet said:

What would the respective scale lengths in this instance be for 1/2 and/or 1/4 size?

Generally around 38" for 1/2 size, and around 34.5" for 1/4 size. It could vary a bit either way, but they are normally around that size.

1/2 sizes are generally around about 65" in total, and 1/4 size is around 61". This one is in the middle, but I would think that it would be a slightly shorter 1/2 size, than a slightly longer 1/4, but I could be wrong.

Of course, the best thing would to be to ask for the scale length, nut to bridge. That's the only way to really know the answer.

33 minutes ago, philparker said:

Looking at this chart, I'm not sure why it's written in B minor. Writing it in A/ F#minor would fit better with the chords, and they wouldn't need to keep writing the G#  in the melody as accidentals.

I've always looked at Get Lucky as being a iv VI i II in F#minor

Personally, I wouldn't think about only keeping the instrument for a few months, and just buy some decent strings-they will probably make the bass sound and feel better.

I'd get a set of Spirocores and a set up if necessary, and enjoy the bass.

29 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Anyone have any experience with this? 

I haven't got that one, but I do have the the original Envelope Phaser EP-1. The filter side is based off a Mutron and the phaser is based on a Univibe.  I think it sounds great, but I don't take it out much because its huge.  If the Bass Envelope Phaser is anywhere near the original it'll sound great, although with a lot less control.

10 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

For the FI you can get away with never touching a computer (many users do exactly this) as it has 99 onboard sounds and all are tweakable from the pedal panel. 

That's cool then. I thought it only had a few presets, like the Deep Impact. 

Now to find one at a decent price.

1 minute ago, Quatschmacher said:

The solution to that is to just download patches you like and/or just adjust them from the pedal panel (9 parameters each with 9 possible coarse values in the case of the FI). There’s loads of mileage right there. You could easily get by without ever having to do any tweaking other than setting input level and output volume on the top panel. 

It still involves hooking it up to a computer or app though. I like to just turn knobs and find sounds that way. I know they sound great, but I don't particularly enjoy working with computers. I've only just recently bought a DAW setup because I was missing out on some work. 🤔

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Do you have the Pigtronix as well? It seemed to get mixed reviews and never really took off in the way the FI, C4 and SY-1 pedals did.

Yeah I've got the Pigtronix. I really like it - it's got a ton of cool sounds in it.

I think a lot people like the amount of editing available in pedals like the C4 or Future Impact but that's what kind of puts me off buying them, even though they sound great.

5 hours ago, Al Krow said:

That's a good shout.

Must admit I was singularly disappointed with the Digitech Dirty Robot - very very limited range of sounds and the ones it could do weren't particularly usable.

I don't mind the Dirty Robot and actually preferred it to their Bass Synth Wah that everyone seems to love. I found it more versatile. It's not as good as the Pigtronix though. I'm interested to try out the Subdecay to see how it compares.

16 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Looks interesting. Gets compared quite a lot to the Boss SY-1 in this review:

I've not tried the Boss, but to me it sounds like it's in a similar vein to the Pigtronix Mothership 2, or the Digitech Dirty Robot.

It sounds cool. I like those type of synth pedals.