uk_lefty

Because in it's most simple form having it all on one single unit removes several points of failure, and allows me to experiment with effects I might not stick with or might not want to buy. Over time I will do presets, etc. but from the plug n play perspective it's a good halfway (not halfway as such but a few steps towards maybe) house between the all powerful mega FX units and loads of separates.

It's perfectly usable... All you need to do is turn the relevant knob to what effect you want then step on a button to engage it, tweak from there.

More updates... I'm getting used to this now. I still haven't programmed any presets of my own and probably should. Good points: the sheer simplicity and having physical knobs and written descriptions is good for me. I can really quickly tweak my effect type, e.g. from one overdrive sound to another, in between songs. Using the foot pedals for on/ off for particular effects is great. It's easy to see on stage, simple to use, and sounds very good. I've not yet used it for DI out though, still using in front of a physical amp. I have some nice amps so I'm not using the amp SIM. I might be brave at my next gig and go DI from the pedal just to see what happens. Combining fuzz and chorus makes a nice synth sound too. Bad points: it's so easy to roll the knobs off the desired setting when lifting this in and out the Roland backpack. If the unit is off this doesn't change anything, so you can power on and still have the same settings as when you switched off, but as soon as you start disengaging and re-engaging effects the settings change to the knob setting. Without using presets I just have to remember some things such as the level value for the distortion bank needs to be at 33. This is no big hardship, really. I find the Bluetooth connection to my phone really hit and miss. I managed to change some settings but it's often unreliable and I don't have the patience for it. So far, when rehearsing or gigging, the sound quality has very little perceptible difference to my individual effects. No more mini jacks and 9v cables and interference noises is a huge bonus. I think for the amount of faff there is with individual pedals it's just not worth it. While I could enjoy the more complex digital effects if I had the time on my life to program and explore them, I think I'm happy with the ME90-B as a swiss army knife gigging tool.

Good to hear! I think it would be a real miss if this is great for guitar but not so great for bass. People who play both and want a flexible, portable rig could be disappointed. I liked it when you said you could use one mains plug for the cab and "head" but then disappointed when the connection is via the headphones mini jack, that just doesn't scream "gig capable" to me. Hope Andertons get you sorted quickly

Posting to Northern Ireland would be exactly the same as posting to England, Scotland or Wales. I don't see the issue from the seller's perspective.

When using an electric kit our drummer wanted the sub next to him on stage otherwise the sound and visual just didn't line up right. Once he pointed it out I couldn't get away from the drum sound not coming from the actual drums. With a mic'd acoustic kit we have it out front then it's not flooding the stage with low end.

BARTOLINI

Good evening. My band wants to do an ambitious medley. We have a few medley type bits in our set but as we need to specialise more in a particular era we want to do one big medley arrangement to cram in some songs with recognisable parts but that are a bit too weak to play all the way through. In order to get us a rehearsal reference point I want to take sections of various songs and make them into one track. In my head I know which bits of which songs. But I don't know technically how to do this without a double tape deck! In the MP3 streaming world I'm a bit lost. Any help or advice is gratefully received. Thank you!

My parents had quite a few of these albums and I spent many summers before being old enough to get a part time job listening through them and thinking "this is not quite right!" Got me searching out original versions by some decent bands though.

I would try asking some of the big bass shops what they would pay you for it in cash and what they would want to price it for on a commission sale. Then you might get pleasantly surprised and you can decide whether you sell through them or privately.

Guitarist in my band has two of the Tom DeLonge (the guitarist in Blink 182 to save you a trip to Google) signature guitars and they are absolutely lovely. He couldn't decide which colour so went for two of them, which is great for his local music shop. They are fantastic instruments for the price point and something really different for Fender. So there is hope in the Hoppus bass. People who grew up on Blink-182 and have the cash to treat themselves may well buy one or two of these. And there's actually a little thought in it with the pickup orientation and position, which is better than just churning out another p or j and calling it a signature because it's in a slightly different colour or some other factor that doesn't affect sound.

A rope light is relatively cheap and easy to use. People tend to not want to step over one of those. One of the guitarists uses in-ears and he has emptied a broken wedge monitor to make some kind of case to carry stuff to gigs and use as an "idiot barrier" on stage. There's one venue we play, the Crooked Crow Bar in Leighton Buzzard, where the security staff are very quick to stop people trying to put drinks, coats or bags down on the stage, they are awesome. It does not happen anywhere else that I've played, sadly.

If they weren't lightweight I don't think I'd do it. I would love to try a decent 2x12 that's portable and can handle 600w plus but absolutely no plans to change anything now unless something breaks.

I think that's it... We can all GAS after this and that hoping that spending just a little more helps us get the exact sound we are after... Or we can get as close as we can with the gear we have/ can afford and concentrate on giving the audience a good time.

I play pop and indie covers from the 2000's in my band, which I guess is what counts. I've tried 15s and 2x10s but for me it's two 15s. I play fingers or pick, often it will depend on what mood I'm in or what bass I'm playing rather than anything else. I will use overdrive, distortion, fuzz, clean... Two 15s is just my preference. If I could try anything I'd like to have a go with a 4x10, if weight were no issue then a couple of Trace Elliott 18s could be fun... But for me there's a more rounded and deeper sound from a 15, the focus of a 10 is just something I don't like. I used to have the Ashdown RM 2x10 and 1x15 at the same time and I didn't like them together, it did give me the opportunity to compare them. The 15 was always my preference. So I now run an ABM600 through two ABM NEO 15s. I've got a Fender Bassman TV 12 which has a 12" speaker and that sounds special, bit that's probably more down to the valve preamp. Perhaps the most sensible cab combo for me would be a couple of 12s if I could run a 600w head through them.

Well, she can't say "f@*& it, they offered me loads of cash and a massive boost to promo and I said HELL YEAH here's my sort code and account number!" It is a load of twaddle but it's probably been written by some marketing bloke in his 40's trying to behave like a teenager. It looks and sounds like a very cool bass. I'd love to have a go on one with that double bridge pup and a powerful active system. I love the colour too. I can "see" the electronics in that being used across a wide variety of genres. Fair play to everyone involved, apart from the dodgy "inspirational words" stuff which sounds like the guff X factor contestants used to be forced to say on camera.

I had the actual DG and it was so incredibly flexible, only sold it as I went back to multi FX. Try the clone version, it's a cheap way of learning what you like/ what plays nicely with the rest of your set up.

First bass, aged 15: Tanglewood Nevada, a p bass copy in sunburst. So glad I went for an actual lefty bass instead of getting a right hander and holding it upside down. Second bass: listening to Pearl Jam really opened up my ears to fretless in a rock scenario. I got a fiver string fretless for my 18th, a Kramer Striker, and I still have it to this day, and it gets at least one gig per year. It was a toss up between this and a Steinberger Spirit "cricket bat". Again, I think I made the right choice. If I got a call to play on a recording this bass would come with me. I know it better than any other. First high quality bass: Warwick Streamer LX. This actually knocked my confidence because it just didn't really come alive for me. But, I played a mexican jazz in a shop and that did so I learned that it's not just about how much you spend. Best high quality bass: Musician Stingray (US made, three band EQ) bought late 2018 to celebrate a decent tax rebate and a new job. It's still my "number 1" for playing live though I rotate it with others. The punchy attack and high end sizzle just lend themselves to most of what I have done in bands since I bought it. It also reacts very well to being played with a pick. There's been many others: a cheap six string, a Washburn Status, a Hohner headless cricket bat, an Aria Pro SB, Fender jazzes, a precision or two, a Harley Benton jazz, Epiphone Jack Casady... Some still with me, some not. They're great to have and to use, but they're not the ones I'd save from a burning building.

. Pretty sure I'm using ACS Pro17s. Have had them trouble free for at least three years. The options with them are great, mine are bright orange and have my name on in case I drop them. The singer in an old band was struggling with severe tinnitus from years of playing in loud bands and I just thought "I don't want to be like that". In my first few sessions with them I felt a bit like I was cut off from everyone else but I got over it very quickly and wear them while watching live bands and in noisy public places. They're also great for kids parties!

Jeez, they don't have to give anything away to anyone. The tour still has to be viable, the fact they are giving money away to anyone should be applauded. Why look to pick holes in it?

Maybe I was just lucky but my B stock Sire V7 from them was faultless, perfectly set up, looked like it had never been touched. I'm pretty sure I've had quite a few B stock items from there over the years and not once had an issue.

Thanks everyone. I used cobalt flats before and something about them just didn't work for me. I just started using a Boss ME90-B so might just get under the skin of that to find the right pre for each bass.

So, I've got a Fender player P bass. It sounds perfect with Ernie Ball flats being played through a valve amp with the gain set nice and high. I don't always have this luxury though and sometimes I want a bit more bite from it. Example: I played a festival last weekend and had v little time to set up using unfamiliar kit, the sound was very woolly. Here's my thoughts on options, grateful for any advice: Put round-wounds on it Add a j bridge pickup Add a p pickup at the bridge Add one of those fender "double jazz" things at the bridge Save up and get a Fender Aerodyne jazz when one comes available at the right price Stop whining, it's a p bass doing it's thing And here's some of the complications... I've never got on with PJ basses. I have a jazz bass and a Stingray already so why butcher the P? I could buy a Harley Benton PJ to see if I get on with it for just a fraction more than the cost of the pickups... Saving up for an Aerodyne isn't possible right now as I just moved house and tradesmen seem to think everything needs to cost £5000+

It's all gone a bit silly... In size order: SWR Working Pro 10. Great little wedge combo, doubles up as an onstage monitor. Top quality amp, only 100 watt output though. Decent for gigs giving a quality signal to FOH and surprisingly audible over a loud drummer. Fender Bassman TV 12. A recent purchase, valve combo in yellow tweed. Really nice traditional sounding amp. Has enough about it to be my onstage amp for festivals with decent monitoring. 150w output. Sounds delicious with the gain maxed. Bought after the Marshall head this summer just kind of "because". It has had a few gigs this summer though! Marshall DBS 7200 head. Blendable solid state and/ or valve pre amp. Phenomenal sound. 200w output but peaks at 2000w. Bought as a "spare" but has already seen a few gigs running my Ashdown cabs. Bought this summer because I really wanted one in the 90s but couldn't afford it. Ashdown ABM600 Evo IV head and 2x Ashdown ABM Neo 15" cabs. The dogs danglers. Highly versatile amp with more power than you could ever need. Really, I don't need any of the others. I like having a practice amp and some different stuff to pique my interest every now and then though. This sees the majority of my gigs.