digitalmetal

Thanks everyone for your help, i still havent got to the bottom of what is wrong, I had new set of strings spare here (A 4 string set of DR High Beam 45, 65, 85, 105's) and my bass is a 5 string, so in my lunch break today i went down to Denmark St and bought a single 130 B string (maybe a 125 would have been better but its all they had and id like my B to be a little less flappy so it made sense). So the 4 higher string have intonated fine but this B string is confusing the hell out of me. In order for it to be anywhere near intonated correctly i had to wind the saddle all the way up tight to the bridge and its still a fraction sharp. Its a 34 inch scale bass and the B string i got was a RotoSound SBL130 whicj i gather is long scale (am i right in thinking a 34" scale is long scale?) All the other saddles are sitting fairly similarly to heach other but this B looks way out of place. If i measure from the nut to the saddle the B is more like 35" than 34" Have i just bought the wrong kind of string or am i missing something else? Also my saddles have V shaped notches in them i presume to accomodate different string sizes should i be filing the saddles out to suit the larger string guage? Heres a pic of how its currently looking

Hi Ive just checked my intonation following this video: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGfbebLI3pw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGfbebLI3pw A[/url]nd found something a bit odd, and am wondering if anyone can shed a little light on whats happening, Im checking my 5 string ESP (Not LTD) Surveyor Bass and when i check the heavy B string and tune the harmonic then pluck the open note with my pick and it goes slightly sharp (just a couple of Cents and then comes to a solid B as the note rings out. So i presume thats ok and in tune. Then if i play the first fret (C) it goes sharp and the comes back to C after a second and this seems to be the case for any of the fretted notes, I play quite fast aggressive metal and im wondering if i should tune slightly flat so that the note i strike is in tune rather that the second after i play the fretted note, or am i just worrying too much? The reason this whole thing has come about is that when i play with my band something doesnt sound quite right, my guitarist insists that his guitar is in tune although im never going to really know for sure as he 's not that approachable to let me see myself. I just want to be 100% sure its not me thats the problem Thanks!

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1104556' date='Jan 26 2011, 11:27 PM']Bankai-Why would taking a DI from your amp defeat the object? Taking it from my amp gives the desk my Stingray tone through a bit of my valve drive without me worrying that if I turn my rig up (obviously not adjusting the pre/gain just my master) half way through a song FOH mix will get ruined like using a mic, Or am I missing something? Ta[/quote] This had been my feeling all along and the thinking behind the original post The obvious thing missing from this setup us is clean DI but is a clean really that important? just for the low end perhaps, I dont know, And this thread is making me begin to care less as everyone obviously has different opinions and i may just carry on with my thoughts of requesting My Di (with my valve distortion - what i consider my sound) along with the clean DI if the soundguy insists on that. I will do what i usually do and take a moment to stand out front during sound check to have a quick listen if it sounds too trebbley i will tell them.

Yes thats what i meant when i said "il just have to be double extreme with my bass, onboard preamp"

[quote name='charic' post='1102184' date='Jan 25 2011, 02:39 PM']Quick slight OT. My amp (RH450) has a good DI out and I don't want it to get Phantom Fried. Is there any kind of safety buffer I could put in between? Something to absorb the phantom power should it be active on the desk.[/quote] Correct me if im wrong someone, but a Transformer blanced DI as opposed to a electronicly balanced DI should isolate you, so perhaps throw a transformer balanced passive DI box between ? *EDIT* Sorry didnt see the RTFM bit

Ok thanks everyone for the input but i think a lot of you are going a little far and taking my original question out of context or misinterpreting what im trying to say. 1) i have never tried (or succeeded to) to piss a soundman off or approached one in a confrontational manner i have ALWAYS gone with whatever they have wanted to do, even if i didnt agree with them i have never told them that, and just done what they said. 2)im not hoping that my sound is perfectly recreated through the PA i know they are different signal paths and will have different sounds. 3)All i want, is for me not to sound like an awful Mark King Tribute player full of pop and twang, i dont want any of that sound (thats not the sound coming from my amp and id like it to go somewhere near to resemble that sound to the crowd). il just have to be double extreme with my bass, onboard preamp. So i think from the sensible answers ive had here i will ask for a DI and Mic on the Cab, Thanks for all of your help !

to be honest i doubt i need to go through the PA in some of the smaller venues as my rig is plenty powerful enough its just that if im in control of the only bass level the venue will hear, i cant be mixed properly with the rest of the band

As i mentioned before my head has transformer balanced DI outs so its pretty isolated from PA mishaps, and if my amp goes down im gonna stop playing anyway so no difference there really.

Dont get me wrong im not expecting an exact replication of how i hear my sound to be out the front for the crowd , just somewhere near, What i heard from the PA that night was a night and day difference to my amp sound. What was coming from the PA was a clan twangy pop funk bass hifi sound (apologies for my crap description but im not so good at axplaining the sound). Where as my sound from my amp is driven distortion blended with a fat low end without any high twang at all. Otherwise i may as well not bother taking my amp rig at all.

[quote name='dan670844' post='1101999' date='Jan 25 2011, 12:39 PM']Alrighty, the sound guy needs a dry signal from you bass usually this is so he can eq the main sound properly to get the main mix right. But the sound guy should always also take a feed from your amp post eq or even a mic'ed cab to colour your sound then he can blend the two together. Then all is well, but most often for the sake of easyness this is overlooked! its a case of insisting that you want it done this way[/quote] Sounds like the right idea, thats exactly what i do when doing a studio mix, wasnt sure about pushing my studio techniques onto a live sound engineer as i know nothing about live sound.

[quote name='bassbloke' post='1101996' date='Jan 25 2011, 12:36 PM']+ 1 Or something similar like a SANSAMP BAss DI[/quote] 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 name='artisan' post='1101985' date='Jan 25 2011, 12:28 PM']stick to your guns mate,the sound eng's job is as you say "to amplify your sound" period. if he thinks tweeking it a tad may improove that sound then he should discuss it with you first,but ultimately it is your sound so the final say is yours. some engineers are just lazy bastards & take the easy option,but unfortunaley for them i'm big enough + agressive enough (only when needs be) to put my point accross effectively . however i do find most to be receptive to good constructive input & very good at their job,but i'd never buy one a pint.[/quote] Thanks, very encouraging !

[quote name='Doctor J' post='1101972' date='Jan 25 2011, 12:20 PM']Fair enough. The guy last night, what did he say about what he did to your sound?[/quote] The guy who did sound for us on our last gig, wasnt interested he just wanted us on and off the stage as fast as possible, i know most of the time that the crowd dont even notice but it makes a massive difference to how you feel and how you play if you know the sound is somewhere near how you would like it. It was making me wince every time i hit any higher strings it was sounding like i was a popping slapping funk player, so i rolled my high end tone right back on my bass' eq which went someway to improving it but trying to sort it mid gig is too late imo and we didnt get given a proper soundcheck because the soundguy started setting up too late, we had been there for a couple of hours waiting. just another one to put down to experience i guess, but i dont want to sound like that ever again - hence my posting here.

[quote name='Doctor J' post='1101958' date='Jan 25 2011, 12:08 PM']There's your problem.[/quote] its not a problem because like i said i[b] DO[/b] go seek them out and explain what we want to them, but ive only ever come across a handful of soundguys who act like they are even remotely interested in what i have to say.

[quote name='Doctor J' post='1101932' date='Jan 25 2011, 11:46 AM']The sound engineer shouldn't be viewed as an enemy, he's there to make your band sound as good as possible. There's nothing extra in it for him for you to sound sh*t either.[/quote] some ive come across frankly couldnt care less, maybe they dont like to music or whatever, i dont know, [quote name='Doctor J' post='1101932' date='Jan 25 2011, 11:46 AM']Did you talk to him, tell him about your tone, about the sound your band is going for or just say nothing, watch him set up in his own way and then complain that he didn't mind read and get the tone in your head via telepathy?[/quote] I usually am the one who has to speak to the sound guy on the bands behalf so yes i usually do seek them out and introduce myself, And as far as telepathy goes, he should be able to hear my sound when i play, no guessing necessary [quote name='Doctor J' post='1101932' date='Jan 25 2011, 11:46 AM']When you enter the venue, seek out the engineer, shake his hand and offer to buy him a beer. If you have a stage plan, even better, you'll make his and your evenings so much easier. You'll be amazed how receptive an engineer can be if you engage with him and if he thinks your band knows what they're doing. If he's the regular house engineer he'll know what works and what doesn't work in that particular room. Between the two of you, you can come to an understanding which benefits you both. It's so very easy. If you just ignore him, it's no wonder that he'll just assume you're another crap band and take as many of the variables (bizarre amp settings you may have - who knows?) out of the equasion. Fighting the work the engineer is trying to do by changing volume levels on stage, moving mics, etc is unbelievably stupid and counterproductive. It's astonishing how many musicians don't reaslise that. Talk to the guy.[/quote] i understand what you say but, it is, at the end of the day the guys job to amplify the bands sound no matter how bizzare it might be (it shouldnt matter if we are playing conch shells and whacking sticks together) and present it to the crowd, he really should come and find out about us and our sound if he cares at all about what he is doing.

Thanks everyone for the rapid responses, i get the general feeling i should do what my gut was telling me and insist on my sound be the one that is heard by the crowd and insist that my amp is DI'd not just the guitar. I dont Feel i should have to but extra gear like DI pedals to double up when i know my sound is how i want it from my amp.

Hi, At every gig ive ever done the sound guy has wanted to DI my bass guitar directly and feed my amp a parallel of the DI box to get my sound to the PA system. Ive always gone along with what they wanted in order to not cause a fuss and presumed they know best etc. Ive never really thought too much about it until my last gig when i could hear the PA quite prominently and noted that it was not anything like "my sound" that i had carefully crafted using the controls on my bass amp. In fact i thought it sounded awful and nothing like i wanted myself or my band to sound like. I have a quite nice amp, an Ampreg SVT-5 Pro that has transformer balanced DI outputs on the back and id like to ask your opinions on me insisting that the DI comes from my amp in future? Now i understand the sound guys motives for simplicity and consistency on his part but if the sound he is putting out to the crowd is nothing like the sound i want (after all punters are coming to hear my band not his interpretation of how my band should sound). Any thoughts ? If it helps at all for my sound i EQ to taste removing any high end popping/twang and add a little gain drive to warm and thicken things up - i play Metal FWIW. Thanks!

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1090769' date='Jan 15 2011, 07:22 PM']It's horses for courses, as usual. I don't have a single bass with a tendency to go out of tune, and I play in a band where the lead instrument is a slide guitar so there's a tuning break (or a guitar change break) before almost every song. I chose the Pitchblack because it was simple in operation, and offered a daisy-chained power supply source (which that rather childish review video didn't mention) which is really handy on my small pedal-board. IME any tuner will perform better on a Low B if you use the 12th fret harmonic rather than simply plucking the string.[/quote] None of my basses wander out of tune either, but i still need to check an tune up before playing in case a machine head had been knocked, or if i have installed new strings, - thats really not the question here at all. Theres nothing not "simple" about the polytunes operation either it works just like a normal tuner, or you can choose to use in poly mode or strobe, you have the choice but you dont have to use it any way you dont want to, best to at least be given the option. Polytune can chain power too, And why settle for using a 12th fret harmonic to tune when a polytune can do an open B ? Fair enough for anyone that already has a tuner and they need a work around, but for anyone looking to buy a new one [u][b]NOTHING[/b][/u] compares, ive tried Korg, Boss, Pertersen, Artec, Fender and more tuners and theres no contest, try it once you wont go back