JapanAxe

I've had my D-Roc around 18 months now and its green sparkle finish has made it the obvious candidate for the Glam covers project that I'm involved with. I've been happy with the sounds available from the 3 pickups but I can't help thinking it might be nice to have other options. Here's the thing: The NG2 has 2 pickups and 4 sounds - bridge, bridge/middle (parallel), middle, and a 'fat sound' (bridge/middle, series). The NG3 has 3 pickups and 4 sounds - bridge, bridge/middle*, bridge/neck*, neck. (*It's not clear to me whether these are series or parallel connections.) The D-Roc has 3 pickups and 4 sounds - bridge, bridge/middle (parallel), middle, and a 'fat sound' (bridge/middle parallel, in series with neck); so an extra pickup but no extra sounds. Also you can't solo the neck pickup. I'm not the only one to have thought along these lines, as there are 6-way switches available at Fret Nation and Bass Direct. Unfortunately they are too big to fit within the D-Roc's shallow body. I started looking into this a bit further. The FD-3n pickups are humbuckers. The D-Roc's bridge and middle pickups each have series-wound coils, whereas the neck pickup has parallel-wound coils. Consequently, just wiring them up in different configurations might not give the expected results. I found a YouTube video of a guy who simply swapped the positions of his D-Roc's neck and middle pickups, without disturbing any solder joints or other electrical connections. This gives him: bridge, bridge/neck (parallel), neck, and a 'fat'; sound (bridge/neck parallel, in series with middle). It seems he never got round to posting a video demo of the sounds, but as this is completely reversible I intend to try it. If I like the new sounds then my plan would be to wire the neck pickup for series coils and install a Schaller 4-pole 5-way rotary which I could wire up to give (for example): bridge, bridge/middle (parallel), bridge/middle (series) [fat], bridge/neck (parallel), neck. While I'm in there I might fit a 100nF tone cap. If I don't like the new sounds I can just put it back to how it was. Has anyone else been down this rabbit hole? I never had this with my Precisions! Obviously I will report on my findings...

I have options: (1) DIY Ampeg B15 clone into BF One 10; (2) Two Notes Torpedo CAB into my studio monitors; or (3) Origin Effects Cali76 Compact & ‘64 Black Panel into studio monitors. I can report that none of the above sound terrible!

I once had a sound guy mic up my BF Super Twin (in addition to taking a DI feed) because he liked the sound so much.

The saw wave synth thing makes sense as you're adding a load of harmonics - kinda like distortion, only different.

By way of an update I have replaced the Radial DI with a Fender Micro DI (or Mooer clone, I have both). It has a switchable 4x12 simulator which I use on a case-by-case basis depending on what sounds best with the particular bass I’m using at the time. Only the compressor in the photo above. What effects are you planning to use? I can’t see modulation or dynamics effects being a problem but I have had issues with drives into cab sims on skinny-string guitar.

Interesting! I’ve had my Super Twin for a few years now but having fallen in love with the sweet vintage sound of my One 10, I have a serious hankering after a Three 10.

Mainly fun pub gig thanks to the cheerful audience. Once again I had to rectify the PA settings to stop every bass note blooming and booming in the room *sigh*. One of the guitarists is prone to reading stuff on the Internet and adopting it as gospel without actually checking that it sounds good. For a while he was in the habit of having his amp ‘backwards’ for a better spread of sound. That can work if you have a closed-back cab and a reasonable area of solid rear wall to point it at, but he has an open-back combo which is often placed well away from any wall or in front of soft furnishings! During last night’s first set I noticed that his guitar sound was much more honky and middly than usual. Turned out he had read that Greg Koch turns mids and presence right up, treble and bass right down, so he had done the same on his Quilter, which is his spare but for some reason he was using through his valve combo speaker. Although it’s true that a guitar sound that works in a mix may sound unpleasant when soloed, his sounded atrocious in the live mix. I was polite enough to call it ‘odd’ rather than ‘bad’, but at the end of the day I am a dep in the band and I can only keep my own side of the street clean.

Rockin’ and rollin’ tonight with Western Rock at the Market Inn, Yatton BS49 4AL, 8.30 start. First time out for my recently acquired Jule Monique 700 head. Mmmm…

Although having experienced the delightful vintage-y tone of the One 10, I do hanker after a Three 10, which is almost exactly the same size and shape as the Super Twin.

My ‘one cab to rule them all’ is a Barefaced Super Twin.

'Are you a fan of the FANNED FRET BASS?' Yes. Yes I am. Check out my sig. Adjustment time for me was measured in seconds, whereas a guitarist I worked with couldn't stop staring at my fretboard like he was failing to make sense of it. I'm now on my 2nd and 3rd Dingwall. The main benefits to me are interlinked - the longer scale lengths of the lower strings even out tone across the strings, and they give a tighter feel and punchier sound.

Bass brother from another mother!

I have NEVER played a gig without making at least a few mistakes. On occasions I have made some massive clangers. Sometimes the band noticed. The audience rarely (if ever) did.

I’ve had a look but I have nothing that matches that shape or pin pattern

I’ll check my parts stash.

I've ended up with 3 gigging amp heads that all have a full valve pre-amp coupled to a solid state power section. And my practice amp head is an all-valve B15-derived design. They're all in my signature...

I've been in touch with Jule about sourcing a couple of front panel screws and he was very quick to come back with the information I needed. Had the amp out this morning, playing along to a CD on my '73 P - so nice!

That wouldn’t necessarily work for me. I might need my 5-string for certain songs but if I then have to slap (quite badly) I’ll need a 4-string because I can’t do it cleanly on my 5. That’s very much a me problem!

Reason for owning a 5-string: Uptown Funk. Reasons for still mainly playing 4-string: (1) Ease (2) Comfort (3) Enjoyment

After being a busy gigging bunny throughout the year, I now find myself with a rather quiet December. I'm looking for paid dep gigs in covers bands - functions, clubs, pubs. I'm based in Swindon (Wiltshire) so realistically it will be M4 corridor and South coast to Birmingham, but I can travel further afield for the right gig. I play to a good standard, I am comfortable in most styles (particularly Pop, Soul, Rock, Indie, Country), I can sight-read musical notation, I'm a fast learner, and I have a good ear. I have excellent gear and reliable transport, and I'm equipped to go direct-to-PA and use IEMs if required (I have my own licensed setup). If you're stuck for a bass player, drop me a line. https://guitarist4hire.wixsite.com/graeme-scott

Yes, had it a week and only just got round to posting, but I have reasons... I first tried a Monique 9 years ago when I was buying my Demeter head from Bass Gear (I miss that place, even if my wallet doesn't). Barrie (@molan) had one there (might have been Dave Swift's), a birdcage-style preamp with a separate 700W Class D power amp. I never really fancied that form factor but to my ears it was the one amp that sounded even better than the Demeter. The Sensitivity knob is basically a more/better control - the higher you turn it, the richer the harmonic content. They didn't have one in stock, and it would have cost a fair chunk more than I was paying for the Demeter, but always hoped I might be able to get one some time. That time was last week after a used example of the rack version came up on here. I've spent some time with it, trying it through my BF One 10, BF Super Twin, and using the preamp for recording. My conclusion is that it's bloody lovely, and just as good as I remembered. I came home today after a rather disappointing day out, plugged my NG2 into the rig you see below, and played along to a Bowie compilation - instant happy place. You'll see that there are two power switches. The first (with big blue jewel light) is for the valve preamp. This runs two 6SL7 valves (like an old Ampeg B15) and a 12A_7 (lettering had worn off). The valve on the left is an EZ81 rectifier. The second switch (with small blue LED) is for the Hypex 700W Class D module. So for recording, just switch on the preamp - perfect. The head came housed in a wooden sleeve with two handles on the top. That wasn't going to work for me so I removed them and installed one on the left 'cheek' of the sleeve and fitted four rubber feet on the right to allow it to be stood on its end. The previous owner is a pro player and has had plenty of use out of the amp so there were a few scuffs to the Tolex, which I have disguised with a black paint pen. It now looks jolly smart, and I'm finding I can live with the tiny overhang above the Super Twin! Sadly I have all lead guitar gigs for the rest of the year, so unless I get some dep jobs in I'll have to wait till mid January to use this in anger. I've now got 'too many' bass heads again (recently bough a Fender TB600) but screw it, I'm keeping them all!

Mainly passive. I set the amp to sound ‘good’ to me, with as much top end as I’ll need when the bass’s tone control is at maximum, and tweak it on my bass from song to song (if needed). I’ve become accustomed to the way a passive bass responds to tone control adjustments. 1 of my 4 basses is active and I do enjoy what that brings, but I can bypass the preamp with a switch if there’s ever a problem.

TLDR: Didn't happen. The venue (theatre in Berkshire) has its own PA and generally uses the same tech to run the system. He wasn't available and wih 3 weeks to go the venue had done nothing to arrange a suitable tech, so BL gave them details of a guy we've used before who is excellent (toured with big name bands and now has his own PA business) and they contracted him to run the PA. We arrived at the agreed time but the venue hadn't even built the stage, so we had to wait for them to do this before we could start setting up kit and running mics. After much swapping of mics and cables it became apparent that the some channels of the digital stage box did not work at all, and some were transposed. A second desk was dug out but that didn't fix the problem. By 7pm we still didn't have enough working channels, let alone any monitors set up, and the venue made the decision to cancel. The problem seems to have been some weird configuration issue that wasn't accessible from the mixer's menus. This was not the only problem we have had with the venue. They are generally poor at responding to emails and at publicising their events. Afterwards we were talking to another musician whose band plays there, and they said they brought their own PA rather than use the venue's kit. At least they paid us, as well as refunding all those who had bought tickets. The manager reminds me of Clive, the campsite manager from Hi-De-Hi - well-spoken but ineffectual. BL told him exactly what he thought. I don't expect we'll be going back there.