thisnameistaken

If it's a neck with more depth you're after: Warwick. I've got quite long fingers but small hands, and they're really comfortable for me. Sorry I can't give you a resale price on your Ibanez, I've never had one.

I like Ashdown kit. Does the job for a decent price. I find their EQ controls to be pointlessly convoluted though - either sliders or knobs please, not both all mixed together! I was using an Ashdown 410 until recently, but the weight eventually put me off. I'm not as young as I was!

[quote name='Dan_Nailed' post='432574' date='Mar 12 2009, 03:53 PM']Solid advice I guess but once again skips the most important factor - getting the gig in the first place is a combination of luck and knowing the right people, NOT hard work or application![/quote] Never underestimate the importance of sounding generic. That dude saying he wants players who have something unique is funny, immediately followed by a classic "LA Session"-sounding track.

Looks like it came out of the Fender factory circa 1995.

[quote name='BTGAndy' post='432149' date='Mar 12 2009, 09:07 AM']I suppose you could always get your keys or guitar player to provide the carrier and you sing into it?[/quote] I think that would work a lot better, yeah.

I sing on a lot of our tunes and a bit of robot would fit in a couple of places, but I don't think this will perform too well if you give it a monophonic input. It will rely on chords to figure out what harmonies will work, so if you give it just a root it'll probably stick to fifths to be on the safe side, or - worse - not!

I just mute at my pedal tuner, jack out, bass swap, jack in, job done.

Couldn't you afford a real Fender? Crappy fake rubbish. Nice photos.

Nice to see Kim Deal get some love. Gigantic is a brilliant song.

I always figured putting a DI and overdrive in the same box didn't make much sense. I mean, I'd want the O/D first, and the DI last - where do I put all the other pedals?

I have a question: Are they selling any Bongos, and if so, who's buying them? And if not, are they just trying to blow money on R&D rather than give it to the tax man?

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='429754' date='Mar 9 2009, 08:11 PM']With some trepidation I'm going to suggest it's a technique thing too. I'm not a particularly good fretless player but I find that to get that sound you have to "fret" very lightly and pluck quite strongly. If you have a death like grip with your fretting hand you don't get the classic fretless noise. This is certainly the case on my 70s Fender (with flatwound strings). I guess you are basically pulling the string out of tune.[/quote] I honestly don't think that's it. I've been playing fretless on and off for the best part of 20 years and never NOT got that sound out of one before. And I had two fretlesses last year, one of which did the mwawww noise and the other (this one) didn't. If we're not careful we might end up concluding here that nobody knows what produces that sound. This would be embarrassing for the forum as a whole!

[quote name='musicman1' post='429593' date='Mar 9 2009, 05:57 PM']thanks for the advice but thinner wire is ok but is not that great for thickness of tone[/quote] I'm sorry but now in addition to your high price and poor wiring skills I'm going to add that I'm not at all confident of your understanding of your subject area.

[quote name='ARGH' post='429560' date='Mar 9 2009, 05:17 PM']It could just be a dud...Some instruments just are![/quote] Heh. Well, I was hoping for something with a bit more science behind it to be honest. It plays well enough, neck's nice and stable, structurally everything's fine. I'm just trying to figure out what exactly creates that bloom effect so I can establish why it's missing from this bass.

Seems pricey. Red Onion price their three-loop bypass box at £55. And to be frank your wiring doesn't look all that tidy.

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='429541' date='Mar 9 2009, 05:03 PM']Are you getting Mwah un-amplified?[/quote] No, very little. I'm not convinced lower action / straighter neck is necessarily the way to go. I had an absolute dog of a 6-string fretless last year (for a few days!) which had higher action and it had that classic fretless sound in buckets. Weird.

I should mention it's a pau ferro board, I've never had any issues with rosewood boards before but this is the first pau ferro one I've had. It's definitely not an EQ or technique thing either, the sound just isn't there. I'll try a neck adjustment tonight if I can find an hour to fettle...

I don't get this. I've got this Stingray fretless, it doesn't do the 'mwah' thing at all. Every other fretless I've had (including the US Jazz I de-fretted myself) has done it, but this one doesn't, despite being more expensive than all the others! I've had Rotos '66 rounds on it (as I have with all the other fretlesses) and recently strung it with Ernie Balls, still nothing. The action is pretty low and the neck pretty straight. The nut is cut so low the strings are almost on the fingerboard at that end. Is this a setup issue? I've Googled and Googled, but there seems to be no consensus on what creates that bloom effect on fretless. Hopefully some of you will be able to agree and give me some advice.

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='429154' date='Mar 9 2009, 11:09 AM']I think the pitch shifter would sound a bit artificial and is probably overkill, a bit like trying to kill a fly with a bazooka. Why not just use a capo at the 4th fret for playing in E?[/quote] This sounds like the best advice so far.

Which place in Leeds was it? Music Ground?

[quote name='burno70' post='428215' date='Mar 7 2009, 08:43 PM']The Phil was also part of the very same pub crawl - lovely toilets![/quote] Yeah I think I first went in there for the toilets. Can't say the same about any other pub. They are a bit fancy. The ladies are much nicer though.