thisnameistaken

If you stick to playing everything an octave up on the bass (and transpose it back down at the synth) then yeah a GK-3B and a GR-55 works surprisingly well if you get it set up properly. Latency isn't too bad if you play higher up, and tracking is definitely a lot better than it used to be. I've been thinking about getting another MIDI set up, but I can't see myself taking a GR-55 plus all my pedals to rehearsals and gigs, and it won't replace my pedals, and I need my pedals, so that's why I haven't done it. It's purely a matter of luggage.

You know those threads where bands come looking for a bass player, and they say age 20-35 or whatever, and all the older guys get all huffy and go on about how they can out-play any of these young whipper-snappers? I think this video is what those bands are imagining.

[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1408606623' post='2531640'] IME anytime ive tried to go the originals route, its always been harder to get anything going. Whether thats just down to the mentality of people wanting to pay purely originals, i dont know.[/quote] It's because instead of picking some songs you want to play from a list of thousands (and yet still somehow ending up with the same songs that every other cover band plays) you have to write them all yourself. If this isn't a slower process then your band is either soaking in talent or isn't very good.

That bass Beedster is selling is the exception, that thing is a gorgeous shape.

Yah a lot of Stingray players set them up too low and shamelessly clank through every tune, I don't like that sound either but I do like some of the less extreme sounds from that alnico pickup.

That's a sample of Lonnie Liston Smith's 'Expansions'. Great tune on both counts. :-)

I'd rather this didn't turn into a battle of the fanboys. I've got basses by several manufacturers and my favourite is a Warwick Thumb which f***ing nobody on here likes. My mate's Silhouette really surprised me. He took a photo with the pickguard off and the routing really surprised me. You could put a packed lunch in there, they'd just routed the whole lot, one big void. WTF?

[quote name='leroydiamond' timestamp='1408551859' post='2531303']I have had a few 4 string stingrays in my hands and found them to be a bit chunky and heavy for my liking. However the Sterling 4 is much more my cup of tea. Smaller, lighter, 3 way switch and lovely slim neck which suited my relatively small hands.[/quote] That Strat-style switch is the only thing I don't like about the Sterling, although I never liked the switch on the Yamaha BBs either but it didn't stop me buying one. As for the 'Classic 5', I do like the look of those but damn they're expensive.

Cool cheers, I'll have to find a day to drive down there.

Do they have an actual visitable shop?

The online thing can work. I met a couple of guys through bandmix about 5 years ago who I'm still playing with, although having said that we also found our fourth band member that way too and she was a total nightmare... Going to open mics is always good but often the people who frequent those things are only really interested in playing solo, but on the plus side they are usually habitual songwriters. Also get to know your local promoters, who will know all the gigging bands in your area and may be able to put you in touch with bands needing a bassist. I spent ages looking for a turntablist here in York, didn't think there were any, then found one through a promoter I know and he's worked out really well.

I would like to try a Sterling, I just haven't seen one in the flesh yet. I'm not sure it's something as simple as neck dimensions but it would be nice if that's the case.

I like the way they look, apart from the Stingray 5 and the Silhouette guitar, and I often like the way they songs on record, but every time I pick one up it just feels massively underwhelming. I had a fretless Stingray a while back which was just meh. I keep looking at Sabres because I love the look but I know I won't find it inspiring to play. A friend of mine has a Stingray 5 that he loves and also a Silhouette guitar, and I respect this guy's opinions in general, and he's very sincere about how much he likes this stuff, but I've played both these guitars and they just feel... Playmobil, to me. They feel exceptionally mass-produced to me, almost like plastic. That probably sounds weird. Like I said though I am inclined to like these guitars because i think they're pretty and all, but every time i pick one up there's just no spark. Are they really that different to other guitars?

I really want to try a Pigtronix Philosopher King, amongst other things, but I can't find any shops that have them. Do any shops have them?

Back to Butlins with you!

Regarding bitcrushers: I've got a Frantabit now, which does both bitcrushing and sample rate reduction, and I imagined it would replace my Bugbrand Bugcrusher which is just a sample rate reducer, but while the bitcrushing side of things is a cool sound it has to be way up front in the mix to get heard and it's so destructive as to make any other effects earlier in the chain pretty much disappear, whereas the Bugcrusher flavours anything and always leaves enough bottom end in the sound. So for my 2p, sample rate reducers are much more useful on bass.

I used to only play fretless, for years in the '90s. I had a fretless Stingray a couple of years back but never got on with it. I've got a Jazz body in the loft that's waiting for a fretless neck to turn up but it's been waiting for about a year now...

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1405625886' post='2503859'] Fuzz is an odd one - is always sounds better through a cab, so get it miked up. [/quote] It's harder with bass though. With guitar you can stick a 57 in front of a speaker and get everything you want, but you'll lose a lot of low end using a dynamic mic to track bass. Definitely track a clean channel too. Are you going to have an experienced engineer? Maybe he/she will have some better cab-miking ideas.

I've only seen one guy (that I know of) from Basschat, he was playing in a salsa band at a festival I was playing at. They were really good. Sorry I can't remember who he was, his bass was a Jazz but I couldn't be more specific than that.

Word. I stopped practicing with the bow because my dog either howls at me until I stop our just gives a stare that tells me I am the worst musician he has ever heard.

And the satisfaction of nailing a tune on an instrument as big as you are, with no frets and an action you could drive a bus under is something special.

[quote name='Weststarx' timestamp='1408111424' post='2527259'] Don't think a double bass would fit in my Seat Ibiza though!!! [/quote] Anything with a hatch back will swallow your average 3/4 double bass. Also, audiences adore double bass.