thisnameistaken

I find the silver slaps to be a little too low tension for me. I really like them for what they're intended for and they sound good on my bass I think, but I am still looking for a better all-rounder string; something with an old-school tone that bows better than the slaps.

I'm assuming they are darker sounding that Spiros, but are they lower tension too? I guess they are higher tension than Silver Slaps, but how different is the sound? Any info much appreciated.

Worth a try since it's cheap to do, and you get good neighbour points for trying either way.

For starters, have you tried a mute like [url="http://www.alangregory.co.uk/music/Ultra_Heavy_Rubber_Double_Bass_Practice_Mute.html"]this one[/url]? I haven't, to be honest, but it looks cheap enough to be worth a gamble. The only other suggestion I would have is pulling up your floorboards (perhaps just in the one room you want to practice in) and stuffing the gap with sound-murdering material. The last time I lived in a flat it was insulated in that way and I never heard a peep from the upstairs neighbours and they never heard us either.

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1322668122' post='1454204']There is a difference though because a musician can create a song from nothing. They need a few chords a melody and bang you have a song. A DJ needs to have another persons material to be able to create something.[/quote] Well, before the sampling laws stopped them, a lot of hip hop acts were creating whole new songs from sampling other songs - often those samples were unrecognisable, or were reworked in a novel way. Public Enemy for example made a completely new sound from chopping up other peoples' music and adding their own vocals. Aren't they musicians? Or do they get to be called musicians because they contribute vocals, but DJs don't?

I've got Innovation Silver Slaps on my bass at the moment and I really like the pizz sound, very mellow but loud, and the strings are low tension and easy to play. I would suggest that the Super Silvers might be a better option though - if anything I would like a little more tension because I don't slap that often.

[quote name='paul torch' timestamp='1322639506' post='1453724'] What do you call someone who plays music? [/quote] Instrumentalist? Dunno. I honestly don't consider myself a musician because I don't think I understand music enough, can't read, etc.

I've had an M9 on my board for a couple of years now. I don't like most of the modulation effects although there's a couple of good phasers and the ring mod is pretty good, mostly because of the way you can set up the expression pedals with it. Delays of course are great, reverbs are really good, envelope filters are useless because there's no sensitivity control... The synth effects are more useful than I thought they would be, octaver is alright, tracks well, pitch shifting and harmony patches are excellent. One good compressor and one good dirt patch IMO. Overall it's the most useful multi I've ever had, I don't mind that some of the patches are fairly useless, there's a lot that make up for it.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1322566488' post='1452617'] We have a turntablist in one of the bands I play drums in. He only uses one deck (I guess 'cos he's scratching to a band, not another record). He'll generally find a record where he likes one or two samples for a particular song, and then drop those samples in from time to time, adding rhythmic scratching when appropriate. He's seriously good and I would never think he's not a musician!!! [/quote] I'm trying to put a band together at the moment (missing a drummer, same old story) and have been trying to find a DJ to bring in, no luck yet. I suppose defining 'musician' is quite hard but I wouldn't class myself as one despite 20 years of playing bass. I can think of a lot of DJs who are way more creative than I am.

And another thing that I don't do myself but would like to: Do any of you do turntable scratching? I never had a pair of turntables, so I'd visit my friends who did and take soul records with me so I could practice scratching. I was never amazing at it but I loved the sounds I did manage to make. Anybody here any good at it? It's the one thing other than playing drums (and piano) that I really wish I'd learned to do.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1322522713' post='1452231'] Until you can try an effects pedal that produces the octave notes higher than the root notes rather than lower, you are unfortunately wasting your time. [/quote] If he's using the Boss OC-3 rather than the OC-2 then he's doing that already.

Effect wise I'd probably do something similar to what you're doing - run my dry signal mixed with a digital octave up with the octave signal through a subtle chorus. I already have a Line 6 M9 and a nice mixer that Max made for me so I'd use those.

If you need a crossover talk to [url="http://basschat.co.uk/user/1210-silent-fly/"]Max[/url]. I don't know if he has anything currently in his range that would do the job, but he would be the man to talk to if you need a custom pedal.

I know a guy who uses one of those - I think it's a 150w combo with a 10" in it, has a couple of parametric mid controls on it. He's also got an extension cab for it, similarly compact. GK gear always looks very expensive to me, but that rig certainly seems to work very well on DB. I've used it myself with my Bassmax-equipped old ply bass and it worked well for me too.

What I did was declare the first band as having first dibs on me, and if they didn't have anything booked (rehearsals / gigs) then I would agree to do them for the other band. At first it caused problems because the first band always arranged stuff quite last minute, but eventually they started planning ahead a bit more. So long as both bands know how you're prioritising it and agree to it, then it's not a problem.

Great news, well done for not giving up, proof that a little determination goes a long way.

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1322386627' post='1450054']Now that is dedication to GAS! My Streamline has DR Green Neons on it at the moment - I shall tell the missus I need another one for the orange strings! [/quote] Well, I have two bass guitars; one strung with rounds, one with flats. I see it as a similar scenario, just wanting to have more sounds rather than more gear. I'll have one DB strung with steely-sounding hybrids that bow well, and one with more trad-sounding strings that slap well. There's no string that does it all. Also I've played the DB every day since I got it so I don't think it's unreasonable to have a busking bass and one 'for best'.

+1. I'm actually planning (well - trying and getting gazumped mostly) to buy a second bass just to learn to bow, because I like the sound of my current bass and don't want to change the strings.

Well, from what I could see BBC clarified his position quite early but the other guy was incensed with him and took it too far. Maybe that thread's not the best example. He did have a knack for deflating egos which I didn't think was a bad thing, but I can imagine some of the bigger egos didn't like it.

Oh like muchly. I have spent years being bored for however many hours that song lasts but at least now I will have something to chuckle about the next time I hear it.

[quote name='lonestar' timestamp='1322314765' post='1449255'] Isn't that a digestive tract problem ? [/quote] I miss the reputation system already.

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1322252687' post='1448745'] It seems every time there is a 'is Basschat getting a bit dull' thread BBC gets mentioned, as if his return would breathe new life into the forum. It, he, wouldn't. He was just one contributor, that's it. There are others who no longer contribute, or can't contribute, whom I would much rather see return way ahead of BBC.[/quote] I think the point people are trying to make is that posters with idiosyncratic habits like BBC give a forum character. And without those characters everything gets a bit bland. Ultimately if you get rid of the people who don't share the collective view on everything to keep the majority happy then the forum becomes an occasionally-used question and answer platform, with no discussion to fill the gaps, because there's no discussion to be had if you've banned everyone who disagrees with you. Conflict keeps people coming back, and in all likelihood the loudest complainants are enjoying it the most.