JamesBass

I like witty and understated Tshirts best, I avoid fashion as best I can but unfortunately everything is based on it nowadays and you can't seem to get a plain slim pair of jeans, they're all bloody "twisted carrot fit" or something else unintelligible! I just want a straight pair of jeans that aren't too baggy and not too tight! But I digress, something funny and simple would win my vote, failing that I usually stick to shirts more than Tshirts nowadays!

It's a combination of all of them for me, I learn it by ear and improv it out, then once I've got it, I'll write it out and then I'll attempt to play from memory, just by listening and playing it! It works well enough for me

Greetings from another 19 year old Portsmouth/Purbrook based bass player! Where are you studying for your degree? I'm doing mine via the HND at South Downs College which is a two year course for effectively the price of one full year at Uni, I then get to do a top up year after I've done this HND

OH MY GOD!

That Sound City 100 is stunning! Bet it sounds even better than it looks too?!


Must be a back breaker though!

I started on a Bronco just before my 10th birthday, it's a brilliant bass for little hands! Plus it's a damn sight cheaper than the Warwick! Personally I'd go Bronco, it is at the end of the day something for the kid to learn on, it's not gonna be a bass that stays with him for years upon years!

Well today I had to run a bass and general music workshop in a school to years 7 and 8, think I managed to inspire some young minds where music is concerned! Specifically bass! Even had one of the little guys tell their teacher they wanted me to do the workshops every week! Shame I can't right now, was great fun!

So apparently French scientists have proven musicians are sexier than non-musicians!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJpjwUQ2XIw

Funnily we already had this, we originally were set on the name The Targets, then it clicked over a kebab and beer. The amount for piss taking is HUGE! So that was scrapped! Hopefully at band practice next week we get a new one down!

If you are gripping too tight and forcing the pressure through the strings and in to the back of the neck, then maybe a lower action is needed? I used to have my fair share of thumb issues, the amount of tension in my hands especially around the back of my hand near the thumb could get excruciating, once I got my bass setup the tension went away!

I'm currently using an Ashdown EB-180 combo, it's not good, it's not good enough anymore, I used to love it sounded great, it's now about 4 years old I think! The sound is fairly crappy, each week it seems to jump from wooly to a much honkier tone, I don't hate it by no means, just want to move it on and get a new amp, I'd consider a better Ashdown, there has to be a reason that their valve amps retail at near on £2k!

Gonna shelve the naming issues for this week, purely working on the material we are taking to the studio later this month, getting that stuff done is what I deem important for now. Luckily we haven't gigged yet and so this will give us promo material for our press pack. We'll get the name done in the next week or so!

This is the issue with naming bands, my band have taken the wise decision and have headed back to the chalk board for now, being in the same country and playing what sounds like similar music, the Brighton based The Empire and my band only an hours drive along the coast in Portsmouth, would have caused too much hassle and deprived both bands of clarity and fan base. I just HATE that period of suggestion names and then eventually deciding on one a week or so before the first gig!

Cheers for the recommendations Hamfist! I'll have to begin to look around and start trying amps out, I'm thinking I'll go second hand for a cab, there are so many good value deals out there! Might even go second hand on the head too, if the right one crops up that is!

If only that was yesterday, more relevance there would have been

So my new band which formed in January published our Facebook page the other day, we built up a decent number of likes over the first few days, then boom. I get an inbox from a mate down in Brighton linking me to a band who have just been signed and have the same name as us now!

I did a solid week searching for any bands that had a similar name to us, google hits and Facebook ones but nope the named seemed free! I know now why this band didn't show up, they were known on the internet as Join The Empire, as opposed to just The Empire but, it seems they've dropped the Join part from their name!

It's so frustrating trying to come up with a band name that fits and sounds good! Guess it's back to the drawing board!

Not an issue for the time being, I have a fairly large savings already and am happy to wait, 6 months or how ever long it takes to get the necessary amount. I'm pretty sure Barefaced cabs are something I WILL be looking in to, heard so many good things about them.

Hamfist, primarily my band play a brand of Rock that is very similar to old classic British Rock, so think The Who, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, however I also play away from the band, Country, POP, Blues, Jazz and more Rock. Pretty much after an all rounder, I'm really after that lovely warm tone, I just can't find that with my Ashdown, it's so lifeless, my bass does sound great but it just doesn't have that "oh my god" factor. I'm not that fussed about weight so long as it is balanced correctly, Ie; not just a single handle on top when all the weight is at the bottom like my Ashdown!


Lozz, I saw that video when they first announced it earlier this year and was VERY tempted by one, but I'm looking around and seeing what else is out there, what's reliable, what do people say to avoid etc.

Cheers though guys

Right so as the title says, I'm thinking about upgrading my rig, currently I play an upgraded Squire P Bass and a Rickenbacker 4003 through an Ashdown EB180, playing mainly Rock in my originals band but also doing the session and dep work playing all sorts of other genres.

I'm finding while my Ashdown is alright and passable, it's just not what I enjoy playing though anymore, I don't get enough growl when playing in my originals band and the tone of it just isn't that great, plus it's fairly heavy and worst of all its the most awkward thing to carry thanks to Ashdowns design of sticking a single handle on top when all the weight seems to be at the bottom!

Now I've been looking at pretty much EVERY type of amp on the market, boutique, mass produced, solid state and valve. I'm pretty certain I want a valve amp, I love that warmth and tone, it's just pleasant to hear and I won't mind lugging a heavy head and cab about as long as I know I'm gonna get the tone I want from it!

So my fellow bass chatters recommend me something to look at in a more serious way! Price isn't an issue for the time being

Thanks in advance!

Nice cabs the HyDrive 112, but yeah clueless design in my mind, no one carries something like that with a single carry handle! However that's not quite as bad as my Ashdown EB180, it's a damn heavy combo coming in at around 30KG yet they have only put one VERY flimsy handle on top when it needs two handle around the centre of gravity! It's shoddy designing! Forever a nuisance to manoeuvre!

Begs the question who else has spotted ridiculous designs with amps!

Bloody hell George!

I hope you do settle down with her now, mines absolutely lovely! Wouldn't trade her for the world!

Do you do your own recordings? If not might be a worthy investment, although a macbook/mac with Logic is more than the £1000 you have currently. I bought myself a macbook and logic and it is one of the best things I bought, allows me to do so much more and more easily than my old laptop did! Plus get yourself a preamp and interface and a few mics and you're able to do recordings and charge, people are always looking to pay for recordings and they want it as cheap as possible, maybe you could venture that way if you have the time?

What about Gartone? Anyone familiar with them? They seem like great heads, still looking for some sound bytes and stuff but they seem to come across well on the website, little pricey?

[quote name='D.I. Joe' timestamp='1366583779' post='2054611']
While this is true, it depends how you set it up. I use mine just to level off harsh peaks and even out the sound sonewhat, but not as to squash it and eliminate dynamics completely. That would be silly
[/quote]

That's what I meant, bloody brain getting ahead of what was on the actual page!


[quote name='EMG456' timestamp='1366627917' post='2054959']
Some of us don't find that compression in the signal chain gives a more "punchy" sound. It will certainly give you a more even sound in terns of levels and do things like simulate longer sustain from your bass but I prefer to have the original dynamics in my playing preserved as much as possible. With strong consistent technique, you can eliminate the use of compression from your live playing altogether and reduce it's use in the recording environment to a bare minimum - after all, the less gubbins between you and the speaker which will finally reproduce what you're playing, the better, no? The use of compression as an effect is of course something different. (Runs for cover)

I see he plays mostly fingerstyle but throws in a bit of slap for effect - some basses (yes even high end ones) do not produce consistent volumes between fingerstyle and slap techniques so he may have used the compression to help mitigate this.

Anyway, at least part of what makes this a nice punchy sound is the cleanness of the playing and in particular regard to note lengths and dampening. Not only is the start of each note nicely judged and executed but also the end of each note - gives that nice contrast between note and space and helps give great definition to the rhythm and groove.

My tuppence worth!

Ed
[/quote]

Don't get me wrong Ed, compression isn't the only thing in there, a lot of clever EQing has been doing on that track as well, yes the technique plays a part but not quite that much in terms of the tone and punch. Personally I don't actually use compression live at all, I like dynamics and that very raw feel you can get from not using compression, in the studio I ONLY allow light compression on the bass, it doesn't need much on any instrument in my opinion, drums yeah fair enough, guitar, bass, vocals and whatever else people use in my opinion and experience just doesn't need anywhere near the amount of compression on modern recordings, I am generalising there but compression isn't needed if you're just going to re-compress everything so you can send an MP3 about!?

Compression can remove all dynamics, so the signal will seem to be all one volume, then with some EQing you can make the signal seem very large and punchy as there is no dynamics, hope that helps

If you treat the band as a business, then you need to be VERY careful with what you do book wise, make enough money EACH, and Mr Taxman may come looking for you, depends how you guys run it. Do you invoice the venues/promo companies? Are you signed? Do you aim to get signed etc?

The way I've been taught to run anything music based, is to be STRICT, keep ALL receipts, update the books as soon as you can, day by day if you have 30 mins at the end of the day, you get caught not doing what you should be doing and HMRC will crash down on you! I'm so grateful that my HND Music Performance degree covers this stuff otherwise I'd be clueless! Treat the books as serious as possible. Expect that there will be several months where business will be down, it's the nature of the industry. Excel is your friend for this, keep it simple to read and under control, personally I only use formulae once I've finished the month. If you need any more help PM me and I'll see if I can shed some light, majority of things though are on the HMRC website and the Gov.uk ones