EliasMooseblaster

Hi all, Been eyeing up the iRig 2 interface recently, more for better sound quality when recording/livestreaming via a phone, than for the possibility of using Amplitube. The manufacturer's site seemed to suggest this second edition of the interface is, among other advantages, compatible with Android devices (not just iOS any more). However, some customer reviews seem to suggest that this "Android compatibility" might be limited to Samsung devices...and I'm buggered if I'm going back to a Samsung phone. So: does anybody have any experience of using an iRig 2 with another Android phone or tablet? (Any Nexus 5 phones would be particularly useful to hear about...) And: if the consensus is that they're incompatible / disappointing / worse than Hitler when hooked up to a non-Samsung Android deelie, which alternatives do people like?

If Aerosmith had come not from Boston, MA, but from Leicester, UK...

Dani Alabama? It's got a ring to it...

The UK boasts some of the highest highs... ...but also some of the lowest lows.

Whilst it has been a slight inconvenience, it has given me a prompt to find a fresh moose for my own avatar. Let the blasting recommence!

A car in CAR?

Thank you very kindly!

Keane? (/runs for cover)

Weren't the Foo Fighters a trio for the longest time? At least, I'm sure it was a three-piece that recorded Colour and Shape and Nothing Left to Lose, and I kind of lost interest after those... PS if you can busy-up the bassline during the (generally quite brief) guitar solos, then you can cover a LOT of Creedence Clearwater Revival's back catalogue without a rhythm guitarist. I say this from experience!

On Monday 13th May, Ralph Beeby & the Elephant Collective - which is to say, me with a couple of acoustic guitars - will be heading up to Oxford to provide an evening's entertainment in the form of some furiously fingerpicked folk-blues, in the vein of Davy Graham, Bert Jansch, Ralph McTell, etc. The venue is the Bullingdon Cocktail Bar: 162 Cowley Road, OX4 1UE - same building as the well-known music venue, but I understand this will be in the separate bar area. Music from 8pm-11pm, free entry (though the purchase of many large rounds of drinks is advisable to keep the guv'nor happy) If you've not heard this outfit before, you can do so below, or via the Bandcamp link in my sig If you're inclined to use the Facebooks, there's an event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/379182622667504/,

Probably worth also noting that not all scoops are equal: there's the "gentle scoop," such as @Lozz196 describes when going for that gnarly, JJ Burnel-esque sound, and then there's the "nu-metal style" scoop, where there just seems to be a massive chasm in the middle of the frequency range, until you're left with a rumbly, indistinct, wet-fart-distortion sound right at the bottom end, and a horribly thin, trebly, clackity-clack which sounds like two mice fencing with lolly sticks.

I can't help but think that would have looked all wrong at any time of day...

I would guess there are two forces at play: 1. yes, it probably is quite fashionable at the moment. I've seen a lot of "smiley face" EQs at gigs when I've been close enough to see the amp. 2. sound engineers in a hurry, dealing with a multiple-band bill, may find it easier to cut the midrange from the bass to mix the sound during a 30-second line-check, especially if they have to keep two guitarists and a singer happy with the foldback. Edited to add: I'm very much pro-mids myself - partly because I feel that's where a lot of the "character" of the bass comes through, but also from years of playing in single-guitar bands, where I have a lot more sonic space to fill.

So what is it, exactly? Is it a similar setup to the Varitone switches that Gibson used to bung in some of their basses?

It does feel like a long neck...it's fine if it's the first bass you pick up that day. Where you notice the contrast is if you start off playing a Fender-shaped bass - a Schecter Model T, for instance. You'll probably find that the 12th fret sits a little to the left of your torso. Then you pick up the Thunderbird...and suddenly the 12th fret is three feet away. On the plus side, this does mean that the hard-shell cases are about five feet tall when standing on their end, which makes them an ideal leaning post for the taller lady or gentleman who might find her or himself waiting idly for a train after other persons have occupied any available seating on the platform.

If by "dissuade" you actually mean, "egg you on," then sure: I'm more familiar with the Gibson version, but it's a wonderful instrument. I'll second @stewblack's comments about them sounding great - given the pickup placements you could argue you're looking at a Jazz bass with more "oomph," and the front pickup soloed sits in a similarly comfortable sonic spot to a Precision. Also, I don't know whether it's the humbuckers or the neck-through construction, but if you like to venture up to the "dusty end" of the neck, you'll find them very articulate. I've also not had a problem with neck-dive. THAT SAID, don't be tempted to skimp and go for one of the cheaper, bolt-on models. There are several good reasons why they're cheaper.

Well, this came as a bit of a shock, I have to say: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/mar/25/scott-walker-experimental-pop-hero-dies-aged-76 I always appreciated the fact that he just went ever further into the deep end as he got older - where a lot of artists would have fallen back on trying to recreate the vibe of some of their early hits to cash in on the nostalgia, his music just got stranger and more unsettling. Fun fact relevant to this parish: he was also the bassist in the original Walker Brothers lineup.

Oh, it's an agonising choice which I could swear prevents me from making it to my local jam night - the first question is, of course, "do I have enough energy this close to the end of the week?", but if the answer is "yes", then the next question is, of course, "BUT WHICH BASS DO I TAKE?", and I find myself weighing up different arguments for different basses until it's nearly midnight and the jam is finishing anyway...

If you're after small and portable, but with valves, and you're not overly keen on the Orange, would an Ashdown CTM-30 or Little Stubby be up to task? I think it's fair to say that their dirty tone is a bit less divisive; this might be down to them being all-valve rather than hybrids. They're in a similar ballpark to the Ampeg Portaflex series; I know you had some reservations about those being powerful enough, but I can safely say that a CTM-30 into an efficient cab (namely a Berg CN212, as suggested by Lozz) will go a lot louder than you'd think a 30-watter should! (It does also have a post-preamp DI socket, if you're gigging with PA support!)

Good to know I'm not alone in this system - I have two spaces permanently occupied by my skinny-strings, leaving three bass spaces on rotation. I was thinking just this morning that it might be nice to give the Schecter and the Shuker a bit of daylight...

We'll just tell them to google Rod Hull

Oh dear. Did their IT tech spill coffee over the ZIP Disk?

Sorry, I should have thought about the non-Spotifiers! it can also be heard via Bandcamp without any kind of sign-up or what-not: https://ralphbeeby.bandcamp.com (Thank you very much for attempting to give it a listen!)

That question of where we draw the line is a really tricky one. Ian Watkins of Lostprophets fame is an easy one to judge because it stands out as an extreme even among cases like Glitter, King, and Jackson. But at the other end of the scale, Mick and Keef have convictions for drugs charges. Now we might not disgust us in the same way, but the law says drugs are bad (mmmkay), so should we judge them to be bad people and stop playing their songs? Of course we don't; the charges seem too trivial. Turn it up a notch and consider Jim Morrison's conviction for indecent exposure. Now, his bandmates have protested ever since that there was no substantive evidence to back this charge, but he was convicted in a court of law - is flashing a live audience morally rephrensible enough to drive fans of The Doors away from their music? Apparently not. I don't know where the line is, and nor do many record companies, it seems: there is a CD reissue of two later Beach Boys albums (I think it's the Friends / 20:20 disc) which includes, among the unreleased bonus tracks, a couple of songs written for the group by none other than Charles Manson. Now, these tracks have only seen the light of day some 20 or 30 years after Sharon Tate's murder, but with some of her relatives still alive and having to endure the continuing pop culture references to the event, I would have thought that it was a little bit soon to be releasing those songs for public consumption.