EliasMooseblaster

Congratulations, Spoombung! An excellent entry among a number of excellent entries last month. Now, this one could be tricky: October and November's pictures kind of jumped out at me, at least insofar as I could tell what kind of 'feel' I wanted to write. This one's not so obvious. That elephant does look very comfortable, but I don't think I've ever written comfortable music before. More thought required, evidently!

I have the same problem, it's compulsive. The missus keeps telling me to at least keep myself under control while we're in public, but... ...oh, you're talking about your basses, aren't you? Never mind...

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1385562915' post='2289671'] 3rd place - [b]EliasMooseblaster[/b] - very atmospheric start and gave me all feelings of a gothic, Dracula style wedding. The fretless bass in parts was inspired. And I loved the differing styles of the guitar solos. [/quote] Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it! You've also forced me to go back and listen to my own piece again as I didn't realise the bass sounded like a fretless - it's actually a (fretted) T-bird, though I guess the neck pickup does have that kind of woody, not-quite-an-upright tone about it! While I'm here, a more general thanks to everyone that's commented on the clip so far - it's very encouraging to see that it's gone down well.

1. Call yourself Simon Cowell and behave in a generally objectionable fashion 2. Hoik trousers up to chin 3. Go through "X-Britain's Got Talent-Factor Come Dancing"-type "talent" show rigmarole to find passably gifted singer 4. ???? 5. PROFIT

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1385474512' post='2288638'] I recon if you ignore all the Youtube warriors and only talk about big-name bass icons, I challenge you to come up with a list of 10 bass players who APPEARED in the last 10 years who are pushing the boundaries of bass playing and you recon will still be at the fore in 20 years time. Go on, list names and say WHY you recon they're inovators pushing the boundaries. [/quote] Fair point, I can't! I could name several great bands/artists who cropped up in the last decade, but no really stellar bassists spring to mind in the same time. (Edit: I make no claim to be an expert on modern music, and would be more than happy to be proven wrong!) Is it our own fault in some way? For all the jokes we share on here about being the one who gets ignored, or the being the geek of the band, have we developed a collective sense of apathy? Have too many of us "learnt our place" and resigned to playing conservatively? How many of us would aspire to appear on such a list?

Yep, have grudgingly narrowed it down to two. (Which is not to speak ill of any of the others, of course!) Whether I can force myself to pick between the two will be a different matter!

Not wishing to offend any of the vocalists, but I think Bankai's right: the vocals don't sit quite right in the mix. I don't know how musically adept your big fan is, but normally if people don't like the sound of the vocals, they won't appreciate the rest of it. Which is a shame, because the instrumentation sounds pretty good throughout! It's going to sound like a strange thing to say, but your lead singer sounds a bit self-conscious on these recordings. I wonder if the problem is that he feels less reserved on stage, and therefore sounds a bit more convincing. (I can sympathise: it is a bit strange standing in front of a mic with just your bandmates nearby and going for it the same way you would when on stage!)

Christ on a bike...to echo all the above sentiments, I honestly don't know which one stands out above the others. They're all really impressive - and all really different! Hopefully a few more listens will do the trick - I don't want to have to resort to closing my eyes and sticking a pin in the screen...

Ah, fair enough, then - I suspected my concerns were unfounded! Afraid I've never tried to set a neck before (I've only assembled bolt-ons so far!), so the best I can do is wish you luck with it. Looking forward to seeing the results!

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1385033783' post='2283593'] Oh dear. I really want one for myself now! [/quote] Yep. Yep, I thought had no GAS, but mentally I seem to draw a distinction between "shop-bought guitar GAS" and "build your own guitar GAS." [quote name='Shockwave' timestamp='1385033616' post='2283590'] Annoyingly I was told after i bought the kit that the bridge was actually a 3 point one, which I didn't really want, but never mind! The rout for the 3 point bridge has already been done, I will be tuning this bass drop C when finished so I need to try and make sure I have enough travel on the bridge to intonate the C correctly. Is there anything I can do with the nut to help this if I run into problems? What say you guys about a finish? Could keep it natural, but I am very tempted by using some sort of wash/trans colour. Could go with Green! What recommendations would you guys give me regarding techniques and glue for the set neck part of the build? [/quote] First of all, just a quick question: have they confirmed that it's a 34" scale? Only, I've got the Epiphone SG bass in a 34" scale, and that has a 22-fret neck, and I notice this is only 20. (But then I know there's only 20 on your average P-bass, so I could be worryingly unduly.) Have they actually routed for the 3-point bridge, or just drilled the holes? Again, I'm comparing to the Epiphone, but the bridge and tailpiece seem to be screwed straight into the top on mine, so you might be able to swap in a different bridge and...erm...cover up the holes. To be fair, the 3-point is a bit of a nuisance, but it's workable. Just be careful when you're changing strings as the moving parts have a tendency to fall out! As for finish...I bet that maple top would look absolutely stunning if you French Polished it. Does require a lot of time and patience, though.

I'm trying to move over (very gradually) to using Ubuntu Studio - no interfaces, though, just plugging into the PC's soundcard. As far as I can tell so far, the software's all very good. Getting drivers for specific interfaces could be more of a challenge - I certainly haven't found one for a Line6 UX1! As Skol points out, you can get a lot of Windows software to run under the WINE emulator, though you may find certain bits don't work perfectly.

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1384782178' post='2280600'] + about a million! What the hell is so likely to go wrong micing a cab exactly? Cos we mic drum kits, guitar amps, horm sections, leslie speakers, vocalists all the time, what exactly is wrong with micing a bass cab, do we need extra insurance in case the mic gets miffed? [/quote] I've often wondered about this myself. (Particularly since, if you ask this question over on Talkbass, you get about 100 responses from people desperate to tell you that they stopped using a bass amp altogether since they bought a particular DI box - I wouldn't mind, except they invariably write in the most sanctimonious tones, as if they think you're somehow inferior or unclean for still lugging one of those big, dirty cabs around...) Is it an assumption that most bassists will (i) spend most of the set chugging root notes underneath the rhythm guitar anyway and (ii) can't be trusted with their own EQs? Is it just an assumption that bassists are generally less stroppy than guitarists? Are sound engineers anticipating most of the soundcheck being spent telling the guitarist to turn the f**k down, so at least if they can plug the bass into a DI, they can spend 10 seconds applying the same EQ curve they learnt in music tech school because "that's how a bass is supposed to sound"? Not to tar all engineers with the same brush; it's always a delight to get one who knows their stuff and gives a monkey's. And I'm finding an increasing number of bass amps which have a DI socket off the preamp, so I'm allowed at least some influence over "my sound." But still...what the hell is so likely to go wrong micing a cab?

"Oh, didn't you get the email I sent earlier this afternoon [[i]about half an hour after you would have had to set off to get here[/i]]? We don't have a [[i]snare stand/drum stool/guitar amp/bass amp/PA system/stage area/delete as applicable[/i]], you'll have to bring your own." Or, one that I had recently: "One of your support bands is stuck outside...the doorman won't accept their ID and so he won't let them in."

Key difference: a good guitarist looks like he/she is tenderly making love to his/her instrument. Too many bassists, in contrast, seem unable to go into a solo without doing that insufferably smug nodding of their heads. (I enjoy a good bass solo, but if it's accompanied by smug nodding, it's usually not a good bass solo)

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1384520666' post='2277655'] Instead of plugging into the input on the front-panel, I plugged into the FX return on the back (via my Sansamp as a pre-amp) which goes straight into the power-amp. Doesn't sound quite like what you're doing with your Ashdown as I was still using the power-amp in the Laney. [/quote] Ah, now I understand! Yeah, I'm using the Ashdown as both the preamp and power stage, the Laney HCM simply serves as a cab in my current setup. (Not sure how well either the Ashdown or my RB8 would respond if I were to send the Ashdown's 8ohm output into the RB8's FX return...!) The idea, of course, was that if I blew a valve on the Ash, I'd have a half-decent transistor head I could swap the cable into as a backup. Really must get round to finding a tech who can fix the output transistors for me!

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1384519456' post='2277631'] Thanks! You can get the live experience too (as I see you are from London) as we are playing the Old Queen's Head in Islington next Wednesday, onstage just after 10pm. Its a good cause too as all the evening's profits go to Medecins Sans Frontieres' Typhoon appeal [/quote] Bugger. Unfortunately we're auditioning another candidate for our new singer that night...though I might be able to get up if you're not on 'til 10...I'll have to see how long the audition takes. (I can imagine the live experience is quite something!)

This is bloody good, Clarky! I might have to get myself a copy of this.

Nice stuff, Matt. I'm not normally a big fan of funk (unusual for a bassist, I know) but I really rather enjoyed that, particularly the bass solo! Great musicianship all round, in fact - the interplay between the drummer and guitarist stands out as another highlight. I thought that was a pretty good mix, as well - at least through my little earphones. Everything nice and clear, nothing seems to be struggling for space and the bass tone comes through beautifully! I'm sure somebody with better-trained ears will be able to provide more detailed comments than I can, but I liked it!

Make him take this: http://en.sommer-sommer.com/braintest/ Won't necessarily solve any problems, but it'll keep him entertained for a minute or two! (I thought I was quite distinctly left-handed, but it's just told me I use both sides of my brain equally)

The more I look at the one in the OP, the more it intrigues me. It looks pretty cool, though normally I'd be wary of buying a bass with only piezo pickups and no tone control. But on the other hand, the website suggests that most of their output is one-of-a-kind, entirely custom instruments. If the dreaded GAS ever strikes again I might consider asking Mr Wishnevski whether he could do a fretted, 4-string version, maybe with a nice big mudbucker set into that long fingerboard. Given the prices, it seems like it could be a good deal, given what people often pay for a custom build.

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1384467772' post='2277199'] I had a Laney R4 (300 watt 1x15) which was solid, if unspectacular. It was dramatically improved by bypassing the pre-amp and going out of a Sansamp directly into the FX return, sounded pretty good then. [/quote] How easy is it to bypass the preamp on an RB4? I only ask because it was really easy on the HCM series - literally just a case of pulling the speaker jack from the back of the preamp, so you could connect a different head if you wanted (which is what I'm doing these days with my Ashdown LB30). By contrast, I noticed that the connections on the RB8 are all internal, though - did you have to crack open your RB4 to do the bypass? OP: I guess it depends on the tone you're after. Starting from flat, I usually find that Laneys are a little brighter, the Peaveys I've played through are little more bass-heavy. But with a few tweaks of the EQ, you could quite easily make one sound like the other, both seemed very versatile.

Is it too late to pipe up for Laney? Before I moved over to valve, I was gigging with an RB8 - a 300W 1x15 with a switchable tweeter. Bloody good it was, too. Versatile tone, no shortage of thundering bottom end, and above all, built like a tank. This was the third Laney I've owned since I started playing bass - I'd like to think the fact I've only been through three is testament to their reliability! If your budget is strictly at £100 then you'll struggle to get one new, but it's worth browsing for a used or ex-display one. Or consider the other models - anything from the RB4 upwards has a 1x15 cab and even that's 165W...

[quote name='iamtheelvy' timestamp='1383838010' post='2269820'] I have particular basses I use for particular bands, but that mostly comes down to the tone of the bass more than looks. However, I do agree with the posts above. When I've bought a new bass, firstly it's because of how it looks, then how it feels, then how it sounds. But only in that order because that's how it works in a shop! - If I could be led in blindfolded and handed basses to try out, I'd probably have a completely different set by now! [/quote] Another vote for this approach - my main band suits a thick Epiphone mudbucker tone, whereas my other band suits more of a P-bass type tone. But if I didn't like the looks, I probably wouldn't have bought either bass in the first place!

I guess that would depend on whether you use a strap, or just hook the thing round your neck...

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1384254290' post='2274412'] I was at a mates wedding a few weeks back. The band was reasonable but not mind blowing. One thing stuck in my mind though, the number of songs which I thought weren terrible a few years ago, now seem to be standards in this day and age. Billy Idol - White Wedding Mavericks - Dance The Night Away etc. Or am I a miserable git? [/quote] Another one which has become a must, not only at weddings but also New Year's Eve gigs, birthday parties, god knows what else: The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 s**tting Miles) Maybe it's just me, but that song just makes me want to plug my ears with deep-fried Mars bars...