EliasMooseblaster

I can see that helping a bit - certainly it's quite tiring fighting against that much tension. The thing I've been finding tricky is fretting the two strings together, though - not so much on the D and G, but on the E and A, where the octave strings seem to get buried under the low ones. Or is that just one of those things I'll get used to with more practice?

Yeah, we had a bit of a jam and then tried a couple of songs. I did find I was having to play much more conservatively, though, as those doubled octaves fill up a lot more space (unsurprisingly!) I did have to switch back to my 4 in the end.

I've moved, quite unexpectedly, into entirely new territory as of yesterday. I happened to be walking past a bass shop (licking the window as I went, of course), when my partner pointed out an 8-string bass in the window. A quick tryout and a bit of haggling, and suddenly I was the owner of a Hagstrom HB-8. I'd only gone out to buy a new pair of jeans... Still, I took it along to a rehearsal last night and had a play around. It's certainly good fun, even if the sound takes some getting used to! What I've been finding challenging is, unsurprisingly, simultaneously fretting a .100" E-string along with a .050" E-string. Does anyone have any useful advice on using one of these beautiful buggers?

I'd go with random slap & pop licks - perhaps I just particularly notice it as it's not a style I've ever liked, but it does seem to be the first thing people do when they feel the need to demonstrate how good they are to the shop assistant! (Next time, I might just begin with Boris The Spider and see whether the Mark King wannabe across the room can keep a straight face)

Just thought I'd make sure we've all seen this version... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAQ95Vln4I4

Those Epiphones really aren't popular, are they? I feel like I should just stick up for them before I go on to name and shame my worst experiences: my main bass right now is an Epi EB-3. That neck mudbucker's become of a feature of the band's sound - of the 11 tracks on our upcoming album, I think I used it on 7 of them. I can appreciate that they're an acquired taste, though - I bought mine expressly for "that" sound, and bought a thicker strap to deal with the neck dive. Worst bass I've played? I once borrowed a little active short-scale - I think it was a Cort - at a jam night. It didn't help that the house amp was also dire, but this thing just felt like somebody had put strings on a Guitar Hero controller. I have also wrestled with an Encore P-bass in the past. Again, not mine: the guy whose gig I'd been called in for let me borrow his bass. The setup was ok, but I think it suffered from a combination of some really cheap (and possibly really old) strings and that budget pickup. It just feels a bit unfair to kick these, when I know they're cheap, entry-level basses. A decent pickup might have made that into a passable instrument.

I think the situation is a bit different in London: most people don't have a car - or daren't drive it through the centre - so a lot of rehearsal rooms have realised they have to provide amps of at least passable quality. So I've played through some decent Trace Eliot combos in some rooms, and had to put up with some hideous Line6 amps in others. Bringing a 115 combo on public transport is something I'll grin and bear for a gig, but for a weekly (or even twice weekly) rehearsal, I'd rather spare my back. We've been quite fortunate, however. Since our drummer started teaching in his own rehearsal room, we've been able to park our own amps in there. So nowadays I can play through my Laney at rehearsals and be content in the knowledge that if it sounds awful, that's probably the fault of the idiot holding the bass!

[quote name='bobbass4k' timestamp='1366476668' post='2053092'] Uber-pretentious philosophical objections to the title and lyrical content aside, it's surprisingly good. My main problem with it though is that the modern production sounds very odd with the music, it [b]kinda sounds like a modern band covering a Masters of Reality era Sabbath song[/b].I'm now a lot more excited for the album though, Brad Wilk seems to have slotted in very well (assuming it's him on this track). [/quote] Now you mention it, I can see the similarity with this little epic: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9wF2DDyz2g[/media] This new Sabbath song is a lot better than I was expecting it to be. I'm in two minds about the more modern production: on one hand, it's nice to hear Geezer's bass more clearly...on the other hand, it just makes it more obvious that Ozzy can't really sing, bless 'im.

Actually, this is a serious question my band needs to find an answer to at the moment. The problem is that we can bash out the songs perfectly well, but our singer and guitarist seem to be lacking in that hard-to-define quality which we call stage presence. This is a problem for a lot of bands, but it certainly needs addressing when the rhythm section seems to present more character than the "front" of the band. And I'm very much in the John Entwistle school of standing still and letting the fingers do the talking. Thing is, if either of them comes out of their shell a bit more then the other will follow - it's just getting them into character which seems to be the problem. Which is ironic, because they both trained as actors...

Remember that painful stretch you had to get used to when you first learned how to play power chords? Yeah, you'll go through it again with the bottom end of a bass neck. That said, although you're dealing with much thicker strings, you shouldn't have to put all that much effort into fretting. How high is the action on your bass, and would it benefit from a setup?

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1363955454' post='2020070'] a linkedin style site for muso's would be a good idea tho [/quote] Gaah! Yes, you've just reminded me: it's only just been launched, but I was told that this was basically an attempt to do just that http://www.musicgateway.net/

I get the impression that nowadays the done thing is to pop some recordings on Soundcloud and/or Youtube, then use the links to advertise on Gumtree or include in emails to bands you're applying for.

No mention of "Dear Boy" by Tony Fletcher? Biography of Keith Moon - very well written and supposedly an enjoyable read even if you're not as obsessive a fan of The Who as I am.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1363877213' post='2018779'] I could have spoken about Squier. On TalkBass I remember years ago Squier being often beaten to the ground as utter crap, and gave you the impression that a Squier bass would pretty much disintegrate in your hands as you play it over the following year or so. And that's not true. Some may have been a bit naff, and used plywood bodies... but they are not going to just break down, normally. I found it sad to read from teenagers who have no money talking dismissively about their "crap Squier" (that they saved up for, or their parents bought them), just to fit in with the group... It's even sadder that some might feel... I don't know, embarrased even about using a Squier and a Behringer. That is sad. I wish I could have played something like an Affinity series Squier and a Behringer amp back in the day!!! Of course, if I have the money, I am happy to pay more for something I believe to be better build and offers me a sense of security. It has to sound good, first of all. [/quote] That is sad, and very superficial. It's the same kind of mentality that drives people to blow any little disposable income on expensive designer clothing, because they think it confers some kind of 'status'. And of course, it's baseless. My first bass was a Squier, a little 30" Bronco, and it was a lovely instrument. (I actually found the opposite, with my teenaged schoolmates commenting on what a nice-looking bass it was!) I've certainly played several basses that would have cost two or three times as much but I thought were horrible - or at least, not to my tastes. And I was thoroughly impressed by some of the CV Squiers, just as I've been less than taken by some MIM Fenders. I suspect this is why Gibson and Fender are still by far the most famous guitar manufacturers. Which is not to say they don't make some lovely guitars and basses, but it must be difficult to improve your company's profile if most professional musicians will plump for a Les Paul or a MIA Precision almost as a default option. I was warned when I bought my Schecter "basically-a-P-bass" Model T that it would never have the same kind of re-sale value as a Fender, purely because of the name. Sad but true. (Not that I'm planning to sell my Schecter any time soon, of course!)

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1363872849' post='2018700'] Behringerbass gear might be OK for bedroom use but, IMO, as soon as you're gigging you need something better. [/quote] Oh, I wouldn't have used one for gigging. That said, I've played plenty of gigs where I've had to use the "house amp" or one that the headliners bought with them, and gigged with several amps which I thought were far worse than those Behringer heads and probably cost quite a lot more. (Line6, in particular, were memorably bad.)

I know a rehearsal studio that bought a load of Behringer bass heads - kind of pot luck depending on the room you got whether you ended up playing through the Behringer or a Trace Elliot. And actually, I didn't mind too much. Both sounded pretty good. I did also have a little experience playing through a 90W(?) Behringer combo. That, unfortunately, was pretty horrible. Quite a woolly sound at the best of times. The one thing of theirs I actually own is their Bass OD. Cheap and cheerful, really. Good for doing a passable fuzz-bass sound, although not so good for soloing: if you wanted to make it cut through the mix at all, you had to wind the controls up until it sounded pretty horrible. Eventually upgraded to an Ibanez Bass Tubescreamer, which does that particular job just nicely. That said, of the other ODs I tried, a lot of them didn't sound all that much better than the Behringer - the distortion circuit on the MXR M-80 springs to mind in that respect.

[quote name='shinhoman' timestamp='1363792350' post='2017716'] You mention the Ashdown LB only being 30w, but I wouldn't rule the brand out entirely. Ashdown have 15w, 30w, 100w, 200w, 300w, 400w, and 427w valve heads... [/quote] Oh, I realise they have a wide range, and I certainly wouldn't rule out an Ashdown. The trouble is that all these other models are 'normal-sized' - the appeal of the LB was its size! Of course, if these other ones weigh less than the Nexus' alleged 36kg then they will certainly appeal. (Time I did a little more research, methinks.)

A few of you may have noticed that I recently blew the dust off the Laney Nexus Tube thread. Gassing quite hard for one, but if I do buy a new amp then a couple will have to go. One that will have to go is a Laney HardCoreMax-120B. It's seen active service for about 11 years now, and despite the daft name it's been a really great amp. 120W, 1x15 combo that's coped with everything from small pub gigs to the Covent Garden Arts Theatre. (It even did a live appearance on BBC Radio Wales with me!) Unfortunately, last summer it started playing up. From what I can gather, it sounds like the output transistors have failed, as when I switch it on I get nothing but a constant DC hum. Which makes it a bit more difficult to sell. [b]So:[/b] if anybody knows how to fix such a problem and would like to buy it off me, then make yourself known. I'd have liked to get £100 or so if it were working; will obviously take lower offers now it isn't! [b]Alternatively:[/b] if anybody can recommend a repair shop in London (even if it's your own) that can fix this problem for a good price, in order that I can sell a working amp, any suggestions are most welcome.

Not actually in a covers band any more, but back when I was: mostly for the money.

[quote name='richardjmorgan' timestamp='1363709355' post='2016326'] On that subject, anyone know where I might get a scratchplate done with the pickup coils flipped? [/quote] For a second, I was about to say "well, you could always try putting it on back-to-front." I think it's been one of those days...

If it's any reassurance or encouragement, I've re-done the wiring on my old P-bass at least a couple of times, and wired my recent Frankenstein build from scratch. Passive wiring on a single-pickup bass is pleasantly straightforward - especially since yours will lift straight out on the scratchplate! There are plenty of pot upgrades floating around eBay, and all the ones I've bought come with a wiring diagram. (That said, the last set I bought came with a slightly incorrect diagram! Might be best to sketch your own from the existing wiring as a backup!) Also, now that you mention it: I've long been keen to see whether reversing the pickup makes much difference. I've always thought it might give a bit more snarl on the bass side and a bit more roundedness on the treble side. Only drawback is you'll probably need to take a router to the body to re-cut the pickup cavity. Still, if you do decide to try it, I'd love to hear what you think of the results!

Sadly I don't know! Though from looking online, I think the fact that it was in blonde tolex dates it to the early '60s - so you're right, it would probably only have been 50W. (Not sure where I got 200 from!) The weight could likely be an issue, though - apparently the head is almost as twice as heavy as the 1x15 cab I've been eyeing up! I know a lot of people would suggest an Orange Tiny Terror when this question is bought up, but I have to say I wasn't blown away by the one I tried. And unfortunately the Ashdown Little Bastard only comes as a 30W (last I heard the 550 was only a limited run). On the other hand, for those gigs where we're actually bringing all/most of our own gear, we'd probably throw it all in the car anyway. So perhaps a 36kg head becomes less of a problem then. Thinking out loud now, feel free to ignore me.

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1363639277' post='2015192'] If you go to the reviews section you'll see my review of the NX115 cab [/quote] Think I've found it: "Its not even remotely clear and hifi-like...those with Alembics or other high end gear looking for a clear tone just stop reading cos this one ain't for you alright?" - this sounds very promising. Good review, by the way, it basically told me everything I wanted to know. Glad to hear it copes well with your T-bird as well - I'm mostly gigging with my Epi EB-3 at the moment so it's reassuring to know it can cope with passive humbuckers. [quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1363643523' post='2015317'] Nexus is really very far from a trad Fender Bassman. So much headroom for starters. [/quote] Well, it is 400W compared with 200W(?), I guess. I probably couldn't have gigged that Bassman without quite a bit of bolstering from the PA. And I'd probably be connecting it to a 115 instead of a 212. Still, Delbert's review suggests it's likely to give me the sort of valve-y dirt I'm after. Whether it has the same sweet qualities I found in the Fender, well, I guess only a trip to GAK will tell...

Bump. *blows off dust* I too am looking quite seriously at one of these. Was tempted to look for a smaller head, but I didn't like the tone of the Terror Bass, and the Ashdown LB's are only 30W. So: I just recorded an album through the studio's Fender Bassman. Loved the tone, particularly as I could get a bit John Entwistle / Lemmy with it. I've normally looked to Laneys when buying amps because I feel I can trust them and I like the tone. Can any owners or previous users suggest whether I might regret trading in my RB8 and investing in a Nexus head and 115 cab*? * after saving up for a few months, of course...

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1363202299' post='2009790'] I couldn't tell it from the Arse flavoured ale. [/quote] You win this thread.