Dood

It reminds me of when I had been a Hartke artist for about 15 odd years and all of a sudden Sheehan, Wootton, Bello and a whole host of other top players joined the roster too. 😁 I liked to think I have inspired someone, somewhere on the planet.. Your bass looks absolutely fantastic! I too have a MIJ precision that will get the treatment and, although I adore candy apple red, even the candy cola red, I have a slight obsession with chameleon flip paint and have a very special red in mind! Thank you for posting, definitely solidified my plan!

I really like his red one. Which has given me a great idea for my next 'tribute' build...

Yes, hence why I concluded, “So, given the learning curve, if you can get Logic and intend to pursue music production, go straight for it. ” and made no mention of having to buy 3rd plugins, just the side effect caused by the sorts of GAS we end up suffering from. From a career point of view, if the OP goes to specifically study a course or work in a studio where DAWs are used, then they are more likely to use a full-fat system from the get-go. So sure, by all means start on GarageBand, its actually a good app, but, like me with video production, I saw no point faffing around with iMovie, rather saving the time and energy in learning an industry standard application instead, because it was part of my career path. Horses for course, sure - I’m just focussing on what the OP was actually asking for: “I want to pursue music production as a career and make sure that in future the DAW should have all the features that a music producer need.” However, in the defence of third party plugins whilst I am here - they aren’t all about ‘presets for stupid people’, there’s some insanely good virtual instruments, workflow utilities and as I’d mentioned, plugins that help users learn too. Not to mention the piles of free offerings that Logic does not include natively such as Neural Amp Modeller and SSL 360’s controller software. Of course, as you’d mentioned your Simmonds add-ons, plenty of brands offer proprietary software versions of their hardware also not available in Logic natively - none of which are designed to primarily dumb down the creative process, but to aid it. Still, each to thier own.

Thank you so much! I wrote the Nathan East inspired track to go with my demo video and, it seemed fitting to use a 6 string headless as Nathan has one too. Love that bass!

Gotta love a Gus! I have a possible answer for the pits and pocks in that finish. Today's flip-paints are much better than they were. The original chameleon shifts were suitable for car bodies where we tended to see them used first: Hard, metal surfaces, but, due to the way that those pigments 'crystalise' in the same direction in order to make the flip work, it ended up being a really brittle finish. This is further compounded by luthiers wanting to keep finishes thin to hang on to those 'tonewood' properties. My 7 string has an early flip paint on it that isn't dissimilar to the one pictured and it has succumbed to the same. Its not that the bass ever got bashed hard, it's just that the finish wasn't up to the job. My 6 string has had its flip refinished, arguably done twice as many gigs and received a good few bashes on the way, shows not even a scratch.

Thank you for taking my response with the humour intended and for your thoughtful reply. Yeah, its a pain when upgrading systems. My current machine can no longer accept OS updates and therefore no updates to Logic. When I do finally upgrade, although my existing Logic install will work for now, it is recommended to buy the latest version to make use of all the newer functions in the curent version of Logic (and the new ones in the Creator suite announced t'other day). So, even Logic will want me to move with the times and enjoy its in-built tech in exchange for the mighty dollar. Totally up to the individual and, one thing that occured to me whilst reading your reply, is that we're both offering a route to cost effectivity. You on one hand have responded to the OP in getting the best use out of Logic's own plugins first thus saving money. As the OP had suggested they wanted to get directly in to music, I'd suggested getting to grips with Logic straight away rather than learning Garageband first. So, saving the cost of time. - and then not wasting hours doom scrolling the sites I mentioned when tech-fomo kicks in!

Apologies for not having been clearer, neither instrument has a flip finish currently. Totally agree, you are quite correct regarding the finishes and, the reason why I'd asked for a specialist is because I've spoken to one or two spray shops who don't know how flip paints work. It is indeed a one pass after the body has been prepared (for all the reasons you mention and more), then lacquered over the top of the flip. Interestingly, as a side note, you can spray over an existing flip finish with a caveat: If it is a new finish rather than "adding an effect" to the first, flip paints work best with a base coat - otherwise they are just affected by the existing finish. I'm going for maximum flip from the paint I have in mind and therefore a black base coat is necessary. I think with any refinish I'd be inclided to strip back the original anyway, but that requires extra effort and £££. Cheers.

Its a tough one with equalisers versus notch filters as the latter tends to have a very narrow filter. A standard EQ can sometimes carve away too many adjacent frequencies when endeavouring to create the same amount of attenuation that a notch filter typically does to surgically deal with troublesome frequencies. The EBS' Stanley Clark and MB preamps do have a notch filter, the Bergantino Super Pre uses 'anti-feedback' processing which is useful for acoustic instrumnets struggling with howling and feedback. Another notch filter of sorts, but of the dynamic EQ variety.

Good lord, how did I forget Andy. I think he may be a bit of a busy bee - I've not seen him for a while. Good call, thank you.

Yes, rock in parallel to the string, including where the string sits specifically as worn spots can affect as well as high frets. Also, make sure your rocker is absolutely true and flat. There's tons of cheap ones on ebay and amazon that fail at their one and only job!

I'd like to get two basses refinished in my *ehem* signature chameleon flip-paint. I know that not all 'refinishers' have experience of these specialised paints (the application is different to say, poly), so I'm on the look out for some who know what they are doing - ideally local to me in East Anglia.

Then I'll have only spent 30 quid on a big pile of plugins, 🤷🏻. Have you never gained something for free on top of a purchase you wanted and not looked the gift horse in the mouth? As it happens, all of the plugins in question are well supported in to hardware that I don't even own yet, so that's a non-issue anyway. You do come across as the fun police in this post. So what if someone wants to get a plugin in because, I dunno, it looks pretty. And, actually, there are plenty of plugins out there whose presets are very valuable in learning how to set up sounds yourself. (Logic's plugin presets can be helpful ) Sonible's 'Learn' suite is a great place to start offering features that Logic does not and it was available for a super deal on Plugin Boutique recently. Logic IS very good, but lets be honest, there are better sounding plugin products out there, you know that, I know that. Of the piles of examples I could give, Spitfire's free orchestral strings sound better than Logic's. Loud_Melody has already said they want to pursue music, so why not have this discussion rather than gatekeeping the learning process? Music creation is supposed to be fun too and if a 3rd party sampler, plugin or utility product helps turn ideas in to reality, then why TF not? I just got lucky with an online promotion and maybe Loud_Melody will too. Then £30 for a professional musican / producer is looking like a pretty good deal, I guess.

And it wont be too long before you're doom scrolling Bedroom Producer's Blog, Plugin Alliance, Plugin Boutique, Amner Hunter's YouTube page and the various Facebook groups for deals on tasty plugins! Just before Christmas I scored about £1800 of IK Multimedia plugins for thirty quid. reeeeesult!

Yes. I joined Logic in version 9 and didnt open garageband until I'd been using LPX for a long while. (I'd actually been using Reaper until I finally started using Logic, which is also a very good DAW). So, given the learning curve, if you can get Logic and intend to pursue music production, go straight for it.

For placing the holes in the right place, I drop the tuners in to the headstock. Those with a nut on the front are helpful as you can secure the keys in the final position, but those that don't, like 'fender' keys, I use tape to hold in the exact postion I want the keys to sit - ensuring they are level, straight etc etc. Then I use a fat "nib" pencil that fills the tuning key screw hole nicely to ensure the dot I am marking is centred. Then I follow the same approach as above. Oh and make sure the headstock is flat and parallel to the level surface you are working on, which isn't easy with an angled back headstock, but it will help make sure the drill holes are straight. For drilling pilot holes, I measure the screw thread depth against the drill bit and pop a little tape around the drill bit to tell me when to stop drilling, so I dont go too deep! I haven't drilled through a headstock yet but I've seen it happen.

Joel McIver is a fantastic editor (and author) to have in the hot seat and, it was between Joel and our @Mike Brooks that I have to thank for my job and many years working with them with my own column each month in Bass Guitar Magazine and later Bass Player Magazine. Wishing you all very well in this new venture ☺️ @Gunsfreddy2003

Blimey, who is THIS young whipper-snapper?? (I’d just like to add that this video is older than 8 years!) - I’m not sure what happened to the Cliff Burton bass review.

Good question and I can’t remember what I did when I had a BH800, so I am no help there - but, you can edit TonePrint pedals - Spectracomp and HyperGravity I’ve edited many times to get the behaviours I want from them. I feel a bit sad for TC, they had an impressive roster of artists and were pushing the envelope of bass tech, then someone decided to pull the plug. Friends left the company and many of the products are long since discontinued. I really rate their compressors and at the time, their multi-effect processors were unrivalled. I bought a BH head for my daughter recently and I was reminded how good they sound.

Like buying a car, it would be helpful to know what you want from an amplifier. How will it fit your needs and anything that would be a hard-pass. What style(s) of music do you play? Do you favour all HiFi goodness? Completely flat and direct? Raunchy drive, metal or some old school Jack Bruce thump? If you’re looking for all of that then there’s also avenues to explore. Don’t forget also that the speaker cabinet makes a huge difference and battles have been lost either in performance or just taste because the signal chain didn’t play ball. What kit are you using? I’ll post my reviews playlist later, out of the hundreds of videos, there’s a good few amplifiers in there to check the specs of and find something you like.

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback ☺️🙏 I’m very pleased to hear it, I hope that my Bass Gear Magazine reviews do too, but I never really know!

I use DT770 Pro, so I was all over the app for a test! Hmmm, I like the EQ ‘flattening’, I’m slightly less enamoured about engaging the speaker function which definitely works better in the ‘dry’ setting to me. That said, I can’t really complain as it’s not as if I have to splurge for the price of Sound ID’s headphone correction software! Still, good to have the ole cans out again!

I’m not sure if Laney are at NAMM, but this week they announced the brand new Nathan East preamplifier pedal. I was involved with the testing and was asked to produce a product release demo for Laney and Nathan. I’ve linked my video in our reviews section.. because, you know, BassChat and everything Please give me some nice feedback on the YouTube video itself, show some love ❤️

Here’s my promo video I recorded for Laney Amplification to support the release of Nathan East’s new Digbeth Preamplifier Pedal this week. I am also very proud to have been an important part of the prototyping and testing for Nathan’s pedal prior to release and was involved in tweaking the tonal parameters.

Thank you! Looks like I’ll need to hear them! - I saw there’s quite a few different sets available. Have you tried the different types?

This! I am obsessed with this sound! It’s sounds a great deal like my 76 P bass but more of everything. I’ve never tried Optima Gold strings before, but hearing comparisons against standard Nickels, it’s exciting stuff.. to my ear anyway. I asked Don what EMG he has on board and he let me know it’s a P-X.. so, guess what I want now!! Literally the sound I’ve had in my head for years!