Dood

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='952244' date='Sep 10 2010, 08:54 PM']1) Study really hard. 2) Be nice to everyone you meet. 3) Have some good fortune. 4) Be willing to play absolutely anything and smile while doing it.[/quote] 5) Get some real business knowledge and support under your belt. For example - on going to just one 'starting up your own business' type course I learned a whole bunch of stuff that I didn't even think about at first. It IS very important because there is some very valuable advice to be had. This could also include taking advice from professional bodies such as the Musician's Union and Music Leader to name just two. 6) Always chase up leads and be contactable. If you don't take the bait, there 200 bass players who are chomping at the bit instead. 7) Be punctual if you are depping / doing session work. Infact - just make sure you stick to timescales and show that YOU are in control of your time. 8) Like any job C.V - You should be able to make examples of your playing available at a moments notice. That's up to you to decide how you do that - but there are plenty of online resources out there! I'm gonna stop there - as I could list ideas for days!!

Hi Wbm28, That's actually a really difficult question to answer - that's a bit like asking 'I'm painting a room, what's the best colour to do it in?' Firstly, there's personal taste - you might hate (perish the thought) the sound of an SVT stack, but love a modern SWR type sound. Also, we know nothing about the kind of gear you are plugging in to. Are you playing directly in to a PA? or do you have some backline to contend with as well? What gear are you using? I am assuming that by your ID, you play a Warwick? Obviously that will impact the tone too! - So - quite a lot to think about - and there is certainly no 'one best tone' because you have too many variables to think about. Put it this way - grab the Line6 manual - make sure the unit is configured to run with your set up (I say that, because so many people don't bother to check first and wonder why it sounds woolly and horrible) - then IGNORE all the pre-programmed patches - they are naff! - Start dialling a few patches with your rig and find out what sounds nice and what doesnt. You'll soon start to find certain amplifier combinations that work and others that dont. Oh - and me personally? When it comes to playing live with a backline and I am using my X3 - ALL of my bass amp sims are switched off - as I see little point in emulating a rig on the X3, when I have an amazing one stood behind me! - It's a different story if I were to use in-ears or straight to PA. I do however use guitar amp sims and cabinets for distortion patches instead of distortion pedal 'sounds' from the X3. Hope this helps and is food for thought. Dooooooooooooooooooooood!

Oh, if you can get a clear recording of the distortion, by miking up the cab - we can have a listen!

[quote name='Dudgeman' post='951351' date='Sep 10 2010, 12:35 AM']Running Ashdown ABM 300 EVO2 and while looking for a clean tone I am getting distortion on Ab ( On E string) ..not on G or A or even pounding out E's. tried the cab with other heads and no problem there..any idea what would cause distotion on such a specific frequency? Thanks[/quote] It would depend on the type of distortion you are refering to - and would be difficult to tell, without hearing it. My first thoughts that you are hitting the natural resonance of something. Have you tried a different bass in to your amp and cab? Could you also plug your bass directly in to the 'return' of the effects loop and play to see if you get the distortion there too? Then we can start to see what *could* be causing the problem. I think the EVO has a preamp valve? for example - that could be loose / in need of replacement - but it could be so many other things!

What's the name of that 'law' that suggests the perceived desirability of a commodity goes up as it's price does?

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='951335' date='Sep 10 2010, 12:14 AM']You forgot fingerboard LEDs. [/quote] He he he!!!! I did! Yup - Those too!! - and....and... swirly dot shapes... and ...umm.. nah.Can't think of anything else .. Active pickups!! and.. ramps!! [/coat]

[quote name='sjohns' post='947306' date='Sep 6 2010, 03:31 PM']Thanx Dood! I will have a look tonight! I am looking to turn it into a rig for both g*****r and bass (at seprate times) just didnt know how and once again the knowledge of the bc world helps, tho i really should have read the manual lol Thanx again, Steve[/quote] You can use the X3 as you describe - and for example, set up multiple patches on channel A for guitar sounds and lock channel B to bass sounds. The guitarist will still be able to change his channels and your bass tone will remain unchanged. There is a lot to explain - but to be honest, grab yourself a coffee and grab the manual. Line 6 write their manuals in quite a friendly way - and as soon as you start having a play with it - you'll get the hang of it!

I'm glad you have it sorted now Cetera. I was about to go shoot myself cos I thought I was losing my touch! - damn those pesky leads ey!!!

Headless Basses, Singlecuts, Silly multicolour paint jobs, aircraft landing strip sized fretboards and ones with too many strings

Very unacceptable!!!! - Stag knows a GREAT repair guy who has looked after him who lives in 'our area' - and the turn around was days, not weeks. AND I would expect the shop where you purchased be falling over themselves to be helping you. Name and Shame my good man - then you can let them we have over 11,000 bass players could see how shoddy they are!

[quote name='michael-faces' post='950186' date='Sep 9 2010, 07:34 AM']Yeah it was £38. Thanks again for all the help! I've learnt from this, but still feel so silly . All I had to do was flick a switch at the back and i'd be fine![/quote] Ahhhhh mate! Well, I'm glad you are up and running again and that the additional cost has not dulled the experience. It's a bit of a rare preamp these days - so worth hanging on to!

[quote name='michael-faces' post='948818' date='Sep 7 2010, 09:08 PM']Nah, mine was cheaper including postage and everything. Or it was before I do this repair. I bought mine from craiglists (bit risky, but I did know the guy from ebay with a perfect seller rating). By the way, any idea how much this might cost to repair? Dood, you're beginning to look like a bit of an expert on the amp front to me![/quote] Ahh! Ok, gotcha - it was just after our strangely coincidental conversation about preamps the other day - and having seen the BC-1 on TB! Ok, you got me - I am actually fanatical and slightly rather geeky about all things Bass! It probably wouldn't be an understatement to say I have studied Bass for over 20 years lol! [quote name='umph' post='948912' date='Sep 7 2010, 10:26 PM']depends on what you've fried, if the PT is fine i shouldn't expect it to be a to hefty bill.[/quote] Yeah I agree - ball park figure including labour? Most reputable local repairers will probably charge about 30-50 quid.

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='950021' date='Sep 8 2010, 10:31 PM']Any progress on venues for this bash ?? T[/quote] Nothing forthcoming here right now - I don't know Cambridge well enough..err.. barely at all to be honest!

[quote name='Jamesemt' post='947835' date='Sep 7 2010, 12:37 AM']I could do with a tuner pedal and a compressor, but need it to be a one box solution. Can anyone recommend a multi FX pedal that does these two functions well?[/quote] Throw the cat amongsth the pigeons - How about changing your amp head for a TC RH450? Tuner, multiband compressor, programmeable AND an amp head all in one box - ok - so it's an expensive way to do it!

It depends on what I have played before it and and where I need to go after!

I have always truly believed that when it comes to trying to communicate or express a feeling through my chosen instrument, it should be as fluid as conversation itself - and that is what I strive toward. Hell - I have a long way to go but to build up a musical vocabulary that flows from the speakers like speech itself is like nirvana for me I reckon. And what is day to day conversation? It's closer to improvisation than reading off the page for sure! So for me, improvisation is very important. You can still stick rigidly to the framework of a song in much the same way that a bunch of people will talk about a certain football manager or whatever - you'd look a bit stupid going off on a tangent about hatstands and hyperthirculators - but my point is - freely improv' in context. I feel that if you never improvised - how would you ever come up with new ideas? It's jamming that can help gel musicians together and 'bond' musically too. my thrupenny-bit

[quote name='michael-faces' post='948672' date='Sep 7 2010, 07:27 PM']Ahh man! How did I miss something so simple? I've never even heard of the voltage change or whatever. Oh well, I guess we learn from our mistakes. I'll be hearing from my local luthier tomorrow, hopefully it shouldn't be too much to fix. Thanks for all your help![/quote] You wouldn't happen to have bought the BC-1 that was advertised on TalkBass would you?

[quote name='gafbass02' post='948235' date='Sep 7 2010, 01:09 PM']Ahh. Cheers Dood.[/quote] Anytime chap!

[quote name='Merton' post='948516' date='Sep 7 2010, 05:17 PM']Hartke LH500 or LH1000 [/quote] Yup - Listening to S1mon's recordings, I really like the tone of the LH with the Barefaced cabs. Infact, Alex himslef has recommended the LH1000 as a great sounding and financially viable option for powering his cabinets. I'm very pleased with my LH1000.

I really can't understand why it hasn't worked Cetera! - I've most defintely had it working for a long time in my own rigs. As I say, the last two contenders have been the MXR M80 with a parallel out and also the Sansamp ParaDriver, which is the pedal version of the RPM. What were you finding not working about it?

[quote name='gafbass02' post='947994' date='Sep 7 2010, 09:38 AM']Saga? Have a missed a saga? What's a Pearce anyway? Sorry to hear it's died.[/quote] Made famous by the likes of Billy Sheehan as a cracking 'distortion' preamp. There's a guitar version too. The BC-1 had a Sheehan mod for extra gain - and I think he still uses them now.

[quote name='JTUK' post='947981' date='Sep 7 2010, 09:26 AM']I assume it was set up for UK voltage and not U.S..just a guess here, as well.[/quote] My immediate thought.

[quote name='270degrees' post='948205' date='Sep 7 2010, 12:47 PM']My query isn't about cabs but it is something to do with being on the wiki: in the strings section, it lists Roto Jazz 77 flats as having a very high tension and doesn't mention the tension (!!) of the La Bella JJ (Original 54) flats. My recent experience (I went straight from the 77's to the JJ's) show the reverse to be true. The Rotos were fine, the JJ's are stupidly high tension. Am I missing something?[/quote] Maybe it's time for people to get more involved with the wiki and have some updates! -I'm not familiar with any kind of flatwounds so unfortunately can't comment.

Hey Steve - I know it's really boring - but the manual is your saviour! - You can run the X3 in so many different configurations, including running in to a power amplifier, a mixing desk, a recording console, a combo amp - or even splitting so half of it is used as a microphone channel for a singer and the other half for a bass / guitar player. Depending on which you chose could require some tweaking in the config menus to get things on the way to sounding right. I think that's usually the point that people get bored and give up with the X3 lols! But please stick with it - they eally aren't as bad as some make out. I really like mine! I've run mine straight in to a power amp and cab and can confirm it's fine!