Al Krow

'Fess up: which of us weren't impressed by our fellow BC'er playing AND singing on this video a couple of months back? In fact that YT clip is one of the most liked posts on BC we've had in ages and was only marginally beaten by the picture of a bass lying in its case...

I think you have successfully defined middle aged rock n roll. 😁

De-railing a de-rail - is that a bit like a do-run-run? 😁 Loving it - still on Mark from TB's Slap Basics course and trying to do a little bit each day. As well as the slap, hammer-on, slides, ghost note and pop techniques, one of the most important bits from the course I'm benefiting from is the precision on timing, which kinda ties in to our pick discussion - except we're obviously not using a pick for slap bass! A riff as simple as the one below, as an example, with the various off-beats can take me several practice sessions to master and then Mark is playing at a speed that is literally double what I can manage initially so there's then a second area of challenge (oh, don't worry, he starts the thing slow and breaks it all down to begin with). There may be 5 such recap exercises in a single lesson going over the most recently introduced ideas and techniques, and a single lesson can therefore take a couple of weeks to get through, although other lessons can be done much more quickly. Instead of a metronome, I'm using the drum machine on my Zoom B1X-4 and frankly it's almost worth the price of the pedal just for this; it's really useful for working on precision timing and being able to start slow and speed things up. I reckon this course alone will get me to the end of lock-down at current rates of progress and then I've got his Walking Bass and Chords for Bass Guitar courses to follow, so I'm definitely being kept out of mischief by Mark

I only really started playing with pick about 18 months back and it was definitely a different technique to finger style and took a little getting used to. What did surprise me was that, amongst the bass players in the various bands that my covers bandmates play in (we're mostly all in at least a couple of bands), pick playing seemed to be a minority sport! I particularly like the precision of timing / crispness of notes you can get with a pick compared to fingers and it can work really well when combined with muted palm on some tracks e.g. MJ's "the way you make me feel".

Thanks for sharing that Dave - he's one of my bass heroes

When I was listening to the micro iLouds vs the Creative T40 ii on the Digital Stereophony site I couldn't hear very much difference at all and I'm now thinking that unless you have a decent driver which you'll get in a decent amp but not likely in a PC, then upgrading the speakers from decent --> high end is not going to be that noticeable. But obviously hearing something "in the flesh" vs over headphones on a YT recording is not going to be the same. Steve - so my key question for you, if you don't mind, before I take the plunge: would you mind A/Bing your T40s and your NS3s and letting me know if there is a noticeable difference in the sound?

@Sk1 - congrats on getting a WD800! A very elite club here in the UK! If you fancy posting a review when you've had a chance to put it through its paces, that would be very welcome. Be interested in what you've had before amp wise and how it stacks up against them?

But this is the thread where it actually hurts in the wallet to fail 😁 3 down, 4 to go...

What model was it in the end? A BB425 by the looks of the bridge? Congrats on the new bass, btw, I'm intrigued what it sounds like with the addition of the East Uni-Pre.

Cheers Dave - I've been impressed by this guy's YT posts on Helix of the ones of his I've seen so far. Added this to my "watch later" list!

Administration is a common device to get out of shop or office leases and generally stuff creditors and suppliers. Probably what's happening here - more death of the High Street. Whether you like them or loathe them, landlords are collectively getting a battering at the moment e.g. Hammerson, which owns retail shopping centres, share price is down a whopping 75% compared to what it was pre Covid crash.

That's entirely relevant and appropriate as an approach to what the OP is asking. What I would say is that basses can be more than just tools. They can also be beautiful examples of craftsmanship and can be enjoyed as collectibles or just be for home use. Besides not everyone plays in a gigging band. It's possible to have different basses fulfilling different roles - there isn't a right answer here: what works for one won't necessarily for another. At the end of the day we're all grown ups and part of that is being able to spend our hard earned cash on whatever gives us joy and use, or simply appreciate, our gear how we choose.

Not sure they would fit comfortably on my little bass-ment desk 😁

Came across one comment on one of the YT reviews in response to another post. "Tell us more about the equipment behind your friends' Yamahas? I guess they're using a computer. So the audio interface, settings, even cables and especially audio drivers. Connected directly to the PC, my Yamaha HS8's sound like a mid-priced gaming speakers without ASIO driver. The difference is dramatic." Got me thinking that as I'm going to be connecting to my PC, getting better quality speakers may just be a waste of time?!

I've had / still have various really good isolated PSUs including the 1Spot CS6, Ciocks DC5 and 8, and MXR IsoBrick. I've recently been very pleasantly surprised by the HB IsoPro5 from Thomann which is tiny (will easily fit under your board), noiseless, has different voltage settings on a couple of outputs (9V, 12V and 18V) and delivers a fair chunk of isolated power (1.9 amps in total). And it costs around £50 including P&P, which makes it incredible value.

The Digital Stereophony site is just excellent (through a decent pair of headphones). Even had a comparison of my current T40s against the iLouds I was thinking of getting! The iLouds do have a bigger bass (e.g. at 02.30) but I'm not convinced they are going to be a significant step up. Back to the drawing board!

Cheers Steve, I'll check those out. Spooky coincidence on the Creative T40s! Did you consider / compare any others in arriving at the NS3s? If so, be very interested in which ones were on your list and why you went for the NS3s over them.

Seems like an additional sub is probably the way to go then? One of the things about the iLoud is the bass reflex port, which seems to really help with the lows from the clips I've seen so far. I suspect it's not going to be in same league as the Adam T5V or the Yammy MSP5s with their 5" speakers but on the plus the iLouds are more compact, which is going to helpful for me, and I suspect half the price (which doesn't hurt either )

Cheers Jack - actually for both audio work and probably even more for listening to music e.g. playing tracks to practice along to at home. Yeah - interesting you comment on the Produce like a Pro Guy - it was actually one of his other videos that got me thinking about this in the first place. He seems to be pretty "independent" i.e. doesn't have a particular axe to grind which makes his reviews that much more useful. I'm thinking that the iLouds should be a very decent step-up from the budget Creative Gigaworks I've been using for the past few years though.

My research so far has identified the iLoud MMs as being decent - they seem to stand up well against the well rated Genelec 8010A and certainly have a fuller bass. They're also half the price!

That would be a really cool thread...over to you on that one!

I've been using a pair of Creative Gigaworks T40 ii for home / studio desk use for several years and they're not too shabby at all. But I wouldn't mind stepping up a level in terms of sound quality, whilst keeping things compact. What are you guys using that you could recommend that delivers a great sound with a meaty low end?

Yeah but if you follow that logic to its conclusion then everything is equally valid and equally crap and no point in asking anyone about anything: it'll be just their opinion at the end of the day and therefore "meaningless." Whereas I suspect a few of us do find the views and opinions shared by folk at bassplayer magazine (and similar outfits) worth checking out. If folk don't find it interesting, useful or helpful they should defo avoid. I've never clicked on any of the endless “8 cool ways to thread a fishing rod” posts in my life and I don't suppose I ever will. Just sayin' 😉