AinsleyWalker

But if you're just looking for black/plain coloured flats, I'm fairly sure La Bella Deep Talking Flats have black silk wrapping on them

2 hours ago, thebrig said:

Thanks, I must have missed that thread, I've just read it with interest and it seems I'm not alone in my dislike for silk wrapping.

I remember trying some black nylon strings once, I paid quite a bit for them but they had bright gold wrapping which looked hideous over black, they lasted about two days before I removed them. 😫

I think I could live with grey or even black wraps, but not the bright colours unfortunately.

Don't the manufacturers realise that the brightly coloured wraps stop a lot of us buying their strings? 🤔

Haha that thread... I ended up ignoring replies after a while, seem to remember getting some stick from people for 'caring too much' or whatever. Can't help liking things a certain way! 🤷‍♂️
I don't mind the sight of silks, I just hate when they're badly misaligned, can deal with a few mm or whatever but sometimes you get one, (Often the E string) that doesn't line up and it bugs me haha.
Last time I got my bass setup they put some flats on and they were all aligned perfectly, but people on here seem to think it's impossible to do every time...

On 23/07/2020 at 08:19, Woodinblack said:

Not sure why it makes a difference if it is active or not, if you want to change your EQ on your pedalboard, there seems to be a lot of options to do it.

Luckily I have all the toneshaping I want on my amp, because I certainly don't have room on my pedalboard!

I've read a lot of opinions about sending a preamp into a preamp (not including the preamp within the amp) and gain stages, issues with noise floors etc. 
Like I said I know there are no rules and it's about preference but I wanted to see what people thought.

So it seems I have had foldover distortion on a lot of my patches due to the sum of the 4 VOLUME sliders being greater than 127, or the saw + sq. + tri in once VCO was greater than 127. 
but I tried reducing these numbers and adjusting volume to eliminate foldover distortion and I can't say I hear a whole lot of difference to be honest? i was expecting things to sound cleaner?

3 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Basically if the sum of volume sliders within a single oscillator goes over 127 then foldover distortion occurs. The same is true if the master volumes of two-or-more oscillators goes over 127. This is a design feature and some interesting sounds can be made with it. Try bypassing the filter entirely and assign the VCF envelope to one of the oscillator volume sliders so that at some point in the cycle the sum of volumes goes over 127. Several of my patches use this feature, usually the ones which are a pseudo FM sound. 

What I love about this pedal is that every time I turn it on, or open the editor, or engage in this kind of discussion, I learn so much! While I've made a ton of really great sounds from scratch, there are still large sections of the interface I do not fully understand.
Thanks again for the info, I feel like this is going to be very useful. I'm going to spend some serious time this evening looking into what you've said and reading the manual more as I clearly need to! 

1 minute ago, Quatschmacher said:

There is no combination of settings which makes a sound warmer. They are simple volume controls, one with a linear taper, the other with a logarithmic taper. You are correct that the old software only had one slider. The second slider was added to give a better response when controlling it with a flexi slot.

Setting the VCO levels is a different matter entirely. You need to pay careful attention to the levels set on both the three waveform sliders within a single oscillator and the levels of the master VCO volumes of all four oscillators. Read the manual section on foldover distortion for an explanation. 

I see, thank you very much!

Hi! Got any general advice for setting volume?
I've been reading a bit about VCF LIN and VCF LOG and what's going on there (there was only one VCF volume on the old software I believe) and I'm finding that setting the LIN lower and the LOG higher gives slightly more warmth to the sound generally? I'm not sure if this is true but it seems to sound better with the LIN lower. 
At this point a lot of it is trial and error in terms of setting the volume on each VCO, in the VCF input section (synth) and the LIN and LOG settings. 

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with running active basses into preamp pedals (for EQ purposes, not talking using things like Darkglass pedals for drive, I know that's amazing from experience!)

I've always found having some form of EQ (used to own a GE-7B) on my board to be really helpful even though both of my basses are active (MM Stingray 4, Ibanez ATK-305) and I've been really interested in getting the Aguilar Tone Hammer or something similar for some more sound sculpting options but I'm undecided if it's 100% necessary.

I know it's all about taste and there's no right or wrong way a lot of the time but I thought I'd see what people's thoughts were first.

Cheers!
 

Amazing drive pedal, bought new in 2016.
Works great with guitar, bass, synth, just about anything.  Use of Tone and Filter controls in conjunction allow plenty of low end through for bass.
Capable of subtle drive to all-out fuzz. Expression pedal input allows you to control the Filter for some useful filter sweep/wah-like effects.

Comes with box. Price includes postage.

33 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

I really think some people should spend more time playing their basses! I have never, ever, considered whether the silk bindings on the strings line up. There are 5 or 6 basses upstairs and I couldn't even tell you what strings are on them, never mind the colour of the silk or whether they align. 

The bass is just a tool for making music. Like a screwdriver or a hammer, just more expensive!

Mate first of all you've got no idea how much I personally play my basses, so I'm not sure what the need for snide comments like that are implying I'm sat looking at them rather than playing.... Secondly, this is not about comparison, I'm not interested in whether you've never thought about it, good for you I suppose!
Another example would be how most people I know have pedalboards that are trashed and filled with dust and dirt and they don't care, but I like mine clean, tidy and laid out a certain way and that's just my preference, I'm not interested in what others do or prefer, I've simply come here asking if it's possible to achieve a certain outcome and if not, then no big deal! I'm not losing sleep over it, just asking for advice... 
 

Just now, fretmeister said:

Measure from the ball end to the start of the silk.

 

Then cut some off the silk end.

Then measure from the ball end again to the start of the silk. It will not have changed at all.

When you install them they will change because different gauge strings stretch at slightly different rates.

 

You got lucky with your existing set. Nothing more than that. You could go through 100 sets and never get them lined up again.

I have to say though, I've been playing 30 years and I've never heard of anyone be worried about it, and I have terrible OCD!

Well good for all those other people who aren't worried about it lol,  personally don't want my bass looking messy and I think misaligned silks look awful, so if I can get them to line up again then I will. If not, I'll just buy a set with no silks. Not a huge deal, just trying to get some advice.

7 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

The length it was trimmed at is irrelevant!

That's only the bit that wraps round the tuner. The remains of the string would be the same - the effective speaking length plus the extra between the nut and the tuner and the saddle and the back of the bridge.

You just got lucky. 

 

Even so - the A string isn't level with the other 2.

 

It's more or less level lol..
I tried putting on a set today and none of them were even within 1cm of each other. Just looked completely stupid.

3 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

The length it was trimmed at is irrelevant!

That's only the bit that wraps round the tuner. The remains of the string would be the same - the effective speaking length plus the extra between the nut and the tuner and the saddle and the back of the bridge.

You just got lucky. 

 

Even so - the A string isn't level with the other 2.

 

So you're telling me that I could trim off 1 inch or 2 and the silk would end at the exact same point...? 

3 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Is trimming them a good idea? Are the silks part of keeping the string together?

The old set here are all different lengths, meaning they've 100% been trimmed down with wire cutters, as you would normally do with any set of strings. They've not unravelled or anything. They were on my bass for nearly 4 years.

1 minute ago, Reggaebass said:

Unless I’m missing something , you can’t alter the silk length (unless you trim it ), it’s how they are made , out of 14 basses only 2 of mine are in line, as BigRedX says, I think you were just lucky 

 I did say in the original post that each string had been trimmed to a specific length:  "I would believe this, except my old set were all aligned perfectly and each string had been trimmed to fit."

 I find it hard to believe that these strings (and the G string) just happened to line up by chance...

Just now, fretmeister said:

Definitely just luck. They all stretch slightly differently.

If it bothers you I think you'll have to swap to strings that haven't got silks at all.

Unfortunately there are no flatwound strings that have no silks

So I broke a string on my Musicman Stingray and put a new set of flats on, but the silks didn't line up after I trimmed them down... My previous set lined up perfectly (were put on by a guitar tech friend). 
I tried googling solutions but every site/forum tells me that it's simply not possible to get them to line up perfectly... I would believe this, except my old set were all aligned perfectly and each string had been trimmed to fit. He can't remember exactly what he did (it was over 3 years ago he gave me a set-up), but says he can't imagine doing anything special beyond the 3 machinehead rule.

I may just keep the old strings that I've taken off and try to get a new set to the exact individual lengths as the old set (bar the G string which is no good and in pieces). Anyone think this will be my best bet? Or have any other suggestions that work for them?
Thanks

1 minute ago, Pauld said:

I think they’re D’addario chromes. Mine have blue silks, and only D’addario make strings with different coloured ball ends.

I think you're right! Thanks 

26 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

Post a photo?  Include both ends of the string, and the ball-ends themselves.

 

Here's a pic of headstock end of strings and the ball-end of the D string. All the balls are different colours. 

6 minutes ago, Silvia Bluejay said:

Normal (non-low tension) Labella flats have black silk, IIRC? I could live with those (but not the strings themselves, though - too stiff for my hands).

Thanks for the rec. I have very little experience with flats, except this one set that have lasted ages and I'm not even sure what they are for comparison  

7 minutes ago, Silvia Bluejay said:

Could be worse... upright bass strings! Both D'Addario and Innovation Silver/Gold Slaps, to name a couple, have a different-coloured silk on each string!

Oh blimey yeah that doesn't sound like a good look!...
 

4 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

You got me looking at all my string silks now 😄   The LTFs have no silk at the ball end 

Ah apologies to be spreading my pickiness haha!! I think really I just prefer the silver simplicity on non-silk strings, but would settle for silk as long as they weren't red or green (as they'd just clash with my bass too much). 
More interested in quality of the strings, of course  

3 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

I’ve had flats since 1980 and I don’t recall any having no silks 🙂

He really doesn’t like them does he 😁

Not at all haha! 😂 

3 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

Ah, I see.  I never gave it much thought before... but now I'm looking at my headstocks and pondering a bit, and I've concluded I'm glad mine are not red 👍 (both are different shades of blue).

@Reggaebass @jrixn1
What brands of flats do you guys go for? I can't even remember what brand my current set are. 

2 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

Out of interest, what is the objection to silks?

It's not a huge deal for me personally, my current set have blue silks which are pretty low-key, but usually they just look crap, especially bright colours. This comment I found on Talkbass is more extreme than how I feel, but sums it up nicely ha:

3 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

The short answer is no. Some flats come with no silks at the ball end, but ALL have silks at headstock. 

I hate silks on flats myself, I found a set of very old fender flats which have no silk at headstock, these are not sold anymore, all fender flats now have bright green silks at both ends.

Ah that's a shame. GREEN?! What colour bass are they supposed to go with exactly?! 😫