Owen

Of course, the elephant in the room here is that you already have the twin humbucker bass you love.

There is that.

We have all been there. The struggle is real.

Bongo. If you don't like the ergonomics, wait for 8 years like I did for a set of Bongo pickups and pre to come up 2nd hand. Then plumb them into a Stingray. I could not be happier.

I have been following this recent burst of activity. I have played in good bands and bad bands inside the church. I have played in good bands and bad bands outside the church. I would expect nothing else. It is just people. I have been the best player in a band. I have been the worst player in a band. Sometimes people gel musically and create something which is greater than the some of it's parts. Sometimes they do not. Inside and outside the church. I have learnt to never underestimate the ability of the people in any room to not hear what I am hearing. I am not saying that my ears are the final arbiter of anything, but I am an experienced musician and I know when it is right and when it is not. I also know how to make it better. But not everyone is able to accept that/in a place to act on that/interested in my opinion. I am at peace with that. This is not a defeatist attitude. There are so many variables in any of these equations that I have long given up trying to mend it. Obviously I will point things out in rehearsal. If there is a car crash then I will broach it afterwards. If I am playing then we will not speed up or slow down. Unless we do, and then I will go with the flow because the moment is more important than "being right". The kick and bass will sit together no matter how often I have to adapt. People play for all sorts of reasons and many of them do not align with why I play. But such is life. Unless we are all on a mortgage paying fee then we have to be able to step back and do the best we can. Do I want it to be the best possible inside and outside the church? Obviously, yes. But sometimes it is not. It is astonishing how little people notice and also, the world will still turn. And believe me, I have played with the worst drummer you have ever heard. I even went in to practice with him individually. He was fine there. I made him promise to do what we practised. He promised but then got all florid in the service. Grim. The congregation were blissfully ununaware. One trick is to prime the PA engineer to mix in a specific way. Because we REALLY care about the music then we presume everyone does. Perhaps the leadership are clueless about the situation. A quick chat might change the whole atmosphere. Perhaps they have never had the luxury of people who know what they are doing. Perhaps they do not want to presume that people would want to, or be willing or able to put the extra time in. Sorry, I am sitting outside a party on taxi duty and bored.

More options and losing a feature I never used? That is not a difficult decision.

The "don't overthink it" is solid advice (as is the rest). I was messing with my latest thing before sending off stems to my mate and realised that I have always avoided using preset EQ/tone etc in Logic because it is not "real". If I have not done the work myself then I am clearly cheating. But then using AI to the same ends sits in the same definition. So for the next one I will stick presets all over it and own it like a boss! But having a forum to air ideas and discuss stuff is great. I am hugely opinionated about Double Bass stuff, but less so about recording. I have always just turned up, played and left. So thanks y'all for nurturing me through this. The world will be changed when I release my work to rapturous acclaim. Maybe.

Day jobs suck!

That is a bold statement HZ! Where are these stats? I am interested.

There is a special place in my heart for a stripped pre CBS with an original tort plate.

Here they are discussing the same question on SOS https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=87903

Thanks D3353. I am familiar with the whole process and if I had the time could probably sit down and hash my way through it. I was wondering if anyone had any experience of using something like this or whether we had just not reached there yet https://www.unchainedmusic.io/aimixing ?

I am on a deeply tedious train journey so have spent some time digging into the mixing/mastering for Logic. There is a lot on Mastering but what I am looking for is some magic programme which will take my stems and churn out a useable mix. A bit like Photoshop will edit/import/enhance pictures with the "idiot proof" presets. I am open to the fact that this does not exist and is a job for a grown up. As it happens I already own Isotope, bought in a fit of discounted plug-in excitement. I am that shallow.

Thanks, I will have a look at that. I am on Logic.

I know I should do it myself. I know that I will be missing elements. I know it is a compromise. And yet, I find myself wondering if this is an option yet? I do not have the correct acoustics to do a mix well. I also do not have the experience. All my delays/pans etc are there but I have no idea about bussing the drums and then putting a compressor across the buss etc. EQ is great but I know that given a chance I would wallow in a bath of Low-Mid for ever and that is not great. Have we reached a stage where we can plug something in and get 90% of the way there? I am busy bouncing something out to send to my mate to do (for money). I am happy to pay him, but am just wondering if the tech exists for me to sit there and go through a list of options until I find something which will do just fine?

I am happy to take full responsibilty for my actions.

3 Ampeg heads. Wowzers.

That was me. Learn from my mistakes. Don't go there.

I have plenty of hangups about my playing. I know loads of people who can play better than I can. However, a drummer who knows once told me I put the beat in a sexy place and that is good enough for me.