MartinB

Good luck! If you've already got the gear to do two tracks at once, there's no harm in having a go at lining up 1+2 and 3+4 manually before you go spending any money. I just wouldn't get your hopes up 😄
Behringer UMC404HD is probably as cheap as you'll find for a new 4-input interface (~£100)

☝️ Beg, borrow or steal a 4-input interface if you can. Not only can the playback speed vary, but that variation keeps changing over time. Trying to manually line up continually-shifting tracks is a massive pain in the derrière.

The article in the OP has been updated with a clarification from Facebook. Selected highlights:

Quote

As part of our licensing agreements, there are limitations around the amount of recorded music that can be included in live broadcasts or videos.

There are no limits on things such as music in Stories, or traditional musical performances (e.g. filming a live artist or band performing).

There should always be a visual component to your video; recorded audio should not be the primary purpose of the video

Doesn't sound too different from Twitch, YouTube etc, at least for band purposes.
I'd like to see a statement about soundtracking a video with recorded music that you own the rights to, but I'm guessing that doesn't apply to the majority that they're going after..

If I had a car, I'd be delighted that big, heavy, great-sounding gear is cheaper than ever!

But since I use public transport, I'm relieved that small, light, great-sounding gear is also available.

Bulk (volume) is almost as important as weight. An 8x10 cab isn't going to fit on the bus no matter how lightweight it is!

The varnish itself is probably safe, but I've definitely melted pickup covers with nail varnish remover (acetone) before.

Looks like it was released this year, which was unfortunate timing. At 500W it's more than most people need for recording/home use, and I don't imagine many folks have been investing in gigging amps recently!

14 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Is the term 'Brit-Pop' offensive..? 

"Brit" isn't a derogatory term, so probably not. I'm sure some bands would take umbrage at being labelled "Pop" though 😆

On 26/08/2020 at 10:31, cgg199 said:

I have a RightOn strap and have used it a lot over the past 3 years. Got mine from Bass Direct, definitely worth checking out!

I've got RightOns on both my basses - the latex padding is nice and comfy, and the microfibre lining is just the right amount of grippy-not-grabby.

Also got an extremely nice plain leather one from Pinegrove for guitar, but for bass I like something with a bit of squish.

I'm too cloth-eared to hear any meaningful difference between solid-state, hybrid and valve amps that I've owned. But I like seeing that other people are getting such enjoyment out of valves!

They're not the best modern surf band, but they're good at promotion and social media - e.g. they had a Britney Spears cover that went viral with millions of views. So I think folks in the surf scene generally feel positive about them, even if they're not necessarily fans.

On 19/08/2020 at 09:48, MacDaddy said:

IMO we can not say the same for 2010/2000 and 2020/2010. Has there been anything new in popular music in over 20 years?

I'm guessing the truly innovative stuff that suggests no influences is probably unlistenable, and rightly stays in underground scenes 😆

But I'd argue that dubstep (mid-2000s) transcended its influences enough to feel like a "new" genre, not just a variation on an old one. And in particular, the US bro-step (e.g. Skrillex) that grew out of it around 2010 - that definitely crossed over into the mainstream enough to appear in adverts and film trailers. That's usually a good sign of something that sounds novel to the average person (and also that a genre has become creatively bankrupt and all the originators have moved on 🤣).

I'm pretty out-of-touch with popular stuff now. I understand that trap has peaked in the last decade, but from what I've heard that's heavily influenced by eighties electro, so not that new - a bit like neo-soul compared to soul. I'm probably making myself sound ancient here!

Yeah, absolutely. But I'm also confident that if new music was outlawed tomorrow, there'd be enough stuff from the past ~70 years for me to spend the rest of my life digging into without ever running out.

If you're thinking of changing your amp head, it may be worth doing that first. To my way of thinking, the head determines what kind of cab you're looking for. If you can get the sound you want using just your head, then it's best paired with a cab that's fairly flat/neutral/transparent (more like a bass-capable monitor/PA speaker). But if you need a voiced cab to shape the sound the right way (and you normally mic your cab on stage), then you want something more traditional.

Blimey, that's (comparatively) cheap! I've seen the equivalent blacked-out Jaguars for pre-order in a few places at £749 - how can an extra four inches of neck cost £260 more?! 😆

I've got a few other Joyo pedals (which are great), but the only Ironman I've tried is the Wow Wah envelope filter. I couldn't seem to dial it in exactly the way I wanted. But when I replaced it with a far more expensive MXR, I couldn't get that to sound right either - so it's entirely possible that both pedals are perfectly fine and I'm the one at fault 😆

Love the form factor though! For pedals that don't need adjusting mid-gig (which for me is most of them), having a lid is a really neat idea.

Looking at it the other way round: if I won £7000 in a competition, I definitely wouldn't spend it all on a vintage bass. So it's definitely a "sell it" from me!

Last time I bought GHS flats, it was cheaper to order them from Amazon US than anywhere in the UK/Europe. The import duty was pre-paid, so I didn't get stung for the the Royal Mail £8 "handling fee".

If you're happy with small pads for finger drumming, you've got options from around £45:

Akai LPD8 (also has knobs!)

Korg nanoPAD2

But if you need something large/sturdy enough to be hit with a drumstick, things get unexpectedly pricey - especially for an all-in-one solution. You can buy a spare drum pad for an electronic kit (or do a DIY conversion on a practice pad), but you'll have to pay through the nose for a drum "brain" that converts the electrical pulse from the pad into a MIDI signal. If you're up for some soldering and programming, you can build one yourself using an Arduino or similar.

8 hours ago, Ian McFly said:

Tell me more! I just got one myself but I’m still figuring it out. Seems really good already. 

It's hard to find a bad setting! The automated attack/release timing seems to be just right. I've used it in the following ways:

• As a hard limiter (∞:1) at the end of my signal chain, so that it only catches the peaks from slapping/popping and barely touches normal fingerstyle playing - great for songs that have a mix of both styles. Also useful for taming envelope filters and phasers that can unexpectedly vary in output
• As a compressor (≥ 4:1) before an overdrive pedal, so I can get a nice mild level of drive, and still dig in without it getting all farty and fizzy. I'll never own a vintage tube amp, but to my ears the combination of flatwounds -> compression -> drive gets me close enough to the sounds I love on 60s/early 70s records.

Oh boy, another chance to mention how much I love my Keeley Bassist! 😄

You can tell how a speaker's going to sound by its size

Now they all sound great 😆

44 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Ideally with the BB2 tweeter control at nil, 50% and 100%.

I'm hoping we might get some of this in the planned video with drive/distortion examples. You'd expect them to sound as painfully fizzy with the HF driver on full as they would through the DI. I'm interested to see what the BB2 with the HF driver partially on has to offer beyond what the SC can already do.

The Level knob on the Spark goes below unity (because it also has a Gain knob). I don't know about the Spark Mini.

If you want a solution in a single box, it might be worth getting in touch with a UK pedal builder. I'm no electronics expert, but a single-knob clean boost with a balanced output doesn't sound like it should be all that complicated.

Off the top of my head:
Bright Onion (https://www.brightonion.co.uk/)

Orchid Electronics (http://orchid-electronics.co.uk/index.htm)

RayGun FX (http://fuzzboxes.co.uk/)
I'm sure there's plenty of others.

It's really interesting as a demonstration of how the different cabs respond to the same input. I think using it to draw a conclusion about which one you prefer is missing the point a bit, since that depends on whether you like the sound of that particular bass to begin with 😆