MartinB

That's a really smart design, and it's great that they did it properly with an IEC cable instead of having a separate power brick

On 23/02/2023 at 09:04, miles'tone said:

Kind of counter intuitive, but I sometimes shift the pitch up high on ASD as it makes some difficult to distinguish basslines pop out really well. 

It all goes very Pinky and Perky but a useful hack occasionally! 

Yeah this is a great trick - especially where something's been down-tuned or played on a 5-string. Adjusting the left-right balance or setting the channels out-of-phase can sometimes yield useful results as well, depending on how a track has been mixed.

It's always a good idea to grab* a local copy of anything that you might want to listen to again in the future anyway. Things vanish from Youtube all the time due to copyright claims, accounts being closed, etc. And they also disappear from Spotify et al, due to (I assume) record label dickheadery.

* Assuming, of course, there's no legit way to obtain a copy in your territory in a way that supports the artist 😇

So let's assume you've accepted that Spotify are never going to restore support for ASD, and you're going to have to start using local copies of the songs you want to work on instead of trying to stream them.

I really like Transcribe - it's got everything I need (looping, speed change, EQ, transposition, section marking, spectrum analyser). It's absolutely possible to do all of this in any DAW (e.g. Reaper, £0), but I find that a dedicated app makes for a simpler/faster workflow. For me, the price was affordable, and it's a one-time payment rather than an exploitative monthly subscription.

6 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Any recommendations on string gauge for drop C / D standard? 

I'm using GHS Pressurewound M7200 (44-106) for D standard. They're both stiffer and higher-tension than your average roundwounds, so they don't get too floppy - and you're unlikely to have to file your nut slots to fit them.

Double-walled corrugated cardboard + duct tape = new cover for my Barefaced One10! 😁

Pros:

- Cheap (£0, since I already had the bits)

- Looks crap, to discourage theft 😆

- Rigid enough to work as a stand too:

I

I haven't tested whether there's any resonance or similar sonic weirdness from the enclosed empty space, but if so, I'm guessing that stuffing a coat inside might help.

Cons:

- Splash-proof, but probably wouldn't survive having a pint spilled on it, or sitting on a wet/muddy stage. I couldn't be bothered to fully tape the inside walls.

- Gives as much bump protection as a cloth+foam cover, but the cardboard will crush rather than springing back into shape - it'll gradually give less protection the more abuse it takes.

I may yet slap a load of stickers on it 🎨

Love a 303! Good Times sounds really cool 😀

I Wish - Stevie Wonder
Lovely Day - Bill Withers
Give It To Me Baby - Rick James

Ah right. For those three pedals, it's still two cables vs. three cables though - plus if you leave a spare plug on a daisy chain, it:
(a) Needs to be covered or secured, as it can cause issues if it's flapping around

(b) Tempts you to buy another pedal 😅

5 hours ago, lidl e said:

So using something like this to power the extra pedals, I'd still need a male to male from the power output of the polytune to run this?

Yes. But... if you're using a daisy chain pedal with three male plugs, why not just have one plug into each of your three pedals, and not use the "output" on the Polytune at all? I don't know that there's any advantage to passing power through the Polytune unless you've only got one other pedal, which would allow you to use a single male-to-male cable.

On 16/10/2022 at 12:01, MartinB said:

I like a plectrum that doesn't shift around in my fingers, and I like the pointy tip of a Jazz III. Unfortunately they only make really thick, rigid Max Grip Jazz IIIs, so my compromise is to get standard Max Grip 1.14s, and sandpaper the tips to a point. The final shape is basically like a TIII.
 

I've now switched to Max Grip 0.88s, as I'm tuning down to D standard and the strings are a lot floppier. Still sharpening the ends though!
To me, a nylon 0.88 feels about as flexible as a tortex 0.73 (yellow)

Bass Direct have it listed as a special offer at £249 (regular price £299)

With that many outputs on the power supply, I'm guessing you won't be daisy chaining anything.
But in case anyone else is reading this thread for ideas - if you've got a daisy chain with more plugs than you've got pedals, avoid mishaps by finding something to cover the spares plugs. More info here:

Looks great! The ability to pre-set the contour on each channel independently seems useful, along with the adjustable HPF.

It's nice to see top jacks, but it's odd that the input is at the top-left when you're facing it - that's not where you want it if there are other pedals in front.

I've always wondered whether the bridge cover could be attached with magnets instead of screws, which would enable you to pop it off easily - along with the mute, which could be stuck to it.

Well that's a cool idea! Approx £55 with shipping, but I couldn't see where it's shipped from, so there could be import duties etc.

The tuning's not even consistently wonky. In a lot of of digital copies, you can hear the playback being sped up at around 1:03 - right in the middle of a keyboard part, which then sounds out of tune with itself 🤣
 

Q: I don't have a fender but should I?
A: No

Q: I've never tried a P bass but should I?
A: Yes

20 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

What would be really nice is a wire free design with pedals clip on to the board with all connections integrated. 

There have been some attempts, but I don't think anyone's willing to lock themselves into a system that might limit their options. And I can't see that there's any incentive for existing pedal manufacturers to adopt someone else's format until there's mass adoption.

It'd be nice to think that an alliance of small-to-medium indie pedal builders could all agree that jacks-on-top was the new standard, and then the big boys would recognise the demand and follow suit.

I'd love to be able to play like Nile Rodgers!

But if I was that good, would I be interested in "local pub covers band level" groups? Perhaps not 🤷‍♂️

If you find a backing track with no drums that you like, you could use EQ to get rid of most of the bass - it wouldn't be perfect, but it might do in a pinch

In my experience, a B1Xon can also be used as an emergency stand-in for a drummer who doesn't turn up for rehearsals 😆

I like a plectrum that doesn't shift around in my fingers, and I like the pointy tip of a Jazz III. Unfortunately they only make really thick, rigid Max Grip Jazz IIIs, so my compromise is to get standard Max Grip 1.14s, and sandpaper the tips to a point. The final shape is basically like a TIII.
 

8 hours ago, Paolo85 said:

-GHS it looks to me ball-end to tapered silk is 38 inches which may bee too much for a precision. I heard they could snap. Has anyone tried?

The E looks slightly odd because a small section of the bare string wraps around the post, in addition to the silked part. The A, D, and G look normal. I've never run into any problems.

On 12/09/2022 at 11:31, Franticsmurf said:

My current board has the Digbeth at the end of the signal chain and I use it with one of my bands, as everything goes through FOH. I was trying out a new compressor pedal the other day (first in the chain) and no matter how I adjusted the ratio, there was no discernible difference to my ears. Assuming there was an issue with the pedal, I ended up taking everything else out of the chain and connecting it directly to my bass amp. No problems, plenty of variation. So in the great tradition of fault finding, I started to try combinations of pedals and the compressor. It turns out the when connected to the Digbeth input (active or passive), adjusting the compression ration has no apparent effect on the output (although the volume can be adjusted as I would expect). I tried a second compressor pedal just in case it was something specific to the original, with the same result.  I assume there must be some additional compression at work in the Digbeth pedal but I can't find any further info.

 

Any ideas? Am I missing the obvious? (I have been known to in the past).  

I couldn't reproduce this - increasing the volume going into the Laney increased the volume coming out. Are you feeding it a particularly hot signal? Is your compressor set to unity gain (i.e. roughly the same volume out when switched on or off)? I couldn't test active vs. passive input as it's all wired up on my board.

Ignoring the marketing bs, "elasticStage" might be worth keeping an eye on for when they launch:

Quote

A new service can cut master-quality vinyl faster than ever with runs as low as a single disc

[...]

The firm promise "no lead times and no upfront costs".

https://www.musicradar.com/news/vinyl-lives-and-this-time-its-even-eco-friendly