Beer of the Bass

I think this is very dependent on the style of the band. In the band I play guitar in, I can rarely turn my 15 watt 1x10" combo up past squeaky-clean without being too loud. We're quite a busy sounding band and the guitar works best for us if it sits in the mix rather than on top of it, so a three-piece rock band might be different. It's not a major hassle for me as clean guitar works well in that band and I'll use a pedal on some songs, but I wouldn't be able to depend on cranking an amp into power-amp breakup on every gig, fun though that sound can be.

I guess double bass C-extensions are a variant of the same idea, otherwise I can't think of any.

On mine I've stuck with the bronze, as I reckon that in the absence of any real bottom end the brightness helps it to be heard. I tried an old set of tapewounds I had lying around, and they were mellow but seemed very quiet compared with the bronze. They'd be nice plugged in though. I wonder if coated bronze wounds like the Elixir acoustic set might cut down on the raspy, scratchy quality a little?

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1435654471' post='2810924'] There's a few grumpy old men on this thread aren't there? It's interesting that all the singers held up to be better are male and rock singers. ... I'm a bit worried that we find it ok to criticize women more easily than men. [/quote] That's an interesting point and one which has got me thinking. I can think of a few female singers whose pitch can be wayward at times and whose work I really enjoy. I was a 90s teenager, so the singers I was listening to in my formative years included Kim Gordon in Sonic Youth and even Courtney Love in Hole. I think in a more rocky/grungy context where roughness is part of the aesthetic I can enjoy roughly pitched vocals, and the reason Florence's singing can seem jarring to me is that roughness doesn't seem to be what she's going for. So I would hope that in my case it's not about gender. I think that when the music is something I can connect with, things like intonation bother me less or even add to it, and it would be fair to say that this is just a style I'm not particularly into. Clearly there was a massive audience who did feel that connection so I guess Florence wasn't a bad choice of headliner, but myself I would have been hanging out at one of the smaller stages watching something different.

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1435682125' post='2811422'] So if the after length is so important, an by all accounts it is, I wonder why DPA, Fishman, KK, etc recommend hanging mics and jacks off it. [/quote] I've noticed that orchestral players who double in other settings tend to remove any of these for unamplified work, so this is clearly something which bothers some people. On my bass, I use a wolf eliminator on the A-string afterlength which only works if the afterlengths are left free, so I prefer a tailpiece mounted jack where possible.

I'd be curious about how well some of the Class-D power amps made for PA use compare to a typical small bass head in this respect. For example, the Crown XLS series are light and not too expensive. While one of these plus a 1U rack preamp would be bigger than a micro-head it might be a useful point in between micro and heavyweight.

Stanky Wee?

W*nkey Set?

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1435663707' post='2811068'] Poplar is a bit specialist - that's a good point. It's not something you'll find at B&Q, although I think most major cities have an outlet. There's a supplier near you in Grangemouth. My experience with wood merchants is that they will get hold of whatever you ask them for from their suppliers. It's not usually a stock item though. [/quote] There's one a bit closer to me who say on their website they have a range of speciality plywoods, so I could give them a ring too. Is the Chinese poplar core ply worth a look, or should it be the European stuff?

I'm also going to say Spiro Weich would be worth trying. On my bass they bow quite nicely (more easily than Mittels), though it's a brighter voice than a dedicated orchestral string. With the steel core they're fairly robust too, so there's not much risk in picking up a lightly used set to save some pennies.

Is poplar ply something you can find in decent timber merchants, or is it a more specialised item? There are a couple near me who will also do cutting, but I haven't asked them if they do poplar.

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1435607903' post='2810599'] I think that's her talking voice. [/quote] I mean in the overexcited "Glastonbury! Whoooo! Make some noise!" fashion.

Apparently the BBC's subtitle writer was struggling! [url="http://www.oystermag.com/bbc-subtitle-writer-gave-up-on-life-during-kanyes-glastonbury-set"]http://www.oystermag.com/bbc-subtitle-writer-gave-up-on-life-during-kanyes-glastonbury-set[/url]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1435593911' post='2810379'] I think it`s indicitive that we don`t have rock stars anymore due to the fact that for some reason we have "role models" instead. To be a rock star you`ve got to be beating naked groupies around the buttocks with live sharks, preferably in a hotel corridor for horrified normal guests to see. The lot that are around now, well ordering a a chicken sandwich with mayo is probably as daring as they get. [/quote] Maybe that's not a bad thing, as with hindsight some of the sexual behaviour that went with the title of rock star is something we maybe don't want to celebrate. The number of court cases, out-of-court settlements and assorted allegations which have come up in the past few years would support that idea. I'm not saying they were [i]all[/i] at it with underage groupies in the 70s, but it doesn't seem to have been that uncommon.

Did anyone watch the Fall set, by the way? I will say that Townsend and Daltrey's 50 years or so of career have been kind to them compared with Mark E Smith's 30-something years! The sight of him banging two SM58s together to the beat while the damp patch on the front of his trousers slowly dried is probably one for the dedicated Fall fans only.

In the longer term, I wonder whether the whole concept of rock stars (as we know them) is going to be associated with a particular era. I'd guess it would run from the last half of the 20th century up to some time early in this century. Before that, the lack of mass-media meant that fame worked differently and tended to be less global, then more recently we've seen tastes diversify and fragment as on-line media makes so much more choice available.

I'm not saying "they're old, they should stop playing". I have massive admiration for people like Daevid Allen for instance, who kept performing and making new music right up until he died this year aged 77, but managed to keep doing things which seemed fresh and vital. I'm just trying to be honest about how I felt about the performance rather than putting them on a pedestal as "The Greats" and filtering everything I see to confirm that view. When so much of their message in the early days was about not bowing down to their elders, I find it odd that I'm now expected to do so towards them.

[quote name='steantval' timestamp='1435561315' post='2809914'] The two main guys are nearer to 70 years old, your remarks about lack of energy, anger and tension do not make sense, people grow up and hopefully mellow out a bit. I'm certainly a different character than what I was when I were in my early 20's, it's all part of growing up. [/quote] Absolutely, I'm sure they still have something worth hearing, but I tend to enjoy it more when artists move on and reflect where they are now rather than trot out pale imitations of their younger selves. For example, I much prefer Robert Plant doing his own thing to the Led Zep re-union a couple of years ago. I don't feel particularly bad pointing this out, as I don't think the Who were ever about uncritical respect for their elders. I sometimes think that the extent to which we venerate and congratulate that generation of bands above all others gets a little unhealthy and starts to resemble the culture that they were kicking against in the first place.

[quote name='urbanx' timestamp='1435533432' post='2809873'] Might be my age, but I thought they were terrible. Looking at it from a "If I saw them up my local" point of view instead of a "I know they're rock royalty" point of view.... If I saw them play like that up my local, I'd go home early for a few tinnies - Just sloppy has-beens resting on their fame laurels Really disappointing after seeing some decent performances by them not too long ago (Superbowl etc.) [/quote] I'm glad someone else said that before I did! I like the Who, but the energy, anger and tension which I associate them with are no longer in evidence. They made some amazing music in their time, but I'm not sure this represents it that well. This being a bass forum, it's tempting to put this down to the lack of Entwhistle, but I think I miss Keith Moon's drumming as much, maybe even more so.

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1435516085' post='2809614'] Anyone else noticed that the bassist has taped over the logos on his bass and his Ampeg rig? [/quote] Do you think he got turned down for an endorsement deal?

[quote name='nick' timestamp='1435508018' post='2809493'] I've done vero & the PCB versions, but it's easier to get it in a 1590B with that PCB layout. Regarding 2N5457's I'd steer clear of Tayda ones, I've got a bag of about 30 useless ones, even a batch that I got from Bitsbox a short while ago, were no good either. [/quote] I was thinking of trying pedalparts.co.uk, since he has the right pots for this PCB too. Alternatively, there's an eBay seller locally whose stock is all left over from an electronics shop which closed a couple of years ago, so hopefully pre-dates the dodgy ones appearing.

[quote name='sblueplanet' timestamp='1435493430' post='2809290'] She was tuneless as usual. Even the addition of FIVE female backing singers couldn't disguise the fact. [/quote] I thought the backing singers made her intonation more noticeable, as they were obviously pro session singers who were spot-on. A solo singer over a sparse backing would have far more leeway.

I gather the traditional method is for the afterlengths to be two octaves and a fourth above the open string pitches? Mine is wrong by that standard, as it's about two octaves and a fifth. I've never tried adjusting it, as the tailpiece cord on my bass is the crimped steel rope kind and I don't have the right tools.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1435476670' post='2809030'] There are many artists who have their own style and the vocals are not on pitch (eg was listening to the fabulous Tom Waits yesterday) but Florence just sounds terrible live IMO. [/quote] I've been trying to figure this one out - I actively enjoy lots of performers who have a cavalier attitude to pitch, yet Florence's performance made me wince repeatedly. I'm not sure why this is!

[quote name='super al' timestamp='1435462971' post='2808996'] Watched The Mothership Returns in full on the iplayer, by far the best thing at glasto in years! [/quote] Was anyone else slightly disappointed at the lack of an actual Mothership though, like they had on some of the 70s tours?