Dankology

I've got a fretless one of these that I use a lot at home and have gigged once or twice:

http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Crafter_BA400_EQ_N.html

I think I got it for about £250 (give or take) on Ebay. I believe Alice Cooper's bassist uses the fretted one. Make of that what you will.

1 hour ago, BassTractor said:

Disappointed. Was expecting fire, water and a naked lady. 😁
Great performance though, and you made me check you guys out immediately and consequently buy Waddup and Tiny Mind.
Luvverly stuff!

One comment though, if that's not too presumptuous of me: I think the singer should train on intonating slightly higher. Singers tend to do this wrong unless trained by a professional, and they can get away with it to some degree, but the right tone is stronger than a low tone. 

Why, thank you. Although the Waddup track is by someone else who inexplicably shares our name.

I'm not sure how well vocal tips via the non-singing bassist will go but I'll look out for an appropriate opportunity...

I've videoed possibly hundreds of other people's gigs over the years and yet still can experience what feels like a tautening of every sinew in my body as I sense the camera coming over to me.

The way I try to think about it is that the discomfort I feel is a result of not wanting to look like a @r$e - but if I did look like an @r$e it would be apparent to everyone in the room, whether there was a camera there or not. At least with a video you can edit down such moments to the bare minimum - no such luxury in real life...

Also, videos have let me notice things I can do something about, such as the horrible perma-grimmace I used to have - and also how much better everyone looks when they are not conspicuously self-conscious.

I do hope you crack it - there's something immensely satisfying about seeing yourself utterly lost in a song. This is the most recent one we've shared and there's lots to fault: it's a cover that we've only ever felt our way through, it's the hottest day of the year, so we're all sweaty so I'm in shorts and there's no hat to hide the thinning hair plus I left the bass muted much longer than intended at the beginning... But seeing ourselves absolutely immersed in the performance has been incredibly useful to us. 

18 hours ago, DoubleOhStephan said:

Anyone got any experience of a PJ with flats, played through just the bridge pup? Wondering if it loses much of the bite? 

This was one of the reasons I moved to the Jazz w/rounds - we have one song that benefits from the odd pop here and there and the PJ with flats wasn't letting them cut through. Having said that, I like my flats quite well worn in so a newer set may well have been better.

Listening through last night's rehearsal recording, I now have the opposite problem: the pops sound horribly tinny and thin. There are likely some technique issues here...

This couldn't have been worse timed for me - just yesterday I decided I was a Jazz-with-rounds convert and had decided to sell my flats-equipped PJ... 

I might just hold onto it until after next batch of recordings now.

Damn you, Basschat.

5 minutes ago, Billy Apple said:

TLDR

I think that's exactly the point: put up a misleading attention-grabbing headline and it might work as clickbait (look at all those YouTube videos with titles like "why you should never buy a five-string" and "why all the pros only use a Precision bass").

But a good number of people remember only the headline - and with something like this and when it's hard enough to convince musicians to wear ear protection before it's too late, that requires a robust debate of the available evidence.

I'm not really sure what you were trying to achieve here. The debate you have generated seems worthwhile and educational but you seem to object to that. Did you really just want to put up a post titled "earplugs don't work" and hope everyone just nodded and chucked out their ear protection?

6 hours ago, Billy Apple said:

That's exactly what he said. You are still at risk from hearing damage.

No, my title and OP is accurate from the information given to me by someone qualified on the subject. But, hey-ho the non-qualified Basschat experts know better.

Or are you a Doctor (or anyone here?)

I am, as it happens. And I have to say that this sounds like tabloid-level nonsense in that a half-truth is being discussed out of context in order to suggest an attention-grabbing non-truth.

I have no doubt that prolonged extreme sound levels can defeat the protection provided by ear plugs - whether by overcoming the protection they afford or by transmission through the bone but I also have no doubt that most musicians would rarely, if ever,  find themselves  in that sort of situation. If you need ear defenders, you need to turn down would be my rule of thumb.

I'd be interested to know if this chap was a medical doctor with an interest in audiology or an audiologist (with a PhD). And also, as I said before, what commercial interests might be influencing the advice he is giving (or the apparently sensationalist way he is delivering it).

I'd be asking about what possible commercial interests might be at play in the formulation of this man's opinion.

I do like the look of that X-Touch... Might be one for the Ebay watch list though as I've spent up on the mixer itself and the next thing we're looking at is IEMs - have recently finished the 70+ page thread here on that topic.

Thanks for all the pointers - no doubt I'll be back here with a list of queries after our first rehearsal attempt with it.

I had put a 50Hz high pass on the vox and overheads (actually 51Hz as my mousepad thing wouldn't let me get to 50) but I'll have a go at applying it across the board.

Other things I've just done (and would appreciate hearing any strong opinions on):

-added all the drums to a DCA group for quick global adjustments

-added everything other than the samples/loops and the walk-on music to one mute group, and the looper to another mute group (so we can mute the instruments at the end of the last song but have scope to leave a loop going for a while afterwards).

-added the appropriate noise gate presets to the vox, kick and snare channels (but anticipating having to tweak these)

-added two reverbs, a delay and the stereo combinator to the FX rack - possibly at the recommendation of the FB group and/or extensive Googling...

-made sure that the all the buses highlight the channel strips in bright yellow to avoid possible sends-on-faders confusion

Yep - that's already in place and working nicely.

[this has been cross-posted with the Facebook XR18 group - so apologies to anyone reading this twice]

Brilliant - thank you!

Apologies for awakening an old thread but I've had a couple of comments about the level coming off my GP12SMX combo's DI.

I am intending to pick up an Orchid DI (really like the reviews vs price for these) but wasn't sure how to wire the lead needed to go from the XLR out on the amp to the unbalance jack-in on the DI box.

I've got a handful of short balanced XLR>TRS leads but I'm guessing these might not do the trick.

Only seen Michael Kiwanuka's set but thought the sound in general was a world better than anything I've heard on the Glastonbury TV broadcasts for many years. 

Just do it! I love mine - sounds great, really useful eq and it's phenomenally powerful. 

I think I turned it up to 3 in a 200-capacity venue... Only had it above that level once when I first got it - vibrated every light fitting in the entire house.

It's not light but it's not immovable either. I think I paid just over £200 for mine about a year ago.

What a great idea...

No idea what it is though. Although it is maddeningly familiar.

2 hours ago, Unknown_User said:

 

Thanks for the tip, but we're based in Liverpool so St. Albans might be a bit too much of a trek, but I should probably see what places there are to play in Manchester next.

We should probably talk...

We've found it easier with slightly bigger promoters - the smaller single-handed guys seem to much prefer putting on a night of solo performers but when we've contacted the bigger outfits we've had more luck getting support slots and the dreaded multi-band nights. 

I think it's key to personalise your overtures- if a promoter or venue can tell that you're familar with them and have identified them as appropriate it surely goes down better than a blanket one size fits all message.

Getting to know the promoters and other bands pays massive dividends - we're not shy about turning up to other people's gigs with a pile of CDrs that we hand out as people are leaving.

I'd also make sure you have stuff on all the major online platforms so that you can email someone a list of easily clickable links to suss you out. And videos - always videos, good quality ones, including at least one of you nailing it onstage.

The other thing we've done is just cutting out the middleman and putting our own gig on - even (or especially) off the beaten track to build a local following and then later on you get to drag them all into town for a big night out 🐵

Apologies if this is all eggs and grannies but it's what's been working for us. Good luck!

If they are not of sufficient musical or historical interest, I bet a craft-y person could do something nice with them. Might even be a nice idea for a gift for said relatives. 

If they're pretty I might be interested in a couple of charts to frame etc.

But only if they're truly not of any other worth - be terrible to lose something that might be the only record of local musical interest.

5 hours ago, oldslapper said:

Yes I gigged mine, loved it and looked great...

Snap:

Staytrem bridge (with the sleeves for the bridge poles) plus the Newtone strings transformed mine from a fun toy to a giggable instrument.

I bought I lovely Les Paul Custom a few years back from a guy that clearly had Rory Gallagher levels of acidity in his sweat. It has aged in a completely natural but entirely unattractive way. I've discussed refinishing at least the top with a couple of luthiers but they feel that that would have an adverse effect on the value.  Personally, I feel faintly ridiculous playing an instrument that looks like it has been deliberately aged - even though this is a truly battered, heavily gigged guitar.

My VW though is what might be described as an heavy relic. To the point that you can poke holes in it with  your finger.  As soon as I have enough money it's going to look like it's just rolled off the production line.... Then again, it'll aways have plates clearly stating its true age.

For the guitars it just seems like wearing someone else's medals to me. As ever, something other than music itself is being used as a marketing tool...

That would've been sensible.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-American-Professional-Jazz-Bass-V-String/183647177551

Ah, my 40th is looming and I'm possibly in the market for something.

I've spotted what is listed as an American Pro Jazz V on Ebay that I really fancy but there are a couple of things that aren't clicking. One is that the headstock has "made in USA" under the logo whereas all the others I've seen (on the net) have "Corona, Ca" instead. Also, when I've Googled the serial it comes up as an American Standard V rather than the Pro.

So, what do you reckon? Is it a wrong un or possibly just a mis-listed standard? As I understand it the Pro series is essentially the new name for the US Standards - am I right there?