silverfoxnik

Nice collection of basses Simon! I particularly like the Jazz as I'm a fan of black basses in general and on a Jazz, it looks great IMHO. What's the OLP 5 like? Never played one but they seem to crop up more and more... Nik

[quote name='pete.young' post='25774' date='Jul 1 2007, 09:50 PM']Borrow an 8x10 and put it on its side. Tell em it's what Iggy Pop uses. I guarantee they'll be glad to see the 4x10 back again :-)[/quote] Great idea - just got to get a couple of roadies to help me lug it to the next gig Reading all the posts here (and thanks guys for all the thoughts, suggestions and links etc) has made me realise I need to do some serious investigating on this, probably by checking out what's in the good local stores and also, at things like the South East Bash coming up in August. This has also woken me up to the fact that speaker technology and design has moved on massively since I stopped playing in 1995 and then started up again last year!! I generally hate cliches like '...raised the bar' but it definitely seems like that's the case with bass gear over the past few years. Nik

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='25742' date='Jul 1 2007, 08:51 PM']Ok, ill vote for the 2x12 cab. Just gigged last night for the first time with my newly fixed UL212 and Christ was it loud. I was on just 2 on my MB SA450 and i was louder than our loud drummer. tone wise it sounded great out front but it has a bit more (lot more) mid punch than im used to, even with my 1210 so ill take a few gigs to get used to it. I will say though that the best all round, stand alone, small cab i have ever used is my UL115. Its a 1x15 with tweeter and i feel its more full range than my UL212. It goes very low but its clear and sparkles if i need to for a bit of slap. Certainly not what you would think a 1x15 would sound like. All IMHO of course.[/quote] Hi Dave Thanks for that and for introducing a vote for a 1 x 15, something I've always favoured...Alex's Acme Low-B2's sound great but obviously not cheap; what about these ULs, which I don't know anything about? Cheers Nik

[quote name='Merton' post='25679' date='Jul 1 2007, 06:08 PM']Sounds like a plan [/quote] Could be a Spinal Tap 'Stonehenge' moment....

[quote name='alexclaber' post='25645' date='Jul 1 2007, 04:59 PM']Side by side speakers interact with each other in a bad way to cause comb filtering (peaks and troughs in response) as you move sideways. A vertical line of speakers disperses much more evenly. Also the dispersion in a given plane of a group of speakers producing the same signal is inversely proportional to their size in that plane. So a vertical line of 10" speakers will have narrow dispersion vertically (less sound bouncing off floor and ceiling) and wide dispersion horizontally (good for getting heard all round the stage and venue). That seems crazy! Can you put the keyboard player's amp on top of yours? This has a very small footprint and unbeatable response down to low B: If your band is LOUD then you may need two, in which case you stack them vertically: Alex[/quote] Thanks for that explanation Alex - I understand a lot more now. What speakers are in your rig (very nice by the way!) and am I right that, in the one cabinet set-up, you've got something underneath the cab so that it's pointing upwards? By the way, the band aren't being in any way dictatorial on this, they just think it would be easier if we can get more space on stage which would be good. They use small set-ups themselves and think I could probably keep the sound quality and save space by following their example, which may be true. They all agree that my 4x10 sounds best though. Nik

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='25615' date='Jul 1 2007, 03:47 PM']Use two 2x10s vertically stacked. You'll have as much low end as a 4x10, better midrange response and dispersion and the smallest possible footprint on stage.[/quote] Bill - how does that work exactly or is that like asking for an explanation of relativity theory? Thanks for all the replies folks - much food for thought! I transport my gear and it's on wheels so it doesn't affect the other band members that way. It really is a space issue and especially so because I always share the same side of the stage with the keyboard player... I use 5 string basses and I find the 2x10 doesn't deliver on the low B, hence the question of what cab to use. So no 2x12 advocates then?? Nik

Hi Folks, I've been using a Hughes & Kettner 4 x 10 that I bought from The Wigfinder General for a year now and it sounds great to me..It weighs a ton but that's worth it because it fills the room and can take anything you throw at it! But the guys in my band want me to use something smaller on stage because of all the usual space issues at pub gigs etc, etc. So, I've been trying out my GK Backline 2 x 10 cab, but to my ears, it just doesn't have the depth to it that I like. Would a 2 x 12 cab be a good way to go or is this just a case of me buying the right brand of 2 x 10 or re-adjusting my ears to a different, smaller sound??? I've even been looking at buying a 1 x 15 combo like the GK 700RB that's on sale here at the moment but am undecided what to do at the moment, so any advice much appreciated! Cheers Nik

[quote name='Merton' post='25564' date='Jul 1 2007, 11:54 AM']Hi guys, sorry I've been so quiet, the last few weeks have been manic at work and gigging so barely been on here. Unfortunately both dates are out for me coz of gigs or weddings but have a good one (looks like the 18th has been chosen anyway)! I'll definitely make the next one, promise...[/quote] Shame you can't make it as this was your idea! We'll put up a cardboard cut-out of you in your honour [i]"I should be able to make this r "[/i] Hey Russ - it'll be good to see you there! Nik

[quote name='The Burpster' post='25230' date='Jun 30 2007, 10:33 AM']Oooooooh thats a bit deep.... I've thought about this abit since your first post, and I'm inclined to think now that, any tone that makes you feel good, or feels correct for a particular piece of music, is a good tone.....?[/quote] +1 to that Bob

[quote name='The Burpster' post='24788' date='Jun 29 2007, 11:22 AM']Nik..... 1stly....... Santana...... GOD! (oh and BTW--- he is PRS's finest officiando!) And 2ndly on your above point..... Unless I am mistaken, human hearing is quite limited, and at the edges of our hearing ability our sensitivity diminishes (as it does with age) ... so to be able to pick up slight variations of what we perceive to be tone can down to an individuals hearing (or lack of it) ...... eg. my guitarist has recently changed his hi fi... he bought some new speaker wires at the same time... having read that wires can sound different if used in different directions, we tried them both ways..... guess what ? listening to the same piece of music he was convimced the mids and highs were richer one way I was conviced the bass was richer the other but to each of us there was no noticable variation in what we could hear the other way (so only one way sounded better) ...! So; was there any diference at all OR is our hearing trained to pick up certain nuances within the music because of or differing disciplines???? I am fairly convinced that the frequency of note that we hear is constant on all music, and how we percieve it is different and maybe down to the individual level, so what you percieve to be twangy maybe my warm or vice versa..... Oh, this is going to be a can of worms I suspect...![/quote] +1 One of my favourite Santanta albums is 'Welcome' , one of their early ones released in 1973...I think I first heard it when I was 12 and I've never forgotten it since and still listen to it regularly now. Beautiful guitar playing and a wonderful, wonderful tone!! Santana is one of Prince's early influences and you can really hear it on 'I'll Never Take The Place of Your Man' from the Sign o'The Times Album during the extended solo... You're right about how subjective all this is and maybe the thing that is a 'constant' is the feel or soul of each musician..the notes they use, the rhythms they choose, etc, etc?

My first bass was a Xmas present from my folks when I was 14 - it was a Woolworths special with one pick up and cost £22.00 which seemed like a lot of money back in 1975!

[quote name='dlloyd' post='24802' date='Jun 29 2007, 11:35 AM']Yep.[/quote] The main 'Two Tribes' bass line is a direct lift of a bass line by Leigh Gorman who played bass for Adam & The Ants and then BowWowWow in the early 80's. The Ants and BWW used Burundi rhythms as the basis of their sound. Frankie Goes To Holywood were huge BWW fans and Two Tribes was lifted from a song called 'Elimination Dancing'. One of Leighs best bass lines was on BWW's first hit, 'Go Wild in The Country'.

[quote name='The Burpster' post='24428' date='Jun 28 2007, 02:13 PM']Nik, My guess is that there is as many answers to this as there people on this forum..... We are all going to have our own 'ideals' based upon our own preferances in music, basses, strings, amps, and effects....... Whilst I agree it is fine to say -- 'I love the way X sounded on that recording' -- there is no guarnatee that if you went out and bought exactly the same gear as was used in that recording another player could replicate that sound. Certain types of bass will broadly make certain tones.... but to be honest..... There isnt really any bass tones that I dislike.......... Some I prefer to others and I have basses that reflect that particular genre..... "The funk's in the fingers, not the bass" Almost every bass I've had I've ended up with a simillar sound the the previous ones, purely because I have a sound in my head that I like, and I end up with something simillar whatever I'm playing, Stingray, Precision, Thunderbird, Jazz all a simillar end result soundwise for me, although they're all "capable" of many different tones depending on the player. At the end of the day, for me, a precision, for instance, would be just fine for almost any style of music. Who needs anything else? Your sound's in your fingers, not the pieces of wood and wire between them. Just my opinion.[/quote] I definitely agree with you both - wasn't it Carlos Santana who said that your sound comes from your fingers and he should probably know? And, when we hear a bass sound on record, in general, it's not the pure sound of the bass player and his gear we're listening too anyway. His/her original recording will have gone through any number of processes by the time it's mixed down anyway. So, copying their gear won't automatically replicate their pure sound anyway..And that's without taking into account the way each of us plays. But just being devil's advocate a bit longer - whilst there's some really good points made here (thinking graphite and synth tones for example..), I'm still not 100% convinced that there really are loads and loads of really good different tones out there. More that there are lots of good variations on a small number of classic tones that work time and again...?

No keep the ATK400 - you'll regret it if you sell it. Find the money to fund the GAS some other way..

[quote name='3V17C' post='24456' date='Jun 28 2007, 02:58 PM'][i]oooh...here goes.....from memory and in vaguely chronological order:[/i] Goodfellow kinda rumour thing (Serial No: 001 - put together on Bernie's living room floor apparently! - worst thing I did selling this!) c[/quote] That's amazing - I'm sure that I saw that same Goodfellow for sale in 1993 in the City Road pawn shop in Angel, London..Nearly bought it myself because of the 001 serial number! Nice bass and quite unique..

Hi Folks, Okay, I've been thinking about this for a while now so I thought I'd share it with you all to see what you think. Every time I see a bass for sale it always says something in the blurb like 'amazing range of tones', 'tones to die for', or the classic one: 'nails that P-Bass/J-bass/Ricky/Gibson/MM/Tobias/Smith/Miller/Jamerson/Entwhistle tone' etc, etc. I've even said things like that myself when selling a bass on Ebay. But the thing is, when I use a bass - and I've had so many different ones I've pretty much lost count - I always find myself going for two or three really basic tones because they're the ones that I find work best with the most songs/bands. Here's what I think the really true classic bass tones are:- 1) Classic P-Bass (single pick up) - can be used on almost anything 2) Classic J-Bass (2 single coils) - can be used on almost anything 3) Funky Bridge pick up (think MM, J-Bass bridge p/up) - great for funk, jazz etc The other two real contenders as classic bass tones for me are the: 4) Rickenbacker 'clang' - great for rock, new wave, indie etc 5) The flatwound sound - 60's soul, Jazz, French pop... Apart from those, the only other 'tone' that I've used for years now is the 'Wal' tone, which almost makes a fretted bass sound like a fretless. But that's it for me and I'm wondering if all others are just variations on those classic tones invented in the 50s and 60s??? Maybe it's that my playing style and taste is too unadventurous and limited, so I thought I'd throw it over to you to see if there really are endless varieties of tones that we should keep GAS-sing for? Nik

[quote name='Steve_K' post='23335' date='Jun 26 2007, 01:21 AM']:| I have no recollection of reading your post or writing that reply![/quote] Still made perfect sense though!! Is this a case of Basschat sleepwalking or too much alcohol??

[quote name='Steve_K' post='22816' date='Jun 25 2007, 12:30 AM']Always use a surge protected power rail during your gigs - atleast if the power screws up your gear should be fine. I can't see how a spike would have broken a PSU , as they just operate off an In:Out ratio - if anything, the gear itself would be banjaxed.[/quote] Thanks Steve - will get one before the next gig!

[quote name='Bassassin' post='23170' date='Jun 25 2007, 07:33 PM'][i]Gutter Cat Vs The Jets[/i] - Alice Cooper Band Jon.[/quote] Great bassline - Dennis Dunnaway's very underrated... This is a really cool thread because there's so many great basslines. I doubt you could say that about how many great 'rythym guitar' parts there are!

First to spring to mind were these: Good Times - Chic Sir Duke/I Wish - Steve Wonder but in some ways, maybe it's easier to identify amazing basslines in funk/soul etc. As something from a completely different genre, how about: Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed A totally sublime and brilliant bassline by Herbie Flowers...

Hi Folks, I was doing a pub gig last night and both me and the guitar player had technical problems through the gig. First, his amp and FX pedals played up all night and then, during our 2nd set, there was suddenly a noise like a 747 taking off coming through my rig!! At first, I thought it was the amp but I worked out through some quick trial & error, that it was something in my FX chain because when I plugged my bass in direct to the amp, it was fine. So, this morning I checked out my 3 pedals; Boss TU2 Tuner, Trace Elliott Dual Compressor and Zoom B2, and curiously, they all worked fine?? Except when I plugged the power supply into the Boss T2 and as soon as I did that, back came the problem. After talking it through today, we were wondering whether the power supply in the venue could have spiked during the gig causing a problem to both my equipment and our guitarists equipment? Anyone got any ideas and recommendations for ways to protect against this sort of thing? Thanks.... Nik P.S. problems aside, turned out to be a great gig - our singer even had a pair of knickers thrown at him during the 2nd set!!

[quote name='obbm' post='22154' date='Jun 22 2007, 10:09 PM']Thanks Nik and John Lets keep a high visibility on this thread so we get a good attendance on the 18th Aug.[/quote] Good point - so here's another BUMP!

[quote name='Soulfinger' post='21803' date='Jun 22 2007, 11:27 AM']+ 1. You can be sure it´s [i]really[/i] porn with Alan´s photos. Good thing Rays are so prohibitively expensive (to me, anyway) or else I´d have another GAS attack. P. S. Alan - don´t you ever wish you still had a P? You had some stunningly nice examples, and I for one am addicted to them...[/quote] +1 I even like the look of basses I don't really like when Alan photographs them?? :wacko: Two beautiful looking MM's to finish of with amongst a really great collection..Over how long a period is it that you've acquired/sold those basses? A mate of mine works for the Guiness Book of Records - I'll think I'll get in touch with him if you keep on going! Nik

Nice looking basses! How do you find the MTD like for sound and playability? I had the passive model and it played great but the stock p/ups weren't too good. Great neck and a fantastic B' string! Nik

[quote name='wildman' post='21863' date='Jun 22 2007, 01:06 PM']Dave, I think we might be away - trying to bag a last minute holiday deal, but if we are around I'll be there and well done for organising it ! Cheers, John[/quote] +1 on that - Cheers Dave! ^_^