silverfoxnik

Great thread and some excellent information! Should anyone here be in a situation where they are involved in a musical project that involves having to sign any kind of deal, IMHO, having a good relationship with a music business lawyer that you trust is really important and can help to both advance and protect your career.

[quote name='The Burpster' post='28233' date='Jul 7 2007, 10:44 AM'] I'd say we've got all bases (or should that be basses?) covered between us there......... I'm sure we could spend hours over several beers disscussing the subtle nuances of each type??????[/quote] +1 on that Bob It'd be good to have that beer (or beers) and chew the fat if we make it to the next Basschat Bash, whenever that is? Nik

Just a quick update folks.. I did a gig last night with my GK 2x10 but instead of putting it flat on the floor as per normal, I placed it in the vertical position mentioned here and it was really good! I am thinking about getting another one now so I can stack them as everyone has suggested. Amazing what you learn on this forum - thanks! Nik

[quote name='The Burpster' post='27773' date='Jul 6 2007, 09:18 AM']Nik, I'm finally on board with your point. Several I would guess based around string and 'plucking' arrangements...... 1. Big fat Thwump produced by flatties on fretless or maple fretted necks. (like electric double bass 60's Motown) 2. Zingy roundwound precise tone by modern basses and pups (Barts etc) your Flea and Jaco and Mark King kinda sound. 3. The fast attack pick generated sound (predominantly roundwounds on a Por J bass, or in the metal genre ESP or Ibanez) largely used in modern rock of various guises. 4. The Funky slap sound used in carwash funk and reggae...... (Bootsy) I'm sure I'll get beaten from pillar to post for this selection, but my guess is that broadly we all try to emulate one of these sounds most of the time.[/quote] Hi Bob I didn't explain myself properly when I posted this thread, sorry! Your suggestions seem pretty good to me, though personally, I've never been a fan of No.2, the 'Zingy roundwound modern tones, that have a very hi-fi tone (not a fan of Bartolinis either come to think of it) but it's a sound that works for lots of bassists. My suggestions were: 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 4) Rickenbacker 'clang' - great for rock, new wave, indie etc 5) The flatwound sound - 60's soul, Jazz, French pop... So we're not that far apart I'd say?? Nik

[quote name='Delberthot' post='27685' date='Jul 5 2007, 11:33 PM']On nearly every bass I've ever owned, I sound like me! The only times that I sound different are with my 51 reissue precision and mudbucker '73 Tele Bass. I've never been able to work out if it is that my style makes me sound like me on anything I touch or that as soon as I pick up a bass I automatically try to make it sound like my sound. hell, i couldn't even get a Rick to sound like a Rick - I sounded like me again. Basses that I have owned that other famous users use: Modulus Flea Bass - I sound like me Fender Geddy Lee - me again Rickenbacker 4003 - you guessed it, I sound like me I first discovered this years ago with a guitarist friend who used to have a really cheap guitar and then saved up enough for something good (at the time) it was a Charvel or something - he still sounded the same as well. This may not be a bad thing - at least I'm not trying to sound like anyone else [/quote] I think it's a really good thing to have your own sound! Hopefully, people will say that about the way I play too. But that kind of brings me back to my point in the first place; if we all sound like ourselves, then just how many really useable and distinct bass tones are there? Or is that confusing playing style with the way a bass sounds...

[quote name='bassbloke' post='27064' date='Jul 4 2007, 05:03 PM']Currently planning on it - I asked t'other half for permission ages ago, so should be good to go. I'll bring my rig which includes a Tech 2 x 12 with speakers verticaly stacked.[/quote] OK; cool! That'd be brilliant to see/hear in action if you can make it? Hope to see you then... Nik

[quote name='bassbloke' post='26948' date='Jul 4 2007, 12:51 PM']silverfoxnik, Are you coming to the South East bash next month?[/quote] Certainly am Bassbloke! Looking forward to it.....You going to be there?

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='26922' date='Jul 4 2007, 12:21 PM']Pete Townsend, Roger Daltry, Keith Moon, John Entwistle.[/quote] WHO? Well, someone had to say it.....

[quote name='simon1964' post='26213' date='Jul 2 2007, 08:39 PM']I got the OLP on ebay for £110. Its a very nice bass for the money. I don't play 5 sting a lot as I tend to find the string spacing too narrow on most 5 strings, but this one does feel comfortable. Its passive, and hasn't got the clout of a real Musicman, but its a decent bass. If I was buying one new, I would probably pay the bit extra for the Tony Levin signature and get active elctronics.[/quote] That's a bargain!

Fabulous! Thanks for the post & the link G. It'll be watched many, many times, that's for sure. Nik

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='25867' date='Jul 2 2007, 08:45 AM']Bill Well your right about Epifani as my UL212 is the same size as the UL410. Nik I have three gigs in Cornwall this weekend playing Haven holiday camps. your welcome to come along if its close to you. Ill be using my Sa450 and UL212.[/quote] Hi Dave Thanks for the offer - that would have been great. But I live in Littlehampton about 20 miles west of Brighton so not possible I'm afraid! Gonzo - loved this: [i]"Just tell the keyboard player to stick all his parts into a sequencer, get the drummer to play to a click and buy 2 8x10s Sorted."[/i] Thanks for that feedback and the pic RussFM! And Alex, I am amazed at your knowledge of speaker design..simply stunning! Mind you, isn't that the great thing about this forum, there's so much good advice, knowledge and help available, it's bleedin' brilliant! Now..where was I; a 212 or vertically stacked 210s..or maybe I should go for a 115??? Nik

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..