PatrickJ

Yes, if I get the opportunity I'd love to give it another go. They asked for my number, I know they have a regular bassist and a few on rotation so I'm sure I'll be down the list but I hope they call. More promisingly the guitarist suggested we get together sometime to jam, he also plays in another jazz band that occassionaly need a dep. So opportunities there - what I need to do is focus some practice.

Feeling a tad chuffed with myself tonight so I thought I'd post on here (because my wife doesn't really care). I got a call from a guitarist I knew yesterday asking me if I'd stand in as bassist at a jazz jam night he was going to this evening. I've never really played Jazz in a band setting before, though I've been listening to a lot of contempory stuff lately so I thought why not. This is very much out of character for me, I'm normally pretty introverted - shy and reserved and dont do anything unless I'm well prepared / rehearsed. No idea why I agreed to this. Anyway, already feeling way out of my comfort zone I rock up tonight and get informed by aforementioned guitarist these guys used to be the house band for a local Jazz club. Anxiety levels shoot through the roof, here am I this imposter who's been playing for just 4 or 5 years or so in low key rock cover bands now having to hold my own with these guys at 24 hours notice and no practice time. I set up and they throw me a book of what must have been 100+ numbered chord charts and started calling out numbers. And that was it, we were playing, no prep and no song played twice. 2.5 hours later we finish up, I lost track of how many tuned we actually played but I was exhausted. I've not had to work that hard in a long time!! I had to keep things really simple just sticking to roots or basic arpeggios. If I tried anything more complex I'd lose myself on the charts but I survived it and it was an amazing experience. The guys were a really lovely bunch, really warm and welcoming and no judgement on my playing and numerous mistakes. The drummer even commented on how much he liked my tone :).

How have you set the parameters? I've not looked at the drive pedals in much depth but it was going to be my next thing to look into now I've had a bit of a play with compressors and the parametric EQ modules.

Reaching the final stages now

Was his name Carl ??

I'm trying to be more realistic about what my needs are. I don't currently play in a gigging band and just meet up with some friends every few weeks for a jam. Therefore as much as I'd love to be shopping for new gear I cannot justify dipping into the family savings for a new Sadowsky because I'm having a bout of GAS. I just sold all my pedals because the Line6 Helix FX does a good enough job that I dont need expensive Darkglass compressors and dirt. I have 2 amps that are perfectly decent and would serve me for any gig I'm ever likely to have to play. The only thing I might look into is a Ashdown ABM neo cab when they release them to replace my pretty heavy VS212. I have 4 basses, including an inbound Shuker custom, that all cost around 1.5k new. The most recent of which I bought 2nd hand for about 1/2 that. They are a big step up on the 500-900£ basses I was previously playing. They dont make me sound better but I enjoy playing them a lot more, they are lighter, more comfortable and since they are all active the electronics are more reliable - something that was a problem with cheaper active basses. For this year I think my GAS is going to be focussed on pickups, strings and books.

One question that has yet to be covered is 'is Carl good for metal'?

Yup this is what I have, a P with flats and a PJ with Rounds

Awesome, I've only recently discovered Ghost Note through the Nate Werth / Snarky Puppy connection. Great groove, I'll be working on this tonight. Thanks for the lesson.

OK, I think we have things sorted to an acceptable level. @Cuzzie followed your advice, I noticed the shielding paint in the pickup cavity didn't come up the sides so I ran the copper tape around the edges and over the top. I added tape to the back of the pick guard and used that to connect to the tape on the back of the control plate that I knew was already grounded. With a lot of treble boost I can still hear the buzz but its no louder than the hiss of the preamp - with flat or treble cut it's not audible. Will take it to jam night tomorrow to check it out in a live situation. Big thanks to everyone for the help.

So this how it currently looks, and apart from the pickup foam in the cavity is as Sandberg originally configured it. The black paint in the cavity is shielding paint, in the control cavity this is all grounded. However the continuity test in the pickup cavity not so much - I might try adding a grounding wire from the pickup cavity first to see if that helps. I have some shielding tape too that I'll put under the pickguard.

Cavity seems to be painted thoroughly with shielding paint, continuity testing the bridge to ground with the multimeter doesn't indicate there is an issue and the original pickup was fine

I need some help guys. The newly installed NP4v is causing me all sorts of issues. Tone wise it's perfect but I've got a high frequency buzz that stops when I touch the strings, bridge or tone controls. I've tried a few times but I can't eliminate it. The originally pickup, I suspect a rebranded Delano, was encased in the pickup covers and fully sealed. The Nordstrand pickup came with loose covers. I had to fit some pickup foam, I installed the pick as it came in the box placing the pickup directly onto the foam with the covers loose using the original screws. I unsoldered the Delano pickup and soldered the Nordstrand in its place, as far as I recall I put the black and white cables to the same place as it originally was. I've also redone my soldering to make sure the connections were good. I've checked the newly soldered joints are grounded using a multimeter and they show a good circuit so I suspect this is a shielding issue but I don't know how to fix it. Does anyone have any advice?

I wonder if Dark Cloud Carl is as member of this here forum, being a bassist and all .

Hello Sandberg friends If anyone has a VS4 and is willing, would you mind opening the control cavity and take a quick picture of where the pickups are soldered to the pre-amp please? I'm trying to find a buzz I introduced since changing the stock split coils and want to ensure I've not done something stupid like solder the hot wire to the ground connection.

CAAAARL

But what will Screwed Over Steve decide to do??

In fairness to Dave, he doesn't sound like he's a bad chap - it must have been an awkward call for him to make but seems like he's been pretty upfront about everything. However, not sure I could say yes to this, I'd always be wondering what the other band members were thinking since they booted you before and I'd have very limited trust in them not to do it again. I'd just walk away.

Didn't Geddy Lee start having a few machines behind him on stage after he went ampless to fill the empty space on stage?

I've not been to a Bass Bash as yet, a Herts one would be great. Assuming roughly 50% of ppl show up who register come how many interested parties do you need to know if it's viable? Agree about avoid July, May would probably be a good month to aim for, post Easter breaks but before summer kicks in.

I'm interested!!

It is true. I have a Markbass Traveller 2x10, when I bought it from Andertons I played it side by side to a MB NY12, Genzler Array and Aguilar 12". The Genzler and Aguilar were incredible sounding cabs, the MB definitely lacked high end clarity and was a bit muddy in the mids in comparison. That was with everything at noon on the LMT 500 head. I got the MB much closer to the Genzler and Aguilar by cutting some low mids and boosting the treble. Given the cab was well over £300 cheaper too I was pretty happy with the sound of the MB 210, I do want to pull off the oversized logo on the grill but I quite like the yellow speakers.