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Jif

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  1. Yeah, great units, very clean signal path. Probably more geared towards PA use but if you really want to tweak an instruments tone it does the job beautifully. I mainly used it for Pedal Steel Guitar but I have come across many posts in Bass forums where they have been popular for advanced tone tweaking. The reason I'm selling is I recently bought a BSS Varicurve FCS - 926 digitally controlled analogue parametric. It has 6 band stereo or 12 band mono parametric full eq with a screen display of the frequency curve. it has been great for experimentation as it has 50 odd user presets but still uses analogue filters under digital control. Again more of a PA device but brilliant for advanced tone tweaking. Having the digital presets means I can set up settings for multiple instruments including bass & guitar in addition to Pedal Steel. Pedal Steel is notoriously difficult to get a constant tone over all strings at all positions on the neck. I play a 12 stringer which complicates this further. The Ashly did a great job for this but having the presets on the Varicurve expands the possibilities.
  2. Yes it is! Maybe a bit over the top for some peoples needs but I have read that some have used this unit to set up two separate tone settings as each parametric can be switched in or out individually, i.e. you can set up 2 parametrics to have a specific tone & the other 3 to set up a different tone, switching in the relevant parametrics as required.
  3. Ashly PQX 571 - 7 Band Analogue Mono Parametric Equaliser. Condition is "Used". This unit has been configured internally for 240v operation and is fully operational for UK use. I've fitted it with an inline female kettle socket, so a standard kettle plug lead plugs into it, (supplied). I have been using this unit for 5 years on a constant basis with no problems, very clean signal path & extremely versatile parametric controls. The Ashly PQX 571 features balanced input & output but can be used with unbalanced input & output. Ashly products are high quality US made devices. Price £180 + £10 P&P, now £150. From Sound on Sound Review The PQX 571 is rather generous in the amount of EQ control provided; each channel has five independent parametric filters, plus two variable‑frequency shelving filters (one high‑pass and one low‑pass). Each filter section has its own bypass button with status LED, and there's also a master level control and master EQ In/Out button at the right of the front panel. A practical touch is the inclusion of a clip LED next to the master Level control, which comes on if any of the filter sections are being driven close to the point of clipping. The high‑ and low‑pass sections appear to be 6dB/octave filters, and operate over the ranges 40Hz to 400Hz and 1.6kHz to 16kHz respectively. A dual concentric knob system is used where the inner knob alters the cut or boost (+/‑15dB) and the outer knob adjusts the shelving frequency. All five parametric sections are identical, and all cover the frequency range 20Hz to 20kHz, though there is a x10 Range button which effectively provides two ranges: 20Hz to 2kHz and 200Hz to 20kHz. As with the shelving filters, a dual‑concentric knob system is used, this time to control the frequency and the bandwidth. The Bandwidth control covers the range 0.05 octaves to 3.3 octaves, and is calibrated in octaves rather than Q values, which makes it more intuitive to use. A separate Level control is used to set the degree of cut or boost within a +/‑15dB range. When an EQ section is switched in, a green LED comes on to provide visual confirmation. Technically, the PQX 571 is pretty conventional, using state‑variable filters based around the 4558 op‑amp chip for each of the parametric sections. The same op‑amp is used for the shelving filters and for the electronic input balancing. All the circuitry is run from 18V rather than the more usual 15V, presumably to make the best use of the available headroom, and the general standard of design is up to the quality you'd expect from Ashly.
  4. Hi, I recently bought a DB, this is my first recording with it. The bass playing is really basic but this was so on the original recording, so no Jaco Pastorius award for exceptional playing here. However along with the acoustic guitar it sets the 3/4 rhythm for the piece, the bass playing the first beat in every bar with the acoustic on beats 2 & 3. The main lead instrument being pedal steel guitar. This is my version of a track on the 80's soundtrack Apollo which was put together by Brian Eno, Roger Eno and Daniel Lanios for the film For All Mankind, which was about the Apollo missions. Doing the video was also a lot of fun.
  5. Thanks for the info Nick, very interesting. Yeah I got what you meant about spending an additional £500 on it 🙂 The new strings were also an element in my decision to buy, I figured I would probably buy new strings when buying a 2nd hand bass and these strings get good reviews and at £200 a set... The closest picture I found that looked very similar was a Boosey Hawkes, but from what I can gather they sourced from various makers including China later on. Here's the picture, I believe it is an Excelsior.
  6. Cheers Nick. I paid £400 for it, figured with the decent strings and new bridge, plus nice soft case and a decent bow it had to be worth a shot and it does sound OK. I actually did the thing with the needle file before these pictures were taken, I came across this technique on another thread in this forum, it was higher previously, but I have erred on the side of caution so far. I found a good guide on how to get the best height without risking the bridge as shown below. As you have highlighted, I'm a wee bit hesitant to remove the bridge to do this as I fear the soundpost falling down, but I will eventually bite the bullet and do it. I thought that there was a good possibility that it was a Chinese cheapy, but when I tried it out I thought it had a decent tone that I could work with and tbh it will do what I require, certainly at first. I do a lot of multi-tracking and bass is not my first instrument though I have played a lot of bass over the years, I prefer to use the real thing rather than samples on a keyboard. Yeah and you're right, better just to get into it rather than obsess where it originated, I was curious though, I had done quite a lot of googling to try and find something similar without much luck. There seemed to be a consensus that the outer strapping was common to Germany and Eastern European makers, also the flat section on on the fingerboard appeared on a lot of older Boosey Hawkes basses that were generally of Czech origin, as were the single tuners. I couldn't find any pictures of Chinese basses that resembled it, but there are probably a vast amount of instruments made there. I have some other Chinese made instruments that are actually very well made, you can be lucky and get a good one, quality control being the biggest problem with a lot of Chinese stuff.
  7. Thanks for the responses guys, a bit of a mystery then! As you indicate, the main thing is how it sounds and plays. I feel the action does need to come down a bit, I get what you are saying regards tonal quality if it goes too low but at the moment it is physically very hard to play, I probably need to strengthen up my fingers a bit as well. Regarding the sound, it has a pretty solid warm tone to it, sustain could be a bit better but that could also be down to my (lack of) technique. I have a friend that I see every couple of months who is a rockabilly player, so I'll run it past him and see what he thinks, he also knows a good DB luthier if it needs set up differently. I really like playing double bass, different from electric bass but totally unique sound, will need to spend some time getting to grips with it.
  8. Hi, having played a EUB for a number of years, I decided to take the plunge and go for the real thing. I eventually took a chance on the bass in the photos below, it is all laminate, there is no label inside that I can see but it had a good sound and although the action was on the high side I figured it could be lowered. It was fitted with Evah Pirazzi Weich strings which are like new, it has also had a new bridge and sound post fitted. I found a receipt in the soft case for the bridge fitting and strings which came to £500. I reckon the shop ripped the seller off for the bridge and fitting, they charged £300 for that, and they have made little attempt to lower the action to be more playable. I have searched this forum and others to try and determine the origin of the bass with not a lot of success. The closest fit I could get is some version of a Strunal? Single tuners, outer linings and the flat surface on the low E side of the fingerboard all seem to tie in to that. Not sure on age but the previous owner had it for about 3-4 years, they bought it 2nd hand and by all accounts it was in need of TLC, hence the new soundpost and bridge. Any help appreciated. TIA
  9. Yeah, you got that right, it can be a right racket, Donny the guy who runs it keeps us all in check though! McCormacks, brings back a few good memories, dont know Freddy but I'm sure one of the guys will, they know every pedal steel player in the known world. It's a small pretty tight community, mostly older guys, I'm getting on and most of them have years on me, very friendly though and helpful in passing on techniques etc, known as the Brethren of the Bar 🙄 Good luck with the gig, you're a brave man taking that on, hope it all goes well. This is one of my favourite modern pedal steel players, American of course, this is how good you can sound if it's your main instrument and started playing when you were a nipper. https://youtu.be/BIWuQgzbCBs
  10. One of my sons stayed in Paisley for a while some time ago, visited a couple of times but can't remember too much about it. I attend the Scottish steel players gathering which is held monthly in Gartcosh, most of the guys are from the Glasgow area, great banter and some great players. One of the guys plays rockabilly bass, his wife got him interested in learning pedal steel as a way of calming him down a bit! He brought his band along one night, PA the lot and they entertained us for an hour, very good slap bass player, early stages on steel. There's a saying that it takes 2 years to sound crap on the pedal steel, there's a grain of truth in that, it's a very steep learning curve to begin with, even if like me, you've played guitar for a lot of years. Yeah, was looking at the prices of the tickets for Glasgow, not sure I want to pay that much, as you say Donald Fagan is probably the only original left, shame about Walter Becker, I always thought he should have stuck to bass though rather than guitar, I guess though you get fed up eventually playing what you're best at. Yeah you gotta to hear the bass man, annoys me when the mixer guy downs the bass in the mix. Don't think the Fishman would work on bass, different string spacing so the pickup poles would not be aligned with the strings, would also be a bit sluggish on response on the lower frequencies, works pretty well on the low E on the guitar but you can hear it struggling a bit at times. Never seen a midi pickup for bass, I think the response time for analysing the lower frequencies would cause a delay that would be unplayable with current technology anyway. I've tried other guitar midi pickups in the past and the Fishman is the first one I've tried that responds pretty much in realtime. IMHO Too much vibrato takes away the feeling you can get by using vibrato. Some steel players use it to disguise the fact that their bar is not exactly in the right position. Me and Danny are from Fife, Lang Spoon and all that 😎
  11. Yep, both from the land of the kilt. Danny's a fine guitar player, did a great job on that track. I'm into the Dan myself, not to the same extent as Danny though. I heard they were touring the UK next year, might try and get a ticket for that. I bought a Fishman Triple Play guitar midi controller earlier this year, fantastic piece of kit. I was hoping I might also be able to use it on the pedal steel on 6 of the strings but the string spacing is different unfortunately so unless Fishman come up with an alternative pickup.... Not a big fan of BJ Cole, great player but uses too much all the time vibrato for my taste, much prefer the country rock players, Sneaky Pete, Buddy Cage, Milo Deering, Skunk Baxter is also a fine player. I had a play along with Song of the Wind, think maybe I was being a bit ambitious there 😎
  12. That would have been a night to remember, not sure if it was the same tour, I don't remember there being a support in Edinburgh, I would have remembered Earth, Wind and Fire fer sure, but then I read recently that Journey were supposed to be the support that night but for some reason didn't play, hence Greg Rolie and Neal Schon were there. Apparently Aynsley Dunbar also came on for a few numbers but I don't remember that. Guessing you're a Steely Dan fan, my mate Danny who played the guitar on the above track is a huge Steely Dan fan, in fact he's known locally as Steely Danny 🙄 Might give that one a shot at some point, I've got a Golden Throat 2 voice box, would be fun to try that on the steel, don't know if my dicky thyroid would take it these days though. I have a version of Samba Pa Ti played on pedal steel on Youtube but I'd like to do a better version at some point, was quite new to pedal steel when I did it. My mate Calum has a Leslie simulator pedal that he uses with pedal steel and it sounds really good, would be better with the real McCoy, bit heavy to carry around though. In the traditional pedal steel world effects other than reverb and delay are looked down on, very purist, tbh it does sound at it's best with just a touch of reverb n delay, but it's fun trying other stuff out. Compression is done manually with the volume pedal as compressors suck all the tone out of it and the pedal steel is all about achieving tone. You got me thinking about trying a version of Song of the Wind, not sure how that would work out on the steel, probably have to do a bit of 6 string on that too, but it was my favourite track from Caravanserai, still listen to it a lot.
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