Bill Yellow

Just to say that for 40-ish quid, the AKG are a great pair of phones to plug into your amp or interface for home practice. Light, comfortable and enough low end to be going on with.

Just to say that for 40-ish quid, the AKG are a great pair of phones to plug into your amp or interface for home practice. Light, comfortable and enough low end to be going on with.

Specifically the 45-60-80-107 set - EXL170BT Pros: Good strong fundamentals Plenty of low end thump, particularly with the oversize E string Very consistent tone from string to string, possibly benefit of BT Cons: Rough and rasp-like under the fingers Along with that, a lot of clangy, scratchy handling noise. (Has eased a little after 4 weeks!) 'Balanced tension' is not reflected in feel - G string in particular is difficult to get much bend in

Specifically about the 40-100 SM66N set... (I used to use Elites Player Series, same gauge, but they got worse since Elites started sourcing offshore. So swapped to the similarly priced SM66N from Rotosound. Made in UK.) Pros: Smooth soft feel - pretty good for a sub-£20 roundwound Flexible Last for ages with consistent tone Good with single coil setups - J-style etc. Cons: Can emphasise the midrange harmonic overtones more than the fundamental That means less low-end thump, particularly with the light gauge Not so good with my Bartolini Classic soapbars, which are already harmonics-rich Sky-blue silks can look naff on your headstock -

Ah, true. GHS then, contact core or actually look like progressives at the bridge end. But I can't Google anything about silk colours.

Rotosound PSD Bass strings.

Please PM me if you know anyone who might be suitable. Mostly 1990's-2000's rock covers. Band formed last summer and still learning/rehearsing with a view to demo recording, then hopefully pub gigs.

Apologies for suggesting this had been discontinued. It disappeared from the MXR website, but is now back, and I have re-linked the picture above to its new URL.

I actually went out to buy an EHX Bass Mono Synth pedal, but the shop guy suggested I audition it first. And I found it crappy and unusable. So I asked if he had any pedal that could give me a fat almost synthy fuzz sound without losing the bottom end. Because when I plug my bass into the guitar fuzz effects I have, they suck the bass end right out. I was presented with this MXR Sub Octave Bass Fuzz, which I auditioned and just couldn't leave in the shop - even at £200. What is it? Well, with its dual footswitches you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a 2-in-1 pedal, offering either sub or fuzz or both. But it's really not. It's a dedicated bass fuzzbox that can be tweaked to the Goldilocks spot, and then have some extra Daddy-bear low grunt kicked in! How's it work? There are two versions of fuzzery to choose from, courtesy of a small button and a red/blue LED. Blue fuzz kinda breaks up the heart of your signal whereas Red fuzz gives more of a buzz at the top end. Both seem natural and usable. The character of the fuzz is then down to how you set the Gain control. Lower gain is more responsive to the attack and tone of your playing. Higher gain increases the sustain and saturation of the fuzz. Finally, there are mini Bass and Treble knobs that allow you to shape the tone of the fuzz quite dramatically. And the ability to boost the low end whilst still having the pedal scream like a vixen seems like a good thing to me! There are then three independent output level controls, allowing for all sorts of blending - one for the fuzz, one for the (switchable) suboctave and one for the dry signal. And that Dry control doesn't just add back a bit of your untreated bass, it has a little mid-boost knob that allows you to tighten up what could be a very fat dose of bassy trebly fuzzy goodness, by dialling in a clean midrange thump. The suboctave seems to track very well - I couldn't fault it. And should you want to use the pedal as a clean sub, you can turn the Fuzz volume to minimum and engage both footswitches and off you go. There is no control to adjust the overall level coming out of the pedal. Never mind. You will be heard. What does it look like? It's a double-size MXR pedal. 125x90mm in a gold, metal box. Input Jack to the right, output jack to the left. 9V in at the top, or battery compartment underneath. Actually, the plastic battery door sits proud of the base of the pedal, so I might suggest sticking rubber feet at the corners if you want it steady on the floor. Crazy. Engaging the suboctave brings on a blue LED, and engaging the pedal itself lights a white LED so powerful that if you stand directly above it and look down it will save you thousands of pounds in laser eye surgery! Last word? This has got to be worth a look, if you are wanting to shape a deep, floorshaking fuzz. And bear in mind you can't chain separate fuzz and sub pedals to achieve the same thing. I know there are plenty of alternatives, and some people may view this product through a dark glass (geddit?). But for me, for now, I'm a happy man.

...and of course, as I have to keep reminding myself, we're a covers band. Not a tribute band. I don't need to sound like Mr F. Lea or anyone else. I just need to sound like me having fun and getting into the essence of the song!

Thanks for all the suggestions and encouragements all. I did look at the Josh Fossgreen vid, and downloaded his 3 page tab, so of course I'm going for it! And to be fair, since joining a rock covers band I have learned to play stuff by Muse, Skunk Anansie, Foo Fighters, Cardigans and Arctic Monkeys as well as the more straightforward 'solid' tracks. The only band I really have to bluff a bit is Queens of the Stone Age. So I'll see what I can make of slapping, even if I chicken out after the intro! Also, there was also a gentleman whose name escapes me demoing his approach to slappery, here:

I have always prided myself in being a solid no-nonsense bass player, not given to any poncey flamboyant stuff. Particularly never messed about with slapping. Not on the bass, anyhow. So now the band are suggesting we cover the Chilli's Higher Ground. What would you do?

They're my next try. Anyway, I'm enjoying the journey of discovery and it's only pennies!

Well, I've just got hold of the Dava picks. Nice rubbery grip and a hard pointy tip. But I can't live with the scratchy noise they make on the strings. They do work quite well on my acoustic guitar though, with a crisp-but-dark sound! Lord Yellow's search for a new bass pick. Continues.

Definitely a way to save getting buckle rash on the back of your instrument. But could end up getting a more awkward rash elsewhere...