Baloney Balderdash

Happy Birthday Ian, RIP.

So, what is your favorite delay pedal? Tell us a bit about it and why you like it. My absolute favorite delay pedal got to be the Nux Tape Core Deluxe, which is a truly amazing, but actually quite cheap (about 63 Euro / 59£), digital emulation of the legendary Roland Space Echo tape delay. Sounds absolutely amazing, and with the software editor you get access to all the features of the original tape echo unit, plus a handful of additional very useful ones. Only downside really (I guess some downsides have to come with such a cheap price), is that the quality seems to be somewhat inconsistent from unit to unit. Mine for example I discovered sucked my tone slightly, which though was fixed completely by the buffered pedal that I have sitting right in front of it in my signal chain anyway, as well as, even though every other settings dialed in with the editor was saved perfectly well to the individual respectively 7 modes of the pedal (representing the 7 possible combinations of the 3 tape play heads), just as they were supposed to, it refused to save the "Auto Tap" setting if activated (a setting that makes the pedal automatically detect every time you tap the foot switch more than 2 times in a row and make that your tap tempo, saving you for having to activate the tap function by pressing the switch down for 2 seconds first), which I managed to solve as well though, by downloading the Firmware Updater and Editor software again, even if it actually appeared to be the exact same versions as the ones I had previously installed. Also heard reports from some people having some noise issues with this pedal, which I think though was mainly an issue with some units out of the earliest batches of this pedal, and which seems to have been fixed with later versions. Also this is not exactly common issues, even if it does certainly seem that issues are considerably less rare with these pedals than usual with more expensive and generally acclaimed brands. But if you make sure to buy it from a company with good return policies it should really only be a minor annoyance that won't actually cost you anything but your time, and for the sound quality of the delay you get, if the pedal works as it is actually supposed to, which by far most of them in fact still does, for the relatively cheap price you'll have to pay for it, I'd say it's all absolutely worth it. In my opinion the Nux Tape Core Deluxe is simply the absolute best sounding delay effect in pedal form at any price class. Here's how it looks: And here's how the software editor looks: My preferred settings (this is for my bass setup, currently working on some songs for sort of a progressive psychedelic stoner rock solo project, which primary instrumentation is going to consist of just bass, drums/percussion and vocals, with the bass tuned in standard F# tuning, as in the 4 lowest strings of an 8 string guitar, 2 half steps above E standard tuning, and running the bass through an always on 1 octave up effect placed as the very first effect in the chain, mixed with the regular clean bass signal, giving an effect similar to that of an 8 string "octave" bass, with pairs of respectively bass and octave strings): Wow: 70 - Flutter: 70 - Bass: 38 - Treble: 38 - Saturation: 80 - Reverb: 14 And then I have the Auto Tap feature turned on, so I can just tap the tempo without having to repress the foot switch for 2 seconds first to activate it. Mostly using just Head 3, and without rhythmic note values synced, with the Mix control knob set at about 1 o'clock and the Repeat control knob set at about 11 o'clock. But I might find use for the other play head combinations and other settings at some point as well. Probably not going to ever use the SOS mode (the loop function that this pedal features as well) though, as I will probably get a dedicated looper pedal at some point anyway, but what a delay effect! Here's a couple of YouTube demos demonstrating it (on guitar though):

Out of those options the black looks best no competition. I am an incarnate tortoise hater, looks kind of smarmy in the cheap synthetic kind of way to me, sort of gets my associations falling in line with the absolute worst sides of typical 70's style (mind there were lots of cool things about the 70's too though in my opinion), as well as somewhat reminding me of a dirty and smelly old pub with a thick layer a nicotine and char from years of heavy smoking and far too little cleaning covering everything, including the heavily outworn and partly holed red leather covering the furniture, and accompanied by the pungent stench of urine from the, in line with the general sanitation of the place, rarely cleaned toilets and way too drunk customers persistently having failed to aim their golden bodily fluids in the direction of the devices designed for that purpose properly. Though if I had the option for freely choosing any pickguard for that bass I'd probably try out an anodized/oxidized copper or iron one. Or perhaps even an engraved brown or black leather one. Or how about a dark wooden one, a piece of thin ebony plywood perhaps, or maybe oil treated mahogany?

Well, 4 string basses actually cover a lot of ground. That is not to say that there aren't any real use for basses with 5, 6 or even more strings. 5 string basses actually even seem to be pretty common in certain forms of what I would call mainstream music, whereas 6 or more strings probably will remain a niche thing. And nothing wrong with that really, I for one mainly prefer non mainstream and music that would probably be considered pretty niche for most people. True innovation rarely happens within the mainstream anyway, and while that can be considered a fairly sad fact it's not exactly anything new. It's more or less always been that way really. And even if I don't consider myself belonging to the mainstream movement I still prefer playing my 4 string bass. Nothing wrong with that either really. Instruments are just tools after all, it's what you create with them that matters, and while a 6 string bass definitely got more potential possible uses than a 4 string, it doesn't necessarily mean it is automatically always the the better choice or that it in any possible way is always the right tool for everything. If you expect truly new ground to be covered within the mainstream you have seriously lacked paying attention to the music scene for ages. Just not going to happen, and if it does, be sure that they weren't even the first to do it, or even the best, they just managed to degrade it into a pop form, that's all. And while there are plenty of truly and genuinely amazing 6 string players if you dig a little, there will still be people who do just as amazing stuff on an old fashioned 4 string. The instrument is just a tool, what matters is the player, and if he or she happens to be a genuinely and truly great one he would be able to do amazing absolutely mind boggling stuff stuff on whatever instrument he prefers playing, regardless of the number of strings and amount of fancy advanced features it might or might not have. For instance I seriously doubt this would have been even greater if he had just used a 6 string bass:

Well, if you like that, then you are going to love the pick storage box I just invented. Depending on the thickness of the picks it can hold up to 10 picks at any given time. Unfortunately it doesn't have a hip brand name on it, but for just 15 Euro extra you can get your own name engraved by hand. Here the magnificent wonder box of pick holding is: And it can be yours for the ridiculous cheap giveaway price of just 45 Euro. And in all 100% genuine pure aluminium.

I always welcome more options for short scale bass choices on the market. Though I am not personally really in the market for a vintage specked short scale P bass, even if I converted to playing almost exclusively short scales long ago and I like the tones P pickups are capable of, but when that is said I think that headstock looks awesome, would far prefer it over a traditional Fender one, which to me has always come off as a bit bulgy and clumsy looking, regardless of the fact that I really prefer 2+2 kind of headstocks in the first place. I think that headstock looks absolutely great though, but I realize that is not to much use for you since you clearly have a completely different taste in aesthetics, at least when it comes to bass headstocks, than me. To me though that there is a vast improvement over Fender's headtstock design, and as far as I am concerned it fits the rest of the bass perfectly fine as well. To each their own I guess.

Adrian Belew Power Trio with monster female bass player Julie Slick and of course the legendary guitar wizard, former King Crimson member, Adrian Belew himself:

Just out of curiosity, anyone who also uses an always (or almost always) on 1 octave up effect to emulate an 8 string bass, or a real 8 (or 10) string "octave" bass as your main? Currently my main bass is an Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass with just a DiMarzio Model P pickup wired directly to the output jack socket, tuned 2 half steps above E standard tuning, as in F#1 to A2, which I run through an always on TC Electronic Sub'N'Up Mini octaver pedal,. which is set with a 1 octave up blended with the clean signal. Actually manged, thanks to the EQ'ing of the input signal that is fed to the octave engine and the processed output signal that the Toneprint editor allows for, to make the octave up tone sound pretty realistic without any digital artifacts whatsoever, just using the stock polyphonic octaver, on which the octave up signal has as good as perfect tracking and very short, almost unnoticeable, latency, and in my opinion already without utilizing the Toneprint editor sounds much more natural than for example the EHX POG pedals, which while also tracking as good as perfect with very short latency (and for some reason lower latency on the octave down signal than the Sub'N'Up), , has a somewhat organ or synth like quality to it. I use it as the main instrument for a progressive psychedelic stoner rock solo project I am working on at the moment, which instrumentation I plan predominantly to consist of just bass, drums/percussion and vocals.

I owned a couple of 1000$ + basses as well as some cheap budget ones, and while the basses that costed above 1000 dollar definitely were nice instruments that I loved and that sounded absolutely awesome, and which I would wish I hadn't been stupid enough to let go of, as well as you can be sure about getting an instrument of great quality almost every single time you buy a bass in that sort of price class, which isn't exactly the case for all budget instruments, where quality control seems to be quite lacking and very inconsistent, the cheap budget Ibanez GSRM20 4 string Mikro bass that I own now, though with upgraded pickups, is on my top 2 favorite basses that I ever owned (in doubt if the Jerry Jones Longhorn, which costed 1200$ from new, back when it was still in production 10 years or so ago, that I once owned might have been my number 1 over the Mikro, if I hadn't been stupid enough to sell it, but not even positively sure about that), and luckily having as good as perfect fretwork from factory as well as what might be the most stable neck of any guitar or bass I ever owned. In my opinion and experience it is absolutely possible to get lucky and find a cheap budget bass or guitar, where accidentally all stars seemed to have aligned when it was made, that with a pickup upgrade, and eventually some other electronic and hardware upgrades, is every bit as good as a much higher end bass or guitar. Cheap budget basses might not been quite as fancy, but in pure functionality they might in some cases be every bit as great instruments as higher end ones, just considerably more of a rarity and dependent on pure luck, due to the typical randomness of production and quality control in that sort of price class.

I had this exact amp, and kind of regret selling it. Sounded absolutely fabulous, like most of the old Trace Elliot amps really, and was loud enough to keep up with a drummer and gutarist in a loud and heavy playing rock band, even with the master volume kept below the 12 o'clock position at all times. The old Trace Elliot solid state amps are known to push a good deal above rated wattage. Really sturdy build too, though that reflects in them also being quite heavy weight. These old Trace Elliot amps sounds no short of amazing in my opinion, and I kind of ponder on getting one again at some point, or perhaps the new tiny Trace Elliot ELF class D amp instead, which is supposed to actually sound very close to the old classic solid state Trace Elliots. Really love the classic Trace Elliot sound, though I should probably add without the mid scooping "Pre Shape" buttons activated.

Peter Gabriel cover:

Thank you, I'll try that. Cause as it is now it is extremely annoying.

Starting to happen to me too, every once in while, actually every 2 minutes or so this warning pops up in my anti virus, which happens to be AVG as well, if I have a tab opened in my browser with the "Bass Chat" forum loaded.

A blast from the past...

Stickers on my Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass:

So how long have you been playing bass, and why did you start? I think I started playing bass around when I was around 16 or so, a couple of years after I had started to learn how to play guitar, which makes the time I have played bass about 27 years by now, most of that time having had bass as my main instrument of choice, although having continued to play guitar on the sideline all along. It all started one day at band rehearsal where I by pure incident picked up the bass players bass and started playing, fell in love with the sound and feel of playing it, right there on the spot, and soon after answered an add by a drummer and a guitarist/vocalist seeking a bass player for their original band. After an audition session I got accepted as their new bass player, and even got a lot of praise for my capabilities on bass from the drummer, who happened to be a, for his age at that point, really skilled musician that knew how to sight read music, and who beside drums, played both piano and guitar on the sideline (that drummer and guitarist/vocalist being the same two people, though in a new different original band, that I much later since recorded a 2 track Single and a 4 track EP with, which were released on a small independent record label that some of our mutual friends owned, before I eventually decided to leave that band, much to my later regret, though I did get to contribute to a few of the compositions of their later full length album, even if not recording anything for it). The first few months with that first original band I didn't even own my own bass yet, but had to borrow one. Though soon after I decided to put my primary focus on playing bass over playing guitar. For some reason playing bass just came much more natural to me than playing guitar, like the instrument just felt exactly right in my hands, and as if I must have been thinking much more like a bass player than a guitarist all along, like apparently I just had a natural understanding for how the instrument worked and talent for coming up with and playing just the right bass parts for songs relatively effortlessly, that I for some reason just didn't possess on even just remotely the same level and same degree on guitar (even if eventually I have gotten quite good on guitar too, but ironically mainly from the experience I have acquired playing bass).

I guess it's really a matter of having some measurements as guidelines, rather then set in stone rules, and then make fine adjustments according to feeling and verifying with your own ears.

Great. I wish you the best of luck. As for adapting, at least I hadn't that much of a problem with it. Think it might seem more of an issue than it in reality is. Way back I personally switched from having guitar to having bass as my main instrument of choice, and I didn't experience any major issues, I actually think it is really mostly a matter of attitude, turned out I had really been thinking more like a bass player all along, and I felt sort of a relieve when I started to play bass, playing bass just came much more naturally to me than playing guitar ever had, and I also started out on a 34" scale bass, and stuck to that for over 10 years, before I eventually had yet another revelation when I first discovered, and then later switched to almost exclusively playing, short scale basses. Also please read my edit/update of the post you quote me for.

Well, Stanley Clarke's main electric basses are actually short scale basses, which means referring to him it would be 30" scale length. So that's a thing to consider too. Especially since it might make the transition easier for you coming from guitar. Personally I converted first from guitar to mainly playing 34" scale bass, then to almost exclusively playing short scale basses, though I have continued to play guitar on the sideline all along. The, fortunately less and less common, myth goes that short scale basses are beginner/amateur instruments (what ever that is even supposed to mean (no such thing as beginner or amateur instruments, only beginner/amateur players)), and that they are somehow lesser than regular 34" standard scale length basses, and while there might have been some truth to the latter notion in the past, seen from the perspective of the general quality of the options for short scale basses the market used to have to offer people who wanted to play such an instrument (and how they used to be, and in some cases unfortunately still are, marketed), there are now tons of high quality short scale basses available to chose from, from a wide variety of brands, and absolute top of the game players like Stanley Clarke, Jack Bruce, Paul McCartney and Mike Watt mainly playing short scale basses ought to be more than plenty evidence in the first place that before mentioned myth in fact has always been nothing but a myth, made up and passed on by ignorant people. Anyway, welcome to the dark side!

It's just an amazingly great piece of music period, regardless of the amazing technical level it also displays.

While Victor Wooten is one of my absolute favorite bass players, but while I am not into a lot of his music, but still really dig his bass playing on that music, this particular piece is just beautifully amazing on every possible level:

I'm a big fan of budget instruments, the quality might be rather inconsistent, but it is totally possible to find diamonds in the rough. My main bass, that I really love, to the point where I named it, something I usually don't ever do with my instruments, "Dud Bottomfeeder", is a 4 string Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass from December 2010 production, so one of early ones.that were made in China and not Indonesia, where production later was moved to. Even though it had what must be the worst factory setup on ever on a bass, with the strings hovering 20mm or something like that over the fretboard at 12th fret, the fretwork actually turned out to be close enough to perfect to get the action exactly as low as I prefer it, without any fretbuzz whatsoever, which is about 1,9mm at 12th fret low E strings side and about 1,3mm high G string side (though currently it is actually tuned 2 half steps above ragular 4 string, E standard, Tuning, so that would actually be respectively F# and A. For some songs I am working on for a work in progress solo progressive psychedelic stoner rock project, which main primary instrumentation will consist of just bass (always run through a polyphonic octave up effect, giving an effect similar to that of an 8 string "octave" bass, with pairs of respective bass and octave strings), drums/percussion (which will be both physically recorded and programmed), and vocals). This bass also have the most stable neck I ever had on any guitar or bass and holds tuning exceptionally well, and as good as ever requires truss rod adjustments. I guess it is not as cheap as some of the basses displayed in this thread, and have had quality pickups installed, first a P/J set of EMG Geezer Butler pickups, and now just a Di'Marzio model P, wired directly to the output jack socket, with the J pickup from the GEezer set still sitting there, filling out the bridge pickup cavity, but disconnected and lowered considerably. Really love the tone the Model P pickup alone wired directly to the output hack socket gives me. The bridge is taken from another Ibanez GSRM20B Mikro Bass, the version with black hardware from stock, that I wasn't as lucky with, as it buzzed all over the neck, and I suspect not only the fretwork but also the actual neck/fretboard being of just terrible quality was at fault, previously to that my main Mikro just had a cheap black clone of a standard Fender bridge installed though. Mahogany body, exceptionally stable maple neck, with a 22 medium fret rosewood fretboard and a just 28,6" scale length, and the instrument I ever owned that I might have personally bonded to the most, love it to pieces (even if I have treated it a bit carelessly through time, the blemish on the body, near the neck (just above the P pickup), is a filled out failed attempt to drill an extra neck pickup cavity, which I later have dropped all plans about, as I actually love how it sounds, as it is): Of other cheap budget instruments I also own a 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro Bass, with exceptionally great fretwork from factory, from last year, 2019, production and an Epipnone SG Special electric guitar, from the 2012 production, both truly great instruments, the 5 string Mikro I just wired the 2 stock J pickups in series, though I am probably going to upgrade the pickups at some point, even if I will likely still wire them in series, as well as done some visual mods on it, the Epiphone SG guitar I done some visual mods on as well, and upgraded it's 2 stock humbucker pickups, swapping them out for some great budget IronGear ones just recently.

The standard kind of fretboard conditioner you can buy from just about every music instrument and gear related shop of several different brands, sometimes called lemon oil, but really not containing any real lemon oil whatsoever, but predominantly mineral oil, as organic oils can go stale and mess up your freboard, like caking up or beginning to smell bad, will do that for you. I can attest it's effectiveness to shine up dry looking rosewood from personal experience. It usually comes with a cloth too, otherwise get a special guitar polisher cloth too, or use a soft cloth that won't lint up of some kind, the micro-fiber kinds would be perfect, or similar types of cloths made for wiping off television and computer screens, only applying a few drops really, a little goes a really, surprisingly, long way, and you don't really want your fretboard wood to get totally soaked, as too much too often can soften the wood, which you wouldn't want to happen. Personally I use PRS Fretboard Conditioner, and 1 small flask for all my basses and guitars has lasted for years, but most brands will be equally good, and as said all mostly be of more or less same formula, which is predominantly consisting of mineral oil, same as one of the main ingredients in most furniture polishers.

I once owned the 60W B15-S, 1969 version of this classic amp, really regret selling, loved how it sounded, and it was just loud enough to be used in a loud playing rock band. And got to be about the most cool looking amp ever made as well. Got it amazingly cheap in the mid 90's from a local 2nd hand music instrument and gear shop. Regret so much selling it. Unfortunately I can't help you though, since I have no idea which speaker unit my flip top cab was actually equipped with.