moonbass

Hi,
I know there's a list stickied, but can't see any close to Cambridge.
I've got a cracked nut (stop sniggering) on by '75 reissue jazz, which has a bound neck, so I'm guessing won't be very straightforward to replace.
Would prefer someone with a personal recommendation, and I'm happy to travel to nearby counties.
Thanks for any suggestions.
A.

Just made the change 2 months ago after 20 years on 4 string... Best thing I ever did! Stingray 5 all the way. It's a bit like turning your amp up to 11 - those magic seconds when you first venture down to D, C or even lower. Watch out for the brown note though. It took me about a fortnight to get used to not mixing E and B strings up - well worth it.
A

Excellent day all round - thanks Charic. Nice to meet you all, although I am now having to give some intensive counselling to my WAV4 EUB that now thinks it's joined Metallica! Also getting increasing GAS for an Eden rig... Damn it's warm punchiness! Hope we can do it again soon.
Andy

What time is it going to wrap up? I have to work until 1pm now

After a successful days trading I'm now the proud owner of a Streamer Jazzman! Very nice to meet you 'Herman'; hope you're enjoying my blonde!
Just got to get to grips with trying to control the tones on the Warwick - quite a shock after the pick up and play ease of a 'Ray, but will be great when I get the hang of it!
Andy

PM'd
A.
[attachment=67549:IMG_0084.JPG]
[attachment=67550:IMG_0082.JPG]
[attachment=67553:IMG_0080.JPG]
[attachment=67552:IMG_0079.JPG]

1) Charic
2) Lonestar
3) Dood
4)jonunders
5)Jacqueslemac
6)Essexbasscat
7)ESharp (F )
8)gicut58
9)Moonbass - can bring EUB

Thanks chaps; EZ Drummer looks good. I couldn't get MyDrumSet to work, but will maybe give it another go when I get some spare time.
Anyone used Komplete Elements though? Still looks interesting given the other parts of the package for what seems like a great price?
A.

I'm looking for some cheapish drum samples to expand the ones that come with Logic on my Mac. Anyone got suggestions? I was looking at Komplete 7 Elements, but wondered if it provides enough useful live kit sounds? Has anybody got it or use it, or have other suggestions?
Andy.

The function room above The Boathouse pub might be worth a look. A.

Hi,
If you use the search option up the top of the page you'll find all you could ever read on the subject, but really you need to try loads of basses yourself to see what's right for you.
For a bit of a start on the difference between vintage and modern/active tones have a listen to these (excuse the playing). These are samples with no effects or tone shaping at all:

[attachment=58594:Fender_75.wav]
[attachment=58593:EMG_JVX.wav]
[attachment=58592:Jaco.wav]

The first is my Fender '75 Reissue before changing the stock pickups, the second is with them changed. And the third is my Jaco Artist Series fretless (which are 62 reissue pickups I think?)
If you decide you'd like something between the two try the EMG JVs (not Xs) as they do sound more 'vintage' and TBH I would probably have gone for them if I'd known.
Hope this helps with your search for tone.
A.

I'd be keen if I'm free.
A.

Hi,
I've just swapped the stock vintage pickups in my MIA '75 Reissue Jazz for EMG JVX pickups.
As I think they're pretty new, thought some peeps might be interested in hearing the difference:

[attachment=56889:Fender_75.wav]
[attachment=56888:EMG_JVX.wav]

I'm happy as it's got rid of the buzz. I'm quite staggered by how different they sound, and I'm sure a lot of you will prefer the original passives, but the EMG's sound great to me and they will make recording with isolated pickups hum free (except for my playing!)
A.

Ok, if you promise not to laugh I've just hastily recorded a sample of my Jaco Artist Series bass with neck pickup and tone rolled a little back.
Obviously it would sound better with a little brushing up, but it's probably more useful to hear it unadorned!
[attachment=56630:Jaco.wav]

Damn you WOT! Now I've gone and accidentally purchased them!
Still, I reckon it's better than having a £1000+ bass sitting around not getting used 'cos it buzzes when you go near electricity...
If I get my act together I'll put some A-B sound clips up when I put the little buggers in.
Now, if I can just fix the bent tin can bridge that keeps falling apart... Fender; never knowingly quality controlled, but you gotta love 'em...
A.

Well, the UK distributer for EMG says they haven't yet shipped any JVX's into the country yet, and it's an 8 week lead time.
The RRP is just shy of £200, so they sound significantly more expensive than the JVs (unless shops are massively discounting them).
But they do sound sexy...
Hmm,
A.

Yeah, I saw that; they do sound great! I did a bit more digging on the EMG website and looks like they are pitching the JVX as higher output, slightly more modern sounding than the JVs.
As always the problem is there's no way of A-B testing these pickups, so always gonna be hard to know which to go for.
I think, as the '75 Reissue is a very bright and lively instrument, I'll go for the JVXs if they're available... will have to ring the distributor to see if anyone over actually has any though!
A.

Pretty much that really! I'm looking to change the pickups in my 75' reissue jazz and Jaco signature fretless as they're both too bloomin' noisy for recording.
I've used the JVs on an old bass of mine years ago and loved them.
I've seen on the EMG website that it looks like they only make the JVX now, but you don't seem to be able to buy them in the UK.
Have they changed, or is it just a name change? What's the dilly-o?
Andy

We've just named our function band, and a few of the rejects which I quite liked were:

Amen Brother
Pink Cake
Soul Power
and
Funkzilla

But you realise that this is all futile as the more suggestions you get, the harder it gets to decide... and the worse the suggestions get!
Andy

Thanks All!
It's interesting that it seems you all go more for the 'pre-Logic' bits than changing stuff in Logic itself. I was kind of expecting people to do a lot of shaping once a basic recording had been made, but perhaps not.
I'm using a Zoom H4n as an interface at the moment, which seems to be fine. I planned to get a MOTU or similar, but while I'm getting started I don't think I need more than 2 inputs. Do the more advanced interface's make that much of a difference to the sound? ie: do they really act as a good preamp? I'd heard that basically most AD converters nowadays did about as good a job as each other, and not a lot of difference between low and high end units, but it'd be great to hear other thoughts on this.
Mike, thanks for the heads up on spread and the bass amp plugin. I'm using a Stingray or Fender 75 reissue straight into the Zoom H4n at the moment, which gives a great full and punchy sound, but lacks any amp/cabinet warmth/growl/woodiness/whatever. I'm finding that the guitar amp and cabinet simulators in Logic work pretty well and are versatile; do people not seem to find this with bass? I guess bass is a much subtler beast in this respect for recording as too much fiddling can leave you without warmth, punch and bottom end. Do people find it's best just to mic up a cabinet? Seems a bit of a faff for most home recording, but do-able if worth it. I've also got an Aphex Bass Exciter, which adds a lot to the sound, but often makes things sound a bit too 'active' and lose that more 'passive' warmth (if that makes any sense?!)
Yep Ian, I'm in Cambridge too. Hopefully gigging with my own band sometime soon, but have been with various other local types for a few years now.
Anyways, thanks for all the input. Much appreciated.
Andy

I've just bought Logic Pro 9 and I'm dumbfounded by the amount of options. I reckon it could take several years to try out all the configurations available, so thought it might be useful if people shared any tips, or signal paths they use to get good results from recording bass in Logic?
Do you record straight into your interface? Which amp simulator/effects work well? What settings?
C'mon, I'm a lazy, lazy man, and I'm looking for a quick fix!
Andy

Imogen Heap... mmm, she's a amazing:
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IMhejTbIGM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IMhejTbIGM[/url]
A.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McDgDlnDX0Y"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McDgDlnDX0Y[/url]

Is this it? You have to wait until 2.51 for the chorus.
A.

I've just been playing along with the remastered version of A Kind of Blue, and the head it definitely starts on a D (although granted difficult to play this an octave down!)
As someone who struggles still to get my head around the practicalities of modal jazz just thought I'd suggest something to the OP, if trying to wing it for a gig in a few days. If you've got access to a piano you can get your head around the sound of D Dorian scale by simply playing only the white notes of the keyboard (ie: no sharps or flats). As you are forced to avoid the black notes you can practice riffs and then translate them to the bass without your fingers automatically reverting to the blues scale or minor scale etc. (Although I have to say for me one of the sexiest bits of Miles' solo is when he breaks out and plays an Ab! I think the suspense of staying in Dorian makes playing the odd flat Vth quite dramatic... but perhaps I need to get out more...)

I bought a Silver Series Jazz when they first came out; 'twas my first ever bass. It was amazing; lasted me way longer than a beginners bass should do. In the end I'd defretted it, varnished the neck, then had it planed back down, added EMG JVs and a Badass, and I swear it sounded every bit as good as my Jaco signature Jazz, and actually felt a lot more comfortable to play. Amazing build quality for a bass at that price. Incredible that the neck survived my cack-handed attempts at woodwork and came out shining! A.