Witch Hazel

i happened to be reading a review of the RME Babyface Pro the other day, and noticed it includes an equaliser.  however it sounds like the EQ is quite awkward to use in standalone mode, so it probably wouldn't work for what you want (also, it's pretty expensive).

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/rme-babyface-pro

15 hours ago, Mottlefeeder said:

Any comments on M-audio, Tascam, Focusrite, Behringer...

the Focusrite interfaces i've used (2i4 v2, Solo v3, 18i20 v3) don't have any general-purpose eq.  i did just check in Focusrite Control to make sure it wasn't there and i just missed it... the only eq option is the 'air' preamp emulation (which i think is a mild treble boost or something like that). 

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

I think if you changed the system to give active passive switch you might then lose the piezo when you went to passive mode, unless you got creative with the wiring. Or even a john east - I don't think there is one that works with piezos is there?

yeah, i wouldn't expect the piezo to work in passive mode.  John East has a "piezo mag buffer" listed on the website which looks like it's meant to be used with this sort of setup, so i'll see what he says, but from the description it looks like it'd only work in active mode.  i do have an external piezo preamp (which runs off 9V or phantom power), but i'm not sure how you'd be able to wire it up to use that without having two output jacks or something.

i'm not too bothered about losing the piezo in passive though.  i'd just like the option to get some sound from it without a battery, especially since the piezo seems to devour batteries.  

13 hours ago, 2pods said:

STR an old post somewhere complaining that if the Piezo is being used, either one or both EQ controls didn't work properly ?

i also saw someone say that, but it's not that way on mine: with all three pickups on, the bass and treble controls still work fine.  i saw a lot of complaints about early examples of these coming with bad wiring from the factory that caused strange problems, perhaps the eq not working properly was a result of that.  or maybe they fixed it in a later revision (mine is 1P-05). 

i saw that earlier!  looks like a really cool project.  probably a bit more than i want to do with my precious new bass though 😄

the active/passive switch was one thing i liked about the East preamp though.  i'd actually like an option for a passive piezo output too, since i have a piezo preamp i use with my fiddle and the piezo on this absolutely devours batteries.  but i'm not sure how feasible that is... 

yes, i didn't even realise that (about the pickups) when i bought it - i thought they were just a soapbar, since they look like soapbars.  i only realised it's a reverse P underneath when i was reading a thread on talkbass.

there's a video on YouTube of LowEndLobster replacing them with some Aguilar pickups, but i honestly think it sounds better with the MK1s.  the neck pickup especially has a really nice not-quite-P-bass-but-sort-of tone.

i do miss the PowerSpan pickups on the SR300 a bit (switchable humbucker / single coil) and i wonder how this would sound with those on, but i'm not feeling any particular need to change the stock pickups for now.  

edit: i did drop John East an email about options for replacing the preamp though.  i'm not sure i want to spend ~£300 on new electrics for a bass i just bought, but i would like a mid control - it only has bass and treble with the stock preamp... 

okay, this is technically not NBD because i've had it for a couple of weeks now, but i didn't want to post too early and jinx it.

so, after not really having the chance to do any music due to moving around a few times over the last few years, i've finally settled down and found a local project i might want to get involved with.  but i realised that i don't really love either of my current basses, and i've had my eye on one of these for a while, so... i bought one.

and i'm glad i did, because i love it.  as well as the two magnetic pickups (Bartolini MK1 - i know not everyone loves these, but they work well here), it has a piezo in the bridge and blending the three pickups gives a pretty good range of tones for a fretless bass.  it's got the lovely thin SR neck, the hardware seems pretty good, and it's on the light side for a 5er (around 8lb).  

they're making the fingerboards for these from panga panga now, which i've never heard of before, but it feels good to play and has a pretty pattern to it:

it came with Chrome flats on, but i put some TI Jazz flats on after reading a few positive reviews, and those sound pretty nice.  they are fairly low tension though, especially the B which is a bit floppy (it's 34" scale) so i don't know if i'll stick with those.

any complaints?  i don't love the vol-vol-vol control setup, it's a bit awkward to change the tone and keep the same output level, so i'm wondering about putting a new preamp in with a more sensible control layout and an active-passive switch.  and i wish there were more colours available than brown burst, which is nice enough, but i'd rather have a natural finish.

but overall, very pleased with it and i expect this will be my main/only bass now.  i might even sell my SR300E... 

i borrowed the strings from this bass to put on another one, so this now has a set of nearly new D'Addario XL Chrome (45-132) flatwounds on.

hi Richard, it's 34" and 45mm at the nut.

i'm selling my fretless bass to fund an upgrade.  buy this bass and help me achieve a new bass day!

• 5-string, 34" scale, fretless (with front and side fret markings)
• ash body with spalted maple top
• nice thin neck (SR-style)
• jatoba fingerboard, 400mm radius, 45mm at the nut
• passive pickups with active preamp (3x tone control, volume, pickup balance), includes battery
• in excellent condition: never gigged, no cosmetic damage.
• no strap, no case
• fitted with nearly-new D'Addario XL Chrome flatwounds.  it's never been played with roundwounds.
• i've shimmed the neck slightly to improve (lower) the factory action.  it's not set up for "mwah" but could be if the action was lowered further.
• you're welcome to play it with my amp before taking it away.

£450 or reasonable offer.  collection only from Gloucester.  no trades.

thanks for looking!  any questions just ask.

10 minutes ago, Max Normal said:

This is my first Ltd bass, and I’m surprised that they don’t get more love on the forums.

i recently bought an Ltd B-205SM FL (5-string fretless), which, aside from the bridge, seems to be nearly identical in construction to yours, and i've been quite happy with it.  i'm not sure why they don't get talked about as much as other "budget" makes. 

i ended up shimming the neck slightly to lower the action, and there are some minor things i think could be improved - the battery compartment could be easier to access, the pickup output really is very low, and the bass is on the heavier side - but overall it seems like a good instrument for the price.

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

So why is it that used examples sell for next to nothing - if they sell at all??

they're so cheap it hardly seems worth the effort of buying them used - my Behringer BEQ700 (a copy of the Boss GEB-7) cost £17 new.

i found the Roto 77s work well for tuning down to D.  they're quite stiff for a given tension so losing a bit of tension doesn't make them go floppy. i'd go for the heavy tension, but if you usually use rounds, the medium might be a good option too.

5 minutes ago, Nicko said:

Hate is a strong word, but I really really don't like them

i didn't mean to have a go at you!  nothing wrong with not liking them, but some people seem to go out of their way to hate them - they always crop up on those "top 10 most hated bands" lists.

1 hour ago, Waddo Soqable said:

On that single random taster I'd certainly not slag 'em off as a band, even tho it's not exactly my kind of thing

it's weird how some bands seem to attract such a lot of hate.  there's plenty of bands i don't like, but i don't waste time hating them - i just don't listen to them.  maybe people are angry that some famous band is famous and their personal favourite band isn't as famous? 

31 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Oh...and a harp...but a good one is thousands of pounds.

oh, i'd love a harp.  fortunately my taste leans more towards lever harps than pedal harps, but they're still rather pricey.  an Irish session i used to play at (back in the old times when we were allowed to leave the house) sometimes had a harp player turn up to play accompaniment and i loved the sound of it.  a couple of years back i almost bought one; i managed to resist the urge at the last minute, but it's still near the top of my things-i'd-buy-if-i-was-rich list.

aside from a harp, i'd also like to buy everything.   i've wanted a Koch flute replica by Martin Wenner ever since i first saw it.  a Noy flute with the engraved keywork wouldn't go amiss either.  and i'd like a Hammond organ of some sort.  and a decent set of Uilleann pipes.  a five-string fiddle would be handy (either electric or acoustic, i'm not sure - so maybe both).  and i've had my eye on a Gibson SG Tribute...

hello!  i can't join your club since i don't actually own a Helix yet, but i'm thinking about buying the Stomp and i hope i can get a bit of advice...

so i had a play around with the Helix Native VST a while ago, and i didn't like some of the effects on bass (like the fuzz and envelope filter), but i did like the amp/cab modelling and the less bass-specific things like reverb, chorus, delay.  so what i'd like to do is add the Stomp to my existing pedalboard to do the things it does well, but keep my other pedals as well. 

what i'd also like to do is use it for guitar effects, so i could use the same pedalboard for bass and guitar, maybe with some sort of FRFR cab and putting the Stomp into the effects return on my bass amp to bypass the preamp.

so i'm assuming that this is a pretty common way to do things and it should all work fine, but before i go out and buy one - does this sound reasonable?  have i missed anything obvious?

12 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

Trad is pretty closed up indeed.

in pub or function bands that may be so, but plenty of trad musicians write and perform their own material, which may then end up entering the tradition (after all, existing trad tunes didn't just suddenly appear out of nowhere).  in that respect it's not very different from contemporary music.

thanks for this. i normally use DarkReader, but something about the upgrade made some of the UI elements very ugly in the normal theme, this works much better. 

11 hours ago, Al Krow said:

You still taking bets? 😁

well i wasn't technically wrong - it'll put out 500W or 800W if you turn the volume knob to the right place!

i'm a bit surprised they're going straight from 200W to 1200W, but amps are so small now that having one tiny amp and one normal-sized amp probably makes sense.

25 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

You don't really need a Powercon on an instrument amp.

sure, you don't need it.  but i've worked in IT long enough that i'll take a lockable connector any day over one that can slip part way out and stop working while appearing visually fine.

update from Peavey on the other site

Quote

Super excited! That would the first test run on a live tour - and Doug is super happy....everything in that amp is brand new...with the exception of the multi-band compressor and Trace tone circuits. They will be in the world soon - as someone pointed out in that video there are new cabinets - I am probably more excited about those....we are waiting on the final versions to get through manufacturing! Can't wait for ya'll to hear what we've been working on for the past 3 years.

my first bass was pretty boring - an Ibanez GSR200 of some sort in cherry red and an Ashdown Perfect 10 practice combo.  but now i think about it, i actually have no idea what happened to either of them.  i think they might be at my dad's house somewhere, in which case i hope he's enjoying them!  sadly i don't have a story about how bad they were because the bass and amp were both actually pretty decent.

4 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Hey you could start a whole thread with that!

hah, well, let's hope i don't 😛

but distorted rhythm guitar samples are fairly common in EBM/IDM type music, and the sparse electro accompaniment kind of reminded me of that more than metal.  perhaps it's just too bad to fit into any genre at all.

edit: this is what it reminds me of, sort of:

5 minutes ago, la bam said:

Yeh, I've had a few power amps using this fitting. Mainly pa amps.

that makes sense, i've never used PA gear but i can see the advantage.  i do hate IEC cables with a fiery passion, so i certainly wouldn't object to a proper lockable power cable replacing it.

is this even "metal" at all?  it reminds me a bit of a cross between Blutengel and Terminal Choice, except instead of being good music it's really bad music.