Boodang

1 hour ago, ead said:

 

Nice, who makes these basses?

https://www.andyviccarscustom.co.uk/index.php

Andy Viccars. He's based in Milton Keynes which is my local town. He's semi retired but using up his remaing stock of which he has some cool stuff. My bass is made from 'gun stock' walnut.

Really hand made!

From my local luthier. Less than a standard fender or bongo. 

At that price I'd get my local luthier to make me a neck..... and that's what I've done recently. Custom 61 spec jazz neck with carbon stringers. Very specific and not something a generic manufacturer could produce. 

10 minutes ago, BassBeast said:

I’ve already sold the bongo. 

Well, who's a silly boy then!

Lots of good suggestions on the thread but have you considered a custom build to get exactly what you want? I had my local luthier make me a 24 fret jazz recently, to say I couldn't be happier is an understatement and cost wise was way cheaper than a bongo. 

18 hours ago, BassBeast said:

Hello folks!

 

I’ve been using a Bongo 4H for 2 years. 
 

Now seeking another 24 fret bass…

 

BUT, something with a max of 9v power supply. The Bongo’s 18v is too hot for my needs. 

 

Help!!

Change the preamp on the Bongo maybe?!

https://www.innovationstrings.com/#/

Check out Innovation strings. They have a string for most styles and preferences.. braided or solid synthetic core, steel or nylon wrapped and different tensions including a low tension set for slap, plus sets orientated towards arc or pizz.

Mostly what you want will depend on what you play. I like the honey jazz set, a solid core mostly for pizz. 

An alternative to the innovation honey jazz are the Obligato strings, again synthetic core but a good all rounder that also has a good response with the bow (they have enough metal in the wrap to work with magnetic pickups).

Ric and Jazz pups are located in different positions on the body.... you could have a Ric with jazz pups added, or a jazz with ric, and you'd have the best of both worlds.

"Good condition... for year" = old and knackered!

1 hour ago, Waddo Soqable said:

The mobile phone thing in the workplace has gone mental, I'd make them check the thing in at the door at the start of shift, give it back for lunch break, then same again for the afternoon session, phones returned at going home time... 

Can you imagine getting a message from the hospital at the end of your shift asking you get there asap! Can you imagine the law suit the company would get for taking the phone off someone in those circumstances!

1 hour ago, Ralf1e said:

Cost cutting in the workplace doesn't have to be replacing people with machines.

Example.

Cut out the unofficial coffee breaks, cigarette breaks, unnecessary phone and texting breaks, talking breaks and here I mean people who do very little but talk ALL day long and think that is work when in fact they are not putting in any effort to do even a scrap of the physical part of their job. i.e. making product.

Wastage by not doing the job properly the first time so it has to be done again (no money in doing it twice)

Teams of overpaid parasitic idiots stood around presentation boards talking testicleese while claiming to be part of 5 or 6 s groups.

Clear away that little lot and you could get over twice as much quality product out the door for less cost.

So not being judgemental or have a chip on your shoulder then!!

1 hour ago, SteveXFR said:

 

Care homes are businesses, all businesses exist purely to make profit.

I'll never get there, I'm checking out at 65, it's the only way I can avoid working up to 70.

Surely it has to be 64!

9 hours ago, zbd1960 said:

Most adults lose the top octave (nominally above 10kHz) by the age of 25...

'Annoy-a-teen'... best app yet. High frequency generator that I'm too old to hear!

6 hours ago, Osiris said:

 

What are your thoughts on the Doc Lloyd Photon Death Ray? I don't usually get on with optical compressors but the reviews of that model intrigue me. 

The artwork is great! As for the sound, subtle is the word. The 3 way threshold switch works really well and the mix feature is welcome. In terms of adding punch I prefer the Spectracomp but for transparency it's the Photon Death Ray.

TC Electronic Spectracomp and you can pick one up s/h for 50 quid.

I think it has many advantages over other comps, the toneprints give you a range of expertly 'tuned' compressor settings, it'll do everything from single band to tri-band compression and if you really want to you can plug it in and edit everything. 

I've got the Aguilar TLC and the Doc Lloyd Photon Death Ray, both way more expensive and not as good imo.

I use a passive Radial Stage Bug SB-2. It sounds natural and not hugely expensive (£85) but mainly like the fact there's really nothing that can go wrong. I turn up on stage and I can guarantee it's the one thing that's not going break and one less thing that needs to find a mains socket.... so hassle free.

Our guitarist insists on using active di's and on the last two gigs we ended up tracing issues with his sound down to them and then using my spare stagebug (which I carry just for him!). 

Not a foolish question! So, basically the tweeter switch is going to determine the upper frequency response of your speaker cab. Just use the setting that gives you the upper frequency response you like.

Basically, off means the 12" gets it all and the upper frequencies will start to fall off dramatically at around 2k. Switching the tweeter on will dramatically increase the high frequency response (up to 17k according to the specs!). However, tweeters can be a little harsh sounding (especially piezos), so it's a matter of choice.

Somethings to bear in mind... passive pickups on bass have very little response above 4k, so 17k will just amplify noise, or a violin at the dusty end maybe! 

Your tweeter settings will determine how much effect your amp eq will have. Tweeter off and the 12" will do most of the treble roll off for you without using the amp eq. Tweeter on and you'll have to pay more attention to the top end eq on your amp, although that's where the -6db setting might help to get things from sounding too harsh.

7 minutes ago, Ed_S said:

I reckon people who like the classic designs would see it as unnecessary and not buy one, and people who didn’t like the designs and/or the company before still wouldn’t, and they wouldn’t buy one either.

Oh, can you imagine joining two pieces of wood together without using bolts...  sacrilege!

5 hours ago, Ralf1e said:

Or a through neck 😂

Point is then Fender fans wouldn't buy them.

Beside, I don't think Fender possess the skill set to make a set or thru neck!

3 minutes ago, Nicko said:

I used to DI through the PA sometimes, but since I was the one lumbered with the PA and the laptop with the PA settings I didn't feel as if I was taking the easy route.The PA had 8 channels so why not use them?

Well, if you're bringing the pa then fair enough! But not at the expense of the vocals, obviously they're the 'talent' and nothing can interfere with the talent, especially when they don't even bring their own microphone! Again, not that I've got a chip on my shoulder or anything!

7 hours ago, Nicko said:

I'm not quite sure why, if the amp/speaker isn't providing any additional sound texture, you wouldn't just dispense with it completely and go through the PA via an even cheaper DI box.

our guitarist does this, he turns up with his guitar and a di and goes 'where am I plugging in?'. And I'm like, I don't know, we discussed this before, the pa is just for vocals, where's your amp? For me, not having the ability to amplify yourself, when you need to, is just plain lazy / can't be arsed to bring an amp to a gig / someone else's problem cause I've decided it's not mine because I'm so talented. Not that I've got a chip on my shoulder or anything!

6 hours ago, Nicko said:

I'm not quite sure why, if the amp/speaker isn't providing any additional sound texture, you wouldn't just dispense with it completely and go through the PA via an even cheaper DI box.

Well, a lot of gigs we do, most actually, are relatively small, so vocals thu small pa speakers, everyone else thru their own amp. When it's thru a pa I can still hear myself as at least I'm not at the mercy of the sound engineer. 

And then there's just the concept that to be heard you need an amp and you're not always going to have someone else to do that for you.

I just bought a LD Sysyems Icoa 15a speaker and it's very impressive, especially given the price at just under £400.

So, initially I bought it for my gigs with an electronic drum kit. We're 6 gigs in and wow, what a great sound. The kick is punchy and the whole kit is clear. And that has been at a small open air (about 200 people), a small club, and some larger venues.

So then I had some gigs come up with bass, and rather than use my swr setup, as I now get my finished tone from my pedal board, I used the Icoa. Again, great sound. Despite 300 watts and a 15 plus horn, it's not the loudest but any louder and I'll be going through a PA, plus there's plenty of headroom and it's nowhere near clipping or struggling to keep up with a guitar going through a Marshall stack. And, like the E kit, it's a great tone, clear and basically reproducing what I'm getting out of the pedals. Also has a built in 3 band limiter for when you do push it.

Given the cost, unless you have a need for a specific tone from a specific bass amp, I can highly recommend. And quite frankly, makes some bass amps look expensive by comparison. Also, at 25kg, not the heaviest amp/speaker I've every lugged around (especially compared to the golden age of Trace Elliot!).

If your pedal doesn't specify the mA draw it will probably quote the wattage (it'll be mWatts). As Amps x Voltage = Watts then Watts divided by Voltage = Amps

3 hours ago, M@23 said:

Radial Stage Bug for me, would recommend!

Yep, always carry the passive Radial stage bug SB-2. In fact carry two of them as our guitarist is an idiot who insists on bringing active di's that always fail.

2 hours ago, Ed_S said:

 

I did. I'm enjoying it and I don't regret my decision. 🙂 

 

I totally get not understanding why somebody else has bought something you wouldn't, though. At about the same time I bought my bass, a mate from work paid roughly the same on booking a big family holiday. To my way of thinking, all he'll get for his money is photos I can find on google image search, sand in places it should never be, and an overwhelming feeling of relief when he can sleep in his own bed again!

I've dived with dolphins in the Bahamas, skydived in Hawaii, hiked to the base camp of Everest and sailed the Seven Seas of Rhye.... oh the time and money I could have saved if only I'd done a Google image search instead!