Boodang

48 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

No, I've never tried them. I'll keep that in mind, your description sounds very appealing thank you 🙂

I came across the Galli strings as I was looking for something that not necessarily sounded like a DB but felt like my DB strings. I use synthetic core strings on my DBs and there’s a fair choice available but for BG it was all steel core, so I didn’t hold up much hope. Until I found the Synthesis strings. I believe, and don’t quote me, they are the only nylon core BG strings on the market. So the best way I can describe the feel is ‘buttery’, very much like my DB. I got mine from Bass Direct, they’re not the cheapest strings but like most flats it’s not like I’m going to change them very often. 
Word of warning… the strings seem very robust when on the bass and under tension (they’ve stood up to live use, even when a guest tried to slap with them!) but they are v delicate out the packet and while you’re putting them on. They do warn you about this but be careful. 

15 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

 

Au contraire. If you learn how great players did/do it, you can use the knowledge and skill you acquire from studying what they did/do to develop your own lines. Standing on the shoulders of giants and all that.

I second that. Are you really going to create a better baseline than James Jamerson?! 

8 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

 

There are always people with exceptional natural ability, but they are not typical. We ordinary mortals have to work at it. We're seeing a lot of the cliched arguments for not acquiring an understanding of music theory on this thread. I'm just waiting for someone to opine that knowing about it it will "harm their creativity"...

 

"No amount of practice or theory can make up for a good ear"? Does that mean that those who don't have that "phenomenal ear" may as well give up and take up photography or golf? You can develop your ear's ability, in the same way as you can develop any attribute.

 

Of course, it's important to play with others. Of course it's important to hear how music works and not just read it from the page. The point is not that one should learn solely from a book, but that one ought to do so in conjunction with playing with others, trying things out for yourself, etc, etc. It can speed up the learning process, sometimes dramatically. Would anyone recommend not learning to read or write language?

 

There's a lot of defensiveness around this topic. Some are prone to knock it to make themselves feel better about not understanding it. If you'd rather not do it, knock yourself out. In the end, nobody else will be any the worse off.

I have to say, over the years, the more theory I learn and internalise the better a player I’ve become. Also, not to be underestimated, ear training. 

4 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

Tell me where I can get flats that sound like TI Jazz Flats after a year or so of playing

 

I'll save you time: you can't. That's just one example I have experience of. Sometimes people look for ways to accelerate the process and get to that sweet spot faster, makes sense to me. I just use them and eventually they'll get there, between the bass' tone controls and/or a bridge mute I get close 'enough for rock'n'roll', but I see why someone would just want to get there.

 

 

I’ve got TI flats on a custom jazz, and Galli Synthesis strings on a standard jazz. Have you tried the Galli strings? Because TI’s after a year of playing is how I would describe them. They have a nylon core which I think gives them a slightly duller tone. 

On 18/02/2024 at 13:29, Mickeyboro said:

The Otis Jay Blues Band kicked off 2024 at Ringwood Meeting House, Hants. Four new numbers went pretty well, and with 60 paying punters we beat our previous record by 10!

 

Was told to ‘turn up the bass’ in the interval… understandably so as I was only using an Elf and BF One10. But ‘going active’ on my Sandberg VM4 gave me the bass boost I needed and apparently the second half had more low end.

 

Talks of three possible new gigs through this, so quite excited!

What a weird venue. It must have been like playing to an audience peering over a fence! Was it disconcerting?

Actually I think there’s a lot to be said for going passive beyond the mere technical, and certainly not the start of a journey towards not playing at all. I’ve got a passive jazz, a passive Di (stagebug)…. less to worry about means I’m not focused on setup and focused on the gig, the music and performance as opposed to chasing down which bit of kit has failed me now. In fact, thinking about it, maybe going active is a step towards not playing at all as now you’re more focused on the technical side and losing sight of why you’re there! Just an idol existential train of thought of course. 

10 minutes ago, Dankology said:

 

I think there's a logical conclusion to that train of thought that involves not playing at all...

 

Absolutely, once you go passive you’re a hairs breadth from giving up completely. Replacing pp3 batteries is what gives meaning to our entire musical existence! 

4 minutes ago, Dankology said:

Thanks for the replies.

 

It turns out it was a combination of issues. My lead had an intermittent loose connection as did one of the spade connectors to the output socket. While sorting this out, one of the other spade connectors (from the tone pot) crumbled...

 

I couldn't bodge a repair of the spade connector but remembered belatedly that I had a whole set of unused EMG connectors in my spares drawer. All seemed well with the older battery but I've replaced that anyway. Will just have to remember to replace that wee connector cable in case I ever sell the spare pickups I nicked it from.

 

Not sure I'm entirely convinved of the benefits of these plug and play solderless connector systems - seems like more points of potential failure with the added bonus of making a simple soldering iron fix more problematic.

Of course, if you want to minimise the points of potential failure just go passive, so much less to worry about. 

Why are people being so stingy about replacing a silly pp3!!! Especially when the options are new battery vs bass packing up half way thru a gig. 

If it was an active cab then yes, the effects pedal won’t drive a speaker on its own. This is my setup when not using iem’s…. bass, pedals, then into an active LD System 15” cab. 

7.x volts means the battery is history! Plus it’s just a PP3, replace it already! 

2 hours ago, solo4652 said:

Drummer's new mixer is one of these; https://www.studiospares.com/studiomatser-club-xs-16-16-channel-mixer-860080.htm  That's not a "digital stage box", is it? Pardon my ignorance..

 

Very much not! And only gives you 2 aux for monitor mixes, but then it's not that expensive. 

Going digital stage box and full iem (no back line) has both massively simplified our setup and improved our sound. Every band member gets a monitor mix that’s clear wherever they are on stage, plus they control there own mix, and the settings are saved so normally it’s just a case of eq’ing for the venue. 
Setup and pack up times are greatly reduced. After all it’s just a stage box and cables, and it’s the drum kit that takes the longest to setup. Oh and volume on stage is v low. Any potential downsides like having a sentimental attachment to an amp, are far outweighed by a better sound, low stage volume, less gear to carry, quicker setup time and clear monitor mix. 

32 minutes ago, Cheeto726 said:

I want to master the instrument and eventually gig 

Hey, if you can jam with other musicians that will accelerate your playing no end. 

On 12/02/2023 at 17:58, greentext said:

I've seen a fair few players reference deadening there new flat-wound strings by using moisturiser or other creams. I know Sean Hurley mentioned he uses Vaseline to achieve the same thing.

 

Has anyone actually ever tried this and is it worth trying? Im totally happy to dead my string by playing as I always have but think this is an interesting approach. Part of me feels weird taking my new strings and slather them in anything.  

 

Here is a link to Danny Sapko Youtube Short on the matter 

 

You’re right, it’s too weird for words. I just buy strings that sound the way I want in first place. There’s plenty of flats out there that don’t need deadening out the packet. If that’s what you want, try the Galli synthesis flats. 

8 minutes ago, Cheeto726 said:

I appreciate everyone's response and advice! My lessons are every Saturday in the morning and I talked to my teacher today and express my concern and he completely understood. Today he started teaching me a few other things and I feel like I learned more today than I have in the past few weeks. I'm going to keep at it for a bit longer and see if it improves. My teacher is one of the coolest and most understanding people I've ever met and he was one of the highly recommended and most regarded instructors in the area.

That’s cool. Keep at it. But look for that inspiration, the thing that makes you want to play. 

16 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

You need to learn theory to make sense of it all, otherwise you will always be limited. I would love to start again now with the likes of SBL online.

Once you get past the BS headlines of their PR, SBL is awesome. And it’s never too late to start. 

‘It’s me that’s the issue’ raises a red flag regarding your teacher! You can be a musical genius but it doesn’t mean you can teach. Not saying he’s a bad teacher (well, mostly) but a pupil should never feel that way. Definitely chat over with your teacher how you’re feeling. 
As for theory, it’ll happen over time, don’t force it too much, but stick with it, small chunks. I’ve been playing for over 40 years and there’s always something new to learn, so theory is not something that you put a tick in the box, done that!

Maybe try some other avenues for learning for some inspiration. I take online lessons with two teachers, mostly because they have an approach that I’m interested in. Plus I love digging into books that take my eye, like Gwizdala’s iconic lines (I’ve got dozens of books purely for the inspiration), and then there’s the online courses. In other words, mix it up and find what inspired you. 

...also, I don't think I can go back to an analogue desk now. We've talked about this on another thread, but setting levels, eq'ing, compression, effects etc is so much easier and accurate with the graphical interface and it can all be saved for instant recall. I just can't go back.... I won't go back!!

42 minutes ago, TimR said:

@Boodang

 

yes. I mean expensive OR complicated. ie if you try and do it cheap it'll be complicated. 

 

I'm guessing by the time you've bought an XR and an iPad you're well into a £1000+, then there's the IEMs for each member of the band. Everyone will need them if there are no monitors. So that's 5 sets. 

 

Compare this to an analogue mixer and 2 powered monitors and you're not going to get anywhere near £1000. Then it gets complicated taking thrus to additional mixers. 

Yep, the xr18 and xtouch comes to 1k, we're using laptops/tablets we already own, and you can add £230 for each powerplay unit. But compared to the cost of the instruments on stage it's actually not that much. But I believe the benefits are huge, especially as with a digital desk you've got all the plugins at your disposal, like pultec eqs and classic compressors.

Each band member bought their own iem, but I bought the rest. The reason for this it that it doubles up as my home studio for which it's brilliant, and I think one of the big reasons to buy a setup like this. 

6 hours ago, TimR said:

If everyone wants their own personal sub mix that's going to either be expensive or complicated. 

 

The XR-12 and 18 will allow you to have several sub mixes. Fairly expensive, especially if you have to factor in a tablet.

 

Else if your mixer has thru I/O (unlikely for a 4 chanel mixer) then each person will need their own mixer and a bunch of leads. 

 

Most bands have a mixer with 2 Aux outs and live with 2 slightly different mixes out to headphone amplifiers or monitor speakers. 

 

We just have one monitor 'mix' with vocals only (sometimes a touch of guitar) driving 2 powered speakers in series. 

 

Sounds to me like you just need more monitors but turn everything down. Which seems to be the main cause of all issues on this forum when it comes to stage volume and hearing yourself. 

 

 

Our band has gone xr18 and IEMs, and in the scheme of things we didn't think it was that expensive or complicated. Being a stage box it's easy for everyone to plug into the xr18, we're using cables not wireless to connect the iems but that means no setup issues and it's cheaper / more reliable. Individual monitor mix is a game changer as well. And set up is quicker, the only speakers are foh, and that means less gear to carry (iems are much lighter and take up way less space in the car). Also a huge benefit is the ability for the sound engineer to mix anywhere out front and no snake required. 

We have had to in invest in the hardware to do this including an xtouch and some of us are using the powerplay ultranet units, but selling off our old monitoring system and desk paid for a lot of it.

I have to say though, the overall sound quality and mix is way better than using a combination of backline and PA and we wouldn't go back. Not only that but my back and my ears are thanking me.

The covers band I'm in decided to solve its monitoring problem by going with IEMs. To do this we use a Behringer XR18 as it has sufficient input/outputs.... oh, and we use an Ekit as it A. Keeps the stage volume down B. Makes the foh and monitoring mixes easier and C. Helps with our tinnitus. 

However, buying all the gear is not always easy when it comes to band politics and who coughs up. I guess it only really works when the whole band agree on what they need and how it gets paid for.

I have a spare bass I keep just for the purpose of swapping out strings for when I want to try something different, quite often various nylon tape. So as not to damage them during the on/off process I've installed a bridge so the ball end slots in and doesn't require the whole string to be pulled back through a hole. That way once the tension is released the string just lifts straight off. Given that the nylon strings are quite delicate I haven't had one break yet using this method. 

Packing/unpacking/transport is such a big part of the gig experience that collectively our covers band is making a concertive effort to make it easier... and in the process improve our sound. To that end we've gone full IEM to avoid lugging monitors around, and an xr18 so everyone is in charge of their own monitor mix. So 2 FoH speakers is it and it's definitely streamlined the process.

I play drums in this band so still have the most gear, the bass player turns up with just his Steinberg headless, but at least everyone chips in and helps packing up.

IF you decide to replace the pup, I can highly recommend this from Creamery pickups. Really does have bark and cuts through.

https://www.creamery-pickups.co.uk/custom-handwound-pickups-from-the-creamery/scatterwound-bass-pickups.html