bassjim

Every now and then I stumble across things that other players have been using for years and swear by but its either stubbornness , scepticism, wind blowing the wrong way or I don't what, that prevents me from taking what could be sound advise. Couldn't get my usual strings so gave these a go and........will be using these a lot more. Like all the time. About £21.00 quid a set so more than I'm used to paying. I tried some of the expensive brands before and although many swear by them I wasn't that blown away, so went back to using cheap sets and changing them at least once a week, as I gig most weekends. The D'addarios however.. For me, I found they improved and enhanced my tone, and feel great to play. Felt a little weird at first and I had to check the G was the correct gauge as it felt too thin. The tension is probably a bit less than what I was using so that was also a not sure moment. After the first 5 mins however, once they settled down..really good. I usually kill a set of strings dead in a gig, particularly in this hot sweaty weather but this one set did a Thursday rehearsal and a Friday and Saturday gig and still good after that. Might of lost a little bit of zing but not totally dead. I'm very impressed so far so thought I would share this new found love for D'addario strings. I've been very sceptical of the hype that surrounds strings before especially when trying new things that pop up from time to time. I end up unimpressed and feel its a waste of time ,money and effort, and back off to the cheap sets I go. But not this time. If you like nickle wounds but haven't tried them yet I can recommend you give em a go.

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1497031590' post='3315483'] Oooh go on - good to hear both sides of the picture and I'm sure your fellow BCs won't mind you sharing your experiences (even if it is of their fav amp of all time ) - it's certainly helpful to get views on what didn't work (and why). [/quote] Ok then. Bare in mind that I'm a bit of a dunce with EQs so for it to float my boat it has to be has to be plug and play first and tweaking does something useful. I'm sure bar maybe a couple of my non favs are more down to the user than the equipment.... Quick background on the Trace Elliot saga. Having just landed probably the worst record deal known to man, in my early 20s, with no real experience or Basschat to ask for help and guidance, I found myself with some advance money that need spending. On bigger gear cause thats what you do isn't it? Whats the next step? Thats right call Trace Elliot explain you have this money and can you have a players discount? Yes you can is the answer and what you need is the flagship model plus at least the new 4 x 10 to add to your 1 x 15 even though you are still playing small clubs and not Wembley stadium. So a TE AH 600 that replaced the old faithful TE AH 200 (now sold as in my 20 something years old wisdom thats now an amp for amateurs) turned my usually good sound into a mushy wreck. Any settings that worked on the AH 200 12 band graphic didn't on this . The inbuilt compressor made it worse. Turn it up more than 2 on the dial and although its rearranging the insides of anyone 10 feet away you cant hear a thing whilst standing up against it in a small club and next to the really loud drummer . I never got used to constantly being asked to turn it down so it had to go. Maybe today with more experience to call on it could be ok but at the time its was black and white. AH200 = good AH600 = bad. Constant fiddling required with no meaningful result. But to be fair it may have worked better on the stages it was designed for. How do you fix this? Send back the AH600 to Trace Elliot and swap it for the TE valve head thingy. Now at 300 watts? and only three knobs. Sound = terrible. Farty and distorted. Soldier on until an advert appears from the new Ashdown Engineering. Get an early ABM Ashdown head and get the small TE cabs. Much improvment but miss that old AH200 sound. Still naive enough to accept sales man talk about old gear = bad Latest gear = much better. Ashdown sets fire to its self at a rehearsal after 4-5 years of trouble free tweaking to get the sound I want but cant get. Its simple really, so far I have the wrong gear for what I'm trying to achive. I just dont know this yet. Ashdown lower range MAGs = In my hands : ok if you just want to use the E string only and play Oasis covers type of amp. More tweaking and thin sounding sad times for me were when using MarkBass LM2 and the TC electronic RH450. Just fiddle fiddle fiddle and not impressed. Again this is probably down to the user not the gear.

[quote name='Andy_L' timestamp='1497551566' post='3319096'] Cheers Jim. The Classic 210 looks to be about 3.5kg heavier than the Neo equivalent so not a big difference. I'm fond of the look and sound of the Classic so I'm planning to stick with this. That said, the Pros and Neos seem to come up for sale much more often on here. How do you find the 210 against the 112 sound-wise? [/quote] The 210 has more authority and a bit warmer. Rounder ? More punchier. More presence. Obviously louder due to its size ect but in terms of tone its not that great a difference. Its like the same tone but more of it. I tend to keep the EQ as flat as possible these days. What I put in I get out. I rehearsed last night in a smallish room with just the 112 and didnt want for anything more. On most gigs however I take the 210 in first and add the 112 if I need it. We usually only use backline . PA is for vox and keys , maybe a little bass drum. Same for most dep gigs I get. With both cabs I can often be loudest bastard in the room if I want to be and have yet to find myself in a situation where I feel I could do with more. I'd still like to add second 210 though, just because

Rehearsed last night with an 80s band that have started to use them to "enhance" the sound. I have to say I really liked it. For a start the tempos are solid as its to a click. Not that this particular drummer needs it but I know of a few things I also play in that would benefit from this alone. Just this one factor is really good. Its as easy as playing along to a youtube clip. Even just having the percussion only added in is really good. OK you cant go off from the arrangement once its set but for a regular gigging covers band how often do you need to do that? Another plus for this band is that those gigs they cant get a dep keys player in time or pubs that dont pay enough for the regular line up...... Downside is that eventually all bands end up using the same backing tracks and we all sound the same!!

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1497555598' post='3319133'] [media]http://youtu.be/YyNwc2O5gRA[/media] Brilliant stuff; thanks for posting. [/quote] wow. thanks for sharing this. shes really really good. so relaxed and great tone.

I use the 210 plus a 1x 12 configuration but its the EBS neo range with an EBS 350 head. Like you I started off with just 1 x 112 and needed some more omph. I added a second 112 and that worked really well and used that for a few years. Then I caught sight of a NEO 210 going really cheap so I brought it with a view to move it on if it didn't work out. As it happens it has worked out really well. I currently use either or both cabs depending on the situation. I'm still looking at adding a second 2x10 if I see one at the right price so that when I need it, I have the 4x10 thing on tap as well. Due to the light weight of either cabs, its no great hardship to move them around. I'm not sure if the classic line are as portable but if they are as loud the neos, and sound good to you, then whats not to like?

So far favourite amps for me have been in chronological order Trace Elliot AH200 (back when they were the thing to have). That was an amp that just worked. Fashion saw it off to an early grave. Then Markbass SA450 but the one that really makes me happy is the EBS 350. Its the only amp so far that right from the first time using it, it gave me confidence from the get go. Very plug and play. Great sound. Its not a 500w but it replaced a 500w and I cant say I have ever felt like I'm missing something. There have been a few disappointments along the way that I hoped would be as good as the hype but in my hands just didn't do anything special or actually made things sound worse. As some of these are some folks favs, I wouldn't like to diss em here. Its a case of one mans food and all that. I haven't yet tried some of the others like the Thunderfunk mentioned here so until I get the opportunity its the EBS 350 for me. Have to say I didn't like the "improved" EBS 360 as much. If it aint broke ect....

Had experience with a singer that turned up to several gigs with this for keys and vox because it was "less hassle" than bringing a traditional PA. What we found using it in this capacity.. It surrounds and washes the entire backline area with what ever is in it. Its bloody annoying unless you are the person going through it. Created a volume problem that didn't occur using a trad set up.We got to about gig no 6 with it and called time on it. However for a solo/duo or DJ its great. Couldn't tell you what a multiple set up would be like. Perhaps others have had more success.

[quote name='timhiggins' timestamp='1496518956' post='3312100'] I have a v7 and it is easily a match for any of the 1000 plus basses i've had and i'm not the only one who thinks so here is a bit of Andre Berry playing one with David Sandbourn ...there are plenty of other pro players using them too [media]http://youtu.be/K-_D5bpeF1Y[/media] [/quote]floats my boat

yes i was thinking the same thing but if any one has experience with em id be interested in how they get on with them. so £800 inc vat plus £450? for IEM that do the job properly...........whats not to like? Its the "latest breakthrough" apparently but i can only see it "breaking through my bank balance" right now. I guess for touring pros that have to use IEM or those that prefer that kinda thing,maybe its the same as a decent rig cost wise. Meanwhile on earth.... Seriously though it could be where we are all heading what with "the man"telling us what's what with their sound limiters and ting!

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1496415810' post='3311286'] Not only do people in the audience fail to notice, half the people in bands I have been in fail to notice too, and I don't understand how that can happen. [/quote] yes ,how can that happen? Usually its the gitrid that happily carries on regardless!

Any bass chatters here had any experience with these? https://www.porteranddavies.co.uk/products/kt-platform/

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1496404441' post='3311115'] I'm currently in two bands, and at one time 'I Wish' was on the set list of both. The key was E for one band and E[sup]b[/sup] for the other. Talk about a recipe for disaster. [/quote] Ive got this in E ,Eb and Db. and that's just for a start. My fav is Db. This and about 10-12 tunes that I also have to know in three different keys. Its an interesting weekend when we get a three nighter and a different singer on each! Keeps doing the same set each night interesting.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1496406006' post='3311146'] zero rehearsal? man, I've played wedding gigs where the first time the band has met has been in the carpark. "how long have you guys been playing together?" "oh, years... we go way back" [/quote] this too!

[quote name='Monkey Steve' timestamp='1496239344' post='3309818'] I have been in bands with certain members who didn't like rehearsing. As a rule of thumb they generally: 1. massively over-estimated their own abilities (Dunning-Kruger and all that) - they don't need to rehearse because they're great; To those arguing that a gigging band shouldn't need to rehearse the same songs over and over again, I'd refer you back to the OP where he's explaining that the problem is that they can't play the set properly to begin with. How can practicing the songs possibly make the situation worse? [/quote]+ 1. If somethings consistently not sounding right the solution/problem is either the player/s or difference of opinion. The place to sort it out is has got to be the rehearsal room. I do a regular dep gig where the drummer is so on the case,plus the band are so on it, that rehearsals are not really nessacary but this is an exception and even then I'd still would have preferred at least a run through. I personally prefer to be rehearsed. I enjoy playing and I enjoy rehearsing. If the other band members were below an acceptable, (to me) certain standard, bunch of dicks or gigs were embarrassing due to lack of what ever it was, I probably wouldn't be there in the first place, unless getting paid to do so.

Why only a few weeks ago......we have three different singers that we use so some tunes are in different keys depending on singer that eve. I (being a bass player and therefore well learned and rehearsed ect ) have learned all required tunes in all keys required using just a 4 string and de-tuning my bottom E to D or Eb and basically knowing my sh*t. Our keys player being lazy prefers to use the transpose button. On the gig, last number of a full on great 1st set with whole full house (pub) loving it. We can do no wrong. Start playing. Hang on its all wrong. Stop the tune as we are but a few bars in. Laugh it off. Get the pub to chant "(keyboard players name) is in the wrong key!" "What keys this in?" he says in a panic. "Its in F minor for this singer" I tell him. "err....so is that as in relative minor of A or the minor of the second degree?" he asks. "why are you asking me this sh*t now?" .......more chanting from the crowd who are enjoying his embarrassment. After a minute or two of button pressing and "I swear I had this all set up just like last time we did this tune with X" we are all good and off we go... Morale here ...learn the tune in the key you are playing in with out cheating. De-tuning an entire guitar or bass acceptable exceptions but only if its open string dependant. Thats what I think anyway!! On the Van Halen thing..... I read somewhere they de-tuned guitars a semi tone to accommodate Roths voice which they hated doing as it "made the strings go floppy." Could be on that one the wrong "de-tuned" or other wise tuning was handed to Mr Halen? I wouldn't know but its a great example of it can happen to anyone.

From personal experience, in my current regular band playing in pubs and clubs pretty much every weekend and wedding venues that are converted barns to halls. Usual stuff nothing out the ordinary. We use our backline and just keys,bass drum and vocals into tops. 9/10 we get compliments on our overall sound. I'm usually a bit too loud or just right at a sound check and adjust accordingly. Im using a 2x10 plus a 1x12 but sometimes take away the 1 x 12. We dont go for a wall of sound thing. Last week my 2x 10 was facing front yet a good bass player I know that came along to watch,was standing off to the right of the stage/band area and said it (my bass) sounded excellent over where he was. The 2x10 was, in this venue, more than adecuate. I'm not against it all going through a PA as long as the whoever is doing the sound knows exactly what they are doing. Done it in the past with excellent results but for my current regular band this would involve more gear, unessaccary extra stress and possibly extra personel that want paying. We dont really need it to be honest. So dispertion and omnidirectional stuff. If these things are present when I'm playing most of the gigs I do, then they certanly are doing good work and I would say important. My gear is designed, I'm guessing, to do just this and give me and the audience within the area I'm playing in,ie ; a pub club senario, the bass sound I want and they can reconise by what they hear its a bass been played. I'm relating to what I know here so I'm refering to playing in pubs and clubs that hold upto a a max of say 250? Bigger places that require the big PA we get a sound guy in that supplies the whole rig. In these cases I'm still using at least a 2 x 10 on stage but may position it up higher to ear level if nessaccary. Happy to point it across the stage or what ever works for the good of all. If I turned up at a venue where the deal was you go through the house mains and this is your sound guy and thats how we do things round here then like the OP I would have to get on with it. I wouldn't be happy on the gig though. Some sound guys rule the roost in some venues and you are stuck their opinion. I have had in the past ,where its been an in house PA, a sound guy tell me hes taking me out of the FOH as the sound from my rig sounds just perfect in the mix. He will give me sign if it needs more or less so look out. The dispertion definitley was a good thing there. If all venues were like the one described by the OP with the volume rules set by the sound guy, and it was my experience week in week out that my rig was now a visual aid then the whole dispertion thing wouldn't matter at all. If you cant use the cab or get a smaller one that works in these situations,then it doesn't matter what the paper work says about dispertion as its become irelivent to the situation in which the cabs been designed for. At this point I'd be looking at in ears

Disgusting

Been using a preamp pedal for about 2 years now with a passive bass. Plus points: Bass is as it was. No gut changing. Can use it with other basses. Its very much set and forget. Maybe every now and then I bend down to make minor adjustments but these are usually set and forget once done on a gig. Can use the passive tone control on the bass at the same time for even more tonal options. You get a bit of a boost in the signal chain so you get the same omph as an active without having to turn the gain up on the amp further than you might be happy with. Volume control to adjust the gain. (didn't know how useful this was till I got this pedal). It works. Has as seperate (the one I use) tuner out and DI out. Has a light that tells me if the battery is low. Can also use mains power. Mute switch. Minus points: Nope.

All members are keen,enthusiastic, experienced, able, available, fully independent,well versed with a can do proffesional attitude. I have only ever found players lacking in ability to do what the band requires or any of the above to be a pain in the arse.

Weve had one like that and although it makes humours conversation, at the time we were all shitting our selves and worried about getting the gear out in one piece. At the end of the night I was speedily carring out my cabs when they suddenly left my hands and lifted into the air. " I'll give you a hand wiv these" said a 6foot 3 mountain of a brickshithouse scaffolder with blood still soaked on his tshirt and hands. "err, yeah thanks, thats great, my cars just here, umm yeah, thats fine ,just there, ta..." He puts them in the back of my car, tells me its "a fackin really excellent band n that" then waltzes back to the back door and continues to get involved in the umptinth fight of the evening. Where I and the band would like to go through to get the rest of our gear. Oh the fun. Main reasons we wont go back to a venue are... The acoustics are so bad its hopless. There is one that couldn't draw punters in even if they offered free drinks due to poor location. Previous reputations they cant shake off. Usual crowd prefer a different vibe to what we offer.

I had this once with a a guy that although very good, would noodle in a jazz style over everything. You could stop him and say this just needs a supportive role like Steely Dan during the verses but before you knew it we were back on widdling. Would look at you whilst smiling in a " isn't this great?" kind of way whilst doing so. He just couldn't help himself. Despite the "I have done sessions with..." speech, he came across as very well learned theory wise, knew all about inversions, had great chords and even had great tone but clearly inexperienced playing in a band. Definitely no experience in a gigging band despite claims about touring. I also think he got bored really quickly if not widdling and fiddling. In addition to that he was one of those guys that felt we all wanted to have an instant theory and jazz lesson. Next!.......

Cool band. Nice! Great guitarist too. Really nice tone. Its a yes from me.

I would suggest you write/ learn new material from here on as you are now. You don't have to drop everything but don't rely on past material for a while. You never know you may come up with something new and fresh. Advertise for a new player and be patient. Wait for the right player. For now change the angle a bit. Like change the feel or tempo. See what happens and experiment. Maybe you are so used to hearing how things were you cant adjust. If you are still playing the same parts which are suited to the extra guitar part there will be a hole so let go of what was and go with what is now.