mike257

Only just seen this today, got something on tonight so can't make it, but hope it's a good'un!

There's a big problem here with the perception of the sound tech's job. At the four bands on a bill, cram them in band night round your local gigging establishment that most of us in unsigned originals bands are frequenting, the sound guy basically has to run the whole show. His job is not to make your band sound like the way you sound in your practice room/garage/wildest dreams - he has to turn round 4 (or more!) bands in an extremely tight schedule, get them on and off the stage (with all their equipment) and make all of them sound decent, dealing with any changes and technical hitches on the fly. In reality, the luxury of taking the time to get 'your' sound for you just doesn't exist. I did a tour a few years ago and was lucky enough to have a sound guy I know (who now runs FOH for The Script and Brand New) come out with us. He DI'd my Stingray, straight out of the bass, every night - I had no reason to argue because he knew what he was doing, and what he had to achieve in the limited time available. Sometimes you can get the nice extras of mics and multiple channels (and he did them for the bigger shows) but it's all about compromise. And everything Bankai said.

I guess it depends on your recording situation too - more often than not, I'm on a tight budget recording, so a tight schedule too. Did you have time for him to stop and experiment with your sound? Would the overall benefit to the recording be as much as spending that time on getting the drum kit sounding better in the room, or on tracking other things? Even when you're paying an engineer, they've got to make these judgement calls because they've got to hand you a finished product within the time you're paying for. As you said, the bass sound he got is 'brilliant' - would the record have sounded better as a whole to your audience if he'd taken an hour away from other things to work on getting a different bass tone instead of the great sounding one he tracked?

[quote name='Toad2010' post='1042698' date='Nov 30 2010, 06:17 PM']I totally suck at photoshopping or editing in anyway,paint does the job for me. I reckon squier should make this! Basically squier jazz special walnut body,with a vintage modified jazz neck.Its gorgeous! Why hasn't it been made? I was considering a project like this myself,would be very easy to do.[/quote] I'd buy that! That's gorgeous, love that walnut colour on the Jazz.

I've only been using the neck pickup on my JM4 - sounds great, I get tons of bottom from it. If anything, it's stronger than the bridge pickup! Have you tried adjusting the height of it or anything?

That Marvin Gaye clip is incredible!!

Crikey - the bass rigs aren't amazing in the place I use, but sounds like you lot get stung regardless if you're using your own gear. Ours charges £18 for a 4 hour session, but that's just the room. It's about another tenner for a PA (in the bigger rooms the rig is pretty hefty though), and then a few quid a go for bits of backline. Costs a fortune if you're hiring everything, but not bad at all if you've got your own kit there. As long as I've used rehearsal studios, the bands I've been in have always kept a locker there and stored everything on site, surprised to see that this doesn't seem the norm with a lot of you guys here! Any reason why you guys cart it all home with you?

Colour me impressed, that's awesome! What are you working on there? Would love to just be a fly on the wall in a place like that, it's a different world to my usual recording environments!

[quote name='Bloodaxe' post='1039443' date='Nov 28 2010, 12:04 AM']Sounds like you need a [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FRIEND-CHIP-Digi-Max-Pro-8x8-digital-audio-patchbay-/220690561036?pt=UK_Consumer_Professional_RL&hash=item33622eb80c"]MIDI-controlled patchbay[/url]. It'd need some 1/4" to Phono adapters & a floor controller, but...[/quote] Not that one! Those phono connections are for S/PDIF digital signals, you won't get anywhere plugging analogue signals into that thing! If you're technically inclined, there's an article [url="http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/rmtswtch/rmtsw.htm"]here[/url] on building a remote loop switching system - the author is actually planning to mount it to his guitar, but the remote switch could just as easily be built in an enclosure to be used on the floor. I think Mr Foxen's suggestion is the best!! Some kind of clear plastic that you can still press your pedals through - no hassle, no extra kit to buy, and no beer-bath for your pedals! Simple is best EDIT - just found a link to the finished PCB design for any keen builders! - [url="http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/remoteftsw.pdf"]http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/remoteftsw.pdf[/url]

[quote name='bartelby' post='1041180' date='Nov 29 2010, 02:10 PM']The battery clip.[/quote] Crikey! That's a bit tight then. Shame not everyone has had the same experience.

Really? What did you need? The part they sent me is probably only about a quid's worth mind you (if that!).

I'm sure I've read that Blur's Song 2 was a Rat, that sounds pretty damn chunky. +1 for the Caleb Schofield love-in, the tone all the way through Antenna is just ridiculous good - especially on Seafrost, I'd love to nail that sound. Dude can really play too,

Just thought I'd share it with BC - I bought myself an Ashdown Hyperdrive about two years ago, which almost instantly developed a faulty footswitch. After a bit of waiting about, I got a replacement from the shop, but then in the meantime I somehow ended up in a country band, so the Hyperdrive stayed in the box. Fast forward to now, I'm getting a new noisy-arse rock band together, and get my Hyperdrive out, only to find the exact same fault as my first one!! After a couple of very helpful emails back and forth, I tell Ashdown's service department that it's probably not worth the cost of shipping it back and forth, and ask them to confirm the type of switch I need to buy to do a DIY repair. Two days later, and there's one dropping through my door, free of charge! Nice to see they'll go out of their way for a customer who's warranty expired 18 months ago! Top blokes, full marks!

My regular haunt has got a few Hartke bits, I think there might be an Ashdown knocking about, and there were some Warwick heads that always blew up! Keep my stuff in a locker there to avoid any of that messing!

[quote name='Tet' post='1033387' date='Nov 22 2010, 11:31 PM']Cool mate, get it arranged! Got a mate who's on here too (Under what name, though, I have no idea...), he'd probably be up for that. All geeks together, hahahaha.[/quote] Guilty as charged. Alright Tet, was wondering when you'd turn up, welcome to the party! Always up for a geek-out, would be nice to put faces to some other names round here.

So it's just me that thinks it looks the mutts nuts then? Oh well, I won't have to fight you all for the cheap 2nd hand ones in a few months then!

Loved her with Smashing Pumpkins, the solo stuff was pretty cool too, didn't know she was touring though! Gutted I missed it, sounds like a good one. So is she touring a new album then?

I owned both of these back in my youth - the Ibanez got gigged a lot, but had some issues with the neck, and (probably due to my own inexperience at looking after these things) ended up warped beyond playability, and has since wound up in a skip. The Squier was my first choice bass until the day I bought a Stingray. It's still in my collection, although it's been souped up with a Badass II bridge, Wizard pickups and all new pots/wiring. I actually took it out for a fair few gigs this year, and it still plays and sounds great. Based on that totally subjective personal experience (and my preference for 'classic' looking basses), I'd go Squier every time - although you should get your hands dirty with both and see how you feel about them.

I've got a California JM4 and absolutely love it - they're really well made basses, and I've never had a problem with how it sounds, it's great! Have been using it in passive mode lately, sounds great even without that fancy preamp.

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='1013099' date='Nov 5 2010, 11:17 AM']"One of our three singer/guitarists" That's just asking for trouble.[/quote] I found the most elegant solution to this most complex of situations. I've jacked it in! Bassist for hire then - let's see how that works out.