mike257

I've mucked about with MIDI for as long as i can remember - although that certainly doesn't make me an expert

Currently use it for knocking up drum parts on home demos, and I'm also doing some keyboard playing on a bunch of acoustic stuff my singer and I are working on, so I'm having to remember how it all works!! Used to use it heavily when I did a bit of engineering. I spent countless hours becoming a zen master of Akai samplers... about 12 months before the onslaught of VST instruments rendered it a totally obsolete skill!

An old band of mine used a whole bunch of synths and samples live, had a Korg M1 keyboard and a Fostex hard-disc multitracker to run it all off, and our poor drummer heard nothing but the worlds loudest metronome in his monitor for 2 years!

I've often had daydreams of a mega MIDI controlled bass rig. Not because I need one, but just think of all the flashing lights I could have in my rack!!!

Well, I.... erm... I mean a friend of mine came back from a holiday in Oz with a Stingray, and after succesfully making it from Adelaide, to Melbourne, to Hong Kong, to Heathrow (and a moment of panic when I saw them literally [i]throw[/i] it onto a trolley unloading it), only for the whole family to be stopped at Manchester, all our luggage rifled through, and NOT A SINGLE QUESTION asked about the shiny new guitar I was carrying.

So you never know, it might be worth a shot!

My whole band picked up the Sennheiser Freeport when sound control dropped the price to £99, and i've had no problems at all with it - apart from forgetting to change the battery every once in a while

I did A/B it with my Planet Waves cables, and there is a slight loss in low end definition, but nothing that'd make a big difference on stage. +1 on the crap cables though, think I'll be on to OBBM soon for a replacement.

Although, the support is questionable. I emailed Sennheiser about spares, as I wanted to buy a 2nd bodypack to leave attatched to my spare bass ( to save panic-stricken fiddling with my straplocks when I bust a string on stage!!) but 12 months later, still no reply!!

[quote name='16Again' post='31343' date='Jul 13 2007, 03:45 PM']I did the same thing! Your no freak!
I couldnt afford a left handed bass and didnt have the brain to turn it up side down, so i just learned right handed! I'm the same at golf, left handed but play right handed!

D.[/quote]


Same here!! Although when I occasionally dabble in drums, I go full on lefty.... which upsets sound techs at gigs like you wouldn't believe

I saw a left-handed piano once - no joke - keys were the other way round. Try wrapping your head round that

[quote]If I could get some of the effects from GarageBand or Logic Express into a rack I'd have those too and I could get rid of the compressor. Right, I'm off to borrow me mate's MacBook, a shoehorn and a hammer.[/quote]

Well.... I don't think it'll run AU plugs from Logic, but [url="http://www.museresearch.com/"]this lot[/url] make a 2U box that runs VST effect and synths without dragging one of those troublesome computer-type-wotsits on stage with you. looks like a fun way to fill a few empty spaces!!

My gigging basses live in a lock up at the practice rooms with my rig, I do miss them

Keep a 'ray at home though, for good measure (and for an occasional bit of practice!). There's the old axe graveyard behind my sofa, where the unloved squiers and epiphones live, as sentiment prevents me from getting rid.

Saying that, I've taken over the dining room this week with all my muso gear for some recording... got my keyboard and my 6-guitar stand out and everything. Not looking forward to having it relegated back to the bedroom when the week is up i'm lobbying to have it permanently re-assigned as a music room, but it's falling on deaf ears!

Crikey... this makes my little collection look really pathetic.

Saying that, most of them are nothing to write home about, I only started buying [i]proper[/i] basses a few years ago! Chronological order then...

[b]Hohner Arbor[/b] - donated to the cause by a friend's muso dad, who realised we were lacking a bassist. The start of my 4 string career, age 14. Gave it him back 18 months later when i'd settled in with my...

[b]Squier Precision Special[/b] - the first bass I actually bought for myself. A jazz neck, and P/J pickups, and it still plays alarmingly well. Sitting behind my sofa unloved due to knackered electrics, although I keep threatening to buy some parts and do it up real sweet. I'll let you know if it ever happens!!

[b]Ibanez GSR200[/b] - another piece of cheap tat, loaned to me by my then-drummer when the electrics went on the squier. toneless, and also behind my sofa waiting for me to sort out the shaky neck. notable only for the kermit the frog doll swinging from the volume knob. must take him out on stage again one day!

[b]Ibanez Ergodyne EDC700[/b] - A cash converters bargain, and my first taste of the world of active bassing. Seemed awfully flash after my previous outings, but the absence of wood from the body meant an absence of tone too. Went back to cash converters for virtually nothing in a moment of skint-ness. The only bass i've ever sold.

[b]Tanglewood Warrior semi[/b] - A birthday present from old bandmates, the bloke in our praccy rooms only wanted £50 for it!! I've never seen another one like it, f-holes and all, but the weakest pickups i've ever encountered. Took it out on stage now and again, but the on-off risks of the P's dodgy output seemed worth it for the better tone. Currently out on loan to my mate's little brother, who is turning out to be quite the natural with it. Got to do your bit for the kids, feel like i'm passing on the torch from the bloke who lent me the Hohner!!
[i]
then in '04, we got serious...[/i]

[b]Musicman SR4 3EQ[/b] - My dream bass... saw it in a music shop on my hols in Australia, fell in love, and that was the end of my holiday money, and the demolition of my credit limit (the first and last credit card i'll ever have, i hope). All natural, black guard, maple neck, my first REAL bass!! Still my #1 on stage, it's the love of my life. Can't see myself ever wanting to part with it. Although it does get a little jealous of...

[b]Musicman SR4 3EQ 2005 ltd edition[/b] - I'd had sleepless night over this bass, but kept telling myself i couldn't justify another 'ray. Then a flash new guitar shop opened in town, and what did they have swinging on the wall? Pretty much the last 2005 ltd in the country, it seemed. My guitarist talked me into it, and one credit deal later, my 'ray had a sister! Gigged it a fair bit, but then realised I felt guilty abusing it every night, now it's my 'stay at home' bass when everything else is locked up in the studio.

[b]Peavey T-40 (1980)[/b] - Gassed for this for aaaaages, when I realised the one I was spying on ebay was only 20 mins away from my house. Shot over there, and left with my first 'vintage' aquisition. Looks the biz, sustains forever, and it's the most cripplingly heavy chunk of wood I've ever played!! Comes out gigging, but only as a back-up for my 'ray. It's definitely indestructible though.

I almost bought a Lakland Darryl recently, but I'm trying to learn some self-control!!