markdavid

11 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Pick or fingers?

Fingers with fingernails?

playing nearer the bridge or neck?

Even before we start talking wholesale EQ changes you can get a lot of difference by altering the above

Fingersyle, short fingernails so no fingernail in the attack, playing between neck and bridge in the area that is often referred to as the "pickup sweet spot" 

Good point, I will try playing closer to the bridge , maybe that will help some

thanks

Hoping someone here will read this post and know what I am talking about, is kind of hard to explain but I have recently gone back to flatwounds
after using rounds for a while I was craving a thicker tone.

In rehearsal last night I was finding that some songs sounded good but some other songs my tone seemed to have an odd thud to it, not a thump, not a boom but a thud, hoping someone on here has experienced the same issue and can help with some tips on how to get rid of this odd tone.

As it was a thud and not a boom I am wondering if (although it sounds counter intuitive) maybe actually scooping 
the low mids and boosting the high mids a little might help.

I was running eq flat apart from a slight boost in the hi mids, fender rumble 500, TI Jazz flats.

Thanks

On 06/11/2019 at 19:55, dmccombe7 said:

Decided to put my LaBella low tension flats on my Sandberg VM4 fretted today and get a little used to them for Sun rehearsals.

First flats in about 30+yrs when i had fretless basses.

Have to say i love the feel of them as my fingers seem to glide over them. 

My only concern is they have quite a dull sound compared to my Sandberg rounds or even the nickels i use. I expected that to be fair but i'm not sure how it will come across within the band. I'm hoping it will be ok tho as i def like the feel. Its a 70's Glam Rock covers band so this could be an expensive fail altho i will just swap them onto another bass if they don't work and go back to my rounds again.

Might have a look at other types like maybe ground wound or similar if these don't work. Some investigation is required just in case.

Here's hoping all will be well at rehearsals tho

Dave 

 

Played a VM4 at a jam night recently, that bass snarled like a beast even with my modest skills, I think even with the dullest sounding flats those basses would still sound lively 

4 hours ago, drTStingray said:

I'm not surprised JPJ didn't use flats - they are very much a 60s throw back when nothing else was available and in the 70s few musicians in modern music used them - even less in the 80s when a bright sound was required.

JPJ has said different things about this at different times , has said in some interviews that he used flats and then in other interviews that he used rounds , i think he used flats, the tone on good times bad times sounds so much like flats, the tone, the thump

Having played bass for a number of bands I know that the bass player and the drummer generally get little recognition , guitar players and vocalists tend to get a lot more recognition.   This got me thinking about how strange this situation is as drummers have to be the best at their instrument in a band, you can have a weak guitarist in a band or a weak bass player (and I could name some well known bands where this is the case)and as long as the material is not overly complex you can convey the songs reasonably well, on the other hand if you have a drummer that is weak the songs can fall apart very quickly. 

What this is leading to is that the band I am playing with, our drummer is leaving and it has really brought this home to me, he is a phenomenal drummer, easily the best I have played with, always on the ball, never loses tempo and we really gel as a rhythm section, he has a crazy Keith moon kind of drumming style and we both play off of each other, I was reminded very quickly of this when we played some songs at an open mic the other day without him, I played the bass parts I usually play which play off of the drum rhythm heavily and they were just not working with what the drummer we were playing with was playing and it all sounded rather clumsy.

In short if you have a good drummer, look after them they are worth the effort

22 hours ago, Twigman said:

Errol Holt plays a I don't know what!!! What is that???  

Errol Holt has got to be the yardstick against whom all reggae bassmen should be measured.

 

although I did find this pic of him with a Hofner !!!! (or a clone)

Wow, surprising to see him using the mid priced Hofner contemporary rather than the more expensive German version 

10 hours ago, Richard R said:

Whatever you get, these are how to keep them bright:

https://uk.farnell.com/techspray/1610-50pk/wipe-isopropyl-alcohol-ipa-pack/dp/2501334

Really clean strings, squeaky clean if you wanted. Easier than the meths in a tube approach as you can just clean the strings in situ, and easier to leave in a gig bag than lighter fluid. Slip a piece of plastic under the strings to protect the fretboard if you want to. 

Cool , will have to give this a try, my hands sweat like mad when I play a gig so will come in handy 

Thanks for the replies, sounds like either Warwick or Prosteels are the way to go

Hi

Just wondering what the brightest steel strings are in the sub £25.00 range, I like a super bright tone for my band and change my strings much more than most people so a  £35 set of DR's is out of the question , I have tried Rotosounds and they are really good but wondering if there is anything else worth trying.  The stainless steel Ernie balls have caught my interest but there seems to be very little info out there on them.

16 hours ago, Twigman said:

SO how'd it go?

 

Did you work yourself into such a state that the intro to the first song evacuated your head and you totally forgot how to play?

It was a really odd gig, we setup and went into the first half of the gig and there was all of about 3 people in the pub, the 3 that were there were clearly not there for music and looked very unimpressed despite us playing really well and after each song there was dead silence, no applause at all , the atmosphere was terrible and after the first half we had a 10 minute break and we all agreed that so far it was probably the worst gig we ever did, I was not looking forward to the prospect of the 2nd half and having to play for another hour and a half.

Anyway, we go back and there are now another half a dozen people there, this time the audience are fantastic, people are dancing and singing and requesting we play certain songs twice, even the few originals we threw in go down a treat, there was a lovely couple who brought all of the band a round and afterwards people are coming up to us and telling us that they really enjoyed the set.  Was a complete contrast to the first half and when the gig finished I was glad that we did the gig.

Thanks for the replies, I always get stage fright before a gig so these will help

Hi all

Playing a gig tomorrow, have done the necessary rehearsing and have practiced at home etc but wondering if there are any pre gig tips anyone has that they put into place the day before/ morning of the gig to make sure all goes smoothly , after any tips at all that could be helpful, there will be some bum notes in a 2 hr gig with a band that gigs probably once a month at the moment (lots more booked next month  ) but would be good to give the best performance i can , thanks

Gail Ann Dorsey who played for Bowie , obviously a very high profile role but underrated as hell, great player

Also Dennis Dunaway  of the Alice Cooper band

Had a rehearsal yesterday with my band and we were playing a well known Bowie song and I came into the rehearsal 
with a specific idea of how i am going to play the song, and with a very melodic bass part for the song, anyway our 
singer/guitarist before I have even started playing the songstarts to tell me a fill that I should add in to the song at a specific 
point in the song.  

I decide to listen to his suggestion, he then starts telling me what frets I should be using to 
do the fill to make it easier,fair enough so I run through it to appease him as he is so determined that I need to 
play this fill. Anyway I quickly realise not only was my original idea better but that the fill that he wanted would clash with
my idea so as soon as we start playing the song I reverted back to my original idea. 

I am not against other people giving input in a band situation and if they do and there idea is good then I will take it on board and use there idea and
have done a number of times in my current band but I am also a big believer that sometimes  you have to let band members use there own judgement and taste 
on what fits a song. Anyhow this prompted the question when does it stop being constructive and become just being given orders of what to do?
 

7 hours ago, Bluewine said:

Great, now I'm more confused than ever.

So on means off at the Hofner plant?

Blue

Lol , sorry, to make things clearer.

Both the bass and treble switches in the off position allows you to blend both pickups to your tastes (just like on a jazz bass or any other passive bass) for me this is the setting I use 99.9% of the time

If you put the bass slider in the On position you will only get the output of the neck pickup but with a treble cut so basically as if you have only the neck pickup volume turned up but with the tone rolled off, this is the most popular setting and if you favour a dark thumpy tone you will probably really like this setting

The treble slider you will never need to use in the On position because it sounds like poo

Hofner did change the control panel to a more logical one a while ago but people complained for some reason so they switched it back

Hope this makes things clearer

4 hours ago, Bluewine said:

I really should start gigging ny German Made Hofner Club Bass. To be honest I've never understood the controls on it. Very confusing for me.

Blue

Much less confusing than most people think, Bass slider in the On position switches off the bridge pickup and cuts the treble, Treble slider in the On position switches off the neck pickup, both switches in the On position switches off both pickups, both sliders in the Off position allows you to use both pickups.

I had an event where I really should have taken a backup bass, my Hofner starting buzzing really loudly, after faffing around for a few minutes trying to get it to stop I found that with the bass slider in the on position it stopped, this meant I had to sacrifice my usual super bright tone but enabled me to get through the event. 

When I got home I could not hear the buzz through my Amplug or the crappy 10 watt amp I use sometimes to practice, I figured the issue must be a bad ground and tightened up the plate that the ground wire rests against and all seemed well next rehearsal.  Anyway the point is I really should have brought a backup bass.

8 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

BBC4 showed a rerun of a 1988 edition of TOTP last night . It was probably a time when old (and younger) f@rts bemoaned the state of pop. Hardly surprising when the most rock n roll tune on it was Aztec Camera, that's if you don't count Tiffany's dire take on I Saw Her Standing There. She made amends for this by later doing a Playboy shoot., which was very nice actually 😊, as was Belinda Carlisle's. She was also in the show it but I always quite liked her, tunes wise and as an example of fit totty.  But I digress. Just when I thought the Tiffany tune was the worst Beatles cover I've heard , alongside came the aptly named Wet Wet Wet and their p1$$poor of  With A Little Help From My Friends but not helped by Marty Pellow's perma-smirk.  Mind you the most cringe-inducing video of the night was Rod Stewart with some  long forgotten and unlamented thing called  Lost In You. It features a lot his ..errm.  moves. He's also mauled some Beatles tunes but that's his stock in trade of late take some classic 60s pop, Swing or Motown classics and suck the soul out of them.

So, I'll raise you Tiffany for the worst version of I Saw Her Standing There, although cleverly and cunningly she replaces 'him' with 'her'.  Almost as radical a reworking as Money by The Flying Lizards.

For best, is this live rendition by The Tubes

 

Wow re the tubes version it's a cover that sounds like another song (sounds a lot like new rose by the damned)

8 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

Possible it was not played live and a different instrument was used for the actual sound recording? It all sounds just a little too perfect for a live take. 

I saw a vid of a live song from them and the bass changed from a Hofner club to another bass mid song and then back again, audio sounded exactly the same though, I suspect all of their official live stuff is overdubbed 

Have never really understood the point of subs and even discouraged our rather overzealous lead singer from buying a subwoofer for our band, mainly because pretty much every gig seems to have them cranked to the hilt at the expense of pretty much any definition, my bass tone has always favoured clarity over boom and thump.  Anyhow this weekend I played a gig with a decent sound engineer with 3 other bands on the bill (was a rock night at a local music venue), the setup was a peavey bass head through an Ampeg 8x10" cab, the amp head was going out to the PA with the 8x10" still active and with the usual pa speakers setup and a couple of subwoofers.  
Now I admit being on stage with the sound of the drums, the guitar amp and the 8x10" for the bass I have no idea how we sounded out front but every band I heard that night the bass was spot on , the 8x10" paired with the subs meant the bass could be heard clearly and distinctly but the bass sounded absolutely huge, absolutely monstrous low end, in fact hearing one of the bands I started to question why I had not got my self a 5 string bass.  I think I understand now

Tried them but not a fan, sounded great for about 3 days then they went a bit too dead, didn't have the midrange punch of nickel plated strings and no real growl either, like flats but without the thump and without the woody tone but still with the finger noise of rounds.  The 7250 strings are much better

Thanks for the replies, I took the Rotos off and gave them a 10 minute soak in boiling water with some washing up liquid added and it seems to have brought them back to life.  Am thinking about trying the coated Rotos as I do like the Rotosound tone.

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

 

What strings did you put on?  How long do your strings normally last?

My NYXL's have been on for 15 months, get played every week and still have life in them.

Wow 15 months!!! I need to try the NYXL's, how are the mids? I find Daddario xl's a bit scooped.

Am using Rotos at the moment, I usually change strings once a month, have used Daddario XL nickels before but they lasted about 3 weeks before going completely dead

As per the title.  Played a gig last night so I put on a fresh set of strings, the venue was really, really hot and I was dripping with sweat, this morning my strings are pretty dead, anyone else have this issue when they play a gig at a hot venue? 

Always get nerves before a gig, always have, probably always will, the key is too prepare as much as possible, if you get a moment where you forget what the next note is it's better to drop a note or two than to play a bum note