Skybone

Never done a "Battle of the Bands" affair (dislike the concept intensely), but I have played quite a few all-dayers, which is basically a similar format but without the "competition" element. Turn up early, find out where on the bill you're playing and how long the set is (and the "turn-around" time), watch sound check, watch preceeding bands, play set (30-45 mins), watch the rest of the bands, get food, catch up with old friends, talk to other bands & audience members, sell some merchandise (CD's/shirts/etc), etc.

Used to use Stringbusters a lot, until I worked out that, even with the additional postage costs, it was cheaper to buy from Thomann.

Alesis

I want a Rickenbacker. Can't afford one, can't justify one, certainly don't need one. I just want one. I want a new motorbike too, and there's even less chance of that happening.

Is it for the effects or is it for amp modelling and effects?

For me, I voted sound over playability. Playability can be tweaked until it's right at no extra cost. Making something sound right can cost a lot of time & money, and you're not always guaranteed the "right" results. I've owned guitars and basses that have been superb instruments to play, but no matter how much I tweaked them or spent on them (new pickups/pot's/capacitors/etc.), they still didn't sound right. I've owned guitars and basses that haven't been great players, but they sounded great, so I invested a bit of care & time into them (setups etc.) and they became fine players (and I got used to how they played). With hindsight (and after spending a small fortune on equipment), playability comes after sound in my book (but they still have to look good too!).

Musically unfulfilled? Yup. They're going in a completely different direction, and I'm just not enjoying rehearsals anymore. I'll give it a few more rehearsals before deciding, but at the moment, it's a "meh" from me.

I found that both the BB & SansAmp drives were quite smooth

The Helix looks excellent, but way too rich for me. Looked at the HD500, but again, quite an expensive piece of kit for me. You'll have to give us all a review of it when it arrives Fret.

Try: [url]http://www.matsumoku.org/[/url]

Sweet. Welcome to the club!

Guitar I used a Hybrid Slinky set (9-46) for a D tuning, sounded good to me. Bass, I used to use RotoSound RS66LC (40-95's?) when I played with a pick, but moved up to 45-105's about 2000 (still playing with a pick), and still like them, but now I don't use a pick. Never tried felt picks, but SWMBO bought me one of those wood pick selection tins a few Christmas' back. They look good, feel nice, but are too hard for me. They don't sound that good IMO with either bass or acoustic guitar.

I use Dunlop Tortex 0.6's for electric. People used to ask why, when they all used heavy picks & heavy strings, well, if light strings are good enough for Iommi, May & Gibbons, they're good enough for me. Plus they just feel far better.

Bizarrely, I've gone the other way... Started playing fingerstlye, but then soon realised my fingers weren't fast enough to play what I wanted to play, so went down the plectrum route (favourite is still the Dunlop Nylon 0.73 (grey)). About 10-12 years back, I got back into passive basses big style and started playing with my fingers again. Now I can keep up, through playing how it feels right for me, not the text books interpretation of what is "right". Still keep some picks in my case, just in case, but they haven't been used on my bass for some time. Though I have found a use for my unused Dunlop 0.73s. They sound great with my acoustic guitar!

Ambient, I don't... I'm currently running a Line6 POD xt Live (guitar version) with the Bass Expansion pack, and I'm very happy with it. I previously had a Zoom B3, which was great, but not flexible enough. Prior to having that, I used my very old, but very trusty Line6 POD xt (red kidney bean version) for years without the Bass expansion pack for both bass and guitar. BigRedX, totally agree with trying tech from 5 even 10 years ago. The POD xt Live being case and point, bought it second hand, totaly meets my needs, and well worth the money. My good old kidney bean POD xt is now 13 years old, and still going strong.

Big Muff? Black Russian if you want aggressive fuzzy nonsense, or a "triangle" early 70's version for mellower, Floydian tones.

Bizarrely enough, I was looking at Fractal Axe-FX the other day, if they have anything Bass-centric, they're certainly doing a good job of not advertising it. To m knowledge, none of the high end processors cater for the bass player. I think Multi FX for bass are very limited, so it really depends on what you want to use the unit for, will it be for amp modelling and some effects, or purely as an effects processor? How about the Line6 M9 / M13 effects modellers for pure effects processors? The Boss GT6B & GT10B are more reknown for their effects rather than amp modelling, where the B3 packs effects and amp models. There's always the Line6 HD500 / Firehawk options, though you may need to add the Bass Expansion pack to them, or you could track down a POD x3 which has both guitar & bass model's already loaded.

If you're just using it for Modulation effects, then in the Effects Loop. If you're using it for OD/Distortion/Fuzz and EQ, then in front of the amp. Personally, I would put it in front of the amp.

PASSIVE Twin pickup 3 way Pickup Switch or blend knob Passive Rosewood fretboard Passive Sounds like a Ric Looks like a Ric Passive

Try it into the PA next time.

Yes.

Likewise, I have a few digital effects, and don't notice any latency at all. All of the recent Line6 Zoom gear I've tried has been great. I've owned digital delay pedals where it was a problem (and they coloured the sound too much as well), but that was quite some time ago. Try before you buy?

On the other hand, if you buy him an "expensive bass", and it turns out to be a bit of a "flash in the pan", it could be a bit of a waste of money. You could always play the "do well with the cheap one, and we'll look at getting a better one for next birthday/Christmas etc". And let him watch you doing the setup on it, letting him have a shot on it as you go through the process. My first bass was a Kay P style, with an action you could limbo under!

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1456594696' post='2990623'] Its like telling a joke, you can take liberties with some details without ruining it but the essence must remain intact. "Cheetah walks into a pub and the barman says why the long face ?" - not really funny is it. [/quote] Not really, he only went for a swift half.