maxrossell

[quote name='PlungerModerno' timestamp='1455367371' post='2978461'] I don't want to sound ignorant - but can't you use your ears? [/quote] [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1455368207' post='2978470'] Yes, set to taste... there is no point to a centre indent if the sound doesn't do it for you. [/quote] Both very valid points. However I'm sure you'll agree that frequently in gig situations the monitoring isn't what it could be, and what is heard on stage isn't the same as what's heard FOH, so having a detente would be a useful reference point, especially for a control with such a pronounced effect on the tone. I have on a couple of occasions played half a set with the tone rolled all the way off, or only one pickup engaged, and not realised until I happened to reach for the control to tweak it (I'm also a lead singer so my focus isn't always 100% on the instrument). Because the EQ controls are all cut/boost it would make sense to me to have an "off" position on the pots (as there is on the bass and treble). I have opened it up and as far as I can tell it's all original. There's no evidence of any work done at all, I bought it from the original owner, and frankly he isn't the kind of guy to have stuff repaired (the bass spent most of its life gathering dust in storage with a busted string). It's an 02/03 model.

That's what I thought... Does anyone have any ideas on how to address this? Assuming I don't just find a setting I like and tape it down, is there an easier method for addressing this than just replacing the pot with a centre-detented one? I'd be interested to hear from people who have a similar control setup on their basses as to how they use theirs when they play. I'm not much of a fiddler as a rule but it seems a shame to have such a versatile bass and not use it to its full potential.

I'm sure the controls are original. The layout is: 1. Master volume. 2. Pan 3. Bass and treble boost/cut (stacked) 4. Mid boost/cut 2 and 3 are detented. 4 is not, which seems strange.

Hey guys. I just bought a used MIM Fender Deluxe Active Jazz Bass from 2003 (the one with the Suhr pickups and preamp) and I have a question about the 3-band eq boost/cuts. The third knob is a stacked bass and treble, both of which are centre-detented, so no mystery there. However the fourth knob is the mid boost/cut as far as I know, but it isn't centre-detented, so "neutral" is a best guess at around halfway up. Is that right or am I missing something? If it is right, why isn't there a notch? Thanks for any help or advice you have for me.

Pearl Jam. Ament used a fretless Wal fairly extensively I think. Although if you want to do Jeremy you'll also need a 12-string bass.

[quote name='bassatnight' post='978100' date='Oct 5 2010, 11:13 AM']Folks, I sold a bass for some £600 on E-bay about three weeks ago and have the delivery confirmation from the courier along with E-mails from the buyer stating that he is enjoying playing the bass (all sent via E-Bay mail) this morning I have recieved a dispute from Pay-Pal that the buyer has not recieved the item and have subsequently deducted the £600 from my account. I have mailed the guy via E-Bay and by E-mail, I am obviously very concerned as I can ill afford to loose £600. Anyone got any advice, its seems Pay-Pal are uncontactable and thier assistance with disputes seems vague and unhelpful?????? A worried Steve!!![/quote] Try your absolute best to get in contact with PayPal. It may take some time but it'll be worth it. Last time I had this issue, I got in touch with their claims dept., explained everything and they sorted it. If you have delivery confirmation and an email from the buyer stating that he has received the bass, they should accept that and end the dispute.

[quote name='jamiesonk666' post='976797' date='Oct 4 2010, 10:34 AM']Our drummer wants to trigger samples etc. ... I know it will require ... some sort of brain.[/quote]

Ditto, that white P makes me feel all funny. What year is it?

Hohner B Bass V. I had this amazing Hohner fretless Jazz copy, sounded and played unbelievable. Some guy offered me the B Bass for it and I took it because I was young and stupid and it had five strings. It was a cheapo nasty thru-neck, the wiring was a bunch of dental floss, the active circuit crapped out within a month, it absolutely wouldn't set up no matter what to you did, and to top it off it was really neck-heavy. You'd think I would have learned a lesson, but that was merely the first time I got completely stiffed on a trade. Fifteen years ago. Oh, the tales I could tell.

[quote name='chris_b' post='976643' date='Oct 4 2010, 02:57 AM']....and then everyone is trying to buy the same gear the regular bass player uses because they think that is what is on the record!![/quote] Exactly. Hence the complete crock of sh*t that is signature models. You can count on one hand the musos who use their signature models on their own records, even if they're playing the tracks themselves. It just makes me f*cking laugh every time I see someone walk out of a store with a signature model. Yeah, these guys are using studios where they can hire vintage Gibsons and Fenders, do you [i]really[/i] think they're going to cut the entire record on a $300 Washburn?

1. Claiming that covers bands are taking work away from originals bands is like claiming that [i]Big Brother[/i] is taking away airtime from [i]Have I Got News For You[/i]. They're two completely different forms of entertainment for two completely different crowd who are looking for two completely different things. 2. Covers bands are not just a bunch of glorified karaoke players who don't have the talent to write and play originals. Most guys in covers bands are in originals bands too, it just so happens that playing in covers bands is an easy transition, it's good fun and the money can be excellent. 3. A musician's playing actually benefits from playing standards in public a couple of times a month. Most of the sh*t musicians I know only ever play their own awful garage noise. Most of the extremely good musicians I know spend a quite considerable amount of time playing songs that were originally cut by Motown session guys. You get a function gig, you learn a handful of standards, play for a couple of hours and you can walk away with £300 in your back pocket and you get free drinks all night. And usually you get treated with respect, and if you're any good you get a bunch of repeat work. In contrast, my originals band has made maybe £100 total in a year, which doesn't even cover a month's rehearsal space rental. The other week, my originals band was offered a half-hour slot supporting some band I won't name (one of the NME's latest flavour-of-the-minute acts, they're genuinely sh*t), and the deal is we have to sell 30 tickets for £7.00 each, for which we get a quid each back. We turned it down because it just isn't worth it. We're musicians, not touts, and although £30's more than we usually get paid for a gig, we also don't usually have to hand the promoter £180 in exchange. So on balance, I'd be stupid to [i]not[/i] want to be in a covers band.

I've done quite a bit of session work in the past, and still keep in touch with a lot of the guys who do the same. Although most of their session work is building backing tracks for vocalists who don't have bands or whatnot, every now and then they're cutting tracks that will be passed off as someone else's work. It's really not uncommon for bands, especially the more radio-friendly, insipid MOR "rock" bands, to have records out where most of the music was put down by session guys, because the producer will have realised at some point that the guys in the band might look good on stage but just aren't good enough on tape. For a lot of the producers, it comes down to the fact that hiring a session guy to come in and cut all the tracks in a couple of days is much cheaper and far less frustrating than having to keep the band members in the studio doing endless retakes for weeks on end and then having to paste it all together to get something usable. Sometimes the band doesn't even know their parts have ben replaced until they hear the mixes, and sometimes they're so tin-eared that they hear the mixes with the session guys on and go "wow, I'm incredibly talented". I suppose it's the equivalent of using autotune on a vocalist.

That's total crap. Whenever any of us get offered a gig we make damn sure the others can do the date before we commit to it. Apart from anything, that's the only logical way to go about it.

Actually, here's another of my screwy arbitrary principles which somehow work. It applies to all musicians, but let's assume I've just come across a really technically competent bass player, and I'm debating whether or not to hire him. The question is: "Let's imagine a song with a tempo around 90bpm. It's in 4/4, and the bassline is an open E on the first beat of every bar, and let it ring out until the first beat of the next bar. Let's go crazy and pretend that it's a really great song, a generation-defining classic, but it only works if you play it like that, with nothing else. Would you be happy to play it?" If the answer is "no", they don't get the gig. You wouldn't believe how many people I've encountered who have said "no".

1. Thinking that bass is such a simple instrument you don't need to work hard to get good at it. 2. Thinking that in an otherwise traditional pop or rock band a bass can be entirely divorced from its role as rhythm instrument. 3. Thinking that good bass technique is best showcased by littering lines with little flourishes all the time. 4. Thinking that all the parts of every song including intros and transitions need an uninterrupted bassline. 5. Thinking that 4 strings means you're less competent.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='971819' date='Sep 29 2010, 04:09 PM']"Plenty of lead on it" Is that for heavy metal?[/quote] Nah, it's so you can get a good lead tone. You know, for solos? [i]What do you mean it isn't the same word?[/i]