WinterMute

It was very odd actually, seemed to work ok to start with, but then slowed right down, long lags after any click, no way to operate in real time... I only have a few things on the usb, Nord Piano, small drum pad programmer, iLok, the usual. All my audio is either AUD thunderbolt or analogue. The mac was a 2013 Mac Pro, which never had an issue with DSP. Seemed to work fine on my mates Helix/laptop combo. TBF I'd have changed to the QC whether the Stomp programmer worked or not. The QC desktop editor isn't all that a yet but it's very much easier to programme with the touch screen and the rotary soft pots.

I swapped out my old Line6 Bass Pod Pro for a Stomp HX, and that worked for a while, I changed to a Quad Cortex last year and it's a much better unit in terms of sound and usability, however the Helix is also a cracking unit for bass and guitar my guitarist has been using his for a few years and swears by it. The Stomp sounds great , but it's a bit of a b*gg*r to programme with that small screen, and the desktop editor is slooooooow. The Kemper is a very capable unit, but it doesn't have the flexibility of the QC or the Helix, and I found that the various patches would sound increasingly processed the further away from the original profile you went in terms of EQ and processing. I'd suggest you try to pick up a second had Helix if the QC is really out of reach, but I'd also suggest selling a kidney to get a QC.

I can appreciate the work of any bassist in the context of impressive work in a band or ensemble, it's a difficult job being rhythmic and melodic and we have to pay attention to drummers... That said, most of the solo exhibitionist work I see leaves me completely cold, doesn't matter who really, Jaco solo is not a patch on his work with Weather Report or Joni Mitchell, and I do love some Jaco, Joe Darts solos are dull dull dull, but he sits in the pocket with the whole band and grooves like a b*st*rd. If you solo Entwistle's tracks they are a cacophony, but in the context of the Who in full cry, it's a thing of wonder. McCartney's Beatles tone was absolute dogs*t solo, but works brilliantly in the band's overall sound. Context is everything, as always. Except for Geddy Lee, that guy just sucks donkey balls. 😜

Quad Cortex into a QSC K12.2, Boss Bass Chorus on an FX loop. Also my rehearsal rig. Also my recording rig with a Shelford Channel as a DI.

Mine are insured on the house contents, the 2 I use for rehearsals or gigs are insured away from the home, the others just in the studio at home, the policy covers everything under £1500, with the other stuff as named items. Just make sure you name anything expensive you intend to use away from home, and note that it's very unlikely to be covered if left unattended in a car etc. It does get a bit expensive if you have a studio full of pricy kit, but it's all on new for old, and I really couldn't afford to replace it all if it was nicked or the house caught fire.

well, if the XXXXL joggers fit...

The things we do for money eh? I'm glad that phase of my career only lasted about a year, I moved to a excellent studio after that and nearly all the sessions were of good quality, and then I went freelance and I could chose the sessions I worked on after that. Now I work purely for the fun of it, and it's a great hobby to have.

Just out of interest, and I expect the answer is "turnover", but why would you accept a booking from a band that ill-disciplined a second time? I will completely accept, and support, the wildest changes in direction and planning provided there are sound creative reasons for doing so, simply adding more and more rubbish to an already overloaded arrangement "to give it a try" is not a good reason to over-run a session by 5 hours... I had one band heading into the mix on an album that'd taken 3 weeks to track come in and demand that the entire drum recording were to be replaced because the drummer had a new drum kit. This was on 24 track analogue and there was no room to lay the new kit in parallel, I would be literally erasing the old drum tracks as the new ones were captured. They insisted that the new kit was better and the drummer was capable of tracking the whole album in a "reasonable" amount of time, but that it would have to come out of the mix time budget. This simply became a matter of 'Just do it" as far as the band were concerned. I did point out that if he wasn't, the whole album was at risk. I fully expected to have to rush the mix. I set it up, mic'ed the new kit (which was an absolute belter as it happened) and kept my fingers crossed that the poor drummer could keep going for what I thought would be at least 2 days... Pressing play and record on that first track was one of the hardest things I've ever done in a recording studio. He nailed 7 tracks in 4 hours, 2 in one take and 3 with drop-ins into break downs, he had a pizza and an hour break and cleared the last 5 before midnight. I had him drop an intro the next morning and started mixing. We finished the album 2 days early. Sometimes it works out. Good musicians are worth their weight in gold, good drummers doubly so.

As a hard rule, I never update MacOS on the studio Mac until I have seen confirmation from Avid, Universal Audio, PACE and Sound Toys that they all play nicely, I let the early adopters take all the pain. Too many botched updates in the past.

Going to have to finish re-building this studio before we can get anything done...

Bontempi organs did that sh*t in the 70s, didn't slow us down any... it'll be more interesting if we ever get into William Gibson's Idoryu territory.

Used to use Final Cut Pro and Premier, but these days I just shove it all into iMovie and have done, video edits don't need to be Micheal Bay level and it's easy enough to sync the footage with whatever audio you have. If I'm editing video to the audio, as you would with a band promo, it's very easy, if you're doing post-style sound design for existing footage, I'd definitely go ProTools/Reaper/Logic etc.

I wonder if Horoscope based face make-up featured anywhere...

You know, I was expecting the usual ego, drugs sex and musical differences, but murder and firearms.... I've led a sheltered life...

I was reading through the Being in Bands that Broke UP thread, and it occurred to me that i've had a couple of bands break up for the most pathetic and minor reasons. I'd been working for about a year on the late 80s with a brother and sister (guitarist and singer) and a very good young drummer, we'd got demos done and most of an hour set properly sorted, it was well run and well financed, both having been in moderately successful with bands in the late 70's and 80s. The stage show rehearsals were going well and new material was arriving that was better than the current stuff. We had some small company interest etc. etc. The band finished abruptly one morning outside my house when they had a fist-fight in the road over who was going to sit in the middle seat in the front of the bands van... Claret all over the gaff from a busted nose. Apparently they didn't speak for 10 years after that. I was not well pleased. What's the most petty reason your band broke up?

it looks like a lefty being played right handed to me, never seen that pickup config though, could be custom. Is that back part actually part of the bass? looks like a handbag in some shots.

No option for "absolutely f*ck*ng filthy" then? What is this "clean tone" to which you refer?

Can't stand any of ya, useless bunch of argumentative, talentless b*st*rds.... 😜 It's a fine place, well run and well regarded.

I bought my thumb 5 from Bass Centre in 1988, I paid £875 I think, no hard case. They were rare and exotic beasts back then, it didn't seem like a lot when new Wals and Alembics were a lot more. Just seen on Reverb, an absolute steal... https://reverb.com/uk/item/78407511-gibson-eb6-john-entwistle-1961-original

I had Alan build my Krell 5 string at 17mm which feels better than my SR5's at 17.5mm but not as good as my old Thumb 5 at 16.5mm...! I couldn't get on with 18mm basses at all, which is a shame as the multi-coil pups he uses are brilliant but only come in 18mm spacing. Speak to Alan, he's usually got an answer for most questions.

I bought the same model the year before I went fully 5 string, it was a beautiful instrument, a little bit fragile for the real world I thought, but others seem to get on with them well enough live. The guitarist in my first band had a JD flying V, genuinely didn't know he made basses back then, lovely instrument. RIP John, thanks man.

Had a play with the 1176 pedal, it's very good indeed, given that you probably wouldn't want to take a real 1176 out gigging, it's the next best thing.

dbx160x if you can find one, still one of the best compressors for bass on the market, or if you're very flush an Empirical Labs Distressor... The secret with any in-rig compressor is where you put it in the signal chain and how you use it, too much compression is never a good idea. The beauty of the 160x is it's soft knee and the auto attack release, which works very well in this unit, not so well in others, it's a very easy unit to get a good result out of. If I had a choice I'd put a Distressor in the rack.

I don't know if this will help or hinder your needs, but the Rupert Neve headphone amps just about the best thing I've plugged headphones into barring some £10K japanese tube amp... https://rupertneve.com/products/rnhp

Over time these are the constants: Geddy Lee Tony Levin Mick Karn Jaco Pastorious John Stockman Alan Thompson Tim Commerford John Paul Jones