WinterMute

Tone is contextual, if I'm playing on a 60's track, I'll probably not use the same sound as a 90's pop track.... That said, for originals my tone has become a lot dirtier over the years, I always like a zingy sound with plenty of string, but as I've got older the distortion levels have come up quite a way, even for fretless.

Late 80's I took up as bass player/BV/programmer with a brother and sister who'd had some success in the late 70's and with various projects in the 80's and they knew plenty of names, they had some decent original songs and we found a good young drummer and set too arranging and learning the set, recording some demos, looking to gig. It became apparent that the gig side of things would just never happen, constant reviews of tiny details, endless rehearsals and demands for better gear, more effort... Don't get me wrong, it was working musically, but the siblings couldn't seem to agree on anything and bickered a lot, we learned to ignore them but it eventually got to that inevitable moment when they came to blows, a proper punch up in the street, over who was going to sit in the front seat of the van... The drummer and I sat and watched a years worth of hard work disappear in about 5 minutes. I recorded an album for a later incarnation of that band 15 years later, no sister this time, same drama, his bands always fall apart and it's never his fault.

!987 Thumb 5 string, one of the first 5 strings I think, a thing of beauty.

Some interfaces have DI inputs, but in absence of that, a good DI into the mic amp will ensure the right impedance for your bass signal into the pre-amp. Plugging a bass directly into a line input will yield a signal, but it won't be the best signal you can have, most bass outputs are instrument level, very few have balanced line level outputs.

Been working on this project for a few years (6 in total I think) it started as a vanity project basically, something to keep the creativity moving along and as some material to build and test my studio to, it sort of accidentally became an album and we decided to "release" it before it broke out of captivity in search of food. Original drums tracked at Monkey Puzzle House Studios by Rupert Matthews, along with some guitar and bass parts and some guide vocals, I did the rest in my studio and at the guitarists house, all the editing, programming and mixing was done in my room. It's up on some streaming platforms via DistroKid, which works well I find, so if you've got an Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, Spotify or Tidal account, give it a spin on whatever platform you have available. This was never intended to make us rich or famous, it was done for the fun of doing it and turned out to be worth the effort. I'm an old duffer so I'm having a few cd's printed up and I've a curious hankering to get it on vinyl, we'll see how that pans out... Click through for the streaming platform links. https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/newtonswake/non-est-deus-ex-machina

Bat Out of Hell, obvs... Full 10 minute rock opera magnificence, someone need to remix that sucker though.

Didn't Rhino Edwards smack Judy Tzuke in the nose with the headstock of his bass? I imagine his particular style of dancing could produce any number of bass-related injuries.... in other people.

I had an 87 Thumb, 5 one of the early ones with the Schaller style single piece bridge, I had a Wal Pro 1 and I've now got an SR5 20th Anniversary. Of the 3 I'd say the thumb had the most bite and attitude, closely followed by the SR5, however, my 5 string Bongo with the 18v pre is a beast, and whilst I haven't played that Thumb in 10 years, I think the Bongo might have had the edge.

oh, good try Mr. King.

All body and neck sculpting done, needs final sanding and finishing and then hardware, really happy with how this is turning out.

I had the Big Twin T, used a Crown XLS1500 bridged into mono, and a Line 6 Bass Pod XT Pro as a front end, the headroom was phenomenal, it was essentially a bass PA.

Never had a moments problem with mine, sitting or standing. I'm in Iver near Heathrow, you're welcome to drop in and try it, DM me.

I had a 1987 Warwick Thumb 5 for about 30 years, fantastic bass, didn't really need anything else, but after I thought I'd finished with bass, I sold it and inevitably needed basses... So, I now have a 20th anniversary EBMM SR5 which is absolutely perfect ergonomically and sonically, it's a keeper.

Good luck finding the 8" floppy discs for those automation drives... Sure, it looks complicated, but it's basically just repetition of the same thing, once you understand the processes, the worst part about using someone else's studio designs is figuring out the stuff they've done that is non-standard, particularly on patch-bays and side-car hardware. The desks are designed to be connected in a specific way, but very often different studios customised the cables and patches for their own operating styles, and it gets complicated. Hugh Padgam's SSL was built in 2 sections with fighcases, so he could take it wherever he was working...

I used to have a little peddle board, then went to a rack rig with a foot switch board (the Line 6 Bass Pod XT Pro) which meant I ran the only proper pedal I still have , a boss bass chorus, off the switchable FX loop for each patch, so it went on top of the rack, the wireless receiver went next to it, all powered from the anti-surge mains board in the back of the rack, very neat. If I ever go back to gigging regularly, I'll do something similar, as it makes for a very easy set-up and strike and keeps cables to an absolute minimum on the floor. Currently I have a QSC K12.2 and an HX Stomp, so it all goes on the floor in front of me with the only cables running to the bass.

I'd go with the red, never been much of a fan of the sky/duck egg blues unless you're in a 50's Rock n Roll show. Also, that's a fine looking trans red.

Nope, that's often very true, I can't stand the Beatles or the Stones, but both bands were chock full of talent. I quite like the Foos, but their last couple of albums sound very samey, I'd still give a major body part to be able to play drums as well as Grohl does.

Bit harsh, you might not like his music, but there's no way you can deny he's a talented musician who fronts one of the most popular bands of the last decade, all while playing "real" instruments, occasionally with a broken leg.

I think this is more to do with licks and phrasing, groove and invention than "sound", sure the best session guys get their work because they have a sound, but Carol Kaye played on hundreds of hits and you wouldn't necessarily know it was her. Good session players do what the gig requires, unless they're Eddie Van Halen, in which case they do what they always do.

Coldplay? I'd rather some kid with something interesting to say over a messed up Fruity Loops track got an award than that bunch, sure they can play, but what they play is so f*ck*ng bland. There will always be music we don't like, much of it new, but it's absolutely essential that kids get to play in the sandbox without us old b*st*rds telling them to keep it down.

This is why you turn the damn thing off as a habit before you plug/unplug anything.... Nothing worse than having your Coles ribbons fried by some lazy-arsed engineer who didn't check the 48v status.

Seconded on 2 counts of BigRed's advice, if you don't want to stick a really hot processor in it (the i5 isn't regarded as powerful these days) then at least 32Gb of Ram is very useful. An audio drive is essential. If you're going to using a lot of soft synth and samplers, another drive for libraries might be in order and you really should look at a faster processor with more cores.

I had the 110 for a while, great little practice/demo amp, plenty of grunt and, if used well, the models weren't bad either. Very useful DI output too. Use the 400w 2x10 combo too. Just wasn't loud enough.

I swapped my big rig out for a QSC K12.2 when I got my stomp, works as expected, although it does show up any limitations in your signal chain more than a traditional cab would.

I had the Super Flightcase in my studio for a year or two, lovely little amp to record with, never missed a beat. Quality kit, well designed. A bit quiet unless you add extra powered cabs, but that wasn't the purpose in the studio.