thodrik

When I was 15 I had saved up enough money to buy a Fender American Standard Jazz or a Musicman Stingray. I went to Denmark Street in London for the first time, tried a bunch of basses and ended up buying a 1974 Gibson EB3 purely because 'Jack Bruce and Andy Fraser played them'. I rarely use it, but I still own it 24 years later. The other one would be a Boss ODB3 (the yellow bass overdrive) because every bass player I knew had one. I used it a lot, but ended up selling it for £30 during lockdown because I was fed up of even looking at it after 20+ years. I probably should have kept it.

Not sure if it counts as a 'great deal' but Softube just announced their Equalizers plugin. It is essentially Softube's own version of the Fabfilter Pro Q4/Sonnox Claro/name your graphic EQ. The main benefit to the plugin is that if you already have any of Softube's EQ plugins, then you can load these into the Equalizers plugin so you can use a Softube Neve/API/Trident EQ for 'broad tone shaping' and use the graphic for for detailed corrective work. The graphic EQ includes dynamic EQ and mid-side processing. You can then manage the EQ within a single plugin window, at least that is the idea. It is very smart, at least in concept. Launch price is £69 or £87 bundled with your Softube channel strip or EQ of choice. The bundle options include the ridiculously expensive Softube EQs which get sold for up £250 individually (I can't even imagine paying that for a plugin). So if you really really want a very expensive Softube EQ this is the most cost effective way, even though it is not particularly cost effective. I tried the demo, just because I own the Softube British Class A (Neve) channel (I got it in a bundle for £40 or so) and use that on most stuff for half-arsed, 'that'll do' post tracking tone shaping before I sent the tracks off to somebody who knows what they are doing (I am better/less bad at setting up mics and tracking than I am at mixing) Also, you can't add drive or compression within the Equalizer plugin. If you want to add in preamp/console saturation/compression then you have to load another instance of your Softube EQ of choice which to me kinda defeats the point of the 'single plugin' basis. I am better off using a regular channel strip and Claro or Pro Q3 because with Neve and API type plugins, the saturation and colour is a key part of the sound. Worth a try if you have a bunch of Softube EQs but I don't think I need it and not even worth considering if you have no Softube plugins and already have a decent graphic EQ.

I completely agree with this take.

I did buy Smart-EQ3 but didn't really enjoy it. I found that the EQ moves it suggested with some instruments (mainly acoustic drums) to be truly strange! I didn't get to the point of using the plugin as intended over a number of tracks. I might have to revist it. Smart-gate however is really great.

After years of everyone taking issue with Waves business practice of always running sales, nearly every plugin maker is going the same route and/moving to a subscription model. Claro is really good. It lacks a couple of key features for me (being able to raise/lower the overall volume post EQ, dynamic EQ) but for 20 quid it is marvellous. I use Listen Hub a lot. It really helps to bring into context how crap my rough mixes are!

The guy in the store told me that the pickups had been changed before he even plugged it in. I think that it is a website description error rather than a case of the dealer being deliberately shady.

If you fancy owing essentially the same bass as me: https://www.kennysmusic.co.uk/1979-82-fender-usa-international-series-precision-bass-in-sienna-sunburst-pre-owned-p8462 I actually played this bass when I was in Aberdeen a few months ago. Definitely replacement pickups but they sounded great. Neck was in better condition than mine. I nearly bought it, but I didn't because it would just be a back up to the bass I already have. I do really love the neck profile of the Precisions from this era.

Sonnox has been doing 90% off most of their plugins this month. Some of the plugins fall into the ‘ancient but still good’ category. The drum gate, dynamics and Oxford EQ are really solid plugins and definitely worth it for £20.

I did think that. Whether it is a 1979 or 1982 bass doesn't really matter to me as I bought it for less than £400 in 1999. It was the cheapest way that I could buy an American made Fender. At the time (late 1990s) the late seventies/early 1980s Fender Precisions were cheaper than the new American Standards. Any notional increase in value from the bass being a 1979 bass rather than a 1982 bass would be off-set by the damage of me playing it constantly for 26+ years and mostly storing it in a gig bag so it has cosmetic dings aplenty. It is very much a 'never sell' bass so if someone told me that it was a 1982 bass worth 'only' £1,200 or so rather than £1,500-£1,600 late seventies P-bass it would make no difference to me whatsoever.

Exactly. It could be made from 1979-1982 using whatever bits and pieces Fender found around the factory at the time. I haven’t had it taken apart and dated all the various parts. The only thing I know for sure is that the nut and jack socket are less than a week old.

Got my old s9 Precision a proper set up. New nut, new jack socket and tidying up of the wiring. I’ve owned it since 1999 and it has had a lot of use, as shown by the way the nitro finish on the neck is flaking off. Might get the neck refinished eventually but will leave it as is for now. Pick guard was like that when I got it. It does make for easier access to the wiring I suppose. Not a ‘proper’ vintage Fender compared to classic earlier models, but it is a damn good workhorse bass.

Year started playing: 1999 Number of basses: 6 Music theory: 2.0 litres Technique: 4x4 Groove: about 5.5 seconds

I played downtuned guitar through an Orange Micro Terror connected to a Mesa 6x10 bass cabinet. It didn't sound good, but it was definitely loud.

You could try the new TE-1200, but it is very expensive. You could also try some of the older Trace Elliot gear which can be found for relatively cheap second hand, but they are very heavy. However, 200 watts at 4 ohms should be plenty loud enough, if it isn't ask the guitarist to turn down.

I just love reading old Trace Elliot brochures describing the 4x10 combo as a 'portable gigging solution'

If that amp and cab isn’t loud enough then your band is too loud, even if it is a doom band. It should be plenty loud and then some.

Lewitt LCT 040. £140 for a matched pair brand new, less second hand. If you only need one then you could probably find one for £50-£60. I have a pair I bought used and I'm really impressed. I have a matched pair of AKG C414 XLII large diaphragm condensers and as part of a larger drum mic set up the Lewitts hold there own and don't sound 'cheap'. The best thing of all though, they are tiny so can pretty much be positioned anywhere and despite the size and price they are good full range mics which capture plenty of bass.

I generally use tubes from JJ as they are cost effective and just work really well. I used them in my Mesa amps as well instead of Mesa tubes.

I have owned a Fafner since 2009. It still works great and generally all EBS amps are really reliable and share a similar-ish preamp, drive and compressor design. The Fafner is an older style design compared to the HD350 and TD650, which I have always found to sound a bit more refined, but the differences are really subtle. The current 802 is essentially a Rolls Royce of an amp which I would love to try but haven't. The main design flaws of the Fafner are: - the cosmetic bulb which glows red is prone to blow, however this does not affect the operation of the amp. It is worth replacing it with an LED bulb which will last longer; - the fan is on the side, so despite being a 3U unit you need a 4U rack case to allow for ventilation; and - it is 620 watts at 2 ohms, so using at 8 ohms it is a little bit unpowered compared to its size, but still useable in a gig (I use it with a single 8 ohm 15 inch cab for rock gigs and rehearsals without a problem). My favourite features: - awesome compressor; - loads of headroom on the preamp; - really great drive control; - really flexible preamp; - the 'Bright' control offers fantastic control of high frequency articulation; and - the master control has a really useable and practical volume taper, so it does just go from silent to really loud (like my Mesa Big Block). If it is a used amp, try replacing the preamp tube (it is really easy to do so), as it might improve the sound of the drive control. Funnily enough, my back up amp for the Fafner used to be a Trace Elliot 300 SMX!

Does anyone happen to know which IEMs work best for metal?

Body Positivity Lizzy

At this point when you are looking at Trace Elliot, your are mostly looking at amps which are at least 30+ years old. Even the Peavey 'relaunch' stuff is nearly 20 years old now. The 'best' Trace amps at this point might be the ones that are still operational and well looked after rather than any particular models. This would certainly be my view in determining between an AH150 and 715 SMC. In terms of the old school amps, SMX ones I think are about the pinnacle of the Trace Elliot designs, though series 6 stuff is really good. Some of the Kamen era GP7/GP12 stuff are really good too, kinda like an SMX without the extra features of a preamp tube, compression and fancy crossovers.

That is really lovely. I am tempted and I already own an Excess. Bit of a typo in the Bassbros description saying that the truss rod is in fully working order given that Vigiers do not have a truss rod.

My nephew got a lesson with him the other month! He said it was really good fun and worthwhile and that Jeff is a very cool guy.

I think I missed them in Glasgow when they first toured the UK but haven't caught them since. They are on the list. I love Jeff Matz in general too and have seen High on Fire probably about 6 times going back to about 2005 which I think was before Matz even joined the band (I dunno, I was about 18 and probably drunk).