Marvin

Is the DAC to the desk for monitoring? This is why it's quite frustrating. The interface is the selected input, there's sound going in as you get the input level bars going up and down as you play...but no sound to the person you're 'calling'. I'm inclined yo think it's the interface.

Tried on Mac and 2 different Windows machines, no joy at all. I've got a signal going in. When you open up the audio settings in Skype there's sound going to Skype as the bars move. However, nothing can be heard the other end by the person I'm calling. Yet I can hear them with the headphones from the audio interface. 🤔

I've got sound going into the computer as it works on a DAW on its own. However, when I close the DAW and try on Skype I get nothing. I get a faint bit of guitar if I put the input at maximum on the interface, but I'm also getting a massive amount of hiss/white noise. Real head scrater

My son may have to have guitar lessons using Skype (or similar) soon, as his guitar tutor is moving and he'd like to stay with the same tutor. He's had Skype lessons before but just used the laptop mic, which isn't the best. Ideally I'd want him to be able to route his guitar into the laptop, use a proper mic not the laptop one and use headphones to hear himself and his tutor. I've got an old non USB mixer and a very old USB interface that might do the job (I'd need a mic). I've used it before on my Mac and GarageBand, but not for anything like online lessons. (pic below). Would this gear work? Would it be better to buy a different USB interface, one that you can plug in the guitar and mic? Would a USB mixer be a better solution? Do I need a DAW to make all this work for online lessons? As you might be able to see I'm not knowledgeable in anything like this, so any advice or pointers would be great. Cheers

Ive just watched the PG rig rundown, with Dallas Schoo, of The Edge's set up...the sheer amount that goes on 'off stage'! It's mind boggling. There is a lot of getting the sound "absolutely right", before it goes to the desk. I can't see that someone so 'particular' about his own sound would allow anyone else in the band have a that'll do approach. PG also did a rig rundown on GnR. There are no bass cabs on their stage, they all use IEM. However, off stage Duff has a 115 and a 410 cab mic'd. That signal, along with 3 or 4 other signals from different sources are sent to the desk and blended. From what I remember I think there are guitar cabs mic'd in, near soundproofed, boxes off stage as well. These big bands may use IEM, but it's not as simple as DI the bass to the desk and that's it. They have a sound, and a lot of them seem very particular about recreating that sound by using A LOT of gear

He can talk about politics all he wants, it's his massive hypocrisy that disgusts many people.

With regard to Achtung Baby, Clayton's contribution seemed to be nil, apart from being incredibly negative when he heard the demos

ITV, a few years ago, aired a documentary to mark the 25th(?) anniversary of the release of Achtung Baby. Throughout the film they played several of the demos, that the Edge and Bono had made, for the album to present to Clayton and Mullins. The bass parts were already there, and are the lines you hear on the album. Solid and reliable he is, but it made me wonder what is it he does other than be solid. How much does he bring to the writing process to get that writing royalty cut he gets? I don't find what he does interesting. Others might say the same about the bassists I like, Mike Mills, McCartney, Jimi Goodwin (Doves). To me these players seem more musical and more interested in music, they have 'something'. Clayton strikes as someone who just wanted to be a rock star. I don't like U2, but that's not the reason I don't find Clayton interesting. I'm not a fan of Rolling Stones, but I find Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood musically very interesting. Competent, but beyond that I don't see someone who is of interest musically

I've never had the money to be loyal to a particular brand 🙂 I tend to buy the gear, at a certain price point, that will give me what I need in terms of playability, sound and to some degree aesthetic if possible. I do though, try to buy brands that hopefully have a good reputation and/or decent after sales network if something goes wrong. There are brands that if they go wrong you may as well bin as the parts or repair options are non-existent. That said, I do own a Sire v7 and I'm not sure how you get the onboard preamp sorted if it goes belly up. If I had the budget for higher end gear I'd have to try it first, I think. I don't know where I'd start to be honest.

P bass tone up all the way. J bass, which can be active but I switch to passive, tone up all the way and balance pot in the middle.

On YouTube is Tom Petty - Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers I watched it this afternoon, it's about 90mins. Although I thoroughly enjoyed it, it is a little somber at times. His band clearly miss him a lot. They were, I feel, the very definition of a band. The clubhouse is...well, who wouldn't want somewhere like that? And when you listen to Mike Campbell sit there and talk a little about it....

Currently this.

I think I've only bought 2 albums this year, both new releases though. Richie Kotzen and Adrian Smith's Smith/Kotzen album is a great collection of songs, definitely one of my favourites at the moment. My favourite of the year though is Eliza Shaddad's album The Woman You Want. I saw her support Turin Brakes a few years ago and she was brilliant. I'm really pleased that In The Morning is on the album, just a fantastic song.

The last time (several years ago now) I ordered strings from Amazon I ended up with a phone case for a Samsung S7. Customer service was as much help as a chocolate fireguard. I very rarely buy from Amazon, partly because for the things I buy online they're naff. For fishing gear Amazon is abysmal, there are much better retailers that I use. As for next day delivery, the times I have used Amazon that's been very hit and miss, many items have been 3-4 days. And to be honest, when did we become so impatient? Someone on social media posted the following 'In Communist countries everybody buys from the state, in capitalist countries everybody buys from Amazon. Not too far from the truth.

Ask Billy Sheehan 😁 In all seriousness, although it may not style you're looking for I imagine there's some videoes out there where he could give some important pointers.

Thank you. I shall keep passing on the suggestions...and having a laugh with him with the ones that may be inappropriate

I've used Flats for the last 6 years, maybe more, on both my basses. I've only changed strings 3 times. Once on my P bass because one of the strings had become damaged, it'd started to rattle so I could only think the core had started to go downhill. On my Jazz bass, I changed my flats to rounds a couple of months ago...then changed them back again after 10 days because I really didn't like the sound of the rounds. So a total of 3 times in 6 years

I'd go along to a shop and get the feel of some instruments, but don't feel pressured into buying something on your first visit. Maybe go back and try the bass you think could be OK again a couple of weeks later. When I started way back when I always wanted a Warwick, I used to lust after them. Then a few years ago I got to practice and gig one. I hated it, the most uncomfortable bass I've ever played. Out of your list, the only bass I could comment on would be the Yamaha TRBX304. I had the next one up, the 504. Probably the most comfortable bass to play I've ever had. Body sits well on the strap. Nice weight. Neck is slim (from the back to front) and us very easy to play. But that's me, others may think differently.

Middle son is doing music GCSE (it's the equivalent of a GCSE) and set the task of, with his group/band, identifying a song suitable for a wedding (then practice and perform it). So you wonderful people let the suggestions come in. My first suggestion was Don't Let Me Down by The Beatles, which was swiftly rejected...

I got into one band by not being the best bass player. The other guy was/is pretty good, he's now an Ernie Ball and Gallien Krueger endorsee and I'm not and never will be 😁 Practice room bands are sometimes the worst. I was relived to be ditched by a practice room band...although they went about it in an underhand manner by saying they'd packed it in when they hadn't. I tore strips off them when I saw them. Just chalk it down as tried and done and move on.

If I were in a band playing the same set week in week out I'd not feel it at all necessary to have practices or rehearsals. My problem is I've got a shockingly bad memory. I have to play something A LOT to remember it to the point where I'm confident I can just play it at the drop of a hat. Dakota by the Stereophonics is probably one of the simplest songs you could play, but I couldn't tell you what the 4 (or is it 5?) notes you play on the bass are for it, I've not played it for...some time. The thing that niggles me are the 'amateur' bands (who think they're professional) that are so cockey that they boast that they never need practices as 'they make the songs their own'. What this actually means is they can't, or can't be arsed to, play the song properly, or to properly arrange their own version. An example of this is a band I was asked to dep for recently, the drummer of which I was in a band with a few years ago. I've seen them, they play rock covers in a rock style...but because the guitarist/singer can't play any of the guitar solos they just don't bother with them. Take then Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac. The drummer told me that the guitar solo part was done a capella with just bass and drum...I have no idea what that even meant. They could get away with it, to some extent, when it was an all female trio due to the large number of dirty old men and leches at venues. However, now the original bass player has left, the remaining two have had to resort to asking grotty old farts like me to play bass...I don't think the attraction value is there anymore

Sire P5...if you can find one that is.

I'm not knowledgeable enough about nuts and necks to suggest any solutions to that side, @gary mac might be able to point you in the right direction there. Regards the volume and tone controls, I had an SR300 on which the controls went a bit belly up. I asked @KiOgon to make me a passive wiring loom. It had a separate volume and tone control for each pickup, but I also asked for one of the tone controls to be a series/parallel switch. If you pulled the tone control 'out' you had a big humbucker (I think, that's how it worked). It sounded great. I never liked the old active eq on the SR300 due to the variable mid sweep, I could never get a setting I liked. Only thing to remember is, if rip the electronics out, make sure any new loom has a barrel type input jack, normal ones won't stay in place.

Basses are made in Indonesia, amp and cab made in China. It's what I can afford.