Ramirez

7 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Surely overkill, given the OP's brief..? A splendid mic, I've no doubt, but there's a long way to go in home recording before its qualities come to the fore, I'd suggest. If money's no object, fine, but is it the case here..? 

I agree to a point, but my post only suggested this if the posted saw this as something long term. And if he decided to sell, they'd make a good chunk of the money back on an M88 (especially if they bought used!)

A good budget all-rounder is the Rode M3. I'd lean towards a small-diaphragm rather than a large-diaphragm as their off-axis colouration are usually much better, so any spill/room reflections will not sound as nasty. Also they are inherently more accurate/neutral sounding, so can be a good fit for a variety of sources.

If you think this is something you'll want to build on in the future with more equipment, more mics etc. then I'd suggest it's worth spending a little more to get a properly good all-rounder - I'd suggest a Beyerdynamic M88. It'll do a good job on pretty much anything, and it'll always be useful even if you buy more nice mics in the future. A cheap mic, on the other hand, will probably have no use when you have better options, and will have next to no resale value if you want to sell it! 

I do agree with @fretmeister though - I'd be tempted to go direct with any electric guitar/bass recording and use plugins. I often do this out of choice in the studio as well, despite having a wonderful, large controlled recording room, nice amps and lovely mics! 

Thank you both.

Well, the plan is to get the Stentor fixed up and for me to start taking things seriously again, then see how it goes. I'm also hoping to drag @Owen in for a second opinion!

I don't see myself playing pubs etc.

I run a commercial recording studio, so it would most probably spend most of its time there, with the occasional theatre tour thrown in.

I do know what I want to a certain extent... namely because every DB I pick up that's not my own sounds better and is much easier to play than mine!

Maybe a fairly new used bass would be a good option if it comes to it... some nice things seem to pop up in the classifieds here!

I'm thinking of picking up the old DB again, after neglecting it for a good while.

My current cheap Stentor Conservatoire is in dire need of a set-up, so that's the first call, but I can see myself being tempted to sell it on and buying a better model if all goes well.

I'm drawn towards buying a brand new bass instead of used - does £5k get me a considerable upgrade on the Stentor (bearing in mind they seem to be over £2k new now!)?

What are your recommendations?

Aled

Sold!

Hi all,

I'm sure this will be of no interest to most (all?) of you, but we'll be having an online 'listening party' to launch our new album on February 28th, 7pm.

https://crhb.bandcamp.com/merch/mynd-r-t-am-dro-listening-party

It's alt country / Americana / Neil Youngish type stuff, so hopefully someone somewhere will enjoy it!

Aled

Opto Stomp sold. Rest still available.

It won't run a passive cabinet obviously, but you can plug it into any active speaker that has a suitable input. (I won't call it a "FRFR speaker" for the same reason I don't call my car an "Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle" - it already has a perfectly fine name that everyone understands!) 

*SOLD* BBE Opto Stomp - £80 + PP

Excellent condition. One of the older models with a blue LED which, apparently, is the one to get. All I can say is that it's very good, in a very transparent way. I much preferred it the Ampeg Opto it replaced.

Zoom B3 - offers!

Battered, bruised, but fully working. It's in quite bad cosmetic shape and missing a knob, so open to offers to see how much I can realistically expect. If it's not much I'll probably keep it as it's such a handy box. Pics to follow.

Line6 M5 - £80 + PP

Very handy box, but all its effects are included in my new HX Stomp! Pics to follow.

Foxgear Echosex Baby - £80 + PP

Very cool delay pedal. Not bass specific. Pics to follow.

Price drop to £800

9 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

True...

 

That ancient digital Lexicon rack reverb is still praised and sought after to this day, and plenty of digital units with many times the original's processing power fails to do as good a job.

 

A digital effect is only as good as the programmer, and even then it will still also depend on how well that programmer actually knows how to effectively make optimal use of whatever specific processor it got, that is how experienced the programmer is with the specific system used.

 

And yes, plenty of genuinely amazing all free VST effect plugins for DAWs around too, my all time favorite delay and distortion for one are all free VSTs.

 

 

The H9000 is a fairly recent product from Eventide - I think you might be thinking of the classic H3000 rack.

But your point still stands - it's not all about processing power. If they sounds good, they sound good - the old Eventides ar a good case in point, as are the high-end digital reverb of their time such as the AMS RMX16. We have an RMX16 at the studio (and an old H3000!) and it sounds absolutely fabulous. To the point where they're able to charge £1000 for a modern version with exactly the same limited processing power in a small 500-series chassis!

The UAD plugin version also sound brilliant.

Digital processing has so much flexibility that it's hard to objectively quantify the cost sometimes. I think the new Eventide H9 is an interesting one - if you look at it as a guitar pedal, it's extremely expensive (about £1000). On the other hand, if you look at it as two of their wonderful old SP2016s reverb in a box with line-level I/O, it almost becomes cheap (I think a new single SP2016 in a reverb in a rack is around £2k!) - and that's before you consider all the other effects!

Back for sale!

On 03/11/2023 at 13:18, krispn said:

I suppose if they can do it in software they would have the engineering capability to do it in a pedal using whatever digital trickery that would entail without it being a "plug-in in a pedal".

 

If it sounds good and works then...

Well, I don’t mean that they build a hardware pedal than can host VST plugins. What I meant is they probably port the code over to the hardware platform.

I can’t imagine they would create a brand new digital recreation of an LA2A when they already have arguably the best one in existence.

10 minutes ago, SumOne said:

 

Is that how it works though? (Genuine question, I don't know). Can a company basically put a digital VST plugin into a digital pedal? The pedal doesn't have the same processor, RAM, digital architecture etc as a computer (although I guess some of the expensive multi fx might). Isn't it equivalent to 'Mercedes make good F1 engines so the new Mercedes van will have a good engine'. 

 

As far as I know, the Cali 76 gets very close to the real deal in analogue pedal form. 

Well, the code would need to be ported over to whatever hardware’s in the pedal. But the hardware in the pedal would have been chosen for this task.
 

But I don’t think they’d code a new emulation from scratch when they already have such a good one!

These digital pedals are all computer codes running on a chip, and they’re usually available as plugins too (Helix, Tonex etc) that are cross-compatible. The car engine analogy doesn’t really work.

Not saying the Cali76 etc isn’t good! But the UA is probably more accurate to a real 1176. But who cares about accuracy really.

I’m assuming this is essentially the UAD 1176/LA2A plugins in a pedal.
Top level mixing engineers have been using those plugins instead of the real hardware for years.
 

I’ll bet they sound closer to the ‘real deal’ than any analog ciruitry anyone could fit into a pedal enclosure…

Still for sale. Picture added.

Pretty sure it is - it was a straight swap on my MIM Jazz anyway. Will check this weekend.

Great neutral-sounding condenser mic pair. Fully working. Decent cosmetic condition for age, but expected signs of wear. Very versatile, used for pop/rock/jazz/classical/choral. Comes with Rycote USM shockmounts and a box. Will post at buyer's expense.

Aled

On 16/03/2023 at 21:59, woodyratm said:

Hey folks,

I have an odd request… my band are looking to record our second EP. 
 

However… the first EP the engineer removed me from 3 out of 4 tracks. He said the DI signal wasn’t hot enough. We didn’t realise until fairly recently that it was a midi bass sample on all but one. 
 

So, I’m obviously not sure about him. However - he’s used by a fair few bands in Scotland and often just samples the bass (I believe) and is reasonably priced.

My guitarist is keen to use him again - “better the devil you know” and has spoken to him to find out what the issues were, he’s said he wants a new set of strings and a hot signal. So I tested, new strings on my Status CW and recorded direct with EQ balanced and with the EQ boosted fully. We sent the dude the track and asked if it would work. He said if we could get a sound like the boosted EQ for recording, he’d be happy to use the bass. Fair enough. 

But - I still have some reservations. My guitarist is also concerned about going to someone he doesn’t know, or not known, incase we either get screwed over, or they nick the music for themselves. Again, fair enough. 
 

Does anyone have any recommendations on someone who could be worth a look? We sent the stems and e-drums midi and can send the rough demos we have etc so see how things should be.

 

thanks in advance!

 

That sounds like complete nonsense. Recording systems have gain controls precisely in order to make a signal "hot" enough. If there was an issue it should have been addressed at the time. A signal not being "hot enough" is only a problem if there are noise issues, and if bringing the gain up makes the noise problematic. That should a very obvious problem that can be sorted together at that time.

In all honesty, I'd avoid him. Doesn't sound like someone who runs a professional service.

Lovely short scale in a very cool colour.

With soft case and LaBella flatwounds, will also include original strings (they were changed almost straight away)

Thinking of shifting my little Ampeg rig. Great condition, with bag for the head (a double bass drum pedal bag, fits nicely) and cover for the cab.

Not interested in splitting at the moment. Will post pictures when I'm at the studio.

Will post photos when I have the bass to hand

Aled

Hipshot BT7 bass extender, fits MIM Fenders (and others I presume)

Nickel

Will post photos when I have the bass to hand

East J-Tone preamp, vol/vol configurations with chrome knobs.

Happy to post, will sort pics when I have the bass to hand.

Aled

3 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Fender — make stainless steel .045 – .100 flatwounds like the 9050 set, but sized for a string-thru mustang bass. With Daphne blue or black silks please, and ensure the strings are all nice and smooth like LaBellas or Chromes.

Doesn’t the JMJ Mustang come with exactly this? Or are they not strung through the body?