LawrenceH

[quote name='tino' post='859375' date='Jun 6 2010, 09:56 PM']I think most of the Fenders traypse over to Germany where they are stripped of the useful organs,,rebuilt and offered on E Bay???[/quote] Yeah, bloody annoying isn't it?!

The couple of times I've tried out cabs with Hartke 10" speakers they sounded almost exactly the same no matter what I did at the bass, and no matter what bass was playing through them - I thought they coloured the tone more than any other speaker I've tried. it was a very aggressive, punchy sound, but not very musical to my ears. And yes, deep bass-shy though there was lots of low-mid power.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='840572' date='May 18 2010, 10:02 AM']Listen and play along to this track for a good while: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNDRs0Iiv6Y"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNDRs0Iiv6Y[/url] It's a perfect example of playing behind the beat. Quite tricky.[/quote] I didn't know that tune, but to me that bassline is just killer - great example! Whereas I've always felt a bit ambivalent about the Meters stuff though they do groove uniquely...covering Cissy Strut should be banned since no-one EVER nails the feel. Alex the drummer who plays live with Dizzee Rascal is just great at controlling the nuances of timing around a beat. He's fun to play with because his timing makes you feel like you're a better player!

Those Behringer compressors are pretty good actually, certainly better than a lot of people judging on name rather than sound give them credit for.* I'd hesitate to upgrade from them unless you went for something significantly more costly (like the focusrite), or something less transparent (they're not transparent by studio standards but are compared to bass pedals!). The optical compression on the Aphex Exciter units, for example, is a very 'warm' sounding compression that really bigs up the bass end, very different to a studio rack compressor. *The caveat is I haven't heard the more recent Behringer models, only the ones from the early 2000s. But they were very usable.

what is the acoustic tone like on these?

Maple all the way! Looks awesome with that colour scheme. Plus, although it's obviously the least important consideration, it sounds better.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='855020' date='Jun 2 2010, 04:06 PM']Wow can't wait. I was hoping for a "piano-like" sound at first but I've now heard you only get that if your bass is made in a shed by a geezer with long hair and a dirty sweatshirt.[/quote] No you get that with LEDs. Funny all these bassists who lust after the sound of the piano...after all playing one note at a time is pretty easy to learn on a keyboard

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='854376' date='Jun 2 2010, 12:52 AM']I reckon if the species of facing wood on a bass supposedly changes the sound, or a maple fretboard sounds different to a rosewood fretboard, then block inlays definitely make a difference and I'm doing it for the tone. [/quote] This is actually true. The high resonant frequency of the stiff pearloid brings out high harmonic overtones more clearly. But binding helps to transmit more of the neck resonance at the headstock down to the heel and into the body of guitar, giving a richer mid-range with more 'growl' and 'grind' - you wouldn't want to miss out on that! And that's the real reason why a blocked and bound neck is so damn funky

That does sound interesting...do you have an option to effectively take the pre-amp out of the equation and see how the power amp sounds completely 'neutral' - it'd be good to know the difference between that and the stock voicing which to my ears doesn't sound flat at all.

I don't think the jag neck is bound

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='853155' date='Jun 1 2010, 12:15 AM']Cheers, hadn't seen those. Shame about the circuitry I was thinking passive, but I might see if I can find one and see how they sound, you never know. Bit pricey though at £1200+, for a Fender...[/quote] The US 75RI is also available with a rosewood fretboard, though they don't seem to be so common and of course are also pricey. There are older versions of the 75RI that sometimes pop up secondhand, last one I saw went for £800 on ebay and that was black with rosewood. There's also the old FMT or QMT deluxes which are great. There's one here but it's overpriced IMO: [url="http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars_detail.asp?stock=px-NE15RS37"]http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_guitars...ock=px-NE15RS37[/url] B&B rosewood looks the absolute nuts!

I had a perfect ten thrown in with a secondhand bass once...thought it was dreadful. And I actually like the sound of the relatively cheap Ashdown Electric Blue, which is a bit dirty but conveys tone well enough. The perfect 10 was boomy, indistinct and slow no matter what settings I had on the bass. I'mn sure the Yamaha BB414 would be a great choice to start with - or the RBX370, a seriously versatile and convincing-sounding cheap bass

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='852926' date='May 31 2010, 08:33 PM']Remember that when you arrive in bass heaven, the player who plays the most number of notes in a bar is the one who will rule over all mankind & be supplied with an infinite number of nubile virgins...[/quote] Be careful asking for help on this forum, or you might get the bass equivalent of Katie Price offering relationship advice... But it sounds to me like you are going through a typical mid-band-crisis, characterised by an unwarranted desire for frequencies above 2k. It will pass, but to ease you through the difficult months ahead try switching to a P bass strung with flats, using in-ear monitoring off the DI and playing through a 1980s Carlsbro 1x15" as a stage amp. This will allow you to satisfy your need for speed in a safe, controlled manner that no-one else will hear, much less care about.

The few other demos of his that I've actually heard I thought were useless - far too much waffling on and on, and the sound not good enough to assess the instruments properly, but that one's actually pretty good with much clearer sound. Maybe my previous sample of his videos wasn't representative! Naff-looking basses though! (gets coat...)

Thanks for the advice guys! Sounds like it'll be worth taking it down a bit, added to my 'to do' list.

[quote name='BassBod' post='851271' date='May 29 2010, 05:41 PM']The general guide is - hold the string down at the third fret, and look at the gap between string and first fret - should be just a hair from touching the first fret.[/quote] Thank you very much for the reply - doing that it is a pretty small gap, but more than a hair - maybe 2/3 of a mm on the E? I don't have a gauge to measure accurately unfotunately. Would there be any disadvantage to taking it down further, i.e. til just a shade above first fret to avoid buzzing?

Hi all, I have a Jap 75 reissue jazz which I'm learning to really love despite being initially a little underawed (new bridge helped!). One thing that I noticed though is that when playing in F my hands fatigue very quickly. I think part of the problem is the nut height relative to the first fret which is forcing me to press quite hard when using the lower frets. What is usual, and what can you take it down to? I'm wondering if these necks, which have the smaller vintage frets on, still use standard nuts. Surely it needs to only just clear the first fret? I've got a good couple of mm, which even if standard seems a bit unnecessary - or am I missing something? Strings are 45-105 black beauties

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' post='850287' date='May 28 2010, 01:18 PM']It's calculated by taking one speaker from a batch, putting power through it until the voice coil melts, and then labelling the remaining speakers with that power rating. So if you're willing to sacrifice one of your 6" speakers, you could discover the power handling of the other one. S.P.[/quote] You could maybe fire it up in an arbitrary box with a measurement system, successively doubling the power and letting it equilibrate for a few mins, and look for when thermal compression starts to kick in noticeably - this'd give you a rough and ready idea?

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='848870' date='May 26 2010, 08:12 PM']As for amplification, I'd be looking not only for a practise amp, but something you can also get out and gig with. For the price of a decent Roland Bass cube (30 or 100w) you can get a new Ashdown Electric Blue 180 15" combo. These are ample for many until the volume gets out of hand! Rich [/quote] I would point out as a long-time Ashdown EB owner that, while mine has put in sterling (geddit?) service as a small gig amp, for practicing I find the tone is thin and dull until you crank it a bit - the Roland Cube really scores here, if I was JUST looking for a bedroom practice-type amp I'd definitely choose the Roland. I'd also definitely buy secondhand

[quote name='umph' post='846602' date='May 24 2010, 04:03 PM']electro music is the one your thinking of. People don't seem to impressed on the whole with markbass cabs, they do light very well but they don't do tone.[/quote] Well, I think they sound great. Horses for courses. Not heard them powered by Ashdown though, sorry.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='845894' date='May 23 2010, 05:28 PM']To echo what's been said already... what approach is best for the song? Do that one. If it's the latter and they won't budge... look for another band. If it's the former but you want to be more melodic for the sake of it, prepare to have you gig nicked by someone else.[/quote] Just get a really deep dark fat P-bass tone going and you can do what you like...worked for John Deacon anyway, he zooms around all over the place on some Queen tracks but no-one except other bass players notice! Of course, he's always on the money where it counts. It's fine to keep it simple if it's what the music demands, but it sounds like for some of your stuff the lines you're being asked to play aren't actually that good even in context. Maybe try keeping to their ideas to start with on a track then when they've stopped paying attention embellish things a little bit? Or subtly switch to simple lines that work better?

[quote name='JTUK' post='845732' date='May 23 2010, 01:44 PM']If you find you need that extra, you'll be using PA support as well,...I would hope.[/quote] This is correct. Beyond a certain volume it's far more sensible to rely on decent tri- or quad-amped PA systems, that someone else supplies for you. Mic the cab or make sure your DI sound is good.