Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Minininjarob

⭐Supporting Member⭐
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    415

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Minininjarob

    Playing in Church.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    17 hours ago, TrevorR said:

    Well, that was a fun time (NB genuine mode not sarcasm mode - realised it could be read both ways).

     

    In the end the guitar player and drummer couldn’t come - though another drummer stood in at the last minute. So it was just piano, bass drums and vocalists. I’ve always believed in just adapting your arrangements to what musos you have available, so that was perfectly fine. There was a nice “house” Warwick combo to use so it really was plug & play.
     

    It was a nice service we had the following songs prepped:

    • Open the eyes of my heart 
    • Here for you 
    • A thousand hallelujahs 
    • Our Father (communion)
    • Hallelujah anyway
    • Praise 

    We also had In Jesus Name prepped which was to be the response song before communion but the service was running long so we didn’t use it. It was fun playing in a stripped down format and the acoustics were such that it sounded good on stage with just a tine vocal-only monitor.  Here’s a piccie of the office:

     

    IMG_2636.thumb.jpeg.4b9416124f1ad0d34d8a8db3344c60ce.jpegIMG_2642.thumb.jpeg.33800ce7827a27b727a2f02b0533e27d.jpeg
     

    The bass sounded nice on the stream as well which was encouraging too. It really is nice to be back playing in worship. Not sure when the next one will be. Looking forward to it, though!

     


     

     

     

     

     


    Looks like a good setup there but I’m surprised you have a traditional piano still - we sold ours and got an electric one in a ‘fake’ piano case as the acoustic one was so expensive to keep in tune. 

    • Like 1

    PMT - physical shops going downhill?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    6 hours ago, diskwave said:

    The demise of the instrument store. I just think the traditional band, "electric guitar thing" in the main, is over. It only ever started because of the blues and R&R. The very two genres which in the minds of young people today are pretty much obsolete.

    I popped into PMT two years ago and it just seemed full of active pa and DJ kit,  barely a guitar or bass in sight. Light years away from the, 'ye olde guitar shop' on the corner stuffed with 100 watt tweed front Marshalls, slinky Hiwatts and Orange bass bins etc. Sad really, online just isn't quite the same.

    Well the PMT I went into on Monday had a massive selection of guitars and amps and pedals, more than most other shops. Drum kits. Lots of keyboards/synths and basses too. Also a good range of PA and mixing stuff too. Never seen any Dj stuff in there. 

    Tuning issues - nut problem?

    in Repairs and Technical

    Posted

    Ok so I was playing yesterday my Player P Bass and for probably the first time I had the tuner on when I fretted an F. On the open E the note was perfectly in tune but the F was WAY off no matter how I fretted it - it was way too sharp. 
    Thinking back I have always thought the first fretted notes especially the F sounded a bit weird but I not very experienced so just brushed it off. 
    Is the nut too high? Trying to figure out what’s wrong and that’s the only thing I can think of. Rest of the intonation seemed relatively ok. 

    Mike Dirnt sound on a Zoom B1 four ?

    in Effects

    Posted

    11 hours ago, andruca said:

    I'm an avid Zoom tweaker and I love copying sounds, but don't have such a thing as Mike Dirnt's tone figured out. Still I'll try my best to "deconstruct" Mike's tone so, regardless of gear, you get the concept, then can figure out your tone on whatever platform.

     

    First thing should be identifying the kinda BASS AND PICKUP COMBINATION used. It's usually P bass or neck pickup (if you have 2) for the P bass songs, and IDK what combos he uses on the Gibson G3 (i.e. "Longview"), but still a wide open 2 pickup bass can sorta' fake most of that. P bass is middier by nature. OTOH, more then one pickup in parallel (as wired on most basses with more than 1 pickup) is more scooped, and so does it sound on GD's tunes, not that P bass mids are tamed or they're reinforced on the G3 to compensate, they sound rather "natural", as they are, to me.

     

    The other thing is THE WAY HE PLAYS. Be conscious about it, there's no sounding like Mike Dirnt (and many other punk bass players) without a firm and rhythmic motion, hard picking in general. I can't recommend thin picks enough. I mostly use .60mm Tortex Triangles, and occasionally .73mm Tortex Flex Triangles. I prefer the fluidity and also the non-choking punch of thin picks (there's a limited amount of force you can apply to a thin pick before it starts "compressing" you by bending, great for consistency). Look, there's still people asking for holy grial gear to sound like Geddy, while some have been forever able to do that on just any random Jazz Bass. You gotta mean it from the start, from your hands and your bass. Most important part to get a sound you like.

     

    Next is some OVERDRIVE. For this I'd start with a SansAmp emulation (what I use the most in my Zooms). Start with EQ flat and gain/blend at 50/50. You might have to do 2 or 3 patches at various gain and blend levels, you'll find quite some gain variety from song to song. The blend control in SansAmps (and most emulations) does a great job making you lo-fi while keeping good (non-cardboard'ish) lowend. The kinda' distortion you want is grainy, but not hissy. Use the SansAmp EQ for correcting that, and overall shaping to the bass tone you aim at. Probably boost a little bass, give yourself some nice punching foundation.

     

    Then I'd use COMPRESSION (some more, as rhe SansAmp already compresses some). Nothing shy here. There's MANY compressors in your Zoom. I mostly use the 160comp emulation. Does the work for me. I do a lot of HC/punk with a variety of bass guitars and for that my compression is sorta' "binary", in that I'm either sounding full blast or I'm just not playing 🤣 Hope you get it, just use a high ratio and lower the threshold down to a point where pick attacks stop hurting and overall tone gets fattened a little (re-adjust to such side effect on the SansAmp EQ as needed).

     

    Finally, I'd add noise reduction to any overdrive gain patch, also pretty aggressive, as punk is, so you don't sound like a frying pan when not playing. Zoom's own ZNR noise reduction model works great, just set it to monitor instrument input, not all the chain.

     

    That (and the time spent tweaking) should be about it. Overdrive could be anything, I've heard anything  from a Tube Screamer to a Metal Zone work with the adequate gain for the task and enough EQ and compression. Try different overdrives, theres LOTS of different characters you fan have from the emulations in that pedal. I'm exemplifying based on SansAmp because I'm sure it's in your B1 four, and also because it's one of the easiest to use and get a good basic tone from.

     

    Feel free to inquire further if needed. Hope I helped.


    I can’t comment on the patch side of things but to get a MD sound you need to play with a pick (I use a .73 Dunlop MaxGrip after trying so many others - thick picks just do not work sound wise and with the speed he plays at) and you need to play HARD. The old adage of garbage in garbage out is perfect here. You can emulate the amps he uses (Fender Super Bassman into a 8x10) but if you provide all your gear with a lame weak signal it’s going to be fighting a losing battle. 
    Mike is well known for have a very high action probably to avoid string buzz with how hard he plays.

    The precision he uses has a 59 or 62 pickup which are actually quite smooth sounding - and more similar to a Gibson G3 than you’d think. I’ve played a G3 and they sound great and probably not far off the signature P’s he has. 
    I can get a great MD tone from my P into a GK 400rb and 2x10 with just a little compression and no other effects, but weirdly I can’t seem to make my USA MusicMan Sterling sound right at all for MD stuff. Gotta be a P!!

    • Like 1

    Shimming a CV Squier Bass VI using shims bought on Amazon/eBay etc.

    in Repairs and Technical

    Posted

    I shimmed my P bass with half a quality business card under the first two screws (bit nearest the neck). Worked perfectly and my P bass has never sounded so good, setup was super easy after that.

    All I did was loosen the strings off a lot, find the correct sized screwdriver and undid all the screws, slipped the business card in then put the screws back in. Only had to screw through a bit of cardboard which was very easy. It added a little bit of angle which was all that was needed.

    Found that tip on a website somewhere, and it was free!

    I took it out again to see if it was a fluke and no it wasn't....

    Hipshot BT7 Nickel Drop Tuner NOW £70 - *SOLD*

    in Accessories & Other Musically Related Items For Sale

    Posted · Edited by Minininjarob
    reduced price

    Bought from Bass Direct and didn’t get on with it, I must be the exception as everyone seems to love them! 
    Used on bass for a very short period at home only, so as new condition. 
    Check for compatibility on Hipshot website but this fitted my Fender Player P Bass perfectly. 
    Obviously has all the parts and screws and instructions in original box. 

    Will post at cost (probably around £6) in UK. 
    Any questions please ask!

    IMG_7389.jpeg

    IMG_7390.jpeg

    IMG_7391.jpeg

    • Like 1

    Tube power stage vs Class-D (effective power)

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted

    On 12/04/2025 at 13:31, Paddy Morris said:

    Sorry if this subject has been done to death in the past. 

    I have been using Class-D amps for quite a while now, and like them a lot.  But they don't really seem to appreciate being driven close to their limits.  So I've started looking at a few tube power stage amps, and a lot of the marketing blurb seems to say that they are 'more powerful' per given RMS wattage. 

     

    I had a training in electronics (quite a looooong time ago) so I get that in a physical/electrical sense this has to be untrue, except for amplifiers where the manufacturers tell all sorts of fibs about the power output, and use terms like 'peak power', or 'music power', and avoid quoting an actual RMS or AES power rating.   But I was wondering if players had found that in the real world it does actually turn out to be the case that a tube output stage gives you more apparent loudness per specified RMS watt?  In particular, I was looking at this text from the Mesa-Boogie site.

    "NOTE: Tube Amps sound as loud as Solid State Amps rated at several time their power (wattage) rating. Choose from 8 tubes producing 465 Tube-Watts (sounds like in excess of 900)"

    It's a bold claim to make if it's just plain untrue.  So are they talking about the 'warmth' or harmonics, or saturation, or the soft clipping of the tubes at high power?  Or the fact that you can run the tubes much closer to their supply rails?

     

    I am no electronics expert but take a look at Gallien Krueger amps from the 80/90's. Class A/B (I think?) with power transformers and loudness well beyond their specs. Bob Gallien specifically engineered his RB solid state amps to run at the limit without the issues you get when driving hard - he terms it "riding the (power) rails" - there is a youtube video of him explaining it.

    My solid state 400rb has no business with its rated 280w being as loud as it is, I run a 4x10 and 1x15 stack in our practice rooms and it simply cannot be turned up much as it completely drowns out the drums. It almost shouts at me "turn me up I love it!".....

    I can't get enough o the sound of it tbh.

    • Like 2

    Which inexpensive chorus pedal?

    in Accessories and Misc

    Posted

    On 11/04/2025 at 08:55, shoulderpet said:

    Am looking at getting a new Chorus pedal and not sure that to get. 

     

    I have a Behringer Chorus pedal (ultra chorus) but to my ears it sounds like quite a warm chorus and I am after something a bit more shimmery and icy sounding.

     

    I like the look of the EHX Clone theory but I am a cheapskate when it comes to pedals when I know that they will only be used for a small handful of songs in my bands setlist so am wondering if there is something that can do the job for less money. 

     

    I know Joyo have a few chorus pedals but I have found very little online about how they sound on bass

     

    Thanks

     

     

     

    The joyo pedals I have are briliant, I don't have the chorus but have a compressor and an overdrive and am very pleased with them.

     

    How about a 2nd hand Boss chorus? Thats what I bought for £65 IIRC.

    MXR Bass Octave Deluxe - as new REDUCED £90 - *SOLD*

    in Effects For Sale

    Posted · Edited by Minininjarob
    Sold

    Reduced to £90 posted. 
    Hi all!

    Bought this as a newbie as it was one of the pedals I thought I needed but I haven’t used it at all bar a few little tries. I tested it against 6 other octavers and it was easily the best but it just will never get used for my preferences in playing style and music I like. 
    Brand new condition as you can see, I haven’t even used the feet and there is no Velcro on it. Boxed with all the bits as new. 
    New to selling on here but a long eBay history (robdob444 on eBay) and huge history and feedback on Retrobike too. 
    Price includes insured postage. Will be cheaper collected obviously. 
    Any questions please ask!

    IMG_7333.jpeg

    IMG_7339.jpeg

    IMG_7336.jpeg

    IMG_7335.jpeg

    IMG_7338.jpeg

    IMG_7337.jpeg

    IMG_7334.jpeg

    Hipshot Drop tuner - am I getting this wrong or are they a bit rubbish?

    in Accessories and Misc

    Posted

    Fitted one to my P and the tuner itself feels rubbish compared to the original Fender P (a recent Player edition) in that it’s a bit slacker feeling. But there doesn’t seem to be any consistency in how well the dropped note is tuned, sometimes it’s ok sometimes it’s sharp or flat. There’s no locking not on the drop adjuster and it’s not the tightest thread either so it moves easily. 
    I’m not sure it’s any easier than just retuning the string when I need to as I haven’t check the tuning anyway. I don’t think there’s anything faulty about it  
    I sort of expected better for £100 but I am starting to understand some things in the bass world aren’t the quality I would expect from other disciplines. 
    Any ideas?

×
×
  • Create New...