The Goatreich

This is where I get lost. If I flatten my EQ I can just never tell what needs to come up or down in order to sounds "good" and what cuts through best.

This is a bit of a noob question, especially as I've been playing for a very long time now, but I've always had the issue where I just don't know how to setup EQ on amps to get the tone I want, and then how to tweak the EQ for the room and all the other variables that are involved. Generally I use my Sansamp which is set to the SVT model setup and that works a treat for me. Are there any real ways to train your ears to listen out for certain things that might lead to certain frequency boosts/cuts? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!!

I'm not getting any e-mail notification for topics that I've subscribed to. I've checked in my spam box but there's nothing in there related to basschat. I'm using gmail.

Interesting, thanks for the advice. I wonder if it's just my model of bass that's being a bit funny.

It does, but is missing the label.

Brilliant! Massive shame that there's not a big bastard to go with it.

Cool cheers, and also apologies for hijacking this thread.

^That^

I like the sound of the 321232123 route, but it's giving me a headache I'll stick it into my warm up routine and see if it clicks.

Yeah I've just started to train up my ring finger as I can't get up to speed using two. I'll check that link out, cheers

[quote name='thedonutman' post='666606' date='Nov 26 2009, 07:16 PM']I vote Spector. In fact, Spector is the solution to everything![/quote] What an unbelievable bass player Alex Webster is as far as extreme metal goes. So solid and fast as hell with finger picking. I would love to be able to drop the pick and play like him.

Something has been compelling me to get hold of a Gibson Blackbird for a while, even though they look clunky as hell.

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='666154' date='Nov 26 2009, 12:38 PM'][b]A Rickenbacker 4001/3[/b] I'm in the 'they look cool' camp. Some of my favourite players have used one. They seem to be ridiculously expenxsive at the moment though. [b]A 5 or more string[/b] Even though the last three bands I've seen where the bassist has had one they've never touched the B string. Still I'd like to re enforce or overcome my prejudice. [b]A Hofner[/b] To see if it really is more than a shoe box with elastic bands. [b]An active[/b] Yep. I really haven't. Maybe a Stingray is up my street? [b]An Upright[/b] Looks like fun. I've tried most of the other stuff I wanted to.[/quote] The first bass I ever played was one of the Hofner cricket bat basses. Was ok to play considering I had no idea how to play bass, looked terrible though. I played my first Rick last week, was unplugged but enjoyed it. Seemed nice and solid, kept catching my finger on the sharp pickup though. I had my first go of an upright a week or so back too, was great fun but hard!! I want to keep trying that though. I play a 5 string bass, but in the two bands I primarily play in the B hardly gets a look in. I do use it for stuff I mess around with myself, and it's there if I need it.

What are your prices Jon?

Good call on asking them for advice, I honestly hadn't thought of that! I'm currently only changing strings every 6 months or so unless I've done a lot of gigs in that time, and find Rotosounds stand the test of time very well without losing brightness, this is something I'd also be looking for in an ideal world also. Cheers for the advice.

[quote name='basshead56' post='666091' date='Nov 26 2009, 11:55 AM']Im not a metaller anymore, and realise now, I probably never really was [/quote] Haha, if you're not a metaller anymore you definitely never were I totally agree on the BC Rich thing. I played an NJ Warlock for a year or so and it was just too cumbersome, I still have one for messing around on, but I'm over the whole spikey guitar thing now. The neck dive on them is also completely ridiculous. I've never tried a Warwick Vampyre, but have always been tempted by the look of them. I love the matt black finish of my ergodyne though.

Cheers for that. I should have probably said I play very heavy metal and downtune to G#, C#, F#, B, E if this makes any difference.

I have always used Rotosound swing bass 5 string sets on my Ibanez Ergodyne 605 bass, which as far as I'm aware is a standard scale length bass. When restringing the B string I always in order to get up to the tuning I need (low G#) I always find that I very nearly run out of the thin part of the string and the main section just about comes into contact with the tuning peg. If I was to try and tune to standard B tuning this fat part of the string would definitely start to be wound around the peg. Am I buying the wrong scale length strings?

I've been offered discount with Picato strings and was wondering whether anyone has and good or bad experiences with them? They're cheap as chips, which is what worries me, but in order to take advantage of the discount I need to buy in bulk, so don't really want to spend that much money if I'm going to end up with a load of sets of strings I don't like. I've always used Rotosounds Swing bass 5-string and got on very well with them, but they are very expensive.

I've played in death metal bands for a long time now. I started on Ibanez and then went to BC Rich and now I'm back to Ibanez. They just sit better and feel so much more comfortable to play whilst thrashing your head and fingers around. Especially if you're doing vocals as well. As far as tone is concerned whatever you decide I can't recommend the Sansamp enough. It just gives the whole sound an extra punch to cut through the wall of guitars. As far as detuning goes I've never had a problem with tuning G#, C#, F#, B, E in order to match our guitarist and I still have the lower string if I want to really make things rumble, although I admit it doesn't get used a lot in the band I currently play in. You will probably want to choose your strings first, and then get the bass setup in that tuning so that everything is balanced well. I know very little of the technicalities of this, but that's what I've done for a long time and it has always worked a treat.

Yeah, it's all thanks to the magic of gaffer tape. I'll look into those cases though, that's a very reasonable price!! Cheers.