SimonK

I suspect if being an "artist" is a spectrum, there is just something about bass players that make us a little more down to earth than other artists. Certainly whenever I've been in festivals/gigs etc., being someone who goes on stage and plays something does put you with a different group to other people doing stuff at the gig. While I might not consider myself an "artist" in the same way as the mentally unstable singer/song writer who doesn't get sarcasm, I do find myself in the same general group...

8 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

I probably didn't explain very well. I use a shelving response rather than the more usual bass tone control which rolls off the bass increasingly as the frequency drops. A shelving response acts like a volume control for bass cutting it all by a set amount. Like this but I only cut by a couple of db not 6db as in this example. I chose the 160 point as that was what was on my mixer at the end of the last gig. I ws surprised it was so high myself but it sounded good on the night. It wouldn't suit every bass or every bassist and Al makes a good point about weight. 

 

I suppose what I wanted to say ws don't be scared of equalising around a higher frequency and if you have a shelving response available on your mixer then explore using it. I find it quite a pleasing way of removing some of the boom whilst keeping a little deep bass and way better than using the conventional bass control on my active bass or the bass amp. You have to use your ears and of course we are all aiming for different sounds. Perhaps the other advice would be to make small changes and go back to a flat response from time to time whilst adjusting so you can be sure the changes are genuinley improvements.

 

more here

 

 

I think there is a distinction between the bass player being able to hear themselves, and the bass sitting well in the mix. When I play I like to hear a lot of bass so that I can hear what I am playing, and thus am often disappointed when I wander out to FOH to hear that the overall mix doesn't have as much of me in it as I like to hear. But that just reflects that the FOH mix is trying to achieve a different thing compared to my monitor/where I'm standing mix.

Looking at some of the above there seems to be some people answering "how to get the bass sitting well in the overall mix" question and others the "how do I cut through enough to hear myself" question.

I tend to forget that my Bass itself has pretty good EQ options that can be adjusted on the fly. If not cutting through I would just fiddle with the onboard EQ while playing with the band to find something that works. Once you know what that is just dial it back should you ever be playing bass on your own!

1 hour ago, Sean said:

What do you need setting up? What needs doing exactly? 

I was going to do set ups at the SW Bash but there was very little interest. 

 

I've got a Warwick which needs the intonation adjusting but am scared of German reverse screw threads if you fancy having a look?

1 hour ago, NickA said:

decent amps have them built in; certainly don't need one with my PJB kit.

Do they? I've never seen it mentioned explictly although maybe I don't use decent amps?

1 hour ago, Terry M. said:

Are you tempted to try a wider spaced model? 

While I seldom need an excuse for a new bass, I think this one might just be a case of practicing some more to get better technique!

I've just started using a five string also for church/gospel music. This last Sunday was the first time it really "clicked" for me, due to having a load of songs in the key of D. I found using the D, E, F# and G# on the fifth string worked really well. Also saving the low D for every now and again just introduced a lovely low end thunder. Although I had my Stingray 4 string on the stand just in case, it didn't get touched for the first time in many years... thus said I still can't slap cleanly on the five string due to the tighter string spacing.

I'm not a huge bass pedal user, so not mentioning guitar pedals everything that has ever been on my bass pedal board are the following, again using the * to indicate something in use as I still own all of the below - seems I have never sold a bass pedal! Includes pedalboard and power supplies, but not patch cables:

Aguillar Octamizer

Boss CS-3

*Boss GEB-7

Boss TU-2

Boss TU-3

*Boss TU-3s

* Bright Onion momentary kill switch

*EHX bass big muff

EHX big muff pi (original russian version)

*Genzler Magellan Pre

Hartke Bass Attack (preamp pedal)

*Keeley Compressor Pro

*Line6 Relay G30

MXR bass envelope filter

MXR bass chorus

*Pedaltrain Classic Junior

TC Electronics Ditto stereo looper 

*Truetone 1 Spot Pro CS7

Truetone 1 Spot

3 minutes ago, bass_dinger said:

Edge-lined. So, lines under the B string, but not under the E to G strings.

 

Here  https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/482588-new-bass-day-2-washburn-xb925/#findComment-5405530

 

When I first got my fretless many years ago I was quite worried about my intonation, but over time have learned to just trust my ears and also slightly slide up to each note (also helps getting the mwah). As an upshot as long as each string is within a couple percent I often don't even bother tuning, albeit do have an always on tuner on the floor and do occasionally glance at it for reassurance.

5 minutes ago, bass_dinger said:

 

I found that they need to be perfectly in tune - an out-of-tune string confuses me and I  struggle to adjust.

 

Is it lined? I have a non-lined fretless and find I can tolerate fairly out of tune strings without a problem so long as I don't play the open note!

Managed to use a pick and the fuzz pedal this morning on Our God 🤘. Sadly we didn't have an electric guitar today but I tried to make up for it!

5 hours ago, Bass Direct said:

Lots of love for Trace Elliot here, its a shame the new offerings didn't have more of a nod back to the old times with the graphic, glowing green lights etc etc

...or the tank like build quality...

The new Trace amps are really Peavey, a company who I may never trust after this which possibly explains the title to this thread (a lost art!):
 

So I'm guessing the idea is to download songs in ChordPro format from SongSelect, and then add into your JustChords database? Are you able to increase the font size, scroll using a bluetooth footswitch, change keys on the fly (or at least relatively easily) and annotate?

32 minutes ago, GoodShowSir said:

So... I would highly recommend you try JustChords instead. It's free so you can have a good play around, made by a few people really fed up with Onsongs stupid subscription costs for basic functionality. 

 

I love it. Just build up your database of songs, write notes if needed. Can change key easily and share set lists with people easily. I'm very much a music reader, (or chord reader for church i suppose :D) couldnt do without it now.

 

 

Does JustChords link into SongSelect?

On Sunday I was the only person in the band without a tablet/phone for the music, albeit the singers were just using simple pdfs on their phones. The guitarist suggested I should think about getting "OnSong" (I have an ipad), so I was just wondering whether anyone here have used this and what they think about it?

Given the topic title I thought this belonged here as well as it is what I thought when I watched this - some people are just born to play!

26 minutes ago, la bam said:

 

Without sounding daft.... Why didn't you put the cab on top of the combo? 

 

 

..coz it's called an amp "head" not "tummy" (and you don't have to bend down to adjust things).

12 minutes ago, jonno1981 said:

How’s your back and how many people were required to stack the combo? I assume many vertebrae were compressed in making this pic! 
 

Bet it sounds good!

Should add that one of these and direct into the PA works pretty well!

13 minutes ago, rwillett said:

 

I'd wait to to see if it became a massive hit before I threatened legal action. Somebody else bears the initial costs and he then reaps the rewards. Mind you the chances of this happening to me involves complex maths with the probability circling zero. More chance of Donald Trump making sense, actually no, I have more chance of writing a number 1 hit than Trump making sense.

Rob

This ⬆️

It's stupid threatening legal action for recording/playing a song you wrote. So long as you have proof you wrote it, just wait for any hint that they are making money from it and then claim the royalties without having to worry about recording or playing it yourself!

1 minute ago, thodrik said:

Trace Elliot probably stuck the caps on after realising that Geoff Capes was the only human capable of lifting a Trace Elliot 4x10 combo on top of another cabinet.

Ta-da!!

2 hours ago, la bam said:

 

Yes I remember reading the thread. I'm really into that and trying and restoring old amps. Great work! 

 

Just having another look at it this morning. It's so well done. 

 

The kick plate protector for the speakers, nobody is damaging that or the speakers, yet some cabs today have a cloth protector or flimsy cover, why? 

 

The purpose built caps on top of the amp to secure another cab, instead of just resting on top. Proper detail. 

 

The covering that's lasted 32 years. Yet some today don't last 12 months. 

 

Proper heatsinks on the back. 

 

What a great way to get a nostalgic 8x10 rig as well. I'd be amazed if I could find a trace 4x10 cab to fit for £100 or less. 

 

Incidentally does anyone know what 4x10 is for this cab? 

 

 

Was this the amp in Blackburn that was on Gumtree for £120 - if it was you got a good deal as I would have had that if it wasn't for the fuel costing more to get it!

RE a matching 4x10, should be able to find one for under £100. There are a bunch of very optimistic people trying to sell them for crazy amounts, but if you look at the other thread you will see I have found plenty similar cabs for under £100 (I think I've picked up two 4x10s in the last year for £90, one with a head as well). Worse case scenario is to buy a couple broken ones and combine the speakers.

I'm going to be left field, and say amp wise I don't think it really matters what you use for an "acoustic" sound as almost anything can be turned down. Indeed I often think that bigger cabs work better at lower volumes as you get better sound dispersal.

BUT when I played in an acoustic group for a couple years, and on occasion sit in for acoustic gigs now, I always use a fretless as I think it gives a much softer and less aggressive sound. So I would say the bass you use matters more than the amp.

Not lost to some of us - see the thread below!

I think I saw this amp but it was too far away to get, and I am just in the process of getting another GP12SMX up and running again with some new capcitors which would give me essentially the same combo! I have to agree these amps are second to none if you like sound - I currently have nine TE cabs and 3 heads because I can't help myself when they come up so cheaply!!