SimonK

Back to bass this week!

...and then irritatingly last night I used exactly the same cabs and amp in exactly the same room as three weeks ago, and they sounded all boomy and horrible despite the fact the same set up was fine last time! I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that multiple EQ options make more of a difference than anything else...

...I can't remember which youtuber it was but I was watching a bass video the other day about EQ'ing bass, and in making the point about nonsense spouted on the internet they showed some posts from basschat...

Music isn't a competition, but certainly Charles Berthoud has taken Bass to new places and made some very enjoyable youtube videos in the process (and his upcoming tour looks awesome). But my point was that for me "better" is having more fun.

This one looks interesting - probably neither a rescue or restore as it looks in excellent condition, mind you I wouldn't pay much more than the £200 it's already at (and that would also assume I was near enough to get it which I'm not!).

I think the answer to "Who's better" is almost always Charles Berthoud! As for the rest of us it's more about what individuals enjoy doing: "better" in my books is simply one and the same with "more fun"!

I could see taking this analogy too far 🙂!

Oh I'm very jealous of that!!

Music is like sex - far more fun and you learn more when playing with others - while the internet's just for porn!

Been doing some pedal re-arranging this morning and couldn't help but photograph:

Sigh - second week in a row of drummer being away and me having to play what someone on another thread called the "participation box". Insult to injury I have to sit next to my lovely but silent Trace - mind you I suppose at least we are making music albeit "going acoustic".

It is interesting isn't it - all this talk about different cabs, amps etc. but almost always in the context of full (for bass) frequency reproduction/colouration, whereas in reality the different amps/cab/effects preferences people talk about is linked to how the different systems deal with specific frequencies, so if you can start to route different frequencies to different amps/effects.... one more thing to play with! Mind you my main motivaion here is having a mix of guitar and bass kit and wanting to protect the guitar speakers in particular while still being able to experiment with a bass.

...being a bit more DIY than that!

...been checking out the Tyler and it seems all may not be what it seems when someone took it apart and checked the components - albeit it is close to the advertised values: https://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=30823 We (I can't say I'm doing this on my own!) can manage 44 to 480, or 69 to 1.4k, so may go with the latter.

Hello from Southampton as well!

So if I was building a pedal to split a signal so the lows go to a bass amp and the highs to a guitar amp (playing either a bass or a guitar) roughly what should the cross-over be set at? I was thinking somewhere between 80 and 150? The main thing would be to protect the guitar amp from the lowest frequencies when using a bass, or playing a loop created by one of these?

At risk of continuing a thread hijack - despite being a TE lover and of course these are famous for their graphics EQs, there is a reason most amps have parametric equalisation. I have to admit I keep the graphic EQ off most of the time on the TEs unless there is a specific frequency I want to notch out. Instead I mainly adjust EQ through a parametric DI/preamp on my pedal board. Empress explains the difference quite well in this article: https://empresseffects.com/blogs/empress-blog/graphic-eq-vs-parametric-eq-the-guitarist-s-guide-to-equalizer-types

...oh crap... drummer not able to make it tomorrow and I'm playing Cajon in an "acoustic" set... so which would we rather have - a drummer that is too loud or a bassist having to cover on a Cajon??

The South West one had a running list of attendees and the kit they were bringing (which I think it important to ensure the event is viable), someone also organised a lunch, and it looks like there was a talk/demo on speaker design/building. It did occur to me that if enough people were interested in coming approaching a music shop and inviting them to bring a stand in return for some sponsorship might be an idea.

FYI there's a chap on the Trace Elliot Facebook group selling 3D printed replacement coloured caps for £5 a pair (red & green). I got a set and he's done an excellent job getting them as close as possible.

Wow - some very early models and actual awards that Trace won in the 90s! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267028236554?chn=ps&_ul=GB&mkevt=1&mkcid=28&google_free_listing_action=view_item

That's awesome - sounds like you can get away without the camera on in your meetings - and the midi idea sounds interesting. RE the colours, sounds like you need to find some green for you printer, then it will look fine (and you could sell me your red one!).

The originals band I was in a few years back had about 25 songs, and we would choose about 15 each time we played. We added new songs at a rate of a couple per year as they were written, and then recorded every now and again. We also had about 20 covers mainly of songs we liked and would drop into the set as needed. 45 songs feels like a lot but as they were developed over quite a few years and we only ever had a couple new songs at any one time. Unfortunately time moved on with that band although we still have the music on spotify which is nice. I also play in church and there we have hundreds of songs, but always use chord sheets. Generally we play five or six every week, run through them on a Friday evening and then play on a Sunday morning. It's a very different sort of thing to playing a gig as there is quite a lot of making it up as you go along, albeit most of it is as easy (or difficult) as you care to make it. We're lucky at the moment that we have a group of very experienced/able musicians (one of our drummers just finished at ACM) so it works out just fine, but have been in the situation before where there were a lot of less capable people involved and that's no fun - indeed I stopped playing for a few years because of that.