dudewheresmybass

nice work mate, where did you get the enclosure from?

whatever you wear must be a reflection, if exaggerated, of yourselves. the whole eighties thing became a parody of itself, but the strange thing is that i look at bands like my chemical romance among others and see 'rock fashions' of the past re- appearing time and again. the other option is to take inspiration from elsewhere, and add your personalities into the mix. if you take a band like kiss, they started looking like bad Alice Cooper imitators, but when they added their own personalities into the melting pot, four distinct characters emerged. Separate yet bound together with the same idea.

i have to add the dean metalman series to this discussion, i have two currently, along with my other Deans, but i used these exclusively for over a year, and consistently received hugely positive comments about my sound, both from punters and from pros. they did retail at 199, but now at 219. i have to say that some of the Dean MM basses i've tried in shops have been in desperate need of a decent setup, but once that is done, away you go! the pick up in these is so hot i've been accused of using active basses more than once at jam nights, where the guy running it was worried that it might blow his rig up, but the pick up is clear, crisp and powerful. The shapes echo some of the more expensive models (ML, V, Z), but they are quite simply some of the best instruments i have used - irrelevant of price

tbh the first thing i'll do is switch the amp off that i've been plugged into, and just play acoustically for a while. if the unplugged sound is bad, then the plugged sound will most probably not be worth bothering with. once that test is passed, a general compilation of little riffs, walking patterns, band material, and pretty much anything else i fancy to see if the bass will perform on a broad enough basis for what i'm looking for. that will pretty much tell me whether the bass is suitable, what i feel it is worth TO ME, and usually how bad the house set up is!!

thanks for your comments peeps - the meatbox is not going to be leaving me anytime soon they do come up on ebay from time to time, and tend to sell around the £40 mark. a very worthy investment!! Katri - you're first on the list should the situation arise!

the DOD is a meatbox - a subharmonic generator at two fixed frequencies. it's great for adding thickness to a DI only gig. yes, i still have the fuzzsaw - it gets used in all kinds of interesting situations, although not in a permanent place!

i have one too. the dry setting is where it's at- it gives thick fuzz, with a bass friendly tone knob, and a fixed volume clean blend to add clarity. for the money it's pretty much impossible not to find a useable sound within this box!

[quote name='cheddatom' post='381121' date='Jan 15 2009, 11:55 AM']You could have a delay there instead of the TB loop? I only asked about it as I was wondering what it was doing with two empty jacks.[/quote] it was there so i could keep options open. delay os the most used insert there, but i have dabbled with other drive units there, a whammy etc., etc., i felt it was the best and easiest option without having to take the board apart any time i fancied trying something different. Since it is TB, when the pedal isn't on, the signal goes straight to the Hartke

the sgetty loop is a home made TB loop so when necessary i can add another pedal (most likely to be delay) into the chain without having to juggle stuff around the name is inspired by my wife - to her spaghetti loops are basgetty loops!

my latest incarnation!

I've played through noth of the ashton heads repeatedly, as my mate is a stockist in his shop. TBH the valve amp was awful - flappy, indistinct, and generally all round rubbish. the 400 wat SS headhowever was excellent - simple uncomplicated, clear, and loud! before anyone says that i clearly am not a fan of valve amps, i have to say that i think i have been spoilt by an early seventies (from what i've been told) WEM dominator combo, that is absolutely wonderful, and records beautifully.

....well he sold it to me!!! i find the SL to be a useful change of sound for more edge. it is very possible to get an instant 'steve harris' type sound, if the pedal is set right. The key to success here lies with careful use of the effect level knob, to add 'just enough' to achieve the desired effect

the band i joined in july already have a rotosound endorsement, and have had for years, a stage make up endorsement, a pick endorsement ( even though i rarely use the things!). When i joined i sent a speculative email to Dean uk asking about their criteria for endorsement giving some background about myself, and hey presto, once i got an email back from them (within a couple of days), they gave me the details, i sent the required info, and the rest , as they say, is history!!

one of my students has one. it's a useful 210 design, that has a more modern clean sound on one channel, and a more classic 'warm', 'thick sound on the other. the great thing about these amps though is the blendability of the two channels. there are a wealth of useful sounds to be had here, and quite a reasonable amount of volume available to boot! IMO for your average pub gig and perhaps a little more they are a great buy!

roseti used to be the uk distributors, and made sure that evryone and their wife had epi's in their shops. however gibson decided to go it alone and therefore take a larger slice of the pie. Their original plan was only to have a handful of shops stocking their products. however with the sound control thing happening, they lost a load of their stockists overnight. they will be becoming a little more obvious soon though i would hope!!

IIRC, it's Gibson uk! i have aphone number, but i'm not sure it's correct - 0800 444 27661

assuming you feel ok with second hand, the sennheiser ew 100 series would be a reasonable option. they can be had for 150 - 200 on the bay. they are metal units - both transmitter and receiver, and they have selectable frequencies (on UHF). These are extremely reliable systems, and my wife's system is still going strong after quite a few years of use and abuse! if you want a cheaper option, the nady encore bass system is really good. they retail for about 100 and although they are plastic units, it is designed purely with bass in mind rather than a one size fits all approach. it does use a fixed frequency VHF approach, but mine has never let me down. i hope this helps mate

can i put my name into the hat, if Mr Foxen is not wanting to take it please?

depends on what your budget is really dude. any idea?