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[ped]

This weekend I had my first 'band practice' for a long time. We're spread out over the country (York, Banbury and Preston) so we normally meet at a studio for a long weekend and play/record fairly irregularly, and we don't do gigs - instead enjoying the recording/production side. We play asian inspired fusion, for some reason, which is massive fun.

It was the first time I have used my Celinder and Stingray 'live' and also the first time I've tried my Blackstar U500 combo in a live setting for any decent length of time. I was super happy with the amp, so much so that I've ordered the extension cab. It suited each of my basses really well, choosing either the 'flat' or 'classic' voicing and finding the 'Linear' response most pleasing for that particular room. It also has 6L6 and 6550 which were very convincing and will warrant further experimentation. 

I was most pleased with the SB1 I have been playing mostly over the last couple of years. It was really chewy and clanky sounding, and the following day where we played into desk it just worked perfectly, especially with a new track we're working on where I roll the tone right off until the ending where it opens up and really bites. 

We had such a great weekend we've decided that Sheffield is fairly equidistant for us all, and will try to meet up much more often in the future. We had such a laugh meeting up and have a lot of humour in our music, too - a language we have been starved of over the last few months.

If anyone has any recommendations for good practice room/studios in Sheffield I'd be all ears - we found the place which looks good value for a 6hr slot

https://www.practicesheffield.com

 

Cheers

ped

 

 

[Deedee]

I used this place a while ago and it still seems popular:

http://www.atticrecordingstudios.co.uk/
 

There’s also Yellow Arch:

https://www.yellowarch.com/about/

That Practice Sheffield does look pretty good though 👍

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Deedee

[PatrickJ]

Any sound clips to share of the recordings @ped ?  I'm quite curious to hear what Asian Inspired Fusion sounds like..

[mike257]

6 minutes ago, PatrickJ said:

Any sound clips to share of the recordings @ped ?  I'm quite curious to hear what Asian Inspired Fusion sounds like..

I ordered some the other day, very tasty. Still got leftovers in the fridge!

[ped]

13 minutes ago, mike257 said:

I ordered some the other day, very tasty. Still got leftovers in the fridge!

When I lived in Maidenhead my fave Indian restaurant was called Asian Fusion!!

Honestly it’s kind of an in joke, basically it’s fusion with some African percussion and droning/vaguely Middle Eastern sounding guitar. We’ll hopefully record in August so will share then. 

As a band we change direction quite often,  and when we meet and jam we always leave with a few ideas that take us somewhere new.

[Guest]

I like the absence of hats

[ped]

Here's the extension cab!

 

[ezbass]

What’s the word on the Celinder and the ‘Ray? The SB1 obviously received a big thumbs up, but you’ve left us hanging on the more recent acquisitions.

[ped]

2 minutes ago, ezbass said:

What’s the word on the Celinder and the ‘Ray? The SB1 obviously received a big thumbs up, but you’ve left us hanging on the more recent acquisitions.

I spent most of the studio day on the Celinder which is where it excels - I’m just perfectly happy with the 70s sound from that bass. Live, I find jazz basses a bit harder to hear and didn’t spend long playing with my amp but will do next time.

The Stingray was used for the live session and I think of all of them it matched the amp the best, again I only messed with a few ‘voicing’ and ‘response’ settings but it just worked - the inherent ‘clicky’ sound coming through perfectly and although I was worried the cobalt flats would sound a bit dead after the sizzle of the Celinder, they gave me some of that chunky response of the P and the clear pops on the G string. 

Honestly I was really pleased that they all sounded exactly as I had hoped. It just so happens that the SB1 suited the grooves we came up with the best and I’m ‘hearing’ things in a P bass voice lately. 

I took the Vigier too of course, and I used it to get the amp sounding ‘flat’ for a kick off before the others arrived, otherwise it stayed in its case because I didn’t have time to use it much. 

I really feel that with these four I have everything covered.  

Honourable mention to the Backbeat which I used live and studio - simply can’t be without it now!!

[ped]

Oh and I was delighted with the sound of the Aguilar Grape phaser. Had lots of fun with that with some palm muted grooves. 

Finally - as my initial test indicated, the compressor on the Blackstar is excellent. I used the MXR M87 in the studio but the simplicity of going straight into the amp was really nice. The compression is natural, acts more like a limiter when balanced with the input gain and the attack is very fast so none of that breathy seasick sound. 

[ezbass]

Now that’s what I call a response. Well done, Sir 👏👏👏.

[ped]

I went on a bit there didn't I? My wife was talking to me the whole time and when I finished she was looking at me, having clearly asked a question... I said 'yeah' and she seemed OK with that...

Also thanks for the recommendation @Deedee I've booked the room for August and had a long chat with Paul who was very accommodating.