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Heres my Sandy PM4. Its an old one (cant find a serial number anywhere....) but a fabulous bass. Almost plays itself. sandberg 8 by Jon Ashbee, on Flickr sandberg 7 by Jon Ashbee, on Flickr sandberg 5 by Jon Ashbee, on Flickr

It's bad enough seeing the first Christmas ads on the box in September, now you've gone and started it in May I'm tempted to lock and hide this thread.

It is all a ruse. You don't need books, CDs, hifi system, magazines, videos, DVDs or TV...all you need is your laptop and a subscription to lots of things at only £9.99 per month each. Oh, and cloud storage for all your backups at £9.99 a month for when your laptop breaks. "Why am I so poor?" the junior office worker mused, listening to Spotify though bluetooth headphones on his iPhone X while clicking away at his laptop. His £4.20 large coffee with cream from Starbucks cooled next to him.

PMT is the worst, especially the one in Oxford. They're so accommodating and let you try stuff, bend over backwards not to look happy when you hand over your card...I once went in for a plectrum and walked out with two new amps! I think I forgot the pick, too.

Keyboard player set fire to me during the gig, City of London Poly, early 80's. Not entirely an act of musical criticism although I suspect that since we were both vying for the lower register at the time some degree of unconscious intent was involved. Lessons learned: (1) never let the stylist use a whole can of Elnett to get your hair in place, even if you are the bassist in a hair band, and (2) don't let the keyboard player flick cigarettes across the stage in your general direction when trying to act cool.

I understand that people don't like post EQ, but the way I look at it (I also engineer too), is that as far as I'm concerned, I use the gear I use to help create / add to my sound. My job as a sound engineer is to make it louder but also make it fit the mix too, so I prefer post EQ as that's been set how the bassist likes it. The engineer on the tour I'm on understands that, and is more than happy for me to send a post EQ send, and he loves the sound he's getting and barely has to touch it. That, in my eyes is how it should be done. I've had an engineer absolutely ruined my bass tone, I had various people say "you've normally got a gorgeous tone, but it was just muddy, what's happened?" And I saw what EQ had been done and all questions were immediately answered. Not cool.

With a 'regular' drummer and bass player The Who would have been boring, I bet. It was KM and JE's pyrotechnics that made that band what it was. They were both pioneers in their way. If PT can't see that, he must be a ****.

"Next month, the one and only scale guitarists ever need" Doh. Rae,. Me Me Me Me Me........

Nope, because even if you think you've no intention of buying anything, if you're like the rest of us, you will anyway. If not on that visit, then the next, or the one after that. They rely on it!

It will change your life. Also, this.

For the sake of your bank balance; leave the credit card at home and just go for a noodle!

All is calm, all is bright in my current band. Which is nice. I wouldn't mind some of Fleetwood Mac's success, but not sure how I would have dealt with the, ah... somewhat 'interesting' relationship and substance issues...

As a follow on from my earlier post, I`ve since found out that the guy who died is having his casket come out to one of our songs. Really moving, and just goes to show that our bands may touch people in ways they never get to know, but the two things from this for me are never get big headed and remember the audience are the ones who count, and always put on your best show/performance.

"My bass sound in the pa isn't as good as my backline, not as punchy and defined. I use a pretty flat eq on my amp, just tweaking to suit the room. Quite a few effects and I di from the amp." As stated above, the sound that you get from your amp on stage is a combination of EQ, any baked in sound of the amp itself and the influence of the sound of the speaker cab. I am not a post eq DI fan per se from a traditional amp, I would still send the signal to the board pre EQ and then doing any processing at the desk (typically tone shaping, compression and maybe add a touch of saturation). Your on stage tone is your onstage tone. You outfront tone is your outfront tone. What you want to hear on stage can be very different to what is ideal FoH so treat them independently. With regards to those that run loads of effects, then yeah, you want to get the effects in the feed to the PA - but personally, I would still remove the colouration of the speaker cabs... but like many things, this is all subjective. Some people like to dial in EQ, some people like cab emulation devices. It's all down to personal preference and what works for you. I actually run two desks - one for IEM monitors and one for front of house, for reasons that I have hinted at above. With two desks, I can EQ every instruments differently for front of house and monitors, different processing, different compression and fx etc. If you don't have all these lines of processing, you will be compromising somewhere... but in reality, as long as people can hear themselves on stage so that they can play, an aux with just one EQ over the top to help prevent feedback is what most people can cope with. The Aux fed sub is a good technique - and probably also worth mentioning, that you don't actually want a lot going through your subs at all. In fact, You may end up HPFing your bass around 80Hz to stop things getting swampy (remember, a 80hz HPF is not a fixed cutouff, you get a slope (typically 24dB/octave) so you still get some bass in the subs but not as much as you'd think. Number one problem with subs is that people tend to push too much through them and it ends up destroying the mix - I'm guessing that this is where your "not as defined" bass problem is coming from. Certainly a decent PA should outdefine and out punch a traditional backline no sweat. Depending what your tops are, switching to 80 on the crossover will probably help you clear up any swampiness - if thats a problem... and that's before you reach for the desk. Remember, little bits of EQ, focusing on cuts as opposed to boosts. Certainly you'll want to calm the top end, also some cut around 2-5k and try a HPF at 100 and work down until the bass starts to get a little swampy. You'll find the sweet spot for your setup. But remember! This will change for every room that you are in... but at this point, you should be primarily reaching for the master EQ on that main outputs to compensate for the room. Once you've got your EQ sorted for your instruments, they shouldn't really change from gig to gig.

I know it isn’t a band name but I still think Ten Benson’s album Satan Kidney Pie is possibly the best album name ever.

We played a boozer near Cannock. When I pulled up there were two guys fighting in the car park. Should have just driven home. Wen set up played the gig. An awful lot of gesturing and punters acting out sexualised behaviour on each other, with inflatable guitars. Our singer cut the set about 5 minutes short, ( which i was annoyed about) Packed up, went to pick up the silver coin and the gaffers wife refused to play as we had finished early. This was true, all be it 5 minutes. I said ok pay us what you think is fair. They were itching for a fight. We were escorted out of the pub like we were in a spaghetti western. A guy followed us to our cars still itching for a punch-up. Our guitarist, who has some serious anger issues obliged and slapped at least four of the possie before we hit the road out of dodge. We still talk about it ten years on. Good times!!

We're vinyl lovers in this house, we invested in a decent system just as CDs were being released and have stuck with the medium throughout making further investments along the way. It was only very recently we bought our first CD player, 4-5 years ago? Now I admit our vinyl player is of a far higher quality than our CD player even though it was still quite expensive but vinyl has a big edge over listenability in my opinion as long as the vinyl is spotless (we have a record cleaning machine). There is also something more of an occasion to playing a record the set up, the album art, it's less so with a CD but not gone and let's face it the sound quality isn't bad at all with minimum fuss and it still gives that sense of ownership. Downloads, we did try but it seemed wrong somehow, download, click/play despite the excellent sound quality it feels disposable somehow. So are CDs going to become relics of the past? I hope not, there is something extra to owning a physical medium Gratuitous photo of my two Tbirds next to the hi-fi

This^^^^^ the artwork and pics are all part of the music experience to me. I can picture the covers of all of my favourite albums, probably 99% of all the ones I,own in fact. I also like the fact it can’t be deleted or lost in an ‘upgrade’.

Personally I think that the Vinyl resurgence is just a flash in the pan. I'd give it 5 years at most. Who wants a medium that inherently degrades every time you play it? As for Cd's it's still my preferred medium, but then I'm an old Fogey. Just a thought - If you copy your CDs to another medium and then sell the originals are you not in breach of copyright?

Up in the sticks (out past Todmorden). No bars, not even 3G!!

I keep trying to start an INXS tribute band named Stranglew4nk, some right weirdos come to audition

@bartelby did a fair few for us on the HPF thread but I think he's got a Zoom B3 rather than the MS-60B.

Sounds very much like a couple of the bands I'm in, one even has 'good time blues-rock band' prints in the business cards. Taking it seriously (for me) means turning up on time, with the necessary gear and knowing what we're going to play. It definitely doesn't exclude having fun while playing! Edited for an addition : Taking it seriously not only means turning up on time, it should also include being in a fit state to play the gig, not incapacitated by drink and/or drugs (like some guitarists and drummers I could name, I'm afraid!)

I'm a big fan of aux fed subs and find it particularly useful for bass. Too much sub on a bass guitar can leave it sounding too big and undefined. Just a touch gives it great authority and you can tighten the sound just by rolling it off a touch. I'm another one who uses a helix but I find that a slightly middy sounding setting on the helix eq translates to a nice thick tone out front. I have light compression at the start of my signal chain and a slightly more comprehensive one in the mixer (another XR18 user here). 40-50hz HPF filter and 5K LPF.

Welcome to the machine, Well done getting your Koi to roll over like that, I've got a cat that does but never my Koi

Since just before starting this thread I've been making a massive effort to listen to whole albums , I've just picked a handful of favourite artists and have been going through in release date , it's been quite refreshing rather than constantly just playing selected tracks via playlists

I recently bought a 2nd hand Cort GB35J for £150. Played it in the shop and it sounded pretty awesome, almost on par with my old Lakland 55-60. I've just put some new Wilkinson pickups in (cost £26) and now it's even better. It now has flat wounds on it, and just isn't worth enough for me to part with it. I'm even thinking about dumping my Fender Deluxe Jazz, as this just has better classic tones, and my Dingwall does the modern stuff.

Unless there is a specific reason (e.g. label wanting to make 96k files available for high resolution downloads), 44k should be fine in most cases. There is much discussion on relative merits of higher sample rates and whether or not people can hear differences... I stopped bothering with the 'audio quality' side of the argument when I realised I couldn't reliably tell 88k vs 44k files apart. Unless there is a production reason, IMO extra system demands and hard-disk space is not worth it.

I shall do some this evening.

I have a fretted Radius bass and an Ibanez SRF700 fretless. While the Ibanez is a great guitar it didn't come up to the quality and balance of the Radius. So looking at my third guitar; a WAV Radius that i bought to 'trial' the Radius bass as I could not get one 2nd hand (i.e. cheap enough) when it struck me - defret the WAV! Here are the before and after shots (well I didn't have a before so that one is from a shop site) Before; After; New Macassar Ebony fretboard with fret markers in the same manner as the Ibanez and glow in the dark side dot markers. Aluminium nut. All controls removed (leaving the piezo pickup). And refinished in a satin black (as in not matte or gloss). As I can just about manage string changes all work was done by Nathan at the Brighton Guitar Workshop

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I'm on a sorta' similar project. I own 2 USA SR5s and would never dare such a mod on them, so recently got a nice used SBMM Ray35 to do the P+MM franken-thing, been updating a TB thread about it. I'm waiting for delivery of a Wilde (Bill Lawrence) P-46 pickup to add to this. Also trying other pickups I have at hand with a rather "ratrod" test rig (in this photo with a cheapo -Donlis brand- pickup)... My intention is to integrate it as much as possible into the Musicman scheme, preferrably thru' the stock preamp. In the case of a P pickup I'd route the lower strings part of the P in its "standard" position but move the high strings' part towards the neck, reverse P. I'll update as soon as I do the final install. EDIT: BTW, I've made all sorts of switching mods to Stingray 5ers (both 2 coil as in this case and 3 coil as my USA SR5s). Besides this pickup addition I'm all for full humbucker flexibility. I particularly love how the neckside coil of the stock humbucker sounds when soloed (something not possible when stock either for the 3 coil -single+dummy mode only uses the bridgeside coil- and 2 coil -doesn't even have single coil mode but the "filtered series", which I don't dig at all-). Just ask via a message (not to hijack this thread) and I'll point you to threads and sample videos I've made about it. Being able to solo the neckside coil of a musicman adds a great "P meets Ray" tone in fact, all the punch, authority and cutting ability of a Musicman, plus some of that distinctive P "clonk" we all love. The bass in the photo (a 2-coil humbucker SBMM Ray35) has in fact one of those mods, which simply cut either coil for real single coil tones when in parallel (or none for the stock parallel wiring -and for the other series positions to work-). Can do 2 more tones apart from the stock 3 settings.

@Al Krow, mine is an HD 10-A mk4. I'm not really sure what exactly is the difference between the HD 10-A mk4, the ART 310-A mk3, or indeed the ART 310-A mk4. The specs, price, and marketing all seem very similar. From what I can tell, the differences are the voice coil and crossover frequency - not sure what the consequences to the end user would be. Oh, and the HD 10-A has side handles The band I was depping with last night were using two Mackie 450s. I'm not sure how much bass guitar was put through those in the end. Venue was a hotel ballroom holding maybe 200 people. My regular band have two QSC KSubs and two K8s, which seem to handle up to the larger ballrooms; for anything bigger, a sound company will normally take care of things. The HPF is two Ac Bs Pre on the Zoom MS-60B.

On your marks!

There’s a few videos on YouTube about it but it’s really simple: 1. You print off your logo on normal paper using a laser printer (won’t work on inkjet) 2 Cover your printed logo with sellotape then using the handle of the scissors rub the sellotape for about 1 min making sure all the sellotape is firmly stuck down and there are no air bubbles 3. Cut out the logo leaving a few mm’s round the edge 4. Put the logo in cold water for about 5 mins if it curls straighten it out again 5.Carefully rub the paper off the back of the sellotape and you will leave just the logo on the sellotape (if it feels slightly gritty then put it back in the water and carefully rub it again till you don’t feel any grit) 6. Wet the sellotape again 7. Place on your headstock or wherever you want the logo to go and blot with some kitchen towel remove any air bubbles and excess water then leave to dry 8. Once dry you can then apply your finish and flatten the same way you would a water slide decal See it’s simple and a very cheap way to do it In the style of blue peter here’s one I did earlier......

Blimey, they look like the boys down the local Quickfit tyres. Wheel balancing is extra, Sir.

Yep, I'm definitely one of them. Linn claim their products last a lifetime and so far they're right...

Thanks I think I’m going to keep the white headstock for the time being till I buy my new maple/maple neck

After some morning tlc, here she is. New strings, pickup height adjusted and action lowered. Might still need a bit of a further tweak to the saddles though.

I think it depends on whether there'll be any future treatment on the result. If you're recording the 'definitive' track, I'd suggest that there's no practical advantage in using a higher sample rate. If, however, there's to be any post-production, such as mastering, the highest possible would be better, albeit marginally for mortals. Hope this helps; subject to completion, correction and/or contradiction from others.

Tone is in the plectrums?

Almost 30 years after selling my Trace Elliot head, cabs and combos I have come full circle and found a perfectly preserved AH200. It's hard to believe it's only 200 watts; it punches like 400!

I totally agree! Gibson has bought a lot of great companies and destroyed them. Tobias, Steinberger, Trace Elliot, to name a few. And as you say, spent a lot of money challenging other smaller companies. It's sad in some ways, but in other ways I guess it was unavoidable.

I couldn't agree more regarding the neck width of Bass VI instruments. I have a Squier Bass VI and the neck is narrow even by guitar standards (it's certainly narrower than all the guitars I own) and that's the main reason why it doesn't get very much use. I had a look at the Music Man Silhouette Bass (it's not a very exciting looking instrument IMO) and according to the specs the neck is 44.5mm at the nut - where did you get the 47mm figure from? Also it seems to be marketed as a Baritone Guitar rather than a Bass VI, even though at just under 30" the scale length is about right for E - E stringing. However with 2 humbuckers rather than 3 single coils it appears to be voiced more in the Baritone range and it probably won't sound much like a Fender/Squier Bass VI, or your Revelation Bass VI. And so is it worth getting a custom Bass VI made to your specifications? Well given that a new Music Man is going to set you back around £1,700, probably yes. Where about in the world are you? Here in the UK there are several custom builders who would be able to make something suitable for you. It is important to find a luthier that you get on with and who you can trust to make those decisions that you know little about, in order to get the right instrument for you. My normal advice when picking a luthier for a custom instrument is to find someone who is already making something very similar to what you want. However in this case I think you may have to be even more trusting of your chosen luthier than usual. There are a couple of things that you should be aware of. Firstly any commercial custom luthier who is any good will be busy and you are probably looking at a build time in excess of 12 months. Secondly with a 52 width at the nut you are most likely going to need custom pickups to accommodate the extra wide string spacing and a custom bridge as well. That will all add to the cost and build time. There is one other route you could consider. Here on Basschat we have several talented people building their own instruments and sometimes instruments for other people. I would check out the work of Andyjr1515 in the Build Diaries section. Finally I don't think that this section is the best place for your question. I'd have asked it in either General Discussion or Bass Guitars. If you want to get the thread moved, click on "Report" on your OP and ask a moderator to move it for you. HTH