Leaderboard

Had an interesting gig in all but name tonight. Had arranged to go to a blues jam with a couple of guys from one of my bands, plus a very good Australian guitarist who flew in this morning. Hacked our way round Oxford to the venue where we discovered that it was cancelled. So we went back to the village we'd started in and managed to persuade the landlady at a pub there to host us, so we played as a 4 piece without a drummer. Surprisingly, it went down a storm and we have an open invite to do that again anytime we want! Got bought a couple of beers, had a good time and basically saved the cost of a rehearsal studio. I was surprised and pleased by the reaction of the customers who commented on the job I was doing as a solo rhythm section, especially when my greatest supporter bought me a drink. Got home shortly before midnight having snatched a good evening from the jaws of a very disappointing one.

There's no room for a bed in my guitar room!

As discussed in the other Helix thread, this is just for posting links to patches for the Helix or the HX unit. The official Custom Tone page doesn't let us search by instrument, which is a bit annoying, and searching using the word "Bass" doesn't help as many descriptions use parameter names. So to get round it we need an easy search system. How it works: 1: You create a cool sounding patch on your Helix or HX. 2: You give the patch a name that starts "BASSCHAT____________________" (You don't have to keep that name on your Helix, it's just for the upload, then change it on your machine). 3: You upload it to the Line 6 Customtone library here: https://uk.line6.com/customtone/browse/helix/ 4: In the description box you also start it with BASSCHAT to give a better chance of it showing up in searches 5: When it's uploaded you post the link here. 6: We can then find it by a link on here, or directly on the L6 page. That's it! You can also link to other good patches made by others, so we've all got a chance to try them out. I suggest we only have links to the official L6 Custom Tone to avoid getting riddled with nasty infections. I'm at home so I can't upload any right now but I will over the weekend. get stuck in! @dood @CameronJ @Muppet @Musashimonkey @intime-nick @LewisK1975 @dannybuoy

Virtually finished just got to do a setup and sort some of the electrics out...........

You should create a poll!

Outdated information. Thanks for the heads up. I'll correct it to 33" For the following reasons : 1. It allows better placement of the bridge, while still using the same body as the CHB-1. The 34" had the bridge pushed back towards the tailpiece more than I was comfortable with. 2. 33" feels comfortable and familiar if you play 34", but still leaves the strings under slightly less tension for good semi-hollow bass tone 3. No tippy-tippy neck dive. 4. Nobody else makes them at 33". Nice to do something different.

My old set up was Bass into Boss OC3 into a Moog Bass Murf. The signal was split with lows going into one side of a mixer/loop pedal I made & the other side went into a PSK dirt, Moog LPF (with exp pedal & an envelope out to the Bass Murf to shift frequencies as the note decays) & then a boss CH2. This then went back into the other side of the mixer to sum it all together & then to the amp. The loop side of the pedal allowed me to switch everything after the octave on or off. Here's a track I made 5 years ago for Basschat. The bass comes in at 2 seconds. My current rig hasn't made as great a synth sound yet, but I've not really played much with it. I now have MXR BOD > PSK Dirt > Source Audio BEF Pro > Boss CE2.

I'm sorry but your last sentence is a bit stupid. I swap between a passive fretted bass and an active fretless because the songs sound better with the slides. I forgot to switch the passive/active switch at a rehearsal once and vowed that I wouldn't do that again and went down a route that forced me to act for each change. You use pedals to change the sound to suit songs, some of us use a different bass.

So I've got the Chowny chb-2 on a very generous 3 week loan from @Mickeyboro and my first impressions are that it feels much more substantial than the JC as it's a semi hollow rather than a fully hollow bass. That goes with the territory of being a heavier bass, but whilst my shoulders and back may not thank me, I do like the sensation of something more substantial / robust! Looking forward to giving this a proper play over the next couple of weeks and will gladly report back my (hopefully positive) impressions.

Interesting stuff ref the planing - it certainly is borne out by the result! So have I understood, is your jack-plane blade gently radiused? Ref the chambering, I basically follow the same logic as you where I can - I visualise the body as a centre-blocked ES335 or similar with a continuous beam from nut to bridge. Of course, the reality - once you've sliced through it to within an inch of its life with the pickup routings - is somewhat different. On a lightening project for @Harryburke14's very heavy Harley Benton, I actually did chamber at partial depth across the 'centre block' and there was no audible difference to my ear: But generally, I do something similar. This was my last one: Again, if you envisage how deep and wide the pickup routes are (this had twin humbuckers), then the reality is that the body is strong enough / rigid enough/ tonally good enough to chamber in the centre block too. But, like you, I prefer not to if I don't have to.

Definitely try the additional cab first, just in case. However, if the Trace gets the sound exactly as you want, I think the answer is there. Please do let us know how it pans out. Geoff

Great topic idea and I totally agree with @Al Krow with regards to it being I think with covers your inevitably chasing a multi-functional sonic palette and finding the elusive "Swiss Army Tone" is a nightmare and as previously touched on the gateway to a serious case of G.A.S.. Personally like most I started off aspiring to sound like my early heroes; Alex Katunich of Incubus and Stuart Zender of Jamiroquai. I chased the "Super Jazz" Warwick Streamer sound for many years but always being rather broke I've never managed to actually own one. I was about 16-17 when I discovered a through neck ,Korean, Spector 5 string at a local music shop which I snapped up for £450 quid (To this day the most I've every spent on anything other than a car). That bass has been the foundation of my tone ever since but now it exists in a heavily modded state. After the "Super Jazz" obsession I went through a Hardcore Punk phase and sought the Music Man Stingray Punk tone of Players like Jason Sinclair of Belvedere. So naturally instead of forking out for a new bass I just got a MM pickup and squeezed it in-between the two soap-bars already in my Spector. At this point I disconnected the Bridge pickup to wire in the MM pick-up to the Spector "Tone Pump" circuit and used my bass like that for a long time. After the Punk phase I discovered Progressive Metal and just wanted to sound like Justin Chancellor of Tool so I got a decent pre-amp pedal (a Dave Hall Amps-VT1) and of course a Digitech Whammy. In my mid to 20's I became disillusioned with bands and started writing solo material, I didn't want to spend more money on gear but I wanted a wider tonal palette to play with so I re-wired my bass in passive so I could get my bridge pick-up running again, I figured I have my pre-amp pedal so why do I need one in my bass? So that about brings me to just before where I am now, except I should probably mention that along the way, because of financial issues I'd sold my Amp/Cabs. So I'm writing solo stuff I still want to gig it but I'm broke AF, that's when I spent the last two years creating this solution; My no amp solo rig in a box, its two parallel bass chains and a vocal chain with click and backing tracks coming in from the tablet, all monitoring through hard wired in-ear's and I send a single mono line out to the front of house and that's my sound. So really I came to know the sound I wanted, through years of seeking to sound like other people and I ended up finding "My Sound" through combining them all and trying to solve a problem within the financial constants I had to work with. Oh and here's a few pics of my Bass; If anyone's interested I'm running 1 meg CTS Log pots for both volume and tone and a 47uF paper in oil cap.

True fact: first record I ever bought was 'My Gang' by Gary Glitter... picked it up from a jumble sale as a kid. Probably still have it somewhere, although I imagine the resale value has dropped a bit.

I've watched the Bobby Kimball live version a few times since it was originally posted - to the OP, I offer my thanks for the comedy high point of the week.

Budget? You can look at older equipment but IMO the gear being made today is as good and in many cases better. I'd be looking the Basschat Classifieds for good gear at good prices. There are Mesa Boogie amps and cabs, Bergantino cabs, a couple of Genz Benz amps. Some TC, GK, Ampeg, Ashdown and TC. You'll sound good with any of these and IMO separate amp and cabs are better for upgrading and adding cabs. For live work you'll need a 500 watt amp for a full clear sound and enough speakers to carry your sound throughout the room. You might need to project your sound on some gigs even if you have use of FOH on others. Hartke Hydrive and Fender Rumbles are good to start off with. So are GK, Ashdown and Markbass. You can spend more on great amps and cabs like the Quilter BB800, Mesa Boogie and EBS. You will not have any problems sounding like a million dollars with Barefaced, Aguilar or Bergantino. These are my opinions and none of this is set in stone. There are guys using boutique gear who sound average and guys using cash converter junk who sound good, but it's easier to sound good with better gear. We can tell you what we think but you'll have to put in the time to try gear out or see what suites you. Check out local bands and see what gear they are using. Hear someone making a sound you like and ask them about their sound. Most bass players will be happy to talk gear on a gig.

Yep all the time. It’s to make up the fact that I suck.

A good read for anyone interested in the story of Chicago ( from drummer Danny Seraphine's point of view) : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Player-My-Chicago-Story/dp/0470416831

18 feet, definitely. Then we can give it to @Al Krow so that he can punt himself down the river away from any thread that mentions the dreaded C word *. * Compressor - not the other one

Spectracomp, always on. Always fingers. All styles.

My shame bypass filter is not that good.

@Osiris is the the soft key or the hard key version you play with?

I play whatever style comes my way - finger style only i use a p bass and a zoom b2.1 set to ampeg svt, with full fat cab flavouring. The comp is set to fairly subtle - I tried turning it off and the whole thing didn’t sound quite as smooth, throbby, focused so I leave it on. Never heard a bad word yet about my sound ** ** I’m probably deaf ...

If someone said to you "I bet you're a bit of a c*nt.. No offence" you'd probably be offended

Let's distinguish second hand bargains from list prices. My cheapest bass is an old Encore P (£79) that lives in my office and gets played through a c**p guitar amp at drunken after-work jams now and then. It feels pretty good to play, but I put it through a decent bass amp for the first time recently and was shocked at how dull and flat it sounded. Ok, it does what I bought it for, and I wouldn't leave anything better at work. My cheapest "real" bass is my GMR fretless, bought here, which has build and tone quality which should cost at least three times what I paid for it (£350). The only change I've made is to re-string it with chrome flats.

Quite frankly that's just not true. It's totally possible to buy something cheap that feels and sounds good. Of course what good is is totally subjective. I have a 150 quid Cort and a Dingwall that's 10x as much. Is one better? No, just different tools for different jobs.

Great job Now waiting to see the next one

I would go and see us if I could see past the singer's music stand.

That's a lovely bass , I was very tempted to buy that bass as I was looking for a 5 string for my 80s band . I ended up taking a trade for a Ray35 for one of my P bass .

Take it all apart clean it and get some contact cleaner on there. That will make it brand new!

I very recently went from dinky little heads to a big Trace AH600. Heavy but a doable two handed lift. Pair it with one or two lightweight cabs. Sounds absolutely amazing. Can’t see myself going back to class D anytime soon. Dont worry too much about the age - they are built to last, but get an amp tech to check it over when you get it just to be sure.

If I was in the market for a semi again, I'd go straight to the Epiphone JCB. I've owned two, and regretted selling both of them. No idea why I let the second go, it was a lovely bass and surprisingly versatile. It'd fit in so well with the early Grateful Dead stuff I play now as well. I could talk myself into another one so easily! There's a local studio owner who has several Duesenbergs, I have played one acoustically, I thought it all bling and little substance, but some people seem to be impressed by them. Really regret reading this thread now, it has reignited my JCB gas!

you're right but i bought my basses and guitars all for less than £500, so not exactly highly sought after models. I' not having much luck with trying to sell on FB or through old school approaches . So cheers to you guys who gave the heads up for the Cov shop. Def give that a go

Not for me, but as I use a fair bit of gain on my Sansamp Para Driver I reckon I`m getting some compression via that. I did try a compressor with my current set-up and even on the lowest of the low settings it killed the sound and dynamics, which is why I suspect said Para Driver is already lending a hand here.

Oh and yes. TC’s multiband offerings have been my go to to for many, many years now: Spectracomp, Hypergravity, Nova Dynamics, C300, Triple C(s), I’ve owned (or still own). I parallel compress with three bands engaged. More recently I’ve acquired the Line 6 Helix which I am tweaking now to obtain similar results. Indeed it has done two gigs on it’s own now without any additional pedals. The three band compressor on board works well with bass.

Get a good Dep and you shouldn't be starting from ground zero. Is it an originals band that plays a few covers or a covers band that plays a few originals. If the former I'd jump ship, if the later I'd also consider jumping ship but would be less likely to do so than if it was all originals.

I broke a string at a gig once. It surprised me and it surprised the audience as I didn't have a backup bass and had to change a string mid gig. Not clever. So I now take a spare bass and,if the gig requires,my fretless. Nothing to do with showing off and everything to do with being prepared and not letting your band and audience down. My solution to differing levels- TC Electronic Stacatto 51 with 3 presets. Job's a good un

Netflix has a Chicago documentary in their library right now. I watched it the other day, not really knowing much about the band other than the Cetera-sung ballads from the early 80s. Damn, those boys can play... 😁

A couple of new helix parts in development. It’s no wonder I have zero time to tweak my settings

Gibson quality has taken a dive in many areas, however, Epiphone quality has remained top notch and punches well above the price point. I think the Casady looks awesome in black.

Off to watch some music this eve so just a brief update. Tackled the blocks routing. That required the board to be radiused and then slotted: Then, removal from the template and re-positioning back onto the template to rout the outline. The raggedy edges from the slow speed and non-ideal bit are actually clean and will tidy up just with some sandpaper: And then started hogging out a touch with a larger bit. Final leveling and height adjustment will be done with a chisel. I'll pop a bit more detail in tomorrow. It's worked out better than I expected for the first go, though...

The bass is a signal generator and so it's an output jack.

Cheers for the reply Mr Tiger, I've been humming and harring over what to get next but I do remember a 1x15 with a 2x10 ( be that Marshall ) had the nice deep low but able to handle that mid range bite and sparkle. I'm not sure if this is just myself in my head remembering it differently but it was noticeable at venues etc . I've had 2x10's since then with Ampeg PF cab's etc , but currently got a crappy TC Electronic 4x10 to throw around and abuse ( £80! ) . Just a future venture of looking around , its just the prices that off put me even touching a new cab sadly as they all seem to be crap chip board and a " off shore " speaker

You know I’m just messing with you Al

My Yamaha BB604 that cost me £200 secondhand absolutely wiped the floor with the £2.5k Lull PJ4 I had at the time. Ridiculous, but sadly true. And it was better set up. Sold the Lull last year. Still got the Yamaha.

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......