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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/11/21 in all areas

  1. I thought I’d revisit this topic as it seemed apt. Some of you will know already, but last Tuesday I had a heart attack. I’m on the mend now, and during conversations with the doc he suggested I needed to exercise my right hand to stop stiffness after the angioplasty and the cardio catheter. Apparently my session was a bit more brutal than usual. I asked him if playing bass would suffice, and after a bit more chat he thought it would be ideal. Anyway, got home from hospital yesterday, and decided I might as well have a go. They give you lots of stern warnings about depression and suggest that doing stuff not too strenuous is a good idea. Picked up the Shuker and realised it’s a bit like me. Has had an incident involving major surgery but is actually the better for it afterwards. Yep, I’m pretty much stuck with it now given that link.. so I had an enjoyable hour getting back to it and despite a bit of wrist discomfort it actually wasn’t so bad at all. Nice to be home, in more ways than one.
    15 points
  2. He wanted a quick rig rundown before he gave the OK. If you told him you played a Rik he'd have put you in an induced coma forever
    10 points
  3. That’s committed, a tort forearm.
    7 points
  4. Got myself another Squier Vista Musicmaster in black the other day, to keep the recently acquired shell pink one company. Pink is strung with Labella black tapewounds, and the black has Daddario Chromes.... Need to some shielding work on both, when I get the time, as they are wee bit noisy, and the black one needs a new tone pot.... But for the money I think they're great little basses these 🙂
    6 points
  5. I had a week off last week and treated myself to a me day with an afternoon visit to a guitar shop to try out a bass I was curious about. It was a Cort A4 Ultra with the new Fishman pickups. I wasn't over impressed with the pickups personally as they seemed to compress the sound particularly on the E string. Probably good for modern slappy stuff but not to my taste and it's one of their top end basses at c£1100. And I was only looking anyway. The next model down is the A4 Plus which is effectively the same bass but with Bartolini licensed pickups and a maple/mahogany body instead of an ash/mahogany one. The guy in the shop suggested trying it to really show the difference in the pickups. I spent 20 mins having a noodle and came away thinking I much preferred the cheaper version as it had a bit more character and booty about the sound. It has the same Hipshot hardware, neck through design and the neck profile is lovely. I'm struggling lately with jazz style necks and even though this is still quite narrow at the nut it has a flat fingerboard radius and a slightly deeper profile with a flattened feel to the back of the neck which I think can get along with better. It seems to be the flatter board that works for me and the fretwork and edges are sublime. The bass itself feels fabulous - the open pore finish and generally curviness of the body feels great and it seems pretty light as well. I was only having a sniff around anyway... That evening I was idly pooching about online having a think about the bass and I tripped over someone selling a used version of the one I liked. Looked pretty good in the advert and after 20 minutes of messaging we struck a deal. It wasn't local so I was on the train the next day heading north to check it out. Turned out it was only a few weeks old and still had the tags on it and a decent gig bag too so I grabbed it. Haven't gigged it yet so it's been a week of home use and I can never tell if something is going to work for me until i've done a few gigs with it but it seems pretty good so far....time will tell
    5 points
  6. Yeah, that yellow going into purple is very fetching. Oh, you mean the bass. Ahem, ah, is that my coat? Must go.
    5 points
  7. Does... does this mean Leo didn't get it right, first time? Wow. I don't want to be the one to break this on TB 🥺
    5 points
  8. Slightly odd gig - 'twas a benefit for a local community enterprise in a village hall. Place was full of kids and felt like a house party! However, despite the tiny 400W PA they'd provided (could barely hear vocals!), a real effort had been made making the place look like a haunted castle (including papiere mache autopsy room next door!). We played very well, I was very happy with my bass sound and loads of people danced about - apart from 1 kid who stood at the front telling us it was too loud. We had to do 2 encores before they'd let us leave so all was good!
    5 points
  9. Hi folks, first post, so be gentle 😆, but I have about 30 years as an engineer and manager in the semiconductor industry. I've also played bass on and off for longer than this. I also play keyboards. There's a few problems going on here. Firstly the s/c industry was growing at about 5% per year for the last few years, and then, bang, all of a sudden last year demand was +20%. There were pandemic related issues as well and some fabs (mostly in Asia) shut down for a while, so that capacity was lost. The car companies believed that demand had tanked long term and so cancelled future orders. This capacity was then assigned to other things. Don't blame me though, where I work never missed a minute and has been posting record results every month since the start of this. There were also some capacity issues due to fires and a few more fabs have been running on reduced capacity. Finally, the investment needed (and time required) for a state of the art chip factory is eye watering. You're talking over $5 billion and at least 3 or 4 years to build, start up, and qualify a new factory, so it's not a case of just buying a few more machines and putting them in an extension out the back. Over the past 30 years the cost of staying in the game has risen exponentially as the technology gets more and more complex (read "smaller"). For the latest chips, there's one manufacturing machine alone that costs around $175 million (and that's not a typo) and guess what ? You needs dozens of them. If you're interested google ASML or "extreme UV lithography". Most of the smaller companies have exited the market and manufacturing has become concentrated in certain geographical areas (yup, mostly Asia). Making high end semiconductors is, without any doubt, the most advanced manufacturing process in the world. Hope this is of interest.
    5 points
  10. New music, and a tour. https://www.instagram.com/p/CVurzu0I8hC/?utm_medium=copy_link
    4 points
  11. 4 points
  12. You've replaced it with an RSJ for improved balance?
    4 points
  13. Up for sale is my Tuscany Spider resonator bass. This has been well looked after so is in great condition. Fitted with Status Half Wound 45-105 strings which give a lovely warm, full tone through the lipstick pickup. Also sounds great unplugged, and sits nicely with an acoustic guitar when using a plectrum. I’ll also include some D’addario 45-105 round wounds which give a bit more volume acoustically. A great bass to leave in the leaving room to noodle on whilst watching tv. Also prefect for acoustic bands. It’s 30” scale and intonates great up the neck. Collection from Beccles, Suffolk. Or I have a box so shipping is also ok. £350
    4 points
  14. I was home alone yesterday...
    4 points
  15. NBD - JMJ Mustang arrived this morning. Unfortunately, pesky work is going to get in the way of me playing it until later.
    4 points
  16. Had a good gig on Saturday, not doing too many at the moment as not really fully back from the plague and also the band is a bit in flux. However, a place we had done before with an awful building, a skittle alley, aka a long thin tube especially designed to make everything sound bad. As it happened, not sure if it was the decorations or the number of people, but the sound wasn't as terrible as last time. It was well populated as they were also having a haloween party, people had made quite the effort to dress up and were out for a good time, as the first gig in that village. We used to do ghostbusters but dropped it several years ago as we didn't like it and it always messed up. Decided on the thurs practice to resurect if for saturday if we could get it right. Practiced it in the sound check and it still wasn't right but it worked out ok as instead of playing it, we did the rif as a background music when they were doing the fancy dress competion, and it worked well for that. In the end went on well, everyone enjoyed it, usual collection of over drunk girls wanting to sing and talk to us while we were playing, but occupational hazzard. Way more enjoyable than I expected.
    4 points
  17. How do I just now find this topic? I have two vintage Fenders! This is my Jazz from May 1966. Neck is from January, pots from week 18. It's a refin, I had it refretted a few years back and I don't have the original case anymore. This bass is absolutely killer. The neck is crazy, the sound is brilliant and it has that typical 1966 "thump" on the E-string. I bought it partly because I loved Paul Turner's sound on the Abbey Road sessions with Jamiroquai, and he has a white '66 Jazz too. I met Paul a couple of years ago when he was introducing and promoting Stenback basses at Paul's Bass Matters here in NL, and while talking with him I mentioned this bass. He said "do you have it here?" and I did, and so did he! So we compared basses (I have an A profile neck, his is a B-neck) and absolutely agreed on that heavy "thump" on the E-string. One of the best basses I've ever played. This is my Precision from May 1971, also a refin and refret, but I have the original case to go with it. Currently strung with Labella flats. Very slim neck, great sound. Lovely P.
    4 points
  18. Hey all, I'm sure I'll regret this but I'm selling my Barefaced Six10! It's in excellent condition, only been used live a handful of times. Barefaced make seriously great cabs and this Six10 is no exception. I used it on a session at RAK Studios and at first the engineer was super reluctant for me to not use their in-house Ampeg B15 but as soon as he heard my rig he was very happy indeed (here's a video from the session if you want to hear it in context... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I6f9kJYrbw&list=PLTaMHbMoRhC4APz9Y-cj-ubxdZRVC_SyF&index=6) You're welcome to come and try it out at my home in Brockley. Any questions just ask! Charlie
    3 points
  19. Approaching the end of the year now and @upside downer rolls out a doosey to close out October. By way of reward he gets to choose, and bright as a button, he has proposed the following for your inspiration, with the bonus of a bit of background should you take an interest in such stuff https://www.diyphotography.net/conceptual-photographer-takes-us-behind-scenes-moons-ever-changing-cycle/ Usual rules apply. You know the drill: ✔️ Entries must be <5 minutes and written/recorded this month. ❌ No illegal samples, copyright infringements or other snide goings-on ❌ Bagpipes. please no bagpipes, the Halloween truce now Expired. panpipes only if you have too. ❌ No voting for your own entry. We'll know. And we'll shame you. A line or two offering an insight to your inspiration will be good as well , it works nicely on the voting thread. Deadline wise , we will go for midnight on 'Fibonacci day ' 👍, and again you probably have till about 19.00 on the 24th, ( the clue given here is that 'Fibonacci day' is the 23rd). Have a good one
    3 points
  20. **Shipping is not included** but I'm sure we can split the shipping to sweeten the deal My other amp… This was another jewel in the crown of Fender’s return to making decent bass amps. This one is based on the Fender Tube Bass preamp the TBP-1 paired to the same great power section found in the MB-1200 power amp and the 800Pro. This amp is ideal for the more roots/country/blues/rock tones. The pre amp is the classic Fender tube sound - a passive tone stack of BMT with passive mid cut only and bass and treble boost only. From memory it’s set at 40HZ-400Hz-4kHz with and additional semi-para eq with boost or cut. If you play a P bass this is the amp to play through. Classic Fender bass tones through and through. The amp also features a blendable drive section with gain and volume controls and a blend between the classic and drive channels. It can be set to get all manner of classic drive tones from low gain, edgy pick sound to full on grind. The semi-para EQ really allows you to set your bass in the mix or push the sound ro be upfront and heard. I used this amp in my country band and it was perfect - big classic passive tones which supported the band and never missed a beat. It has equally been at home on theatre gigs and can do a mean rock tone with some nice responsive break up when digging in. There’s a 4 button footswitch included which can engage the drive, the semi- para eq, the fx loop (which doubles as a boost) and has a tuner! There is also a room balance control which is a tilt style eq to fine tune the amp to the room - without a rework of the whole eq. Along with the 800Pro these were top of the line pro touring heads! Features Hybrid head: (tube preamp, solid state power amp) 1 channel with switchable drive and semi-parametric eq Tubes: 2 X 12AX7 Front panel controls: Vintage Tube Tone - Input -9dB pad switch, Mute, Volume, Bass w/Deep switch (pull to activate), Mid, Treble w/Bright switch (pull to activate) Tube Overdrive: (Enable/Disable Switch), Gain, and Volume Blend Vari-Q: (Enable/Disable Switch), Frequency, Level/Q, Room Balance, and Master Volume Rear panel controls: Balanced Line Output with Ground Lift, XLR Jack, Level, Pre/Post EQ Select Switch, FX Loop with Trim, +4dBu/-10dBv level switch, Send/Return jacks Effects: Fender passive tone stack, Tube Overdrive section, Vari-Q section, Room Balance, FX Loop/Boost
    3 points
  21. Just picked up the Chromatron from a friend last week. I think I like the symmetry of this board more than anything 😂
    3 points
  22. It’s not real tort - it’s fake tort. Otherwise I’d never be able to take my forearm out the country attached to the rest of me.
    3 points
  23. I almost never record my playing but after putting flats on one of my Xotic 5 string Jazzes I felt compelled. Posted this in a couple of other places but here it is:
    3 points
  24. Dipped for a local function/party and last week. No rehearsals, just parachuted in and off we go. really good to play live again, had some very complimentary feedback from punters and BL, so happy days. god I missed gigging!!
    3 points
  25. While on the subject: The reason speakers are very inefficient, on average only converting 2% of the electrical energy they receive into sound, is impedance, specifically the impedance of air, which is very low. 8 ohms doesn't sound like it's a high impedance source, but it's a lot higher than air, so nearly all of the energy put into a driver is lost as heat. A horn loaded speaker acts as an acoustical transformer, just like the output transformer in a valve amp. The horn raises the impedance of the air mass that the driver operates into, increasing efficiency as much as tenfold.
    3 points
  26. For those on here with a BSII I just wanted to give a positive recommendation for these overlay stickers to update the front panel to firmware 4.14 specs- https://ctrlv.bigcartel.com/product/bs2-overlay-sticker-afx-mode They're great quality, help you remember all those new crazy functions and maintain the look of the synth. Here's my unit as an example- No affiliation with the dude, but it's a really nice quality item and worth getting while available imo. I still don't have a gosh darn clue how to get the afx mode to work, but at least now I know which buttons to press to do it... PSA over
    2 points
  27. I bought this Les Paul Traditional (2016 model) in Heritage Cherry Sunburst back in early 2017 and it's lived 95% of it's time in it's hard case ever since I picked up playing bass full time in 2017. Case candy all still included - even the factory final inspection photo. I've held onto it in the vain hope that I may one day put more time back into playing guitar, but it's painfully obvious that I need to thin the herd on the guitar front given that I've been eyeing up a few nice basses that I'd like to invest in. Before I go listing on the obvious places elsewhere, I wanted to offer it up here first to the community and see if there is any interest from someone who will look after it and give it the love it needs. I'll even throw in a brand new set of EB Slinky's in the case for the new owner. I'm in no particular rush to sell and have therefore priced at the fair market value having spoken to PMT and Andertons (plus eBay sold listings) - but I would also be open to potential full trades or partial trades + cash my way for something bass guitar related. I'm open to suggestions, and despite my sins, I've a hankering for something on the relic front - JMJ Mustang, Nate Mendel P, Flea Jazz, Limelight / Bravewood P - you get the idea... but feel free to let me know what you have and I can let you know if it's of interest. Based near Didcot in Oxfordshire, but equally happy to travel a reasonable distance to meet up. I do still have my Bassbreaker tube amp for anyone wanting to try prior to taking her away, but this is also up for sale so may go before the guitar does (will update if so).
    2 points
  28. 22 shows in 30 days - final 2 shows this coming Friday and Saturday. 3x 45 minute sets each night = just under 50 hours on stage in total so far. It’s been an absolute blast and I’ve shed 7 pounds in weight to boot. We have 4 nights off this week. I’ve forgotten what a quiet evening in feels like!
    2 points
  29. And finished. A service and Some lovely aluminium welding by a local metals company hides my ‘not perfect’ mitres. im very pleased with it.
    2 points
  30. 2 points
  31. Felt a good time to contribute to the thread. Dano Longhorn JMJ Mustang ‘76 Gibson Ripper (much modded) FSR PJ Mustang
    2 points
  32. Well so far I have mainly learnt two things: 1) the basic right hand stuff is completely kicking my derrière and 2) I'm finding it a lot harder than I realised to consistently set aside even the suggested 20 minutes five days a week for practice. So I'm already way behind the latest lesson (although Scott says 'there's no such thing as falling behind' and everyone will go at their own pace, it still feels like that). It's definitely doing the job though, of giving me something to focus on and some sense of having committed to something that I need to keep at, and if the material stays as challenging to my current level as it has so far then it'll keep me happy for a few years…
    2 points
  33. Having a P on the sofa is very satisfying. Here are my 2 bitsas. Fretless has tonerider pups and series/parallel switching. Fretted just been put together and soon to have some SD pups replacements. Put a cheeky “Finder” decal on.
    2 points
  34. Probably understandable when you hear most of the basslines they were expected to play!
    2 points
  35. NBD: It's a Tiger (??) bass I'm pleasantly surprised with the tone, build quality and playability! I went for it cos its kinda got a fortress-ish vibe to it! Its immaculate the old fella who I got it off only played it twice after trying bass for the first time and decided its not for him, it was only £40 aswell! Bargain!!......... 👍🏻
    2 points
  36. On the Gibson Mod-Shop they had a pelham blue NR Thunderbird up for $1.6K last week. Interestingly, this lacks the scratchplate and the chromed hardware/pickup covers of the current reissues and, to be honest, this looks a whole lot better for it. The only things I could add to improve things? Put the Gibson logo back on the truss-rod cover, give it a two part bridge, and cosmetically, line the pots up in a straight line and move the output jack to the lower bout. [Edit] Oh, and paint it black. https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Guitar/DMOWGQ675/Non-Reverse-Thunderbird/Faded-Pelham-Blue
    2 points
  37. Fender Bassman 800 Pro Hybrid Bass Amp Head Lovely compromise between the full class D amp and a fender all valve bassman without the weight. Comes with Hotcover . I can find one tiny mark on the side but otherwise it looks like new. Fender Bassman 800 Pro Hybrid Bass Amp Head Overview The Fender Bassman 800 Pro Hybrid Bass Amp Head combines the best authentic Fender Bass sound with modern power, giving you a reliable tone. Designed for the ultimate bass playing experience, it offers a lightweight portable unit with two versatile channels, classic looks and ultra musical Fender tube tones. Powered by a pair of durable 12Ax17 tubes, the Bassman 800 pro offers vintage and overdrive voicing, making it versatile with any style of music. The included footswitch allows you to effortlessly switch between the pre amp channels during live performances, and adds more flexibility to the amplifier. Product Ref: 75795 Link to full description https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-Bassman-800-Pro-Hybrid-Bass-Amp-Head/1MHF?origin=product-ads&gclid=CjwKCAjwoP6LBhBlEiwAvCcthHxD4i0GFy-vZkwy5K0Kr4f6HmLPYZk2DhNy9R0mwYH-PkZ4ackWwxoCEoMQAvD_BwE
    2 points
  38. When I first started messing with effects a couple of years ago I bought and sold pedals on a whim. I realise now that I have parted with some excellent pedals simply because I didn't understand how to use them, how to get the best from them. So I've started to put that straight. First to return is the Boss Dynamic Wah AW-3. I realise now that you really can't go far wrong with Boss, or their affordable Behringer clones. They just pack much into a solid, useable box. This pedal also stops me gagging for the Seamoon Funk Machine. The main feature of which is a down filter. The down mode here is excellent. It's easy to control and in the mix it's just so darned fonky. I particularly like the vowel sounds available, and the autowah function is so wet, it's filthy. Haven't even tried it with an expression pedal yet! I'll get some sound samples up soon
    2 points
  39. I tried that but never got the options that he does on screen ☹️
    2 points
  40. Yes they can, and they're excellent - very comfortable and easy to listen to. Relatively flat although slightly more pronounced lower midrange as you might expect, perhaps some slight attenuation at the very top end - but that results in a very non-fatiguing listen and when using your bass you have access to a whole range of EQs to get the exact sound you're looking for. I have recently switched from Spotify to Apple Music and some of the albums I have in my library are mastered differently which has made comparisons a bit more tricky but I'm hearing every detail - 50mm drivers designed specifically. They also go extremely loud, even with your own instrument if you want them to - without distortion. As I mentioned I have set up my Stingray so far with a near identical sound to my existing setup and I can wander around the house with complete freedom from wires or ridicule (but only because I can't hear it!)
    2 points
  41. You’ve broken the rule 😆 but I have to say the side dots are always too small as on my Fender Roscoe Beck, they appear to disappear on stage, hence when I build basses, it’s 3mm black dots on the maple neck wood
    2 points
  42. OK, I was going to share the patch using tonelib but I have installed the cheeky zoom hack and now tonelib doesn't recognise all of the effects. So here goes. 1: Dynamic Drive 2: Bass Pitch 3: MonoSynth 4: A-Filter 5: Dirty Gate Which put all together and recording directly from the pedal into Audacity, sounds like this
    2 points
  43. I've just got one of these and I love it!
    2 points
  44. And the winner is... @upside downer Here, then, is your Winner's Certificate (download and save as pdf file, then proudly print and frame...) ... BC_Chal_Cert_2021_10.pdf ... which looks like this (but bigger, of course..!)...
    2 points
  45. Read the OP's post just above yours, first.
    2 points
  46. Check out Billy Gould from Faith No More. I think he's one of the greats. What makes him particularly great to me is his judgement for when to keep it really simple but absolutely solid. His use of slap to accent parts and never get carried away with it is excellent. His pick tone is superb as well. Check out Midlife Crisis and From Out Of Nowhere Tim Commerford of Rage's ability to provide a funky groove behind rather chaotic guitar and vocals is excellent, he just brings the band together. Check out Renegades of Funk and Bulls on Parade Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath is just genius. His parts are often more complex than the guitar part. Check our NIB and Iron Man Cliff Burton of Metallica (up to Master of Puppets) was the master of making the bass the lead instrument. Check out Orion and Anesthesia (pulling teeth)
    2 points
  47. These first run pre NAMM launch are indeed very special. I had mine up but since we started gigging again over the last few months, I've used it on the gigs where space is a little limited. They are very liberating in not having to worry about a dink/scratch etc. And they play soooooo well🙂
    2 points
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