Leaderboard

A great first time with The Gray Project https://www.thegrayproject.co.ukat the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket, supporting Smith and the Honey Badgers. Lovely crowd and staff They want us back in March and May

I've never been in a band that was nominated for anything. Blue

I've now found a suitable protective case for my Veyron- someone here mentioned Peli cases, and they certainly look fantastic, but also very expensive: more than the amp. I found this one on Amazon - £66 and you can literally "pluck" the foam out to fit round your cherished asset. There's also a pressure valve, which is designed to keep it waterproof (I'm not planning to test that feature!). Anyway, seems like a cost-effective solution, though there's no room in the size I chose for cables, etc.

A bit of an absolutely everything picture of what is used with my band Erronaut. Ampeg SVT CL with a Barefaced two10S.

I much prefer the newer shapes, to me they strike the perfect balance of looking like a traditional J/P but with enough of their own vibe to be more interesting than just a straight copy.

Quite unwieldy to play too - leads to lots of Wall dings

Amusingly, this came up on Facebook.

Alembic did a few discrete mods to a Guild Starfire for him

I know we moan a lot on this thread (safe space and all that), but Wednesday evening's Churches Together service, held at our church, was great! A semi-scratch band comprising drums, vocal and guitar from one church, keyboard player from another, and muggins on bass. Really good fun group to play with and the congregation got into the worship. After the first practice song I thought "I really need to up my game here!", and locked onto the snare for dear life. I found out later that the drummer is a professional musician, the backing vocalist was professionally trained, and the keyboard player is now retired but used to write with Graham Kendrick and play with Shiela Walsh and others. God was worshipped, the preaching was good, and a lots of us piled into the pub over the road afterwards and completely outnumbered the few regulars who had come in for a quiet evening watching the footy!

Get out... get out now. 👉🏼

I dunno.. 35 foot scale length - that's got to weight a bit?

Found on Facebook Marketplace... Vintage V940FL @ £110 Bubinga Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Board... Vol and Blend w/ Active 2 EQ, 4.3kg. Old JHS 'Vintage' brochure show it was a 'New for 2003' Model... 2005 brochure shows the same model but with the 'Vintage' logo going across the top of the headstock, so a 2003/4 model. Cleaned Up, Oiled Up, Waxed Up, Adagio Flats, Quick Set-Up... Son is over the moon... looks n sounds nice.

Been very busy since starting the new job, have settled in nicely and it is going very well. Not had much time to do anything on this, but a couple of weekends ago I managed to get started on the carving/shaping and then got a few hours today to do some sanding, not much progress really. Very happy with the shape now and the rounded edges make a huge difference. Hopefully I can get a bit more done tomorrow, will see how it goes.

Hello everyone, Just thought I'd throw a little update out, as it's been nearly a year! Thank you so much for all those who have continued to drop in and say a few things. It really means a lot to me to hear that he impacted so many players in a positive way. He would absolutely love to talk "degrees of separation" with all this. I sometimes like thinking about the "chains of inspiration" which must exist from one player to the next... @Ace Bass, 1976/77, that is early! You must have been a guinea pig for some of his thoughts. I tried to find Neville Wills, are you referring to the guitarist associated with Bowie (https://www.bowiebible.com/features/live-band-personnel-1962-2006/)? Looks like the internet doesn't go back that far 😆. Anyway I'll keep an eye out for something in the house and report back. I have his diaries back to 1972 so I'll surely find something. Dad is in stable condition. I mean dementia only goes one way, but he is comfortable and doesn't know much else. I see him every Friday, and always have a nice chat about music theory or music history. I have many hours of voice recordings on my phone. We also made a start on the Beatles doc. However I only really get an hour of useful time out of him so it could take another year to finish that! Keep playing everyone, and have fun! That is all he ever wanted. Best Matt

Love mine. Has Labella flats and does the old school thing really well

Still a bit of a work in progress, but here's my current board for Buried Sleeper.

Just in - super light - quite punchy not too bright how I like it - nice neck - not too thin - would give Squier Mustang a run for their money - not bad outta box - some tapes or flats and it’ll be a fine back up - fun and easy to play and dud I say how light it is - prob 7.lbs couple of niggles - fret but at Eb on the A string but not through amp - not fret edges but could do with a polish on a couple - but these are only slight string spacing 19mm and 40mm at nut which makes it great to play tuners are solid - and intonation pretty good out of box Would make good mod platform at £395 I would if I was lobster give this 4/5 claws 🦞

This Dingwall must hold the record for heaviest bass ever produced 😂

My Lionel is coming from Classic & Cool and was cheaper than the configurator too.

Think I'd pefer lesh of the knobs...

There's four part doc on hip-hop on BBC Four (and Iplayer too of course) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0dj6ysm

I normally get a better price from Mark at Classic & Cool than the configurator produces.

This is my ampless and mains power free rig, works a treat

Big band rehearsal this morning. Used my Sandberg TT4 with La Bella Copper White Nylons. Tone was excellent, shame I played like a donkey today!

I don't know your dad but just wanted to send my regards to both of you. My mother in law now has dementia, brought on by having parkinsons, so I know difficult and heartbreaking it can be. It's nice to read the positive impact your dad has had on the bass world so thank you. Just keep on keeping on and make the most of what you have together. Best wishes, Allan.

Probably a topic for another thread, but is there anything left that hasn't been done before? AI possibly? But as the OP, I did put this thread up more for newly made music in response to @DTB's earlier thread, and not some quest for the former.

last night at the John Peel Centre. Didn’t bother with the usual extra 210 cab as huge house pa and monitor set up. Sadowsky Tesco Express Markbass CMD210 Spectracomp Korg tuner pedal Boss leads

I think this is my new favourite post in Basschat. You guys have some really interesnting setups. Mine is rather simple, because I mostly use a clean tone for most of my projects. Bass-->Wireless-->Tc Electronic Polytune3-->MXR Studio Compressor-->HX Stomp-->Radial DI. Depending on the project, I use the MXR Polyblue Octave and some fuzzes and overdrives in the loop of the HX. I used to use also my Ashdown or my Markbass DI, but now I am trying some Ampeg sims in the HX.

I've got a jazz and p that i love. Actually been blown away by the jazz, plays and sounds excellent. I wish it had the luminilay like the Exotic but that's about my only criticism. The Model T exotic looks fantastic, the PJ setup will give loads of tonal options too.

They were forced into the change 2015 due to ‘pressure’ from Fender. Fender realised they were making basses better than they do, and they contacted stores and retailers to say if they stocked Sandberg, Fender would no longer send their stock to that shop to sell. Being by far the most common sold bass they had to agree. Sandberg to their credit just got on with it, changed the shape and voila - quality basses still being produced. To look at on a stand I agree the old shape is probably better, but ergonomically the new shape slays and you get used to the look, it’s now just common place

My Ibanez Premium BTB 1406 (bought from @paulie of this parish in 2018) is ridiculously light and comfortable and easy to play. Really came into its own in lockdown for playing solo, and with my duo partner, who has a wonderful voice but plays very flat rhythm guitar, I play conventional bass under his vocals and "guitar" instrumental breaks on the high strings. When my band was together I gigged a 5, sometimes a 4 depending on the set - I love the 6 but she is a bit bling, to be honest, so I tend only to take her out when I am planning to use that high C string.

Natural valve compression?

Someone has to. You have a tendency to be abrasive, and also to post rubbish as facts

First of all not sure whether this should really had been in the "Effects" sub from instead, but anyway this is the thread for posting and discussing "amp-less" setups, pictures, signal chain listing/description, and as as said discussion, all welcome. EDIT!!: This is getting silly, but I revisited my setup once more, so I deleted the original post and instead described my current setup, which I am pretty certain will be the final incarnation (or at least for now and for a foreseeable future). Mine is fairly complex because I by choice do not really use a dedicated bass preamp and cab simulator, but rather have these functions covered by a selection of multiple gain and EQ stages, which has the advantage of giving me much more flexibility in terms of tone building while still predominantly keeping it analog (in my case all analog except for the reverb and faux, EQ based, cab sim). However I am in the process of completely rearranging my pedal setup/board from scratch, because I recently went back to mainly playing my 4 string bass, tuned in F#1 standard tuning (that is 2 half steps above regular 4 string bass E1 standard tuning), played mainly using various finger picking techniques, rather than my Harley Benton GuitarBass, which is a take on the Fender Bass VI concept, also tuned in F#1 standard tuning (that is 10 half steps bellow regular guitar E2 standard tuning), played mainly using pick, and with an always on 1 octave up effect (using a TC Electronic Sub'N'Up Mini pedal for an effect somewhat similar to that of a 12 string guitar/8 string bass. Same is used for this new setup, but not as an always on effect, and using somewhat different settings, for one the 1 octave up effect is not quite as prominent, being dialed in a couple of dB lower, as well as there is a slight difference in the octave up output EQ of the Toneprint used), so can't really post any pictures at this point, but here's a signal chain description of the always on part that creates my core basic "clean" tone, the actual "amp-less" setup so to speak, which I at this point have put together and tested to the point where I am fairly certain that this is how it will actually also end up : Ibanez GSRM20 neck + GSRM20B body Mikro Bass (with the stock P + J pickup pulled out and replaced for a single EMG Geezer Butler P pickup, wired directly to the output jack socket, tuned in F# standard tuning, that is 2 half steps above regular 4 string bass E standard tuning, and strung with regular Elixir Nanoweb coated nickel-plated roundwound hex steel core guitar strings of the gauges .080 - .062 - .046 - .036) ->> As the very first thing in the chain, right after the bass : ->> Mosky XP Booster (Xotic XP Booster V1 clone, run at 18V with both internal dip switches disengaged, which results in a slight bass/low mids boost, and beside that also adding saturation, emphasing and adding harmonic content, as well as altering the phase of certain frequency areas of the signal, all in all, giving a sense of extra depth, or extra, 3D, dimension if you will, to the tone) ->> Boss LS-2 [A+B Mix <-> Bypass] (effect loops mixer/switch) ={ [Loop A Send] ->> (empty effects loop used as clean/dry signal mix) ->> [Loop A Return] ->|+|<- [Loop B Send] ->> Joyo American Sound (all analog emulation of a Fender amp style preamp/drive, dialed in with an about +3dB pre gain stage boost to a wide curve around the center frequency 800Hz, then a post gain stage about +2dB boost to a wide curve around the center frequency 400Hz, and finally an about -1dB cut to a wide curve around the center frequency 3.2kHz (looks like a Q value of about 1 or so to me for all of these EQ controls), and gain dialed in to just around the verge of the breakup point, also includes an analog filter meant to emulate a cab's high frequency roll off, basically just being a steep about 6kHz or so LPF, as well as there is a, much much lesser, slight roll off bellow about 50Hz or so *), always mixed with clean/dry {Mosky XP Booster} signal from parallel effects [Loop A]) ->> [Loop B Return] ([Loop A] + [Loop B] mixed at an about 50/50 ratio) }=>> Then as the very last thing in the signal chain, before the poweramp and FRFR PA speaker : ->> Zoom B1Xon (acting mainly as my main reverb unit, having a very subtle plate reverb stacked into a subtle spring reverb as part of my basic "clean" tone, but additionally also functioning as a simple faux, EQ based, cab sim, utilizing a dual band parametric equalizer model, set as follows: [Freq=12kHz Q=1 Cut=-18dB ; Freq=20kHz Q=0.5 Cut=-20dB], approximately mimicking a LPF set @ 3.6kHz -12dB/Oct, added after the main reverb, as well as to every other patch used on this unit) ->> EHX Black Finger (tube driven optical compressor, dialed in to deliver a very mild compression, which due to the fact that it compresses the high end slightly more than the low end also effectively boosts the low end slightly, the tubes driven to just on the verge of the breakup point) ->> ART Tube MP Project Series (tube preamp and DI, with the build in HPF, fixed @ 40Hz -12dB/Oct, engaged, and the tube driven to just on the verge of the breakup point) // ->> Band rehearsal/jamming/gigging // ->> Home practice // ->> Home recordings // : // ->> Band rehearsal/jamming/gigging ->> Effects Return (poweramp input) of a Peavey Solo Special 112 (160W combo amp, with the build in speaker disconnect and instead hooked up to a passive PA speaker) ->> The Box PA 502 (passive full range flat frequency response PA speaker with 1x 15" woofer/mids driver + 1.7" high frequency tweeter horn) // ->> Home practice ->> The Mix Mix 502 (mixer) ->> Sennheiser HD 380 Pro (studio grade, that is FRFR, headphones) // ->> Home recordings ->> M-Audio Fast Track (audio interface) ->> Reaper (DAW) // *) Frequency response of Joyo American Sound : https://www.tdpri.com/threads/joyo-american-vs-tech21-blonde-comparison-many-graphs.786013/ This gives me a very realistic/authentic, just around the breakup point, bass tube amp like response and tone, but while not being too obstructive to and letting the natural tone of my bass shine through, regardless of whether I use it at home, practicing though a headphones preamp and my studio grade (just meaning FRFR) headphone, record the bass DI'ed through it, run it into a power amp and a FRFR speaker/cab/PA at band rehearsal, or though a venue's PA system at gigs, which to me is exactly the greatest advantage of utilizing an "amp-less" setup, consistence of tone. The higher tuning of the bass allows for lower gauge strings which again makes it possible to obtain some of that harmonically rich piano like tone, otherwise not possible to obtain with the thick gauge strings that a regular E standard tuning would require on the just 28.6" scale length of this bass, beside also actually being better suited for the more melodic/riff based playing that I utilizes it for, that is in the context of bass and drums duo, as well as jamming just with a drummer (F# standard tuning actually being the traditional upright acoustic bass tuning used for bass solo pieces in classical music). For reference this was how my pedal board looked before this rearrangement, used for my Harley Benton GuitarBass : Also if weight is no issue I can warmly recommend the budget The Box PA 502, 300W passive PA speaker, for use as a FRFR speaker/cab, really amazing tone, very neutral faithful recreation of whatever you feed it with, and with an outstanding low end frequency response (better even than most higher end passive PA speakers), that both reproduces the low end of my bass/rig and sounds better than my much more expensive SWR 15" + 10" + Tweeter Horn dedicated bass cab. !!! Edit 2/Update !!! : Still haven't got around completely rearranging my big main board, but I got a NUX MLD Bass Preamp + DI (NBP-5) in the meantime, and pretty sure following is how the core of my "amp-less" setup is going to look going forward: !!! Update 3 !!!: Yet another rendition:

You really need to understand compression to apply it and use it correctly. That is the important thing to remember with compression. You need to really understand it, the interaction of the different controls and what they are doing. My suspicion is that people buy a compressor pedal and assume it will be as obvious as a drive or delay, and when they don't get night and day results they dismiss them. But it's not an effect as such, more of a way of controlling your signal, so it's better to think of it more like a tool like you would EQ and high pass filtering. So can I respectfully ask you go and do your homework and then try again. You'll be amazed what compression can do for your tone, dynamics and feel once it is properly applied.

An OBP-2 has just appeared for sale in the Accessories thread...

My new bass arrived yesterday so I'm starting to come to terms with the changes from bass guitar. I'm sure I will love this instrument once we get to know one another better... I have played a fretless for some time, and find this helps with the intonation, being used to listening and sliding slightly if necessary to hit the note aimed for. Next step to get the setup feeing right and watch instruction vids etc. Bass chat is so great for finding advice on this sort of thing!

Tonight on Sky Arts at 9pm - Jeff Beck Live at the Hollywood Bowl, from 2016.

I know what you mean but a line has to be drawn somewhere... Looking Geddy Pee is cool, but sounding it? Andy has to sound like Andy Tee 😉 Always felt that a BA takes something away from a P bass rather than adding to it. Imho of course.