mcnach

I suspect that a lot of the entries will be much more interesting that what he played there... which might actually be the point! I don't get his constant quest to play something that resembles a Stingray, without being a Stingray I'd just take a Stingray and modify it to taste. Well, that's probably what his Modulus was, to be fair. Having said that, I'm a fan. I like how there's never "this is the ultimate". Tastes change, and he does different things on different basses, even using a Precision in some cases...

Usually in good terms. The most recent band I left (where a member here was guitarist too), I liked them a lot but I joined them at a time when my main band was not that busy and things looked a bit down... then things got better and much busier. At the same time this band got a bit busier too and I was feeling like I was going to be spread too thin and it wasn't fair. So I announced I was going to have to leave, but I said I'd play whatever gigs they needed me to until they found a replacement. I actually suggested a friend as a replacement, he auditioned and he is still with them. A few years earlier I left another band whose music I liked but there was a BL and he was too much of a control freak. It was taking the joy out of playing, and after one particularly awful gig where he kept talking on his mic over the first 3 songs to ask various changes in the monitors (he refused to go in early to do a soundcheck!) I just quit. I'd have played any gigs to avoid them cancelling but they got a new guy in time for the next gig. Shame, as it was good material and played a few really cool gigs with them... but the joy was no longer there. Then there was that band, we didn't get to gig... I was a bit fed up with volume wars and a very insecure guitarist. This guitarist was their former bass player, and the minute the band started praising my bass style he got a bit grumpy. I thought it was coincidence. Then a couple of weeks later I was playing guitar and I don't know if he felt threatened or what but he became a real silly billy from then on. We had booked a gig just over a month from the date when I decided it was not for me, but I decided I'd like to play that gig. However, I cancelled two practices leading to that gig (I couldn't be arsed to subject my eardrums to that infernal racket... and we already knew the songs well...), and drummer emailed me to say they were talking and thought things weren't working out. So I got fired before I could quit. Then they did not play that gig, or any others in fact, as I was following them for a while. It annoyed me a little bit I didn't get to say "I quit" Another band I was the founder and main person, it was a RHCP tribute... things were fizzling out and I was clashing a bit with our very good but a bit arrogant guitarist. He started out a different project in another town and was finding it hard to meet for practices too, it was obvious his heart wasn't into it anymore. Then we had a very meh gig, and I announced that I didn't think I wanted to continue doing this. So we played one more gig a month later, supporting my main band actually, and we called it a day. Drummer had been recruited to my main band soon before that, and I stayed in touch with singer, and we've played together a couple of times after that. Guitarist... I hear he's doing well and has adopted a kind of rock star look in his late 40s. I wish him all the best but have no interest in meeting him again. However I'll forever be grateful for the first couple of years in that band, I had some of the best gigs and much more fun than I imagined. He actually was very helpful and a cool guy to be around with for some time. Shame we couldn't just part in good terms.

On the mend, thanks, but slowly... urgh. As long as i get better before my holiday next week it's all good

I apologise if I misunderstood the tone of your questions. It sounded to me as if you were saying "all you need is in your amp, onboard preamps are ridiculous and so are their users" reading between the lines. Hence my tone. But it's very possible I misunderstood too. Somehow, in person, we can disagree very strongly and pull each other's leg and keep smiling, but in writing it all can look so damn serious. Especially if the reader has been having a bad day. I've been pretty sick the past few days and had to do a quick run to hospital [1] last night... and I'm a terrible patient, I get really grumpy when I'm ill. So, yes... I'm not going to re-read it all, if you say you didn't mean it the way I took it, I believe you, please accept my apology, and let's keep it cheery edit: [1] by the way it's all good, just a scary false alarm. I just need to be a patient patient, and I'm still grumpy, but not about onboard preamps

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your suggestions. It's impossible for you to know what's in my head when only rarely I know it myself 😛 It took me a while to learn that onboard happiness, for me, is passive tone with semiparametric mids.

What would we do without your wisdom? edit: I'll explain why my tone. It grates when someone keeps insisting that HIS way of doing things is THE way of doing things, just because he likes it better that way. Wake up. Thank you for the input. I get it. Now let me carry on doing what works best for MYSELF.

In those days we'd all waste a lot more time, it's true. You can't, in 2019, say you played in function bands and say they didn't have a name. A function band without a name? That is a band that never left the rehearsal studio. The guitarist could well be fantastic, but when you have others to try, why would you give him a chance? Certainly not because his natural charm...

I didn't know Donald Trump played guitar!!! Last year we tried to start a side project with members of my main two bands. We went to the first tryout with this guitarist we found on facebook... talked the talk, but what a poser he was. Horrible tone, all he could do was widdle over bluesy tunes (and my rule #1 when we started the project was "I ain't playing no steenkin' bluez") and often out of tune. After we gave him the "thanks but we're going in a different direction", he got really upset and bombarded our messenger with short messages about how we clearly feel threatened by his superior musicianship and bs like that. It was hilarious, in a cringeworthy manner. Poor guy. Maybe he moved towards your town?

Hey, the possession of knobs do not imply you need to use them all the time. If you're endlessly tweaking then maybe you haven't figured out what sound you're after... or the bass just cannot produce it and you haven't realised it. And yes, I fell for that too. My first active bass, a Warwick Corvette $$, with multiple switches and push/pull knobs... I swear I spent more time playing with my knobs 😛 than playing music. Then the Stingray saved me.

That's a bit of a flippant answer, isn't it? Let us, who know how to use our knobs, have them. Or something

I find it much nicer to have it at my fingertips. Just my preference. I set the amp for the 'general' sound, and then use the onboard controls as required. I'm also one of the people who use passive tone controls a lot, while others just leave them open. I also favour single pickup basses while others keep playing with different pickups and combinations... Are you really suggesting I should ask the guy at the desk to change my mids for monitor and FOH as the gig progresses? As for 3 band over 2 band... funny, I don't care for bass/treble controls, so give me the 3-band purely for mids. But I want mids where I can select the centre frequency between as low as 100Hz to 1000 or 2000 Hz. That one single control is very intuitive and powerful. I like it. My preference. Possibly not on the bible, 'though but there you go.

Oh there's a few for bass preamps. John East make a stand alone mids module... out of stock right now, temporarily, but it's part of the 3-band MMSR, so not difficult to obtain. Selectable sweep between 100-1000 or 200-2000 Hz As the Model T is EMG equipped, I looked at EMG, and they have a stand alone module, the VMC, which is very similar although only 100-1000. I've seen others by Noll, I think, and cheapies by ToneMonster.

You show me a cannon when all I want is a newspaper to hit a mosquito A simple semiparametic (100-1000 Hz) with two controls, stacked, is all I want on the bass. I find that effective yet easy to tweak on the spot. Give me a passive tone plus a semiparametric like that one, and I'm happy. Resale value is not a factor for me. I really don't care. I find it odd to not modify an instrument the way I like it just in case I lose a few £ should I want to sell it in the future. Besides, it's easy to restore to stock, all I'm doing is changing two components and wires. And finally... this bass stays. I love it. This and the Stingray are the unsaleables

Ah, it looks like they merged with the bar next door, and that's where the band plays now (which is the restaurant during the day). The other side is as you describe, and much smaller. The after gig parties still happen

Yup, that's the one, next to a little SPAR (I think) shop, with a beer garden behind, and the walls painted a very interesting shade of... yellow/green? Hard to tell. They have a few rooms too. Restaurant on the left side, where bands play, and bar on the right. There's a fireplace right behind where the band sets up, and you MUST remember to ask them to put it down well in advance, or you'll have a toasted drummer. We've played there many times, and it's always been busy in the end... but sometimes it looked a bit sad to start. We had some 'fans' who would always be there from the start, but sets would be variable. We generally played 3 sets and had to time the breaks well because all it takes is one little group deciding to try the other bar up the road and suddenly you've lost 15-20 people, in a bar that holds maybe 100 at best? Although I'm sure sometimes we had more people there... It's one bar where we actually barricade ourselves in as the locals can get pretty... enthusiastic Last time there owner was a bit 'erratic' and we got a bit fed up with her attitude, and two of the guys don't seem keen to return. We'll see. Typically we'd play there at the beginning of the summer and then at the end, so if we go back I'll find out soon. It was a fun place to play, mostly.

The stock preamp is EMG on the Model T. Not a bad preamp, and you can tweak it a bit (a couple of internal dip switches changes its mode of operation a bit)... but with most preamps I find it's mids I want to control easily: bass I set with my amp, treble... I haven't really found an active treble control I like as much as a passive treble-cut. Semiparametric mids is where it's at for me. Back to the stock 2EQ EMG, I don't think it's bad, just that it doesn't suit me. I worked hard at learning how the bass/treble controls interact, much like I did with the Stingray... but the Stingray is dialled in just right for my liking, while the EMG is just not quite right in combination with those pickups. I was going to replace the whole thing, put a set of DiMarzio Model P/J and passive controls... but I thought I'd try this passive tone + semiparametric mids trick first.

The Steam Inn?

about slacking the strings... I hear that from time to time but wouldn't that be worse? I mean, the neck is held at an equilibrium between the truss rod and the strings pulling in opposite directions. I wouldn't imagine that removing one would be any good. It clearly doesn't do any harm, as you can keep instruments like that for ages and they respond well once under tension again... but, I don't see what's being gained. Unless you loosen the truss rod as well.

There's something about the wide neck on the 5-string, it makes it look even better than the 4 string... My 4-string is being modified. It's lovely to play but that EMG 2-band EQ is really not for me and I finally had enough. After a little research, I bought some different EMG components and I received them yesterday. It's going to be: 1) stacked volume and tone control (passive tone). 2) blend 3) VMC module: semiparametric mids module Now... wait until I have the time...

Hell of an entrance, my friend, hell of an entrance...

It was just the metal cover that didn't fit too tightly. The handle was attached alright. I lifted the cap, put a little bit of felt in there, and put the cap back on. No rattling anymore. I had a similar style handle, only the plastic version rather than the metal one fitted on BF cabs, nearly fail on my old MarkBass CMD121P combo. I hadn't noticed anything unusual, but the rubber grip had frayed with use within a year (I used it a lot), and bought a replacement. When I removed the plastic cover I saw that the metal blade inside the handle was sawing away at the plastic post where the screw goes through. It was almost broken off. The thought of seeing my amp tumbling down a staircase made me very nervous and I installed an all metal handle. Ever since I'm a little cautious about handles. Fortunately, in this case, it was just the metal cover rattling.

I'm actually an owner myself. A very happy owner of 2 of those Two10 cabs. Fortunately mine didn't seem to suffer from tolex issues (or feet, but one handle did vibrate a bit for a while 😛). I just don't like blanket defending a company (or attacking it ) as a matter of principle.

It's not negative sniping when it's factually correct.

Best 29 minutes in the last two decades

well, it was definitely afternoon!