mcnach

[quote name='oldbass' timestamp='1498753016' post='3326854'] [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40445192"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...siness-40445192[/url] Hope so... [/quote] It makes sense to take advantage of the current fashion. How long it'll last, I don't know but if there's a market... it makes sense. Killing the CD? If it dies I think it won't be because of the vinyl comeback. I think it is dying because as a digital format, there are much more convenient platforms these days. Unlike the vinyl records, the CD is not likely to have a nostalgic effect, so once it goes it'll probably be gone forever... so it's interesting that the vinyl record may outlast CDs in the end!

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1498732135' post='3326612'] I remember finding the bottom end a bit mushy, but these are very old memories ! [/quote] it can get a bit too unwieldy, that's why I generally bring the bass control down a bit... but if you have a variable high pass filter later in the chain, you can remove all the excess flab and just leave the delicious bits in.

[quote name='bassbiscuits' timestamp='1498729302' post='3326573'] I'm not sure where this idea has come from that a week before a gig is too late to change strings? Have i missed something? I've regularly changed mine the day before a gig - as long as you keep giving them a good stretch and play them a good bit before the gig they will have settled down and will stay in tune no problem. I did exactly that last weekend. Quite whether the change in sound was appreciated by the punters is a different matter tho! I should have asked them both... [/quote] Indeed. You can change the strings right before the gig, it's fine (if you like that bright sound). A new string will be perfectly stable if you take a little care when you put it on. Don't put excessive unnecessary windings on the tuning post, ensure there's no slack, help create 'witness points' at the nut and bridge where the strings naturally bend... and you're ready to go. I don't even stretch them, I don't find that necessary if I was careful before... but it won't hurt and could help relieve some slack you may inadvertently introduce...

[quote name='Froggy' timestamp='1498411847' post='3324390'] Im looking for some advice from more experienced players, I have a gig next Saturday, first one ever, I'm slightly scared but excited too. I'm as prepared as I can be (6 weeks to learn 20 songs, I'm winging almost all of them!) I have 2 spare batteries for my bass and 4 spares for my wireless transmitter and a set of spare strings for the bass, I can't think of anything else I might need. The question is, the current strings on my bass have been on it for at least 18 months, since I bought it, so longer in the shop obviously. They don't seem to be showing signs of wear, and I play fingerstyle quite lightly, I don't hit the strings hard. Should I change them now, 1 week before the gig, or leave them for now and change them afterwards? [/quote] Do they sound ok? If yes... leave them. Do you use effects? Overdrive/distortion in particular? If the answer is yes... beware a fresh roundwound string will be noticeably brighter and your overdrives will sound a lot grittier, so make sure you get a good practice with the new strings to figure out your gain levels again.

[quote name='Byo' timestamp='1498696298' post='3326447'] The PD7 is the first effect pedal I ever bought and I still have it. It was my main drive for a few years too and used to pair it with a Darkglass B3K (1st edition). Awesome sound and extremely underrated. My sound was setting to OD, gain to around 9-10 o'clock, a little Bass boost and a tiny cut on the highs and it was an awesome OD with a P-Bass. Nice to see that I am not alone! [/quote] and those push-in buttons... love those! Find your setting, push them in... settings safe! I had once a scare when my pedalboard stopped working. No sound at all.. but all lights were on. This is for the RATM band, so I really didn't want to play clean all night... I needed 2-3 overdrives, the wah, a phaser... I traced it back to the second to last pedal in the chain: an EBS compressor. I took it out and played the gig. Later I realised that the level control was at zero! The pedal was absolutely fine, but somehow the cable inside the pedal board had turned that knob down to zero. Of course, now I check and recheck those things, but still... the push buttons to save settings are a great solution

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1498696233' post='3326446'] I have one of these and am rather fond. The built in, fixed blend makes it quite easy to use, although it is quite a scooped, 'distortion' pedal regardless of settings. Nevertheless, it's a good sound, and does get those 'oooh, that's nice' reactions! I used it to re-record the bass for a remix of an industrial-cybergoth-metal track once, and as much of a niche genre as that may have been, it suited the context well. The sound it makes reminds me of a little bass break in a Morbid Angel song, maybe off the first or third album. Also, for anyone chasing John Entwistle's later bass tones, the Phat Hed with the right flanger would do a very good job. I have heard the micro-switches are prone to wearing out and aren't the standard boss type, but otherwise the pedal is solid and the 'sinkable' knobs are a great idea. [/quote] The two I've had, I had no issues with the switches... fingers crossed for the one I still have! I find the distortion a little too scooped for my liking. It works, but if it's a busy sound with the rest of the band you need to EQ it carefully, however the overdrive works very well for me. The 2EQ is very effective, I find I nearly always have to cut bass to make it sit just right. I get very nice fat gritty low gain overdrive sounds (think Audioslave "Be yourself") or grittier higher gain ones (think Biffy Clyro "The captain") simply by adjusting the treble/bass controls on my Stingray (those are two songs we do in a covers band I've just started playing in, and that's exactly how I manage the sound...)... I find with overdrives, if you have an active EQ in your bass, the treble/mids are fantastic at shaping the distortion, so you can set a drive level that with the treble down a bit doesn't feel very distorted... and then you turn up a bit and you get a very dirty sound. One pedal does it when I used to use two for that. The PD7 works very very well that way.

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1498705239' post='3326456'] Yup, done loads. A Dremel is my tool of choice. - First, mark out (or trace) your outline on the back of the blank. - then cut out the shape with a few mm clearance using the dremel circular cutting tool - Then use the abrasive grit cylinder attchments to gently take the material back nearly to the level you want. - I always find it easier to finish off with various grades of sandpaper/ wet'n'dry paper. Something like 100-200 grit to get the basic shape (including the bevel) and then something like 400 then 600 to finish it off. - I have a large but fine toothed square-edged metal file which is very useful for finishing off the shape off non-bevelled bits like pickup holes and the neck slots. - For pickup holes when I'm "freestyling" it, I cut one hole in the scratchplate where I'm damned sure the pickup is, and then slowly, slowly enlarge the hole with the dremel, continually matching it up to the bass, until I've got a decent fit for the pickup, finishing up those edges with my big file. It all takes a while, but don't rush it and you will have something unique and special ! [/quote] That was very useful, thank you. I'm planning to make one in the near future (got the blank and tools, just looking for the time and will to colocalise ) and that was reassuring. I didn't want to go all the way to make a template etc. I figured that with a dremel, slowly and carefully I should be able to do it. How did you manage to do the bevel edge? "carefully", I guess

[quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1498678332' post='3326326'] Where did you get the bag? [/quote] ebay search for "[color=#333333]10241 Technicians Electricians Tool Case"[/color]

terrible people... I love it

One of my favourite sounds with it is when set to clean (essentially the pedal becomes a 2-band EQ preamp pedal) engaging the Attack. It adds a really cool raspy metallic edge...

Isn't this one of the best 'unknown' overdrive pedals out there? I used to have one a while ago, then stopped needing it, got sold... Eventually I came to my senses and bought another . Both times it cost me something like £35, used. Cheap. Pretty versatile... set a mid gain sound, roll off the treble on your bass a bit... FAT FAT FAT overdrive. And with the "attack" switch you can get some really cool metallic overtones that doesn't sound miles away from the Darkglass BK3 I used to own (and sold as I preferred this little unit). It can also double as a weapon, this thing is a brick!

Very interesting idea, allows you to build your own rig in a modular manner using your choice of preamp...

There was a guy over in TB who had owned a CMD121P combo for a while, enjoying it, and then opened it to look at the speaker. Apparently it was not a B&C speaker anymore as Markbass had changed and was getting their speakers made by somebody else to the same specs. Good quality, sounding the same etc... but the guy was very bitter about his 'inferior' product, even if he had not been able to tell the difference until he *looked* at it. The Italy vs Asia thing is pretty much the same. At first I had concerns too, but it's been a while now that the production has moved and quality does not seem to have been lost. You will still get people claiming older Italian ones are better... but there doesn't seem to be any real weight to that claim.

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1498589037' post='3325752'] I used a J&D Jazz that i paid £65 for at a wedding in Italy on Friday. Didn't want to take anything valuable for obvious reasons but was blown away by how good it sounded in the recorded audio. Sadly my playing is nowhere near the standard of the chap in the OP's video. [media]http://youtu.be/1c7haVAqMrw[/media] [/quote] That J&D bass is great. I had one and sounded fantastic completely stock. I only sold it because I had too many Jazz basses and I am not a fan of slim necks... but I love the Jazz sound so I kept buying them

[quote name='LeftyP' timestamp='1498582747' post='3325694'] Then there was the lead singer who told me that one night he was in mid-song when a bloke walked up to the stage and asked him if he had change for the jukebox! [/quote] That made me think of this song, for some reason... [color=#006621][font=arial, sans-serif]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykj4Q7f-j5I[/font][/color]

[quote name='tonyclaret' timestamp='1498566072' post='3325541'] So the BF retros go lower and still have good articulation compared to the TKS S112. Had my first run out with the Single TKS S112 it coped well in a small barn with no PA support. But I bit more beef on tap wouldn't go a miss. Never consider a 2 x 10. Was looking at the super compact and Big baby 2 as possible one cab solution if the TKS didn't stand up. [/quote] I'm not sure they go lower, what I mean is they are able to give you *more* bass. That extra 'beef on tap' you mention. A lot of extra beef in fact. And you can put more power through them too, of course. I can't imagine using a single S112 except for the tiniest rooms. I think as a single cab solution the BB2 would be good, if a single S112 seems to work for you. I had a pair of them! But I never found it to sound just right, while the Two10 does. I think the BB2 probably gets louder, I think it probably has a deeper low end, but the Two10 sounds better for my taste. And two of them sound very good even when I don't need to be very loud. It's not just volume.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1498516131' post='3325247'] It's a thing. There's no real link to either your musicianship, or how far musically the stuff you have now can take you. A new bass will not make you a better player, it will not teach you scales, it will not understand melody better, it will not groove better, it will not make your band better, it will not make the drummer play in time, it will not make you more attractive. It's not really holding you back. Unless you let it. And if you form a band, normally you're playing crappy wee venues, with poor acoutics, and bad sound people, and a guitarist who can't turn down ever - and in the mix the difference between what you have now, and a squier or spector or a fedora are negligible, in that mix. And the drummer still can't play in time. Form a band, play some gigs, put on your own gigs, make your own wee scene, DIY recordings, fun an attitude, practice, practice some more, and some more, play more gigs, suddenly you've got a bit of a buzz going locally about what you're doing. And it's good, and it's fun, and it's enjoyable and you're playing better and making more good music... and well that old Cort is still going strong. Cos apart from internet forums I don't think music is really that much about the instrument. [/quote] Well put. And good point about the sound on most small gigs... I've sometimes wondered why on earth I paid $$$ if I was going to end up sounding like a muddy mound of crap anyway Fortunately I don't play many such gigs anymore, but they are there still!

[quote name='FarFromTheTrees' timestamp='1498509695' post='3325167'] I'm sure i'm not the only person on these forums who lives a somewhat financially restricted lifestyle. I'm sure i'm also not the only one amongst us monetarily challenged folks who battles with GAS on an almost daily basis. I dont want much in the way of a Bass...not really. A new Spector Euro LX or Rebop 5 (Cant decide) and a good model used amp and cab combo (markbass or GK) would probably do me for the rest of my days (happily I have all the pedals I need for the foreseeable future). There's no denying how much good quality instruments can improve not only our playing, but our overall sense of musicianship as a whole which in turn helps us to enjoy playing our music a whole lot more. As it is i'm currently stuck with an old Cort and a failing 400w line6 combo & i'm almost certain that having substandard equipment is holding me back somewhat in terms of musical progression and creative expression. I work full time at a minimum wage job and saving anything after paying all my bills etc is such a struggle. I try my hardest to save but inevitably something comes along which eats into any money I have saved. I go to a lot of small gigs and my mind boggles when I see everyday folks playing relatively high-end instruments. I dont feel envious however, if anything I feel respect for the effort these musicians have likely had to put in to pay for their highly prized gear. I've had enough of minimum wage jobs, of not being able to save anything remotely substantial and I've especially had enough of low-end gear so in light of that I'm trying to start my own business. I dont know if my business will work, or even if i'll get it off the ground but I pray to the old gods and the new that it will work. In the mean time i'll keep trying to save for that Spector and amp combo I desire. It may take me several years but i'm confident that i'll get there. I'm not so certain why I felt compelled to post this. I guess we all feel the pinch now and then. I see some outstanding high-end instruments being sold with incredible reluctance on the classifieds sometimes; "I dont want to sell it but my situation dictates that I must". I imagine that must be as tough as it gets, to finally own a dream bass and later, be forced to sell it on. To anyone else struggling with old, beat-up, cheap and unwieldy gear which sounds nothing like the tone you imagine in your head. Hang on in there, you're not the only one. [/quote] I'm not sure that your gear is holding you back... but I can sympathyse with the feeling. There were days when I felt the same way, years ago. Then things got better and I found that nicer instruments are nicer indeed but they did little to my ability to play music: I did not get better, nor I felt I wanted to play more or anything. Of course I like nice gear if I can get it... but these days we are fortunate in that we don't *need* to spend a lot of money to buy decent equipment. I know that if I spend more than £300 in a bass is because I choose to, not because I have to, and one of my favourite basses is a Squier Jazz I bought for £75, a little beat up, into which I put a new set of pickups and an unnecessary (but I like it a lot) J-Retro preamp. If that were my only bass, it would not affect my ability to play in any band or anything. With amplifiers and cabs... You can get a Peavey 410 for under £100 (mine cost me £70 and was ugly but did a very good job), and my first bass head was a Behringer BX4500H that cost me peanuts and didn't sound bad at all... My current gear sounds better, and is very portable etc etc, but there is enough cheaper gear out there that works well, and if I could not afford what I use now, I'd happily use that. Of course, I had to use better gear to realise that my lowly equipment wasn't as bad as I was making it to be... And that's the thing, I think: it's easy to fool ourselves into thinking that throwing money at something will make us happier and better... and to some extent it may make us happier, but it won't be a significant change in any way. So, I'd aim to use nicer/better gear, but I would not get too worried about it or compromise my budget for other interesting things in life just to buy a new bass or amp.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1498566439' post='3325547'] I would rather have heard him actually talk about the basses than showcasing his playing [/quote] See, I don't care at all about what he has to say about the basses. I'm not very interested in a comparison between basses when they are very different in style to start with, and I don't think I need someone else telling me that there are build/feel/finish differences between a very very cheap Lindo Precision copy, a Fender Jazz, and a twin humbucker Fodera. However, I loved the music, and I loved that even the cheap Lindo bass could be used to great effect. Sure, it was far from my favourite Precision sound, but it wasn't horrible either.

[quote name='M@23' timestamp='1498561119' post='3325489'] They look ace. Have to ask though, how is the vinyl finish? Have they sorted out whatever glue issue was causing them to strip? I wouldn't mind picking one up, if that's all history. [/quote] I can't tell for sure, I've had them less than a year (I bought the first Two10 in September last year). So far, they seem ok. For the time being, they look good enough and nothing is peeling away like they did on the first run. It's a much nicer finish that on the other BF cabs, in my opinion, and I do like their softly textured vinyl more than most other alternatives I've seen in other cabs. So I hope their new glue is as long lasting as other manufacturers'.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1498556669' post='3325443'] Are they running a mic on your cab there? I always like it when venues are up for that. Edit; aah, you posted about the mic while I was typing. Makes this post a bit redundant! [/quote] Yes, they did! I was very surprised, as it rarely happens. So surprised that I didn't remember to say "use the top one, as the bottom one doesn't get the full frequency signal"... One of the bands I play in, the RATM one, requires a fair amount of overdrive for many songs. Going DI is never producing the most pleasant results. The VT-Bass has a speaker simulation but I like to use other pedals. I plan to use the OmniCabSim DI pedal but I always remember when I'm about to load the car and leave I wish they used microphones more. When you ask them about it they generally just smile and go "nah, DI will be fine and easier" and you know it's not worth getting precious about it. On the other hand... if they use a Pre DI that allows me to tweak the sound onstage and I don't have pressure to get it just right during soundcheck, which are often pretty short... so it's a mixed bag of feelings there.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1498037376' post='3322082'] I don't understand the animosity toward the guy. He's totally free to advertise it for whatever he wants, and in whatever condition. If someone os fool enough to pay hundreds of times more than it's worth, the that's down to them. [/quote] Same here... I'm confused

I have to add that the S112 pair has been relegated to home use... They're great, but the pair of Barefaced Two10 when combined with the Mesa D800+ amplifier is a few notches above the S112 rig. It's bigger, but not terribly so and not that heavy either... and it sounds fantastic. The bottom end hits you, but I retain all the definition that I loved on the TKS cabs... a great sound that blends in beautifully in the band but retains presence and it just feels so powerful. I bet the TKS would sound great with the Mesa too, but the Two10 can use the power from the amp and deliver beyond what the smaller S112 cabs can do. I'm still loving the S112 cabs, which is why they stay until space becomes an issue, but there's no contest between these two rigs. Here's the new kid:

and yes, I know... they put a microphone on the wrong speaker. I didn't think of it at the time. It seems to have worked ok still, but that was one a gig nobody said anything about the sound (except my trombone player, but of course he was getting the whole picture onstage).

Yet another update. I already liked the Two10 cabs... but the arrival of a new amp has just taken them into the stratosphere. So while I wait for them to return here's a picture That combination sounds amazing (Mesa Subway D800+). The D800+ has a variable HPF control which is very useful at controlling the bottom end. Between the 'voicing' control (a 'contour' of sorts, but not exactly, there's more to it than a simple EQ curve shift between 'smiley' and 'sad' shapes) to set the general character of the sound, and balancing the bass control with the HPF, it's very easy to get a strong low end without sounding muddy/boomy. The low mids are punchy and my bass sounds big and powerful without even being too loud. I've only had 4 gigs with this setup and I've got quite a few complimentary comments. One sound guy made a few notes about what I was using because he said it was the best bass sound he had heard in a while and couldn't believe it came from such a relatively compact rig. Powerful bass that you cab *feel* yet well defined and clear across the stage (and outside too, of course, but I have a more direct experience of the stage sound, of course... for outside I go by the comments of others, and it seems to be pretty good... nobody had commented on my sound for a while, and suddenly there's this influx... this rig must be doing something right )