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mcnach

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Everything posted by mcnach

  1. mcnach
    I'm glad you said that, because I had the same thought and was feeling guilty about it. I used to play Sir Duke years ago with one covers band. That unison riff wasn't particularly hard in the sense that it sounded ok live with the band, but *I knew* I was often not playing as cleanly as I wanted to, and in the heat of the moment I sometimes skipped a note somewhere (as long as you keep the timing you can get away with so much!)... then I listened to this isolated track and made me feel a lot better 😛 Disclaimer: no, I don't claim for a second that I can play as well as Nate Watts or have a percent of his knowledge... it's a bit like Flea, when I was in a RHCP tribute band I would play whatever we wanted from their catalog. The fast slap stuff that made most people go "whoa" was not *that* hard to copy, they were simple patterns played fast, that's all, all it takes is practice. So I could play anything from their catalog, but it doesn't mean I could play like Flea. Not even remotely close.
  2. mcnach
    Maybe 'dirty' is too strong a word, I'm going by the video that @stewblack posted somewhere on the second page of this thread, where there's a bit of mild overdrive kicking in with the input gain lower than half-way, but I suppose it will depend on the bass too with higher output basses getting into that territory earlier? It's a good sound! Despite my preference for clean amplifiers, I loved how it warmed up the sound, and from what you say it seems that clean(ish) headroom should not be an issue. Soundwise, I'd prefer the Elf to my BAM200, but I decided to go with the cheaper option (half price!) simply because it's an amplifier that will barely see any action. Does the Elf get quite warm? I was just using the BAM200 with my guitar earlier, not very loud at all and maybe an hour or so, not more, and it was really warm to the touch. Re: One In Ten... you made me wonder "do I know you?" because it's a very new project and we've only played live once! Then I realised that there was a link on my signature to the FB page and there's a clip or two there from that gig. Thank you for your kind words, although my recollection of that gig was that it was not very good! We barely had 10-12 songs ready at that stage (we only started in November and keyboard player joined in mid december... we got a great percussionist now but after a single rehearsal the lockdown happened, I hope we can go back and get up to speed soon, although we probably won't be gigging in a while. It's a shame, we had a very busy calendar from May onwards through to September. But I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that, we're all on the same boat there!
  3. mcnach
    Well, here comes another long post, probably 😛 I'd say both are versatile enough. Some amps, you're right, they seem to be geared towards one type of sound especially but I think these here are pretty neutral. The BAM200 is a little mid scooped with the controls all at 12 o'clock, but you can adjust by turning up the mids (although I seem to prefer turning down the bass a bit and the treble a bit more, as in my picture... but it's early days, I only bought it a couple of weeks ago or so and only used it at home so far). If you don't need the super-small footprint, I'd really get the LM250. It's got a decent EQ section (low and high mids separately come handy) and it's got the MarkBass VLE and VPF filters which I find very useful (so much so, that I also bought the SuperBooster pedal, which is the VLE and VPF filters in pedal form). It's got a more than decent DI (my main band's second album was recorded using my LMIII's DI in the studio) and its output is adjustable, which I found extremely useful a few times. The LM250 is, like the LMIII, pretty 'neutral', which means it's very easy to get any kind of sound out of it except overdriven. You can't drive the input in order to get a bit of warm distortion, it's strictly clean... but so is the BAM200. The TE ELF does get dirty as you turn the input gain up (there's a video up here in this thread illustrating that, it sounds pretty good), but unless that's the sound you want most (all?) of the time, I'd rather have an amplifier that gives me clean bass at any output level, and I can add dirt if I want to (Joyo American Sound, a little £35 pedal, is one of my favourites... and it makes my guitars sound great through the bass amplifier too). I think the BAM200 is a great backup amplifier, something you can take anywhere easily and will probably do a decent job, but it would not be my main amplifier. The LM250, however, I'd be quite happy owning that as my only amplifier. Spend a little time getting to understand how the VLE and VPF filters work and interact, and you'll be amazed how easy it can go from old school to modern crystal clear tones to dub to... anything you want. I'm a fan of the Little Mark amplifiers, but I promise I don't get commission edit: I'm not sure where you are, but if you happen to be near Edinburgh let me know and I'll let you try the BAM200, LMIII (which is not the same, but it's meant to be close enough in sound to the LM250) and a Mesa D800+ while we're at it.
  4. mcnach
    welcome to the forum! I have used a BQ250 a few times in a local bar that do open mic sessions. I can't say how similar it is to the BAM200, but I don't think they're very different. I went with the BAM200 because what I wanted was a VERY small amp that would easily fit in my gigbag as a backup. I play (or used to play before the virus!) a lot of gigs in small bars where we'd bring all of our equipment, which included a small PA just for vocals and horns, really. I like the idea of having a backup amplifier just in case for those situations: even if 200W is not a lot, with a couple of 210 cabs it will be ok. Space is sometimes an issue, and having one extra bit of gear adds a higher chance of losing something, while the BAM200 will just be inside my gig bag (Fusion F1, pretty big and lots of storage) so it won't add to the amount of gear we travel with. If the BQ250 is not too big for you, I'd probably get that because of the more versatile EQ and a little more power, and the amplifier is what, about £20 more? I also like the 'handles' which protect the knobs. However, if you think the Little Mark 250 is still portable enough... then I'd ignore the TCE and get the MarkBass without hesitation. In my opinion it's a much nicer all round amplifier. To give you an idea of the relative sizes, here's my BAM200 on top of the LMIII (which I believe is the same size as the LM250). The BAM200 (and the ELF!) is *tiny*. It really is not much bigger than most DI boxes.
  5. mcnach
    +1 My first solder iron was a 15W one, and it worked... but not well. You need something a bit hotter to make your life easier. I have a little soldering station now after seeing it recommended in this very forum years ago, and I'd recommend you get one too. Having a nice setup so that you can hold the iron, adjust temperatures etc is very useful and makes soldering so much easier.
  6. mcnach
    It looks like it's just a 3-band EQ pedal with semiparametric mids... am I missing anything? edit: yes, I was missing that it's supposed to replicate the Echoplex preamp, plus the 3-band EQ.
  7. mcnach
    Well, the purple Squier Bullet Telecaster will be back in stock in September...
  8. mcnach
    "wonderwall!!!" said the little group of football fans.. we're an originals band playing a mix of ska/reggae/funk. The following four songs were introduced as "Wonderwall".
  9. mcnach
    Find a purple one and I'll do you a favour and buy it first :p
  10. mcnach
    I think one of the most attractive points of the more expensive guitars is the (perceived?) better QC. A lot of the cheaper instruments seem to required some minor work to turn them into real nice players, and while I am ok with that not everybody feels comfortable with that. I played OLP Stingray basses for a while, and I owned two that were very nice, but my 2002 EBMM Stingray just felt *quality* from the minute I had it in my hands and ended up selling the OLPs. Most 'good' instruments I've had were like that. I think where it gets really interesting is in the mid-priced instruments... £400-700. My PRS SE, or the Schecter Model T bass, felt very good, and if you told me they cost £1200 I'd have believed it. Same with a couple of newer MIM Fenders. The PRS in particular has a beautiful roasted maple neck and fingerboard and it's fantastic.
  11. mcnach
    If I see one I'm buying it, no question! It seems silly, it's just a colour but...
  12. mcnach
    oh, not at all! (banging on about it) Thank you for your thoughts and contributing to this thread I'm going to have to take a break from the computer or I'll end up with one or two Harley Bentons, another SX, a Squier and probably a Stagg. At least It's terrible not having band business these days, when I'm busy with gigs etc I don't get tempted nearly as much!
  13. mcnach
    what??? I'm a big fan of purple and maple!!! where did you find that? I love it!!!
  14. mcnach
    Yamaha seem to manage to make decent instruments regardless the price point, that's true. I was selling a cheap strat once. It was not bad but it was far from being amazing and I never gelled with it. This guy came to try it... I almost kicked him out and kept the guitar! In his hands it sounded fantastic, nothing like what it sounded with me
  15. mcnach
    J&Ds are great value. One think I loved was that they made a few instruments with a lacquered neck which is my preference and you don't find them often in the cheapest ranges. In addition, the Jazz neck was narrow as you'd expect but a bit deeper than usual, which suited me nicely (I don't like slim necks)... it was great! As always, with the cheaper instruments it is worth being able to set it up yourself and do a few minor adjustments. If you are handy with setups, you can't go wrong with these... and your Tele looks fantastic too. Differences between the J&D and the Tokai... very small differences, but enough to make me think they're made from a different 'template'? The scratchplate looks very close but the curves are ever so slightly different in places (such as a sharper corner on the top right of the bridge), and position of the screws. The first one I noticed was the ones flanking the tone control, they look pretty much aligned with the middle of the tone control on the Tokai, but a bit higher on the J&D. There's also the bottom of the neck, it's a bit longer and squarer on the Tokai. Different strap buttons... I thought I noticed more differences but I am looking at them now and I'm really struggling Some of those things (curves) could be the different angles in the pictures but the screw alignment and bottom of the neck looks real to me... I don't know, it's very very close indeed but I'm not sure they represent the same instrument. Even Tokai have different takes of the same instrument at different price points. I saw a nice black/maple Tokai at just over £200 which sounded good (last one I saw was more like £500) but it turned out to be one of the cheaper ones. If I'm buying 'bottom end' I might as well go with J&D or SX then
  16. mcnach
    Ugh... what a terrible demo! That distortion pedal direct into desk sound and a P90 *humbucker*? I could do a better demo playing a broom plugged into a dustbin.
  17. mcnach
    I'm no longer looking to buy, but I still look and came across this interesting variant by Stagg. Now, every bass (never tried Stagg guitars) I tried by Stagg was ok, it worked, but I never really like them... but this thing has a very interesting design and if I see it in the flesh I will have to give it a try. That P90 on the neck is an interesting take too. It may just make it sound distinctly enough to justify buying one if I see them around 😛 Around £150-160 (also in sonic blue, natural...)
  18. mcnach
    I heard some once referred to Jimmy Page as the guy who sold most Les Pauls while using a Tele
  19. mcnach
    I had a J&D bass, it needed some minor work (unsurprisingly for the price point: sharp fret ends, one tall fret and nut slots a little low on a couple of strings), but it was pretty good considering the cost. It took me all of 20 minutes to get it playing nicely (took it to rehearsals straight away and played a few gigs with it), and a bit longer to permanently deal with those issues. I'm not sure the Tokai is the same bass, I can see a few small differences. There are a lot of similar guitars out there, and you are right 'though, some of those must be made in the same factory. It doesn't mean they're built to the same specs, however. Hmm, so many guitars, so little time.
  20. mcnach
    what???
  21. mcnach
    Oh, I'm even more excited now!
  22. mcnach
    It's supposed to be a bit like candy apple red... I was going for black/maple or natural/maple but this caught my eye Let's see how it works out. For £139 I'm ready to do some minor fret levelling and nut work etc.
  23. mcnach
    I've just ordered a SX Telecaster. Let's see if it is similar in quality to other SX guitars I've played (and the one I've got)...
  24. mcnach
    Of course, I still use my P90 equipped guitar, you learn to find the best angles in the room to use it I was just adding the Variax comment as a 'curiosity'. It was a great sound! Shame the guitar was nothing special, and ugly too.
  25. mcnach
    On the subject of hum... I used to have a Variax guitar. Their P90 emulation was very good and completely silent (when you want it to be!). I've often thought of getting another JUST for that sound.
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