mcnach

Ok, so we look a bit bored and stiff... we were missing a guitar and the sax player, and personally I was struggling physically a lot. Not the best night to have a gig... but it was my first with my new bass so here it goes, Sea Bass Kid playing "Smokey Home", one of the tracks in our new CD (almost ready!)

A video from last weekend, first gig on the Sandberg... excuse me my looking bored, I was not, but I was struggling due to lack of sleep for several nights and it was after 1am already. In fact the whole band looks a bit stiff compared to our usual, and we were missing one guitar (and sax!)...

Thank you, but I'm alright for now I think I've tried that cab (maybe not the very same, but same model) one epic night (same night I tried the Vanderkley ones and various others in one single room) and it was pretty good!

Are you selling any? I tried the 210... MNT I think it was, alongside the two TKS types, a single BB2 and a single Compact. They were nice, surprisingly close to the TKS 1226 in sound. Nice, but not my kind.

I don't think I could call any of the BF cabs I tried (15" Compact or the 12" BB2 and SuperMidgets) lacking in the mids, I found them pretty 'transparent', as bass cabs go. In fact, sometimes I wanted to tame the higher mids on those (not because they enhance them, but because I think I like lower high mids myself and less of the higher mids and treble ranges). The 1126 and the BB2 are not a bad comparison, in that they're both big sounding, and you can probably get one to sound like the other, but their inherent voicing is different. The 1126 sounds more 'pleasant' at first, to my ears, possibly because the higher mids are not as prominent. The BB2 is probably just more transparent, or 'flat' in its response. The SC I think it's a very different beast from the S112, but I'm just going by what I read as I have not tried a SC myself. The S112 is a tiny cab, as far as 12s go. With a ceramic driver whose details I forget but I remember it being something relatively common in the bass world. It is not very highly rated, 250W or so I think, so with it being in a smaller box than the SC, probably can't even begin to compete with is volume-wise. Not to say it's weak, it's just that you need to be a bit mindful when using amplifiers capabl of delivering hundreds of watts. Because of the relatively small box, there is not as much bass as in other bigger 112s. It's not that it sounds weak, again, it's just that it's voiced with a bit less bass. You can turn up the bass controls a bit and it responds beautifully, but because of the power handling limits, you need to be a bit careful, more careful than with anything like a SC or BB2. But I personally love their sound. They're only around 11Kg I think. Something ridiculous. So carrying a couple is nothing. They just make getting the sound I like very very very easy: fat, but with good definition, strong low mids, punchy but not too bassy, and probably not a lot going on above 5 KHz (which is a lot brighter than it seems to most people, slap bass sounds REALLY nice with that top end rolloff). I've used a single one at band rehearsals, full band. Use the wall wisely and it sounds plenty big on its own. For gigs, as a stage monitor I've used one just fine. For small bars I used two generally, without PA. I even played a small beer garden without PA, just the LM3 and the two cabs and I was not pushing it too hard. The drums were not mic'd either, so it was loud enough, but not crazy loud. Larger bars... I have reached the point where I wanted a bit more but I was afraid of pushing too much. A HPF would probably be helpful although the LM3 has a built-in one, but I noticed even a Thumpinator seemed to have a (positive) effect with it. Three cabs will probably see me quite happily play any of my common gigs, and ifwe need more it's definitely PA support time. Trouble is I'm not sure I can fit 3 in my boot... hmmm. I may have just found the reason I needed to stop being silly and not thinking of buying anything else now No, I didn't consider 212s or 410s because I wanted something easy to take with me wherever. I used to have a heavy 410. Not superheavy, at just over 40Kg, but with the bulk, it was not fun when I had to load/unload by myself, and at the time I lived in an apartment with stairs to climb etc... not great, not my idea of the end of a good evening I like small boxes, as many as you need, so you can use just what you need each time. That's where the Two10 are working well for me. While I prefer the TKS S112, the Two10 is nice enough, loud enough, small enough and light enough... and two fit perfectly in my boot. As for the 4x 112s... that was never my plan. I had the pair of blue ones, and I was liking them a lot. I decided the 1126 were going to go already, and someone else here had a pair of black S112 they wanted to swap for my 1126... so we arranged a swap plus a bit of cash my way. It was just a chance to experiment with adding more cabs and see how that worked. Eventually I sold the black ones too because if I needed more volume, I wanted something I could fit in my boot and not fill the car with stuff... I tried the Two10, and I got a pair. For some reason I never tried 3 of the S112s...

At one point I owned FOUR of the S112... This is from a day where I went to try a couple of amps and various combinations of cabs (I had a series/parallel box, as none of those amps could be use with lower than 4ohm). Another day I repeated that including a Mesa D800 I borrowed, which could do 2ohm... fun!

Yes, that's what I meant but I didn't want to say 'scooped' as it makes it sound worse than it was. They were NICE no doubt! I was just in a great position to have various sets of cabs to choose from, and my "loud and light" solution was won by a pair of BB2 cabs as I found easier to get that midrange I want. I'm positive I could have made the 1126 work just fine, and they were prettier (red! :D) but the BB2 narrowly won (for me) and they fitted better in the boot of my small car (an A3) which was also a factor in my decision. Three S112 could be pretty cool. They're so small and light,and sound great... between three of them spreading the goodness I'm positive I'll get all the volume I need. If I see one for sale when I have money to waste I may give that a try, just to see. If it works well I may just let my two Two10 go and simply have 3 little cabs for maximum modularity and save space at home too. I really like my Two10 cabs... but I always preferred the S112 for sound.

Tension is actually typically lower for BEAD and EADG, so theneck will be fine but you might need to loosen up the truss rod to get more relief as the strings will pull less and you may get some fret buzz otherwise.

Well, I bought one... I just need to install it! In fact I have that one, and a tonestyler-type one made by someone in his workshop that I got on eBay a while ago (complete loom, for Jazz style wiring, including series/parallel switch, so it'll take all of 5 minutes to fit)... I just need to stop being distracted in BC

Damn you @Al Krow Now you got me thinking about speakers, and have been playing with the TKS S112s... and realised that as my current amplifier is 2ohm capable, I could safely run 3 of the S112 cabs and that would surely be just fine for pretty much any gig that I do. So you got me thinking about getting a third S112 now, just when I was free of GAS As my existing ones are blue, and the few times I see one for sale they're black, it would mean ordering new, again. Ugh. 😛

I find that staying away for a bit helps reigniting the flame. My main band had a kind of... 'hiatus' forced on us due to circumstances beyond our control. We were a little... bored, at the time too. I thought that was it. But when we had the chance to come back we did, and the fire is starting to come back. It's not the first time I experience this. Sometimes we all need a vacation, I think.

You're my twin brother... I've recently brought that book out, again, hoping that seeing it on the desk will prompt me to actually use it... not getting very far yet I start... then I get distracted playing something I'm actually decent at and that's it.

Indeed! If I plotted the number of musical items I buy against time, there will be a sharp peak starting a few months after I joined. However, it's been a good trip My most expensive mistake? Probably making a custom order for a bass. I didn't gel with it at all for various reasons. It wasn't bad, just not what I look for in a bass. Took a big hit when selling it on. Then again, my last custom order has been a resounding success, so I'm happy overall. Thanks @Cuzzie In general, I bought too many things new that I was not sure I needed/wanted, and took big hits selling them on. But I'm impatient so when I want something and I have money in my pocket...

@dave moffat Not sure what you find confusing... so here's a bit more, just in case: http://www.kickassbass.co.uk/ edited to add the obligatory smiley, just in case!

You could make something like this: He makes acoustic basses (can be 'electrified' of course) out of standard bass necks and bass drums. They sound pretty good and they're actually easy to play. You can find more on his facebook page. Search for "Kickass Bass" on facebook.

Compared to the BB2, the 1226 seemed to be a bit more 'hollow', that's what I meant. Both BB2 and 1126 were very nice, but I found that the TKS S112 was more my thing. It didn't have the huge low end that the others did, which made it easier for me to dial just the amount of bass I wanted easily (this is before my 'discovering' HPFs, so perhaps now I'd have gone a different way), and the S112 just sounded great very easily, while I had to work teh EQ with the other two. Now I still love the S112, and I have a pair of BF Two10 for when I need to be louder. The Two10 is not quite as nice-sounding as the S112, but it's not too far, and like the S112, I can get a good sound with minimal fuss. So that's where I'm at.

That is true, about the buzz. But whenever I had it it was a sign that I could shield the bass better, and when I did the buzz decreased A LOT. Ok, 'whenever' means just two basses now that I think of it. Both Precisions. They had minimal shielding. It takes 30 minutes to shield the bass properly and ensure the bridge ground is connected well, and polepieces too... and then it works pretty well.

There are a few very different-sounding ones out there. They're typically black nylon covered. The Rotosound TruBass ones are the closest to a double bass you could get to, probably (of course, you need to adapt the way you play and sound etc, but they have a certain vibe that works well if you're trying to get close to an acoustic bass, especially on fretless). The gauge seems crazy (60-115 or something like that, if I recall correctly). The metal core is thinner and the nylon is somewhat malleable so you may get them in a nut without modification as long as the slots are not too narrow. I used them on one Precision and they fitted ok, but the E string was a bit too tight. My favourite black nylon is the D'Addario ETB92. Gauge 50-105, fits in any bass I've ever tried. They are quite flexible but not too flexible. They slide well on my fingers (some can feel a bit rubbery, I forget which ones I was using before that were like that) and sound and feel really nice. There's also these 'white nylon' ones by Labella. They come in standard white, copper or gold varieties. The standard is silvery (the white nylon is actually transparent-ish), and I have used the copper ones too. The gold ones I don't like so much as they seem a little too mid-scooped for my liking. What I like about these is they have a very tight bottom end, with lots of definition, and lovely low mids. They're great for fingerstyle funk lines. They're quite bright, for tapewounds, and very versatile. I prefer the copper variety. Again, I use the 50-105 gauge and they fit just fine in all basses I tried them on. "750T" is the code for the standard ones (I have a packet in front of me, I don't remember the copper ones... but they have a similar enough code and says "copper"). They are very very very flexible, you can bend them from here until tomorrow. They feel a bit plasticky. So it takes a little bit to get used to them, but they're very nice. They have less pull than similar gauge roundwounds so a *tiny* turn of the truss rod nut may be needed, and you may want to play a bit more softly than usual to avoid rattling strings too much. That may seem like a drawback, but it actually is very nice, you get a much better control of your dynamics and they respond very well to how hard you pluck. If you've never tried tapewounds before, I'd recommend the D'Addario ones, as the change is not as drastic. But if you really like the idea of bendy strings, then give the Labellas a try. You can tame their top end easily (on a passive bass, the tone control is perfect for that kind of string) and get both old school type of sounds or much brighter ones, and they sound great slapped too. Their low end definition and presence is really nice. But they can feel a bit strange until you get used to them. The D'Addario ones feel more 'normal'.

Very much so... but thank you

Ha! Thank you, and yes, the film will go before the next gig. It's a shame I'm going through a very calm period gig-wise. I used to play nearly every weekend... BUt I'm busy with rehearsal and practices, getting together writing new material with two bands, etc, so I do get to play a lot still.

Yes, it's a very bright metallic orange as in the pictures that I took of it, but under stage lights it can sometimes look red. I like it

First gig with the Sandberg out of the way... I'm not winning any beauty contests, but the bass looks nice It was really really good.I was wondering how I'd find it in "real life" as sometimes basses sounded great at home and even at rehearsal, but then in the noisy louder environment of a gig I would struggle sometimes to find the right sounds... Not a worry. I ended up mostly using the P on its own, or backed off a little to add a *bit* of the MM, with both tone controls close to flat (I'd back off the treble a quarter turn for a couple of slap-rich songs, which reduces the mighty growl of the P) and although I experimented a bit, the basic 3 sounds I wanted were all there easily. Really comfortable, I love that neck. One thing that I noticed was how much I could feel the body vibrate. Curious. I had a great soundcheck: I was out in the street for a bit, and when I came back I was the last one needed to linecheck before we checked as a band. I was (momentarily) in a bad mood (short-lived, due to some random drunk), and my playing for linecheck reflected that: aggressive, fast, fingerstyle and slap... it sounded glorious!!! I started smiling immediately. Strings... I have not replaced them yet. I think I still will, but I've played this bass a LOT this past week and they've finally lost that annoying brittle zing they used to have. Not bad. Not bad at all. I almost don't have the urge to replace them anymore and I might keep them for a month or two and see. I have not yet removed the plastic film from the pickguard (too much hassle as I'd have to undo the controls, since I hate leaving bits of plastic underneath that you can often feel when turning the knobs)... but I'll have to do it now. Interesting to see where my thumb rests the most...

Oh ABBA's Voulez Vous should have been in my list And Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here! I hope the desert island is big, because I'm bringing a lot of music with me!

In no particular order... Santana - Zebop! Great production, crisp percussion and drums, and what a guitar. Asia - Asia Not a single bad track on that album Boston - Boston & Don't look back as I found them at the same time I fell in love with those twin guitars... Thin Lizzy - Renegade Not one of the albums people generally have as a 'classic' but it was the first one I listened to and left a big impression in me Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz Highschool would not have been the same without this. Alcatrazz - No parole Never gets tiring Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Rising Force First album by that crazy swede, and the best of everything he's done. Michael Schenker Group - Assault Attack Oh yes. Rolling Stones - Still Life I just love that live album Rainbow - Long Live Rock'n'Roll Ufff Black Sabbath - Mob Rules Superb, start to finish Dio - Holy Diver A few filler tracks in this one, but the rest more than make up for it Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme back my bullets An album that changed my group of friends and led to various musical endeavours as teenagers Iron Maiden - Powerslave No list is complete without this. how many is that? I think I'll stop now.

That was my take too when I had that bass in my hands. I think my favourite spot was one notch off @krispn's favourite. Exactly which one may depend on the context of the band, of course. I also liked very much the sound one notch off the limit, it is very bassy but very present still... a much better take on passive tone controls than the usual pot/cap combo.