darkandrew

Hi, just in case anybody also uses soft synths as well as real basses - I thought I'd post that Waldorf have put a free download of their latest soft synth, PPG Wave 3.V, on their website. This is a soft synth emulation of the PPG Wave 2.3 that was used extensively on Propaganda's Secret Wish album and many other recordings of the early-mid eighties. The download is fully functional, and apparantly identical, to the retail version except that it is limited to a 100 day evaluation period (after that you have to buy it if you want to keep using it). I'm not sure how long they'll keep the evaluation download available but since it's free there's little harm in giving it a go. [url="http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/ppg-3-evaluation.html"]http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/ppg-3-evaluation.html[/url] I've just downloaded it myself and was, to be honest, slightly disappointed with it - after all A Secret Wish is one of my all-time favourite albums and this just didn't live up to my expectations. No doubt with some tinkering I'll be able to get some usefull sounds out of it but after all it was free and I do have the best part of a third of year to decide if it's worth keeping. PS and IMHO Derek Forbes is probably one of the most underated bass players of that era.

With the prospect of some gigs in the New Year I decided to look at the possibility of recreating the sounds I get from my studio based soft synths (Arturia V Collection, NI Komplete, etc) with a hardware based synth. I mainly play bass but also play some keyboard stuff and what I was looking for was a synth with a decent synth-action keyboard (I don't like piano-style weighted or hammer action keys), good strings sounds and virtual analogue synth emulation. It also goes without saying that I wanted to spend as little as possible. I eventually settled on the Kurzweil PC361 for the following reasons: Sounds: 8/10 - It's strings sounds were about the best I could find and its VA sounds were also really good (great for anologue style pads and leads), piano sounds were slightly less good (but still very usable) and a welcome addition was the inclusion of authentic Mellotron samples. Other sounds were less impressive but since these were not needed it wasn't really an issue for me. Keybed: 8/10 - A really nice synth action - not too heavy but with a little weight, overall very fast and playable. Ease of use: 3/10 - The Kurzweil 3 series' strength lies in its VAST achitecture which is a modular architecture that allows you to select oscillators, filters, DSPs, etc at will and arrange them in any order - be it in series or in parallel - this means that you can create virtually any sound you wish using a combinations of wavetable samples or DSP generated waveforms (such as sine, triangle, sawtooth, supersaw, square, etc). The down side to this is that it is extremely complex and not as accessable as something like a Roland SH01 GAIA for example. Value for money: 10/10 - This is Kurz's biggest selling point, pound for pound it just wipes the floor with everthing else in the same price range. If you were comparing the sounds alone (ignoring the complexities of trying to programme this beast) it would quite happily hold its own against Yamaha's Motif and is 1000 times more versatile than an Access Virus - both of which would set you back arond £800 more than the "street price" of a Kurz PC361. Overall: 8/10 - An excellent synth, with decent strings and mellotron samples and an equally good virtual analogue engine, unbeatable value for money (currently £1199) however its not the easiset synth I've ever programmed.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='911583' date='Jul 31 2010, 11:27 PM']Thanks to a heads up by EBS_freak, we believe there's a scammer operating on the forum who has been active on other non-bass related forums as well. He has sent the following message: [i]My name is Chris Corner from Madrid Spain...I am contacting you regarding your advert you place on website that you are looking for the above subject...I have it in very good condition and if still interested,Let me know and i will forward you details of the item and i will also need your shipping address and telephone number to calculate the shipping cost to your destination.My mode of payment is Via Paypal,Western union,MoneyGram..Bank wire transfer..Let me know which method you prefer and i ship the next day after payment has been receive..My phone number is +33424029617..Feel free to call me anytime for further discussion or email me back at [email protected] thanks and hope to hear from you soon.[/i] We're only aware of one user account which has been shut down but if you receive a PM from anyone offering stuff and asking for payment via any non secure international payment methods eg. Western Union, Moneygram etc. please let a Mod know. cheers Steve[/quote] "Chris Corner", wasn't he the guitarist/bass player in Sneaker Pimps (and now the vocalist, guitarist, bass player, keyboard player, drummer, etc in IAMX)? Atleast this scammer's got an interesting taste in music. Anyone got a PM from John Paul Jones asking for money to be wired to an exotic location?

Also from Sallian26 this morning (she has been busy!) [i]"DEAR FRIEND, I AM MISS SALLIAN MAMBO A CITIZEN OF SUDAN BUT PRESENTLY RESIDE IN SENEGAL, I WAS MOVED TO CONTACT YOU WHEN I READ YOUR ADD IN in partner seeking SITE, PLEASE I ACTUALLY HAVE AN IMPORTANT THING THAT I WISH TO SHARE WITH YOU THAT WAS WHY I DECIDED TO WRITE TO YOU, PLEASE BEER WITH ME, I AM A 26 YEARS OLD GIRL, PLEASE RESPOND TO ME THROUGH MY EMAIL [email protected] BECAUSE I MAY NOT LOG INTO THIS SITE AGAIN SINCE I AM NEW TO INTERNET, I WILL BE WAITING IMPATIENTLY TO READ FROM YOU THEN I WILL SEND TO YOU MY PICTURE AND ALSO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT MY SELF. PLEASE RESPOND TO ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. YOURS SINCERELY, SALLIAN"[/i] Something tells me that this might not be 100% legit, I was particularly impressed with the offer to have a "beer with me"!

I use DR Extra Life (Black Beauties and Silver Stars) on my Aria SB1000 and Warwick Streamer Stage 1 4-Stringers and Spector Nickels on my Spector Euro 5LX. I find the DR Extra Life strings have a nice punch to them and work very well with these basses while the Spector Nickels are more mellow with more sustain and work very well with the Euro 5LX.

I have just bought this rather striking Warwick Custom Shop Streamer Stage 1: [attachment=60726:02640212...QTFWW_01.jpg] [url="http://www.warwickbass.com/modules/custom_shop/NewsCustomShop.php?newsID=729&modell=Streamer&page=16&cl=EN"]http://www.warwickbass.com/modules/custom_...ge=16&cl=EN[/url] and one of the deciding factors was that I was wearing a tie with a very similar pattern on it! So I was just wondering what weird and wonderful reasons people have used to help justify spending out on yet another bass?

[quote name='bassatnight' post='976132' date='Oct 3 2010, 04:53 PM']John Taylor of Duran fame famously only played a bit part on the Powerstation project, I know that Guy Pratt played on some of it as did the producer of course.[/quote] But if the producer in question is Bernard Edwards then I suppose it would be rude to not let him have a go!

The SB1000 is one of my favourite basses. I bought a JT signature one about 5 or 6 years ago and I really like it. For me, the main plus point is the thinness of its neck however on the down side, the large solid body does make it rather heavy. Sound wise its definitely got a mid bias, as already mentioned, and this coupled with the fast neck makes it ideal for chic / duran duran funk / pop. I have experimented with different strings on it and have now settled on DR Extra Life "Black Beauties" which not only give it a tight punchy sound but also compliment the JT's black hardware rather nicely.

[quote name='RichB' post='586903' date='Sep 1 2009, 08:52 PM']Mmm should we take it that you didn't like the Thompson Twins then?[/quote] Didn't the drummer and keyboard player from the Thompson Twins end up in the Cure? Another 80's "pop" band (OK so they started in the 70's) that actually aren't too bad and as for Simon Gallup, probably one of the best and most influential bass players of the time.

In reverse order: 3: John Taylor (oops there goes my credibility) 2: Derek Forbes (original Simple Minds bassist - check out "Sons and Fascination" it's nothing like the AOR that they are more commonly known for) 1: Bernard Edwards (does that get me my credibility back?)

BISCUITS! I've always found that drummers can't resist a packet of biscuits and of course it's quite difficult for them to bash seven shades of brown stuff out of a drum kit while they're munching on a hobnob.

Hi, I while ago I bought a set of "Orange Special Nickel Wound" bass strings from Denmark Street in London. I really like these strings but I can't get hold of them anywhere - the store no longer stocks them. I have a feeling they were re-branded - does anyone know if this is true, and if so who made them and where can I get hold of a set?

Used "Kyser Klassics Dr Stringfellow" Lem-oil on my Gibson Les Paul, made a right mess of it. It dried the fret board out, turning it white, and where I accidently splashed it on the body of the guitar, it dissolved the nitro-cellulose laquer! Luckilly I managed to repair the damage done but would never ever touch this stuff again.