Skol303

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1360626688' post='1973806']What is it that you're saying teenagers do or did? Did they have the Beatles as a staple favourite? Or did they buck the trend? Or was it a mixture of the two?[/quote] Yeah, that kinda makes my head hurt too. But what I'm trying to say is that when I was a teenager, lots of other teenagers listened to The Beatles and I didn't, because everyone else did, despite being a teenager myself and being exposed to the music of my peers, and so I decided to the buck the trend because my peers' taste in music (aside from The Beatles) largely sucked, so I thought to myself "what they hell do they know anyway?" and went and did something less boring instead, which by and large involved bands other than The Beatles, not that they're boring or anything. Capiche?

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1360607998' post='1973317']At least it hasn't (yet) descended into comparisons with Hitler or the Nazis - that's the fate of most controversial internet threads that outlive their natural length [/quote] ^ [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law"]Godwin's Law[/url] I once got booed by McCartney fans at the Glastonbury festival for drunkenly shouting "Frog Song" pretty much continually during the first few tracks of his live set. He wrote it. I just thought he should abide by it In all seriousness though, The Beatles do pretty much nada for me. Not that there's any dislike for them from my corner. None at all. They were a staple favourite among many people when I was a teenager, and for precisely that reason I made a conscious effort to buck the trend and ignore them - I mean, that's what teenagers do, right? I like nearly everything I hear by them but they just don't stir my musical loins, put it that way. I'll say one thing though, I absolutely [i]love[/i] Ringo's drumming on St Pepper's ([url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUImpeQG66U"]the reprise version[/url]). A really funky breakbeat and way ahead of its time IMO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzsvWbgMaUA

[quote name='bassman344' timestamp='1359582226' post='1957147']I learned on a bass which was advertised in Kerrang magazine in the late 80s. I bought it around 1988/1989, the make was Axe. Any body suffer the same pain please let me know....![/quote] YES! Good grief I remember those (big flash of nostalgia when I read that...). Didn't own one myself but I remember the adverts in Kerrang. I think my worst is a Hohner Rockwood, which I still own and am about to 'upgrade' with a new paint job and pickups. I bought it off my brother along with a practice amp some years ago for £30... I think he paid the princely sum of £60 or so before that. It's got an MDF body (!) and a stupidly high action (playing it is like working one of those finger exercise thingies). On the upside: it makes a suitably carefree project bass and actually has an 'ok' tone now it's been converted to a fretless and strung with flatwounds. Well, ok for a £30 bass

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1360587885' post='1972733']Not quite John Cooper Clark, but not bad.[/quote] Indeed. PS: your new avatar is even more intense than your old one. Good work! [quote name='fumps' timestamp='1360587979' post='1972738']Erm wow love the lyrics[/quote] Yeah, I think he wanted to get something off his chest by the sound of it! I was amazed it got such widespread airplay at the time (peaked at no. 6 in the chart according to Wiki).

Oh and PS: the underground rave/warehouse scene seems to be starting up again; at least it is in the north west. Not on the same scale as during Thatcher's reign, but good to see nonetheless (<that smilie is particularly apt).

I'm not a big fan of Plan B, but I did quite like his track Ill Manors (link [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trlqd9CUZIM"]here[/url] of it live on Jules), which I thought was one of the more politicised chart songs of last year. Some interesting [url="http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/planb/illmanors.html"]lyrics[/url] anyway

Brilliant! I'm about to do exactly the same myself inspired by Mcnash's (and now your own) excellent results. Trouble is, I can't get away from that Capri orange colour either! Trying to convince myself that I should pick a different shade, but I keep coming back to the orange...

I guess a lot of this depends on how you define a "great innovator". As others have mentioned, I'd argue there are great innovators springing up continually in music. It all depends on where you choose to look (or listen!). The issue here is that most people seem to be relating this discussion to 'conventional' guitar-based music (which itself wasn't so 'conventional' until the mid-1900s). The moment you step off this well trodden path - and particularly into the world of electronica - then you'll find a wealth of people trailblazing new innovations, new technologies, new sounds, new genres, etc, etc. Such innovators might not (yet) be 'household names' in the way someone like Hendrix is a well-recognised icon today. But to an 18 year-old, they are equally as important as Hendrix was to an 18-year old at Monterey, or wherever, in the late 60s. I've quoted this on BC before, but here it is again as I think it's particularly relevant to this discussion: [i]“Every generation wants to be the last. Every generation hates the next trend in music they can't understand. We hate to give up those reins of our culture. To find our own music playing in elevators. The ballad for our revolution, turned into background music for a television commercial. To find our generation's clothes and hair suddenly retro.”[/i] ― Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1360486092' post='1970970']Interesting blog/read on sampling rates and conversions if you have a spare ten minutes. http://trustmeimascientist.com/2013/02/04/the-science-of-sample-rates-when-higher-is-better-and-when-it-isnt/[/quote] Cheers Garry, an interesting read! Had made me re-think my obsession with high sampling rates ;-)

Cheers mcnach! Just reading that thread you posted...very useful mate. That's exactly the sort of approach I'm planning myself - ie. rough and ready! :-) I'm definitely going to have a go at this.

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1360418166' post='1970041']Well if you can't strip it, why not go completely the other way and respray it? [/quote] Hehe, you just read my mind! I guess I'll need to use some kind of solvent to take the lacquer off the poly finish first (?), then respray as you suggest. If anybody has any recommendations for suitable brands of paint then please lemme know.

Well after all that, it turns out the body of the bass in question is made from MDF! Just found out when I removed the scratchplate to get at the electronics. So... I've decided to abandon the idea of stripping the resin finish. Seems like a pointless exercise given the 'quality' of the material beneath. Plus I don't fancy heating up something containing formaldahyde with a heat gun - MDF has enough health risks associated with it without me adding to them! I may yet replace the body entirely, we'll see. In the meantime I have some new p'ups to install in it, so at least there's something to tinker with Anyway thanks again for all of your advice on this subject. Much appreciated!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1360342047' post='1969041']...If your primary reason for going active is so you can buffer and impedance match the input to your recording system, I personally think you'd be better off investing in a decent channel strip with a proper instrument level input instead. That would be far more versatile sonically than anything that could be fitted into the average bass control cavity and if you got something which also had line and mic level inputs you could use it for all your acoustic sound sources.[/quote] ^ Hmmm.... that's a [i]very[/i] good point! And would add other benefits to my recording set up as you mention. I guess it's a 'familiarity' thing for me, as all of my favourite basses - at least those I've owned or otherwise played - have been active. I do have a passive bass at home but it's a cheapy P-bass copy and not up to any meaningful comparison. I think I need to get out and try some different set ups to broaden my understanding. Not that I need a good excuse for 'window shopping' basses [quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1360346876' post='1969137']I emailed Aaron Armstrong about pickups a while back- didn't go with him but I would have confidence to if I did again. My recomendations pickup wise is go and play as much stuff as you can and try them yourself. I love Nordy jazz pickups but they are the opposite to what you want.The ACG EQ01 with a Bartolini PJ set is pretty nice on my warwick - just a train ride away if you want to have a try of the preamp sometime.[/quote] Spot on, cheers Luke! That's exactly what I'm going to do. Thanks also for the heads up about Aaron Armstrong p'ups, I'm going to check those out. And a massive thanks for the offer of trying the ACG on your Warwick!! (I love BC for this sort of thing ). 'Tis only a short hop from Mancunia to Leeds as you mention, so I may well take you up on that offer mate - I have relatives over your way so could make a round trip of it. I'll let you know.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1360139821' post='1965293']Here's mine so far, I'm going to upload as I go to keep motivated [url="https://soundcloud.com/thebrokensky/northern-lights"]https://soundcloud.c...northern-lights[/url][/quote] [quote name='Stephen Houghton' timestamp='1360279762' post='1968165']Worked on this for three days in spare time...No loops or samples everything is played in live. Never done anything like this before so I hope it works and apologies for my mixing skills I am still very new to this recording lark and I am learning as i go along, but I am really getting the bug. [url="http://soundcloud.com/9thaspect/beyond-words-entry-for"]http://soundcloud.co...words-entry-for[/url][/quote] ^ I really like both of those Charic: I think yours is off to a great start. Nicely composed and sounds good too. Looking forward to hearing the rest of it! Steve: I love the ambience of this one. In answer to your question I think it [i]definitely [/i]works... it's maybe even my favourite track of yours so far, but that could just be down to my personal taste (you might think otherwise). I wouldn't worry about the mix at all - it sounds fine mate and nothing stood out to me as needing any major correction. [quote name='bobbass4k' timestamp='1360280598' post='1968176']Can anyone recommend a good free Harp VST, or harp containing orchestra VST? My simple post-metal track has taken an unexpected turn...[/quote] Liking the sound of this! - and Rob's "church organs and sh*t" (mentioned above). I think Garry (Lowdown) posted a link to some free orchestral VSTs last month. I'm not on my home 'puter but I'll dig out the link for you early next week if I remember, unless he gets here first... [quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1360322684' post='1968514']Things are coming together, I appear to be way out of my comfort zone, and having to simplify it down. There are a lot of voice notes on my phone, largely of me humming tunes and their harmonies... hope I can play them...[/quote] That sounds exactly like my phone! I've got truckloads of voice memos with me humming stuff on them... some recorded in, ahem, shall we say less than savoury locations. Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1359823121' post='1960805']If you've ever seen my other posts when these questions are asked you know that on the whole I'm not a big fan of on-board pre-amps in basses. While people like John East are able to achieve remarkable things with their pre-amps, IMO you're nearly always onto a looser when you are constrained by what you can fit into the average bass guitar control cavity and power reliably using PP3 batteries. Compare that with what is possible in your actual amplifier when space and power are virtually unrestricted and I hope you'll see where I'm coming from. I will however make exceptions for electronics that do something the standard amplifier tone controls don't or circuits that are able to apply tone shaping to each pickup individually. So the ACG EQ01 ticks both of those boxes. Normally I'd hesitate recommending this as a lot of bassists simply can't grasp how to make the filter system work for them, but seeing as you are a good synth programmer (based on the evidence of your recordings) you are one of the few people who will understand it instantly. As for pickups I've not really got any advice for you. The biggest, fattest, deepest sounding pickups I've come across are the Gus tubes in the humbucking configuration of my black Gus G3 bass. They are exclusive to Simon Farmer's instruments, but I believe that they are made for him by Kent Armstrong, so they might be able to suggest the closest match from their standard range.[/quote] Interesting points there BRX, cheers for the input as always. I must admit that I normally tend to prefer active basses - I typically record direct from the bass into an audio interface, so I find having a pre-amp often helps in that respect. I'd certainly envisaged active electronics for this bass, but I'll take your comments on board and do some more pondering... The ACG EQ01 does look right up my street, as you mention. Perhaps little pricey (?), but that's something for me to discuss with Paul (I'm mindful of not wanting to take advantage of his generosity). Cheers also for the heads up about Ken Armstrong. I've been browsing his product list already - looks like quality gear. Anyway, still lots to think about [quote name='JimBobTTD' timestamp='1359867330' post='1961376']I would describe single coils to be thin and with pronounced highs and humbuckers to be fat and with pronounced lows...[/quote] [quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1359869413' post='1961379']No no, that's what i meant, the humbuckers are fatter and rounder, but in the ones i have tried at least, the high end has been pretty well defined too. Single coils aren't as fat but are still quite pronounced in the highs i find.[/quote] Good to see you guys agreed in the end!

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1360100102' post='1964927']I'm pretty happy with the first minute and a half of mine now [/quote] Nice one. Sounds like you're way ahead of the game this month mate... I've got the bare bones of something sketched out and lots of practice ahead to get it laid down!

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1359990954' post='1963067']...Diane got me a Novation Impulse 49 controller for Christmas, it's brilliant! I also replacedReaper with Logic 9, simply because the sounds that come with it are amazing and legion.[/quote] Niiice... those Novation Impulse's are meant to be great. Very good choice of prezzie by Lady Silddx. 49 keys should be plenty mate, although I know what you mean - I only have a piddly 25!! A classic case of pianist envy (boom, boom) I've been tempted by Logic myself, especially at the current price tag. Amazing value for money. I've invested too much time in using Reason (my regular DAW) to jump ship, it'd be like turfing out an old friend, or something. But yeah, you can't go wrong with Logic. In fact there's a (crap) old joke about 'atheist producers' using Logic and Reason. T-shirt available [url="http://boyinaband.bigcartel.com/product/i-m-an-atheist-producer-i-use-logic-and-reason-t-shirt"]here[/url] if you so choose

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1359983322' post='1962838']...I now have to rapidly learn how to play some piano to do this [/quote] Good stuff Nige. I've learn a bit of guitar playing as a result of these challenges, although I still tend to draw piano and synth lines by hand. I need to practice more...! PS: did you end up getting yourself a keyboard? I use an [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/M-Audio-Oxygen-25-3rd-Generation/dp/B002VYJDYW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359988958&sr=8-1"]M-Audio Oxygen[/url], a great little k'board for playing around with synths, etc, but I must admit I quickly run out of keys whenever I try to play anything on it!

Cheers guys! I might just loosen it off by a half turn (at 1/4 per day) to be on the safe side. Last time I took the neck off for about a week (while de-fretting it) and didn't bother, as I figured it wouldn't cause any problems in that time. But this could well be much longer if things go wrong... which they almost certainly will

Quick update: it's looking like I'm going to have opportunity to attempt the resin removal this weekend. I'm staying with relatives who have a small workshop and a good set of tools (including a couple of heat guns). You'll probably be able to hear me swearing blue murder from where you live... PS: I also bought a cheap set of new pickups to install once it's finished. Nothing flashy - a budget set of [url="http://http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Entwistle-PBX-split-pickup-for-bass-guitar-/330844097321?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item4d07d84b29"]Entwistle PBX[/url] that I bought on eBay for a tenner! I've heard they're not too shabby for the price, but I'm not expecting miracles

This coming weekend I'm planning to strip down a cheap 'project' bass I have and remove the resin finish on the body. I've already set up a thread about this impending nightmare [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/196051-how-easy-is-it-to-remove-a-polyresin-finish/"]here[/url]. I'm obviously going to remove the neck from the body while stripping the resin. And if I don't get the job finished over the weekend, it may be a couple of months before I get round to completing it and re-attaching the neck (I'm staying with relatives and using their workshop/tools). If that's the case, and I have to leave the neck un-strung for a few months, then should I slacken the truss rod to compensate? Or should I leave it well alone? Apologies if this has been asked a billion times before! I did a search and read some related discussions, but there's seems to be a lot of conflicting opinion on the subject. Any advice gratefully received! Paul

Good to hear the image is sparking a few ideas! I tried to pick a picture that offered potential for lots of different interpretations, as I'm conscious that previous pics I've chosen have been more literal and one dimensional. And I wanted to encourage as many people as possible to have a go this month. I kicked around some ideas for it myself over the weekend and settled on something a bit quirky - and frankly, quite difficult to actually play! (for me anyway). Still, it's given me reason to get some practice in on the bass. Should be fun

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1359935164' post='1962389']So how many of us on here actively write songs? I'm guessing a fair few will and most will write riffs and progressions but, who writes full blown songs, lyrics 'n' all?[/quote] [size=5]http://basschat.co.uk/forum/10-recording/[/size] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD94dVu8lqQ

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1359882265' post='1961425']Knicking a riff seems fair enough as long as the song is written this month [/quote] That's cool with me. PS: are we having a separate thread for February's challange?