dmccombe7

The fanned fret thing really wasn't an issue and i had my concerns before i tried it but honestly it was only a very slight change of focus at high end neck around 12th fret upwards. After 5-10mins with it it was sorted. I found the NG2 had more mid punch than the Combustion. Not sure if that's down to the pick up positioning or the Darkglass pre-amp it has but it certaoinly cuts better. The pick up selector i think will be left in the one position as the series sound is so much more full bodied than other settings. Looking forward to rehearsals on Sat to give it a full test. Getting used to 5 string from 4 was more an issue than the fan fret. Dave

Traded my 2off Berg AE112 cabs for a Dingwall NG2 5 string from Mark at Bass Direct. Fair old drive today tho. Total of 600miles but well worth finally getting to see the range of basses they have in stock. Narrowed my choice down to either the NG2 or Combustion both black and the NG2 had the edge on the tone. Nice mid-range punch with enormous depth especially on the B string. Also tried a Sanberg but it was no comparison to the Dingwalls. Tried a Spector too but it just didn't feel right at all. The set up on the bass was absolutely perfect and quite a low action without any fret buzz at all. Variety of tone via the pick-up selector is quite dramatic. Add to that active/passive switch and then BMT controls and you can dial in almost any tone you can think off. Thought the fan-fret thing might have been weird but it just felt so normal and didn't seem to be much of an issue after all. Its also quite a light bass compared to most i've tried and the balance of the bass was good too. Mark and his staff (sorry didn't catch his name) were both excellent. I've bought via the phone few times now but meeting Mark was a great experience. I don't think i've ever met anyone with such a passion for bass. I told them about the basses i was interested in and they brought them all down for me and set them up on stands. Tried them all via headphone set and then thru a Vanderkley rig set flat. That's when it was narrowed down to the Dingwalls. Talking with Mark and explaining its for a Prog band set up he ran thru what he thought and why the NG2 might be the better option to cut thru the full band mix in a Prog band and that the Combustion would be more suited to bands that covered a variety of styles. Found Mark to be extremely pleasant and helpful with loads of advice. The one thing that really impressed me tho was the fact i never felt under any pressure at all. If you get the chance to visit the shop its well worth the trip. Trust me i drove 600 miles to get a look and Whow there are some stunning basses in there. Couldn't get the photo upload to work for some reason. All in all a great day. I'm a happy wee bassist once again - - - at least until GAS returns. Dave

Guy Pratt is on the album but not all the tracks.

I got it last week and it is his best solo album in my opinion. Better production quality, well balanced overall style of music with some real classic songs in there. All in all just a great album. Dave

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1440441165' post='2850777'] I use 2 Sei J5's...both have East pre's...but I've found you really don't need...or want ..all that potential tone shaping on tap. +12db is a ridiculous amount but accept that most pre amps would have this sort of sweep so you need to be very sparing. I'll mostly start with the pre switched in but I will try passive and see if I like it. Generally I find passive a more natural sound. Also, I might try the bridge pickup and decide that is the sound I'll use all night.... but that is in regards to the room EQ and I still need to hear the right sort of sound back and also the balance. At a gig there may be 5 or 6 techniques I need to cater for...and they all need to be able to come through when I put them in the track. With this in mind, I just throw them in on a whim so that is why sound set-up is so critical. Of course, these often end up as no more than a fill...so they can be throwaway and gone in an instant. My general sound is bright and lacks huge bass... as I want the character of the sound to come thru... I want a very high end so a percussive strum will be heard...but not one that is so brittle or harse. That will also tend to be a factor in the bass sound right down to the lower notes and then I'll add bass to give it bottom and foundation. A quick look at my amps..and they all have their various bias'... will typically have the bass on about 10.o clcock. The mid bias is the variable but between 10 and 2... and treble and presense to suit. My cabs all have horns up to about 50% I'd suggest the EQ stack is not the easiest or more forgiving sound from a technique point of view and I find dull old strings make it 10 times harder to control as you'll get thick fat noises with no nuance...and also it is hard to wipe off or clean up a thunky old sound. I'm not at all heavy handed so all my sound control comes from my right hand..and to a lesser extent, my left hand. The main difference between the two amps that I'm using atm...cabs aside,..is the balance and heft. Th e actual EQ I can get pretty close as that is the sound I hone so that is the sound I'm working from. I'll get it pretty easily even with a new amp. I prefer 10's over the 12's I have ... but these are fine lines that no one else will likely notice. You wont convince me there is no difference tho...and it is at volume that this is the most apparent. Have to say, very happy with all parts of my sound..it is the playing that is the problem [/quote] Thanks JTUK. That was quite an interesting and well informed reply. Nice to hear how others approach their sound and set up. Agree with the active and find my Overwater pre-amp only needs a slight change from centre position to give sufficient cut thru the mix and allow my bass to be heard rather than simply felt underfoot. The 10' clock bass setting did surprise me a little tho. I would generally have centred but might try tweaking down a bit to see how it affects my overall tone. Cheers and thanks for the detail. Dave

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1439828916' post='2846083'] But I'd say for me to do what I do..and not limit myself in anyway, I need a sound that does indeed do it all. For example, a P bass with flats sound would force me to play one way... and I'd find that un-necessarily limiting. Not saying I don't like that sound..just that is just one facet of how I play... so I cop all those tones of off one sound, pretty much. And since I'm not chopping and changing, I don't have to re-EQ... I think you can do this with a passive bass, but it is easier on a an active. The trick is not to have people know you are active, IMO. Most amps and pre are over engineered in terms of EQ options... and that is a road to nowhere if you get caught up on it. Slight tangent, but hey..!! [/quote] What bass are you using at the moment JTUK. ? My fav bass is my Jazz but i do find it lacks a little depth. My Overwater fretless gives me far more depth but not a bass i use for every song. I do tend to keep my amp same set up at home or gigging apart from volume. I think that's where i have the active on the bass set slightly boosted on lo-mid too What i have found recently is that the Markbass rig i've just bought sits far better in the full band mix as it seems to have a more natural lo-mid tone to my Berg cabs. Call that colouring if you like but it does make a fair bit of difference to how the band sounds. Its all original Prog band at moment. Dave

Brilliant gifted player but can only listen to the odd track every now and again. Enormous Room is one of my fave bass tracks tho. Considered buying one of his albums but thought it might be all a bit same so will just enjoy his youtube vids when i feel like a listen. Think he's someone i prefer to watch too as i can't follow what he's doing from a music track. Fascinating player. Thanks for posting ...... brilliant Dave

if you contact them with the lower price to be confirmed they will probably sell at that. I've just bought a Digitech Jamman from Woodbrass who are based in France and their prices were lower than Thomann or GAK by between £3-£10 with free delivery on items over £99. Paypal payment and invoice was exactly what they quoted. Might be worth a look. Dave

Digitech Jamman arrived Fri, Spent Sat afternoon playing around with it and its exactly what i was looking for. Loaded up a few of the items to trigger and will test with full band next reahearsal. Quality of playback is pretty good too. It's well made and pretty easy to get things moving even without the manual altho did need to use it when i wanted to delete a stored file. Can be set up as a single play or on a loop. You can stop the sample instantly or on its own when single loop complete or you can fade by hitting stop once and it fades out, hit stop again and it stops completely. Each loop seems to be set up individually ie instant stop or fade out. Having good fun with it jamming along with drum tracks too and just being bass daft with loads of bass played over each other. I know its daft but does make for some weird bass lines Did think the software was a bit basic. Can't seem to do a lot with it on PC ie arranging files and resending back to unit but maybe i'm missing something. It would have been good to be able to record back onto PC and edit the recording and then feedback to Jamman unit but looks like that's not possible. That's the only -ve i have so far and its a minor one at this stage. THANKS FOR THE ADVICE GUYS - as always BC'ers are on hand to help guide us through the world of Bass Geekdom Dave

If a tall drummer he should have a Hi-Hat in case of sunstroke.

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1439580704' post='2844223'] Forgot all about Barclay James Harvest, another that had their moments. And a splendid band we supported at The Swan in Billingham, about mebbes '81. Saracen. Superb. [/quote] Yep Another great band. Live Tapes was the 1st album i heard them and loved the bass sound. XII was a god album tho. Dave

Aphrodites Child 1970/71 era - not sure what album but this track was always a cracking prog song to me. [url="https://youtu.be/3KCbqhJt16k"]https://youtu.be/3KCbqhJt16k[/url] Also another i had forgotten about was a German band called Eloy [url="https://youtu.be/Bus65ovjOOg"]https://youtu.be/Bus65ovjOOg[/url] Dave

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1439540150' post='2843617'] Some great bass work from Tony Reeves on that first Greenslade album. [/quote] Met Tony Reeves doing a Burns Bison / MM mixing studio equipment demo locally. He was excellent and really nice guy to talk with. Had a huge influence on me as a beginner back in late 70's Dave

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1439487479' post='2843341'] Love that album and it's a great candidate for definitive prog. Saw John Wetton TOGWT once singing over that In The Dead Of Night bass line. Difficult. [/quote] That was the clip i was looking for but couldn't find it. That was first time i'd really heard John Wetton and was gobsmacked at the energy on it. Brilliant. Dave

[quote name='redbandit599' timestamp='1439421536' post='2842833'] Have fun! Another thing I've done is plug a mic in and let my kids record themselves and little loops on it. They love hearing themselves back and layering up daft sounds. I may drop 'Twinkle Twinkle' in at a gig one day [/quote] Thankfully i don't have kids but the cats might make an interesting choir especially with me in lead meows Dave

How about UK - In The Dead Of Night John Wetton at his best. https://youtu.be/AeXSQl56no8 Dave