chrismuzz

Personally, I'd slide from the 3rd fret with my middle finger as it would be easier for me, and the extra semitone would make the slide a bit more noticeable. However it's up to you to decide what sounds best, and what you feel most comfortable doing

It's good that you still enjoyed playing even though you had to use a bass you really didn't like. That's a great sign! BC Rich basses arent quite the look I go for in a bass but they play quite nicely, not tried the thunderbirds. From what I've seen, the Fleabass is just a famous name slapped on a sub-standard plank of wood, you could defimately do a lot better than that. He's mostly known for playing a Musicman Stingray, and to a lesser extent Fender Jazz basses. You could pick up a decent Squier Jazz, or maybe a second hand Fender one if that's the tone you're going for. They play really nice too! I'd still recommend Peavey as well, also very playable and you get a lot for your money with them

If it's too difficult to get somewhere to try a few out, there are usually demonstrations of some instruments on youtube to give you an idea of the sound. some are good thorough demos, nome not so great but it's better than nothing Also, what was the bass you did use for a while? and how did it feel to play? What did you like about it, and was there anything you thought could be improved?

Welcome to basschat, and bass in general! You picked a great place to come, I've been playing for 8 years, but the 3 months I've been here I've learnt more about the equipment side of it than the lot of it Other decent budget suggestions would be Peavey bass guitars. My first bass was one, and as far as I can tell I'll never stop playing them! As far as amps go, Ashdown, Hartke, and Laney are all fantastic brands.

It would be possible to tune down to the EXTRA low E, but it'd be nigh on impossible to find a cab that could actually produce such a low frequency. Also you'd need some crazy high gauge string to have any kind of reasonable tension. I use a .152 for low A, which is nice and tight for a 35" scale bass. So you'd need what.. at least .200 gauge? I would recommend just using regular old E to match the guitars, so you could very well get away with a 4 string if you wanted to. But, as with all musically related things, do whatever you like with it

I'm on a different PC now, same one I was using last night but I can't log in on Firefox. Looks like it's IE all the way for now! How strange. Modern technology ey?

It's strange, I'm usually a bit of a hoarder. I can't bring myself to get rid of anything even if i haven't so much as looked at it in years! With bass equipment it's different though. I can't bear to live with the thought that stuff isn't getting the use it deserves. If I don't use it, it gets sold. The only exceptions are my first bass, as it's my only 4-string, and it has lots of memories (plus it's too knackered to sell!). It's currently being lent to my best mate. Also my first 6-string, as it's always good to have at least one bass in standard tuning Edited for spelling. You'd think 2 and a half years of working on a PC 48 hours a week would make someone a good typist wouldn't you?

I currently cannot login using Firefox, but it's been ok up until now. I can still login on my iPhone, and i'm using Internet Explorer at the moment with no problems. I'm going to log in on a different PC in this office in about an hour and see if it's any different

What about them 6 stringers ey? ... I'll get my coat!

Hartke amps are amazing, many pros use em. And if one ever dies on you it's not gonna hurt your wallet so bad to fix/replace (well you did give me the option of talkin you out of it! )

I have a very loose practice routine. I just pick up my bass, don't plug it into anything, but play the hell out of it

When playing metal riffs I play very hard and achieve a tone somewhere in between a slap and a plectrum. If soloing, tapping, playing fills or doing legato and slides, or playing high up the neck, I use a slightly lighter touch in order to get less buzz, play faster cleaner, and to get less of a 'clank' when it isn't wanted. This does necessitate the use of compression though! But it works for me

Somehow I had a strange feeling you'd go for that EHX make fantastic effects, hope it works out for you!

That's some really handy information Thom! Someone's gonna really benefit from that. If only I had been a member of this site last year, I could have avoided the weeks of endless research! Thankfully I gained access to a tension chart in the end though, and now I've got something that works perfectly for what i want to do

After listening to that song, I'd recommend looking into trying out some bass synth pedals and see if you can find something you like

You've been playing about the same amount of time as me! There's still a lot I don't know, but I've learnt a lot in my time on these forums. And it's my pleasure to share any information I've picked up. I had issues with my basses where different strings produced a vastly different sound, it could be due to the gauges but there are varying opinions on that. Now I have custom gauge strings now so every string has the same amount of tension, and to my ears at least, the output is a lot more balanced. Also, compression helps a lot, but I don't have to compress the sound quite as heavily now The one I'm selling is a Behringer DC9, it does a fantasticd job even though the 'Sensitivity' knob works the opposite way round I'm selling it because I tune down to A, and the loss of low end was too much for me. It's alright for standard tunings though apparently. I'm looking for £15 which includes postage if you do want to give it a bash though

That sounds really synth-ey to me actually. I don't know much about that area but i know Boss make one, someone else might pop in and give better insight:)

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1136456' date='Feb 21 2011, 10:44 PM']I had the Ashdown EVO rig with the switchable sub harmonics for me it was a bit well, Gash but you might like it I presume they put it on there for someone?[/quote] I used to rehearse with a band using a Behringer amp with a 'Deep' switch not unlike this. It should have been called a 'mud' switch

Sadly discontinued, but they turn up for sale on here every so often, and on eBay. I've seen them go anywhere from £40 to over £100

I've not heard any good reviews of the Ashdown Dual Band, and there are some nasty noise issues. A similar compressor that seems to get raved about is the Trace Elliot SMX, but there are loads more out there. I would point you towards the cheap Behringer I've got for sale as it's fantastic for the price, but I figured the slight loss of low end would be counter productive if you want a deep sound I'd visit this website [url="http://www.ovnilab.com/"]http://www.ovnilab.com/[/url] as there are in depth reviews of pretty much every compressor out there. It's what pointed me towards my Aguilar TLC which I swear by! You might also want to try an octave pedal if you want REALLY deep

There's never been a time I've needed help and advice on things and not been able to get it here. This is a great forum

As you can see from my sig, most of my gear is not well known for its warm sound. However, the sansamp bass driver works wonders! as does a bit of light compression It might be worth finding somebody who can lend you some effects to try out with your rig. Apparently the markbass tube stuff is good for that too but I've not tried it myself