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[quote name='silddx' post='1212731' date='Apr 27 2011, 03:32 PM']I got the new 13" MacBook Pro 4Gb on Sunday. I'm totally new to Mac and it's been an absolute pleasure switching from Windows. Looks like a great machine too. I love it! I've not really used a DAW before but I intend to get Reaper and a multi-channel audio interface, probably a Focusrite Saffire 24 VRM, unless anyone knows of a more suitable one. I hear it's only FW400 compatible though and may need an adapter, is that right?[/quote] Oooh nice one mate! I've got some Reaper projects you might like the look of I have ;o) Not sure if you can use VSTs in 'Macland' though...

Any of you interested in micing guitar cabs really ought to invest in a Cascade Fathead II ribbon mic. Blows a 57 or in fact any condensor away in that role, also double as a loevly mic on a strident vocalist and a great room mic or drums....

I have always preferred Grooveshark's more eclectic list of tracks...

If you stand right in front of a low cab the nature of the radiation of the sound from said cab will be giveing your ears a vastly higher ratio of low end to upper mid. This is an absolute fact, no arguing with it, its how bass frequencies work compared to high frequencies. IME the very best situation is to have your drivers at ear level. That way you eq your sound based upon a clear and accurate mix of the top end and bottom end coming of the drivers/cab. This means what hits your audience is what hits you but further away. To this end I find getting the cab up high and not angled is the ideal to always aim for. If at all possible get your cab as close to the back wall as you can. Once everything is set up start with a flat eq at gig volumes and gently shape your sound to where you like it. Should take about 20 seconds if all you are doing is eq, takes me a minute or so as I usually set up a compressor too. This is so critical that I would seriously suggest getting something to stand your rig on at all gigs.

[i][b]Good[/b][/i] multi band compressor for £60 Nope, doesn't exist. Unless you luck out on a Trace, and even then I think that is not really good, but rather passable live. Its too noisy and lacks any real control over the operation. Then again there aren't really any good compressors for £60 either...

Damn that's funky as a duck. I don't think I could get away with it, but I'd have ago! Now where's my medallion and chest wig?

ooooh nice toys in da house. A stone room-m-m-m-m-mm-mmmm-mm-m-mmmmmshhhhhhhztt? Nice for drums and bright bright sounds. Will you put some of your patented hinged absorbers/reflectors on the walls so you can tame it a bit if you need to?

He gave his bass a right good slappin' when Plux and I saw him last year, bloody good gig and came across as a totally excellent chap. I'm not a jazzer by any means but damned good music is damned good music, and the playing was phenomenal.

Gating with no key filter is really really unlikely to work well IME. A key filter lets you tailor the signal that the gate hears by cutting out the frequencies you dont want it to hear. In your case you would want it to not listen to the top end hiss area at all, probably anything above 2KHz would be a fine to just ignore. That way you can have the gate close quickly as soon as any actual bass stops, and open quickly as soon as it starts. The level of hissy noise is not relevant to the gate action. I would imagine that the Decimator, being based upon the HUSH noise reduction system would have all of this gubbins built in. The MXR smart gate has 3 modes (hiss, mid and full) which will give you an indication of the internal key filter set up that it uses. As far as I can tell the NS-2 is either a full band gate or a full band expander, and ther eis no way to filter what it is listening to to determine when to open and close the gate.

A Barefaced SuperTwelve is a killer cab, easily as loud if not louder than almost any 410, and punchy as hell. Super easy lift to, I mean ridiculously easy - get one while Alex can still get the drivers to make 'em though....

[quote name='Rimskidog' post='1197257' date='Apr 12 2011, 08:06 PM']Yeah you gotta watch out for fake Shure Sm57/58. They are pretty horrible. The Red 5's are great bang for buck. I find the PG series to be pretty horrid I'm afraid. If you can find a used ADK a51 they are not a bad little mic for the price, can be a bit dark on some sources but take eq ok. I worked with Roger Nichols (RIP) in NYC a few years ago and the ADK won a shootout against a range of high end mics on one session (I'd only put it up for a laugh!)[/quote] Roger Nichols, thats a damned weighty name to accidentally drop there mate, lucky swine ) Respect!

Nah mate, Charics got a point, send it me and I'll do some scientific testing, and if it turns out they've ripped you off, I'll let you know. I reckon I'll be able to dispose of it for you.

Rubber car mat, just put it on your cab, then put the gator case on top. Added advantage is it stops any scratching of your precious cab too.

Will the amp go that low? DOubt it, most if not all modern bass amps filter out anything below a bit higher than that, helps deliver useful power. The cab almost certainly does not go that low. Worth talking to Alex at Barefaced about his BigSub (if he still intends to make it), which was (IIRC) the old Big One sans midrange driver. Now that would go really really low....

Short answer, yes. I want to try some Grado's one day, they get far more expensive than £100, and are purported to be the holy grail of headphones by some....

I'd give Alex a call and see if he can help. It cant be that hard after all!

Linus, I'd seriously investigate hooking that amp up to a different cab. IME MB analogue heads (that combo has a 'digital' power supply but analogue poweramp IIRC) are really good at amplifing a nice warm version of the sound of the bass you plug into it. The cabs aren't the best out there (not as good as the amps IMO), they are OK but not worth the immense price IMO.

All about the heads, don't desperately hate the cabs either, but I don't think the tone is worth the price. Conversely Bergantino cabs are worth every over-inflated penny (rather annoyingly).

Bass last if I get that luxury. You cant record a b-line and know its right without the vocal there IMO....

You're about to witness the power of this fully functional bass rig..... Mwahahahahaaaaaaa!!!

First mix that is ready to be heard by the prospective clientelle, only taken me a 4 days to get this far (in between work and other commitments), waiting with baited breath for the response from the artist....

A little mackie would be perfect You'd be lookign for 3 stereo channels though, and a couple of monos, or 8 monos (you can figure out panning for yourself I'm sure). Somthing like [url="http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=mackie+mixer&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=2kx&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB%3a%6ffficial&channel=np&prmd=ivns&biw=818&bih=523&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=14926173574006257262&sa=X&ei=c3SlTaP1EYW4hAf26eTACQ&ved=0CGkQ8wIwAA#"]this (clicky linky)[/url] Even has USB in from the 'puter - which is handy!

OK the pickup 'listens' most effectively in a plane that is perpendicular to the body. In order to make the string vibration generate as much output as possible you need to pluck such that you cause the string to vibrate in that plane. It is not necessary (or in many cases even a good idea - esp with ERB) to anchor the thumb on a pickup, that will hamper you long term, either you have to relearn with the moving anchor/thumb (where the thumb on the plucking hand moves up a string as you pick the next string) or you learn floating technique (the thumb rests against the lower strings but is not positively anchored on it). You need to stop worrying about plucking hard enough, this is not going to get you a good tone and decent speed with fingers. Instead pluck lighter and more efficiently, bending your plucking fingers at each joint rather than keeping them remotely straight. This will encourage your plucking finger to pluck in the right plane. Lastly rather than thinking of plucking you should be pulling your fingertip through the string, the dynamic control comes from the stiffness of the last joint closest to the fingertip as much as anything else when you get this down. Just how I do it really, many others will have their own take, probably the finest exponent of high speed fingerstyle antics I've seen on this forum is URB, he uses a ramp to facilitate some of the more advanced techniques he uses, but what he doesn't know about efficient fingerstyle isn't really worth worrying about at this point....