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[quote name='Conan' post='972527' date='Sep 30 2010, 11:51 AM']I think that, as you mentioned earlier, most of us have only experienced poor-quality ones and that may have coloured our judgement.[/quote] You may have a point. Also I think a lot of people find it hard to hear compression (it took me a long time). So when they get their hands on a compressor they tend to overdo it to prove its working, then dont like the fact that it can change the feel. Compressors without decent metering are a complete disaster IMO (stop me if you've heard this rant before!), since it is in fact really really hard to hear a compressor set up to be gently squeezing the levels, I can set my Compounder up to be giving a consistent 3dB of compression and not be able to hear it happening (out of a mix setting where this starts to really count). If I didnt have the metering and was trying to set it up on my own I wouldnt be able to tell what was going on at all. The kind of compression on that track is different (longer attack, shorter release, higher ratio, higher threshold) than a gentle squeeze, which is why you can hear it at all, but for all that it wont mean there are no dynamics left to the player....

[quote name='JTUK' post='972466' date='Sep 30 2010, 10:47 AM']LIke it. I would have it live and more expansive, wouldn't see the need for a compressor. But the composition of the bass is a very good mix and it did kind of take over the song for me...but in a good way.[/quote] Well given that that is the tone they wanted, fitting the genre perfectly, how would you get the sound of a compressed bass without a compressor???? It really does a different thing to just 'squishing the dynamics' on this track, it is changing the envelope of the sound, you cant do that like this with eq, or a filter, or anything else really... Beyond that you are aware that virtually every track you hear since the 70s (barring classical stuff) has compression all over it aren't you? Buss comps, individual comps, its all there all the time in contempory stuff, not to mention compression from tape, compression from overdriving tubes etc etc etc. Really the whole sound of these tracks is tailored with liberal use of compression. Every recorded piece of music in this genre has compression going on! I dont understand the aversion to compression at all....

Check out Kjung (TB) on youtube.... [url="http://www.youtube.com/user/Kjungbass#p/u/7/-eUrmYZlSnY"]Kjungbass Channel[/url] His vids are really useful IMO. There is very little if any diff in the sound of the LMII and LMII (apparently they didnt even tweak the limiter in the end)

[quote name='blackmn90' post='971982' date='Sep 29 2010, 06:52 PM']thats more a bad musician than bass player. Also how would you know that his playing hasnt already made the track 10x better? You would need to mute the bass. I think anyone can play bass, the difference between us and monkeys is the use of expression through the instrument[/quote] OK, so a bassist isnt a musician? Thats daft, to be a good bassist you first have to be a good musician. Every comment on here about what makes a bad bassist also applies in the more general sense as to what makes a bad musician, since all bassists (good or bad) are to a lesser or greater extent musicians. You cant quantifiably say how much better a bassline makes a song (ie 10x better). IMO you can definitely say when a bass line does nothing for a song other than to exist and maybe add a bit of low end to the mix, ie it adds nothing useful musically, no real sense of self expression. Personally I often find that the situations I'm tlking about the bass mutes itself! It literally does nothing for the track. 'Muting' it is unnecesary. There must be occasions where a bassline ruins a track, but I actually think this is rare as the rest of the band usually get to tell the bassist to stop being so daft! I can certainly have an opinion as to whether or not a bass line does something or not for the music as a whole. Granted its subjective, and on the strength of a couple of songs it would be unfair to consider a player a bad bassist, but if you hear a few tracks (say an albums worth) and not one bassline on that album really in anyway lifts a single song to be greater than it would be without that bass line, then thats just not a good bass player, or musician if you prefer. You are right though, I was looking beyond the absolutely obvious criteria expected, ie decent enough technique to play the lines they need to play for their musical endeavours, good enough timing to keep it tight enough for the genre, good enough ear or theory to put a line together at all, however simple. Without which they are not a bassist yet anyway. Dont mistake this for a bashing of the root note style of playing, it really isnt, you can play root notes all the way, but with a passion and groove that is undeniable, and somewhere on an album of that there will be a rhythmic device that lifts a song, or an inflection, or just where the line sits in the pocket. Instant win! Or it can just be as effective as turning up a bit of bass eq on the rhythm guitar, for the whole album, in which case it doesnt really add any more than doing that would to the album, and is not so good! All in my very subjective opinion!

Here's where I may differ from some of the above, a bad bass player is boring. Some people feel that a bass player should only be noticed if they are removed. I feel that a bad bass player is any bass player who does not make the track. It doesnt mean flash, it doesnt mean lot of notes, or flourishes, it can mean playing just the root notes. I dont care, but what they add has to lift the song. Otherwise they are no better than an unimaginative drone making (usually) dull music duller, and that just plain sucks....

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='970409' date='Sep 28 2010, 09:54 AM']Oh God! [i]Big Bottom[/i] alert ...[/quote] Yeah baby, its so wrong, but sooooo right!

[quote name='bubinga5' post='970931' date='Sep 28 2010, 05:46 PM']Im sure everyone in the history of bass playing has borrowed/learned from someone else..the real pioneers were the old double bass players and Larry etc, who learned from them... there is a way of EQ,ing, playing slap without overtaking a song and playing slap all the way through...depending on the song of course... i will usually back the tone way off on the jazz.. check out this track that Randy "Hope" Taylor plays on...to me this is very musical..he uses fingerstyle, double stop slides at the start, but the slap is so in touch with the music..... fairly simple, gives the bass line an aggressive bass line with just slap, pop and great rythm... masterful playing for me this.. would like to know your thoughts on this.. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytQLBqIHak"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytQLBqIHak[/url][/quote] This is a perfect example of a compressed slap bass tone IMO. Its also a great example of a really really well set up compressor, although I think he may have tracked the fingerstyle seperately from the slap, its possible that he has a consistently lighter touch when playing fingerstyle, and the threshold on the comp is set such that it is only really grabbing the slap stuff. Or they automated the compression in a DAW. Whatever, it sounds fantastic....

The envelope is the way a sound's amplitude changes thru time It has 4 stages (normally) attack, decay, sustain release. An envelope filter is like a wah pedal, except the wah is opened a different amount the more volume it gets, as you play each note the change in volume of signal changes how much the filter opens, and then closes, giving a very precise wah sweep open and then shut through the duration of the note. I hope that helps....

A decent set of strings (roundwound A low(ish) action So basically a well set up bass (doesnt really matter what kind, but some are easier to slap on than others) [b]Good technique[/b] Hardest parts are getting a slap to sound decent initally (the string has to be vibrating, so bounce off or through it), once you have that working with a relaxed feel to you hand, arm, shoulder, neck then you are getting there. FX: compression if set up right can sound amazingly good for slap, and doesnt have to 'rob you of all dynamics', thats something of a myth; but you need a quality compressor, set up right. Chorus tends to sound very 80s on slap IMO, fine if thats what you are after though. Envelope filters and phasers can sound as funky as a three day old nappy, or as cheesy as, its all about what you play!

My remastering (or DIY effort thereof) of the nephs first two albums Sounds pretty good so far!

I've got a trimod phaser and it certainly doesnt drop in volume - totally different effect though. I'd get in touch with SA, they are really cool wrt customer service IME.

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='970329' date='Sep 28 2010, 08:21 AM']Will do Mert! It's been a busy week or so but I'll update everything this evening..Think I've got a drummer sorted for the Jam Room as well which will be good too... Nik[/quote] How many bassists will we be able to get going in the jam room at once though???

[quote name='Gunsfreddy2003' post='970280' date='Sep 28 2010, 06:46 AM']Can't seem to find these for sale on the web yet - are they new?[/quote] Very very very new indeed!

+1 to the BF Vintage Staggeringly good cab...

I keep mine on my keyring. That way I've never not got them, whether I'm at work, or at a gig, or playing. Whenever I think it may get loud I stick 'em in. I cannot stand ringing ears and consider myself lucky as hell to have got away with some of the dumb things I did to my hearing in my yoof!

[quote name='Rimskidog' post='968940' date='Sep 26 2010, 10:37 PM']Slowly slowly catchy monkey matey! ;-)[/quote] Absolutely, cant wait to see your plans for all the new space!

[quote name='Tait' post='966386' date='Sep 24 2010, 09:08 AM']I'm loving it. Very cool Nice bit of wood there, you see a lot of the VMJs with practically no grain at all. What does the Sprague orange drop do though? And what IS it?[/quote] Well it does [url="http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Sprague_%27Orange_Drop%27_0.047_Capacitor_.047CAP-OD"]this[/url] 'A perfect upgrade capacitor offering a smoother, warmer tone over standard ceramic caps. Generally used on tone pots for guitars that have Singlecoils. A simple way to improve the tone of your Strat! 100v.'

What's the budget?

[quote name='silddx' post='964527' date='Sep 22 2010, 02:44 PM']I'm hoping my Chris Squire Electra tribute will be ready in time.[/quote] Does it sing as well?

I hate too loud!!! I do a fair bit of mixing, and dont like the idea of knackered hearing at all. I am never more than a couple of feet from my ear plugs when I'm out in case stuff gets too loud. I hate the way a PA sounds when its pushed too hard, that brittle top end from a crappy piezo horn being driven too hard (experienced this last night at a gig - horrid!). I dont mind volume, but it has to be with absolute clarity, and no pain! When I had my 40th we brought in well over a 4k rig (not including the monitors) to a small (100 person on that floor) venue, then had it pumping just enough, the sound was sublime, no one complained , because it wasnt in any way too loud (wasn't quiet either), and the resident sound guy came up aftwerwards and said "I couldnt understand why you would want to bring your own PA, until I heard it!". We can run a far larger venue with that rig, and it still sounds great, but when you are pushing it just enough to drive the cabs it is so good! Thing is venues under engineer their soundsystem (cos its so expensive to over engineer it apparently) then wonder why it sounds awful!

A copy of Reaper - I dont do bass but I sometimes have a bit of a fiddle with a mix

[quote name='Rimskidog' post='964971' date='Sep 22 2010, 09:11 PM']A little update: the identical building next door (joined by a party wall) came up for sale a few weeks ago. After a lot of soul searching I decided to buy it. I made an offer only to find... doh! They already had an offer from another buyer. In the circumstances I had to pay a little more than I'd have liked (and probably more than if I'd been decisive when it first went up for sale) but yesterday they formally accepted my offer. Woohoo! Circle Studios just became 3600 sq ft![/quote] Crikey! You looking to measure up to the likes of Bridge Studios now then Nice one mate, enjoy it!

[quote name='Machines' post='964733' date='Sep 22 2010, 06:10 PM']Love the body - not sure about the headstock shape though, other than that - awesome.[/quote] +1 looks rather like the paddle I was missing as I tried to get out of sh** creek.... Other than that, top looking bass, bet it sounds great with Nordstrands in!

I think most people would put Prince in the 80's bin wouldn't they? And lets face it, he was never afraid to look like a bit of a berk....

If there were such a thing as a cheap light uncoloured cab capable of dealing with a large portion of wattage you'd have heard about it by now The key requirement is cheap, and resaleable - you can kiss sound quality goodbye though, and forget anything that weighs less than half a tonne....