51m0n

Well finally after much scrimping, saving and searching for a recommended local luthier, we pulled the trigger on a gear4music Archer 3/4 size DB for Plux. Here are the obligatory dodgy photos:- Bass was set up by local luthier Vincent Purcell, who does Herbie Flowers' bass, top chap, has done a great job, sorted the neck out, the nut slots, and the bridge and checked the soundpost. He put on a set of Dominants too. Got it home this evening, and damn me but it sounds HUGE! Lovely soft but defined attack on the front of each note played pizz, but the arco soud is amazing (to my utterly untrained ear). I was happy to sit there in front of it just listening to the arco for ages, just a fantastic tone. So much more everything than any of the basses he has played before.... I'd really like to say a massive thanks to OutToPlayJazz, for pointing me in this direction and giving me loads of advice and encouragement to get this for Plux, he absolutely loves it, thanks mate! Of course he may be sick of it in a ouple of weeks, well hearing me try and play it anyway (I'm so bad at this its not even funny!)

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='957882' date='Sep 16 2010, 12:12 AM']With something like that, you'll end up with 1 or 2 you actually like. It's like the Line 6 modelling stuff, the only benefit of all that choice is that you'll probably like [i]something[/i] in there. IMO it's better to get something with versatility rather than multiple versions of the same thing. Which is why the EHX Enigma is such a winner - expression control, start and stop freq. knobs, it's really easy to dial in and does more than just envelope-following.[/quote] I dont understand, you want versatility, well this has more versatility built in than any other envelope filter I've ever seen, since it effectively models different takes on the envelope filter circuitry. Watch some more of the videos explaining it on youtube, there are over 20 different takes on the concept (IIRC) which change over 20 different parameters in the model (that you cant access from the knobs), you then get a bunch of front panel controls over each one. Now unless the Enigma actually has over 25 different controls it cant be more versatile than this can it? Maybe I'm missing what you are getting at, but every envelope filter/bass/fx setup I've tried has an inherent character, this seems to provide a bunch of inherent characters. Plus if the $120 translates as it usually does (to £120) its a remarkably cheap device for the amount of sounds available IMO.

+1 for 'floating' thumb

[quote name='bassface2k10' post='957615' date='Sep 15 2010, 07:54 PM']Love the bass in this, also the words are so on the ball[/quote] Disposable Heroes of Hiphopracy absolutely awesome, love this album!

STOP!!! Wait, get one of [url="http://www.selectsoundsllc.com/bass-envelope.html"]these bad boys[/url] Now struggling with the big kinda GAS that causes explosive decompression of the cranium Here's the blurb:- [i]The Bass Envelope Filter is a continuation of the evolving line of Source Audio effects optimized specifically for the bass guitar. There are 21 different envelope filter effects to choose from including 2 Pole and 4 Pole Low Pass variations, Single Peak, Triple Peak, Peak/Notch variations, as well as Phaser settings. Each of these settings can be further modified with a variety of control options including positive/negative filter sweeps, sweep range, attack and decay speed settings, or frequency range selection.[/i] I love the soundblox stuff, and if the did it in a Pro box with the 6 recalls I'd be all over that like a case of terminal herpes....

[quote name='Chris2112' post='957806' date='Sep 15 2010, 10:35 PM']Well, I guess some players like to be heard (I do) and some are content to sit in the mix, like wallflowers swaying in the breeze![/quote] Have you actually tried a Compact or Vintage in a band? The certainly dont just sit in th mix, they snarl far too much for that if you want them to!

I'm going to stick with tradition and say my one is the best, Roscoe, so there.... Who knows, the fact is, with all the Fender prevalence it will probably be a 2015 Made In Uzbekistan Precision..... Philistines the lot of them

Cracking line

Emma Discombobulator MXR auto-Q Maxon AF-9 (temperamental b**ch but some of the sounds it can make are damnably funky) I wouldn't discount the Source Audio Wah either....

[quote name='Beedster' post='953040' date='Sep 11 2010, 07:17 PM']Hi folks I've recently bought a new iMac, Mackie 1640i ProTools compatible mixer, and Pro Tools M-Powered (all from DV-247). I took the day today out to get mixer and computer talking to each other and, well, they're not! So, help is required if at all possible. As far as I can tell I've done everything as per instruction, but when I open Pro Tools, about 10 seconds into loading the programme, an error message states that it cannot fin the hardware, and it closes. I've tried all the obvious things (rebooted, reloaded the software, turned everything on and of a few times, asked it nicely, shouted at it, and read several threads regarding similar issues on various other forums), none of which have helped. I could really do with some help as I have a busy week next week and don't want to spend too much of my working days on the phone to DV-247. A few things that might be important in resolving the issues are: 1. To connect the Mackie 1640i to the iMac I had to buy a Firewire 6/6 pin cable and an 800 to 400 adapter 2. The iMac recognises the Mackie when the Mackie is switched on, and doesn't when it is switched off, so I guess the Firewire is functioning (although I'm a bit concerned that the adapter might be an issue here) 3. I am computer illiterate! Any advice or experience gratefully received Cheers Chris[/quote] I'm sorry I cnat help you mate, I've not used that set up. I would suggest you try on [url="http://www.gearslutz.com"]gearslutz [/url], chances are they can help you there...

I think we agree completely... Personally I dont think there is room in any song for cruft, and 7 minute long improvised or not solos on any instrument (unless on the bathtub, a most underrated musical intrument I am told) are likely to be cruft! Stick to the point, and keep it interesting. I love Nigel's more 'pointed' posts, they make you rethink what and why you do things. It would unfathomly boring around here if we all agreed!

It doesnt have Speakon connectors (only really real gripe I have) It is a little bit hissy (not enough to worry about) Its more expensive than it was The tone stack controls take a bit of getting used to Its heavier than a very lightweight thing (but again not so heavy as to be a real issue at all) ..... Thats about it....

Yes. Over that length you arent going to have many coils, it may be a tiny biut more susceptible to RF, but its balanced innit, so it should all work out in the end....

I've said it before, but it bears repeating, if I didnt already have an ae410 those two cabs are what I'd have in its place....

He's cool. Prefer his electronica to his bass solos though. I would recommend T-Power to anyone remotely interested in drum and bassy electronicay stuff: Self Evident Truth... is an incredible album

Two of [url="http://www.studiospares.com/snakes/snake-84-xlrxlr-8m/invt/588950/"]these[/url] Or one of [url="http://www.studiospares.com/snakes/snake-164-xlrxlr-8m/invt/588970/"]these[/url]

You need a stage box (or 2 to spread them out in the room), and a patchbay. If you had seperate rooms you would have the stage box as a wall mounted panel. Otherwise you will spend you life trying to see the back of the mixer, regardless of its configureation. Which is a rubbish way to work.

[quote name='risingson' post='951346' date='Sep 10 2010, 12:28 AM']that's a different kind of improvisation, more altering something really and if that what the original post was about then yes, I'd struggle to find a bass player I enjoyed that didn't do that. As far as I was aware I thought the OP was referring to solo playing, which has it's time and place. I'm really not stupid enough to believe a good player never does the same thing twice unless it's a very specific bassline and even then it is subject to alteration, just never at the expense of the original tune.[/quote] I refer you back to the OP :- [quote name='silddx' post='948783' date='Sep 7 2010, 08:50 PM'][b]Is there a point? Unless you play jazz I can't see one. The occasional inspired extra note here and there, sure, but studying improvisation on a bass!?![/b] It seems ridiculous. Learn to cook instead, it's much more useful and pleasing for other people. It sounds like a recipe for cheating your audience to me. Only musicians will feel any "magic" happening, and that magic will be VERY rare. The audience won't get it anyway, and why not compose something beautiful in the first place. For me, improvisation on a bass is for jazz and pompous tits who convince themselves it's entertaining. I wish they would realise NO-ONE GIVES A sh*t. EDIT: I mean in a live setting.[/quote] So in the original post it is clear that improvising is (for the sake of this discussion) anything beyond changing the odd note in a song. Doing this live is to cheat the audience. When I play I like to be in a position live (with any of thebands I've been in) that for the majority of songs I may have up to 5 or 6 directions or 'gears' I can take any part of any song, where it will work. This is preparing to improvise live IMO. It takes a lot of time to get there, both in personal practice and to a certain extent in reheasals.Then live I can go in any of those directions, mix and match them as I feel, add in new cool bits as the moment takes me. All the preparation makes any new bits far more likely to successful. What I dont do is play the song according to a rigorously defined bassline at all, but I still minimise the chance of really cocking up. Clearly if the song calls for a unison line then thats what will get played (although sometimes dropping out some or all of the bassline in a unison part can make the song better too), other than that I like the world to be my oyster. Its particularly helpful in the blues band, where although the songs are covers the interpretation is very much as the singer feels it. The structure of the songs is different every time, the dynamics are different, the interplay between the players is what makes the whole thing enjoyable, playing the same stock blues pattern would bore me, playing the songs different every time (at least to some extent) makes it far more interesting. No it doesnt always work, but we've never ever had a complaint! The upside of all this is that if anything does go wrong the band are all better at getting through it. Which is reason enough to work like that anyway. I should point out that I have been in bands where every single note was composed for every single song on every single instrument. It was some pretty complex stuff. The audience appreciated it significantly less than the stuff I have played with more room to improvise. Probably because the material was more challenging to listen to than to play (and it was damned hard to play!), where as the other stuff has been far easier to listen to.

[quote name='sixshooter' post='951003' date='Sep 9 2010, 08:02 PM']Check out my MarkBass 501 with built in tube compresor, up for less than half price and only 2 years old.[/quote] +1 killer head, absolutely gigantic tone....

ooooh boy, that can take some serious wattage! Stand well back now, or you'll be splattered all over the far wall and someone will have to scrub you off with a toothbrush

[quote name='risingson' post='951219' date='Sep 9 2010, 10:32 PM']Agreed although the genres you stated I would say are even more reliant on a supportive bassist, the only difference to my ears is that producers have a tendency to mix and master the bass up front due to the nature of the type of music, so I guess they're more prone to being picked out if they make a mistake. A massive amount of 'easy listening' you mentioned about for lack of a better term usually has some session player wailing on a fretless in the background. My point being 95% of music relies on a supportive bass line to propel everything else forward. Improvisation on the instrument is fine but at at very specific moments and in very specific tunes. It's the horses for courses argument again but I'd much rather listen to Pino on a P-Bass with flatwounds thumping away in the background with Erykah Badu or John Mayer than hear any particular bass solo.[/quote] Nah I disagree with you there, loads of funk live the bassists are definitely improvising, a lot, even in some rock (Living Colour's Muzz Skillings said he never played a line the same twice for instance). The thing is improvisation is not all about fret w@nkery at all, and yet people hear the term improvise and assume it must be. Any time you express yourself whilst playing in a way that chanegs any part of the groove at all, you are in fact improvising. I doubt there are more than a handful of people on this forum who really can play a song the same twice in a row, I mean record it twice, put the two versions up and really analyse it, there will be differences, if we are so good at playing in the groove and all that, they should at least timing wise be almost identical. They wont be, its not possible. If you could then getting to be like that would have removed all passion and soulfrom that piece of music, which would render it cr@p. Supportive yes, repetition to the point of drudgery no.

mixing or tracking? mixing you want open - they sound more natural, tracking you want closed, stops the bleeding bleed dunnit....

[quote name='risingson' post='950933' date='Sep 9 2010, 06:58 PM']I don't like improvisation on bass that much at all, although I'll occasionally hear someone playing that will catch my ear. I think a bass player should count himself pretty lucky if people come up to him/her at the end of the night and compliment them on the job they did, usually if you're a good player the only people that will have noticed what you've done will be the token musos in the crowd and the rest of your band. Bass players should be the ones in the band that literally support everyone else, like the bridge between rhythm and harmony, it's not something you notice if it goes right but one mistake and you know a mistake has been made.[/quote] I think that how noticeable the bass is/should be is actually entirely genre dependant. If you are playing country, blue, rock (including a lot of metal), or most pop or easy listening type stuff then I agree the bass is almost purely supportive, and can be said to be at its best when it isnt really notices, if you play drum and bass, dub, funk, reggae then I'd say its much more of a forefront instrument. Improvising or not.

[quote name='silddx' post='950799' date='Sep 9 2010, 04:38 PM'] Thanks mate! All live performances are multi-dimensional, even if the notes are the same each time. There are loads of great bands who don't improvise live, Rush are one. There are minor differences each night but other than that it's the same show. Yet fans see them time after time on the same tour. It's about whether you like the band and their music and the "show". Same with classical concerts.[/quote] Pleasure dude, and you know I'm kidding about that - well a bit

[quote name='ironside1966' post='950690' date='Sep 9 2010, 03:07 PM']It is not a myth that it is more covenants and there is less to go wrong. Mic; ing is easier to mix depends on many variables including if the stage is hollow and the room acoustic and the actual tone of the cab. It is harder to but back something that’s been taken out so if the sound is muffled, has no mids or the player is compensating for a bright room then you are scrweed so I would always use a di as back up[/quote] Close mic'ed (ie a few inches from the driver) the ratio of room to direct signal is so low as to be all but irrelevant. How is DIing more convenient, there are more leads involved, same number of devices and so more things to go wrong with a DI than a mic. The bassist may love what has been taken out by the cab though! Does that make him immediately wrong, and mean he has no understanding of his tone? So why would you insist on putting it back?