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[quote name='alexclaber' post='465152' date='Apr 17 2009, 03:43 PM']It's certainly a very appealing preamp! Unfortunately adding all that EQ whilst maintaining signal integrity is very expensive, hence the vast price difference between it and the U5 (and similarly between the U5 and Avalon's other preamps). I'm unfamiliar with the effects of output transformers on tone - I'm just aware that if they're not large enough they can form a bottleneck due to the magnetic fields from the two coils failing to couple fully at high power - and that with the high output impedance of a valve amp you have to have an output transformer to shift over to the low voltage high current drive that a speaker needs. But when you have a solidstate power stage you already have the right output impedance so Jonas must prefer what an output transformer does to the tone. I notice the amps are relatively low power (compared to other standalone power amps, they're not much different to typical bass heads) and thus wonder if he likes the sound of a transformer coupled solidstate power amp running beyond its linear zone? Alex[/quote] What I heard was that he believes that the output transformer does more to get 'that' tube sound than the tubes themselves in a power stage. Lots of arguments follow as to the validity of this idea, and being something of a tubeophobe its not a quest I've ever really been on.... Having said that I certainly wouldn't turn my nose up at a rig like that! Its really beautiful, who put that grinning buffoon in the picture though?

Blimey, I am really NOT a Smiths person, but thats the best thing I've heard by them, and I really like the b-line too (I can live with out the oh so tremelo guitar nonsense mind! )

So me and me band have been having a bit of a difference of opinion musically. Mainly the drummer and guitarist start all the songs off, drummer comes up with lyrics often and then they come up with most of the rest between them, I get called in to create a b-line after the fact. Trouble is they are 50 odd miles away from me location-wise and have a tendency to always rock out, bless em. Much talk is made of a desire to get more groovey, even funky, and yet left to their own devices it always ends up being a rockfest. Nothing desperately wrong with that, but thats not really where my strengths lie (cos I get a bit bored, and tend to think more syncopated as a rule). Anyway the last couple of songs they rejected my proposed b-lines repeatedly until I went a bit mental. You know the sort of thing, 'This isnt my bag, and I'm fed up with not playing anything I like :('. Seems I threw a bit of a gauntlet down, since the reply was, here's some lyrics, lets see what you can come up with....... So I locked myself away with my Roscoe 5 (first real chance to record something I want with it) and came up with something. The nice thing is that the bass sounds pretty lush to me, and thats with very little post processing, just some tasty compression (other than that accident with the envelope filter in the chorus). The scary bit is this is 11 tracks of bass, but thats cos I want to be a horn section too Drums are MyDrumKit vsti, f you're interested. So here it is, what do you lot think???

Well I just got a 2nd hand fretless VMJ from Uzzell and its the nicest Fender/Squier I've ever had the pleasure to play. I'm no Fender fanboy or expert, but I am staggered at the quality and feel of this instrument for the price. They are VERY low output though (even for a passive bass I think)

[quote name='Rich' post='463901' date='Apr 16 2009, 01:23 PM']that TLA 5051... *drool*[/quote] They're pretty fine arent they, get to play with the TLA stereo tube comp a lot in my drummers studio, do like them!

Yes I've suffered this exact same thing. Was/is really brought on by being lazy about stretching (including back/shoulders/neck all your upper body, arms, forearms, fingers) lightly but thoroughly (full 15 seconds per stretch twice). Followed by some gentle warm ups. I would [b]highly [/b]recommend you get a copy of Michael Manrings video (the one where he plays Watson & Crick at the end, black cover with a picture of the big nosed godlike bassist on the front, picture of him doing something improbable with two basses on the back). He goes into a great deal of detail about a really good warm up routine, economic use of finger strength etc etc. These warm ups definitely help me... Lastly if you use a computer or something similar then check out your posture during use, this can really cause issues since any tension/strain gained during the day job only makes things worse when you pick up the bass. Watch this VERY carefully, I had to lay off for a couple of months at one point!

[quote name='steve-soar' post='464597' date='Apr 17 2009, 12:22 AM']When string are dead, guess what? they're dead. THEY CAN'T BE BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD. [/quote] Well maybe not, but using the old meths tube solution has allowed me to use two sets of DR Lo-Riders for well over a year now on my 4 string, just by alternating them in the tube. The trick is to never let them quite get to absolute death before they get a dipping..... Two days in the pot with a shake of the pot once a day works miracles!

Yeah congrats Alex, well deserved too mate!

The seperation between big business media and 'real' music is in stark contrast here IMO. On the one hand the packaging is everything (that includes videos,hos,bros and $$$$) the music is very much second fiddle (whatever the 'artist' thinks) - its all about product as a whole, sales figures bean counters and ironically has no soul - regardless of the fact so much of it is purported to be soul music. On the other hand is people like most on this forum, who love music. Not the packaging, although that can be great, not the videos, we cant afford to make videos so much, not the lifestyle, cos we dont make any real money at this stuff. Just the music. Either our own or anyone else's that does it for us. The two sides of this will never ever meet IMO. They used to be a bit closer, but now they are getting further apart.

Its a killer for me. I love em but there are 5 basses in the house now....

[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='463920' date='Apr 16 2009, 01:41 PM']Vitriola![/quote] My all time fav Silverfish track was TFA, tricky to say what that stood for if you dont know, T was for Total, F was for, well you can probably guess, and A was for bunghoolio. The biggest, baddest riff of all time, best 12" record I ever bought and seeing them at the Zap was in the top three gigs of my life. Total class!!!!

Well I dont think I can agree with AM1 on a couple of points. First that youngsters dont know how to practice. My son (14) and his band are all members of the local music service. They have been classically trained since they were about 5 or 6 years old, all of them. Singing, percussion, reading, moving on to instruments of choice in orchestras. Now they all do extra 'rock' stuff in their band too. They are not alone or unusual in this city. I went to a gig a few weeks ago, where his band played in a line up of 7 similar bands. Not one of them sucked, they were all very very good players, with very good musicianship and stage presence. They had good songs, and a great time. There arent enough chances for them to play out yet, but as they get older that will come. Second that there are no killer riffs, well there were that night, and lots of styles too, it was really really encouraging to see. These people were not in any way stuck in a copycat stylistic rut, they were playing music they enjoyed and wanted to play. Oh the average age was about 14 or 15 that night. Thirdly that Commercial music has ever had a decent percentage of decent stuff in it. Commercial pop has always been 99% utter sewage. If you look to commercial outlets that is what you will find. My take on late 80's early 90's is that it was utter rubbish in the charts (and I'm including all the bands you name as high points, and Stock Aitkin blah blah too) I hated it all. If you wanted Janes Addiction, then they werent in the pop charts, or RHCP, or Mr Bungle or FNM, or whatever, beyond one or two songs per album, or couple of years. Rock existed in rock charts even then. It was the time of the death of Indie as a real meaningful title (when Kylie topped the INdie chart I felt sick as a dog!), gone were bands like Alien Sex Fiend, We've Got A Fuzzbox etc and in were a bunch of shoe gazing boring @*(&^$&ers!!!! About the only bands I really liked then were the Silverfish and Bomb Disneyland, oh and Snuff, they kicked arse!!!

Well who is to say how well it should be played given its price? Didnt know we needed to make people sit an exam before they could spend a decent amount of cash on an instrument or they aren't worthy....

[quote name='escholl' post='462798' date='Apr 15 2009, 10:44 AM']I think her point was that all the best gear in the world won't inherently make you a good bassist. If you don't put in the effort and learn to really [i]use[/i] it properly (as others have mentioned) -- then you might as well save your money.[/quote] I got the point that Zoe made, I stand by my response, essentially there are other reasons to love bass gear beyond being able to play through it brilliantly, as long as how you play fulfills you then your playing is good enough. As long as the gear you own fulfills your needs then it is good enough. Is your gear better than it needs to be. Well actually almost everyone on this forum could use cheaper gear and play the same music, but would they get the same enjoyment out of it? In fact almost any punters you play to wont recognise the difference between a £150 bass and a £1500 bass unless you A/B them outside of the mix IME (I've tried this). Even then given similar age strings etc a lot of people dont hear a better and worse, just different. In fact most punters wont tell the diff between a fretted and fretless bass in a mix (unless you do some long slow slides in what you are playing). Really, they aren't set up that way, they aren't listening to the bass first. So its actually about your experience as a player, and maybe the rest of your band, more than the punters, IMO. And given that then your gear is as good as you need it to be when you get as much enjoyment from it as is possible (and possibly legal ). It cant really be too good or too expensive unless you feel it hasn't given you an equivalent increase in the enjoyment you experience when playing. So I guess I should say my gear actually isn't too good for me and where my playing is at, as it gives me a massive amount of enjoyment, and I think I get enough out of it given the level of my playing to appreciate it properly.

[quote name='johnnylager' post='462792' date='Apr 15 2009, 10:40 AM']Good man. I'm just a cab and filter away meself. This week anyway.[/quote] Its an empty feeling, having no GAS......

I'm happy with the tone I get from my hands.... I'm happy with the tone from my basses.... I'm happy with the tone from my rig.... GAS is over for me for now Does that make me a bit weird???

[quote name='Zoe_BillySheehan' post='462624' date='Apr 15 2009, 12:52 AM']I suppose some people are just lucky when it comes to being able to afford equipment.[/quote] I wish, no I saved up for two years to get my rig, and another year and a half to afford the Roscoe. I dont by anything on credit, I just have an understanding partner, a bank account for bass gear and patience. I've also learned that buying the best you can possibly afford, assuming it 'does it' for you, is definitely not a false economy [quote name='Zoe_BillySheehan' post='462624' date='Apr 15 2009, 12:52 AM']but it really isnt the equipment that makes you a great bassist, although having a bass, set up perfectly, that plays like butter, has gotta help.[/quote] Any instrument really well set up trumps any instrument not set up well. Cost is at that point irrelevant. To be able to play beautifully, first you have to be able to play without fighting the instrument (IMO & IME). I have an old Vester, it was always a lower mid range instrument going by price tag alone. I've invested a lot of time setting it up, the neck is absolutely right for my hands. No one who has played it has ever wanted to give it back, they've all, without fail, felt it played as well as anything else they have ever touched. I wore it out in ten years of playing. Then I started thinking about saving up for a better bass. [quote name='Zoe_BillySheehan' post='462624' date='Apr 15 2009, 12:52 AM']but if your gunna spend £1000 on a bass, and not put time n effort into learning, then whats the point?[/quote] You love the sound, you love the instrument as much as a piece of art as a musical tool, lots of reasons. [quote name='Zoe_BillySheehan' post='462624' date='Apr 15 2009, 12:52 AM']i guess some people just have money to throw around like that! Z x[/quote] I think some of us are a little older and have some spare cash we can save, I dont think anyone throws a ccouple of grand at a bass, and a couple of grand at a rig without a lot of forethought, unless they've won the lottery of course, hate to think what my bass shopping bill would be the day after that happens!!!!

Oh yeah, for sure. But it sounds great, makes me play better than any old rubbish would, and sounds great.....

[quote name='Protium' post='461673' date='Apr 13 2009, 10:44 PM']Suit yourself then, was only a suggestion but obviously hit a nerve! Yes, but in the car market they don't say "Our new car will go [i]about[/i] as fast as your average saloon, MPG [i]comparable[/i] to a 3 cylinder diesel" etc, they have their figures available. People may not be able to see through marketing falsifications but they can't see your specs either. This IMO is an easy way to lose potential customers.[/quote] Yes and the figures they all produce have been shown to be rot very often too (esp mpg figures for instance)

I've played one of those Moon basses, and posted about it here. Its one of the best sounding slap jazz basses I've ever played. Beautiful (if slightly too low ) action too. Someone who wants to play slap like a mofo do themselves a favour and go get themselves a really nice bass to do that on....

Oh Anyone want to donate me a really fab EUB then

GAK is a weird old shop. They will say whatever the customer wants to hear of course, but they do have Laklands in there, and gazillions of Warwicks (some of which are very old and dusty - they dont sell that fast), they have a load of Fender guff in ( sorry but how many variants of a sunburst P or J do you actually need in one shop?), they have loads of Ibanez, some ESP and some really weird and funky new Italian archtops in (really unusual, good on them). Thing is they get this stuff but most of it doesnt float my boat. They say they cant get anything higher end in , but some of the tired old Warwicks are over £1500 - you can get a far more obviously classy bass in the shop for that kind of money. They choose not to. Same with amps - they wont touch high end or esoteric as they fear they wont move them. After all 90% of the people walking in the shop have less than £500 to spend.... In short I dont think bassists are conservative (nothing like the way guitarists are) but the shops are extremely conservative!

Bloody hell thats seriously over doing it! Not only are you possibly oing to knacker your cabs wacking polepieces at volume, but hitting that hard will knacker you hands in the long run too, plus you cant play fast for long if you play that hard... Turn your amp up twice as loud and practice at the same volume. Set your gain knob twice as high, then dont let the overload light come on....