Mornats

Remember too that not quite getting the notes perfect may actually work in certain tracks too. Or maybe I just use that as an excuse... hehe.

My unlined fretless Bass Collection SB320 has its dots right on the note so this isn't limited to just cheap basses.

I actually find it harder to find the notes on the 10th and 11th fret positions as you can't just aim for the middle space between two dots. They are indeed tough basses to master.

I guess that for me it would come down to context. If a producer said "try this track using a Fender P as I think it would make the bass sit well in the track and it would make it sound like I think you intended it to sound" then I'd give it a go. If the producer said "use this Fender as it's easier to mix" I'd walk out and find a competent producer.

However between my Overwater and Warwick (albeit the far-eastern made versions) I think I'd be good for tone in a studio. I can mix either of them well enough to work at a passable level at least and I'm a newbie amateur at this so if a pro producer can't do it then heh, we're getting ripped off.

That's very nice. Mine's way too cramped at the moment.

Are they 5" speakers you've got there? Was just curious about whether they pump out enough bass for you. I've got a pair of BX5a's that are a bit lacking in the bass. Not sure if it's my setup or the speakers though as my desk is right in the corner.

Yeah, what BigRedX said

I think I just contradicted myself in the post above. Oh well!

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1344436574' post='1764463']
it was surprising how similar basses can be made to sound.
[/quote]

A lot of the characteristics of the sound* will come from his playing style so it's not all that surprising. But yeah, once they're all in the hands of the same player it can be surprising how subtle the tone changes can get.

[size=3]* I didn't want to say "tone" as in this context we're talking about the tone from the basses, not the combination of tone plus whatever it is that a player adds. So I used "sound" instead. Not a big point but didn't want to confuse![/size]

[quote name='Mark_Andertons' timestamp='1344416166' post='1764009']
to be perfectly honest my favourite tones and the ones that I would choose to use all the time if I HAD to would probably be Warwick.
[/quote]

Having just bought a used Rockbass Corvette I'm with you on this one. It's lovely, and has a nice deeper jazz growl than my Bass Collection. Between the Corvette and my Overwater, I've got a stonking range of tones that I love.

I think it's clear that we bassists are passionate about our sound so any hostility towards producers undermining that are rightly justified. However, we should all work WITH producers to take in their talent and apply it to the recording. But if any producer says to us, "hey just use a Fender, I know how to mix that" then we all know where the Fender's going to end up.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1344369062' post='1763624']
I try to craft what the song needs, without the bass near me. I sling the song in the headphones and mentally sing along with it, what comes first is often the best representation of me, then I chip away at it until the raw material feels crafted. I usually rush it a bit and record too soon, resulting in me thinking of a few little finesses later, but I often incorporate them into live versions.

That's how I do it. The song is god, do what makes it feel f***ing good.
[/quote]

+1 to this.

Have we just been Rickrolled?

You need to try my Rockbass Corvette, I think you'll like it. Give me a shout next time you're popping out to trial basses, I'll come along and give you my opinion (and it would be nice to play a lot of basses too of course!)

I was reading through the comments as it was playing but scrolled back up when I heard a nice bass sound and it was the two Warwicks every time. The Star then the Streamer for me. I could spot the fretted Stingray every time (I winced at the sound...). Always liked the idea of a Stingray, being a big Flea fan but tried one and it was a horrible clangy piece of crap in my opinion. Perhaps a bad example combined with bad playing but it was truly dreadful for me. Different strokes and all that...

But then we'd miss out on the variety of bass tones that are very possibly to deliver (exceptionally well). Just compare Geddy Lee's bass tone on Clockwork Angels with Stuart Zender's from any Jamiroquai album. Ok I admit, Geddy plays a Fender Jazz but neither the Rush album nor Jamiroquai's albums would sound as good as they do if they had that solid dependable Fender P tone. I totally appreciate how hard it is to record and mix a bass but it's possible to get a great foundation from other bass tones.

Cheers mate, a very nice compliment

I'm getting the main riff down ok now, still working through it fairly slowly but I'll slowly increase the speed. It's speed playing that I'm weakest at so this could be a good trainer for me.

I remember trying it out ages ago and really liked it but it was around £160 (which put me off as I had Guitar Rig 4 LE) but at this price, it's a no-brainer for me. I've since upgraded to Guitar Rig 5 Pro which is great but only has one bass amp. It's not bad, but SVX is far better for bass.

I've just bought this from eSoundz for $50 (offer ends tomorrow 7th Aug) but it's also on sale on their website for €39 which is a bargain imo. [url="http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/ampegsvx/"]http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/ampegsvx/[/url]

[quote name='Mark_Andertons' timestamp='1344242851' post='1761509']
but to my shame I don't think I ever really pay enough respect to how a band's bassist already sounds (through their amp at live shows) and try to recreate that on the record (an approach that favours micing the amp).
[/quote]

From I hear about producers favouring Fender basses for recording this seems to be endemic. What would happen if producers said that every guitarist had to use a Fender Strat because they're happy mixing those and don't want to bother with trying to apply their skills to other sounds? Not having a go at yourself of course but it does seem that a lot of producers come out with this sort of thing. It sounds like an attitude of "it's the bass, who cares?". I happen to spend a lot of time, effort and cash trying to get a bass tone that I love and suits the tracks I'm writing and I'd not be happy if a producer told me to pick up a Fender as that's what they're used to mixing. FFS, use your skills!

It's certainly going to be a challenge! Although I did manage to find a midi file for the song so I popped it into Reaper, threw some drums, bass, guitar and strings on it via Kontakt and EZDrummer and I now have a version I can speed up and slow down without it sounding weird. Perfect!

Morning all,

I'm looking at replacing my iPhone 4 with an Android phone (for various reasons, mainly because itunes is sh*t and a pain to do anything with) and I was almost settled on a Samsung Galaxy S2 when I started thinking about the iPhone's most impressive feature (for me at the moment) - it's ability to handle loud audio fairly well whilst recording. Example here: [url="http://soundcloud.com/mornats/whisky-river-money"]http://soundcloud.com/mornats/whisky-river-money[/url]. This was recorded using the voice recorder app with the phone just sitting on a table a few meters from the band. Not bad I'd say for a smartphone with no addons or fancy apps!

So that's what I'm after, something like that but I've heard that nothing really compares to the iPhone in this regard and there are not a lot of decent Android apps for recording. Hmmm. I don't want to spend a few hundred quid on a Zoom H4, not when I can get something passable out of my iPhone.

Any advice? Any experience of using Android phones to record live band practice?

Transcribe looks interesting. I could possibly do that in Reaper too. The only problem is my ears aren't tuned to pick up which notes are which yet so it would only slow me down for now. But that's yet another challenge for me!

It's something that I'd definitely like to try. I normally record through my Guitar Rig Session interface into Guitar Rig's amps and EQ the amp from there. But I've recently got myself an Ashdown 220 Touring combo which I love the sound of. I can't get the DI out to record properly because for some daft reason the master volume knob is also the DI volume knob which means I can't record in the house and get a strong enough signal without shattering glass. So I've been toying with the idea of micing up my amp and seeing how that goes. I wouldn't mind a vocal mic (ya know, just in case I get brave). Do you guys over at Anderton's recommend a mic that would do vocals and bass? Shure SM57 perhaps?

Thanks all, I spent a bit of time on the Trinity website looking at their stuff. I was pleased to see that Pink Floyd's Money is up there in Grade 4 as I've got that one under my belt already. It's tempting to take all of the grades as I think it would be a good exercise to go through them all.

However, I like Deb's suggestion of getting myself a bass tutor. I've been recommended a local guy (Dave Savage whom I believe is a member on here) so I think I'll contact him and set up some lessons and let him know my goals. I've been toying with the idea of getting lessons anyway as I can get any bad habits ironed out, get some structure to my practicing and obviously learn a lot.

A little off topic but I absolutely love Jake's Phonic Season Superstition cover. I think I'm accountable for half of your plays on Soundcloud for that one

1999 was after SGC Nanyo went bust so it's likely to be one of the ones that was picked up and made by someone else just after. I've been stalking that one but mainly because I'm going to put my 1991 SB315 up for sale soon and I want to see what they go for. The price of that one was way over the odds as I only paid £165 for mine a year ago second hand. The BCs that do sell on Ebay tend to go for £130 - £170 for a 300/310/320 series. Maybe a little more for 320s actually.

Hmm, that serial number starts with 98 but I think SGC Nanyo went bust in 1996.

I decided to set myself a challenge. Before the year is out (which gives me plenty of time) I want to be able to play YYZ and The Spirit of Radio (both by Rush but you know that yeah). These songs are currently beyond my ability at the moment which is why I set myself this challenge. I'd love to be able to play them live too (my guitarist is more confident in my abilities than me and wants to do YYZ anyway).

So, I'd like some help from you lot! I'm looking for any resources that will help me along and learn how to play these two songs. At the moment I'm using the free version of Songsterr ([url="http://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/rush-yyz-guitar-tab-s16981t0"]http://www.songsterr...ar-tab-s16981t0[/url] and [url="http://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/rush-the-spirit-of-radio-guitar-tab-s17179t0"]http://www.songsterr...ar-tab-s17179t0[/url]) but I'm sure there are better ways.

I can't read music (that's another challenge for another day) and tabs are meh to me. Handy sometimes but not something I want to get into the habit of using. I intend to memorise the songs rather than play along to notation anyway.

Oh and I'm terrible at listening to a track and just working it out. I do need some help otherwise it'll be an ungodly mess.

So what do you guys recommend? Any specific videos on YouTube (to save me from filtering out the dross)?