Mornats

I'm in the same boat here. Looking for a 2x10 combo at a decent price. I've just been eyeing up the TCE BG500 then saw the new BG250. Although a 1x15, it's a decent price (£329 or so although Thomann have the G500 2x10 fro £396!). Power-wise, I'm looking at rehearsals and pub gigs, let's say small to medium pubs without PA support and hopefully PA support for all else. I also need to fit it into the back of a Lancer saloon (i.e. not a hatchback so depth of the amp could be an issue). Interested to hear opinions about the TCE gear. Budget would be around £300 (new or s/h) with a little leeway for the right amp.

Sorry to hear about this. There's a Bass Collection group on Facebook where you may want to post up your stolen gear too: [url="http://www.facebook.com/groups/122332681404/"]http://www.facebook.com/groups/122332681404/[/url]

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1335507464' post='1632229']
She got all narky cos I comforted the bass before her. Strange things women.
[/quote]

+1

It may be a snap-to-grid problem. Check that this option's switched on. Or, if you're really struggling we'll go for that beer soon and I can walk you through using EZDrummer and GarageBand

Forgot to mention that it should just be a very simple case of dragging the midi loops from EZdrummer into the track in GarageBand. They should automatically snap to grid.

If anyone's on the look out for a decent VST/AU reverb plugin then Classik Studio Reverb is on sale for $49 until the end of the month (I think). I gave the demo a go and seems like a nice set of reverb units. Not worth the normal retail price IMO but might snap it up for ~£32.

[url="http://www.ikmultimedia.com/csr/features/"]http://www.ikmultimedia.com/csr/features/[/url]

[quote name='Emanew' timestamp='1335263140' post='1628095']
To my opinion, by playing with a maple fingerboard, you choose to "color" the tone. You have higher frequencies, you go through the mix.
With rosewood and ebony, it's warmer.
[/quote]

Is this comparing two basses that are identical other than the fingerboard wood? Not being antagonistic by the way, just curious as I'm leaning more towards the angle that it's the complete bass that makes the tone. But that's just me trying to simplify things perhaps!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1335029819' post='1625026']
Great! I have never seen a Growler before and would be very interested.
[/quote]

I've only seen pictures of them.

Must... resist....

Looks pretty sweet and at a nice price. How does it compare to your Warwicks?

I've got 2 Bass Collections (a 315 and a 320 fretless) and used to own a passive 301 that I bought new in the 90's and gigged with at Uni. Fantastically playable, lovely sound and weight next to nowt.Good luck with the sale, I'm sure the buyer won't be disappointed!

That's a beauty, I really like that. Not too keen on the pickguard though, I think it detracts from the natural feel of the body but that may just be me Wouldn't be able to pass that one up myself if I'd seen it.

I would have said GarageBand if you were on a Mac but you're not so I'll point you in the direction of Mixcraft Pro Studio 5. Many people say it's the closest thing to GarageBand on the PC but I've not tried it myself so can't vouch for it. Worth trying to get a demo of it though.

Another hello from Nailsea (Pinball - didn't know you were in the same town as me! Must have a pint at the Ring O' Bells!)

I only clicked on this thread as I wanted to know what was so interesting about a "simple studio refurb". That was an hour ago and I've read the whole thing and this. is. brilliant. Love seeing the updates and it looks like an amazing place! Hope it all goes well for you.

[quote name='littlegreenman' timestamp='1334108783' post='1611079']
Can't help too much on the mastering front, I muddle through doing my own as best I can.

Did really like the song and video though.
[/quote]

Same here, really did enjoy the song and video. Hope you find someone who does a really good job on it.

Give the Overwater Classic J a serious look though if your budget could stretch to it. A fellow BCer popped some sound samples of one on Soundcloud: [url="http://soundcloud.com/aka_walman/sets/overwater-by-tanglewood/"]http://soundcloud.com/aka_walman/sets/overwater-by-tanglewood/[/url]

For a £100 more (new prices ofc) you could get an Overwater Classic J. It's passive not active but would most likely beat the Dean hands down any day of the week. My Overwater Contemporary J pees all over every other bass I've ever owned and most that I've tried in shops.

I've got the Dean Hillsboro Single (the one with the single MM humbucker on it - it's the one in my avatar). I think the neck is absolutely lovely. Slim like a jazz and very easy to play. I'm not that impressed with the pickup though but it's a £300 bass so can't compare it tonally to my Overwater to be fair. I keep saying that I'm going to trade mine in as I don't need it anymore but I do like the neck on it and I could chuck an EMG MMTW pickup in there and I'm sure it would sound brilliant.

Incidentally, I got mine from JG Windows in the Metro Centre for £289 so if you're popping a little further north at any time, check to see if they've got any in.

[quote name='urb' timestamp='1334310610' post='1614141']
You can also use a MIDI controller
[/quote]

Such as one of these: [url="http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardware/midi-keyboard-controllers/"]http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardware/midi-keyboard-controllers/[/url]. I'd recommend one with at least 49 keys so you can get a few octaves at your disposal. I use an M-Audio Keyrig 49 (discontinued now but has replacements) and it's simple, cheap and works well. It's velocity sensitive too which I think is essential.

If you want some other instruments for it to control, check out the free players from [url="http://www.native-instruments.com/"]http://www.native-instruments.com/[/url]. The free Kontakt player has a good selection and they have a couple of synths (Reaktor Spark) too.

[quote name='urb' timestamp='1334135570' post='1611255']
Here's a bunch of free MIDI loops you can download then drag and drop into your DAW - the Groove Monkee stuff is pretty good and covers quite a few styles:

[url="http://www.groovemonkee.com/en/free-midi"]http://www.groovemon...om/en/free-midi[/url]

And this is well worth buying for 25 Euros:

[url="http://www.toontrack.com/products.asp?item=47"]http://www.toontrack...cts.asp?item=47[/url]

The TT midi drum parts are played by great, REAL, drummers and are in the main extremely ueable - I recommend you check them out

Hope that helps

M
[/quote]

Exactly what I was going to post!

In that case, check out GrooveMonkee's Electronic midi drum pack: [url="http://www.groovemonkee.com/en/products?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=4&category_id=1"]http://www.groovemonkee.com/en/products?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=4&category_id=1[/url]. They all work in EZdrummer and other drum packages too. Do a bit of googling for a discount code too. The current one (from their April newsletter) is gm10 for 10% off.

For my tracks I use either the standard pop/rock drum kit that comes with EZdrummer or the Classic kit (a ~£50 expansion or the Funkmasters expansion, again ~£50). EZdrummer sometimes comes in a bundle with one of the expansions for not much more than EZdrummer itself. DV247.com have a shop in Clifton too so you can pop in and chat to the guys in there and if they haven't got one in stock, they can order one in.

I use EZdrummer for drums in GarageBand (and in Reaper now that I've moved over to using Reaper). SImple to use, can get a good sound out of it and not too expensive. BFD2 is another option that others rate as well as EZdrummer too but I've not used it so can't compare them.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1334165604' post='1611938']( I'd say they're probably better than the MIA Fenders)[/quote]

I'd agree as every other Fender I've played just doesn't touch it in my opinion. Even other examples of MIA Fender Jazz's didn't feel as good as the one I tried and loved and all fell short of my Overwater. The bass just suits me down to the ground.

So, two things to take from my opinions above. 1. If you find a bass you love, buy that exact bass. You can't be sure that another one of the same make and model will be as good. 2. A bass that I rate and love may not be a bass that you rate and love.

£600 puts you into Overwater Contemporary and Classic J territory. Also the used market would get you a Fender P as others have said. Best advice I can give is to try every single bass in your price range (new, but also check what more expensive basses go for second hand and try new versions of those in shops) and find a bass that blows you away. It's very possible to find one in this price range - my Overwater is one of the best basses I've ever played, only really equalled by an £1100 Fender MIA Jazz. Trust your fingers - always!

Plus Logic Pro is now £140 on the Mac App store which is a huge price reduction. It's basically Logic Pro for the price of Logic Express as I understand it. It's a logical (pun intended) upgrade from GarageBand should you ever need to upgrade.