Mornats

Wish I could play a full gig with a hand stuck up my... oh no, wait, hang on... er...

I've had this a lot. You need to look for the little arrow on the timeline (see the screenshot I've attached - it's the one on the 33 in the timeline). This indicates the end of the track. You may find that it's gone way off over to the right and you'll have to hunt for it.

No idea to be honest! Anyway, I sent an email to Overwater earlier today and Chris May answered it and said to give him a call once he's back from Frankfurt. Really impressed with his responsiveness so far!

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1332078766' post='1582840']
Wow, 4 pages and only 3 mentions for Gibson (and only one of those is Gibson as an entire brand). I think just about everyone deep down has a secret hankering for one
[/quote]

Gibson make basses? ;p

The lack of tone change when I pan suggests that the bridge pickup may not be outputting at all. The bridge pickup is about 2.5mm from the strings so it's fairly close anyway.

Yep, I turned the neck pickup way down and the bridge pickup way up. It did make a little difference but barely noticeable. I did make sure I turned the right one up so I'm sure it's not that. Could it still cause a problem? I just want to make sure I get some other opinions before I bother the good chaps at Overwater with it.

Fenders for me. Despite an American Jazz being the best bass I've ever tried (second to my Overwater) they just don't appeal - they're just not special, even if they are the market leaders and the standard.

I may have a little problem with my contemporary J4 (or it may not be a problem, hence the post!). I think the bridge J pup may have an issue as it's much too quiet in my opinion. Full details over here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/171143-pickup-volumes-on-my-overwater-contemporary-j4-problem/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/171143-pickup-volumes-on-my-overwater-contemporary-j4-problem/[/url]. I'd certainly appreciate any help and advice!

Hi folks,

I wouldn't mind some opinions on this. The bridge J pickup on my Overwater (by Tanglewood) bass seems very quiet. For the most part, this is to be expected due to less vibration at that end of the bass but this one just seems to be a little too quiet. Also, there's not a lot of tone change when I pan from the neck P pickup and the J at the bridge.

Here's a simple recording to highlight it:

[url="http://soundcloud.com/mornats/overwater-pickup-volume-test"]http://soundcloud.com/mornats/overwater-pickup-volume-test[/url]

I recorded it using a Guitar Rig Session I/O, same input volume, same amp sim, same amp sim volume, same EQ in Reaper. The only thing I changed was the pickup pan know. Check the timed comments for when I change it. Well, you can actually see the difference on the soundstream graphic.

Would you consider this normal or could there be a problem with the J pickup at the bridge?

Any comments/advice welcome! Ta!

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1331885741' post='1580274']
I'm mortified as I've just re-read what I posted and saw I had omitted a couple of vital letters. I meant to say "...you[b]ng[/b] people..." not "...you people..." My apologies, not intending to personalise the comment in any way. In my defence my Mum was from Whitley Bay.
[/quote]

Haha no worries I was impressed that you'd not been fooled by my Bristol location!

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1331885913' post='1580280']
On the off chance GAS gets the better of me (like I can resist ), what unlined fretless basses should I be looking for in the £200-250 bracket. Most of what I've seen on here and evilbay is well above my potential budget.
[/quote]

I got my SB320 for £200 off evilBay but you don't see many Bass Collections on there, especially not fretless ones.

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1331827303' post='1579577']
I think you people would say something like "bad", "lush" or something incomprehensible. Very nice.
[/quote]

Nice guess, I AM a Geordie

I'll muck in too. Here's my '88 Bass Collection SB320 fretless. A previous owner changed the pups (and maybe the electronics too) but I haven't worked out what they are yet. I popped some new gold and abalone knobs onto it and strung it with Rotosound nylon strings.

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:75226]

And here's what it sounds like:

[url="http://soundcloud.com/mornats/mystery-and-magic"]http://soundcloud.co...stery-and-magic[/url]

And

[url="http://soundcloud.com/mornats/dragging-deep-bx5a-remix"]http://soundcloud.co...deep-bx5a-remix[/url]

Opps, that pic up there doesn't have the new knobs on it, try this one:

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:80845]

[quote name='barryastley' timestamp='1331496336' post='1573820']
Also if anyone has any relevant sound clips I'd love to hear them, especially of a fretless precision.
[/quote]

Maybe not all that relevant but this is my Bass Collection SB320 fretless, rolled fully onto the P pickup and with Rotosound Trubass nylon strings on it: http://soundcloud.com/mornats/mystery-and-magic

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1331500189' post='1573883']
What Mingus are you comparing this to, Mornats? I'd like to be helpful but I can't hear what you are trying for?
[/quote]

The Mingus reference is probably a red herring in terms of the sound I was going for. It was Skol's remix of Haitian Fight Song (http://soundcloud.com/skollob/haitian-fight-song-youtube) that was going around my head as I did this one. In terms of sound, I was really just after opinions on whether it's a passable double bass sound. Charles Mingus can be put down as "inspiration" rather than being something distinct that I was going for. I'd never get close anyway!


[quote name='daz' timestamp='1331500846' post='1573896']
Using you picking hand high up on the neck sometimes (IE above the neck pickup) gives a DB like sound. or at least it does with me. But my style is probably so inconsistent this means little. Give it a go though.
[/quote]

My SB320 is a P/J config and I tend to play over the P pup but it may be interesting to try and play in between the P and the neck, or maybe right on the end of the neck perhaps? I can give it a try...


[quote name='Prosebass' timestamp='1331503342' post='1573963']
Its very difficult to try and emulate the double bass sound. I would suggest detuning to C or B and playing (as has been suggested) well up onto the board. Also put your action right up to over 10mm at the 12th as this will allow you to 'dig' in and get the strings moving.

Best I achieved was with a mini 27" scale EUB that I built with a single coil telecaster pup, semi hollow body and fitted with Tru-bass strings.

This is what it sounded like [url="http://soundcloud.com/prosebass/27-inch-meub"]http://soundcloud.co...ss/27-inch-meub[/url]
[/quote]

I do have the action set fairly high on this bass but maybe not as high as 10mm on the 12th fret. That's a nice sound you got form your EUB. It's got a lot more resonance (if that's the word I'm looking for) than my fretless. i.e. it sounds like it's coming from a big hollow-bodied instrument rather than a solid bit of wood.

Although I didn't use it on this track, I picked up a felt pick from my local music shop a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure what instrument they'd be useful on and the guy in the shop said he'd never sold one so couldn't advise. I tried it on my fretless and it added a nice bright attack but in a subtle way. Just enough to add a bit of double bass attack sound. If that makes sense at all.

Cheers for the feedback, I'm torn between putting flatwounds on my fretless and giving a double bass (or EUB more likely) a go but GAS is GAS and I need to stop buying instruments and playing them more!

I'm using Rotosound Trubass strings on my fretless SB320 here: [url="http://soundcloud.com/mornats/mystery-and-magic"]http://soundcloud.com/mornats/mystery-and-magic[/url]. It's an active bass with no foam (or sock...) stuffed under the strings but it's quite double-bassy I think.

I've got Rotosound Trubass 88s on my Bass Collection SB320 fretless. You can hear them on this track: [url="http://soundcloud.com/mornats/mystery-and-magic"]http://soundcloud.com/mornats/mystery-and-magic[/url].

They're 115-60 but have low tension and are fairly easy to play.

Try and find an Overwater by Tanglewood bass to try out. The contemporary J4 that I've got will fit into your budget and it's a lot of bass for the money. I'm sure most people will urge you to try out several to find a one that really suits you.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1331309907' post='1571231']
I'd try and go with something similar to what you're used to playing. i.e. if you have a precision copy, get a fretless precision/copy or if you use the warwick more, then go for similar - it just makes the transition easier and means you don't get confused if swapping between songs.
[/quote]

+1 to that. You may find that you can naturally finger the notes at the right position due to muscle-memory from playing your fretted bass. It could really help with the transition.

Mind you, on saying that, I've got a fretless without lines that's very different from my main fretted bass and it wasn't as hard as I thought to get used to it. The only real difficulty I have is when there are two notes between the dots rather than one (i.e. between frets 9 and 12) as it's harder to judge the right distance. To hit the 6th fret you just go halfway between the 5th and 7th dots - fairly easy, but judging one third of the way between frets is hard imo.

Did this one fairly quickly last night: http://soundcloud.com/mornats/mystery-and-magic

I was trying to get a nice double bass sound out of my fretless Bass Collection SB320 (I've got Rotosound Trubass 88 nylon strings on it). How double-bassey does it sound to you?

Cheers! I'm pretty chuffed with the sound I got out of my Overwater on that one, plus Roniit's vocals are simply outstanding.

Evening all. I've had this one up on Soundcloud for a few weeks now and thought I'd share it with you.

[url="http://soundcloud.com/mornats/into-a-dream"]http://soundcloud.com/mornats/into-a-dream[/url]

That's my Overwater Contemporary J4 on there, fully rolled onto the P pup with a 10mm turn of the bass pot up and a 10mm turn of the treble pup turned down.

And yes, two bass solos is excessive but hey.

That's a niiiice bass.

I'm pretty sure I saw a Fender Musicmaster at Treblerock in Clifton, Bristol at the weekend. If I remember rightly it was going for about £560 ish (definitely £500-and-something).

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1330768217' post='1562639']
I'm wondering if most people who like reaper came from a cubase background?
[/quote]

I used GarageBand for about a year until an OSX update buggered up its ability to record then switched to Reaper. It's a bit clunky but there are some powerful features in there for not much cash. However, you can get Logic Pro from the app store for £140 now which is tempting but I'm not keen on tying myself to a Mac (it's work's Mac, not mine and my PC is far more powerful at the moment anyway). I loved the simplicity of GarageBand and the nice interface.

On a slightly similar note (see what I did there?) back when I was in a band we had the act we were supporting come over to us for a gig. Our singer/guitarist knew the singer from the other band so there was a bit of banter. The most groan-inspiring one was "we knew we were almost here when we saw a sign that said 'weak bridge ahead'".