tauzero

[quote name='Huggy and the Bears' post='211930' date='Jun 3 2008, 04:56 PM']Hi heard a band using one of these (Digitech Vocalist Live 4) on Sunday night for vocals and it blew me away! It's the future... Anyway, I have ordered one today as I want to get a better harmony sound. Has anyone got any tips or tricks on setting it up?[/quote] Experiment, experiment, experiment... We're still in the early days of using ours and Kaz went through each song, working out what harmonies would sound best on each part of the song. Don't go mad with harmonies, set two adjacent patches up with possible harmonies and A-B them. What instrument will be driving it? They're jolly clever about working out the key, even from an arpeggiated guitar, but a bass might not be the optimum source and you can't (IIRC) pre-program the key along with all the other parameters if you're using preset key and not detected key.

[quote name='ahpook' post='204437' date='May 22 2008, 05:26 PM']thanks for the tip, but all i can find is snap-in caps, not the usual 'wire' type that you solder in.[/quote] There are [url="http://www.cricklewoodelectronics.com/Cricklewood/home.php?cat=159"]radial wire-ended caps at Cricklewood[/url] and there's a fair few at RS as well. What capacitance and voltage are the current ones?

I should also have mentioned [url="http://www.flightcasewarehouse.co.uk"]Flightcase Warehouse[/url] who can custom-build you a flight case for it (they do lightweight materials too). Mind you, given that the Ergo has no body, how about a length of drainpipe? Well, not exactly drainpipe, gas main - very tough stuff that, we used it for side armour on a Robot Wars entrant.

I could only find reference to one other Aria Pro II Rhino when I sold mine, and that was a fretless in France, though I had managed to find someone else with one on some earlier date.

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='212368' date='Jun 4 2008, 11:10 AM']I’m not into 5 stringers so I’ve never owned one but I’ve played a few and IMO they feel nicer than other 5 string basses I’ve played. I find it hard to believe people when they say “I don’t like Warwicks” because I always think “have you actually played [i]any[/i] Warwicks?” cos I think they’re great and can’t really understand what there is to not like about them [/quote] I don't like the current Warwicks, and the 5-string necks are pretty clunky (and one day the two that I have will be put onto a body...) Would like a JD-era 5-string and 6-string Thumb though.

[quote name='thebeat' post='209451' date='May 30 2008, 10:26 AM']I pronounce Fender the British way : Bum-per'.[/quote] No, the British way is "wing" or "mudguard".

Looks as if they've made one, painted it blue, the the designer's come along and said "no, [i]this[/i] is how I wanted it" and painted his real design on top.

[quote name='chris_b' post='207091' date='May 27 2008, 10:09 AM']What's the betting that in another 50 years the Precision will still be with us?[/quote] Of course they will. Look how long it took to eradicate smallpox.

[quote name='Tee' post='207052' date='May 27 2008, 09:11 AM']Hmm, i'd say the Precision was a design classic, so a 'Mondeo' would be far off the mark imo. More like a VW Beetle, or a Mini.[/quote] More like a Harley Davidson Sportster. Ludicrously over-priced, under-performing, there's lots of Oriental copies, plus some specialist builders who make vastly improved versions of it, and it was overtaken by the competition decades ago.

[quote name='Jonny Walker' post='207928' date='May 28 2008, 11:36 AM']I have never understood why people buy copy fenders.... not that i am a huge fan but it seems to me (outsider) that Fender came up with their perfect bass and every other luthier copied the plan to get some sales.... and everyones buying into it... surely if you want a fender buy a fender?[/quote] Innate conservatism of bassists and the fear of going outside the comfort zone of a familiar body shape. Fenders are far too expensive for mass-produced lumps of wood with strings on, so the timorous bassist goes for something that looks the same but is better value for money. Let's face it, people who play P-basses and J-basses really just want to return to the womb.

[quote name='bnt' post='205462' date='May 24 2008, 11:37 AM']It would be a bit difficult to aim. Bass frequencies are notoriously non-directional, so protecting the "good guys" would be a serious challenge.[/quote] ISTR being told at school when we were doing sound that at least one of the weapons that used infrasound actually used two ultrasound notes, pitched a few Hz apart, so the infrasound was generated by the beat frequency.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='205716' date='May 24 2008, 09:40 PM']There'll never be a situation where I'll do without backline.[/quote] I tried it with the barn dance band for a few gigs. I think it might have worked had it been an all-electric band, but it's actually an all-acoustic band (but with pickups on the various instruments) plus me. I just use the backline to effectively bring the bass up to the same level as the acoustic instruments, and then run it into the PA, so I don't run it at huge volumes. For the covers band, I just run backline without it going into the PA.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='204411' date='May 22 2008, 04:49 PM']I like to go and "jam" with my girlfriend, but I wouldn't want to be in a band that takes gigs and money etc seriously. It'd stress me out.[/quote] Two of the three bands I'm in include both of us, so it's not a problem.

[quote name='rbatts2000' post='204399' date='May 22 2008, 04:42 PM']What about setting up an 'audition' for the future Mrs. Zero just to see how it goes. The drummer and guitarist may like what they hear...[/quote] The objection is to the principle of having a female vocalist at all. They've both heard her sing - she's done "Bad moon rising" with the band and also the drummer and his wife have seen our acoustic duo. I shall just have to see whether Sue (the drummer's wife and our occasional keyboard player) might exert a bit of pressure...

[quote name='finnbass' post='207600' date='May 27 2008, 09:32 PM']Who else would have bought this?[/quote] Definitely. Ah well, there'll be another one along sometime.

[quote name='ahpook' post='201581' date='May 18 2008, 03:55 PM']well, maplins have proved to be no use trying to source the replacement caps for the power supply....[/quote] Tried [url="http://rswww.com/"]RS[/url] or [url="http://www.cricklewoodelectronics.com/Cricklewood/home.php"]Cricklewood Electronics[/url]?

[quote name='Burg' post='200264' date='May 16 2008, 11:01 AM']I'm miffed about the 2X500watt thing as well. It's gives the same problem as the superfly did. The whole point is a lightweight portable rig. This is from the Ashdown website: "Just sling the amp over your shoulder, pick up a cabinet in one hand and your bass in the other – and you're on the way to the gig! " Nice idea, but it doesn't really work if you have to carry two cabs to the gig.[/quote] So rewire a 4x10 so it will run as a single 4x10 or two 2x10s. I've done something like this, only with a 2x10 cab that will run as 2x10 at 4 ohms or 2 1x10 at 8 ohms each.

I've seen [url="http://www.sportube.com/pages/home.html"]Sportube[/url] mentioned for similar applications, and bow cases (although the ones I've found have been too small).

[quote name='Bassworm' post='202971' date='May 20 2008, 04:24 PM']If it's any help, I'm told that the earlier Warwicks have a much slimmer neck profile than the recent ones. Phaps you need to do a swap? :-)[/quote] They do. I have an '87 Thumb and it's lovely to play. I can't stand the later Warwick necks.

[quote name='markbass555' post='201979' date='May 19 2008, 10:33 AM']looking for a 5 string but looking for one with the a narrow neck...[/quote] I've got a frankenbass with a Westfield Precision neck and Wilkinson 4-to-5-string adaptor bridge - so it's a 4-string bass with 5 strings on it. It would be rather impractical for you to try it out, but it's a route worth considering. It's very playable - I found it easier to play than a 4-string Jazz.

I was going to do the standard moan in the "How was your gig" thread about the singer (more random rearrangements of songs, breaking in on soloes, talking through the instrumental section of "Music", blathering uncontrollably, interminably, and unintelligibly between songs) but couldn't be arsed. However, I did have some good news on Tuesday evening - he's leaving. Or, in fact, has left. Which means we're back to a three-piece temporarily until we get a singer. The future Mrs Zero can sing rather well and would love to be in the band, but the band axis is the drummer and guitarist (I've only been in for three years, so I'm a newcomer) and they're reluctant to have a female singer for some reason. I think they're being rather closed-minded. Still, I shall carry on trying, and I suspect the drummer's wife will also try putting her oar in for the future Mrs Zero.

[quote name='The Burpster' post='200101' date='May 16 2008, 07:09 AM']I feel some of you are missing the point...... This is not a 'perfect bass' thread its a signature bass thread.... the two are not necassarily the same or even in the same street!!![/quote] So presumably your signature bass is the bass you are most associated with? For me, that would probably be a fretless 4-string Warwick Thumb NT. I think having my signature (such as it is) inlaid in MoP (or MoTS) into the front would be quite tasty too. Dammit, [url="http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2001/Jack-Bruce-Bass.html"]some bastard's beaten me to it...[/url] It'll have to be the Tony Tsai 5-string then.

[quote name='Buzz' post='203427' date='May 21 2008, 02:46 AM']I'd probably take one of the Lodestone Primal ones as well, just so I'd finally have one on hand to have a go with, after all, if you're doing headlining stadium tours, £800 isn't too much to have a play with one.[/quote] They're all right. Definitely nothing special in the playability stakes, and I didn't bother with trying one plugged in.

[quote name='Viajero' post='203166' date='May 20 2008, 07:20 PM']Afaik, H is B natural in Germany and various other places round that way. I've had charts in this country with it on too, though, where Bb is in the key and H is clearer than Bnat.[/quote] That's the one. I don't know why though - I first encountered it in a Peter Gabriel transcription where the chords at one part went C C/H Am, which caused head-scratching...

The future Mrs Zero has actually called a moratorium on bass (and other) purchases until we're in the house, due to lack of space. There has been a certain flexibility to the moratorium, it must be said. Still, I can hold out till the end of May... Not only does she approve of my bass playing, she also thinks I'm good. Which is nice. As two of the bands are bands that we're both in (her calling and me on bass in the barn dance band, her singing and me g*itaring in the acoustic duo), she doesn't miss any of those gigs, and the only gigs she misses of the covers band are when there's a booking conflict or when we can't get a babysitter [1]. One room of the house is to be used as the computer and music room (which it was before, in fact, but that was when the former Mrs Zero was in residence). And she wants guitars and basses on display in the lounge and dining room. So I'm happy with her, and she's almost happy with me (it's the genetic predisposition to untidiness that she has a problem with). [1] Why do they still get called "babysitters" when the baby in question is 12?