brensabre79

Cheers Dave, One other thing to note if changing the valves in your Streamliner, Genz Benz 'design out' most of the valve characteristics from their pre-amp designs to avoid people suffering from variable quality of valves. So whilst changing faulty/worn valves may help, If you are going to buy a set of expensive NOS Mullards or something to improve the sound of your amp I doubt you will notice much (if any) benefit...

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1331150758' post='1568603'] Much easier to swap the pickups over (put the wizards in the Geddy) without telling anyone and see what the reaction is... Hmmm, that might bean idea actually! [/quote] That's what I meant

I don't rate the defretter much on the B3 to be honest. I get quite a convincing upright tone with my fretless bass - the key is the EQ as I use the ACG/East one with sweepable LF. I use this to boost a lot of mid (you could use a parametric EQ in the B3 to the same effect) and then play over the fingerboard with the neck pickup on only. Flatwound strings help. When I dont take the fretless to a gig by boosting the mid frequencies and playing as above with roundwounds the sound is not far off...

Alright then don't change them then, leave it as it is. Its your bass - you can do what you like fella! I don't think its a childish point though, if they don't notice any difference and you're happier with your sound then everyone is happy.

Over the years I have often been complimented on how much my tone has improved when I've brought a new bass to a gig or practice, however, I once replaced the body of a black bass I had with a sunburst one, transferring all the hardware, neck, screws, even the scratchplate from the 'other' bass - the only thing that was different was the body which was just a cheap MIM sunburst found on eBay, to replace a battered MIM black body that it had before (now gone to a good home). The difference was purely aesthetic, yet everyone in the band said "oh that bass sounds so much better than your old one". Sometimes people listen with their eyes. Try the swap, see if anyone notices ;-) if you don't like it you can swap back!

That ping sounds like a microphonic valve to me. You don't need to bias preamp valves, the power amp valves should be though Edit: Haha beat me to it!

I'm indifferent to what people put on their headstock, it's your bass... If you want to put a Fender decal on it its up to you. If you try and then sell it as a Fender that is a different matter entirely! The Squier logo is just printed over the poly finish on the VM series I believe so you should be able to get it off without going down to the wood. incidentally, the old Fenders are Nitro laquered, then the decal added, then the face of the headstock given a few more coats - which is why they always look more orange than the rest of the neck. So if you want to just remove the Squier logo from the front (I would recommend leaving the serial number on the back) T-cut should do it, wire wool faster, sanding = overkill! If you then wish to add any decal of our choosing, just mask the rest of the neck off and give it a few coats of laquer over the top. If you use Nitro it will age nicely but remember that the rest of the neck will not age as it is poly so it will probably look as anemic as the day it was bought in 30 years time.

We set out with an ethos originally of playing post-punk classics, we have found that demand dictates we also do some more modern songs, and some of the members of the band were really keen to drop the ethos and just do whatever people want, this has certainly been advantageous in gaining bookings for functions. However, what we do is pick songs from any era that we feel fit with the original ethos. Sure we do Kaiser Chiefs, Supergrass, Arctic monkeys etc. etc. We even do Duffy (bleaugh), but we always do it with a post-punk twist. i.e. "what would the Clash or the Stranglers do if they were playing his song?" It works for us because we get to keep our ethos, we get to play the songs everyone wants in a style that suits us. And we can pretty much guarantee nobody does "Moondance" quite like us! So I say play whatever song you like, from whatever era you like, but put your own twist on it. As long as you don't mess with the vocal line, and keep in some of the important musical hooks, people will recognize it and appreciate it!

[quote name='Chris Horton' timestamp='1331040770' post='1566679'] Your yam & and p bass are stunning ! So sweet [/quote] +1. Gorgeous! I hope my White J ends up this colour one day!

A real mystery this one! Are the strings touching the bridge adjustment screws past the saddles (or close to them so they contact when you play a note?). Or are the springs on the screws loose at all? Have you changed the strings lately...? I think its probably a mechanical rather than electrical noise.

Thanks everyone. I think I've got this sorted now.

I'd be very wary of putting two basses in one case without ample padding between, Even if you're not bothered about scratches, a fairly minor impact to the case will mean the two basses will bash against each other. Without protection you could open the case to find two broken basses, knobs snapped off, tuning pegs broken etc. - which is definitely not a cheap alternative to a dedicated twin bass gig bag. All is not lost, I just think you should at least get some foam between the two to absorb any impact.

Ah thanks for that. It could work. I'm not in the MU though and I don't need a piano to be supplied (seems an odd clause for a band) power, stage area and lights might be more important in our case. I guess I could amend it... Anyone got any others? Cheers!

Normally a simple email confirmation and gentlemans agreement is our standard fare, in my experience most venue owners don't sign contracts anyway. However on this occasion we have been asked to provide one, as well as public liability insurance (which I have). I found a few contracts online that were US based and extremely complicated. I just want something simple... Does anyone have a simple template contract they use that I could swipe please? Or a link to one online? Thanks! Bren

in the studio these emulator pedals are no substitute and you can hear the difference, however... If you're playing in a covers/tribute band some people might say that the singer doesn't sound quite like [insert artist name] - it doesn't stop the band being good, it doesn't stop people enjoying the show. It might stop the odd gear snob in their tracks as they realise they have wasted their time and money getting some very expensive equipment that does exactly the same job as some very cheap equipment in the right hands... I very much doubt it will offend even the most purist audiophile that the Big Muff effect on the bass in the chorus of the song doesn't quite sound like the Big Muff on the record. Also, there's nothing wrong with Squier basses or Behringer gear. I use both and I'm turning gigs away weekly at the moment.

Yep they are out there. Amazing I know. The former guitarist in our covers band (he had to go after this) was playing progressively louder and louder at his last gig with us, to the point where I couldn't even hear the drums - and he was the other side of the drums from me! "Turn it down!!!" shouted the rest of the band between songs. "I don't know how!!" eventually came the reply. I walked over to his amp, turned it down using the VOLUME knob. And we continued the set with a reasonable balance between the instruments for.. oh.. two verses then it started to creep up again. By the end of the night he was back up to excruciating level (volume on full). As the last song finished he decided to leave the chord ringing out (and feeding back) at ridiculous volume and looked me right in the eye with a big grin on his face. I calmly walked over to his amp and turned it off, picked up his coat and handed it to him. I never saw him again.

Yeah I know what you mean about the power claims. Basically all the Class D power amps in pretty much all the different makes are made by one company, Bang & Olufsen. The unit in the GB amps are no exception. There's more info on these power sections here: [url="http://www.icepower.bang-olufsen.com/en/solutions/speaker/"]http://www.icepower.bang-olufsen.com/en/solutions/speaker/[/url] Whatever make you go for the power section will be similar, so it comes down to the preamp section to make the differences in sound. All manufacturers measure their power output differntly, and generally the marketing bods go with whichever set of figures they think will sell their amps. Rated power is different from actual power as it depends very much on the signal. Theres an interesting article about this on the barefaced site actually (along with many others). So I wouldn't read too much into manufacturers power claims unless they are all under the same comparable conditions. The B&O ICE Power amps for example have a number of watts output depending on the frequency of signal and the amount of distortion to the signal. E.g. 450w at 1% THD and 550w at 10% THD for a 1KHz signal - same amp, two different power ratings for the same signal...

The Shuttle 9 is pretty much the same as the 6 - but with more output stage power. The Barefaced cab should take either with aplomb, personally I don't think I've used more than 50% of the 600w on my Shuttle but if you're getting a Compact its an 8ohm cab (S12 = 4ohm) You'd be getting just under 500w from a Shuttle 9 at full chat - remember though that watts does not equal volume! Also, to get twice as loud as a 100w head you'll need a 1000w head, so the difference is not as big as it may sound. In short, I think you'll be fine with either a 6.0 or a 9.0 - You will scare any audience with that setup!

OK, you say you can barely hear it on another amp, but you can hear it on another amp right? If so its not the amp, unless both amps have same prob. You say that your Jazz bass also does it, but more quietly. So its not the bass as another bass is doing it - or both basses have the same problem. Have you tried different leads, or using amp and bass in a different building (earthing issue perhaps?) with the same thing happening?

I'm not familiar with that amp but does it have a built in compressor/limiter?

[quote name='thepurpleblob' timestamp='1330694937' post='1561733'] Cheers! Is the Streamliner 600 £214 better than the GB 6.0 though? [/quote] I didn't think so, others may differ. the reason the Shuttle is so cheap is that it has been discontinued. Theres a new model out at full price. I don't have to have the absolute latest gear so I took the bargain - it still has a 3 year warranty. The shuttle 6 has a HPF in it to get rid of the extremely low frequencies that can suck up all your power. It works in a similar way to the Thumpinator effect pedal. IF you're playing something with an octave below pedal then I'd consider this carefully. I don't think a 5 string will be a problem though. I only play 4s so its definitely not an issue for me.

Yes the Shuttle is a fab amp for something the size and weight of a car stereo! I don't have any problem getting the sound I want from it, but it can come across as a little clinical unless you push the valve preamp a bit. I use a dirty valve pedal in front of mine and it has all the grit I need. I bought one from Bassdirect because it was on offer and drastically reduced, Alex uses the same amp to test and develop his Barefaced speakers too so I thought it would be the perfect match for my Cab. I was tempted by the Streamliner, it has more valves in the pre but the same power stage but after reading over on Talkbass that GB try to dial out most of the valve characteristics from their designs to get over the variation in valve quality I didn't see the point in spending lots more. instead I invested in a DHA valve preamp.

You won't regret it Purpleblob. Welcome to the club

Glad you have got it sorted, and more proof of why it is good to buy British. There are companies overseas who also offer this level of support but you have to get it there first!