Linus27

I have a MarkBass LM IV and a Warwick Gnome and I play fretless. Recently I have found that my MB DI has caused some buzzing. By pure chance I'd just bought a Sansamp to use on my pedalboard in case one day, my amp goes down. A few gigs back I was playing an amazing venue but in soundcheck, I was getting some buzzing which I'd had before at other venues so the soundman saw I had a Sansamp and said lets run the DI from that, we should get a beautiful clear sound as they are amazing pedals. So we did and the buzzing went and I had an amazing sound. I then did about 3 more gig running the DI from the Sansamp and again, the best sound I have ever had and so this is what I now do, DI to the desk from the Sansamp for my fretless gigs. So I want to build a very small pedalboard for my EUB of basically a DI, Preamp and Octave pedal. I don't want to keep taking the Sansamp on and off my fretless pedalboard and to be fair, when I have tried my Sansamp with the EUB, its not really complimented it and thus my request for a fairly uncoloured preamp. My Warwick Gnome is the head I use for my EUB but I'm keen to follow suit with my fretless pedalboard and run a DI to the desk from a preamp or DI rather than rely on my Warwick Gnome DI.

Thanks JPJ, I'd also read that the Radial Tonebone is another good product.

This is my other option, to use the MS-60B but it has no DI out which is something I would like so I can run direct to the desk. So I'm happy to do this and I know the MS-60B is great so it would be recommendations on a good DI if I went this route. I'll into the Behringer DI400P DI box if you think its a good option. It might be a good short term option until I can afford a Fishman Platinum Pro or EBS Preamp which I've heard is excellent.

I've just bought an Ibanez UB804 Upswing EUB which I absolutely love. I'd like to get a fairly uncoloured preamp with DI that I can then run straight to the desk rather than going through the DI in my amp. I don't really want to spend a huge amount but I do want to get something that's going to be half decent with a little bit of tone shaping. I was looking at the Fishman Platinum Pro which has great reviews but is a little pricey for my budget. They do also have the Platinum Stage which also looks good but no idea if it is any good. I could go super cheap and get the Behringer DBI21 but not sure if this would be suitable for a EUB. The other option is use my Zoom MS-60B for tone shaping and buy a decent DI to run to the desk. Anyone got any recommendations for a half decent preamp with DI that's good with a EUB or even a half decent DI if I use my MS-60B. Open to other suggestions or recommendations

I was asked to appear in a charity video for ELO in the late 80's miming bass. Went to a studio and just played along to the track whilst we were all being filmed. I can't remember much about it and only being 18, I didn't really know much about ELO but they were all very nice. Recorded an album at Paul Weller's studio in Ripley which Paul played on a few track. I had to teach him a few of the piano parts and at the end of the week we all went for a curry in Ripley. We then supported him on his Sonic Kicks tour. Recorded an album with Mark Wallis who produced the It Bites album, Travis albums, engineered on U2's Joshua Tree to name a few. The studio was owned by Geoff Downs of Buggles fame and John Payne from Asia. Geoff played Hammond on a few tracks and John sung backing on a few tracks. They were both super nice people. Hung out backstage with Cactus World News and Deacon Blue at a festival we were all playing at in the 90's. A few mates of mine went to see Mike Peter's play in Bath Moles. Mike asked if anyone could play guitar and my guitarist friend stepped forward and was his roadie for the night. Got to hang out and chat music with him and talk about our band with him. A few months later, I interviewed Derek Forbes and then saw him when he was playing in Portsmouth. Mike Peter's was also singing in the band and he remembered us and we ended up having a good chat again about music. I played bass with a band for a few months as a dep that had Jodie Hawkes (Chesney's brother) on drums and a few other siblings of famous musicians. Supported 80's pop band Breathe at Guildford Civic Hall (G Live) in the 90's. One of our roadies, Patch, was the drummer in The Audience with Sophie Ellis-Bexter and The Sunday's. After a tour in London, we headed back to his studio for a party which happened to be some old mill and he played us the early demo's of track's from Natalie Imbruglia's first album and Robbie Williams - Millennium which started out as a reggae track. Paul Nicholls who was in Eastenders was there as well as other people who I can't remember. To now go full circle, I recorded an EP in a studio in Soho in the late 80's. There was a guy working there who was super kind and let me use his amazing Vintage Fender basses. It turns out to be our very own @Steve Browning 😁

I can definitely see me getting one of these but I'll probably settle for the MS-70CDR+.

When you say different, in what way?

Thanks Jim, really appreciate your help and kind words. It's only been 2 weeks so very very early day and certainly a long but fun road ahead.

Thanks @JimmyN2 and @JPJ, your help is really appreciated and invaluable, thank you. So last night I did my first gig after only getting the UB804 2 weeks ago and it was a huge success. I've been putting in hours of practice each night to try and get comfortable, work on my technique and to tweak my bass lines as I'm normally a melodic fretless player. I needed to simplify them and play some parts in a lower octave. I knew the sound guy already and he's very good and knew exactly what I usually sound like with my fretless and what sort of sound I was after with the double bass and he got it absolutely spot on. I even got compliments afterwards and despite this being our first unplugged setup and mine with the double bass, we even got a standing ovation at the end so I'll take that as a hit 😁 As for compressor, for fretless, its vital for my sound but for the double bass I also found this had more of a negative effect than doing good so I kept this off. Reverb also is an essential part of my fretless tone but I found for the double bass, things got a bit mushy so I kept this off. I run it through my Warwick Gnome and TC Electronic BC208 and the settings were bass dialled back a little to 11 o clock, mids dialled back to 9 o clock and treble left at 12 o clock. The UB804 had the tone rolled all the way back and I got a nice warm rounded thumpy tone. Not necessarily pure double bass but nothing like a fretless bass. I did still run through my Sansamp but just as a DI rather than any tone shaping but I did dial all the blend off which helped. As for how I play, one thing I learnt very quickly is a softer touch really really helps and the softer I played, the fuller the notes swelled but also stayed cleaner. I was finding some of the lower octave notes like F and G on the E string could get a bit mushy and boomy but with a lighter plucking hand, the notes would sing more and this seemed consistent across all the notes. I've also been trying plucking 90 degrees to the string and also side on like Ray Brown. The latter is much harder but something I'm going to keep working on for sure. As for something to use instead of the Sansamp, I'd read the Fishman Platinum Pro had great reviews. I will of course look into the Artec Parametric EQ but I have also managed to get a great tone from just going direct into my amp so it's more the DI option that's important to me.

I've got 4 basses and an electric upright bass and I wouldn't mind a couple of other basses to add to the collection. Fender Japan 61 Reissue Fretless Jazz: This is the best bass I have owned. I bought it new around 87 and its seen thousands of gigs. Its fretless with an ebony board, Bartolini pickups, incredibly beaten up and sounds amazing. Strung with Rotosound 66 Swing Nickel rounds and really sings. Fender Japan 62 Fretless Precision: When I don't play the Jazz then I play this bass as its lovely and is a nice player when I fancy something different. It has a rosewood fretless neck, 62 vintage pickups, is strung with Rotosound 66 Swing Nickel rounds and has a really nice expressive, punchy tone. Fender Mexico FSR 70's Reissue Fretless Precision: It has a maple fretless neck, is natural with an Ash body, 62 Vintage pickups and sounds fab. Strung with flats and is brilliant for recording and is different to the other Precision and Jazz basses. Music Man Fretless Stingray SR4: It has a Pau Ferro fretless neck which is lovely but very different sounding to the three other basses I own. I'm still experimenting with strings and would like to try and use some Nickel strings on it at some point. I do occasionally gig with it as well but nothing really beats the tone from my Jazz bass. Ibanez UB804 Upswing EUB: Very different to anything I own but a wonderful fun instrument. After that, then I am always on the look out for interesting fretless basses so who knows what might pop up in the future.

Just out of interest, does anyone use a Sansamp pedal or similar with the Ibanez Upswing? If so, any recommendations on settings that you use. I'm trying to get as close to a nice organic, thumpy double bass tone as possible.

We played to a mildly iffy crowd last night. No trouble as such but a very odd crowd who all seemed to know each other from all ages with guys strutting around like peacocks and girls, done up to the nine's with tits hanging out, swearing their heads off. Pissed as anything treading on cables, standing right in front of us with their backs to us and showing no respect to anyone. Just a very odd crowd.

Some of my favourite Jazz numbers. Miles Davis - On Green Dolphin Street Bill Evan's - Minority Soil and Pimp Sessions - Summer Goddess

Thanks Jim, that's really good to know. I think mine came fitted with Rotosound rounds which really were doing the bass no favours. I had a set of Rotosound Flats spare which are strings I'm very fond of anyway, so I fitted them and they've transformed it. I'm still going to try a set of the D'addario ECB81's as I've read others have rated them as well. Thank you for your help.

1. 1988 - 1990: Band was disbanded for legal reasons so legal action couldn't be taken against us. 2. 1990 - 1992: New band was formed with the same members as the band above but with a different name to avoid legal action. After 3 years, the singer left and the band ended. 3. 1995 - 2001: Band was signed but due to suing the record company for breaching contract we disbanded after winning the legal battle. 4. 2008 - 2009: Quit the band after a year after wasting way too much turn on flaky band mates who never turned up and who did the talk but not the walk. 5. 2011 - 2012: Quit the band after a year and a half after the two songwriters refused to credit myself and the drummer on the album as musicians who played on the album but credited themselves. 6. 2018 - 2020: Gave notice to the band leader that I was leaving in 6 months after being with them for 2 years. Band leader threw a huge wobbly, went AWOL and did not turn up for the gig that night. The band disbanded soon after. 7. 2019 - 2020: New band formed with same members as above but with a new name. This band and the above band had been together for 3 years and was doing about 100 gigs a year but decided to call it quits when Covid hit. 8. 2019 - 2019: Played with this band for a year but the guitarist was a fraudster and conman so 3 of us quit the band. 9. 2021 - : Still going strong and with the singer who was in band 1 and quit band 2.

How are you guys powering your MS pedals? Are you using batteries, individual mains power supply or lead into a power pack?

Thank you so much, I would so appreciate it. I am a big reverb fan being a fretless player so any you have would be amazing. The Wah patch sounds interesting as well. Thank you

I punched your subtle reverb patch into my MS-60B and it sounds really good. Actually used it on Friday night and it sounded great. If you have any other patches then please share.

Great gig on Friday night at the brilliant Login Lounge in Camberley. We've played there a few times and it can be a bit hit or miss with the audience but this time it was pretty busy. The sound is always fantastic though and the sound guys really know what they are doing. During my soundcheck, the soundman said I was getting quite a bit of buzzing from my setup. I suspected it was my pedals but by going direct into my MarkBass LM IV and Barefaced Two10, the buzzing was still there. I'd just recently added a Sansamp BDDI v2 onto my board and suggested trying the DI on that. At that point an older guy who I think was the main sound man who wasn't working came over and asked what's up. The main sound guy explained and said we were going to try going through the Sansamp. He said that its probably their DI and going through the Sansamp will give a really clean sound and the Sansamp is an awesome bit of kit. He seemed to know what he was talking about and low and behold, no buzzing and my bass sounded incredible all night. Just as he walked off, he turned back and said, oh and by the way, your fretless playing sounds amazing 😁 We played amazing and the sound on stage was incredible, especially my bass. After the gig, I then got a couple more people come up to me and compliment me on my fretless playing so I went away super happy.

Just to say that I've just picked up an 804 and I am thrilled to bits with it. I'm a fretless bass player but my band who are quite acoustic sounding already will be doing some gigs this year where we are stripping back even more and the 804 will be perfect for this. Transitioning from a fretless Fender Jazz/Precision wasn't as bad as I thought, however my right hand technique really needs the most attention. When I try and play with the side of my index finger like Ray Brown, then it's a bit hit or miss but playing with my fingertips with my wrist 90 degrees to the strings worked really well. So something to work on and I'll be watching lots of double bass videos on YouTube to improve. I'm also a very melodic player and do play a lot of runs and parts high up on the neck. I'm finding this is a little tricky but moving to stand facing the fretboard of the 804 has made it a bit easier. Again lots to learn and work on. One other thing, mine came with strings that have red silks whereas pictures I've seen seem to have them with blue silks. Do the original D'Addario ECB81 strings come with blue silks? I've no idea what strings mine have but I think Rotosound as the ends are multicoloured like Rotosound strings. They don't feel smooth like flats nor do they feel rough like rounds, sort of half way. Anyway, loving the 804 so far and if anyone has any tips and advice then I'd really appreciate it.

Really enjoyed that and inspiring seeing some of pedals and basses.

Beautiful

Will update for sure. My E, A and D are absolutely perfect, just the G but it also has these weird overtones/harmonics on certain notes on the G. Mine also feels like there's something absorbing or countering the energy in the string on certain notes. Either way, I'll update as well when I know.